EmmJays Travel Journal

October 2005

My travel companions, Margaret and Caroline had itchy feet in September 2005, so they decided that a trip around the Pacific Rim was in order. I had no intention of joining them as I was planning a flight to Australia in December to visit my brothers for their 50^th birthday. The emails were relentless and they finally convinced me that I could reach Sydney by ship instead of enduring that ghastly 20 hour flight to Australia.

I flew from Toronto to Seattle, Washington one day prior to the ships departure and stayed at Margaret's home. Caroline joined us the next day and Glenn drove us to a hotel where we met with our travel club. We had a lovely meal that evening as we reacquainted ourselves with friends. On October 6^th at 5pm, the Ms Amsterdam left Seattle with every cabin filled, 1300 passengers in all. We three shared a cabin as we had always done in the past. We had the sharing routine down pat, so adjusting to each others needs was never an issue. We shared the limited space with a great deal of good humour.

We had six days sailing the most northern parts of the Pacific Ocean en route to the east coast of Russia, via the scenic Aleutian Islands. In these northern waters during the month of October it is cold. Winter was announcing its approach. We spent these days involved in every activity the ship offered. Movies, crafts, ballroom dancing, golf, ping pong, yoga, crosswords, stretching exercises, aerobics and port info sessions. We made good use of the library and the internet. Friends gathered in the evening before dinner to exchange updates from home. We crossed the International Dateline on October 12^th.

Petropavlovsk, Russia

Since WWII Petropavlovsk has housed Russia's nuclear submarine fleet. The peninsula was only opened to visitors in 1991. Today, the city has a population of 200,000, roughly half of the population in the entire Kamchatka peninsula. We arrived at 8am and the authorities were on board to take possession of our passports. The gangplank was lowered after preliminaries had been finalized. We disembarked into the cool air to be warmly greeted by University students offering to be guides.

We were approached by two young ladies and we decided to accept their offer. They took us for a walk into town where we stopped at a statue of La Parouse. The French explorer had mapped the coastal area. We walked to an arcade for a bit of shopping and stopped at a cafe for a coffee and cake. We offered to pay for the girls but they would have none of it and they paid for us. We then walked to the university where we caught a local bus to the crafts market. The young ladies chatted to us all the way and told us that it helped them with their English (they spoke beautiful English). After the market we were back on the bus heading to another area of town. We explored the area and chatted some more. We walked down to the rock covered beach before the ship was scheduled to leave. We offered to pay the girls for their guided tour and they would take no money. Hugs all around and we left the port at 4pm.

Aomori, Japan

Aomori is located at the northern tip of the Japanese mainland. It means 'Blue Forest' in Japanese and 60% of the prefectures land is filled with thick forest. The area was declared a world heritage sight by UNESCO in 1993. Two days at sea preceded our arrival in Japan. We chose to enjoy the city on foot. We started by walking into town and along the main street. The humongous sized fruit caught my eye. The apples were the size of soccer balls and were beautifully displayed by the grocers. I wondered if they were real so I got as close as I dared , to take a sniff. I thought it unwise to touch anything. As I did this the shop owner greeted me with the typical bow and asked me in English if I wanted to buy. I asked if the fruit was real and she picked one up and sliced off a sliver. I assumed that this meant I had just bought this giant apple and I guess it showed clearly on my face. She said that a taste is a tradition and that I was not obligated to buy. It was delicious and I asked Margaret and Caroline if they wanted to share it but they did not, so the lady just bowed and smiled. She said not to worry, the apple would not go to waste. The weather was warm and we enjoyed our day just browsing. The following day we sailed through the Tsugaru Kaikyo Strait to Yokohama.

Yokohama/Tokyo Japan

We docked at 6am and the wharf was packed with people. The Mayor had arranged for a children's choir to sing for us as traditionally clad dancers performed so gracefully. The decks were lined with passengers as we watched and showed our appreciation with warm applause. A band of school girls, no more than 12 years old played several musical numbers as well as any adult band.

Our first stop was the Isezakicho shopping centre where we went to the massive food court. The food is packaged like Christmas gifts and is worth it just to see it. We bought a few small delicacies to taste and they were indeed delicious.

We were feeling brave so Margaret, Caroline, our friend Pat from a previous trip and I decided to take on the Japanese subway system. We entered a station and I bought tickets for us all to the main station in downtown Yokohama from an automated ticketing machine, by looking at icons on the screen. On having successfully reached the main train station without getting lost, I purchased tickets to Tokyo for us all from yet another automated ticket machine, once again using the icons on the screen.

We were now traveling by the main railway system not the subway so it was imperative that we get on the right train. I found the platform and we waited for the train. I was a bit nervous so I asked a man who was standing on the platform if he spoke English. He said, of course. I asked him if this was the correct platform and he nodded and asked me where I was from. The guy had spent several years in Toronto and knew it well. The planet is definitely shrinking!

In Tokyo we walked along the main streets, had lunch on a side street and then just explored the city for several hours after that. I made sure I remembered the route back to the main train station and was successful in relocating it for our journey back to Yokohama. I found the platform and we were seated opposite an elderly Japanese couple who struck up a conversation. We chatted the entire journey back to Yokohama. The subway was next, and on having managed not to get lost at all in this crowded chaotic system, we all had a sigh of relief when we could see the ship. I was now pronounced 'the' navigator for the rest of the trip. We wondered around Yokohama until it was quite dark and we felt very safe. Even though we had to walk back to the docks we never felt ill at ease here. We spent the evening on board with our friends who thought we were nuts. The ship left at 1am the next morning.

Osaka, Japan

We enjoyed a full day at sea prior to pulling into Osaka harbour. When we left the ship at 8am everything was closed so Margaret and Caroline headed for the phone booths to call home. I wondered around the harbour terminal, which was quite vast until I found a little alcove where a photographer was taking pictures of a lady wearing an extravagant Japanese kimono. It was made of silk and was very ornate. I watched them and he invited me to try the garment on. I was hesitant and the lady beckoned me to do so. I put my arms through the large sleeves and then she wrapped it around me and applied the centre sash. It was surprisingly heavy. He took two photos and gave them to me. I offered to pay and he said no. It was his pleasure and they both welcomed me to Osaka.

I met up with Margaret and Caroline and we walked down the main street to China Town. All big cities have a China Town and Osaka was no different. It took a full two hours to explore it and we then found ourselves in a very large shopping mall. Everything was marked in Japanese however if you wanted to buy, a person who spoke English would be summoned to assist. We left the mall after having browsed for a while and we made our way down the main street in front of the harbour. We bought some yen and purchased a few small items from a little store we found in one of the back streets.

Nagasaki, Japan

It took a full day and night of sailing the Inland Sea of Japan to reach Nagasaki. The ship docked at 7am and we were off exploring as soon as the gangplank was lowered. It was just the day to stroll about in the warm sunshine and watch boats come in and out of the harbour.

Cheju City, South Korea

The ship had docked several miles from the downtown area so we had quite a walk to make it into town. The town was hilly but we did eventually make it to the main square. It was not a very interesting place so we just checked out the market and a few of the main streets.

Dalian, China

The previous day we crossed the Yellow Sea. We were in the People's Republic of China, a communist country with approximately 600 million inhabitants. Dalian is a large bustling city which does not appear haphazard in its design. The main square was a traffic round-about that one entered with reckless abandon. Vehicles of all sizes enter and merge into its 10 lanes, then they dart across the lanes to execute their exit. I did not think we were going to get out alive.

The Chinese have 'western' shops for visitors. They provide high end goods to the visitor at high end prices. We browsed for a while then went out the back door. We walked up the street and entered a Chinese department store for a look around. It was multi-storey with mostly clothes, none of which would fit anybody larger than a size 2. There was perfume from Paris and jewelery from all over the world. The store had very few shoppers. Where was the 'real' China town? Everywhere in the world has a China town, except China!

Xingang, China

Xingang is the gateway to Beijing. Beijing has existed in one form or another since the 12^th century BC, and is currently the capital of the People's Republic of China. Margaret and Caroline had been to see the Great Wall of China before so they were not interested in seeing it again. They chose to take a two day excursion to Beijing to visit the Forbidden City and The Tomb of the Imperial Soldiers. I chose to spend my day visiting the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall of China. Pat came with me and it was beyond fantastic.

We drove for several hours and passed a lot of shanty towns. These are rural people who come into Beijing to work. They have no money for accommodations so they live in these makeshift living quarters. The government had just taken over the property of over one million residents of Beijing for the Summer Olympics scheduled for August 2008 and these people had received no compensation. They too were probably in one of these shanty towns. As we got closer to Beijing the streets were in much better condition and there were workers planting mature trees along the side of the road. When we gained access to the highway that was to take us through Beijing we got mired in the traffic. It was moving at about 15km/hour for several kilometers. Having cleared Beijing we left the main highway for a drive out in the countryside.

The Ming Tombs were in a Palace type surrounding. There were some beautiful artifacts dating back to the Ming Dynasty and the displays were nicely presented. We spent about two hours exploring the facility and then we motored on to the Great Wall.

The Great Wall which was in the distance was visible from the road as we headed up into the hills. It covers approximately 5000 km and was built during the 7th century. Within the hour we were at the entrance to the Great Wall of China. The path that is inside the wall goes at two different grades from the entrance. I climbed as far as I could go on the steep side and took a ton of video. Pat strolled in the opposite direction and we met several hours later for the trip back to the ship. I bought a brass bell, a jade dragon and a gift for one of the ships waiters.

The experience is one not to be missed.

For the next two days we sailed the Yellow Sea off China's coastline.

The month of October 2005 had come to an end.