Busan

Earlier in the cruise, the rumour was that some of the 56 people who left the cruise to escape Trami might be re-boarding in Busan but TSH and Diva saw no sign of this. Would they re-board with Kong-Rey in the vicinity? Would they meet another group who might want to get off because of the new typhoon and the lack of good ports? TSH and Diva are still baffled about why anybody would risk leaving the ship in Japan, which was itself to be affected by the weather. And most guests do not speak the language or read the script and most Japanese do not speak English or accept credit cards. And all the luggage!! How would it all work?

There has been mush development in Busan since TSH and Diva last visited, mostly consisting of clusters of extremely high rise accommodation. There are impressive bridges, well lit at night, all around the extensive harbour area.

The tour went to an unusual and very interesting temple by the sea. It was mostly built into the cliff and involved a lot of steep steps. Several Buddhas and many statues. The second call was to a skywalk - a glass walkway built out from a cliff. Diva the coward passed on that one but TSH donned his overshoes and did the walk.

Clean Japanese toilets with soap and toilet paper have now been left behind.

Racing Kong-Rey

2 super-typhoons in one cruise? At weather briefing number 4, the captain says this is unprecedented. So Silversea have persuaded the Chinese to allow the Silver Shadow to go straight from S Korea to Tianjin. Therefore, there is no need to return to Japan to make the token call after Busan in S Korea. The suggestions from the guests are becoming more feeble but someone made an attempt to persuade the Captain to call at Incheon/Seoul instead of Busan. The latter call was probably cancelled weeks ago. The Captain lost a lot of credibility when he clearly did not know (as most of the guests did) exactly where Incheon is.

Cruise Director Kirk keeps a list of the top ten silly questions asked by guests. He has a whole new set after the weather briefings on this cruise.

The plan is to head out of Busan and cruise very quickly to Tianjin, out-running the approaching super-typhoon Kong-Rey. A rough night was expected but in the event it was not too rocky, although the weather is deteriorating into low cloud and rain. No chance of Tai Chi in the open air.

TSH and Diva have used up all their Stugeron - probably unnecessarily, as they have had no problems - and are now dependent on the ship's tablets from Reception. Food and wine still excellent.