Bucket List Cruises: Asia

 

Asia has long been on my travel bucket list. But how do you begin to plan an itinerary that encompasses such a huge area?  One solution is cruising.  There are many options as far as cruise lines to sail with, length of sailing, and of course there are many ports of calls spread out between many countries. Let me share with you why an Asia cruise made my bucket-list.

 Southeast Asia is packed with ancient forts, historic cities, and towering temples. With the wide range of religions in Asia, (Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism & Islam to name a few), there’s impressive architecture all around. Temples and worship sites incorporate the influence of nature, even being carved as tunnels out of mountainsides. Most of Southeast Asia’s great temples were built by the 13th century! There are the pagodas of Bagan in Myanmar, the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and thousands of ancient temples and war relics in Vietnam.

Bucket List Cruises: The Galapagos Islands & Machu Picchu

 

The Galapagos Islands is on my cruise bucket-list destination for good reason: This archipelago 620 miles off Ecuador’s coast in the Pacific Ocean is a double World Heritage site (both land and sea are protected) and served as the inspiration for Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. And when I found out Celebrity Cruises had a land extension package to Peru which included Machu Picchu I was doubly excited!

 There is so much to do on a Galapagos Island cruise vacation.  Hiking, bird watching, beach snorkeling, kayaking, and scuba diving immediately come to mind. But I confess, the biggest reason for why I want visit the Galapagos Islands is definitely to see the animals! Most of those animals in the Galapagos Islands can only ever be found on these islands.

 The Galápagos sea lion is a species of sea lion that breeds on the islands. They’re pretty social critters and are often spotted sun-bathing on sandy shores or rock groups or swimming through the surf. I’ve heard them called the unofficial welcoming party of the Galapagos Islands!