On our Sojourn I learned Lunar New Year is a happy two week season like Easter or Christmas. Much of our journey we saw the excitement and color of the Asians celebrating their holiday at temples, restaurants, shopping and on their own vacations. Decorations of pink flowers, red lanterns, mandarin oranges and roosters were displayed from the start in Hong Kong through the end in Singapore. The temples were bustling as prayers were performing their New Year offerings and rituals.

Man Mo Temple Altar

Hong Kong Temple

It was exciting to be in the midst of the holiday frenzy as a tourist. Above are photos in Hong Kong. The following are from the Buddhist Temples of Quanzhou, China. This temple is along the famed Silk Road and right next to a mosque.

Quanzhou was an important port on the Maritime Silk road where mosque and temple next to each other represents the diversity of this city during the early centuries when the products of the orient were highly valued by the Western world.

Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China

The city of Quanzhou is nicknamed the ‘Buddhist Kingdom’ and has another temple with Golden Buddahs, a monastery and large towers which were under construction. (This seems to be a theme for many landmarks I’ve traveled to see such as the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.)

Singapore has a Chinatown too so we visited two temples on the day that they were celebrating a Jade god. The Lunar New Year is celebrated for two weeks and each day has a different meaning or god honored. We saw lion dancers in the street but I could not get a good photo. Being in Asia during one of their most highly celebrated holidays brought the temples to life and added depth to our experience of the Eastern culture.

Gung Hei fat choi my friends!

It has been a few months now and I am still processing the effects of my pilgrimage. Here is a compilation of the many visuals of this unique journey.

I am happy to say I CAN cruise! The first two days were a real test as we sailed on rough seas, so rough the performances were canceled and barf bags were hung by the elevators. Randy and I just lay in bed most of those days with our wrist bands and patches on while we complained about what in the heck we got ourselves into. All ended well though!

Right now as I am dealing with airport craziness, I am missing the staff that knew my name and would bring me drinks and bring me room service. I enjoyed getting off the ship and being lead through the rainforests and coral reefs by the friendly guides. My favorite  was the welcome performances we received in each Philippine port.

Here is just a sampling of some of the highlights of the cruise for now. Our next flight home is ready to board!