We are now sailing into Ho Chi Minh City and we are both excited and a bit apprehensive. Our last port, Semarang, Indonesia was beautiful chaos. It’s nice to see that there are still places that haven’t been sanitized. Not one Starbucks or Mickey D’s in sight.

That isn’t to say that it made it easier. Particularly with a wheelchair. There were a few moments on the tour that I thought we would have to turn around, but determination and some help from our friends kept us going. We both knew that during this trip it would be more challenging to navigate the onshore excursions, and Semarang lived up to our expectations. This city isn’t a big cruise port, and most to the tours went outside the city to the hills and temples of Java.

The old town felt a bit like stepping back in time. The remnants of Dutch colonialism still prominent, but almost completely absorbed by Javanese life. One of the great parts of the cruise are the lectures during our days at sea. We are learning a lot about the geography (volcanos), nature, history, culture, and modern life of the places we visit. I like to think that my world view is pretty broad, but with SE Asian history, I haven’t even scratched the surface.

After old town, we went to visit Kampung Pelangi or Rainbow Village. Once a slum, the community took some paint, and turned the village hung on the slope of a hill into a kaleidoscope and an instant tourist destination. I wish we had been able to wander the warren of alleys, but the wheelchair and the hill proved impossible. We saw what we could, and our group was on it’s way. The last stop we skipped and stayed on the bus. It was getting late and we were both beat.

Our return to the ship took longer than expected.