Arts and crafts are the big draw on an excursion to Cambodia's National Museum with Voyages to Antiquity

Cambodia highlight: the National Museum in Phnom Penh

• Our latest guest blog by Zoe Bromley-Fox, Land Programmes Manager of cruise line Voyages to Antiquity. The line’s one ship, Aegean Odyssey, returns to south-east Asia this winter for the first time since the winter of 2012-13. Zoe looks forward to the forthcoming visit by recalling highlights of the journey two years ago.

Calling into the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville, some passengers opted to head off on a full day excursion to explore the capital Phnom Penh, still boasting evidence of the French Colonial times. We visited the city’s main attractions – the National Museum and the Royal Palace with an inside visit to the Silver Pagoda.  The National Museum was the highlight for many passengers with one of the world’s largest collections of Khmer art, including sculptural, ceramics, bronzes, and ethnographic objects.

The exterior of the museum was as much of a draw as the artefacts inside – inspired by ‘traditional Khmer’ architecture, it is also described as a building enlarged from Cambodian temple prototypes seen on ancient bas-reliefs and reinterpreted through the eyes of George Groslier (1887-1945). A historian, curator and author, he was responsible for the revival of interest in traditional Cambodian arts and crafts and designed this quintessential building.

More details of Aegean Odyssey’s cruises visiting Cambodia in 2015 on Voyages to Antiquity's website. Which is also where you can read Zoe’s blog in full, together with her pick of the top excursions in south-east Asia.

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A fascinating insight into the religions of Indonesia on a Voyages to Antiquity cruise in south-east Asia

Toraja Land, Indonesia, where the local people worship animals and plants

• The second in a series of guest blogs by Zoe Bromley-Fox, Land Programmes Manager of cruise line Voyages to Antiquity. The line’s one ship, Aegean Odyssey, returns to south-east Asia this winter for the first time since the winter of 2012-13. Zoe looks forward to the forthcoming visit by recalling highlights of the journey two years ago.

Indonesia is certainly a land full of mystery and intriguing ancient customs. One of the excursions that Voyages to Antiquity includes in the Southern Sulawesi area gives passengers a somewhat other-wordly experience. I will never forget one of the Indonesian bar waitresses staring at me fearfully wide-eyed as we headed off with the passengers to visit Toraja Land where the people practise a form of animism known as Aluk To Dolo.

The belief that animals, plants and inanimate objects possess a spiritual element is so fundamental to this region that many indigenous languages don’t even have a word for it. Operated from the slightly closer port of Palopo this season, but still with a scenic drive through the mountainous countryside, it also provides a fascinating insight into daily life as you pass through numerous rural villages.

From a more archaeological perspective, the UNESCO tongue-twister site of Borobudur on the island of Java is equally as captivating and compared in brilliance to the Parthenon by Arnold Toynbee. We visit the complex from the port of Semarang, and I also remember that the police escort service that cleared the Javanese roads to ensure the coaches arrived in good time was probably as impressive as the temple complex itself!

For details of Voyages to Antiquity’s cruises visiting Indonesia this winter, see here. Fares from £3,495 pp.

Click here to read Zoe's blog in full, with details of Aegean Odyssey's voyages and the excursions available.

The UNESCO-listed Borobodur on the Indonesian island of Java

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Singapore's New Cruise Terminal

By guest blogger Steve Newman

Singapore is preparing for a big jump in cruise passenger numbers with the opening of their new $350million cruise terminal at the end of 2011, which will double their capacity as south-east Asia's leading cruise hub.

This two-berth facility at Marina South will accommodate the largest ships in service today and help to develop Singapore further into an important and attractive regional cruise destination.

With superior cruise terminal facilities that will complement Singapore's prime location and excellent land, air and sea connectivity, the terminal is set to make the island republic the leisure cruise gateway of south-east Asia, and beyond.

Keep watching this space!

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.