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Looking back through the photos while working on the web site, I was struck by not only how beautiful many of the places we visited were, but also how I didn’t really appreciate it in the moment. I’m not really sure if I’m just that jaded, from being to many other beautiful places in my life, or if it was something about how the tours operated. I think a little of both. Being shunted around on buses to spend a few minutes at some spot doesn’t allow for a full appreciation of that spot, not matter how spectacular it might be. As proof, my strongest memories of ‘beauty’ are the two spots where we spent the day on the beach. Granted, they were awfully pretty, but being able to relax and just look at it for awhile made a big difference.
The Europe river cruise was similar in we went out on a tour every day, but generally we walked through a town and spent a few hours there. We were able to go into shops and interact (to a small extent, but still) with the locals. That didn’t happen so much on this trip. I never really felt engaged with the local people or history or culture. And it didn’t help that the ‘culture’ speaker was so poor. My best guide for that part of the experience was the Michener book.
The people on the cruise seemed like more ‘professional travelers’ than on our previous trips as well. The conversation tended to center around where have you been and where are you going next, rather than any discussion of where we were or what we saw that day. That may have been a result of how the excursions operated as well though. We did meet 3 or 4 couples that we enjoyed talking to very much.
Having said all that, I really enjoyed the trip and I’m really glad we went. I found the people we *did* meet there to be generally very friendly and happy. And their resilience in the face of constant attacks by the weather was impressive. It was really nice to see governments working *for* the people and making an obvious difference (for the better) in their lives. And to see how people ‘made things work’ in often creative ways.
The Ponant crew was great. Especially our housekeeping guy, who always seemed to be around, but never in the way. The ship itself was very nice. The room worked really well. And I loved sitting up in the forward lounge. The talks by the ‘coral guy’ were really interesting. And I got to see and swim around with a sea turtle! Worth the trip just for that.
Next trip (and hopefully, there’s a next trip), I hope we can find a way to be more engaged with where we are (maybe stay in one spot for awhile), interact more with the locals, and get a better sense of what it’s like there. Perhaps an even smaller boat (like in Cambodia/Vietnam) so there’s no option but to engage with the other travelers. If it happens to be amazingly beautiful as well (in whatever way it is), that’d be ok too.
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