Asia - Passports Overloaded

Dubai, UAE

September 1, 2019 – September 7, 2019

We stayed in Medinat Jumeriah for two nights and then Burj Khalifa – Armani for two nights and then one night in the Burj Al Arab.

We saw The Lost Chambers Aquarium in the Atlantis and had a backstage tour and then we saw the Dubai Aquarium in the Dubai Mall. We took a seaplane to Abu Dhabi and then went to Ferrari World Dubai than to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and then the Emirates Palace. Our last stop on the tour we visited Qasr Al Watan and the last night we ate at Al Mahara Underwater Restaurant with Nano after dinner we went up to the Sky View bar.

We flew Emirates Airlines to get to Dubai. It was the first time John and I had flown with them and boy were we pleasantly surprised. We will try and fly with Emirates as much as we can. I have a few videos of our experience at the bottom of this post.

If you would like to see where and what we ate while visiting Dubai.

Aquarium in the Dubai Mall

Palm Island

Atlantis The Lost Chambers Aquarium

Emirates Airlines

Waldorf Astoria – Jerusalem, Israel

July 15, 2018

Waldorf Astoria

Mandarin Oriental Hotel – Bangkok, Thailand

March 30th & 31st, 2014

Mandarin Oriental Hotel

Burj Al Arab Hotel – Dubai, UAE

November 22, 2011

Dubai as a whole is an amazing place to visit. Burj Al Arab is by far the fanciest hotel we’ve ever stayed in.

The lobby is very colorful.

Haifa, Israel

July 16, 2018

We woke up early to go to Masada and afterward we visited the Dead Sea Spa and went into the water which was incredible. We had lunch at the spa. After lunch, we drove to the top of a mountain to take a beautiful picture of the city and went to the ship.

July 17, 2018

Today we went to the Lebanon border and took a picture by the fence and spoke to a nice soldier. It turns out that he was half Lebanese and half Irish. At the Lebanese border is the Rosh HaNikra Grottos after the Grotto we then went to Acre (Akko) and walked through the souq and had a nice fish lunch at Abu Christo. After lunch, we went to this little town where we walked around a bit. Unforutanlety, I don’t remember the name of the town.

If you would like to see what we ate while in Israel.

Jerusalem, Israel

July 15, 2018

This is a side note about our Tour Guide Zvika he was one of the best guides we ever had. He showed us all the best Israel had to offer. His business card is the first picture below. Tell him you want The John & Maria from NY Experience. I guarantee you will have a great time!

Today we were redirected to Haifa because the Palestinians were throwing missiles into Israel at the Gaza Strip. Our tour guide Zvika Livneh picked us up from Haifa and took us to see Caesarea. After dinner, Zvika took us for a walk around Jerusalem at nighttime. I recommend doing that if you get the chance.

If you would like to see what we ate while in Israel.

Our hotel lobby at the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem

The King David Hotel where famous people have their signatures in the floor of the lobby.

Bangkok, Thailand – Canals & Royal Barges

March 30th & 31st, 2014

Today is our second to last day on the ship we have arrived in Bangkok which is an amazing city full of waterways which give this city character. From the pier, we boarded a river boat which took us along the Chao Phya River through the canals (Klongs). Along the way, we saw floating grocery stores, water taxis, teakwood houses on stilts and some temples. Our first stop on this water tour was at the Royal Barge Museum which houses the ornately decorated longboats once used for royal functions. In the pictures below you will see a picture of the Suphanahonge, gold encrusted swan-shaped barge used solely by the king.

Our next stop on the water tour was Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn. After walking up the steep stairs, we had fresh coconut milk which was delicious.

The next day we had a private tour set up where we took a James Bond style boat around different parts of Bangkok which were very cool. From our James Bond long boat, we got a chance to see The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keaw Then in a car we drove to Wat Pho which is known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The measurements are 45 meters long and 15 meters high. It’s so big it has to be viewed in sections. From there we went to see, Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya where the Buddha’s head is embedded in a tree trunk. To end our day we had a chance to ride an elephant which was decorated with a red canopy.

Maria and John – with our good friends Bill & Deepen

Saigon, (Ho chi Minh City), Vietnam – Mekong River Cruise

March 27, 2014 – Saigon – Mekong River Cruise
Today we had a river cruise scheduled which was once again something I learned about in school. Our tour bus drove us to the delta port of My Tho where the Mekong River begins. The river starts in the Tibetan Plateau and is 2,795 miles to the Mekong Delta and the South China Sea. The river has what they call Nine Dragons that fan out covered with green rice paddies and orchards of coconuts, mangos, pineapples, and bananas.

From here we boarded a motorized boat to get to our paddle boat. We paddled through the jungle which was thick with vegetation you could barely see the sky. We then stopped on a small island and saw some handmade things being sold by locals. It was quite an experience. After a short ride through the Delta, we then boarded a motorized boat once again and went back to our tour bus to the pier.

March 28, 2014 – Saigon – Private Tour
We schedule a private tour today so that we can see more things without having to deal with 40 other people. Saigon began as a small fishing village; then it was rebuilt by the French in the mid 19th century. Modern day Saigon has a population of more than seven million people and is the largest economic center of Vietnam. We visited the Huyen Khong Monastery inside a cave which was cool. After that, we just drove by the beach and visited some stores that sold marble stone statues.

Maria & John – with Captain Igor Bencina & F&B Director Adam Martindale onboard Oceania Cruises

Hue/Da Nang (Chan May), Vietnam – Da Nang & China Beach

March 25, 2014

Today we had a half day tour scheduled for the city. Da Nang is a beautiful city considering all the conflict that happened years ago. It was a major US Marine base during the Vietnam conflict, Da Nang was a strategic air and seaport, and most of the brutal fighting of the war happened there. We visited Cham Museum it housed the most extensive collection of Cham art in the world, dating back to the fifth through the 16th century. After a visit to the museum, we stop at the Han Market for a little retail therapy. The last stop was driving to Marble Mountain. This mountain was made up of five hills, each representing one of the five elements of the universe: water, wood, fire, metal, and earth. Our tour guide said that both Vietnamese and the Cham used these mountains to build shrines, so it’s picturesque with numerous grottoes, caves, and pagodas. The caves were also used by the Vietcong to hide during the war.

Hanoi (Ha Long Bay), Vietnam – Junk Boat Cruise

March 24, 2014

Today we arrived in Vietnam and began our day with a short drive from the ship to the junk pier in Ha Long city. Once there we boarded the junk boat called Phuong Hoang, this was one of the wildest boat rides we’ve ever been on. To get out of the pier, all the boats were bumping into each other hence their name Junk boats. We began our cruise in the bay which is located in the Gulf of Tonkin; Ha Long Bay is one of the world’s outstanding natural wonders. This densely concentrated zone of Karst Islands, world famous for its spectacular scenery of grottoes and caves and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We weren’t lucky with the weather it was raining and foggy, but it was still pretty.

Alphabetic Links of Where We’ve Been