ZECO TRAVEL TALK

Amasya, Circumnavigation of Black Sea

Another great day! We split into about three equal groups for our exploration of Amasya visiting the Ethnographic Museum, the Mosque, the Archaeology Museum, and some taking a hike to see the tombs of the Pontic Kings. And lunch was up on the hillside with a beautiful view over the valley. We arrived at lunch right with the mid-day call to prayer, and the food was great…

A world-renowned colorectal surgeon and an Aleut living across the Bering Sea in the Commander Islands – these men have never met and yet they share a common interest. Any guesses?

When Russia first opened the Kamchatka area to visitors in the last decade of the 20th century, Zegrahm Expeditions was among the very first to explore the Russian Far East. Imagine what the natural wonders of Alaska were like before the U.S purchase of the territory and you can imagine what lies in store for the visitor to Kamchatka: terrific numbers of Steller’s sea eagles, brown bear, walrus, Steller’s sea lions, otters, northern fur seals, and a plethora of avian and botanical species. The geology is equally amazing. The Kuril-Kamchatka island-arc includes some 68 active volcanoes in its 2,000-km length, of which 29 are on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Read more

If you find yourself with a long layover in Singapore’s Changi Airport (5 hours or more), you can take one of the free city tours sponsored by the Singapore Visitors Centre. The tours operate on a first-come, first-served basis, last about two hours, and are conducted in English. There are six tour departures daily, starting at 9 a.m. The last one leaves at 5 p.m.

To reserve a time slot, stop by one of the Singapore Visitors Centre tour counters in Terminal 1 (next to the Nexus Lounge at Transit Mall East, Level 2); or in Terminal 2 (near Sweet Treats at Transit Mall North, Level 2). The tour counters are open daily from 8 a.m. to 4:25 p.m. This is a wonderful, visitor-friendly way for the city to promote itself and a great way to while away those long hours of waiting in-between flights.

Lebanon, Crossroads of Empires: Jordan to Crete

I’ll cut right to the chase about Lebanon. It was FABULOUS!! It was one of the best days we have had so far, a definite highlight! Baalback exceeded everyone’s expectations. We had lots of time to explore the site, and used every minute. We then had an excellent lunch with traditional Mediterranean cuisine: hummus, tabouleh, shish ka bobs, fresh pita bread, local beer and wine… all while overlooking the gorgeous, not to mention massive, site.

In the city center of Beirut we walked through the fairly modern downtown and drove along the green line and along the corniche, observing the war damage from the late 80s and early 90s. We didn’t witness much of the ‘new damage’ from last year, but the few things we did see, bridges bombed out, the detoured roads we had to travel on because the main highway was so badly damaged… all were a chilling reminder of the world we do live in. Still, we all felt very safe and the local people were so nice, kind, and welcoming. We all wished we had had more time….it was not the city we expected and we didn’t have the feeling of insecurity that we thought we would have either. It really was a wonderful day. Our ship sailed at 2300, so we had the opportunity to see Beirut by night.

Goa, Splendors of India: Chennai to Mumbai

Wow! Today we were in Goa for the festival of Holi—it was incredible. During the festival the tradition is to cover each other in flour that has been colored green, pink, purple, red, yellow, etc. so people are covered head-to-toe in brilliant colors. Even the streets were stained from the amount of powder that was thrown around. Many of the passengers and crew were painted today, as well as the Captain who came back to the ship with his face bright green! Everyone was happy to see a festival in action—it’s once a year, so very cool that we were here to witness it. (Though I’m not so sure the folks in the laundry room here on the ship are going to be so happy about their towels and washcloths…!)

Bahrain, Sands of Time

We had a busy, but excellent, day in Bahrain today. We had a packed morning with a visit to the Grand Mosque, the Bahrain Fort and the most popular of the morning…the National Museum. In the afternoon, our “photo stop” at the burial mounds turned into a fascinating visit to an excavation site. Jim pulled this off at the last minute and it was a huge success. We were able to witness the archaeological dig and the work in progress at these mounds. Following this we visited the camel farm… great for photos! They nuzzled right up to cameras, went for hats… anything they could get their lips on!