June 30, 2026

Bintan Island is our last stop in Indonesia. We have seen alot of this vast country, spread across soo many islands. Again our greetings in the port are so nice and friendly! The stand out of Indonesia is truly the people.

We are here for 4 days and each day the locals have been here at our tender port handing out flowers, dancing and playing music and offering all kinds of tourism help. They don't get cruises here often but they do get a lot of visitors from Singapore to their beach resorts as it is just over an hour via ferry. Singapore just finished their school holidays for 1 month before we got here and this month the Indonesia Children are home on holidays for 1 month. Their next break for 2 weeks is at Christmas. Then they get 1 week around our Easter time. That's it for school holidays. Here the top 3 religions are Muslim, Catholic/ Christian and Buddhist.

Our first day being Sunday a lot of things were closed, so we just went into the Resort area, about a 10 minute taxi drive from Port, called Lagoi Bay, walked around, shopped a little and got some lunch and relaxed along public beach area with lots of locals.

We found an interesting grocery that had an amazing selection of snack foods and sample to try, before buying - so I decided to up my repitore. Generally all natural ingredients, high protein and low, natural sugars, but taste good is my profile.

APOPO, SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

By Pat Patrick • September 29, 2026
Before coming to Cambodia , I sadly have to admit I was unaware of the landmine problems they face. On our first night in Siem Reap, where we hiked up the hill to try and see the sunset views, there was a small band of men playing instruments and our tuk tuk driver explained to me they were victims of landmine explosions who had lost limbs or their sight and were trying to make money via donations to support their families.

Ta Prohm Temple ( AKA Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), CAMBODIA

By Pat Patrick • September 28, 2026
I rallied for our last temple of the morning, because I heard this one was unique and I think it was my favorite. Ta Prohm was built starting in 1186 by King Jayavarman VII as a Buddhist monastery and university dedicated to the king's mother. It was left mostly un-restored so that huge banyan and silk cotton trees grow directly over and through the walls. In 2001, the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie was filmed here.

ANGKOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK, CAMBODIA

By Pat Patrick • September 28, 2026
Angkor , a UNESCO World Heritage Centre , is one of the most important archaelogical sites in SE Asia . It extends over 400 square km (250 miles). It contains hundreds of distinct structural remains and major temple sites (with around 72 recognized major structures). Below are a few other temple sites we saw. The first two were from a distance, on our sunset hike, the first night.