March 28, 2025

RIO DE JANEIRO - Day 5 - CARNIVAL CHAMPION'S PARADE

Apologies loyal readers - I am way behind again! Had some computer glitches and then an excursion to the Amazon (post coming) and then things just got busy. I never have enough hours in the days to do everything I want! Hopefully will be current shortly.

 

Above is partial gang of residents that took part in celebrating the end of Carnival in Rio, going to the Parade of Champions at the Sambadrome (holds 90,000 people in stands). From L to R - Scott, Gary, Delia, ?,Christy, Me and Lori. Almost everyone in the crowd dresses up in some fashion - it's the hugest party I have ever been too, and it doesn't even get started till 10 Pm at night!! Twelve Samba schools compete all week and this parade celebrates the top 6 schools. Each school (which has to have a minimum of 3,500 members)gets to perform for about an hour with full fireworks at the start of each performance and a break of about 20 to 40 minutes in between, to clean up and clear the street, for the next performance. The 6th best school starts their performance at 10 p.m. and the winners are supposed to be on by 3 a.m. However they started late, the breaks in between schools were much longer, and therefore the best teams #1 BEIJA FLOR & #2 GRANDE RIO performed in the daylight hours, finishing at roughly 8 a.m!! Only Callie (Scott's friend who is visiting) and Gary and myself made it all the way through! Shown below some more or our crowd Sheri, Bob & Sarah - our crazy section and the 3 of us, who stayed to the very end! We then had to get through the crowds and make it back to the ship - had breakfast and then the ship sailed away from port, and we slept all afternoon!

Below are some highlights of performers - I have tons of photo's & video's will add more once I get caught up.

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KUANTAN, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • October 12, 2026
Just the other day a friend asked me if I got enough down time while living this lifestyle. My answer was "you have to make it !" In the beginning, it was go, go, go, every port. We had lots of FOMO ( fear of missing out ) and we tried to cram in as much as possible at every port. Sea days, were our only down time and there were never enough. It was a tad exhausting. Now two years into this life, I can say there are some ports that just don't call me and I opt to get other things done. Kuantan, Malaysia was one of the Ports. I never got off the ship, either day we were here. I intended to this morning, but we had storms with loud thunder late into the night and then was awoken by a crew alarm around 6:45am. My energy was low, there were shuttle issues, town was an hour ride away and there is alot of air pollution, ( due to neighboring Indonesia burning organic materials, in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season ). So I bagged my plans and continued working on my never ending TO DO LIST!

Sad Passing of ODYSSEY Shipmate

By Pat Patrick • October 11, 2026
During our two years of sailing we have had several Shipmates come and go for a variety of reasons. Their health, has sadly been the reason for many departures. Cindy Harvey , would have loved to have lived out her days here on the Odyssey and even bought a second cabin and had an adjoining door added, to have a care provider, stay with her full time. However, Cindy's limited mobility, pain and confinement got to be too much - so she left us a few months ago. She went to an assisted living facility, on the coast of Oregon, to be near her family. Tragically she fell, was trying to recover, slipped into a coma and sadly passed away this week.

SANCTUARY OF TRUTH MUSEUM, CHONBURI, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • October 8, 2026
The Sanctuary of Truth Museum is the world's largest hand carved wooden castle, located on the coast of Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Thailand . Conceived in 1981 by Thai visionary Khun Lek Viriyaphun the structure is built entirely from 4 types of wood - Teak, Mai Daeng, Mai Takien & Mai Panchaat and put together using Thai nailless wood joinery - mainly dovetails, carrying poles and tongue & groove. We started the tour in the workshop where the artisan, mainly woman, were hard at work. Since conception, the Museum has been an active construction site, thus we all wore hardhats! The artisans continue handcarving sculptures and columns, daily and will most likely continue for years to come.