Vietnam/Cambodia...

Here are the highlights of Vietnam/Cambodia in 2 pictures...


Out to lunch with Ben and Paige. Eating a traditional Vietnamese lunch - I'm soo daring! We just spent the morning searching for a good tailor, finally finding one, purchased material and had our measurements taken so that our (custom made) suits would be ready before we left Vietnam. In the end they did a fantastic job! I am super impressed!


Ankor Wat at sunrise was beautiful! I loved Cambodia and everything I learned there. It is definitely one of my top 5 countries so far.

In both Vietnam and Cambodia, we were able to see so many things that brought history alive for us. It was a great experience.

Malaysia/Singapore...

Here are the highlights of Malaysia/Singapore in 3 pictures...

This was the first country that we had to tender. This essentially means that the ship couldn't pull up to the dock and that the crew had to use the life boats to ferry us from the ship to the land. It was an experience!

This beautiful sunset is what bid us fairwell as we left Malaysia bound for Vietnam.

Just little 'ol me in Singapore at the famous Raffles Hotel, enjoying their famous drink "The Singapore Sling". It was delicious! - You know me, just living the high life... ;)

India...

Here are the highlights of India in 2 pictures...


I am so happy I had the opportunity to experience India, but let's just say it is not at the top of my list of places I can't wait to return to. The yellow and green thing in the front of the screen is called a rickshaw and is similar to a taxi, but it's like a scooter. I don't know if you can make it out, but all the way off to the left of the picture is a cow, just chillin on the side of the road, eating garage that has piled up. This is a normal sight that I saw more times then I could count. The reason for this is because cows are a sacred animal in India and so no harm comes to them.

No trip to India is complete without a visit to the Taj Mahal. It was simply incredible to actually be there. One thing I was a bit surprised about was the size. While it was huge, and the architecture like nothing I had ever seen before, the first thing I thought of when I saw it was - It's smaller then I thought it would be. For those that have been to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, I would almost say it would fit underneath it. A little disappointing, but incredible nonetheless.

South Africa...

Here are the highlights of South Africa in 5 pictures...

Here is a view of the famous Table Mountain! It truly dominated the horizon and was incredible!

After about an hour and a half hike up the mountain, this is the incredible view!

On one of the days we were in Cape Town, I did a volunteer trip to assist a Non-profit organization called Operation Hunger. Our task for the day was to weigh and chart all of the kids in a particular school. The reason behind doing this is because soup kitchens in the area have requested funding from the organization, and the way they determine who gets the funds is by analyzing the kids in the schools in their area. Essentially, if the majority of the children are borderline malnourished, the soup kitchen gets money.

This is me at Cape Point, the location that claims to be the southern most point of Africa. Either way, it was beautiful!

I know it is a little hard to see, but I was too busy recording to take pictures. If you squint real hard, you can see Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the center of the photo. He's wearing all black and you can barely see his white hair, but he's there - I promise! Anyway, I was one of the fortunate ones who was around when we received word that he was going to stop by for a brief, half hour lecture. (He his a big supporter of the program and has even sailed on two voyages!) His speech was amazing! I am so happy I was able to see him speak, it was just so genuine and heartfelt!

Namibia...

Here are the highlights of Namibia in 4 pictures...

Staring out the window on my way to camping and stargazing in the desert enjoying the scenery that is more sand then I have ever seen in my life, and incredible dunes taller then homes!

During our camping and stargazing overnight trip, we climbed some of the rocks/mountains without any safety gear! If there was any time on the trip that we said "We're not in the US anymore..." - this was it! The view from the top was amazing!

Considering I had never snowboarded before, I think my first time sand-boarding was pretty good.

Swakopmund was a coastal town about 20 minutes away from the port city, and it was adorable. It reminded me a little bit of the town of Celebration, in Florida, except it was on a beach and in Namibia.

I just blinked and a month passed...

I swear, I just blinked and a month passed!... I'm sorry I didn't write sooner, and I'm sorry this blog is kind of brief. Overall I've been keeping busy with Grad school work (it was a bad idea to take 3 online courses this semester) since my courses began, I've been pretty much locked in my cabin during the days at sea and trying to get work done before we hit the next port.

We arrive in Hong Kong in just a few short hours, and I won't be back on the ship until it is ready to leave Shanghai, (since I'm taking a trip to see the Great Wall). Oh, and later today, I'm going to Hong Kong Disneyland! :) (I'm a dork... I know, but my excuse is that I want to see what they had to change in order for the Disney master plan to work in another country_.

The other things that have kept me busy since I last wrote is... Namibia, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia! Stay tuned for pix!

I miss everyone and thanks for reading! :)

p.s. After China we have about 2 days at sea before Japan. After Japan I will definitely have some time to update this before we stop in Hawaii for Thanksgiving. Once again I'm sorry I haven't done a better job at keeping this up - I ended up being much busier then I thought I would be. :/