Friday 27th March
Singapore
This morning we took a taxi to Fort Canning Park, the most historic part of Singapore. This is the original fort gate at the summit of the hill and is the last remnant of the fort that occupied this site from 1861 to 1926.

This is the old army barracks and has now been restored to house the Visitors' Centre.
www.nparks.gov.sg

The park is surrounded by tall modern buildings. Evidently some other parks in the city are in danger from developers who want to build more hotels and shopping centres. This would be a shame as much of the character of this city is in its green spaces.

We then descended to Clarke Quay, a modern development beside the Singapore River. It is full of shopping malls and places to eat. Some ancient junks have been refurbished as floating restaurants.

From here we walked to Chinatown where we came across a large and crowded open-air market. It was a very interesting, bustling and vibrant place but very hot and humid.

While trying to return to the main road we got a little lost in some back streets and came across these original old Singapore buildings which have great charm and character.

After returning to the hotel to cool down, we strolled to Orchard Road to visit an exhibition of Thai crafts, food and fashion in the grounds of the Thailand Embassy. It was fascinating and we saw some lovely things.

We continued down Orchard Road and enjoyed the atmosphere but regularly had to pop into shopping malls to feel some cool air.