May 7, 2025

SAN BLAS ISLANDS, Off coast of PANAMA

I had never heard of the 365 San Blas Islands and cays before, but once I did and read & saw how remote, untouched and beautiful they are, I was very excited to check out. Only 49 of islands are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of Panama, east of the canal. A part of the Guna Yala  district along the Caribbean coast of Panama and home to the indigenous Kuna people. The Kuna live in huts made of straw and bamboo, with a few solar panels thrown in. They have rejected commercial tourism and development and mainly survive by selling their handcrafted wares ( textile art forms called Mola) passing tourist, in either the ports surrounding, or cruisers  passing through their islands. 


 I was hoping to be able to shuttle over to Isla Perro ( Dog Island) because the snorkeling was suppose to be amazing. However the water swells in the islands were too much for us to safely leave the area closest to where the ship was anchored. The Captain and crew struggled to even get the tenders safely in the water for us, but they prevailed and we were able to go ashore, to one of the larger islands,  for a few hours but they didn't want us to stray any further, in case we needed to pull up anchor quickly. I did enjoy meeting and seeing the Kuna people at their homes. The women are so tiny and the children so cute, sweet and curious.

View more

ENTERING HONG KONG HARBOR

By Pat Patrick • September 1, 2026
On Saturday August 29, 2026 we achieved another historic milestone on this circumnavigation of the World , we cruised into Hong Kong Harbor. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. The land encompassed by Hong Kong is confusing. It includes part of the southern coast of mainland China, just below Shenzhen, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories . Looking at a map helps, but the rules changed so many times! I asked my buddy Chat several times, to tell me if what I was looking at was the Hong Kong that the British had owned for years. The answer was never straight forward!

HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • August 31, 2026
Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is one of those bucket list places I have had in my sights for years. It's the iconic picture in my mind's eye, whenever I think of Vietnam . We had made plans to go with 8 others on a brand new, swanky Red Dragon Junk boat for a harbor cruise and overnight stay, but sadly the weather did not cooperate the whole 4 days we were in port. No ships were permitted to sail, per the local government. Many of us were bummed! This is typhoon session and there was a lot of rain and high winds our first couple of days - we were hoping it would blow out the last day and we could at least do a day trip but no luck! 

HAI VAN PASS to HUE, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • August 30, 2026
To get to the final stop on our Vietnam FUN Tour in Hue, we had our driver take us on the scenic route called the Hai Van Pass. This 3 hour drive took us back through Da Nang and then into mountains and along coast for what is generally a very scenic route. Unfortunately for us, it was mainly covered in clouds and fog.