TravelBio

Our next stop after Vietnam was Hong Kong, although the ship only docked there for one night. From Hong Kong the MV Explorer sailed north to Shanghai, arriving three days later. There were no classes during the trip from Hong Kong to Shanghai, and SAS students were allowed to travel throughout China meet the ship in Shanghai. Like many students, I signed up for a trip to Beijing. We departed the second day in Hong Kong and arrived in Shanghai the day before the ship left. Day 1 Henry, JR, Rob and I got off the ship at around 11 am and explored the harbor area before their FDP at 1:30. The ship was docked on the mainland and not the actual Hong Kong Island (where the main downtown area is located), but there were still lots of commercial buildings, restaurants and shops near the docks. We first found an ATM and a place for JR to exchange money and then walked through an indoor market. Afterwards Rob and JR stopped for some food while Henry and I looked at the surround...

  Day 1 Because our ship had to wait for high tide to sail upriver to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) we did not dock until around 1 pm. Henry, JR, Rob and I went into the city in search of a tailor because we wanted to get suits made. We stopped at a few places but did not find anything that looked promising, so first we decided to get a late lunch. At the restaurant where we were eating Henry saw the couple that he went skydiving with in Cape Town, South Africa! They are from Scotland and are traveling the world for 8 months, and Henry met them on his skydiving trip. Sailing up the Mekong River toward Ho Chi Minh City It was easy to tell that Vietnam's economy was up and coming A view from the docks Henry with his skydiving buddies After they talked for a few minutes we took a taxi to another part of the city with tailors and a market. We found a small shop that would make them for about $100 each, so I ordered one and Henry and JR got two (Rob ended up goi...