This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 After arriving in the port city of Fukuoka, we went up into the mountains to the birthplace of Japanese porcelain — Arita. I wanted to come here for two reasons: (1) I’m a clay kinda guy and seeing how others perform their art and…
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This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 After visiting Busan, South Korea, the remaining Asian parts of our cruise will all be in three of the four islands of Japan. Today, we started by visiting Nagasaki, Japan on the island of Kyushu. Nagasaki is both the capital and largest city of…
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This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 Today we stopped in Busan for the day. It’s been nearly 50 years since I’ve been here and I have to say, I could barely recognize the place. Like so many other Asian cities, there has been a massive growth spurt over the past…
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This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 Today we stopped in Jeju Island, Korea which is located a little over 50 miles off the Korean Peninsula. It is very mountainous given its volcanic origins and, in fact, there are 360 volcanic domes over its 45 mile length (and 25 mile width)….
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This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 One our first day in Incheon, we decided to go visit the DMZ, or Demilitarized Zone. We’ve all heard about the DMZ, but may not know the history of it, how it is today, and what can you really see of North Korea. The…
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This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 After leaving Okinawa, we had three sea days to relax, attend a bunch of lectures, etc. on our transit to Tianjin, China, the jumping off point for our overnight tour of Beijing. Of course, Tianjin is nearly two hours away from Beijing, so we…
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This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 After the excitement from yesterday and our sad inability to explore one of the remote islands in Okinawa Prefecture, we were excited to arrive in Naha to do some exploring. Rather than take one of the ship-sponsored tours, we got a private guide, Hiromi,…
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We were looking forward to a day in Miyakojima. After a week of hustle and bustle in Taiwan, the idyllic beaches, reefs, caves, and other exotic nature seemed like just the right thing. Excited, we left the ship and cleared Customs. Just as we got outside, my phone gave an Earthquake alert, centered not far…
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This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 We have just finished two days in Keelung and Taipei, Taiwan. Keelung is the port city that serves Taipei and it is interesting in its own right. Surrounded by mountains and the coast, Keelung is a natural port and also an excellent defense from…
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This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024 Okay, how many of you have ever heard of the Penghu Islands? Neither had I, but being from an island in the middle of a massive archipelago, I wanted to see these islands. The archipelago here contains 90 islands, with the main island called…
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