April 23, 2026

We met up with the Ship in Timor Leste or East Timor, one of the youngest countries in the World. This sovereign state just gained their independence on May 20, 2002 from prior Portuguese rule (1515 until 1975) and Indonesian occupation (1975 until 1999). The Ship was anchored off the coastal town of Dili, the capital city with a population of roughly 1.4 million.

It is such a shame that Timor Leste is not thriving, in their new independence. Civil war with Indonesia broke out over their rich oil & gas reserves, as soon as Portugal left, killing more than 100,000. Worse yet, now that they finally have their independence, their oil and gas reserves are drying up, leaving the country on the edge of collapse. Sadly becoming part of Indonesia again, is looking like their only solution. Over 50% of their population is under 35 and 42% are living in poverty, so they deeply depend on tourism and agriculture. We didn't get much time to see the Island as we flew in around 1pm and had to be processed by very slow immigration officials.  Above is our first views of the Ship - Home, Sweet, Home and some of the passing sights, as we took taxis to the tender port location. The Ship left our anchorage at 5pm heading onto our next port in Indonesia, LaBuan Bajo.

WAT BANG KUNG & TRAIN MARKET - Bangkok ,Thailand

By Pat Patrick • July 21, 2026
Wat Bang Kung Temple was a quick stop along the way to the Train Markets . What makes this unique is the Temple is completely enclosed by roots of four giant trees (a banyan, bodhi and others). From the outside, it looks like nature has swallowed the building. Inside the chapel is a golden Buddha image, that locals still visit to pray. It was quite active during our short visit there. The Temple dates back over 250 years and survived the Burmese invasion.

BANGKOK, Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

By Pat Patrick • July 21, 2026
We picked Sunday, hoping for less traffic, to explore two famous Markets. First we traveled about 1.5 hours to the Floating Markets at Damnoen Saduak . We hired a driver with a van for the day, to take the group of us. Below is some of the interesting architecture along the way.

BANGKOK, TALAD NOI Neighborhood, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • July 21, 2026
I was looking for a neighborhood to walk around in Bangkok , hoping to escape all the thousands of people and shady sex elements, that were all over the area ( Nana, Sukhumvit ), unfortunately where we booked our hotel, for supposed transit connivence. Shame on me for trusting others recommendations and not doing more research on my own, lesson learned! Thankfully Talad or Talat Noi provided that escape for me, for one night. Sadly we didn't make it there till after sunset, when a lot was closed. But I still enjoyed the quiet and chatting with Sherrie, as we explored the neighborhood's knooks and crannies.