Battleship USS Iowa, Port Of LA

The USS Iowa served the US Navy for 50 years, from WW II through the cold war, and along with her three sister ships, is, at 880 ft, the largest battleship ever built in the US. She's now open to the public and is a very interesting ship to tour.

A Few Pix On Board The Celebrity Millennium

At ancor in Petropavlostk Bay

It was a bit chilly crossing the Bering Sea

On the galley tour

The Olympic Restaurant, original panelling from the sister ship of the Titanic,  SS Olympic 

Original Sconce, just like those on the Titanic

The lobby, all decked out for Asia

Narita Is Not Just An Airport

Actually the airport was named for the small town,  just two train stops away. It's a charming little spot with a beautiful 1000 year old Buddhist Temple complex on a hill at the towns edge. My 10 hour layover there gave me plenty of time to go check it out. It was a welcome respite after a red eye from Saigon and before another one to LA. I actually fell asleep on a bench in the park like grounds that the temple in situated in. The main deity honored is Fudomyoo, remover of anxieties, banisher of evil, and saviour from oppression. I like that!

The Temple is a bout a 20 minute walk from the train station

Shop at Narita Airport

The War Remnants Museum, Saigon

This museum features outside a collection US aircraft, tanks, gunboats etc that were seized by the Vietnamese after the war, and inside a terribly sobering and somber display of photographs depicting the horrors of the war that ravaged their country for so many years. It was a difficult experience to take in, the horrors of the war in graphic detail. The saddest were the photos of the use of Agent Orange and Napalm that were both used extensively by the Americans, inflicting great damage to the civilian population. Damage which continues to this day, due to the genetic defects passed on to the children and grandchildren of those affected by the use of such weapons. Indeed in Saigon I saw many people with shriveled or missing limbs. They've tried to sue the US makers of these chemicals (Monsanto and Dow), but the US Supreme Court has refused to hear any cases. In taking these photos I just couldn't bring myself to photo the most awful images

The Reunification Palace

Built as the Presidential Palace in 1966 under the old Republic of Vietnam, it was renamed the Reunification Palace in 1975 when the peace accord was signed in 1975 there, reuniting North and South Vietnam. It is a perfectly preserved  bit of 1960's architecture-Vietnam style. Loved seeing it.

A North Vietnamese tank crashed through these gates in 1975, causing the surrender of the South Vietnamese President, and ending the war

I love the way they trim the trees

Nice staircase, eh?

The State Dining Room

The State Reception Hall, where the Peace Accord of '75 was signed

Where the President received ambassadors

The First Lady's Dining Room

The President's Bar