1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #360 - Ketchikan, Alaska

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #360

- Ketchikan, Alaska

(It is regarded as the salmon capital of the world, but Ketchikan is, in truth, a smallish Alaskan town. We took the day-off from any cruise-designed shore excursions and instead, strolled through the main parts of town. We found Alaskan coffee and just as precious, free wifi! We opted out of the cruise ship's U$99 all-you-can-use wifi and saved the money for crabs instead. We completed the Alaskan 3-some crabs here - the Dungeness crabs, after tasting the king crab at Icy Strait and snow crab at Juneau. Our verdict - the king crab is still the best. We still had one question we couldn't get an answer for - why is salmon so expensive in the salmon capital of the world? Even the sashimi salmon was advertised for U$12 for 5-6 slices. We smelled a fish here..)

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #359 - Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #359

- Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska

 

(The Mendenhall Glacier required us to hike for 20min to get to it. But this trek was both pleasant and informational, as the guide showed us the sites where this retreating glacier was last there - it has retreated over 2.5km since 1958. The Nugget Waterfall beside it made it look extra scenic. With a piece of the crystal ice melt in hand, I have now held two 300year-old pieces of ice from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres within 3 months. That's quite a record for someone who has not even seen a glacier before, let alone, holding such old glacial ice on her hands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #358 - Humpback Whales, Juneau, Alaska

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #358

- Humpback Whales, Juneau, Alaska

 

(Unique places usually define our travels such as Machu Picchu or Galapagos. But this time, for Alaska, we have to say it's the humpback whales at Juneau, its capital city. Arriving early at 9am at Juneau, we began our shore excursion and were quickly whisked off in a small group of 14 people and onto a converted dinghy or zodiac boat - which turned out to be pefect for whale-watching. And boy, did we see these massive beauties - the whales breached so many times we really had our money's worth. Coupled with another sunny morning - described as "very rare" by our guide - the humpbacks, a mum and her baby, were simply awesone in both power and magnificence. They were literally flying submarines, pushing their 36,000kg, 15metre long bodies off the surface. That truly require tail-fin power. This excursion is our top-of-this-holiday's new experiences list! Just look at those beauties..)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #357 - Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #357

- Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

 

(A glorious morning greeted us as our Celebrity ship moved ever closer to one of the main highlights of our cruise - the Hubbard Glacier, at 60.3degree latitude, just 6deg before the Arctic Circle. And it is one mighty glacier - 110m high,11km wide and over 120km long - and that's higher than Perito Moreno Glacier -  click here: Perito Moreno glacier, although it didn't look so from the front of our ship. We headed out to the helipad area of the ship and got an even better view. On such a sunny morning, it is really postcard quality. Our timelapse video showed 5 to 6 different calvings, over a short 20minutes or so - see 1st vdo below. Even though Hubbard is bigger, our experience in Patagonia was more intimate because of the glacier hike we had there. But the surrounding mountain landscape here is a beauty, from this ship and on this gloriously sunny day)