Category Archives: Hong Kong

More About Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation

Posted on by
3


Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation: Unusual Boat, Unusual People covering Australia to Oman is now on sale! Read the first few pages on Lulu’s “preview” feature and read an excerpt from Chapter 1 here (starts on page 18)!

Jeff Merrill wrote an extensive book review for the Nordhavn.com site.

Many people have asked us why they should buy our book if they can read our blog for free. Just like Part 1, the book is very different from the blog. Here are a few of the differences between the two:

  • Prologue: Picks up where the Prologue of Part 1 left off. It focuses primarily on the research we did as we planned for our journey and addresses the majority of the questions we were most frequently asked.
  • Several new stories from the journey – And there are some really good ones!
  • Many details have been added that were best left undisclosed while we were still on the journey (sometimes we didn’t want our parents worrying about us; sometimes we didn’t want to incriminate ourselves!)
  • In Retrospect sections with great insights — so you can see the situation through the eyes of a newbie as we learn, while simultaneously seeing the same situation through the eyes of experience.
  • Streamlined stories – some complained our posts were too long and detailed, the book is a condensed version they will enjoy more.
  • Formatting is first person, through Christi’s eyes – Some complained they didn’t like the third person format, so they will enjoy the book more.
  • Actual dates on each post. On the blog, the dates are not real time, which is a significant piece of information for anyone hoping to follow in our footsteps.
  • All profits will go to our cruising fund. The more books we sell, the sooner you can start reading about our next journey! So, buy one and get all your friends to buy one, too!

People have also asked us why we broke the series up into four books instead of only three. We had very different experiences in each of the four world regions, so it was best for each region to have its own volume.

  • In the South Pacific, Part 1, we spent most of our time in sparsely populated areas communing with nature. And we did a lot of rough sea time, learning about boating the hard way.
  •  In Asia, Part 2, we were mostly in densely populated areas building cultural bridges. Our sea experiences were also different from the Pacific, with both our best and worst passages occurring in this region.

Travel Summary January 2008 to June 2008

Posted on by
Reply

Indonesia to Egypt

  • West Timor Island, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    10° 9S by 123° 34E
    Dec 27 – 31, 2007 & Jan 2 – 9, 2008
    Traditional village tour
  • Flores Island, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    08° 50S by 121° 30.8E
    Jan 10 – 15, 2008
    Crater Lakes
  • Rinca Island, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    8°39.15S by 119° 42.9E
    Jan 16 -24, 2008
    Komodo Dragons & other native wildlife
  • Labuan Bajo, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    08° 29.5S by 119° 52.5E
    Jan 21 -24, 2008
    SCUBA Diving
  • Bali, Indonesia
    08° 44.5S by 115° 12.7E
    Jan 25 – Feb 8, 2008
    UN conference, island tour, whitewater rafting, SCUBA Diving, Monkey Forest, traditional show
  • Karimata, Indonesia
    01°40.7S by 108° 54.2E
    Feb 12 – 14, 2008
    Medical assistance to islander
  • Sentosa Island, Singapore
    01°14N by 103° 50E
    Feb 12 – Mar 08, 2008
    Side trip to Hong Kong, Museums, Rides
  • Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
    02° 31N by 101° 48E
    Mar 8- 18, 2008
    Side trip to Malacca
  • Langkawi Island, Kedah, Malaysia
    06° 21N by 099° 40E
    Mar 20 – Mar 28, 2008
    Sky ride, Geoforest Park, waterfall hike, extravagent gift museum
  • Ko Muk Island, Trang Province, Thailand
    07°23N by 099°17E
    Mar 28 – Apr 2, 2008
    Emerald Hawng
  • Phi Phi Islands, Krabi Province, Thailand
    Don: 07°43N by 098°46E
    Li: 07°40N by 098°46E
    Apr 2 – 4, 2008
  • Phuket Island, Phuket Province, Thailand
    Ao Chalong: 07° 49N by 098° 21E
    Nai Harn: 07° 46N by 098° 17E
    Apr 4 – 17, 2008
    Traditional dancing, Elephant ride, Hawng tour, Fantasea show
  • Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India
    11° 40N by 092° 42E
    Apr 17 – 23 & 29, 2008
    Visit to Ross Island
  • Havelock Island, Andaman Islands, India
    11° 59N by 092° 56E
    Apr 23 – 29, 2008
    SCUBA diving, Elephant training camp
  • Male, Maldives
    04° 13.0N by 073° 32.0E
    May 02 – 18, 2008
    SCUBA diving
  • Port Salalah, Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman
    16° 56.2N by 054° 0.2E
    May 21 – Jun 02, 2008
    SCUBA diving, Guided Tour Dhofar
  • Port Ghalib, Marsa Alam, Egypt
    25°31N by 34°38E
    Jun 13 – 17 & Jun 23 – Jul 05, 2008
    SCUBA diving, Trip to Luxor to see Temples & Burial Tombs

Hong Kong History Museum, Victoria Peak, Stanley Market

Posted on by
1

This morning Eric and Christi went on a guided tour at the History Museum. Omar and Marion wanted to sleep in since they were out late shopping. Hong Kong has more than a dozen museums that are all supposed to be really good. A museum buff can easily be entertained for a week or more in Hong Kong.

The museum is in the Tsim Sha Tsui part of Kowloon, only a few kilometers away from our hotel. It is across the street from a University and next door to the Science Museum. There is a quaint old colonial church across the way, but we didn’t have time to go in and check it out. We had barely made it to the museum in time for the tour.

The museum is really amazing. They went over the top in Continue reading →

Hong Kong Island and Temple Street Night Market

Posted on by
1

Continued from yesterday… There is a walkway along the waterfront. A small section of this walkway is called “Avenue of the Stars” and it is a cross between the “Hollywood walk of fame” and “toontown”, with a statue that looks like a giant Academy Award, stars inset into the concrete and vendor stalls that look like cartoons. We didn’t recognize any of the names on the stars.

imgp2448-small.JPG

We continued past “Avenue of the Stars” up to the Star Ferry terminal. We took the ferry over to Hong Kong Island, which is a scenic ride. The ferry lets you off in the heart of the financial district, which looks much the same as downtown Singapore, with elegant, aesthetically appealing modern buildings. There are a handful of turn-of-the-century colonial buildings around, including Continue reading →