The End of the World

And so ends my blog for the 114 day 2010 Grand World Voyage on Holland America Line's ms Amsterdam. I am so grateful to have had such an opportunity to see the world this way, meeting many new friends along the way. I hope you have enjoyed reading it. If you have, you must e-mail me (gypsychar@hotmail.com) and let me know as I have the honor of being invited to do it again in 2011 with a whole new itinerary. I would like your feedback as to what you have enjoyed. Thanks for reading!

I have had 2 1/2 months before I return to sea to enjoy my new home. Outside my bedroom window was a blank concrete wall. I had an idea that when I am home from the ship, it would be nice to have a reminder of my life at sea. My dream has now become a reality! This is now the view looking out of my room, with my ship, the PATTONDAM:

The Final Chapter - Finally

Our last major stop on this Grand World Voyage was in Siberia Russia, a land-locked town called Petropovlask. The scenery was spectacular with an active volcano in our background.





Temperature was not what you think of when you think of cruising - a mere 30 degrees F. But everyone was well prepared. This is an old military base so the vehicles we were transported in were old military vehicles. When we arrived at their local dog sled farm, we were warmly welcomed by friendly people in native costumes. They loaded everyone on snowmobiles with trailers and took us into where the dogs lived.



We were all broken into "teams" for a dogsled race - mine was lucky team # 13 - and our guide took us around the camp where a Russian lady explained how the dogs lived - all in Russian! However there was another guide with her that translated it into English for us. But the Russian woman was so enthusiastic in her descriptions, we all hung on her every word as if we could understand her and I think for parts of it, we actually could tell what she was saying by her expressions.

The race was started and while the dogs and sleds were racing, we were entertained with some wonderful local dancers and musicians. Then they had us join in with some local dancing and relay games.






When the dogs came across the finish line - MINE WON!!! It was a fabulous day with a good time had by all. Their home made vodka added to the festivities!

Japan

Kagoshima was our first stop in Japan. On a visit to some military housing, there was a gutter on the main street that had live fish in it. They were for decoration purposes - people did not fish in these areas. The gardens are beautifully groomed all over Japan.



















Our first overnight stop was Kobe which is the port city near Osaka. Japan is very crowded but very organized. One city just runs on into the next city. We had a beautiful evening in Japanese gardens with typical Japanese cuisine - I had gotten quite good with chopsticks by this point. Dinner was followed with samari warrior dance/entertainment.














It was beautiful weather throughout Japan so the flowers were in full bloom. We did a lot of walking here to see the highlights of the city. It was interesting to find a Chinatown here in Japan. Our stop in Japan was planned to take in the lovely blooming of the Cherry Blossom trees.


















And our final stop was the most fun in Hakodote. One of the high schools let the students have the day off when the ship was in port. The girls were all available at the visitors center to answer questions and direct us tourists around their charming city. There was one corner with 4 totally different styles of churches - one on each corner. This was a chance for the giggly girls to practice using their English skills. This was probably the most enjoyable day in Japan - a great way to end our visit there - in spite of the snowflakes!

South Korea

Our next stop was Cheju City, in island on the south side of South Korea that is very popular for honeymooners and warm-weather vacationers. I didn't make it to the beaches but did make it into the market in the city.