Stephen's Thoughts

One rosette Michelin restaurant. Chinese. Christmas Eve Dinner. Carolers were timely and amazing. Silent Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, and Feliz Navidad. All sung acapella with appropriate mood in four-part harmony.

There is much to appreciate as service levels on this cruise, from a multinational staff, were world class at every step.

From the Seabourn Encore pool deck TIMDT contemplates walkway she traversed this AM on way to tour bus. Respiratory compromised, TIMDT, has shown good, even surprisingly good, stamina throughout this trip.

Big Buddah has concrete innards with the outside being layered in polished four-inch square, quarter inch thick, marble plates from a Myanmar quarry. Our guide said that most of the workers on this project come from Myanmar. The cost of the statue was raised from private donations. There is no shortage of new religious edifices and monuments going up in the world. The magnificent Sheikh al Zayyad Mosque in Abu Dhabi is one that comes to mind. The Mormons are putting up quite a lot of temples around the world. Seemingly paradoxically, Russia builds more Christian churches today than any other country.

How we in the West reconcile Islam's militant threat with the fact that most Muslim's live ordered, peaceful lives is a question requiring better answers than we have come up with so far, particularly as Islam has higher birth rates than Western countries and the fact that Islamic immigration to Western countries grows apace.

Notes from three days at sea on Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea between Kochi, Kerala and Sebang, Aceh.

Inconceivable would be a visit to Kochi without TIMDT buying more tablecloths at Anokhi.

A pick-me-up on "at sea" days is visually connecting with family, real time while on opposite sides of the globe. Koessler has done a magnificent job staying in touch with his mom over the years.

Shave and a haircut six bits.

Tea, Persian Gulf.

We went to the "top" of this building ten years ago. Today, we'll enjoy seeing it from a distance as we relax by the pool.

Koessler Family.