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TRAVEL
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May15
These voyages tend to be longer, from
about 10 to 14 nights, and typically sail
one way between Singapore, Bangkok,
Hong Kong or Tianjin, China. Most
itineraries include stops at several ports
along the coast of Vietnam, typically Ho
Chi MinhCity, NhaTrang, DaNang for Hoi
An and Hue, and Halong Bay. Bangkok
and Hong Kong are also sometimes
ports of call along the way if they’re not
the beginning or endpoint of a voyage.
Koh Samui in Thailand, Redang and
Tioman in Malaysia, and Sihanoukville in
Cambodia are all increasingly included
in eastern itineraries for their beaches.
Holland America, Crystal Cruises,
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Silversea,
Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, Windstar
and Azamara Club Cruises are some of
the lines that regularly ply the eastern
part of the region.
As the number and the size of
the ships in the Far East increases,
itinerary options are growing beyond
the standards, with calls to ports in
Japan and South Korea on the rise.
For instance, Princess Cruises bases
ships in Japan from April each year,
with cruises of varying lengths visiting
more than 20 ports in Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan and Russia. There are
also a handful of itineraries that focus
on Indonesia; for example, Holland
America sails from Singapore to Java
(for Borobudur), Bali, Lombok and
Komodo Island.
Highlights
Temples:
The stunning gilded temples,
monasteries and stupas of Bangkok
can’t be matched, though the less
ornate 16th- and 17th-century Chinese
temples in Vietnam’s Hoi An and in Hue’s
mid-19th-century seven-tiered Thien Mu
Pagoda are beauties in their own right.
Nha Trang’s Po Nagar complex dates
back more than a thousand years, while
Pattaya’s ornate wooden temple is new,
but still something to see if you don’t feel
like travelling all the way to Bangkok.
Architecture:
Hanoi’s French colonial
architecture and wide, tree-lined
boulevards are enchanting, while
hundreds of 16th-to-18th-century
Chinese and Japanese-influenced
buildings in the imperial city of Hoi An
are impressive enough to have been
collectively deemed a UNESCO World
Heritage site. Hong Kong is notable for
its skyscrapers, and its skyline is among
the tallest and most picturesque in the
world.
Natural beauty:
The ancient limestone
pillars, caves and other rock formations
in Vietnam’s Halong Bay are spectacular
and can be explored on a traditional-
style fishing junk. The wide, white
sands of Vietnam’s China Beach (where
American GIs were airlifted for “R and
R” during the war) are set dramatically
against the backdrop of the Marble