Getting Ready

September and hurricanes have come to South Florida, so we are preparing to escape in a little over 2 weeks. We will leave WPB on Sept 18 and fly to Seattle, then set sail on the MS Amsterdam the next day. We are heading to some of the most beautiful places in the world. Alas, several are also world trouble spots.


We don't know what kind of reception we'll receive in Petropavlovsk, Russia. Will the current tensions over the Republic of Georgia affect our ability to tour this section of the Kamchatka Peninsula? Will we even be able to dock? Just how much of a hassle will the Russians give us?

And then there is the unrest in Bangkok. We are due to spend 2 days there in Mid-October but, again, don't know what the political situation will be in 6 weeks. We are looking forward to spending the night in Bangkok and even taking a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya river.

Other ports include Osaka/Kyoto Japan, Saigon, DaNang, Hong Kong and Singapore. We will meet Jon and his family there, then fly to Cambodia for a week with stops in Siem Reap [Ankor Wat] and Pnom Penh.

In the meantime, we're starting to accumulate things prior to packing: batteries, cameras, MP3s, passports, etc. All of the paraphernalia of modern travel.


We'll try to keep folks up-to-date via this blog if the technology is available on the ship, so check in after Sept 19 to find out what we're doing [or not].