Hailey’s Nudist Diary

I have another book out. Feel free to buy several copies. It's not actually called “Hailey's Nudist Diary”. The first one was
Hailey's Bali Diary because of the blog title. Both of those titles make sense. This blog is almost like my Hong Kong diary. At least that's the way it started out. The Bali book is told almost in a diary form.

The Cruise book is a little different. There's nothing diary about it. I didn't want to put my name in the title. It just would not sound right.

Nudist Cruise isn't the greatest title either, but at least you know what you get.

Shanghai

The old side of Shanghai
This was right in front of the boat



The new side of Shanghai
This was right across the river from the boat



Pudong



The Bund

Xiamen part 1

Nanputuo Temple



Nanputuo Temple



Yungdangnei Lake
Bailuzhou Park



One of the old mansions on Gulangyu



Gulangyu is a mix of old buildings and new surveillance

Bangkok part 1

The view from the Banyon Tree Hotel facing north



Wat Pho



One of the floating markets



The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

Cruise part 9

I've been typing about the cruise like crazy. I think it might be good therapy for my hand. When I force myself to move it around a lot, it just doesn't feel right. While typing about the cruise, I'm not forcing anything. I'm trying to keep up. I just can't type fast enough to say everything I want to say. With all this exercise, my hand should be pretty strong in no time.

The doctors wanted me to squeeze a ball, but I think typing is better therapy.

Cruise part 8

This cruise book turned out longer than I expected. I thought it would be a short little book like Hailey’s Bali Diary – buy your copy today. That one is about 39,000 words. The cruise book is 88,000, more or less. Page count is relative. Word count is what all the experts use.

I never thought about turning the Bali trip into a book until after I wrote a blog post that was too long to be a blog post. I thought about turning the cruise into a book before I even went on the cruise. The first draft was written before I stepped foot on the boat. Obviously, there were changes after I actually took the cruise, but I started from something rather than a blank page. I don't know if that's better or worse, but that's the way it worked out.

Cruise part 7

Someone told me that taking a cruise is really the worst way to travel. I don't know about that. It's certainly not a great way to experience a different city. You only spend eight or ten hours in each city, so you're never going to learn anything about the people and their culture. Most passengers on cruises just go to the main tourist sights and do a lot of shopping. I agree that is not any kind of meaningful travel. That's more for tourists than travelers.

Our cruise started in Shanghai, stopped in Xiamen, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh and ended in Bangkok. I went straight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, so I didn't see much of the city. We were in Xiamen for nine hours, so obviously I didn't learn everything there is to know about Xiamen. In fact, I still don't really know anything about the place. I know it's crowded and dirty and it gets unnecessarily hot in June. We were in Hong Kong for ten hours, but I live here, so that wasn't the highlight of the trip for me. We were in Ho Chi Minh for eight hours, but I didn't even get off the boat. I learned nothing about Ho Chi Minh.

We spent the most time in Bangkok because that's where the cruise ended. We stayed in a hotel for a few days after the cruise. That's not a long time, but it's better than eight hours. So now I know more about Thailand than Vietnam, but obviously I'm no expert.

If you want to know everything there is to know about wherever you're going, don't take a cruise. Then again, a two week vacation in a western hotel isn't going to tell you everything there is to know about the place either. I've met a lot of people who went somewhere for a week or two and think they are experts. I've lived in Hong Kong for over two years and I'm not even close to being an expert.

Seeing other cities is not the main point of a cruise. When you fly somewhere, the destination is the journey. The flight is mostly stale air and airport bullshit. When you take a cruise, the journey is the destination. Or something like that. The main point of a cruise is what you see and do on the ship. The stops in exotic cities are a bonus.

Cruise part 6

I came home from the cruise Monday night. It was amazing. There's nothing else to say.

Actually, there's plenty more to say about it. I've already started to write about the trip. Technically, I started writing before I even boarded the ship. I think I might end up with another short book like I did with Bali, or maybe not. It's too soon to say, but I started writing before I even went on the cruise, as if there would be a book someday. Actually taking the cruise helped me fill in the gaps.

I highly recommend taking a cruise if you ever get the chance. It's not the best way to see places. Most cruises only dock in a city for about ten hours. Imagine going to Paris for ten hours. You would learn nothing. Some people come to Hong Kong for ten hours and think they know something about the city. They don't. But a cruise is a great way to have a relaxing vacation. It's like being in a four or five star hotel that always has great views and all the food you can eat. And the hotel moves around from city to city. The people who work on cruise ships are far more attentive than people who work in hotels, at least in my experience. I don't stay at the Four Seasons or any of those hotels with private butlers. On a cruise, you are in a fancy hotel, even if you have the cheapest room. People who go on cruises want to be pampered and cruise crews make sure everyone wants to come back for more.

Cruise part 5

I'm going to Shanghai tomorrow. I already looked up information about Bangkok back when we were thinking about going there a few months ago. I'm relatively confident our time there will go smoothly. I never did any research for Shanghai. I won't be in the city long since that's where the cruise sets sail. I could probably go early, but Ryan won't be there until the ship docks a few hours before it leaves. I'd rather spend more time in Bangkok with him than more time in Shanghai by myself. I'm sure Shanghai is a worthwhile destination on its own, but I'm essentially using it as a transportation hub on this trip.

I don't know anything about Xiamen. I should probably look up something.

Cruise part 4

Ryan should be in Xiamen by now. Maybe he can tell me something about it before I go there on Tuesday.

As it turns out, you can get Vietnam visas online. You fill out the forms online and then when you are physically in the country, they either stamp your passport and let you in or they don't. It's more dangerous than sending them your passport and having them send it back with a visa attached, because you don't know if you're approved or not until you get there, but it's much faster. It all works out for me since I need my passport to get to Shanghai. This way, I will always have it, but I won't know if I can go into Vietnam until we get there. I don't even know if I want to since Ryan will not have a Vietnam visa.

Somehow, in the middle of airlines and visas, I found a nice hotel in Bangkok at the last minute. Now we just need our plane tickets from Bangkok to Hong Kong.