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Our Viking China cruise continued to three port cities I had never heard of before.  The Chinese government seeks to increase tourism, and our cruise is one of the first collaborations with the Chinese government and Viking Cruises.  The ship's staff is 100% Chinese, and the entertainers are all Chinese.  So this particular cruise is different from the usual Viking multi-national staff.

Our ship, the Yi Dun, is named after the first Chinese commercial ship launched in 1872, the Yi Dun.

As Susan and I begin the final week of our India visit, in this blog I want to try and describe our day-to-day life during our six weeks here.  We have had such a wonderful time, that we hope to return again at the end of this year.  We played more concerts in our six weeks here than we have in the past year at home in Reno.  The positive audience reception of our Indian audiences was very gratifying.

Words are inadequate to describe India, absent firsthand experience. But I’ll try…

This blog describes a visit to ancient Petra and a conference of Middle East Nurses United in Human Caring.

Approximately one month ago, Houston, Texas was inundated by the storm surge caused by hurricane Harvey. In an unprecedented series of Atlantic hurricanes, Harvey was followed in quick succession by hurricane Irma which struck Florida, hurricane Maria which devastated Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, . . .

Our third Viking port of call was Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  As usual, several excursion choices were offered.  We chose one entitled “Walk in the Clouds.”  We boarded a bus for an hour’s drive from the coast up to the highlands of the central valley running through the country.  Our Costa Rican tour guide spoke for the whole hour as we traveled, providing many details about his country.  I remain very interested in Costa Rica, having heard that it is a popular destination for retired Americans wishing to relocate to a foreign country less expensive than the US and having a great climate.  I’m happy to continue to live in Reno, but we might want to visit Costa Rica again for a more in-depth visit...

Columbus, Georgia, is the place I spent the first two decades of life, where I attended public school. But my real "ties to the land", my "roots", are actually to the forty-acre "country place" over the stateline in Alabama across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus. It's somewhat bittersweet to visit the place, since the memories of my departed parents are everywhere. But there's still a smell, a legacy, a longing to hold onto the past, that I feel every time I visit, which is only once or twice a year.

This is a blog for those readers with an interest in technology, specifically, the cutting edge of new technology in the development of alternative energy.

Ha Long Bay Vietnam is a unique location, famous for its thousands of scenic islands in the bay.  Our tour took us to a magnificent cave inside one of the islands.  The photos from this area will tell the story better than my words.