Danube River Day 5 (Passau, Germany): A New Blog Entry, A New Year, A New Decade!

Today was our first day in Germany!

I woke up way before my alarm clock went off and lounged around for most of the morning. Our excursion today wasn’t until early this afternoon.

Passau is a medieval town and is known for its beautiful architecture. It's equipped with cobblestone roads and everything! I grabbed a lot of pictures. Our guide took us on a walking tour through the city and showed us around for about an hour. We didn’t stop anywhere this time. After our guide finished the tour, we had free time to shop before we had to head back to our ship. Not a lot of the stores looked open but they were. We found a dollar tree type place and ended up picking up a bunch of souvenirs so I headed back to the ship to drop off the souvenirs and intended to head back out to explore some more but ended up staying on the ship for lunch.

We didn’t have anything planned after lunch so we had a few hours of down time so I attempted to take a nap again and ended up puttering around until dinner.

After dinner we went up to the lounge for a few festivities before the new year countdown at midnight. We played name that tune and had a few drinks. As a DJ you would think I would rock at that game but I didn’t do so hot.

I needed to get some ideas organized for my blog so I took a break from the festivities and went back to the room to get some thoughts down and freshen up before I went back.

What a year this has been!

I can’t believe the year is over… I can’t believe this decade is over! I’ve never celebrated a new year, let alone a new decade, so far away from home on vacation before so this is super new and super exciting to me. 2019 was a very interesting year. I’ve been on some of the most amazing trips and of course met some awesome people. To me, it isn’t destination that makes the trip but the people you meet, the people you travel with and the things you get to lean and experience. Don’t get me wrong, going to world class destinations is still absolutely incredible and I have so many more places that I want to go. I already have future travel plans in the works!

Hope you guys had an amazing year! Here’s to a new year, here’s to a new decade!

Happy new year everyone!!!

Thanks for reading,

~Dustin

Get out there!

Danube River Day 4 (Krems, Austria): A Monastery, Downtime and A Reception

Today was a pretty short day. We only have one excursion to a local monastery and a reception to go to today.

Göttweig Abby, founded in 1083, is an impressive monastery that looks over the Wachau Valley. The monastery had burned down in 1718 and was quickly rebuilt, much larger, in the baroque style. The pride and joy of Göttweig Abby is the Kaiserstiege—a grand baroque staircase under a gorgeous fresco by Paul Troger. The monastery houses an average of 45 monks at a time and is currently a functioning winery and hosts tours, religious retreats, lectures and classes to support itself.

After we got back from Göttweig Abby we had lunch and a lot of downtime before our welcome back reception. I should’ve used that time to organize notes for my blog but I didn’t. That time was used to lounge around and attempt to take a nap.

Every time we travel with Viking they invite us to a reception for guests that have traveled with them before. Normally the staff thanks you, serves you a few drinks and asks about your previous travels then you go on about your day but this time we interacted with other guests and met some pretty cool people. We actually stayed and mingled until the kicked us out.

Today was a much-needed short day.

Danube River Day 3 (Vienna, Austria): A Bus Tour, A Palace and A Classical Concert

Today we explored Vienna. The City of Music! The City of Dreams!

We started out our day with a bus ride around Vienna. The bus took us through the city center and we had some free time to explore the financial district. There's a surprising amount of high end shops out here. Most of everything is closed in Vienna on Sundays because of some law or regulation. The city literally shuts down, including the Christmas market, and all that’s open are restaurants and souvenir shops. Somehow these establishments get around this regulation. The gift shops that were up and running had signs on some displays saying that customers aren’t allowed to purchase that particular item on Sunday. Somehow that allows them to operate on this odd shut down day. I did a google search trying to find out why stores have to close on Sunday but all that came back were suggestions of things to do on Sunday’s when everything is closed... Thanks Google.

After our bus tour we went back for lunch then back out again to the Schönbrunn Palace, the home of Hazburg royalty. This palace has over a thousand rooms and it was huge! We were shuffled through a few of the rooms, including a few Chinese themed rooms, Napoleon Bonaparte' bedroom and Marie Antoinette’s room. It reminded me a lot of the Hermitage in Russia. No pictures were allowed.

Our last excursion was a Mozart and Strauss concert at an opera house by a small chamber ensemble. This has been my favorite part of the trip so far. Their act included a little humor and crowd interaction. This is something everyone has to experience at least once in their life. I wasn’t too sure about going to this one because it ended so late but I’m glad I went.

We got back super late and the kitchen staff had gulaschsuppe as a snack waiting for us. God forbid we go hungry on this trip! I really wanted to go to bed but I had to have a bowl and it was so worth it!

Today was an amazing day! We have an early day tomorrow.

Vienna is a beautiful city. 

Danube River Day 2 (Budapest, Hungary): A Bus Tour, A Cathedral and A Christmas Market

We’re taking a bus tour through Budapest and stopping at cathedral and a Christmas market today.

Our excursion this morning was a long one. The bus took us through 4 districts of Budapest-- the city center, Elizabeth Town the Jewish Quarter, the Castle District and we stopped at Matthias Church. Each area reminded me of a different part of Europe.

Matthias Church, officially known as The Church of Our Lady, was used as a coronation church for the Hungarian kings. This church is one of the oldest buildings in Budapest and has been remodeled, expanded and restored so many times that not much of the original church exists.  It’s also the home of the Black Madonna and a replica of the crown of Budapest.

The Christmas market that we went to had some of the best street food I’ve seen at any market. I have no idea what any of the foods are called because I can’t read a lick of Hungarian Most of the vendors there were food vendors. There were also lots of stores and restaurants around the Christmas market. Most of the bigger stores and restaurants in the area also had locations in America-- H&M, Zara, Hard Rock Café, McDonalds and Burger King. I tried to go to the local casino but they required a passport and I left mine on the ship… BUMMER!

After we got back we had the rest of the evening off so we ate and lounged around until bed time.

Danube River Day 1 (Budapest, Hungary): We Made It!

This trip starts out in Budapest and we’ll be making our way to Nuremberg.

Today was the longest travel day ever! It wasn’t because a lot of super exciting things happened but because Europe is legitimately really far away. We started out at Sacramento International Airport and had a short trip out to Salt Lake City. From there we flew over the pond to Paris and finally, Budapest. Our transfers went smooth, the food was eh and none of our luggage got lost so there isn’t a lot to report about that part of the trip. I did end up spilling some of the chicken marsala that I ordered on my shirt and the stain stayed with me all day. I also noticed a lot more dogs were traveling with us than usual. No complaints there! While we were at the different airports, we did some shopping and purchased currency before we headed out to our ship.

After an hour bus ride, we finally made it to our ship. We checked in, grabbed some tea and explored a little before we went dinner. Normally everyone arrives at the boat at the same time but I noticed that this time some people got here early in the afternoon and there were still passengers trickling in after dinner.

After dinner there was a performance by a local acapella group, The Windsingers. They performed a couple of traditional Hungarian Christmas songs, a few original songs and some American pop Christmas songs. They were pretty good!

After the mini concert I headed back to my cabin and unpacked because I was too lazy to unpack when we got here, then went straight to bed. Note to self, always unpack the first chance you get!

Today wasn't actually a particularly long travel day-- it just felt like it because I didn’t get a lot of sleep on the way here.

Tomorrow the real adventure starts!

Mekong River Day 7 (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam): The Last Day

The last day of any trip is always a bittersweet one. 

We only had one excursion to a local garden and a candy factory today. We took a smaller boat down the most scenic route of this trip, hiked through a village out to a boat dock, got onto a canoe headed out to a local garden. This garden grew a wide variety of fruits and hosted a gift shop with traditional Vietnamese clothes, alligator and snake skin goods. The candy factory was really interesting. We were shown how a fresh coconut was turned into a candy and sampled a few. The workers there were extremely fast!

This trip has been amazing! I’ve learned more about Vietnamese and Cambodian culture than I ever thought I would—Their religion, their history and the way they lived. The people we traveled with have also been phenomenal which makes traveling half way around the world so much more enjoyable. Meeting new people is always one of the highlights of my travels.

Here’s to many more!

Until my next adventure, Cheers!

Mekong River Day 6 (Long Khanh A): A Textile Workshop, A Catholic Church and A Couple of Craftsmen

Today we went to a textile workshop, explored a village by motor cart, went to a Vietnamese catholic church, visited a family that makes traditional conical hats and another family that makes boats.

On our first excursion this morning we headed out on those smaller river boats and took a motor cart out to a textile workshop. The motor carts we took were carts pulled by small motorcycles. Each cart accommodated up to 6 people. I don’t know how such a small motorcycle can pull so much weight but we managed to get where we need to go with out any major problems. The architecture in the village we drove through had similar layouts to the ones in Cambodia but the houses were mostly more stone, marble and cement as opposed to wood. The textile workshop was a small operation that made scarves, bags, hats and other cloth products to sell to a distributor. They had 6 automatic looms that produce 20 times more fabric than a manual loom. They kept a manual loom just to show curious visitors but it wasn’t working today.

The Cu Lao Gieng church was the first Catholic church we’ve seen the whole trip. Built in 1879 This church is the oldest church in the southern region of Vietnam and the final resting place of a French priest, Gazignol.

After lunch we headed back out to the village to visit a family that makes conical hats, Non La. This family makes most of their money farming but they sell hats for extra income. Each hat is made with palm leaves fastened to 16 bamboo rings for structural rigidity.

Before we headed back to the boat, we visited another family that made boats. The craftsman showed us how he shaped and treated the wood to make a 4 person vessel. He was very enthusiastic and was more than happy to show us how he worked.

When we got back, we attended the nightly cocktail hour, had dinner and retired for the night

This trip is going by pretty quickly

Mekong River Day 5 (Chau Doc, Vietnam) “GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!”

Today was our first day in Vietnam. We went to a very crowded wet market, took a trip down the backwaters, went to a temple and a supermarket.

Our first excursion was a city hike out to the local wet market. A wet market is a street market that sells mostly produce, meat and some cooked food. On our way there we passed some interesting shops and vendors. This market was way more crowded than the other ones we went to. Not only were the aisles narrower we had to share the space with bikes, mopeds, motorcycles and scooters. Yeah! People somehow drive their motorized vehicles through there. It was absolutely phenomenal. We were shuffled through the market at a pretty quick pace so we wouldn’t get in anybody’s way. While shuffling our guide was telling us about some of the produce that we don’t normally see in the US. It was hard to keep up with all the information while trying to navigate through the busy aisles. In my street market experience, you’re always going to be in someone’s way, there’s no avoiding it, especially in a space that crowded.

On the next excursion, we took a boat ride out past the fish farms in the backwaters of the Mekong River, to the temple of Ba Chua Xu near the bottom of Sam Mountain. Ba Chua Xu is a powerful protector and a supporter. She is known to give assistance freely but it is extremely important that she is repaid for her assistance and the promises that are made to her are kept. She is not forgiving and there are horror stories about those who have tried to swindle her.

Before heading back, we stopped by a supermarket but it was just like ours back home so there isn’t really much to write about on that.  

We attended cocktail hour, ate dinner and headed to bed when we got back.

Today felt exhausting

Mekong River Day 4 (Phnom Penh, Cambodia): The Palace, An Interesting Museum and A Street Market

Today we’re back where we started in Phnom Penh. We visited the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum. We also made our way to another street market. Today was a pretty short day. We weren’t out and about nearly as long as we normally are.

We traveled to the Royal Palace by cyclo this morning. A cyclo is like a rickshaw pushed by a bike. I’m not quite sure how to describe it so you might have to google that one. The first place we went to at the Royal Palace was the throne room. This room was mostly used by the royal officials to conduct business but now it’s used for ceremonies and celebrations. We weren't allowed in but we were able to peek inside the open windows. We're not important enough to get invited in. The next building we went to on the property is the Silver Pagoda. This Pagoda holds most of Cambodia’s national treasures. The floor of this pagoda is made of silver. I’m not sure why that is but there has to be some rhyme or reason to it. The most notable treasures are the Maitreya Buddha and the Emerald Buddha. The Maitreya Buddha was constructed as the future Buddha and nobody knows when this Buddha will arrive. Cambodia’s national museum is the largest in Cambodia and we wouldn’t have had time to go through it all in the time allotted so our guide showed us the most significant exhibits. This place didn’t really feel like a museum. There weren’t any barriers between us and the artifacts or plaques with descriptions of any of the items. The artifacts didn’t seem to be organized in any way either. They were just placed on displays. Most of the artifacts on display were also replicas. They kept the originals locked up, away from the museum guests. I really liked the gorgeous pond in the center. In conclusion, the museum simply seemed like a collection of really cool stuff.

After our morning excursion we had time to explore the city on our own so we decided to go to the Central Market. The way this market is set up makes it seem really big but it isn’t. There are so many twists and turns that it was easy to end up in places you've already explored. It was similar to the night market we went to last night but this was much more a market than a social event. All of the vendors seemed to have the same merchandise so once you’ve found something you like you can try to use that to your advantage and shop for that item at the other vendor’s stalls and negotiate to get the best price.

When we got back a group of kids for a local orphanage performed a traditional Cambodian dance for us, we were briefed on tomorrow’s activities and went to bed. The kids weren’t half bad!

This blog entry seems pretty long for a short day

  

Mekong River Day 3 (Kampong Tralach, Cambodia): An Entrepreneur, Killing Fields, A Genocide Museum and the Most Interesting Night Market That You'll Ever Read About

Today we took an ox powered wagon up to a village, visited a silversmith’s workshop, went to a genocide museum and an amazing night market.

On Our first excursion we took an ox pulled wagon out to a village to meet a family that runs a lot of the businesses in the area. They even own the ox’s that pulled us up there. Aside from the ox cart business they own 2 houses and 5 cattle, which seems to mean that they’re pretty successful. From the village we took a buss to a silversmith’s shop in a small rural business district. This business seemed to be family run too. Everything looked beautiful but it was very hard to distinguish which of the pieces were silver and which were silver plated.

After lunch we headed out to the Killing Fields and the Genoside museum back at Phnom Phen. The Choeung Ek Killing Fields is where the victims and political prisoners of the Khmer Rouge were executed. Mass graves have been excavated and about 9 thousand bodies were found. The center piece of the site is a Buddhist Stupa, a memorial built by the Municipality of Phnom Penh where the skulls of the victims can be seen behind acrylic glass. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was a secondary school that was converted into Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge. It is unknown how many people were held at this detention center but the facility can accommodate 1,500 prisoners at one time. The prison was captured by the Vietnamese army and reopened as a museum by People's Republic of Kampuchea.

If you’re only going to read one thing about my time here in Cambodia this next paragraph should be it!

The highlight of my day was the night market down the street from our dock. It was a little after my bed time but we decided to go to the local night market after dinner and it was an absolute blast. The market itself wasn’t that big but the aisles were narrow and packed corner to corner with merchandise. Half of the market was a food court that was set up like a food truck event. The food looked amazing! There was a giant stage in the middle of the market where people performed karaoke. Now this wasn’t your typical karaoke at your local dive bar but a full professional grade production with lights and equipment to match. I was impressed. This isn’t just a night market but a social event that both locals and tourist go to! They take karaoke seriously around here.

Today was a rollercoaster that I was more than happy to be on

Mekong River Day 2 (Angkor Ban, Cambodia): A Temple, A Village and A School

Today we hiked up to a temple in Angkor Ban, Wat Hanchey, explored a small village and attended the school at the village.

Our hike up to Wat Hanchey was very scenic. There were gorgeous hills decorated with traditional structures and bridges. When we got to the top, we participated in a traditional Buddhist blessing and explored the grounds around it. There were a lot of food venders up there. Apparently, it’s a very common place for locals to come and picnic. We learned that there is a separate school system for monks in Cambodia. They have to learn the same subjects everyone else does in addition to Buddhist scriptures and customs. A lot of natives that become successful in life credit their success to the community and give back by building dormitories, schools or donating in one way or another.

After we got back, we had some downtime and headed out to a rural village and their school. We conversed with the students one on one and talked about their school work for a little while. Then, they introduced themselves and we introduced ourselves in front of the class. They haven’t learned much English yet but they were able to ask and respond to simple questions. They were able to tell us how old they were, where they were from, what their favorite color was and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most of the questions that they asked us was about our occupations, where we were from, our family members and what our favorite color was. Most of the students were between the ages of 10 and 15.

When we got back, we attended cocktail hour and got briefed on our activities for tomorrow, had dinner and headed to bed.

Today was exhausting!

Mekong River Day 1 (Phnom Penh, Cambodia): We’re Here!

Today we started our journey along the Mekong River.

Our travel day was pretty ordinary. The first leg of our trip was San Francisco, the next was to Taipei then we finally arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

We were the first ones on the ship so we had the ship to ourselves for a few hours. The plane the other passengers were on was delayed and they won’t be in until early evening. We later encountered a couple of other passengers that had arrived last night. They had already been around the area a few times.

The ship we’re on is a very small river boat. There are only 18 rooms! Word has it that there’s only 26 people traveling with us on this trip.

We boarded the boat, unpacked, ate lunch and headed out to explore the port. Most of the businesses here are restaurants, gift shops, corner stores and tours. We didn’t spend much time out and about because it started raining. So it was back to the ship for us.

We had some downtime because our little mini adventure was short and the rest of our tour group’s flight was delayed so we explored our little ship and lounged around for a bit. When the rest of us finally arrived our tour director briefed us on upcoming activities, we had dinner and then it was off to bed.

I’m liking how easy and laid back this trip is so far.