Otaru

May 7

I think Otaru was one of my favorite stops. This lovely little town has ski hills overlooking the city and beautiful arts and crafts stores along the canal. I guess it reminded me of home.

Many antique warehouses in the old city along the harbour have been restored and now house restaurants, microbreweries and glass blowing shops. We spent the day wandering and enjoying the sites.

Hakodate May 6

When I think of this town I'll always think of the incredible fish market we visited! The fish was very clean and fresh - actually a lot of it was still alive! They had every type of crab imaginable, squid, tuna, sea urchins, anything a person could possibly want. A few crabs were trying to escape their tanks but the vendors just caught them and put them back! It was an experience I'm happy to have had.

Tokyo May 4th

Tokyo was an amazing city. It was a holiday week so everyone was out celebrating their day off. It made for streets that were probably even busier than usual.

Our "mission" was to find the Harley Davidson shop in Shibuya. I'm happy to say we succeeded! When we got out of the train station it looked pictures of Times Square in New York. People every where and huge digital bill boards covered the sides of the buildings. One incredible thing is Shibuya is only one small area of this gigantic city. It sure makes all our cities seem small!

When we got back to Ginza they'd closed off several blocks of the city and it was wall to wall people. I have to admit I found it rather over whelming.

These fire boats welcomed us to the harbour. For the holiday they shot pink and blue water out of their cannons. This picture is from the morning when they hadn't found their colors yet!

Kagoshima

April 30

This was our first stop in Japan. We were quite a ways south and docked across from this active volcano. I don't know how I missed adding this stop!

Kyoto Chion-in Temple

May 2
We traveled from Kobe to Kyoto for the day and experienced a lovely transition from new Japan to old. We went from the monorail, to a railway, and then to a subway before we walked around the ancient Nijo Castle. It was originally built in 1605 and contains the Honmaru and Ninomaru Palaces. We walked on a Nightingale floor and enjoyed the lovely squeaking sound we made as we toured the palace. The gardens were exquisite and the spring flowers were in bloom. The rock work was incredible considering when the walls and buildings were constructed. It must have been a magical time in Japanese history when the shoguns lived in these wonderful palaces.
Another stop was the Chion-in temple where we enjoyed the lovely stairs and hills of this large and gorgeous complex. The ancient cemetery was beautiful and peaceful. I think this was one of my favorite places in Kyoto because it was good to see so many local people enjoying their day off at such a spiritual place.

Nijo Castle Kyoto May 2

Castle walls and moat

Sunday May 17

Hey everyone
Sorry for the delay. I missed getting on the Internet for awhile so I'm a little behind! We are now in Alaska and will be home on Wednesday. I'll add Japan when I get on next time. Slow but sure!
The trip accross the North Pacific was fun! A little rough but we didn't mind. We got to live through May 11th twice when we crossed the International Date Line! Does that make us a day older than we'd normally be?
Hope everyone is well.
Love Blair and Kelly

South Korea

Here's our wonderful welcome to Korea. These lovely ladies were on the dock at 7am when we arrived!

Cheju City, South Korea

April 29th
Cheju City is a lovely little city on the island Chejudo. The Island’s called the Hawaii of South Korea because of its many resorts and beautiful beaches and tourist activities. We went down the Manjanggul lava tube and got a chance to see the inside of this fascinating cave. We also visited Seongeup, an old style folklore village that had interesting thatch houses and a great wall protecting it.

It was fun seeing the island in our taxi with our non-speaking English driver. He was awesome once we learned that he/we? were looking at our map upside down, so we made a major detour on our trip! The visit was a wonderful change from the large cities of China with their people, traffic and noise!

Dalian China April 27

Dalian was our last stop in China. This small city (only about 9 milllion) has been opened to the west for awhile but is still a little rough around the edges! We went to the Russian Street but it was very touristy. We enjoyed wandering the other streets where the shops felt like they were a little more authentic. It was interesting with its wonderful smells and colors.

Ming Tomb China

The Ming Tomb just outside of Beijing. The emporer built it before he died and then had them bury everything. This was one of the first tunnels they dug up when they were excavating the site. We had to go through security and then down into the hill side to see the actual tomb.

The Great Wall

We made it to one of the wonders of the world! It really was amazing.

Aomori City Japan

May 8th
It`s our last day in Asia! Where has the time gone? We will have to come back some day and do some more exploring!
We had a lovely welcome this morning and I got interviewed for their tv. I guess they don`t get too many cruise ships here! I got my picture taken with the local mascot so will post it next time.
We leave today for six sea days on our way to Alaska! No stop in Russia but we do get to repeat a day when we cross the International Date Line! Once we`re in Kodiak I`ll be sure to upload our latest pics and get caught up with everyone via email.
Take care, love Kelly

Beijing

April 25-26th
We spent the night in Beijing (hardest bed I’ve ever slept on!) and were fortunate enough to see quite a few sights in the area. We walked the Great Wall, saw the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and visited the Ming Tombs!! The drive to the city was beautiful and we saw how they built things up for the Olympics. The infrastructure was impressive and the landscaping was gorgeous.
It was a trip I’ll remember for a very long time because it’s one of those places everyone puts on their life time to do list. It was an incredible feeling knowing that we had actually made it and experienced this awe inspiring part of the world. They call the Great Wall China’s largest cemetery and when you see it for the first time you start to appreciate the immense history and effort that must have gone into building it. It was interesting seeing all the local tourists visiting as well. When I think of what a small part we actually saw, it makes me realize once again how large China is!
These are pictures of the Forbidden City. I`m running out of time so this is it for now. We:re thinking of you all and look forward to seeing everyone soon!
Love Kelly

Shanghai

April 21-22, 2009
We thought Hong Kong was big until we got to Shanghai! Estimates range between 18 and 21 million people in this one city. I’ve never seen anything like it. The apartments went on and on for miles and miles. I finally have an idea of just how many people there are in this amazing country.
We were fortunate enough to go to a beautiful, ancient, water city outside Shanghai. Zhouzhuang had criss-crossed waterways, lovely bridges and interesting little alleys going off in all directions. Our English speaking guide made our trip that much better. We also got to enjoy a visit to four floors of amazing exhibits at the museum.
Yu Yuan Gardens were exquisite! This wonderful display was built in 1559 and was originally a private garden during the Ming Dynasty. There was a different view around every corner with pavilions, terraces, ponds, rockeries and wonderful walkways. Once done there we spent some time “circling” the old town market before walking back to The Bund and the ship. I hope you like the pictures. It was difficult choosing from the hundreds we took!
I have to mention the river as well. It was as close to a freeway as I’ve ever seen. Steady traffic of commercial boats 24/7. When we left they had to close it down so we could completely turn around and head out under the bridge! It took three hours to navigate out of the river and past all the apartments to the sea.
Beijing is next! We had a pleasant surprise on this last leg of the trip! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted an Argyle science shirt up by the pool. Scott and I will have to get caught up with all the happenings at work and back home while we cruise from here to Vancouver. Not the best Spring I hear! You had snow on April first? We haven’t seen any yet but don’t know what Alaska will bring.
Take care, love Kelly and Blair

Yu Yuan Garden in Shanghai

April 22

Zhouzhang Water Town April 21

Hong Kong April 18

Wow! I think we broke a record for the number of things we managed to do in one place in only 8 hours! Our day started with a trip on the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island. After a short walk we took the tram up to Victoria Peak. Our timing was pretty good because we beat the clouds and actually had a bit of a view. The wind came up so we went back down and got a taxi to Aberdeen. We took a sight seeing Sampan and did an hour’s tour of the harbor before heading off to Stanley Market on the other side of the island. It was an incredible day because there was a celebration for the sea goddess and there were flags on all the boats and people were partying and having parades all over the place! After taking the double-decker bus back to the ferry (over a very curvy, hilly road), we got back to Kowloon and went to the flower and bird markets. I hope you like the pictures! We took so many the battery died in the camera!

Hong Kong

Aberdeen