RCCL Mariner of the Seas Spice of Southeast Asia

Thursday, October 22 – Embarkation in Singapore at Marina Bay

Friday, October 23 – Port Klang, Malaysia (for Kuala Lumpur)

We went on a 7-hour tour to Kuala Lumpur.  The drive to Kuala Lumpur, the capital and largest city in Malaysia, is 1-1/2 hours each way from Port Klang which is an industrial area.  This is the principal port in Selangor, a state of Malaysia and for the Klang Valley where Kuala Lumpur is located.  Tin was mined for many years and was shipped out of this port.  Kuala Lumpur was a major center for this reason. 

Upon arrival in the city, we visited the National Monument which paid tribute to the soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II.  This was a beautiful tribute with a large bronze monument and a reflecting pool with bronze sculptures of lily pads.  After this visit, we stopped to view the Independence Square which was the former playing field of the Royal Selanger Club across from which is the Sultan Abdul Samad Building.  We saw Islam mosques, Chinese temples and Hindu shrines throughout this large city which were interspersed between the high rise buildings and hotels. 

Following this visit, we stopped for a photo of the Petronas Twin Towers from afar.  It would be impossible to take a picture close up!  These are the highest twin towers in the world at 452 meters high.  We stopped at the Petronas Towers for lunch and the possibility of very high-end shopping. 

The day in Kuala Lumpur was quite murky due to the field burning fires in Indonesia.  Many people were wearing masks because of the smoky haze from the fires.  This persisted throughout the trip where highs were mostly in the 90’s.

Saturday, October 24 – Penang, Malaysia

Penang is an island off the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.  Penang is also the name of the Malaysian state made up of Penang Island and the strip of territory on the mainland called Seberang Perai.  This is a multi-cultural history full of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European influences.

Today we visited the capital city of Georgetown which is a Unesco World Heritage site.   Our tour took us around the Old Town of Georgetown in trishaws which are pedicabs which hold one or two people and are pedaled.  There were many Victorian British buildings as well as areas of Chinatown and Little India.  

We stopped at the Khoo Kongsi Clan House which was a traditional family compound with a central courtyard, terraced houses and a worship area with delicate carvings.  Our next stop was the Baba-Nyonga Pinang Peranakan Museum which housed costumes, photos and exhibits based on the mixed culture of Chinese men/Malay women marriages.  The building showed the traditions of both cultures. 

Our final stop was at the Blue Mansion which was originally the mansion of a wealthy 19^th century Chinese merchant who had 8 wives and many children.  He didn’t plan his estate well and the mansion eventually went to ruin.  It has now been renovated by an architect and is a distinctive historic hotel where we had local Malaysian treats and drinks.

Sunday, October 25 – Langkawi, Malaysia

Langkawi, known as the Jewel of Kedah, is an archipelago of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea which is 30 kilometers off the coast of northwestern Malaysia.  In 1821 the Sultanate of Kedah was conquered by Siam.  The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 transferred power to the British, except for a brief period of Thai rule under the Japanese occupation of Malaya during World War II, until Langkawi gained its independence.  In 2007, Langkawi was declared a Geopark by UNESCO. 

In Langkawi, we took a highlights tour where we visited three areas.  First we toured the Laman Padi, an eco-tourism attraction, where we learned about all aspects of rice cultivation which is now more mechanized since the 1980’s.  There are still water buffalos which are there for historical reference.  Next we visited Underwater World which was quite a nice aquarium with over 5,000 colorful marine life and tropical fish, very unexpected in this setting!  Our last stop was to a local handicraft studio with a wide range of Malaysian-made crafts.

Monday, October 26 – Phuket, Thailand

Phuket Island is the largest island in Thailand, located in southern Thailand on the Andaman Sea coastline.  It is reachable to mainland via road bridges to Phang Nga Province.  The residents are comprised of a melting pot of Thais, Thai-Chinese and Malays and most of the rural population is Muslim.  Watersports abound – swimming, snorkeling, diving, jet skiing, parasailing – as well as other more adventurous activities such as free diving, windsurfing, kite surfing, wakeboarding, sea canoeing and deep sea fishing.  There are 39 islands off the coast of Thailand.

The ship docked near Patong Beach and we tendered in to meet our private guide Nat and our driver for the day.  This 8-hour tour covered the west coast (where we were docked) to the south coast and up the east coast to the center of the island to visit the Big Buddha eventually ending again in Patong Beach.

From Patong Beach, we headed south through Karon Beach where the Hilton Arcadia is located.  Many of the hotels in the area are walkable to drivable to the beach, but not really on the beach.  The next beach area was Kata Beach where the Kata Beach Resort and Spa and Club Med are located.  Many Scandinavians stay in this area.  Near this area is the Le Royal Meridien which has its own small private beach.  After this we went to the Sunset View Point at Phromthep Cape which is  the southern tip of Phuket where the views of the other beach areas were visible from high cliffs above.  The sunsets must be breathtaking!  Many weddings are held at Yanui Beach in this area from November through February.

Next we headed north along the eastern coast to Rawai Beach where many of the local Thais and foreigners live.  After this we went up to the center of the island to see the Big Buddha at Wat Chalong which is located in Chalong Village.  This large monument, begun in 2004, is 90 percent finished.  Wat Chalong is the main temple of Phuket (there are 52) which is made of white marble and is 45 meters high.  It is impressive and was quite a climb to get there.  Once we arrived at the top, the views were amazing!  On our way up (and down), we saw many elephant camps offering elephants rides.  It should be noted that elephants are not native to this island and were shipped here.   The real elephant area is on the mainland in the areas of Chang Mai and Chang Rai.  There were also many boxing schools for both men and women and they trained by running up the hill to the Big Buddha which was no small feat!  We went for lunch to a local Thai restaurant for an authentic Thai meal with wonderful views. 

Following this visit, we went back to the east coast to Phuket Town where locals, Russians and some Europeans live.  We visited a Chinese shrine followed by a visit to the Cashew Nut Factory where we learned how the cashews were grown and processed.  We sampled many varieties and bought some souvenirs.   After this full day, we arrived back to Patong Beach.

Tuesday, October 27 – Patong Beach

Today we walked along the main street of Patong Beach to the Jungceylon Complex which is a large shopping mall in Patong Beach, for looks at local handicrafts and other shops.  It was very hot and hazy from the Indonesia fires so we hired a tuk tuk to take us back to the tendering area.

Wednesday, October 28 – Cruising

Thursday, October 29 – Singapore

We arrived back in Singapore this morning and checked into the Fairmont for one night.  We spent this day having lunch at the top of the Stamford Hotel with views over the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (which looks like a ship) and Gardens By the Bay.

After lunch we went to Gardens By the Bay to visit the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest where one can explore diverse plant life from all corners of the world.  The Flower Dome had a wide variety of plants ranging from 1,000-year-old olive trees to Baobab trees to cacti to a huge chrysanthemum exhibit.  The Cloud Forest had a man-made mountain with waterfalls, ferns, orchids and many other plants.  Various ecosystems were represented.

Our final stop was at the Longboat Bar at Raffles where the Singapore Sling was invented!  

Submitted by Donna Radford and Lauri Altendorf