For the last 2 days of this amazing, around-the-world trip, we stayed at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. I can’t say enough wonderful things about this hotel -- my sister and I want to live here forever. It is one of 2 extraordinarily luxurious hotels I’ve stayed in (the other one is the Hotel Bauer in Venice). Raffles is a British colonial style hotel; most of the accommodations are suites. Now, if you are one of those people who think that Raffles is old and passé, think again. They went through a 2.5-year renovation in the early 1990’s, restoring all the buildings to a posh, 1915 look, resulting in a hotel that has luxury, classical style, and old-world colonial charm, in addition to the modern stuff like wi-fi.
We stayed in a medium-level suite, which had 15-ft ceilings, a combination dining and living room, a very large separate bedroom, and a very large 2-room bathroom, all with more amenities than you can think of.
We had a butler who did everything -- if we wanted to make reservations for dinner, we called the butler. When it was time for dinner, we called the butler to escort us to the Tiffin Room (the hotel is laid out in a large square, in the middle of the center of Singapore, and it is a bit confusing to find where you want to go). In the interior, guest-only areas there are many courtyards that are lushly tropical, with deep, covered, marble floored verandas with comfortable rattan chairs and tables around all the courtyards. Which is why it is easy to get lost. (Amazingly, even though the hotel is surrounded by highly-trafficked streets, inside the hotel areas it felt like we were in a place isolated from the rest of the world.) The beds and linens are heavenly, the pillows are perfect, the furnishings are luxurious yet comfortable -- everything you could wish for. They even have a pillow menu that you can select from if the pillows do not meet your every need (6 different styles listed). In the grand lobby, they have a grandfather clock that plays the Westminster chimes every 15 minutes.
Everywhere we went, we were greeted by name (we started to wonder if we were wearing invisible name tags) and were treated like royalty. At the lunch café, we were seated at a booth in the special guests-only section and the head waiter practically held our chop sticks for us -- he was delightful and helped us order.
At the Longbar (a very famous bar where the Singapore Sling was invented), we were seated in the extra comfy guests-only section (Raffles, and this bar, is a tourist mecca and the bar was very crowded -- we wouldn’t have gotten seats otherwise). The walls were paneled with dark wood, there were many palm-frond ceiling fans softly swishing back and forth, the floor was marble and littered with peanut shells (I just couldn‘t bring myself to throw the peanut shells on the floor). We sat there enjoying our Singapore Slings (rather good but too sweet to have another) and were treated to a complimentary dish of fresh strawberries and whipped cream (a surprise amenity for guests). Each strawberry was at its peak of ripeness and flavor so each bite was an explosion of intense flavor enhanced by the cream. Oh my! Then, as we got up to leave for our dinner reservation in the Tiffin Room, we joked with a bar waiter that we were going to try to find the restaurant. Immediately, she said she would escort us to the Tiffin Room, which she did (wow!!). And at our arrival, the hostess greeted us by name (and greeted us by name at breakfast the next day!).
As we were seated for dinner, the hostess brought 2 tiny, child-size chairs for us to each put our purses on so they wouldn’t touch the floor. (How wonderful is that?) Dinner was superb -- a northern Indian buffet with a zillion choices and every item was clearly labeled to make our selection easy. The dining room manager walked us around the buffet to introduce us to the selections. I ate only little portions of several dishes and then I could eat no more even though my mouth wanted to taste more. They brought a generous basket of 3 kinds of naan and then occasionally walked by with other selected tidbits to serve. I swear that we only had to think about needing some attention from the staff and a person would quietly arrive to ask us if we needed anything. No wonder we want to live here.
By the time we walked out we were stuffed. We had earlier planned to have an after-dinner cocktail, but we just wanted to go back to our suite and relax -- sink into the heavenly bed and pillows and try to read. In the room, we found our beds turned down, and lovely mats on the floor by each bed with a pair of slippers. Mats also in the bathroom. On the bed was a charming short essay by Pablo Neruda about his experience in Singapore. We love it here!
Breakfast the next day was beyond belief -- in the Tiffin Room (which we located on our own this time) and a buffet that was as near to perfect as I can imagine. The large fruit selection was amazing (my sister said that the display looked like a jewelry store) -- each piece of fruit was at the perfect peak of flavor and texture, slices of papaya had a starter cut to make cutting off the skin easier. The array of pastries was mouthwatering -- the croissants were the way God intended croissants to be (and the orange Earl Grey marmalade was so good I just wanted to eat spoonfuls of it) -- and then there were the long baskets of slices of bread (all with the crusts cut off!), ready to pop into the nearby toaster. And so many other cheese, cold cut, salad, cereal, and meat selections that I can’t list it all. On top of that, we were given a menu to order our main breakfast dish. It was a perfect meal -- perfectly flavored food, displayed perfectly, with perfect embroidered, linen place mats and napkins with the hotel palm tree logo, in a perfect setting, with perfect service. It just doesn’t get any better than that. We savored every bite while we watched a staff person pushing a small Zamboni machine, scrubbing the tile courtyard outside. (They even scrub the outdoor floors!)
We finally waddled out of the dining room (didn’t even have to sign a check because they knew who we were and automatically charged it to our room) and wandered down to the shops to buy some jars of that marmalade, but alas, they don’t sell it. Pity.
On our second day at Raffles, we got a late start and went to the Arab section of town for a bit of shopping but didn’t find anything that either of us were absolutely in love with. How sad -- here we were with Singapore dollars to spend and nothing to spend it on. Ah well. Came back and dressed for high tea. Afternoon tea is served off the lobby on the ground floor for anyone who wants to enjoy it. Hotel guests, however, have the option of having tea in the third floor drawing room, which is on the gallery overlooking the lobby and the second floor (the middle of the building is open up to the ceiling with galleries that go all around on each floor). It is furnished with comfortable love seats and arm chairs and is quietly above the hustle and bustle.
We lucked out in that while we were sitting there, with a perfect view down to the lobby, the President of Portugal and his entourage arrived. We could tell someone important was coming because they rolled out a fancy red carpet (in addition to the regular red carpet) and a lot of staff members were standing around the lobby looking at the front door expectantly. Unfortunately, when the big event arrived, the president and all his group (a rather large number of people) all strolled in at the same time so we had no idea which person was the president. To quote my sister, “A president is nice but I was rather hoping for a king.” (Later that day, I Googled the Portugal president and his wife and after seeing the photos, realized that, indeed, we had seen them walk in and greet people.)
Now about the tea. Sumptuous, what else would you expect? The food was quite yummy, served on the Audubon series of china made by Limoges and sold by Tiffany & Co. The entire effect was one of relaxed luxury.
Sadly, after tea, we had to pack our bags for our flight home (16 hours) and get ready for a 3:00 AM (!!!!) wake-up call so we could make it to the airport by 4:00 AM. What an incredible trip we’ve had and what incredible sights we’ve been privileged to see. Not sure what the next trip destination may be -- stay tuned.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
DAY 31 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Two busy days in a row. The ship docked at the closest port to Kuala Lumpur (usually just called KL), and it is about a 1.5 hour drive into the city. So if we wanted to see anything of interest, we had to take the tour bus. For this final stop on the cruise, we decided to skip the cultural stuff and go right for the shopping. We really haven’t been doing much shopping on this trip and so we thought we needed to look at trinkets.
Once again, Malaysia comes through as a vibrant, bustling place -- modern with traditional accents, all with considerable Chinese, Indonesian, and Malaysian styles. In general, I would recommend visiting Malaysia.
Our tour drove us around the city center for a bit and stopped for us to take some obligatory photos of famous buildings, then stopped at an indoor arts and crafts market. The market was 3 floors, each about the size of a football field, and we were allowed about 45 minutes to shop. (That kind of power shopping is not very fun -- there was not enough time to enjoy looking.) The place was a feast for the eyes and we enjoyed wandering around. There was a stall with mounted and framed beetles and butterflies and moths in extraordinary colors (couldn’t figure out how to get one home in good shape and besides, I’m not so sure I really want a 6-inch long green beetle on my wall). There were batiks and silks and antiques and interesting looking candies and little silk zippered bags and so much more. As a side note, I went to the WC where there was a turnstile into which you put your Malaysian 50 cents and the guard at the turnstile handed me 3 squares of toilet paper. Note: Remember when I recommended to always carry a small plastic bag with some toilet paper? This is why.
Next we were whisked off to Chinatown and let loose in the open air Chinese market. The market consisted of several blocks-long of small stalls. All the stalls sold knock-off designer label handbags or shoes or clothing made in and shipped from China. We were allowed 1.5 hours to shop. MY SISTER AND I FOUND THIS TO BE A VERY UNFORTUNATE CHOICE OF DESTINATION ON THE PART OF THE TOUR COMPANY AND ON THE PART OF THE CRUISE LINE TO SUPPORT SUCH A DECISION. Knock-off goods are theft, plain and simple, and I will not spend money on such items. So we strolled quickly down the market and then stood around for awhile in the heat, along with several other people on the tour. We finally noticed behind us a small tea stall with traditional carved wood barrel-shaped stools and tables, so we sat down and ordered 5-flower hot tea (that was about the only choice). I thought the tea tasted unpleasant but it allowed us to sit and fan ourselves while waiting for over an hour.
Our last stop was at a major mega-mall, at which we had about 50 minutes to eat lunch in the food court and then shop. Now, I’m not a major fan of walking around shopping malls in the first place, and this was no exception. But I guess it was worth it for those people who don’t have access to good prices for electronics, cosmetics, and the like. I slept most of the way on the bus ride back.
One interesting note is that our tour guide was a 3rd-generation Malaysian but calls herself Chinese because her grandfather came from China and the family has maintained the Chinese traditions. With that sort of adherence to ethnic identification, how can a country truly meld different peoples into one nation? (This same question holds true for the United States as well, and for many other nations.)
Once back on the ship, exhausted and hot, we faced dinner and then packing because we were scheduled to arrive in Singapore early in the morning. I must confess that I had to break out my extra duffel bag to get everything packed!
Once again, Malaysia comes through as a vibrant, bustling place -- modern with traditional accents, all with considerable Chinese, Indonesian, and Malaysian styles. In general, I would recommend visiting Malaysia.
Our tour drove us around the city center for a bit and stopped for us to take some obligatory photos of famous buildings, then stopped at an indoor arts and crafts market. The market was 3 floors, each about the size of a football field, and we were allowed about 45 minutes to shop. (That kind of power shopping is not very fun -- there was not enough time to enjoy looking.) The place was a feast for the eyes and we enjoyed wandering around. There was a stall with mounted and framed beetles and butterflies and moths in extraordinary colors (couldn’t figure out how to get one home in good shape and besides, I’m not so sure I really want a 6-inch long green beetle on my wall). There were batiks and silks and antiques and interesting looking candies and little silk zippered bags and so much more. As a side note, I went to the WC where there was a turnstile into which you put your Malaysian 50 cents and the guard at the turnstile handed me 3 squares of toilet paper. Note: Remember when I recommended to always carry a small plastic bag with some toilet paper? This is why.
Next we were whisked off to Chinatown and let loose in the open air Chinese market. The market consisted of several blocks-long of small stalls. All the stalls sold knock-off designer label handbags or shoes or clothing made in and shipped from China. We were allowed 1.5 hours to shop. MY SISTER AND I FOUND THIS TO BE A VERY UNFORTUNATE CHOICE OF DESTINATION ON THE PART OF THE TOUR COMPANY AND ON THE PART OF THE CRUISE LINE TO SUPPORT SUCH A DECISION. Knock-off goods are theft, plain and simple, and I will not spend money on such items. So we strolled quickly down the market and then stood around for awhile in the heat, along with several other people on the tour. We finally noticed behind us a small tea stall with traditional carved wood barrel-shaped stools and tables, so we sat down and ordered 5-flower hot tea (that was about the only choice). I thought the tea tasted unpleasant but it allowed us to sit and fan ourselves while waiting for over an hour.
Our last stop was at a major mega-mall, at which we had about 50 minutes to eat lunch in the food court and then shop. Now, I’m not a major fan of walking around shopping malls in the first place, and this was no exception. But I guess it was worth it for those people who don’t have access to good prices for electronics, cosmetics, and the like. I slept most of the way on the bus ride back.
One interesting note is that our tour guide was a 3rd-generation Malaysian but calls herself Chinese because her grandfather came from China and the family has maintained the Chinese traditions. With that sort of adherence to ethnic identification, how can a country truly meld different peoples into one nation? (This same question holds true for the United States as well, and for many other nations.)
Once back on the ship, exhausted and hot, we faced dinner and then packing because we were scheduled to arrive in Singapore early in the morning. I must confess that I had to break out my extra duffel bag to get everything packed!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
DAY 30 GEORGETOWN, PENANG, MALAYSIA
From Cochin, the ship continued heading south down the coast to the southern tip of India and then headed east, around Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a kind of tear-drop shape just on the eastern side of the southern tip of India. We passed within 59 miles of the coast of Sri Lanka, and then headed in a fairly straight line east across the bay of Bengal (ben-GAHL), then continued in the same straight line over the top of Sumatra and across the Malacca Strait to the bottom of Thailand where Malaysia is located.
We are at the tail end of the dry season for this part of the world and the monsoon season is about to begin. We’ve had gray skies for several days now and occasional light rain -- I hope the rain holds off until we leave. Last night we had a pretty spectacular lightning storm but I didn’t hear any thunder. You would think the rain would cool the temperature but not so -- it just makes everything like a steam bath.
Our first stop was Georgetown, the largest city on the island of Penang. Wow, what an amazing contrast Malaysia is after visiting India. Penang is a busy, thriving, city filled with modern and traditional buildings, lots of temples (Burmese Buddhist, Thai Buddhist, Indian hindu, Chinese Buddhist), each with a very distinct building and decorative style, street-side food stalls and carts, and mega shopping malls (didn’t go into any but apparently there are plenty of shoppers to keep feeding the shops -- not sure where the shoppers come from).
We decided to chuck the ship tours and just walked outside and negotiated a price with a taxi driver for a 4-hour tour. This strategy really worked out well because we were able to visit the temples before all the bus tours arrived.
We went into a Burmese temple, a Thai temple, and a Chinese Buddhist temple -- so very beautiful. The Thai temple had a 110 ft-long reclining Buddha and the Chinese temple had a 40 ft-tall standing Kuan Yin made of bronze that is located high on the mountain side just outside the city (approximately 100 steps up and another 100 steps down, in the afternoon heat). Wondrous art work in all the temples -- intricately carved wood walls and panels, some gold-leafed and some not, delicately painted panels, thousands of little Buddhas lining walls, and lotus patterns painted on the floors (you have to take your shoes off before walking a temple, which helps to preserve the floors). Statues and roof carvings of dragons of all styles and Thai angels and elephants and every sign of the Chinese zodiac and Hindu gods and goddesses and oh my, so much more. In every color you can imagine. With lots of gold leaf and often little flashing twinkle lights and sometime lotus-shaped candles burning.
We also visited a place where they make batik cloth. Very interesting to watch the artists at work. And the sales room was very tempting -- enough said.
By that point my sister and I were wilted so we returned to the ship about 15 minutes early. We had originally planned to do some shopping at a local craft market, but we just didn’t have the energy or the time. It’s probably just as well for my wallet.
We are at the tail end of the dry season for this part of the world and the monsoon season is about to begin. We’ve had gray skies for several days now and occasional light rain -- I hope the rain holds off until we leave. Last night we had a pretty spectacular lightning storm but I didn’t hear any thunder. You would think the rain would cool the temperature but not so -- it just makes everything like a steam bath.
Our first stop was Georgetown, the largest city on the island of Penang. Wow, what an amazing contrast Malaysia is after visiting India. Penang is a busy, thriving, city filled with modern and traditional buildings, lots of temples (Burmese Buddhist, Thai Buddhist, Indian hindu, Chinese Buddhist), each with a very distinct building and decorative style, street-side food stalls and carts, and mega shopping malls (didn’t go into any but apparently there are plenty of shoppers to keep feeding the shops -- not sure where the shoppers come from).
We decided to chuck the ship tours and just walked outside and negotiated a price with a taxi driver for a 4-hour tour. This strategy really worked out well because we were able to visit the temples before all the bus tours arrived.
We went into a Burmese temple, a Thai temple, and a Chinese Buddhist temple -- so very beautiful. The Thai temple had a 110 ft-long reclining Buddha and the Chinese temple had a 40 ft-tall standing Kuan Yin made of bronze that is located high on the mountain side just outside the city (approximately 100 steps up and another 100 steps down, in the afternoon heat). Wondrous art work in all the temples -- intricately carved wood walls and panels, some gold-leafed and some not, delicately painted panels, thousands of little Buddhas lining walls, and lotus patterns painted on the floors (you have to take your shoes off before walking a temple, which helps to preserve the floors). Statues and roof carvings of dragons of all styles and Thai angels and elephants and every sign of the Chinese zodiac and Hindu gods and goddesses and oh my, so much more. In every color you can imagine. With lots of gold leaf and often little flashing twinkle lights and sometime lotus-shaped candles burning.
We also visited a place where they make batik cloth. Very interesting to watch the artists at work. And the sales room was very tempting -- enough said.
By that point my sister and I were wilted so we returned to the ship about 15 minutes early. We had originally planned to do some shopping at a local craft market, but we just didn’t have the energy or the time. It’s probably just as well for my wallet.
DAY 27, 28, 29 OBSERVATIONS ON THE WAY TO MALAYSIA
I thought I’d add a few more observations and comments about our life at sea on a luxury cruise ship.
ITEM: My sister and I finally gave in and went to the Johnny Rocket’s all-American 1950’s-style diner for hamburgers, milkshakes, French fries, and onion rings. The staff in there all yell “Helllllllooooo” when people walk in and yell “Goodbyyyyyyeeee” when people leave. They play 1950’s music and every 10 or 15 minutes the staff lines up in the aisle and dances to the music. We joined in the dancing from our stools at the counter, and of course, we knew all the words to all the songs and sang along lustily. It was great fun and a nice taste of home while sailing across the Bay of Bengal.
ITEM: Every night there is some kind of concert or big production show in the main theater. The other night we were treated to an unexpectedly pleasant concert by an internationally renown, Norwegian harmonica player. Really. This is not a joke. As the American columnist Dave Barry said, “You can’t make up stuff like this.” And as the cruise director said, “Where else are you going to go?”
Apparently this artist has filled Carnegie Hall in New York, has toured all over the world, and is well respected in harmonica circles. He plays a special, custom-designed and custom-built harmonica that is made in silver with a gold mouthpiece -- costing $10,000. My sister commented that it must be a lot easier for him to travel than it is for Yo-Yo Ma! Anyway, he played pop and classical, including some pieces composed by Grieg (Norway’s favorite-son composer) and some pieces that he composed himself. One interesting tidbit was that there are actually concertos and other classical music written expressly for harmonica -- who knew? That ought to win you a bar bet sometime.
I also have to add here that because we were sailing in open water, the Bay of Bengal, the ship was rolling a bit. So as we sat there at the concert, I watched the curtains behind the harmonica player gently sway from side to side. It is a bit odd to see. (We heard that the ship’s movement also made for an interestingly challenging ice show that afternoon, but we didn’t attend that show.)
ITEM: Another consequence of the ship’s rolling is that everyone walks zig zag along the corridors and in all the public areas, which makes navigation around and through groups of people a bit hazardous. People bump into each other, everyone looks a bit drunk, and we all walk with feet apart looking like we’ve just staggered off a horse after a long ride. It’s funny.
ITEM: Living aboard a cruise ship is living in an altered reality. You can go into any dining area (buffets, snack bars, formal dining room, etc) and select any food you want -- menus have no prices -- and eat there or take the food with you to anywhere in the ship. You just pick it up and walk away with paying anything. This is so different from ordinary restaurant rules that it takes some time to get used to.
Similarly, you can go to any bar (there are many to choose from with different themes) and order a drink (these you do have to pay for but you use your sea pass card as a charge card so you never have to carry real money with you) and then either enjoy your drink there or take it anywhere else in the ship. Again, this is quite contrary to real-life alcohol rules in public establishments. Once I got used to it, I realized how wonderfully freeing this felt. I can get a little sandwich and a cocktail and take it to the theater to enjoy during a concert, or bring a cocktail and a few cookies or some chocolate mousse back to my cabin to enjoy while watching a movie. Even the room service menu has no prices -- you just call up and they bring the food. It truly feels luxurious. (Not that I’ve actually been eating cookies and chocolate mousse in my cabin while sipping Manhattans, you understand, but I could if I wanted to. J Although I must say that brandy alexanders and chocolate chip cookies are a great combination.)
ITEM: This cruise from Dubai to Singapore is the first cruise for this ship since Royal Caribbean announced it’s association with DreamWorks. To celebrate the new association, they planned a big parade with many of the DreamWorks characters up and down the interior promenade. The crew went through morning rehearsals 3-days in a row when few passengers were milling about. Luckily, my sister and I happened upon the first rehearsal and then we returned the next day to see the next rehearsal because it was just fun to watch. They’ve got the characters from Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and Madagascar. OK, it is basically kid stuff, and there are almost no children on board, but all us grownups are enjoying it a great deal. However, now that we’ve seen 2 rehearsals, I don’t really think I need to push through the crowds to see the real event. Got my photo taken with Puss ‘n Boots and Alex the lion though -- had to travel halfway around the world for those photos!
ITEM: On every cruise I’ve taken (which have been several), there’s always been one or two people (sometimes more) who stand out and who cross my path frequently, every day of the cruise. Sometimes these people stand out because of the way they look (unusually elegant or perhaps due to an amusing fashion style) and sometimes they stand out because of their annoying behavior.
On both these two cruises, Barcelona to Singapore, there is the “complaining lady.” She is very imperious and it seems that everywhere we go, there she is -- in the elevator, walking down the hall, in the theater, in the dining room -- saying some form of “they should have planned that better,” or “someone should have done something about that,” or “they should have adjusted the sound better.” You get the picture? Then there is the British woman who wears horizontal striped polo shirts and plaid Bermuda shorts. And the early-30’s woman, very tall, lean, and very tan, who wears very skimpy clothes and is escorted by a much older man (enough said about that). And the blond woman with the ton of hair, which wasn’t bad looking except for the fact that she constantly pushed it this way and that and fussed with it. Enough already! And the Aussies -- exuberant, vocal, and 2 or 3 can seem to fill a room.
ITEM: Spent a fabulous time last night after dinner in the “ballroom” listening to the ship’s orchestra play dynamite big band music from the 1940’s and watching the dance floor fill up with couples of all nationalities. The “ballroom” is actually the ice skating rink covered with a wood dance floor. The lights were turned down, sparkly lights shone down on the floor, and the curtain behind the orchestra was black velvet with twinkly stars. Perfect. Interestingly, many of the Asian couples were the best dancers, gliding around the floor with great grace and skill, but it was very satisfying to see so many people enjoying themselves and getting out there and dancing in their formal gowns and tuxedos (and some formal kilts). And the ship’s orchestra is very, very good. They have a drummer that would give Gene Krupa a run for his money!
ITEM: On the more mundane side: My electric toothbrush died a couple of weeks ago. My folding paper fan (a survival necessity when outdoors) ripped in several places and has been repaired with duct tape (never travel without duct tape!) and works but looks unsightly. I haven’t read nearly as many books as I planned. My sister just came down with a cold. My special hot-weather pants that I bought for Africa have started to come apart and I need to sew them up by hand. I didn’t win the big jackpot ($1400) at bingo yesterday. Oh well, they say that traveling isn’t always easy so I’ll try to tough it out. And I am tired of having my camera fog up every time I walk off the ship! I have to wait 15 minutes before I can take a photo. This humidity is a pain.
ITEM: My sister and I finally gave in and went to the Johnny Rocket’s all-American 1950’s-style diner for hamburgers, milkshakes, French fries, and onion rings. The staff in there all yell “Helllllllooooo” when people walk in and yell “Goodbyyyyyyeeee” when people leave. They play 1950’s music and every 10 or 15 minutes the staff lines up in the aisle and dances to the music. We joined in the dancing from our stools at the counter, and of course, we knew all the words to all the songs and sang along lustily. It was great fun and a nice taste of home while sailing across the Bay of Bengal.
ITEM: Every night there is some kind of concert or big production show in the main theater. The other night we were treated to an unexpectedly pleasant concert by an internationally renown, Norwegian harmonica player. Really. This is not a joke. As the American columnist Dave Barry said, “You can’t make up stuff like this.” And as the cruise director said, “Where else are you going to go?”
Apparently this artist has filled Carnegie Hall in New York, has toured all over the world, and is well respected in harmonica circles. He plays a special, custom-designed and custom-built harmonica that is made in silver with a gold mouthpiece -- costing $10,000. My sister commented that it must be a lot easier for him to travel than it is for Yo-Yo Ma! Anyway, he played pop and classical, including some pieces composed by Grieg (Norway’s favorite-son composer) and some pieces that he composed himself. One interesting tidbit was that there are actually concertos and other classical music written expressly for harmonica -- who knew? That ought to win you a bar bet sometime.
I also have to add here that because we were sailing in open water, the Bay of Bengal, the ship was rolling a bit. So as we sat there at the concert, I watched the curtains behind the harmonica player gently sway from side to side. It is a bit odd to see. (We heard that the ship’s movement also made for an interestingly challenging ice show that afternoon, but we didn’t attend that show.)
ITEM: Another consequence of the ship’s rolling is that everyone walks zig zag along the corridors and in all the public areas, which makes navigation around and through groups of people a bit hazardous. People bump into each other, everyone looks a bit drunk, and we all walk with feet apart looking like we’ve just staggered off a horse after a long ride. It’s funny.
ITEM: Living aboard a cruise ship is living in an altered reality. You can go into any dining area (buffets, snack bars, formal dining room, etc) and select any food you want -- menus have no prices -- and eat there or take the food with you to anywhere in the ship. You just pick it up and walk away with paying anything. This is so different from ordinary restaurant rules that it takes some time to get used to.
Similarly, you can go to any bar (there are many to choose from with different themes) and order a drink (these you do have to pay for but you use your sea pass card as a charge card so you never have to carry real money with you) and then either enjoy your drink there or take it anywhere else in the ship. Again, this is quite contrary to real-life alcohol rules in public establishments. Once I got used to it, I realized how wonderfully freeing this felt. I can get a little sandwich and a cocktail and take it to the theater to enjoy during a concert, or bring a cocktail and a few cookies or some chocolate mousse back to my cabin to enjoy while watching a movie. Even the room service menu has no prices -- you just call up and they bring the food. It truly feels luxurious. (Not that I’ve actually been eating cookies and chocolate mousse in my cabin while sipping Manhattans, you understand, but I could if I wanted to. J Although I must say that brandy alexanders and chocolate chip cookies are a great combination.)
ITEM: This cruise from Dubai to Singapore is the first cruise for this ship since Royal Caribbean announced it’s association with DreamWorks. To celebrate the new association, they planned a big parade with many of the DreamWorks characters up and down the interior promenade. The crew went through morning rehearsals 3-days in a row when few passengers were milling about. Luckily, my sister and I happened upon the first rehearsal and then we returned the next day to see the next rehearsal because it was just fun to watch. They’ve got the characters from Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and Madagascar. OK, it is basically kid stuff, and there are almost no children on board, but all us grownups are enjoying it a great deal. However, now that we’ve seen 2 rehearsals, I don’t really think I need to push through the crowds to see the real event. Got my photo taken with Puss ‘n Boots and Alex the lion though -- had to travel halfway around the world for those photos!
ITEM: On every cruise I’ve taken (which have been several), there’s always been one or two people (sometimes more) who stand out and who cross my path frequently, every day of the cruise. Sometimes these people stand out because of the way they look (unusually elegant or perhaps due to an amusing fashion style) and sometimes they stand out because of their annoying behavior.
On both these two cruises, Barcelona to Singapore, there is the “complaining lady.” She is very imperious and it seems that everywhere we go, there she is -- in the elevator, walking down the hall, in the theater, in the dining room -- saying some form of “they should have planned that better,” or “someone should have done something about that,” or “they should have adjusted the sound better.” You get the picture? Then there is the British woman who wears horizontal striped polo shirts and plaid Bermuda shorts. And the early-30’s woman, very tall, lean, and very tan, who wears very skimpy clothes and is escorted by a much older man (enough said about that). And the blond woman with the ton of hair, which wasn’t bad looking except for the fact that she constantly pushed it this way and that and fussed with it. Enough already! And the Aussies -- exuberant, vocal, and 2 or 3 can seem to fill a room.
ITEM: Spent a fabulous time last night after dinner in the “ballroom” listening to the ship’s orchestra play dynamite big band music from the 1940’s and watching the dance floor fill up with couples of all nationalities. The “ballroom” is actually the ice skating rink covered with a wood dance floor. The lights were turned down, sparkly lights shone down on the floor, and the curtain behind the orchestra was black velvet with twinkly stars. Perfect. Interestingly, many of the Asian couples were the best dancers, gliding around the floor with great grace and skill, but it was very satisfying to see so many people enjoying themselves and getting out there and dancing in their formal gowns and tuxedos (and some formal kilts). And the ship’s orchestra is very, very good. They have a drummer that would give Gene Krupa a run for his money!
ITEM: On the more mundane side: My electric toothbrush died a couple of weeks ago. My folding paper fan (a survival necessity when outdoors) ripped in several places and has been repaired with duct tape (never travel without duct tape!) and works but looks unsightly. I haven’t read nearly as many books as I planned. My sister just came down with a cold. My special hot-weather pants that I bought for Africa have started to come apart and I need to sew them up by hand. I didn’t win the big jackpot ($1400) at bingo yesterday. Oh well, they say that traveling isn’t always easy so I’ll try to tough it out. And I am tired of having my camera fog up every time I walk off the ship! I have to wait 15 minutes before I can take a photo. This humidity is a pain.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
DAY 26 COCHIN, INDIA
Cochin (pronounced COO-chin and sometimes often also called Kochi (CO-chee)) is quite a way south on the western coast of India and is a major port. It is sometimes called the “Venice of the East” because it consists of a bunch of islands and much of the transport is by boat. In general, everywhere I looked there was lush, tropical vegetation and the air was filled with bird calls and scented with frangipani flowers. It is clearly a thriving city (well over a million people live here) with new, modern apartment buildings interspersed with old, small buildings, small shops, and market stalls. 18% Christian, 24% Muslim, and the rest Hindu so there are lots of churches, mosques, and temples. Today was Sunday so many shops were closed and lots of families were strolling along, somehow dancing in between the motorbikes (countless numbers of them, often with a family of four piled onto one motorbike), the tuk tuks (I think I mistakenly said these were 2-wheel vehicles in an earlier post but they are 3-wheelers with room for 2 passengers in the back and given the potholes and uneven pavement on the roads, it can be a teeth-jarring, wild ride), trucks, and of course busses (regular busses and our tourist busses -- the difference being that the regular busses were without windows so they were open air and the tourist busses were all closed up with air conditioning).
Cochin is clearly doing much better than Goa, which still seems to be living in a past, premodern era, whereas Cochin is clearly modern even though its fishing and agricultural industries harken back to older times. Less rubbish about than Goa although not nearly as clean and pristine as Aqaba.
OK, so about my day. After going through the immigration dance (see my rant in the previous post) we finally got off the boat and stepped onto the dock -- 8:30 AM in the full sun and it was hot and very humid. About 30 minutes earlier it had poured rain so everything was wet and the steam was rising into the air turning the whole outdoors into a steambath (remember this because I have a comment about this later).
I found our assigned bus and my sister and I settled in. Let me comment here that Indian busses are built for small Indian people not big American butts like mine. Most fancy tourist busses have 2 seats, an aisle, and 2 seats in each row. Our bus had 2 seats, an aisle, and 3 seats -- which gives you an idea of how narrow the seats were. My sister and I sat on the 2-seat side, which meant that I had half a butt-cheek hanging over -- not a pretty sight, I’m sure, and not comfortable. Not to mention that the head rest came to just between my shoulder blades, which meant that I couldn’t sit back and relax. On the other hand, this is just one of the interesting things about traveling.
Our first stop was at a boat dock where we took an hour-long tour of the harbor (to board our boat, we had to step down steep steps into a boat, cross the boat, step up steep steps onto the deck on the other side and step over to the next boat, then step down steep steps into the boat, cross the boat, and climb a ladder to get to the top deck, which was covered, thank goodness). The tour was very nice, around a few islands, past wonderfully colorful fishing boats (all docked because it was Sunday -- I especially loved the name of one, which was Om Jesus), past the Chinese fishing nets (more about that in a bit), with lots and lots of beautiful, tropical vegetation -- banana trees, silk mimosa trees, acacia trees with flaming orange flowers, palms, mangroves, and mangos. The breeze was very welcome.
After that, we walked along the shore, past market stalls. There were many people selling souvenirs and although they were diligent in offering their wares, they accepted my “No, thank you” with grace. It was nice to see all the people walking about. I wanted to do a bit of shopping but the tour guide kept walking and I didn’t want to get lost, so I passed up some interesting items.
We continued walking along and reached the Chinese fish nets. It is hard to describe what these are like without a photo, but here’s my sister’s description: “The shore is lined with a series of fishing nets of a remarkable design from the Chinese. A framework of long poles extends like spider forelegs over the water, operated by counterweights of ropes strung with watermelon-sized stones. Strung between a wishbone of poles is a fishing net. By use of the counterweights (hauled hand-over-hand by 5-6 men), the net is dipped, parallel, into the water. The men wait about 5 minutes, raise the framework, and see what is in the net. Two men pole-walk out to grab the suitable fish found in the net and toss the little ones back before the net is lowered again.”
Further along the shore were the fish stalls and a lively fish auction. The fish was clearly fresh -- some of the fish were still flapping around. Very interesting to see all the different kinds of fish. We continued strolling, in and out of the shade (which didn’t seem to feel much different in temperature) and I hauled out my umbrella because the sun felt like it was burning my skin.
We piled back into the bus and drove for a few minutes to a famous Catholic church built by the Portuguese for St. Francis Xavier and was the site where the explorer Vasco de Gama was first buried (he was later dug up and moved to Portugal). BUT, although the interior was supposed to be lovely, they were conducting church services so we couldn’t go in. Personally, I think the tour company should have known the church service schedule and arranged the tour so that we would be there at a more opportune time.
The next stop was at a folkart center, where we watched a fabulously interesting performance of Kathakali (kata-KALL-ee) dancing (an emotive and narrative style of dance that tells a story). There were 2 dancers, both men (my assumption is that all the dancers in this style are men), who wore very heavy and elaborate costumes and makeup. One artist first did a demonstration of the basic eye movements used in this dance style (although that might sound boring, it was an amazing demonstration of ability and control), then the basic facial expressions, then the “alphabet” of hand movements. We watched the artist demonstrate a bee sucking nectar from a lotus -- delicate and realistic and movements only, yet also stylized. Wonderful. Like western ballet, every single movement of every single muscle in the body is carefully trained and used in the dancing. Like Japanese kabuki, which makes more use of the facial muscles, the dance tells a story -- not just evokes the story, but clearly narrates every detail of the story. The artists have obviously trained for many years.
Then both artists, accompanied by a singer (who I assume was telling the story) and two drummers, danced part of a traditional story about the hindu gods. I was spell-bound for the entire hour-long performance, despite the fact that it was quite hot in the theater.
Then it was back in the bus to go back to the ship. But wait -- as if on an impulse, the tour guide asked if anyone wanted to buy organic spices and several people said yes, so the bus pulled over, turned off the engine, and a few people got out. After a couple of minutes, we asked the driver to turn on the air conditioning -- and he did try. He had trouble starting the engine, it took several tries, and when that got revved up, he turned on the air -- which lasted for about 2 minutes and then everything shut down again. He repeated that sequence several times and then the air just wouldn’t come on at all. So we sat there getting hotter and hotter.
The spice shoppers came back and the bus took off for the ship, but it was about a 30 minute ride in a closed bus (the windows could not be opened) with no air conditioning, at about 1:00 PM on a hot and humid day. My sister and I were flapping our fans and drinking room-temperature water, trying to remain calm. Passengers began to loudly complain but there really wasn’t anything the driver or tour guide could do and if we stopped it was just going to delay our arrival at the ship. I started to get nauseous (which seems to be my body’s response to heat-stress) so I ate a cookie that I had packed with me (despite the many warnings that we were not allowed to take food off the ship) and my sister had some crackers. We drank more water and kept flapping our fans. The bus got stuck in traffic. Then, at the immigration paperwork checkpoint, the bus had to wait in line. I started to get worried -- by this time it must have been close to 115 F in the bus. Really -- I don’t think I am exaggerating.
We finally arrived back at the ship and when I stepped out of the bus onto the dock, standing there in the full sun, it actually felt cool (helped by the mild breeze, I’m sure). When we boarded the ship, the cold air that they had blasting almost felt like a shock and then felt like heaven. We quickly got something to eat and collapsed for a nap, exhausted.
Later, after a nap and a shower, we leaned on the railing of our balcony and listened to the muslim call to prayer wafting over the tropical trees in the sunset -- almost magical. Even with the heat, I think that seeing the Chinese nets and the dancing was worth it.
Cochin is clearly doing much better than Goa, which still seems to be living in a past, premodern era, whereas Cochin is clearly modern even though its fishing and agricultural industries harken back to older times. Less rubbish about than Goa although not nearly as clean and pristine as Aqaba.
OK, so about my day. After going through the immigration dance (see my rant in the previous post) we finally got off the boat and stepped onto the dock -- 8:30 AM in the full sun and it was hot and very humid. About 30 minutes earlier it had poured rain so everything was wet and the steam was rising into the air turning the whole outdoors into a steambath (remember this because I have a comment about this later).
I found our assigned bus and my sister and I settled in. Let me comment here that Indian busses are built for small Indian people not big American butts like mine. Most fancy tourist busses have 2 seats, an aisle, and 2 seats in each row. Our bus had 2 seats, an aisle, and 3 seats -- which gives you an idea of how narrow the seats were. My sister and I sat on the 2-seat side, which meant that I had half a butt-cheek hanging over -- not a pretty sight, I’m sure, and not comfortable. Not to mention that the head rest came to just between my shoulder blades, which meant that I couldn’t sit back and relax. On the other hand, this is just one of the interesting things about traveling.
Our first stop was at a boat dock where we took an hour-long tour of the harbor (to board our boat, we had to step down steep steps into a boat, cross the boat, step up steep steps onto the deck on the other side and step over to the next boat, then step down steep steps into the boat, cross the boat, and climb a ladder to get to the top deck, which was covered, thank goodness). The tour was very nice, around a few islands, past wonderfully colorful fishing boats (all docked because it was Sunday -- I especially loved the name of one, which was Om Jesus), past the Chinese fishing nets (more about that in a bit), with lots and lots of beautiful, tropical vegetation -- banana trees, silk mimosa trees, acacia trees with flaming orange flowers, palms, mangroves, and mangos. The breeze was very welcome.
After that, we walked along the shore, past market stalls. There were many people selling souvenirs and although they were diligent in offering their wares, they accepted my “No, thank you” with grace. It was nice to see all the people walking about. I wanted to do a bit of shopping but the tour guide kept walking and I didn’t want to get lost, so I passed up some interesting items.
We continued walking along and reached the Chinese fish nets. It is hard to describe what these are like without a photo, but here’s my sister’s description: “The shore is lined with a series of fishing nets of a remarkable design from the Chinese. A framework of long poles extends like spider forelegs over the water, operated by counterweights of ropes strung with watermelon-sized stones. Strung between a wishbone of poles is a fishing net. By use of the counterweights (hauled hand-over-hand by 5-6 men), the net is dipped, parallel, into the water. The men wait about 5 minutes, raise the framework, and see what is in the net. Two men pole-walk out to grab the suitable fish found in the net and toss the little ones back before the net is lowered again.”
Further along the shore were the fish stalls and a lively fish auction. The fish was clearly fresh -- some of the fish were still flapping around. Very interesting to see all the different kinds of fish. We continued strolling, in and out of the shade (which didn’t seem to feel much different in temperature) and I hauled out my umbrella because the sun felt like it was burning my skin.
We piled back into the bus and drove for a few minutes to a famous Catholic church built by the Portuguese for St. Francis Xavier and was the site where the explorer Vasco de Gama was first buried (he was later dug up and moved to Portugal). BUT, although the interior was supposed to be lovely, they were conducting church services so we couldn’t go in. Personally, I think the tour company should have known the church service schedule and arranged the tour so that we would be there at a more opportune time.
The next stop was at a folkart center, where we watched a fabulously interesting performance of Kathakali (kata-KALL-ee) dancing (an emotive and narrative style of dance that tells a story). There were 2 dancers, both men (my assumption is that all the dancers in this style are men), who wore very heavy and elaborate costumes and makeup. One artist first did a demonstration of the basic eye movements used in this dance style (although that might sound boring, it was an amazing demonstration of ability and control), then the basic facial expressions, then the “alphabet” of hand movements. We watched the artist demonstrate a bee sucking nectar from a lotus -- delicate and realistic and movements only, yet also stylized. Wonderful. Like western ballet, every single movement of every single muscle in the body is carefully trained and used in the dancing. Like Japanese kabuki, which makes more use of the facial muscles, the dance tells a story -- not just evokes the story, but clearly narrates every detail of the story. The artists have obviously trained for many years.
Then both artists, accompanied by a singer (who I assume was telling the story) and two drummers, danced part of a traditional story about the hindu gods. I was spell-bound for the entire hour-long performance, despite the fact that it was quite hot in the theater.
Then it was back in the bus to go back to the ship. But wait -- as if on an impulse, the tour guide asked if anyone wanted to buy organic spices and several people said yes, so the bus pulled over, turned off the engine, and a few people got out. After a couple of minutes, we asked the driver to turn on the air conditioning -- and he did try. He had trouble starting the engine, it took several tries, and when that got revved up, he turned on the air -- which lasted for about 2 minutes and then everything shut down again. He repeated that sequence several times and then the air just wouldn’t come on at all. So we sat there getting hotter and hotter.
The spice shoppers came back and the bus took off for the ship, but it was about a 30 minute ride in a closed bus (the windows could not be opened) with no air conditioning, at about 1:00 PM on a hot and humid day. My sister and I were flapping our fans and drinking room-temperature water, trying to remain calm. Passengers began to loudly complain but there really wasn’t anything the driver or tour guide could do and if we stopped it was just going to delay our arrival at the ship. I started to get nauseous (which seems to be my body’s response to heat-stress) so I ate a cookie that I had packed with me (despite the many warnings that we were not allowed to take food off the ship) and my sister had some crackers. We drank more water and kept flapping our fans. The bus got stuck in traffic. Then, at the immigration paperwork checkpoint, the bus had to wait in line. I started to get worried -- by this time it must have been close to 115 F in the bus. Really -- I don’t think I am exaggerating.
We finally arrived back at the ship and when I stepped out of the bus onto the dock, standing there in the full sun, it actually felt cool (helped by the mild breeze, I’m sure). When we boarded the ship, the cold air that they had blasting almost felt like a shock and then felt like heaven. We quickly got something to eat and collapsed for a nap, exhausted.
Later, after a nap and a shower, we leaned on the railing of our balcony and listened to the muslim call to prayer wafting over the tropical trees in the sunset -- almost magical. Even with the heat, I think that seeing the Chinese nets and the dancing was worth it.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
A BIT OF A RANT ABOUT GETTING IN AND OUT OF INDIA
The legal complexities of passports and visas when visiting India is dizzying. Before leaving on this trip, I had to get a tourist visa for India, which entailed finding a visa agent, then filling out an very long application in which they asked a great deal of information about me and also about each parent (who are both now deceased but that didn’t seem to matter). The application was especially interested in whether either of my parents were Pakistani. Then I had to send to the agent my passport, a photo ID in which the name and address was exactly the same as on my passport (which caused no end of trouble for my sister who lives in a very rural area where all the residents have post office boxes and India will not accept a post office box as an address), the application, and $175, sent via FedEx (talk about an act of faith!). Somewhere in there I also had to pay an additional $40 fee directly to the Indian embassy. I was relieved when my passport arrived 2 weeks later with an Indian visa.
When we boarded the ship, we had to turn over our passports (the ship had immigration personnel from Egypt and Jordan come onboard to process all the passports and then the ship gave them back to us before we left the ship in each port). Before we reached Dubai (which was the port just before India), the ship crew once again collected all our passports for processing by Indian immigration. This meant that when we left the ship in Dubai, we only had our ship pass card for identification because all our passports were onboard (luckily, I always carry a photo copy of my passport).
The day before Goa (our first port in India), we had to line up to get the following paperwork: a color photo copy of the first 2 pages of the passport and a “landing card” which was a half-page, colored paper with our name, nationality, ship name, dates, and something else I can’t remember, stamped and signed by Indian immigration and requiring our personal signatures. When we left the ship for our Goa tour, we were required to carry with us our ship pass card (issued by the cruise line when we embarked), and the paperwork we just picked up. We all had to show the landing cards to some Indian official on the bus before it could leave. When our tour bus arrived back at the ship at the end of the tour, a uniformed person (looked like a soldier to me) checked that everyone on the bus had their “landing card.” After boarding the ship, we were required to return our landing card, which the ship then returned to the Indian officials to prove that everyone who got off the ship came back on (at least that‘s my best guess).
On the morning of our second stop, Cochin, we had to line up to pick up our passports and another color photo copy of the passport and another “landing card” stamped and signed by Indian immigration and requiring yet another signature. Then we stood in another line for a “face to face inspection” in which an Indian immigration official supposedly checked our passports and then stamped some other kind of paper, and then kept the stamped paper and the passport. (In reality, there were about 10 immigration officials and the line went fairly quickly. And whew, I passed the inspection.) The landing card and passport photo copy, again, had to be displayed in order to leave the port and displayed again before being allowed off the bus at the end of the tour. When we returned to the ship, the ship retained the passports for processing by Malaysian and Singapore officials.
OK, how complex does this whole process really need to be? Compare to Dubai in which nobody ever looked at any paperwork, coming or going. It does not make me feel warm and fuzzy about visiting India.
When we boarded the ship, we had to turn over our passports (the ship had immigration personnel from Egypt and Jordan come onboard to process all the passports and then the ship gave them back to us before we left the ship in each port). Before we reached Dubai (which was the port just before India), the ship crew once again collected all our passports for processing by Indian immigration. This meant that when we left the ship in Dubai, we only had our ship pass card for identification because all our passports were onboard (luckily, I always carry a photo copy of my passport).
The day before Goa (our first port in India), we had to line up to get the following paperwork: a color photo copy of the first 2 pages of the passport and a “landing card” which was a half-page, colored paper with our name, nationality, ship name, dates, and something else I can’t remember, stamped and signed by Indian immigration and requiring our personal signatures. When we left the ship for our Goa tour, we were required to carry with us our ship pass card (issued by the cruise line when we embarked), and the paperwork we just picked up. We all had to show the landing cards to some Indian official on the bus before it could leave. When our tour bus arrived back at the ship at the end of the tour, a uniformed person (looked like a soldier to me) checked that everyone on the bus had their “landing card.” After boarding the ship, we were required to return our landing card, which the ship then returned to the Indian officials to prove that everyone who got off the ship came back on (at least that‘s my best guess).
On the morning of our second stop, Cochin, we had to line up to pick up our passports and another color photo copy of the passport and another “landing card” stamped and signed by Indian immigration and requiring yet another signature. Then we stood in another line for a “face to face inspection” in which an Indian immigration official supposedly checked our passports and then stamped some other kind of paper, and then kept the stamped paper and the passport. (In reality, there were about 10 immigration officials and the line went fairly quickly. And whew, I passed the inspection.) The landing card and passport photo copy, again, had to be displayed in order to leave the port and displayed again before being allowed off the bus at the end of the tour. When we returned to the ship, the ship retained the passports for processing by Malaysian and Singapore officials.
OK, how complex does this whole process really need to be? Compare to Dubai in which nobody ever looked at any paperwork, coming or going. It does not make me feel warm and fuzzy about visiting India.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
DAY 25 SAILING SOUTH DOWN THE INDIAN COAST
Slept in this morning -- we were both tired (no, not hung over). We can see the coast on our port side (woke up for a few minutes last night and watched the lights of little coastal towns go by). It is Saturday (I know that because the carpet in every elevator provides the day of the week in case we lose track, which I do often) so we decided to start the day (at 11:00 AM) with a Starbucks and a pastry -- yum. We spent our time resting and planning for our next stop (which should be an easy tour because it is fairly short and involves boat riding and other easy stuff).
DAY 24 GOA, INDIA
OK, if you have read any of my blog posts you’ll know that I just have to comment about the weather -- it always being far hotter than I would order up if I ruled the world. The temperature for the day was 105 F with 83% humidity -- an environment completely not fit for mankind in my opinion. On the positive side, however, my survival strategies seem to be working fairly well and I made it through the day, although I am not able to wander casually about in the full sun like some people. In fact, I found it amazing to see all the people walking around without even sweating. Witness the power of acclimatization. The only other positive aspect is that I haven’t applied moisture lotion to my skin in days -- the humidity takes care of that for me quite nicely.
Our ship was the largest cruise ship that has even docked in Goa, so some of the locals came out to see it. Goa is about halfway down the western coast of India, on the Arabian Sea (the Indian Ocean is on the eastern side of India, in case you were wondering). Goa is a vacation destination due to it’s beaches although we did not get to see the resort areas. For many centuries, it has been the central source for spices shipped all over the world (especially to Europe). For 450 years it was owned by the Portuguese, who were defeated by the Dutch for a relatively short time, who were in turn defeated by the British.
In general, it looks very tropical with lush vegetation and trees that contrast with the red earth -- such a change from the desert countries we’ve just seen. It is one of the wealthiest states in India (due in part to the port and it’s spice trade but mostly due to tourism) and has one of the highest percentages of educated people. It’s history is evident by the fact that 30% are Catholic. We did not see huge numbers of people as I expected to see in India, but perhaps that was due to the fact that we went to less populated, inland towns.
We took a tour to a spice plantation and to a temple for Durga (goddess of peace), about a 1.5 hr drive away from the port. Our first impressions of the place were greatly influenced by the fact that our ship was docked at a working port (huge piles of coal, large oil tanks, barge-building facilities, etc), which was interesting but not pretty. Our bus drove along the water for awhile and then turned inland a bit through several small towns. Roads were narrow and windy, filled with trucks, cars, public and private busses (the private busses were gaily painted), 2-wheel vehicles, and bicycles. This made for interesting driving. Apparently the strategy is to beep your horn at every curve, at every potential obstacle, at everything you might want to pass, and perhaps just for the heck of it, I wasn’t sure. (We generously tipped the driver at the end of the tour, but I’m not sure whether that was for getting us safely there and back or for his virtuosity on the horn.) And different vehicles had different horn tunes -- our bus horn sounded somewhat like a musical trumpeting elephant. Passing was an interesting experience. There were many times when our bus passed a large truck with only an inch or two to spare. I just sat back and watched and assumed that whatever was meant to happen would, or would not -- no sense getting worried about it.
The road through each small town was lined with market stalls, mostly selling fresh food but also some goods. Closer into the center of the town there were shops selling almost everything you can think of -- many buildings looked closed down. Living structures came in a wide variety. There were a few rather grand, brick houses painted in lovely, bright colors. Most of the houses were very small, unpainted brick one- or two-room huts and some houses were simply stick and mud structures. No matter the style of house, all yards were dirt, no landscaping, with occasional cows, and all houses were shaded by the trees (once again, such a contrast to the desert countries).
As we walked down a shaded lane into the spice plantation central area, we were greeted by a shower of flower petals thrown over us and then a group of women singing and dancing a typical welcome, followed by cold drinks. After refreshing ourselves for a couple of minutes, we were guided through the plantation. In actuality, this was a demonstration plantation, not a real working plantation but it gave us an opportunity to see the different plants and trees that our spices come from. We saw betel nut trees and fruit, star fruit trees and fruit, lemon grass, cinnamon trees (they cut down the trees at 7 years old and let them dry, which makes the bark dry and curl off), cashew trees and fruit (they ferment and distill the fruit to make a potent firewater), clove trees, black pepper vines (from which comes black, red, green, and white pepper depending upon how they process it), nutmeg trees and fruit (which also is the source of mace and allspice), curry plants (the leaves impart a nice curry flavor and is a different flavor from and no relation to curry powder), cardamom plants, Portuguese chili pepper plants (little, bitty chili peppers that pack one heck of a wallop), and ginger plants. All in a very tropical (translation: hot, humid, but shady) setting. Then we got a fab demonstration of how the coconut harvesters climb a coconut palm and then sway the tree over to the next one and hop from one tree to another -- a performance worthy of Cirque d’Soleil.
On our way back to the lunch area, we were refreshed again by having a ladle of cold, citronella water (which was kept in an earthen wear jug which kept it cold) poured down our backs. It was so cold it was shocking at first but felt great…..until I realized that it was not going to instantly dry like in Egypt or in Jordan -- the humidity was going to ensure that I had a wet shirt for quite a while (luckily, at our next stop there was a breeze and my wet shirt felt good and did dry out). By this time I had already tried my guaranteed-cooling technique of getting my bandana soaking wet and wrapping it around my neck. Sadly, this only works in dry climates where the water evaporates -- here it just made me feel wetter and not cooler. Drat.
And then it was lunch time in a covered, outdoor area. We were served a variety of curries, some hot and some not (thank goodness) with rice and a variety of vegetables and fresh fruit using plates made out of palm leaves that they just compost afterwards. Although people traditionally eat with their hands in India, we westerners were given utensils (for which I was grateful). Usually on tours, lunch is served in a big, fancy hotel and we can be reasonably assured that the food is safe to eat. I assumed the same here, but passed up the fresh food just in case. I had the chicken curry and discovered that it was full of bones. Apparently, their preparation style is simply to take a chicken and chop it into pieces, bones and flesh and all, without separating the meat from the bones. Then they just throw everything into the pot. The job of the eater is to separate the meat from the bones while eating. I found it to be an interesting variation.
After lunch we piled back in the bus for a 15-minute drive to the temple for Durga. (By now it was afternoon and really HOT.) As we walked down the road a little way from the bus to the temple, there were stalls selling refreshing drinks and on the steps leading up to the temple complex there were women selling strings of flowers and fruit to be used as offerings in the temple. At the temple, we had to remove our shoes first before entering and, alas, no photos were allowed. In the days of the Portuguese rule, the Portuguese destroyed many temples in their attempts to convert the population to Roman Catholicism, so the local people moved the statue of Durga to different locations to hide her. The people were eventually able to build a new temple in 1738 and that is where she now lives. I noticed many Indian families visiting the temple in addition to us tourists.
One item of note is that unlike Egypt and Jordan, nobody ran up to us selling trinkets. The flower ladies raised their hands up to us, full of flowers, but that was all. There were no beggars. I don’t know if we were particularly insulated because we were in a tour group, but my sister and I often straggled behind and would have been a target in any other country.
Back in the ship, we dumped our day packs in our room and went to the buffet to pick up tea-time finger sandwiches and salads to take back to our room because we knew we wouldn’t have the energy to go to the formal dining room for dinner that night. Back in the room we snacked, showered, did laundry (because I needed to wear the same clothes 2 days later), and collapsed. BUT WAIT -- Kung Fu Panda II in 3D was scheduled in the theater at 6:30 PM. And Po was making a special guest appearance if you wanted your photo taken with Po. So we hauled ourselves to the theater and ordered drinks (which turned out to be our undoing) and lasted about halfway through the movie. Unfortunately, the movie just didn’t hold our interest so we left and watched the last half of the movie Gandhi on our TV.
Our ship was the largest cruise ship that has even docked in Goa, so some of the locals came out to see it. Goa is about halfway down the western coast of India, on the Arabian Sea (the Indian Ocean is on the eastern side of India, in case you were wondering). Goa is a vacation destination due to it’s beaches although we did not get to see the resort areas. For many centuries, it has been the central source for spices shipped all over the world (especially to Europe). For 450 years it was owned by the Portuguese, who were defeated by the Dutch for a relatively short time, who were in turn defeated by the British.
In general, it looks very tropical with lush vegetation and trees that contrast with the red earth -- such a change from the desert countries we’ve just seen. It is one of the wealthiest states in India (due in part to the port and it’s spice trade but mostly due to tourism) and has one of the highest percentages of educated people. It’s history is evident by the fact that 30% are Catholic. We did not see huge numbers of people as I expected to see in India, but perhaps that was due to the fact that we went to less populated, inland towns.
We took a tour to a spice plantation and to a temple for Durga (goddess of peace), about a 1.5 hr drive away from the port. Our first impressions of the place were greatly influenced by the fact that our ship was docked at a working port (huge piles of coal, large oil tanks, barge-building facilities, etc), which was interesting but not pretty. Our bus drove along the water for awhile and then turned inland a bit through several small towns. Roads were narrow and windy, filled with trucks, cars, public and private busses (the private busses were gaily painted), 2-wheel vehicles, and bicycles. This made for interesting driving. Apparently the strategy is to beep your horn at every curve, at every potential obstacle, at everything you might want to pass, and perhaps just for the heck of it, I wasn’t sure. (We generously tipped the driver at the end of the tour, but I’m not sure whether that was for getting us safely there and back or for his virtuosity on the horn.) And different vehicles had different horn tunes -- our bus horn sounded somewhat like a musical trumpeting elephant. Passing was an interesting experience. There were many times when our bus passed a large truck with only an inch or two to spare. I just sat back and watched and assumed that whatever was meant to happen would, or would not -- no sense getting worried about it.
The road through each small town was lined with market stalls, mostly selling fresh food but also some goods. Closer into the center of the town there were shops selling almost everything you can think of -- many buildings looked closed down. Living structures came in a wide variety. There were a few rather grand, brick houses painted in lovely, bright colors. Most of the houses were very small, unpainted brick one- or two-room huts and some houses were simply stick and mud structures. No matter the style of house, all yards were dirt, no landscaping, with occasional cows, and all houses were shaded by the trees (once again, such a contrast to the desert countries).
As we walked down a shaded lane into the spice plantation central area, we were greeted by a shower of flower petals thrown over us and then a group of women singing and dancing a typical welcome, followed by cold drinks. After refreshing ourselves for a couple of minutes, we were guided through the plantation. In actuality, this was a demonstration plantation, not a real working plantation but it gave us an opportunity to see the different plants and trees that our spices come from. We saw betel nut trees and fruit, star fruit trees and fruit, lemon grass, cinnamon trees (they cut down the trees at 7 years old and let them dry, which makes the bark dry and curl off), cashew trees and fruit (they ferment and distill the fruit to make a potent firewater), clove trees, black pepper vines (from which comes black, red, green, and white pepper depending upon how they process it), nutmeg trees and fruit (which also is the source of mace and allspice), curry plants (the leaves impart a nice curry flavor and is a different flavor from and no relation to curry powder), cardamom plants, Portuguese chili pepper plants (little, bitty chili peppers that pack one heck of a wallop), and ginger plants. All in a very tropical (translation: hot, humid, but shady) setting. Then we got a fab demonstration of how the coconut harvesters climb a coconut palm and then sway the tree over to the next one and hop from one tree to another -- a performance worthy of Cirque d’Soleil.
On our way back to the lunch area, we were refreshed again by having a ladle of cold, citronella water (which was kept in an earthen wear jug which kept it cold) poured down our backs. It was so cold it was shocking at first but felt great…..until I realized that it was not going to instantly dry like in Egypt or in Jordan -- the humidity was going to ensure that I had a wet shirt for quite a while (luckily, at our next stop there was a breeze and my wet shirt felt good and did dry out). By this time I had already tried my guaranteed-cooling technique of getting my bandana soaking wet and wrapping it around my neck. Sadly, this only works in dry climates where the water evaporates -- here it just made me feel wetter and not cooler. Drat.
And then it was lunch time in a covered, outdoor area. We were served a variety of curries, some hot and some not (thank goodness) with rice and a variety of vegetables and fresh fruit using plates made out of palm leaves that they just compost afterwards. Although people traditionally eat with their hands in India, we westerners were given utensils (for which I was grateful). Usually on tours, lunch is served in a big, fancy hotel and we can be reasonably assured that the food is safe to eat. I assumed the same here, but passed up the fresh food just in case. I had the chicken curry and discovered that it was full of bones. Apparently, their preparation style is simply to take a chicken and chop it into pieces, bones and flesh and all, without separating the meat from the bones. Then they just throw everything into the pot. The job of the eater is to separate the meat from the bones while eating. I found it to be an interesting variation.
After lunch we piled back in the bus for a 15-minute drive to the temple for Durga. (By now it was afternoon and really HOT.) As we walked down the road a little way from the bus to the temple, there were stalls selling refreshing drinks and on the steps leading up to the temple complex there were women selling strings of flowers and fruit to be used as offerings in the temple. At the temple, we had to remove our shoes first before entering and, alas, no photos were allowed. In the days of the Portuguese rule, the Portuguese destroyed many temples in their attempts to convert the population to Roman Catholicism, so the local people moved the statue of Durga to different locations to hide her. The people were eventually able to build a new temple in 1738 and that is where she now lives. I noticed many Indian families visiting the temple in addition to us tourists.
One item of note is that unlike Egypt and Jordan, nobody ran up to us selling trinkets. The flower ladies raised their hands up to us, full of flowers, but that was all. There were no beggars. I don’t know if we were particularly insulated because we were in a tour group, but my sister and I often straggled behind and would have been a target in any other country.
Back in the ship, we dumped our day packs in our room and went to the buffet to pick up tea-time finger sandwiches and salads to take back to our room because we knew we wouldn’t have the energy to go to the formal dining room for dinner that night. Back in the room we snacked, showered, did laundry (because I needed to wear the same clothes 2 days later), and collapsed. BUT WAIT -- Kung Fu Panda II in 3D was scheduled in the theater at 6:30 PM. And Po was making a special guest appearance if you wanted your photo taken with Po. So we hauled ourselves to the theater and ordered drinks (which turned out to be our undoing) and lasted about halfway through the movie. Unfortunately, the movie just didn’t hold our interest so we left and watched the last half of the movie Gandhi on our TV.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
DAY 22, 23 TYPICAL DAY AT SEA
Leaving Dubai, we sailed back through the Strait of Hormuz, back through the Gulf of Oman, and back out into the Arabian Sea with Pakistan on our left, and then out across the Arabia Sea on our way to India. The water is choppy and our ship has started to rock and roll a bit. For awhile in the afternoon as I lay napping, my body just jiggled back and forth like jello from the motion. In the evening, we picked up a noticeable roll so that everyone looked a bit drunk as they walked along, lurching from one side to the other. I happen to enjoy this kind of motion, but not everyone agrees with me.
We are enjoying typical, busy shipboard days. Here’s what we did on Day 22.
9:00 AM Woke up, dressed and were in the Windjammer buffet by 9:15.
9:15-9:45 Ate a bit of breakfast. (Fashion critique: women over fifty should NOT wear crushed black velvet mini skirts ever, and certainly not at the breakfast hour!!! And then there was the woman who had way too much plastic surgery -- it looked like she couldn‘t close her eyes …. Very weird looking.)
10-11 AM Attended a lecture on Goa (very informative -- we actually did something useful)
11-12 AM Uploaded a post to my blog, did hand laundry, uploaded Dubai photos to my netbook
12 Noon Had to set our clocks ahead another hour (we’ve been doing this rather frequently -- by the time we reach Singapore I’ll be more than a whole day ahead of my home time)
1 - 3 PM Read and napped in my room (we had to rest up from an exhausting morning)
3-4 PM Ate finger sandwiches and pudding for tea time in the Windjammer. Brought a bunch of cookies back to the room for breakfast snacks tomorrow (you never know when you might need a snack)
4-6:30 PM Read and napped in my room then dressed for a formal night at dinner (at 4:27 my sister killed a fly in our room after a hot pursuit)
7-9 PM Ate dinner in the dining room.
9-10 PM Went to the theater for a great show -- very good singer. Learned from the cruise director that there are 3000 passengers on this cruise of 52 different nationalities. The largest group was British, then American, then Aussie, and German.
10-12 AM Went to a different bar where our favorite bartender is working for this cruise. Drank brandy alexanders (yes, plural and yes, we didn’t have dessert for dinner so the drinks were our dessert).
12-1 AM Read, ate chocolate tidbits that we received as a thank you gift for continuing onto a second cruse, and finally fell asleep.
See, traveling is not always easy -- there’s always something we must be doing. I think we’re getting the hang of it finally.
We are enjoying typical, busy shipboard days. Here’s what we did on Day 22.
9:00 AM Woke up, dressed and were in the Windjammer buffet by 9:15.
9:15-9:45 Ate a bit of breakfast. (Fashion critique: women over fifty should NOT wear crushed black velvet mini skirts ever, and certainly not at the breakfast hour!!! And then there was the woman who had way too much plastic surgery -- it looked like she couldn‘t close her eyes …. Very weird looking.)
10-11 AM Attended a lecture on Goa (very informative -- we actually did something useful)
11-12 AM Uploaded a post to my blog, did hand laundry, uploaded Dubai photos to my netbook
12 Noon Had to set our clocks ahead another hour (we’ve been doing this rather frequently -- by the time we reach Singapore I’ll be more than a whole day ahead of my home time)
1 - 3 PM Read and napped in my room (we had to rest up from an exhausting morning)
3-4 PM Ate finger sandwiches and pudding for tea time in the Windjammer. Brought a bunch of cookies back to the room for breakfast snacks tomorrow (you never know when you might need a snack)
4-6:30 PM Read and napped in my room then dressed for a formal night at dinner (at 4:27 my sister killed a fly in our room after a hot pursuit)
7-9 PM Ate dinner in the dining room.
9-10 PM Went to the theater for a great show -- very good singer. Learned from the cruise director that there are 3000 passengers on this cruise of 52 different nationalities. The largest group was British, then American, then Aussie, and German.
10-12 AM Went to a different bar where our favorite bartender is working for this cruise. Drank brandy alexanders (yes, plural and yes, we didn’t have dessert for dinner so the drinks were our dessert).
12-1 AM Read, ate chocolate tidbits that we received as a thank you gift for continuing onto a second cruse, and finally fell asleep.
See, traveling is not always easy -- there’s always something we must be doing. I think we’re getting the hang of it finally.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
DAY 21 DUBAI
We returned from the ovens of Dubai in remarkably good shape due mostly to a very good tour guide who made sure our time in the sun was minimal and our time in air conditioned spaces was maximal. But I’ll tell you, you just haven’t lived until you’ve waited at the crossing of a busy street in the sun and then walked across black pavement in 109 degree heat. Luckily, it was not as humid as expected but the overall air quality was quite poor because they’ve had several big sand storms recently.
But before I get ahead of myself, I need to start at the beginning which is when we left the ship and walked into the passenger terminal at the port. There were several stalls against one wall where people in traditional garb were selling handcrafts. At one stall, 3 women were seated on the floor weaving household items from grasses (or maybe split palm fronds). They wore the traditional black robes (abayas) with black head scarves, but in addition they wore traditional masks (couldn’t tell if they were plastic or metal) that covered their noses and mouths. In the UAE these are called burkhas. It looked like something from a medieval torture scene. Our guide later explained that the mask was designed to protect the nose and mouth from flying sand, but I don’t really buy that because men don’t wear them. It was difficult to look at them. On the other hand, our guide also explained that most women in Dubai do not cover their face at all, but they still wear the abaya and cover their hair (although some young women are starting to pull their head scarf back at bit to show some of their hair).
Barti Rajan, our guide (www.dubai1tours.com) was very good -- we highly recommend him. He and his driver arrived on time to pick us up, the vehicle was spacious and clean and the air conditioning worked very well, and his English was quite good. One of the first things we learned is that although most of the world says that Dubai is on the Persian Gulf, people in Dubai call it the Arabian Gulf because of the difficult political relationship they have with Iran.
The United Arab Emirates was founded in 1972 -- Sheikh Rashid is considered to be the founding father because he united the small states (tribes, actually). Abu Dhabi is the capital but Dubai is the business and tourist center. Almost all of Dubai has been built in the last 20 years; the downtown area with all the towering buildings of architectural splendor has been built in the last 7 years. For comparison, 40 years ago Dubai did not have electricity. You can see how quickly this city has sprung up from barren sand. Everything is new and the creative license granted to architects is stunningly obvious. Although I expected to be bored, it turned out that I was enchanted by the diversity of design. We drove by many of the famous buildings and stopped at the perfect photo spots. At one point we stopped on the beach to take photos of the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel (really interesting!) and ended up wading up to our knees in the clear, aquamarine waters of the Persian Gulf. Mostly bath-water temperature, but refreshing nevertheless -- I actually waded in the Persian Gulf….wow!!
Went to the king’s palace -- we could only stop outside and take photos. The entrance lane is bordered by lines of date palms and flowering bushes, and finally, wide strips of green lawn. Just outside the lush vegetation I could see the sand and the drip lines that are used to water everything (almost all the water used in Dubai is produced by their desalination plants). The king’s peacocks were out strutting around -- they are larger than I am used to seeing and their bodies were such an electric blue that it was remarkable. Stopped to photograph the grand mosque -- very beautifully carved decorations on the outside.
Boulevards are landscaped with flowering trees (brilliant orange-flowered acacia trees), flowering bushes, and green grass. I didn’t see any trash anywhere -- everything was pristine. The government and the people of Dubai are very concerned with image. Even vehicle license plates can have snob appeal. When a person is granted a vehicle license, they keep it for life. If the license plate has a low number, it can be quite a substantial asset. Low-numbered licenses are frequently put up for auction when a person dies. Recently a 4-digit number (new licenses are in the 7 digits now so a 4-digit license is quite prestigious) sold for the equivalent of $2,000,000 at auction.
Here’s another fashion tidbit -- the preferred color for male headwear is all white, however, some men switch to red and white for winter wear. Now you know. Oh, and here’s the origin of the black rope that men wear to secure their headwear -- in nomadic days, men would use a rope to hobble tie around their camel’s front legs at night to prevent the camel from wandering away. In the morning, they would coil the rope and use it on top of their heads. OK, that’s your trivia for the day.
Next stop was the Islamic Arts Center which is really a high-end shopping opportunity in a lovely, air-conditioned building. We were assigned our own “guide” who is really a salesman and who showed us around the many small shops. I’m so sorry they didn’t allow photography because many of the items we saw were exquisite. We saw gold-thread embroidered, jewel encrusted, wall hangings like nothing I‘ve ever seen before; intricately carved, delicate white furniture made from camel bone; gorgeously, gossamer-thin pashmina shawls; brilliantly colored items of clothing, all embroidered and bejeweled; stunning enameled bowls and vases; and many jewelry shops. Although the salesman did try to encourage us to buy things, he didn’t use the high pressure techniques we have been subjected to in the past, so it was quite a pleasant experience.
After that it was time to take a water taxi to the other side of Dubai. “A water taxi” I hear you ask? Yup. Dubai is split by a seawater waterway that they call the “creek” although it is something like a wide river. The water taxis are wide, shallow-draft boats with covered benches on the deck. You just climb on and sit down on a bench facing out to the water and the ride is a whole 5 minutes long. Fun.
Wandered through the spice souk and the gold souk. A souk is an open area market. In Dubai, the souks are located in the old part of town (not much of the old stuff left). The central walkway in each souk is covered so it is shaded and then there are small shops on either side of the walkway -- luckily each shop is air conditioned, which makes it more enticing to go in and look. We walked into a couple of spice shops. Outside were cloth bags heaped high with spices. Talk about spices from the east -- I saw frankincense and myrrh, dried whole lemons, long rolls of cinnamon, chunks of alum (used by men on their face as an after shave treatment), tumeric, sticks of dried milk (looked kind of like chalk)…..I can’t remember them all. Oh, and bundles of saffron (the flower stamens were bundled together like a dried flower arrangement). They also had fresh dates and all kinds of nuts (almonds, cashews, and pistachios especially). The smells were delicious.
Then a short walk to the gold souk. Oh my what an over stimulation for the eyes. Shop after shop with windows filled with gold jewelry -- traditional western styles, Indian gold styles, high-end designs, yellow and white and rose gold. These stores are regulated by the government so the gold quality is guaranteed and they are known for their honesty. After looking at 3 or 4 shops it was difficult to take in any more, but we tried our best. We were able to bargain a little bit but the prices only came down a little bit.
We lunched at a Lebanese restaurant that had the best hummus I’ve had in a long time. We had chicken shwarma and minted lemonade -- everything was memorably good. And then it was back to the ship where we were able to just sail past all the check-in lines and walk right onto the ship without delay. Parked next door to us at the port was the QE II which now lives in Dubai. That was news to me. They had plans to turn it into a hotel but that is on hold for now due to lack of funds. All in all, it was a great day. And now we have 2 days at sea before we reach Goa, India. Time to finish up the latest book I’m reading.
But before I get ahead of myself, I need to start at the beginning which is when we left the ship and walked into the passenger terminal at the port. There were several stalls against one wall where people in traditional garb were selling handcrafts. At one stall, 3 women were seated on the floor weaving household items from grasses (or maybe split palm fronds). They wore the traditional black robes (abayas) with black head scarves, but in addition they wore traditional masks (couldn’t tell if they were plastic or metal) that covered their noses and mouths. In the UAE these are called burkhas. It looked like something from a medieval torture scene. Our guide later explained that the mask was designed to protect the nose and mouth from flying sand, but I don’t really buy that because men don’t wear them. It was difficult to look at them. On the other hand, our guide also explained that most women in Dubai do not cover their face at all, but they still wear the abaya and cover their hair (although some young women are starting to pull their head scarf back at bit to show some of their hair).
Barti Rajan, our guide (www.dubai1tours.com) was very good -- we highly recommend him. He and his driver arrived on time to pick us up, the vehicle was spacious and clean and the air conditioning worked very well, and his English was quite good. One of the first things we learned is that although most of the world says that Dubai is on the Persian Gulf, people in Dubai call it the Arabian Gulf because of the difficult political relationship they have with Iran.
The United Arab Emirates was founded in 1972 -- Sheikh Rashid is considered to be the founding father because he united the small states (tribes, actually). Abu Dhabi is the capital but Dubai is the business and tourist center. Almost all of Dubai has been built in the last 20 years; the downtown area with all the towering buildings of architectural splendor has been built in the last 7 years. For comparison, 40 years ago Dubai did not have electricity. You can see how quickly this city has sprung up from barren sand. Everything is new and the creative license granted to architects is stunningly obvious. Although I expected to be bored, it turned out that I was enchanted by the diversity of design. We drove by many of the famous buildings and stopped at the perfect photo spots. At one point we stopped on the beach to take photos of the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel (really interesting!) and ended up wading up to our knees in the clear, aquamarine waters of the Persian Gulf. Mostly bath-water temperature, but refreshing nevertheless -- I actually waded in the Persian Gulf….wow!!
Went to the king’s palace -- we could only stop outside and take photos. The entrance lane is bordered by lines of date palms and flowering bushes, and finally, wide strips of green lawn. Just outside the lush vegetation I could see the sand and the drip lines that are used to water everything (almost all the water used in Dubai is produced by their desalination plants). The king’s peacocks were out strutting around -- they are larger than I am used to seeing and their bodies were such an electric blue that it was remarkable. Stopped to photograph the grand mosque -- very beautifully carved decorations on the outside.
Boulevards are landscaped with flowering trees (brilliant orange-flowered acacia trees), flowering bushes, and green grass. I didn’t see any trash anywhere -- everything was pristine. The government and the people of Dubai are very concerned with image. Even vehicle license plates can have snob appeal. When a person is granted a vehicle license, they keep it for life. If the license plate has a low number, it can be quite a substantial asset. Low-numbered licenses are frequently put up for auction when a person dies. Recently a 4-digit number (new licenses are in the 7 digits now so a 4-digit license is quite prestigious) sold for the equivalent of $2,000,000 at auction.
Here’s another fashion tidbit -- the preferred color for male headwear is all white, however, some men switch to red and white for winter wear. Now you know. Oh, and here’s the origin of the black rope that men wear to secure their headwear -- in nomadic days, men would use a rope to hobble tie around their camel’s front legs at night to prevent the camel from wandering away. In the morning, they would coil the rope and use it on top of their heads. OK, that’s your trivia for the day.
Next stop was the Islamic Arts Center which is really a high-end shopping opportunity in a lovely, air-conditioned building. We were assigned our own “guide” who is really a salesman and who showed us around the many small shops. I’m so sorry they didn’t allow photography because many of the items we saw were exquisite. We saw gold-thread embroidered, jewel encrusted, wall hangings like nothing I‘ve ever seen before; intricately carved, delicate white furniture made from camel bone; gorgeously, gossamer-thin pashmina shawls; brilliantly colored items of clothing, all embroidered and bejeweled; stunning enameled bowls and vases; and many jewelry shops. Although the salesman did try to encourage us to buy things, he didn’t use the high pressure techniques we have been subjected to in the past, so it was quite a pleasant experience.
After that it was time to take a water taxi to the other side of Dubai. “A water taxi” I hear you ask? Yup. Dubai is split by a seawater waterway that they call the “creek” although it is something like a wide river. The water taxis are wide, shallow-draft boats with covered benches on the deck. You just climb on and sit down on a bench facing out to the water and the ride is a whole 5 minutes long. Fun.
Wandered through the spice souk and the gold souk. A souk is an open area market. In Dubai, the souks are located in the old part of town (not much of the old stuff left). The central walkway in each souk is covered so it is shaded and then there are small shops on either side of the walkway -- luckily each shop is air conditioned, which makes it more enticing to go in and look. We walked into a couple of spice shops. Outside were cloth bags heaped high with spices. Talk about spices from the east -- I saw frankincense and myrrh, dried whole lemons, long rolls of cinnamon, chunks of alum (used by men on their face as an after shave treatment), tumeric, sticks of dried milk (looked kind of like chalk)…..I can’t remember them all. Oh, and bundles of saffron (the flower stamens were bundled together like a dried flower arrangement). They also had fresh dates and all kinds of nuts (almonds, cashews, and pistachios especially). The smells were delicious.
Then a short walk to the gold souk. Oh my what an over stimulation for the eyes. Shop after shop with windows filled with gold jewelry -- traditional western styles, Indian gold styles, high-end designs, yellow and white and rose gold. These stores are regulated by the government so the gold quality is guaranteed and they are known for their honesty. After looking at 3 or 4 shops it was difficult to take in any more, but we tried our best. We were able to bargain a little bit but the prices only came down a little bit.
We lunched at a Lebanese restaurant that had the best hummus I’ve had in a long time. We had chicken shwarma and minted lemonade -- everything was memorably good. And then it was back to the ship where we were able to just sail past all the check-in lines and walk right onto the ship without delay. Parked next door to us at the port was the QE II which now lives in Dubai. That was news to me. They had plans to turn it into a hotel but that is on hold for now due to lack of funds. All in all, it was a great day. And now we have 2 days at sea before we reach Goa, India. Time to finish up the latest book I’m reading.
Monday, May 14, 2012
DAY 20 GULF OF OMAN & PERSIAN GULF
We’re out of pirate territory finally and got the all-clear to open our curtains and keep the lights on at night. I could tell that we are out of the danger zone because when we went to breakfast all the covers were removed from the windows in the public areas. Much as I love adventure, I’m thankful that this was an uneventful passage.
We’ve turned the corner, out of the Arabian Sea, following the coast of Oman, and into the Gulf of Oman. In the late afternoon, we went through the Strait of Hormuz, passing by Iran but we didn’t see any saber rattling by Iran (thank goodness), and on into the Persian Gulf, scheduled to arrive at Dubai, United Arab Emirates in the morning. (I just paused to reread the last couple of sentences and those names sound so exotic that it is hard to believe I am really traveling in these places. Wow, how cool is that?) What little land we could see was brown, rocky, and barren -- big surprise.
The weather was somewhere near 90 degrees F and 75% humidity -- I could hardly breathe when I walked on the outside decks. At noon I went outside for a few minutes and my glasses immediately fogged up. I just don’t think my body was designed for this kind of weather. Kind of hard on the camera, too.
Tomorrow we reach Dubai and while the other passengers debark and go home we plan to meet our tour guide (we booked a private tour) and will spend some time being driven around. The weather forecast is 109 degrees F, but because of the humidity it is effectively 115 degrees F. (Bet you can’t wait to read my comments about this heat. If you want to empathize, turn your oven on to 115 degrees and stick a bowl of hot water in there. Then stick your head in for awhile. You can almost imagine you’re in Dubai, right?) The problem with Dubai is that it doesn’t really have much history or “culture” that you can see -- it’s mostly new buildings of some fabulous design or other. But we’ll see -- I may have some delicious stories to relate.
We’ve turned the corner, out of the Arabian Sea, following the coast of Oman, and into the Gulf of Oman. In the late afternoon, we went through the Strait of Hormuz, passing by Iran but we didn’t see any saber rattling by Iran (thank goodness), and on into the Persian Gulf, scheduled to arrive at Dubai, United Arab Emirates in the morning. (I just paused to reread the last couple of sentences and those names sound so exotic that it is hard to believe I am really traveling in these places. Wow, how cool is that?) What little land we could see was brown, rocky, and barren -- big surprise.
The weather was somewhere near 90 degrees F and 75% humidity -- I could hardly breathe when I walked on the outside decks. At noon I went outside for a few minutes and my glasses immediately fogged up. I just don’t think my body was designed for this kind of weather. Kind of hard on the camera, too.
Tomorrow we reach Dubai and while the other passengers debark and go home we plan to meet our tour guide (we booked a private tour) and will spend some time being driven around. The weather forecast is 109 degrees F, but because of the humidity it is effectively 115 degrees F. (Bet you can’t wait to read my comments about this heat. If you want to empathize, turn your oven on to 115 degrees and stick a bowl of hot water in there. Then stick your head in for awhile. You can almost imagine you’re in Dubai, right?) The problem with Dubai is that it doesn’t really have much history or “culture” that you can see -- it’s mostly new buildings of some fabulous design or other. But we’ll see -- I may have some delicious stories to relate.
DAY 19 ARABIAN SEA
We’re still running dark until tomorrow -- we are passing Yemen on the left side, on our way to Oman. There’s a bit of a swell and chop on the water so that the ship is rolling side to side just a little bit….feels like being rocked. Watched a bunch of dolphins playing in the waves alongside the ship -- cute. It is very difficult not to attribute human emotions to them because they certainly look joyful and playful.
Finally got around to playing Bingo -- got close to winning but that’s all, just close. Finished another book and watched a big parade (sort of tiki meets mardi gras theme) that wound itself up and down the inside promenade deck, which is on deck 5 and runs the length of the ship and has an open area above it about 4 stories high (all the inside cabins on those decks have a window that looks down onto the promenade). The promenade has several shops, a café, a Ben & Jerry’s counter, a Starbucks, a pub (the Pig & Whistle, which is always crowded with Brits and Aussies), a sports bar, and the main guest services desk and at night there are several places where live music is played. My sister and I are finally beginning to feel like we are seriously de-stressing.
Finally got around to playing Bingo -- got close to winning but that’s all, just close. Finished another book and watched a big parade (sort of tiki meets mardi gras theme) that wound itself up and down the inside promenade deck, which is on deck 5 and runs the length of the ship and has an open area above it about 4 stories high (all the inside cabins on those decks have a window that looks down onto the promenade). The promenade has several shops, a café, a Ben & Jerry’s counter, a Starbucks, a pub (the Pig & Whistle, which is always crowded with Brits and Aussies), a sports bar, and the main guest services desk and at night there are several places where live music is played. My sister and I are finally beginning to feel like we are seriously de-stressing.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
DAY 16, 17, 18 AT SEA
On day 16, we sailed down the Red Sea and into the Gulf of Aden. At the southern end of the Red Sea, it closes down into a narrow channel and then empties into the Gulf of Aden, which stretches out for a bit in an easterly direction, over the top of Somalia. Apparently we are getting some helicopter support because one flew around to do some reconnaissance and then did a fly-over of the ship.
The water is like glass and the air is hot and humid -- very on both accounts.
I’ve picked up an intestinal bug and have been taking it easy the last couple of days, getting a lot of reading done, which is lovely.
On day 17 we sailed the Gulf of Aden with no unpleasant events. The weather actually feels a wee bit cooler.
On day 18 we entered the Arabian Sea, heading north towards the Gulf of Oman, passing by Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yes, we will go through the Straits of Hormuz (spelling?) which Iran has been threatening to block, but so far there seems to be no trouble. We are still running dark at night but that will be over by tomorrow. Last night we got a phone call from the ship security people at midnight asking us to close our curtains because they could see light, but our curtains had been closed for a long time so who knows how many other people they woke up.
THIS AND THAT AT SEA
My sister’s food projectThroughout this trip, my sister has been taking photos of many of the dishes we are served, in restaurants and aboard the ship. This results in a rather amusing scene in which we are served and then I must sit quietly, not touching the food, looking for all the world like I am saying a blessing over it, while she photographs.
Latest towel animalsMonkey and aardvark (which may be intended to be an elephant but looks more like an aardvark).
Sun bathersI don’t understand all the people (hundreds of them) who lay out in the sun all day around the decks -- how can they stand it and why aren’t they all already dead from skin cancer? The ship is full of old people who have skin like tanned leather hides.
What is there to do when you are at sea for 6 days straight?Oh my goodness, the list would be shorter if I tried to list things that we couldn’t do. There are various lectures and classes (heard the tail end of a feng shui colors lecture today), lots of games (card games, bingo, competitive soduku, progressive trivia), sports (ice skating, basketball, shuffleboard, Wii bowling, rock climbing, and miniature golf), pool-side things like ugly legs contests and belly flop contests, dance lessons, probably 5 different music and dance venues at night, different entertainers in the theater, several different places to eat (almost every kind of food you can think of), and classes (origami and napkin folding, for example). Of course we try to set goals every day -- like do a bit of hand laundry one day, upload photos to my computer another day, get a manicure -- it’s a grueling schedule. And of course we have to try to be presentable when our cabin steward comes in to tidy up the room and bring fresh towels -- twice a day. And what about the treadmill, I hear you ask? I really haven’t been feeling up to par for the past 3 days so I’m just taking it easy. I’m much better today.
Almost all of the public areas have music playing constantly to create an atmosphere of high energy -- it seems that a lot of people like that. However, both my sister and I are preferring quiet. Because our room is very comfortable, and we get lovely light from the floor to ceiling, sliding doors to the balcony, we find ourselves opting to spend time in the room reading (OK, I confess, reading then dozing and then reading and dozing again) and often we bring our lunch back to the room to read quietly while eating.
We’ve watched some old movies on the TV and rented one movie and that was fun. Today we started working on a jigsaw puzzle that I brought. We also brought cards to play canasta (and don’t you dare tease me about never hearing the card game canasta) but haven’t gotten around to that yet. We went to the last big production show in the theater last night and they did a selection of famous songs and dance numbers from different movies. The oddest bits were when they did the famous song from Carmen (the opera) in a Hollywood musical style, and finished with a Carmen rap. Then they did a Bollywood version of the Arrow song Hot Hot Hot, which is a Caribbean song. Odd but amusing.
And that’s life on the high seas.
The water is like glass and the air is hot and humid -- very on both accounts.
I’ve picked up an intestinal bug and have been taking it easy the last couple of days, getting a lot of reading done, which is lovely.
On day 17 we sailed the Gulf of Aden with no unpleasant events. The weather actually feels a wee bit cooler.
On day 18 we entered the Arabian Sea, heading north towards the Gulf of Oman, passing by Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yes, we will go through the Straits of Hormuz (spelling?) which Iran has been threatening to block, but so far there seems to be no trouble. We are still running dark at night but that will be over by tomorrow. Last night we got a phone call from the ship security people at midnight asking us to close our curtains because they could see light, but our curtains had been closed for a long time so who knows how many other people they woke up.
THIS AND THAT AT SEA
My sister’s food projectThroughout this trip, my sister has been taking photos of many of the dishes we are served, in restaurants and aboard the ship. This results in a rather amusing scene in which we are served and then I must sit quietly, not touching the food, looking for all the world like I am saying a blessing over it, while she photographs.
Latest towel animalsMonkey and aardvark (which may be intended to be an elephant but looks more like an aardvark).
Sun bathersI don’t understand all the people (hundreds of them) who lay out in the sun all day around the decks -- how can they stand it and why aren’t they all already dead from skin cancer? The ship is full of old people who have skin like tanned leather hides.
What is there to do when you are at sea for 6 days straight?Oh my goodness, the list would be shorter if I tried to list things that we couldn’t do. There are various lectures and classes (heard the tail end of a feng shui colors lecture today), lots of games (card games, bingo, competitive soduku, progressive trivia), sports (ice skating, basketball, shuffleboard, Wii bowling, rock climbing, and miniature golf), pool-side things like ugly legs contests and belly flop contests, dance lessons, probably 5 different music and dance venues at night, different entertainers in the theater, several different places to eat (almost every kind of food you can think of), and classes (origami and napkin folding, for example). Of course we try to set goals every day -- like do a bit of hand laundry one day, upload photos to my computer another day, get a manicure -- it’s a grueling schedule. And of course we have to try to be presentable when our cabin steward comes in to tidy up the room and bring fresh towels -- twice a day. And what about the treadmill, I hear you ask? I really haven’t been feeling up to par for the past 3 days so I’m just taking it easy. I’m much better today.
Almost all of the public areas have music playing constantly to create an atmosphere of high energy -- it seems that a lot of people like that. However, both my sister and I are preferring quiet. Because our room is very comfortable, and we get lovely light from the floor to ceiling, sliding doors to the balcony, we find ourselves opting to spend time in the room reading (OK, I confess, reading then dozing and then reading and dozing again) and often we bring our lunch back to the room to read quietly while eating.
We’ve watched some old movies on the TV and rented one movie and that was fun. Today we started working on a jigsaw puzzle that I brought. We also brought cards to play canasta (and don’t you dare tease me about never hearing the card game canasta) but haven’t gotten around to that yet. We went to the last big production show in the theater last night and they did a selection of famous songs and dance numbers from different movies. The oddest bits were when they did the famous song from Carmen (the opera) in a Hollywood musical style, and finished with a Carmen rap. Then they did a Bollywood version of the Arrow song Hot Hot Hot, which is a Caribbean song. Odd but amusing.
And that’s life on the high seas.
Friday, May 11, 2012
DAY 15 RED SEA
Leaving Safaga, we continued south down the Red Sea. As we exit the Red Sea tomorrow and enter the Gulf of Aden, we will be passing Somalia on one side and Yemen on the other, which is pirate territory. We’ve been given information about the precautions the ship is taking. First of all, cruise ships can go a lot faster than the cargo ships and fishing vessels that pirates usually target. Secondly, our ship is so big that it is physically difficult to board. Thirdly, we have a lot more security personnel on board than cargo ships and fishing vessels. This means that the likelihood of our having any problems is very, very low.
However, the ship has contingency plans, so everyone aboard participated in a Operation Safe Haven drill. If we hear an all-ship announcement saying “Operation Safe Haven,” that is the code to go to the inside portions of the ship. People in inside cabins must stay in their cabins, but people in outside cabins, like us, must move into the corridors or even further into the central portion of the ship. Everyone must leave the outside decks.
In addition, a couple of military-looking boats came alongside the ship (but the flag they were flying was not for any specific country so I’m not sure where they come from) and loaded some extra security personnel and “security equipment” on board. In the afternoon, the captain announced that the security personnel would be testing “the weapon” off the stern of the ship, and by golly, at 3:00 PM we started hearing some very big bangs from within our cabin. Not sure what “the weapon” actually is though -- sounded like some big guns.
For the next 3 evenings, the ship is running dark as an added security measure, and crew will be stationed on all the outside decks with night-vision goggles. By running dark, I mean that the curtains in all outside cabins must remain closed, all outside deck lights are turned off, and all outside windows (doors to outside decks, dining rooms, etc) are covered. Lights in dining rooms are dimmed (very romantic). What is amusing to us is that this is a very big ship, 14 stories tall, painted white. We have a lovely moon that shines brightly. How do they think we can’t be noticed?
Although my sister and I both think the probability of a problem is next to zero, nevertheless we have decided that a contingency plan of our own is a good idea. We packed a tote bag with our money, credit cards, pair of shoes, and something to wear. That way, we can just grab the one bag and go. I think that all these precautions should ensure a problem-free trip.
However, the ship has contingency plans, so everyone aboard participated in a Operation Safe Haven drill. If we hear an all-ship announcement saying “Operation Safe Haven,” that is the code to go to the inside portions of the ship. People in inside cabins must stay in their cabins, but people in outside cabins, like us, must move into the corridors or even further into the central portion of the ship. Everyone must leave the outside decks.
In addition, a couple of military-looking boats came alongside the ship (but the flag they were flying was not for any specific country so I’m not sure where they come from) and loaded some extra security personnel and “security equipment” on board. In the afternoon, the captain announced that the security personnel would be testing “the weapon” off the stern of the ship, and by golly, at 3:00 PM we started hearing some very big bangs from within our cabin. Not sure what “the weapon” actually is though -- sounded like some big guns.
For the next 3 evenings, the ship is running dark as an added security measure, and crew will be stationed on all the outside decks with night-vision goggles. By running dark, I mean that the curtains in all outside cabins must remain closed, all outside deck lights are turned off, and all outside windows (doors to outside decks, dining rooms, etc) are covered. Lights in dining rooms are dimmed (very romantic). What is amusing to us is that this is a very big ship, 14 stories tall, painted white. We have a lovely moon that shines brightly. How do they think we can’t be noticed?
Although my sister and I both think the probability of a problem is next to zero, nevertheless we have decided that a contingency plan of our own is a good idea. We packed a tote bag with our money, credit cards, pair of shoes, and something to wear. That way, we can just grab the one bag and go. I think that all these precautions should ensure a problem-free trip.
DAY 14 VALLEY OF THE KINGS & TEMPLE OF KARNAK
We walked through a narrow, policed gate in the hot sun, the baking heat reflecting back up from the ground and the barren, rocky sides of the valley. The entire Valley of the Kings is larger than the part open to the public. The part we saw is indeed a valley but rather small. The middle of the valley was flat and about 30 yards across (apologies to the readers accustomed to metric measurements) and along the sides were tall, rocky hills with lots of little side crevasses leading away to larger rocky mountains. All was monochrome sand color layered with loose stones.
As we walked a little way up the valley, I could see a few covered platforms that provided shade and benches for the tourists and quite a few tomb entrances (there are hundreds of tombs in the entire valley). Each tomb entrance had a sign announcing whose tomb it was and had stone walls fortifying the sides of the entrance. The tombs were never built according to any plan so some entrances were clustered close together and some were much farther away. Tomb builders selected a suitable site (usually selected for the hardness and integrity of the rock) and then they dug into the rock for as far as 600-800 feet, with straight-edged walls and square corners, using stone and wood tools for the most part. Because tomb entrances were covered over and hidden after a king was buried, builders of the tomb for the next king never knew where the other tombs might be. One notable oopsy was a tomb that was excavated to discover that the builders had inadvertently tunneled into an existing tomb so they had to start in another direction. Looking up at the rocky hillsides, I could see other holes carved in the rock that probably led to other tombs as well as tombs that were started but never finished.
We were given 1.5 hours to walk around on our own. I would have liked to visit a bunch of the tombs, but standing outside in the sun (under my umbrella and under my hat and with my soaking wet bandana around my neck -- it isn’t pretty but it works) is a lot like standing in a kiln. Unpleasant. So I decided to visit one tomb and the closest was that of Ramses IX (there were a lot of pharaohs named Ramses, the most famous and most egotistical, and the longest reigning of them was Ramses II).
The floor of the tomb slanted downwards at a fairly steep angle -- a wood-plank floor with horizontal ridges provided secure footing. The tunnel was about 12 feet high and perhaps only 500 feet long and led to a square chamber where the sarcophagus clearly had rested. There were various side niches that could have held small statues and jars and some furniture, but altogether it was a small tomb because Ramses IX didn’t live long enough to build a grand send-off.
But the best part were the walls and ceilings that were entirely painted -- most of the colors still bright and vivid. The walls had beautifully carved scenes that were also painted, but much of the walls were covered with drawings and hieroglyphics in beautiful color, and all of the ceilings were painted. Yes, there was some obvious wear and some of the colors were faded here and there (the walls were protected by hard plastic panes that prevented visitors from rubbing against them), but the overall effect was fabulous. And this wasn’t even the most spectacular tomb, according to our guide. I stood in the tomb for quite a while as hundreds of visitors filed past me (probably annoyed at me) filled with wonder that I was actually inside the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh -- so much like books I have read. The artwork was no longer just something interesting to look at in a book but suddenly more personal and immediate. This was a dream come true for me.
Emerging from the tomb, I decided that I just couldn’t trudge to another one -- the heat was really debilitating. So I went to one of the shaded platforms (hot, uneven, stone steps up) and sat down on a bench and instantly became a desirable target for all the sellers. They swarmed around me. By this time I had retrieved my fan out of my tote and was fanning myself. I discovered that if I held the fan fully open, and swished it back and forth at arms length in front of the seller’s face and said a stern “no,” that they moved on. The problem was that I really was a sitting duck and they were attracted to me like flies to honey. I did not look at their faces -- I looked down at their shoes and kept shooing them away. For awhile, I counted how long the interval was between sellers coming up to me and it was an average of 3 seconds over about 20 minutes. I gave up after that.
Leaving the valley, our bus drove past Queen Hatshepsut’s temple (hat-ship-SUIT) in the distance. It truly is a magnificent architectural triumph of its time and I was glad that I could at least gaze at it from afar. We had lunch in a very poshy hotel (I think they use poshy hotels on cruise tours because they can control the quality and cleanliness of the food).
And then it was off to the Temple of Karnak (used as a location in various movies). On the way we crossed the Nile and the bus paused so we could take our obligatory photos. Looked like a river to me but I must admit that it does have quite a bit of cachet.
The Temple of Karnak takes up a fairly large area. Originally, there was a large boulevard paved with stones called the Avenue of the Sphinxes (it was lined with ram-head sphinxes) that connected the Temple of Karnak and the Luxor Temple (which is still in ruins in the middle of the city of Luxor) -- about a distance of 3 kilometers. Today, the entrance to the Temple of Karnak has a short boulevard lined with ram-head sphinxes. The original temple was much smaller than the one we see today because over time, each pharaoh added their own bit to it -- some added little temples to various gods, some added obelisks, some added fancy columns and statues -- and it grew to a fairly large size. It is very impressive, indeed. But the outstanding feature, in my opinion, is the hall of columns (about 130 of them), each carved with cartouches of the pharaoh who built it, other hieroglyphic writing, and artful scenes, all painted. Not much of the original color survives, but you can see some of it and imagine how truly spectacular it must have looked. These columns are each huge -- it would probably take 4 people with arms wide-spread to cover the circumference and exceedingly tall. It is amusing to note that the cartouches of Ramses II are all very deeply carved and are plentiful. The deep carving was intended to discourage subsequent pharaohs from chipping out his cartouche and replacing it with their own. Apparently the strategy worked. Because the columns are so close together (you’ve seen them in movies), most of them are in the shade so you would think I could find some respite from the heat -- the stone walls, columns, statues, paving all absorb the heat of the sun and then radiate it back like an oven. So the shade was not cool. I wandered around a bit but just couldn’t push myself anymore, so I sat down on my portable 3-legged stool, with my wet bandana, pouring water over my head and patting water all over my face (paints quite a picture doesn’t it? luckily no photos exist of me in this state). It did give me, however, time to really look at the carvings and paintings more closely, which I appreciated. Once again, I marveled that I was really in this incredibly famous place -- it was worth the physical distress.
After everyone piled back in the bus to go back to the ship (a 3.5 hour drive), we had to wait 45 minutes to get police permission for the convoy to use the new highway because we would be driving in the dark in very open, unpopulated areas. But all was arranged and I slept most of the way back. What a day.
As we walked a little way up the valley, I could see a few covered platforms that provided shade and benches for the tourists and quite a few tomb entrances (there are hundreds of tombs in the entire valley). Each tomb entrance had a sign announcing whose tomb it was and had stone walls fortifying the sides of the entrance. The tombs were never built according to any plan so some entrances were clustered close together and some were much farther away. Tomb builders selected a suitable site (usually selected for the hardness and integrity of the rock) and then they dug into the rock for as far as 600-800 feet, with straight-edged walls and square corners, using stone and wood tools for the most part. Because tomb entrances were covered over and hidden after a king was buried, builders of the tomb for the next king never knew where the other tombs might be. One notable oopsy was a tomb that was excavated to discover that the builders had inadvertently tunneled into an existing tomb so they had to start in another direction. Looking up at the rocky hillsides, I could see other holes carved in the rock that probably led to other tombs as well as tombs that were started but never finished.
We were given 1.5 hours to walk around on our own. I would have liked to visit a bunch of the tombs, but standing outside in the sun (under my umbrella and under my hat and with my soaking wet bandana around my neck -- it isn’t pretty but it works) is a lot like standing in a kiln. Unpleasant. So I decided to visit one tomb and the closest was that of Ramses IX (there were a lot of pharaohs named Ramses, the most famous and most egotistical, and the longest reigning of them was Ramses II).
The floor of the tomb slanted downwards at a fairly steep angle -- a wood-plank floor with horizontal ridges provided secure footing. The tunnel was about 12 feet high and perhaps only 500 feet long and led to a square chamber where the sarcophagus clearly had rested. There were various side niches that could have held small statues and jars and some furniture, but altogether it was a small tomb because Ramses IX didn’t live long enough to build a grand send-off.
But the best part were the walls and ceilings that were entirely painted -- most of the colors still bright and vivid. The walls had beautifully carved scenes that were also painted, but much of the walls were covered with drawings and hieroglyphics in beautiful color, and all of the ceilings were painted. Yes, there was some obvious wear and some of the colors were faded here and there (the walls were protected by hard plastic panes that prevented visitors from rubbing against them), but the overall effect was fabulous. And this wasn’t even the most spectacular tomb, according to our guide. I stood in the tomb for quite a while as hundreds of visitors filed past me (probably annoyed at me) filled with wonder that I was actually inside the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh -- so much like books I have read. The artwork was no longer just something interesting to look at in a book but suddenly more personal and immediate. This was a dream come true for me.
Emerging from the tomb, I decided that I just couldn’t trudge to another one -- the heat was really debilitating. So I went to one of the shaded platforms (hot, uneven, stone steps up) and sat down on a bench and instantly became a desirable target for all the sellers. They swarmed around me. By this time I had retrieved my fan out of my tote and was fanning myself. I discovered that if I held the fan fully open, and swished it back and forth at arms length in front of the seller’s face and said a stern “no,” that they moved on. The problem was that I really was a sitting duck and they were attracted to me like flies to honey. I did not look at their faces -- I looked down at their shoes and kept shooing them away. For awhile, I counted how long the interval was between sellers coming up to me and it was an average of 3 seconds over about 20 minutes. I gave up after that.
Leaving the valley, our bus drove past Queen Hatshepsut’s temple (hat-ship-SUIT) in the distance. It truly is a magnificent architectural triumph of its time and I was glad that I could at least gaze at it from afar. We had lunch in a very poshy hotel (I think they use poshy hotels on cruise tours because they can control the quality and cleanliness of the food).
And then it was off to the Temple of Karnak (used as a location in various movies). On the way we crossed the Nile and the bus paused so we could take our obligatory photos. Looked like a river to me but I must admit that it does have quite a bit of cachet.
The Temple of Karnak takes up a fairly large area. Originally, there was a large boulevard paved with stones called the Avenue of the Sphinxes (it was lined with ram-head sphinxes) that connected the Temple of Karnak and the Luxor Temple (which is still in ruins in the middle of the city of Luxor) -- about a distance of 3 kilometers. Today, the entrance to the Temple of Karnak has a short boulevard lined with ram-head sphinxes. The original temple was much smaller than the one we see today because over time, each pharaoh added their own bit to it -- some added little temples to various gods, some added obelisks, some added fancy columns and statues -- and it grew to a fairly large size. It is very impressive, indeed. But the outstanding feature, in my opinion, is the hall of columns (about 130 of them), each carved with cartouches of the pharaoh who built it, other hieroglyphic writing, and artful scenes, all painted. Not much of the original color survives, but you can see some of it and imagine how truly spectacular it must have looked. These columns are each huge -- it would probably take 4 people with arms wide-spread to cover the circumference and exceedingly tall. It is amusing to note that the cartouches of Ramses II are all very deeply carved and are plentiful. The deep carving was intended to discourage subsequent pharaohs from chipping out his cartouche and replacing it with their own. Apparently the strategy worked. Because the columns are so close together (you’ve seen them in movies), most of them are in the shade so you would think I could find some respite from the heat -- the stone walls, columns, statues, paving all absorb the heat of the sun and then radiate it back like an oven. So the shade was not cool. I wandered around a bit but just couldn’t push myself anymore, so I sat down on my portable 3-legged stool, with my wet bandana, pouring water over my head and patting water all over my face (paints quite a picture doesn’t it? luckily no photos exist of me in this state). It did give me, however, time to really look at the carvings and paintings more closely, which I appreciated. Once again, I marveled that I was really in this incredibly famous place -- it was worth the physical distress.
After everyone piled back in the bus to go back to the ship (a 3.5 hour drive), we had to wait 45 minutes to get police permission for the convoy to use the new highway because we would be driving in the dark in very open, unpopulated areas. But all was arranged and I slept most of the way back. What a day.
DAY 14 SAFAGA, EQYPT (DOOR TO LUXOR)
After leaving Aqaba, we sailed back out of the Gulf of Aqaba and south into the Red Sea. The waters have been smooth as glass. A little way down, on the western side is Safaga (SOF-a-guh), which is a small, unimproved port town but is the closest port to Luxor and the many famous sites near Luxor. And yes, without even being told, I could tell we were back in Egypt -- rubbish everywhere, strewn around and piled up and choking waterways. It was a stark contrast to Jordan where even in Petra there were men sweeping dirt paths to pick up trash.
Our tour started at 6:30 AM, which meant that we had to be in the buffet for breakfast by 5:30 AM in order to eat and allow some time for our bodies to function before leaving the ship. I must say that although I am a fan of Abba and Jimmy Buffet, it is a little jarring to hear Dancing Queen and Fins to the Left at 5:30 in the morning while eating one’s Cherrios. Oh well, they say that traveling is full of the unexpected.
Once again we boarded busses for a 14 hour tour, about 18 busses divided into 2 convoys, and as my sister and I boarded bus number 4 we saw the same guide that we had in Alexandria. So we both hailed him and yelled out “habiby” (ha-BEE-bee), which means friend in Arabic (it can also mean darling if said while gazing in your lover’s eyes). We had a nice little reunion.
On this tour, the Egyptian government and the tour company was especially careful of security because the tour was scheduled to drive on some brand new highways that go through very deserted areas (no pun intended), so we had a police escort at the front of each of the two convoys and a plain-clothes policeman in each bus (who did nothing but sleep, but then again nothing bad happened so we didn’t need his services).
The terrain looked exactly like I expected -- much like the desert terrain you see in the movie Lawrence of Arabia. Lots of flat land and small hills and large hills, all sand and covered with loose stones (must be murder to walk on) as far as you can see. Some wind-sculpted sand dunes, some rocky outcroppings here and there. In a shallow valley, we saw a large herd of camels walking but didn’t see any person with them -- I doubt they were really wild, however. Occasionally, in the middle of nothing, we saw a tent or a small square cement brick hut where a family was living -- how they survive I don’t know. Every now and then we had to slow down for a police checkpoint -- we never had to stop. The drive to Luxor took about 3.5 hours each way.
As we approached Luxor, the terrain turned agricultural, mostly sugar cane, alfalfa for the animals, and wheat (they were harvesting their winter wheat crop). Clearly there is plenty of water here because almost all the land was farmed -- each field is fairly small compared to what I am used to seeing in the United States. Donkeys pulling carts piled with alfalfa and sugar cane, women (in traditional, modest garb but not the full burkha) and men (also in traditional robes) in the field harvesting. Often saw a donkey tied up to a tree in the shade on the bank of a canal.
When we hit town, once again there were busses and cars and little tuk tuks (kind of a motorcycle with a cab in the back), and donkey carts all vying for the same space in the street. Looked like chaos but they all seem to know how to steer their way through. Always men sitting outside small, grubby shops, only occasionally a woman walking down the street (saw very, very few women). Many unfinished cement buildings and mud brick buildings, lots of piles of rubble, almost no painted buildings. As my sister said, it probably looks just like in biblical times if you subtract the motorized vehicles, the electrical lines, and the rebar.
Our first stop was a quick out-of-the-bus, back-in-the-bus at the Colossus of Memnon, which is really two enormous sitting statues (and I am comparing them to lots of other really big Egyptian statues and these are really, really big). Look them up on Google. A person standing next to one is truly dwarfed. Of course, this being Egypt, we were set upon by souvenir sellers. I must say that it is unfortunate that I couldn’t even take a careful look at any of the items. The minute my eyes moved to an item, or I even looked like I might be walking towards a stall, I was surrounded by men and boys holding things in front of my face and trying to get my attention. Lots of “1 dollar, 1 dollar” occasionally punctuated by a clever switch up of “1 million dollars, 1 million dollars” or even “no thank you, no thank you,” which still didn’t put me in a buying mood. I did see some pretty alabaster things in my peripheral vision (you get good at seeing things out of the corner of your eye) but do I really need to be carting home alabaster vases? Don’t think so.
And on to the Valley of the Kings. In the rocky mountains on the outskirts of Luxor, there is the Valley of the Kings (that’s the most famous), the Valley of the Queens, the Valley of the Nobles, and the Valley of the Workers (our guide showed us some amazing photos of paintings in tombs of wealthy farmers -- who knew?), all filled with ancient tombs that have been discovered. The prevailing thought is that there are many more undiscovered ones. We only had time for one valley.
The good news is that it was a dream-fulfilling experience -- I actually got to go there and see it and even go into a tomb. The bad news is that the Egyptian tourist police do not allow any cameras into the valley at all. They screened us and our hand bags to make sure. So all I can do is try to describe it.
Our tour started at 6:30 AM, which meant that we had to be in the buffet for breakfast by 5:30 AM in order to eat and allow some time for our bodies to function before leaving the ship. I must say that although I am a fan of Abba and Jimmy Buffet, it is a little jarring to hear Dancing Queen and Fins to the Left at 5:30 in the morning while eating one’s Cherrios. Oh well, they say that traveling is full of the unexpected.
Once again we boarded busses for a 14 hour tour, about 18 busses divided into 2 convoys, and as my sister and I boarded bus number 4 we saw the same guide that we had in Alexandria. So we both hailed him and yelled out “habiby” (ha-BEE-bee), which means friend in Arabic (it can also mean darling if said while gazing in your lover’s eyes). We had a nice little reunion.
On this tour, the Egyptian government and the tour company was especially careful of security because the tour was scheduled to drive on some brand new highways that go through very deserted areas (no pun intended), so we had a police escort at the front of each of the two convoys and a plain-clothes policeman in each bus (who did nothing but sleep, but then again nothing bad happened so we didn’t need his services).
The terrain looked exactly like I expected -- much like the desert terrain you see in the movie Lawrence of Arabia. Lots of flat land and small hills and large hills, all sand and covered with loose stones (must be murder to walk on) as far as you can see. Some wind-sculpted sand dunes, some rocky outcroppings here and there. In a shallow valley, we saw a large herd of camels walking but didn’t see any person with them -- I doubt they were really wild, however. Occasionally, in the middle of nothing, we saw a tent or a small square cement brick hut where a family was living -- how they survive I don’t know. Every now and then we had to slow down for a police checkpoint -- we never had to stop. The drive to Luxor took about 3.5 hours each way.
As we approached Luxor, the terrain turned agricultural, mostly sugar cane, alfalfa for the animals, and wheat (they were harvesting their winter wheat crop). Clearly there is plenty of water here because almost all the land was farmed -- each field is fairly small compared to what I am used to seeing in the United States. Donkeys pulling carts piled with alfalfa and sugar cane, women (in traditional, modest garb but not the full burkha) and men (also in traditional robes) in the field harvesting. Often saw a donkey tied up to a tree in the shade on the bank of a canal.
When we hit town, once again there were busses and cars and little tuk tuks (kind of a motorcycle with a cab in the back), and donkey carts all vying for the same space in the street. Looked like chaos but they all seem to know how to steer their way through. Always men sitting outside small, grubby shops, only occasionally a woman walking down the street (saw very, very few women). Many unfinished cement buildings and mud brick buildings, lots of piles of rubble, almost no painted buildings. As my sister said, it probably looks just like in biblical times if you subtract the motorized vehicles, the electrical lines, and the rebar.
Our first stop was a quick out-of-the-bus, back-in-the-bus at the Colossus of Memnon, which is really two enormous sitting statues (and I am comparing them to lots of other really big Egyptian statues and these are really, really big). Look them up on Google. A person standing next to one is truly dwarfed. Of course, this being Egypt, we were set upon by souvenir sellers. I must say that it is unfortunate that I couldn’t even take a careful look at any of the items. The minute my eyes moved to an item, or I even looked like I might be walking towards a stall, I was surrounded by men and boys holding things in front of my face and trying to get my attention. Lots of “1 dollar, 1 dollar” occasionally punctuated by a clever switch up of “1 million dollars, 1 million dollars” or even “no thank you, no thank you,” which still didn’t put me in a buying mood. I did see some pretty alabaster things in my peripheral vision (you get good at seeing things out of the corner of your eye) but do I really need to be carting home alabaster vases? Don’t think so.
And on to the Valley of the Kings. In the rocky mountains on the outskirts of Luxor, there is the Valley of the Kings (that’s the most famous), the Valley of the Queens, the Valley of the Nobles, and the Valley of the Workers (our guide showed us some amazing photos of paintings in tombs of wealthy farmers -- who knew?), all filled with ancient tombs that have been discovered. The prevailing thought is that there are many more undiscovered ones. We only had time for one valley.
The good news is that it was a dream-fulfilling experience -- I actually got to go there and see it and even go into a tomb. The bad news is that the Egyptian tourist police do not allow any cameras into the valley at all. They screened us and our hand bags to make sure. So all I can do is try to describe it.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
DAY 13 AQABA, JORDAN (PETRA)
Aqaba (AUK-a-buh) is Jordan’s only port, on the eastern side of the very northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. From Aqaba, it is only 25 minutes by boat across the Gulf to Israel’s only port (I forget the name), and you can see Israel across the water. By car, it is only about 30 minutes to Saudi Arabia. In contrast to Alexandria, Aqaba is neat, well laid out, houses are painted (usually beige, soft peach, soft yellow, or soft aqua), streets are lined with trees and shrubs, and there is no rubbish. We saw people sweeping sidewalks and picking up rubbish. Our guide told us that Jordan has about 6% Christians and the rest are Sunni Muslim; Shiite Muslims are not allowed in the country. I asked how you can tell who is a Shiite because Arabs look like Arabs, so what is the difference? The guide gave me the color code that answered a lot of questions I’ve had over the past -- you can tell by the color of the head coverings that men wear: red and white are Jordanians, black and white are Palestinians, all white are Bedouin, which also includes Saudis, all black are Shiites, and blue and white are tourists. OK, so you knew this already, but it was new to me. And this may be the color code that the guide knows and may be different in other parts of the world.
My sister and I took a 10 hour tour to see Petra, another World Heritage Site. Petra has a very interesting history -- it is at least 7000 years old and was kept hidden by locals until the late 1800’s when a Swiss explorer disguised himself as a Muslim and told the locals that we wanted to make a religious sacrifice in Petra so they took him there. He proceeded to broadcast his discovery to all of Europe which gave rise to a Jordanian saying that you can never trust the Swiss.
The 2.5 hour drive from Aqaba to Petra was fascinating. Outside of the city, Jordan is all one color -- sand color. Sand is everywhere -- in dunes, rocky outcroppings with sand blown up against them, big, jagged rocky mountains. Interesting shapes and contours, all monochrome. We saw towns with neat houses painted beige and soft peach, many of them with rebar sticking out the roof because they plan to build another floor when they can afford it. The houses are built on hillsides and on cliffs, and on the hillsides were flocks of goats (white ones, brown ones, and black ones) and occasionally camels. (Sometimes I have a strange altered reality feeling -- am I on a movie set or or is this real?) In the vast distances between little towns were some vineyards, olive groves, watermelon fields, and occasional Bedouin tents. Apparently the government has tried hard to settle down the nomadic people by requiring that all children attend school, and giving the Bedouin free land and houses and encouraging them to start farming. So far, some of them have settled but some persist in living a nomadic lifestyle in tents. So where does the water come from in a land that looks totally arid? From springs. Enough to provide water for towns and a bit of agriculture. I did spy water gushing out of a rocky bank as we drove by, so there must be water under all that sand and rock.
The ancient city of Petra is located near the modern city of Petra. Our convoy of 20 busses all parked in a huge bus park and we walked down to the visitor center. Note the word “down.” Walking through a gauntlet of market stalls and roving sellers (almost as aggressive as Egypt but not quite as bad), we reached the official, policed, gate. After that we walked along a dirt and stone road down (there’s that word again) for about a quarter of a mile to the beginning of the canyon (the Siq). There was a parallel dirt and stone road along which horses were available for riding through the canyon (the horse ride is “free” but you must pay a tip at the end and I believe that the “tip” is negotiated) and 2-person carriages drawn by horses and donkeys were available for hire. We walked along with the other several thousand people, in the hot sun (although I must admit that it wasn’t as hot as I expected and there was a bit of a breeze). We walked, paused to look around, looked up the canyon walls, sat on benches, and walked some more.
The path narrowed as we entered the canyon, in some places it was only about 4-5 people wide. The canyon wanders, snake-like, down (note!) and is paved in some places with large, very uneven, potholed stones that are treacherous to ankles if you are not careful. It is very deep -- the red-orange-yellow colored striations of sandstone, the sculptured quality of the stone from ancient floods and rivers, and the play of sunlight against shadow, all against the backdrop of a blue, blue sky is breathtaking. I don’t know how tall the canyon walls are, but my guess is at least 200 ft tall. It is easy to see how the ancient city was undiscovered for centuries. Walking through the canyon was unlike anything I’ve experienced.
And then we reached that final curve and we saw an edge of The Treasury façade, bathed in sunlight, rosy in color and beautifully carved into the cliff. Each step revealed more and more of the famous building until we reached the end of the canyon and were in a kind of central open area filled with people, camels, horses, a few market stalls, some Jordanian police, and carriages.
The Petra ruins cover almost 46 square miles and we had only 4 hours to walk down, walk around, have a bit of lunch, and walk back up (in the afternoon heat and it was lots of UP), then walk up to the bus. About a 3-mile roundtrip, which is a long way going uphill in the heat. Not much time. I stayed in the central area, content to gaze at The Treasury, watch the camels (yes, they were available for riding around the site), and watch the carriages, while my sister wandered farther down the trail. I seem to be more bothered by heat lately than usual so I figured that seeing something was better than nothing and I really didn’t want to push myself too hard knowing that I still had to face the walk back.
We tried to engage a carriage ride back up but they seemed to be controlled by one man and it was very difficult to get his attention. Then, just when we thought we might have made a deal, he and 2 other men got into a very heated argument (much yelling, much arm waving and hand gestures, much facial expression and bulging veins in the neck). The argument was so heated that the 2 Jordanian tourist police on duty came over to try to calm things down but that had no effect whatsoever. We’re not sure what the problem was but we lost out on the carriage and after talking to a few other drivers it seemed that we should have made arrangements to be picked up before we started down the canyon. Who knew? So, we started our walk back up. As I slowly trudged I was reminded of the adage “be careful of what you wish for.” Seeing Petra has been on my personal wish list for years and years and I figured that I was just never going to get that wish fulfilled. It is a romantic notion in a way. And now that the opportunity suddenly presented itself, I realized that as with most romantic notions, it is often much more difficult than I originally thought.
Luckily, we had plenty of water with us and we soaked bandanas with water and wrapped them around our necks and that helped. But that alone couldn’t get us any closer to the bus. So we plodded and rested and plodded and rested. About halfway back up a carriage driver came along yelling that he was available so we quickly made a deal for a ride to the top for the outrageous sum of $40 (total for both of us), but I didn’t care, I was willing to pay any price. And let’s be realistic here, we can afford the $40. The ride was something else -- bouncing over those paving stones was a kidney jarring, bone rattling experience, but we got to the top and that is what counted. At one point, our driver was racing another driver and As we reached the top the carriage in front stopped suddenly -- our driver swerved to avoid it but the carriage wheels locked together for a second. My sister was prepared to jump out if the carriage turned over but the situation was resolved quickly to no bad effect.
Of course I slept most of the ride back to the ship -- this weary traveler had a big day. Tomorrow is another huge day -- we’re going to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Karnak (does anyone else always think of Johnny Carson when that name comes up?)
My sister and I took a 10 hour tour to see Petra, another World Heritage Site. Petra has a very interesting history -- it is at least 7000 years old and was kept hidden by locals until the late 1800’s when a Swiss explorer disguised himself as a Muslim and told the locals that we wanted to make a religious sacrifice in Petra so they took him there. He proceeded to broadcast his discovery to all of Europe which gave rise to a Jordanian saying that you can never trust the Swiss.
The 2.5 hour drive from Aqaba to Petra was fascinating. Outside of the city, Jordan is all one color -- sand color. Sand is everywhere -- in dunes, rocky outcroppings with sand blown up against them, big, jagged rocky mountains. Interesting shapes and contours, all monochrome. We saw towns with neat houses painted beige and soft peach, many of them with rebar sticking out the roof because they plan to build another floor when they can afford it. The houses are built on hillsides and on cliffs, and on the hillsides were flocks of goats (white ones, brown ones, and black ones) and occasionally camels. (Sometimes I have a strange altered reality feeling -- am I on a movie set or or is this real?) In the vast distances between little towns were some vineyards, olive groves, watermelon fields, and occasional Bedouin tents. Apparently the government has tried hard to settle down the nomadic people by requiring that all children attend school, and giving the Bedouin free land and houses and encouraging them to start farming. So far, some of them have settled but some persist in living a nomadic lifestyle in tents. So where does the water come from in a land that looks totally arid? From springs. Enough to provide water for towns and a bit of agriculture. I did spy water gushing out of a rocky bank as we drove by, so there must be water under all that sand and rock.
The ancient city of Petra is located near the modern city of Petra. Our convoy of 20 busses all parked in a huge bus park and we walked down to the visitor center. Note the word “down.” Walking through a gauntlet of market stalls and roving sellers (almost as aggressive as Egypt but not quite as bad), we reached the official, policed, gate. After that we walked along a dirt and stone road down (there’s that word again) for about a quarter of a mile to the beginning of the canyon (the Siq). There was a parallel dirt and stone road along which horses were available for riding through the canyon (the horse ride is “free” but you must pay a tip at the end and I believe that the “tip” is negotiated) and 2-person carriages drawn by horses and donkeys were available for hire. We walked along with the other several thousand people, in the hot sun (although I must admit that it wasn’t as hot as I expected and there was a bit of a breeze). We walked, paused to look around, looked up the canyon walls, sat on benches, and walked some more.
The path narrowed as we entered the canyon, in some places it was only about 4-5 people wide. The canyon wanders, snake-like, down (note!) and is paved in some places with large, very uneven, potholed stones that are treacherous to ankles if you are not careful. It is very deep -- the red-orange-yellow colored striations of sandstone, the sculptured quality of the stone from ancient floods and rivers, and the play of sunlight against shadow, all against the backdrop of a blue, blue sky is breathtaking. I don’t know how tall the canyon walls are, but my guess is at least 200 ft tall. It is easy to see how the ancient city was undiscovered for centuries. Walking through the canyon was unlike anything I’ve experienced.
And then we reached that final curve and we saw an edge of The Treasury façade, bathed in sunlight, rosy in color and beautifully carved into the cliff. Each step revealed more and more of the famous building until we reached the end of the canyon and were in a kind of central open area filled with people, camels, horses, a few market stalls, some Jordanian police, and carriages.
The Petra ruins cover almost 46 square miles and we had only 4 hours to walk down, walk around, have a bit of lunch, and walk back up (in the afternoon heat and it was lots of UP), then walk up to the bus. About a 3-mile roundtrip, which is a long way going uphill in the heat. Not much time. I stayed in the central area, content to gaze at The Treasury, watch the camels (yes, they were available for riding around the site), and watch the carriages, while my sister wandered farther down the trail. I seem to be more bothered by heat lately than usual so I figured that seeing something was better than nothing and I really didn’t want to push myself too hard knowing that I still had to face the walk back.
We tried to engage a carriage ride back up but they seemed to be controlled by one man and it was very difficult to get his attention. Then, just when we thought we might have made a deal, he and 2 other men got into a very heated argument (much yelling, much arm waving and hand gestures, much facial expression and bulging veins in the neck). The argument was so heated that the 2 Jordanian tourist police on duty came over to try to calm things down but that had no effect whatsoever. We’re not sure what the problem was but we lost out on the carriage and after talking to a few other drivers it seemed that we should have made arrangements to be picked up before we started down the canyon. Who knew? So, we started our walk back up. As I slowly trudged I was reminded of the adage “be careful of what you wish for.” Seeing Petra has been on my personal wish list for years and years and I figured that I was just never going to get that wish fulfilled. It is a romantic notion in a way. And now that the opportunity suddenly presented itself, I realized that as with most romantic notions, it is often much more difficult than I originally thought.
Luckily, we had plenty of water with us and we soaked bandanas with water and wrapped them around our necks and that helped. But that alone couldn’t get us any closer to the bus. So we plodded and rested and plodded and rested. About halfway back up a carriage driver came along yelling that he was available so we quickly made a deal for a ride to the top for the outrageous sum of $40 (total for both of us), but I didn’t care, I was willing to pay any price. And let’s be realistic here, we can afford the $40. The ride was something else -- bouncing over those paving stones was a kidney jarring, bone rattling experience, but we got to the top and that is what counted. At one point, our driver was racing another driver and As we reached the top the carriage in front stopped suddenly -- our driver swerved to avoid it but the carriage wheels locked together for a second. My sister was prepared to jump out if the carriage turned over but the situation was resolved quickly to no bad effect.
Of course I slept most of the ride back to the ship -- this weary traveler had a big day. Tomorrow is another huge day -- we’re going to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Karnak (does anyone else always think of Johnny Carson when that name comes up?)
DAY 12 SUEZ CANAL
The ship started into the Suez Canal at 2:00 AM. I woke at 4:45 AM, just before sunrise, (our stateroom is on the port side, so as we are going south through the canal we face east, toward the rising sun) and watched the banks of the Sinai Peninsula move past our balcony. Sand everywhere. Some areas are hardened sandy flat spots with rock outcroppings here and there, some areas are sand dunes with the wind-carved ripples that look like waves (not huge Lawrence of Arabia dunes, but dunes nonetheless). Every so often there is a military outpost with tanks and soldiers with weapons over their shoulders patrolling the roadway along the bank -- most likely Egyptian. More sand, sand as far a you can see. Frequent sightings of discarded and wrecked equipment -- vehicles and other unidentifiable things, sometimes tanks. Most likely the result of fighting over the past decades. We have the Sinai on our port side and Egypt mainland on our starboard.
The canal itself consists of a straight cut south from Port Said (which is on the eastern edge of the Nile delta, on the Mediterranean), then it goes in a gentle curve as it enters the Bitter Lakes, then pretty much another straight cut south out of the lakes past the city of Suez, which is at the north tip of the Gulf of Suez, that runs along the lower half of the western bank of the Sinai, and into the top of the Red Sea. Our ship paid a fee of $880,000 for the privilege of going through the canal. Our Egyptian guide in Alexandria said that the Egyptian people have recently learned that former President Mubarak personally pocketed all the fees collected from the Suez Canal over the decades he was in power. The new government is trying now to locate Mubarak’s money. That’s a lot of money.
OK, there’s only so many photos a person can take of sand, so after sitting in our bathrobes on our balcony, we decided we really needed breakfast. At some point in the evening, the ship reached the southern tip of the Sinai, which marks the end of the Gulf of Suez, and then started up the eastern side of the Sinai, into the Gulf of Aqaba.
Side note on shipboard life. The ship staff takes every precaution it can to prevent outbreaks of intestinal distress. These kind of things can run like wildfire through the passengers on a cruise ship and can make life miserable. So before you enter any eating area, you must get a squirt of Purell to disinfect your hands. Same before you enter the theater, before you board the ship after a tour, and every time you get back on the bus during a tour. It seems to be working.
In general, the passengers are mostly Australians, British, Americans, and some Germans and Chinese, in that order. We learned from an Aussie the other day that they were traveling on a special package that was a 55-day tour that flew they to Los Angeles for a couple of days, then Las Vegas for a couple of day, then New Orleans for a couple of days, then they boarded this ship and they are sailing on 3 cruises, back to back, all the way to Singapore and then flying home. Wow, what a trip.
The canal itself consists of a straight cut south from Port Said (which is on the eastern edge of the Nile delta, on the Mediterranean), then it goes in a gentle curve as it enters the Bitter Lakes, then pretty much another straight cut south out of the lakes past the city of Suez, which is at the north tip of the Gulf of Suez, that runs along the lower half of the western bank of the Sinai, and into the top of the Red Sea. Our ship paid a fee of $880,000 for the privilege of going through the canal. Our Egyptian guide in Alexandria said that the Egyptian people have recently learned that former President Mubarak personally pocketed all the fees collected from the Suez Canal over the decades he was in power. The new government is trying now to locate Mubarak’s money. That’s a lot of money.
OK, there’s only so many photos a person can take of sand, so after sitting in our bathrobes on our balcony, we decided we really needed breakfast. At some point in the evening, the ship reached the southern tip of the Sinai, which marks the end of the Gulf of Suez, and then started up the eastern side of the Sinai, into the Gulf of Aqaba.
Side note on shipboard life. The ship staff takes every precaution it can to prevent outbreaks of intestinal distress. These kind of things can run like wildfire through the passengers on a cruise ship and can make life miserable. So before you enter any eating area, you must get a squirt of Purell to disinfect your hands. Same before you enter the theater, before you board the ship after a tour, and every time you get back on the bus during a tour. It seems to be working.
In general, the passengers are mostly Australians, British, Americans, and some Germans and Chinese, in that order. We learned from an Aussie the other day that they were traveling on a special package that was a 55-day tour that flew they to Los Angeles for a couple of days, then Las Vegas for a couple of day, then New Orleans for a couple of days, then they boarded this ship and they are sailing on 3 cruises, back to back, all the way to Singapore and then flying home. Wow, what a trip.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
DAY 10, 11 ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
We’re here in Alexandria for the better part of 2 days. Yesterday we took a 13-hour tour that was wonderful but also nearly did us in. The ship offered a variety of tours -- the tour to the museum in Cairo was cancelled because 20 people were killed near there 2 days before during a pre-election demonstration. But our tour only skirted Cairo so we were fine.
We showed up on time for the tour bus, 7:45 AM, and were on our way by 8:30 in a police-escorted convoy of busses (that‘s they way they do all tourist tours in Egypt now). We drove on the outskirts of Alexandria (which is at the end of the Nile delta, on the Mediterranean and is one of the world’s largest ports). In the outlying neighborhoods we saw many half-finished houses (people build houses as they can afford to pay for the materials and labor), and many buildings torn down. Saw a woman herding a flock of sheep down a street, which seemed unusual in a city environment. Saw a lot of ancient-looking open carts pulled by horses, driven by old men, and often carrying a small boy or two with the cargo -- traffic in the streets consisted of cars, busses, trucks, and horse-drawn carts and they all seemed to handle the congestion pretty well. Also saw many 10-20 ft high towers made from mud, hollow, the shape of a bullet, with lots of holes in the sides. These are pigeon houses where they put out food to attract pigeons and then they catch them to eat.
Our first stop was Giza (a 3 hour drive) where we saw the pyramids and the Sphinx. First of all, everywhere you look all you see is brownish sand color. There is very little to contrast with that other than the blue sky. Yes, there are palm trees, but around the pyramids there is only sand and stone. What I didn’t expect was that the pyramids are right on the edge of Giza, which is a largish city. So everywhere you go in the city the pyramids highlight the skyline. It is weird to think that what is normal for the people who live here is an amazing treasure for tourists like us.
Luckily, our guide prepared us for what to expect when we got out of the bus and he was so right. We were immediately inundated by men selling trinkets. Now, I thought I had gained plenty of experience in Turkey dealing with sellers like this, and my sister has even better experience dealing with sellers in Pakistan, but these men in Egypt are more aggressive by a quantum leap. They try to give you something as a gift then turn around and charge you $1, then when you hand them $1 they say that the price is not 1 dollar but 1 Egyptian pound which is $5 -- all of which is a sales pitch. They yell “1 dollar, 1 dollar,” “the whole kitty kaboodle only 1 dollar,” “I have 5 children please buy,” “everything only 1 dollar” and hold things up close to your face. They sell necklaces, glass and plastic pyramids, stamps, pens, coins, head scarves, hats with pictures of pyramids and camels, and statuettes of cats and pharaohs and pyramids. You are expected to bargain -- the starting price of $10 US can easily be bargained down to $2 or $3. Saying no has very little effect. Walking away has some effect but not a lot. In their defense, I am aware that incomes in Egypt are very, very low and that this is one way to support one’s self and one’s family. And apparently the competition is stiff. At one point, a seller yanked my hat off my head, put the hat on his own head, and then tried to sell me a scarf. When I said an emphatic “NO”, he shrugged and walked away, still wearing my hat. I ran after him and grabbed the hat back, quite angry. Tipping is another interesting thing. I am accustomed to tipping guides and bus drivers and waiters, but in Egypt it is customary to pay for every little service. If someone opens a door for you, you give them a tip. You tip the lady in the ladies restroom when she hands you a towel, even though you don’t really need a towel because there are paper towels available.
So there we were, surrounded by sellers, and it was hot, very hot, and dusty, and there were horses and camels everywhere, and men trying to sell you a camel ride or charge you for taking a picture of a camel, and the camels were making their camel noises (loved it). Our guide led us over to a group of camel drivers with whom he arranged a slightly lower price for rides (he probably gets a kickback, but that’s fine by me because that’s the way it works here). The rides were short but by golly, my sister and I each got to ride a camel and I’ve got the photos to prove it. (And the camels were not flea-bitten nags, they were nicely brushed and cared for, with photogenic saddle blankets and saddles to entice the tourists.) It is quite a wild experience when the camel gets up -- I really had to hang on and lean way back to counteract the forward tilt.
The pyramids were amazing. Like everyone, I’ve seen pictures of the pyramids, but it is hard to really know how big they are and how huge the blocks of stone are until you are standing directly in front of one. And oh my, the heat reflecting from the stone was oppressive. (I promised myself that after complaining about the heat all through Africa on my last trip, I was not going to complain about the heat. So I’m not actually complaining here, just mentioning it.) Then we drove just a short way around the pyramids to the Sphinx. Everyone hopped out of the bus and we were surrounded once again by sellers. This happened everywhere we went so I’ll just stop talking about that part. The Sphinx looked just as majestic as I had hoped. I could go on about how wonderful it is, but you already know that. Once again, I was impressed at how truly huge it is.
It was at this point that the heat started to get to me in a scary way. Luckily, I brought 2 large water bottles with me, so I got my bandana wet (I never travel without one) and dampened my face and neck, then just said to heck with it and poured water all over my head and shirt. That helped. I wandered back to the air conditioned bus a bit early -- yes, seeing the Sphinx is a lifetime experience but not getting heat sick is a bigger priority.
As we drove to our next destination, Memphis, the guide announced that because we were behind schedule and because the antiquities all close at 4:00 PM, he was changing the itinerary and lunch was delayed until 4:30 PM to allow us to get into all the sights beforehand. By this time I was already past hungry and into mild nausea, which is not a good sign for me. Luckily, the tour company had passed out snack bags so I decided that I needed some salt, sugar, and a lot more water. So I ate a couple of potato chips, a couple of bites of a cookie, and drank almost a liter of water.
At Memphis, we went to an open air museum that has an enormous statue of Ramses II that is quite delicately carved and very beautiful.
At Saqqara, our next stop, we saw the famous first pyramid, called the step pyramid because the sides are stair-stepped, and we got to go into a mustaba, which is a tomb for anyone who is not a king. Nobles and wealthy workers built mustabas. We went into the mustaba of Idut, who was a noble woman (something of a rarity -- women didn‘t usually get artful tombs built). First of all, the carvings on the walls were much more intricate than I expected and included delightful scenes of people fishing and people eating and other daily events that Idut apparently enjoyed. And many of the figures still had color on them, 3400 years after they were painted. But once again, the heat was just too much for me, so I left the group and went back to the bus accompanied by a guy on a donkey singing out “taxi, taxi” (the bus driver always stays with the bus to guard our belongings and, most probably, to guard the bus itself, so he keeps the engine running and the air conditioning going). Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in the mustaba.
Have I mentioned the flies? Imagine all that sand, and camel dung, and horse dung. Of course there are flies. But with all those busloads of tourists, there were plenty of flies to go around for everyone, and it seemed that we each had one fly assigned to us to follow us everywhere. My sister said that later in the tour there were fewer people, so everyone got assigned several additional flies.
Finally, we arrived at a fancy hotel back in Giza for lunch. As we got off the bus the hotel had arranged 3 musicians to greet us (drum, trumpet, and bagpipes, what a combo), dressed in theatrical pharaoh costumes, and playing the triumphal march from Aida, followed by a John Philip Souza song. Odd but humorous. After lunch, walking out the front door to the bus, I looked up and right there in front of me were the pyramids. Gorgeous and breathtaking.
Our last stop was at a place where they make papyrus and paint beautiful scenes on papyrus sheets. We watched a demonstration of how papyrus is made (simpler than I thought) and then were left to wander around looking at the paintings.
We got back to the ship at 9:30 PM exhausted intending to go directly to our room but were enticed to look at some things at the market that is set up at the dock. My sister and I each decided to buy some traditional clothing -- long dresses for lounging around the house. At this point we badly needed food, a shower, and sleep, in that order. But the theater was having a show of traditional Egyptian folk dancing that we didn’t want to miss, so we grabbed a sandwich and in our bedraggled, slightly stinky clothes we went to see the show.
By the time we got back to our room we could barely move. A long day of constantly getting in and out of the bus (very high steps), and walking up and down steps (absolutely everything requires going up and down steps), a knee that is beginning to bother me, the heat, and the over stimulation of seeing so many wonderful things, used up all of my reserves of energy. But we needed to get ready for our all-day tour the next day (a tour of the museums and landmarks of Alexandria) and so we started laying out our supplies and clothes and tickets. It was at about this point that I caved in and decided to skip the next tour and after a few minutes consideration my sister did the same. Today, we are very glad we decided not to push ourselves too much.
General impressions of Egypt: The first thing I noticed was that there was rubbish everywhere we went. Canals of water were lined up the banks with rubbish and there was rubbish floating in the water. There was rubbish along all the roadsides and at the sightseeing stops. There were no trash receptacles that we could see anywhere. The prevailing color of everything is sand softened by the green of some trees (mostly palm and a kind of pine tree that has frothy needles, and eucalyptus trees), and the white, taupe, or black of clothing. Occasionally we saw the color of flowers, but not often. Occasionally we saw a woman wearing a colorful scarf over her black hibab. Most people are quite poor; the contrast between rich and poor is marked.
In the afternoon, the ship left for the entrance to the Suez canal. Apparently the protocol is that ships going south through the canal must queue up and then in the early morning we will start making our way through. Ships going north through the canal go in convoy during the night. Next stop is Jordan.
We showed up on time for the tour bus, 7:45 AM, and were on our way by 8:30 in a police-escorted convoy of busses (that‘s they way they do all tourist tours in Egypt now). We drove on the outskirts of Alexandria (which is at the end of the Nile delta, on the Mediterranean and is one of the world’s largest ports). In the outlying neighborhoods we saw many half-finished houses (people build houses as they can afford to pay for the materials and labor), and many buildings torn down. Saw a woman herding a flock of sheep down a street, which seemed unusual in a city environment. Saw a lot of ancient-looking open carts pulled by horses, driven by old men, and often carrying a small boy or two with the cargo -- traffic in the streets consisted of cars, busses, trucks, and horse-drawn carts and they all seemed to handle the congestion pretty well. Also saw many 10-20 ft high towers made from mud, hollow, the shape of a bullet, with lots of holes in the sides. These are pigeon houses where they put out food to attract pigeons and then they catch them to eat.
Our first stop was Giza (a 3 hour drive) where we saw the pyramids and the Sphinx. First of all, everywhere you look all you see is brownish sand color. There is very little to contrast with that other than the blue sky. Yes, there are palm trees, but around the pyramids there is only sand and stone. What I didn’t expect was that the pyramids are right on the edge of Giza, which is a largish city. So everywhere you go in the city the pyramids highlight the skyline. It is weird to think that what is normal for the people who live here is an amazing treasure for tourists like us.
Luckily, our guide prepared us for what to expect when we got out of the bus and he was so right. We were immediately inundated by men selling trinkets. Now, I thought I had gained plenty of experience in Turkey dealing with sellers like this, and my sister has even better experience dealing with sellers in Pakistan, but these men in Egypt are more aggressive by a quantum leap. They try to give you something as a gift then turn around and charge you $1, then when you hand them $1 they say that the price is not 1 dollar but 1 Egyptian pound which is $5 -- all of which is a sales pitch. They yell “1 dollar, 1 dollar,” “the whole kitty kaboodle only 1 dollar,” “I have 5 children please buy,” “everything only 1 dollar” and hold things up close to your face. They sell necklaces, glass and plastic pyramids, stamps, pens, coins, head scarves, hats with pictures of pyramids and camels, and statuettes of cats and pharaohs and pyramids. You are expected to bargain -- the starting price of $10 US can easily be bargained down to $2 or $3. Saying no has very little effect. Walking away has some effect but not a lot. In their defense, I am aware that incomes in Egypt are very, very low and that this is one way to support one’s self and one’s family. And apparently the competition is stiff. At one point, a seller yanked my hat off my head, put the hat on his own head, and then tried to sell me a scarf. When I said an emphatic “NO”, he shrugged and walked away, still wearing my hat. I ran after him and grabbed the hat back, quite angry. Tipping is another interesting thing. I am accustomed to tipping guides and bus drivers and waiters, but in Egypt it is customary to pay for every little service. If someone opens a door for you, you give them a tip. You tip the lady in the ladies restroom when she hands you a towel, even though you don’t really need a towel because there are paper towels available.
So there we were, surrounded by sellers, and it was hot, very hot, and dusty, and there were horses and camels everywhere, and men trying to sell you a camel ride or charge you for taking a picture of a camel, and the camels were making their camel noises (loved it). Our guide led us over to a group of camel drivers with whom he arranged a slightly lower price for rides (he probably gets a kickback, but that’s fine by me because that’s the way it works here). The rides were short but by golly, my sister and I each got to ride a camel and I’ve got the photos to prove it. (And the camels were not flea-bitten nags, they were nicely brushed and cared for, with photogenic saddle blankets and saddles to entice the tourists.) It is quite a wild experience when the camel gets up -- I really had to hang on and lean way back to counteract the forward tilt.
The pyramids were amazing. Like everyone, I’ve seen pictures of the pyramids, but it is hard to really know how big they are and how huge the blocks of stone are until you are standing directly in front of one. And oh my, the heat reflecting from the stone was oppressive. (I promised myself that after complaining about the heat all through Africa on my last trip, I was not going to complain about the heat. So I’m not actually complaining here, just mentioning it.) Then we drove just a short way around the pyramids to the Sphinx. Everyone hopped out of the bus and we were surrounded once again by sellers. This happened everywhere we went so I’ll just stop talking about that part. The Sphinx looked just as majestic as I had hoped. I could go on about how wonderful it is, but you already know that. Once again, I was impressed at how truly huge it is.
It was at this point that the heat started to get to me in a scary way. Luckily, I brought 2 large water bottles with me, so I got my bandana wet (I never travel without one) and dampened my face and neck, then just said to heck with it and poured water all over my head and shirt. That helped. I wandered back to the air conditioned bus a bit early -- yes, seeing the Sphinx is a lifetime experience but not getting heat sick is a bigger priority.
As we drove to our next destination, Memphis, the guide announced that because we were behind schedule and because the antiquities all close at 4:00 PM, he was changing the itinerary and lunch was delayed until 4:30 PM to allow us to get into all the sights beforehand. By this time I was already past hungry and into mild nausea, which is not a good sign for me. Luckily, the tour company had passed out snack bags so I decided that I needed some salt, sugar, and a lot more water. So I ate a couple of potato chips, a couple of bites of a cookie, and drank almost a liter of water.
At Memphis, we went to an open air museum that has an enormous statue of Ramses II that is quite delicately carved and very beautiful.
At Saqqara, our next stop, we saw the famous first pyramid, called the step pyramid because the sides are stair-stepped, and we got to go into a mustaba, which is a tomb for anyone who is not a king. Nobles and wealthy workers built mustabas. We went into the mustaba of Idut, who was a noble woman (something of a rarity -- women didn‘t usually get artful tombs built). First of all, the carvings on the walls were much more intricate than I expected and included delightful scenes of people fishing and people eating and other daily events that Idut apparently enjoyed. And many of the figures still had color on them, 3400 years after they were painted. But once again, the heat was just too much for me, so I left the group and went back to the bus accompanied by a guy on a donkey singing out “taxi, taxi” (the bus driver always stays with the bus to guard our belongings and, most probably, to guard the bus itself, so he keeps the engine running and the air conditioning going). Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in the mustaba.
Have I mentioned the flies? Imagine all that sand, and camel dung, and horse dung. Of course there are flies. But with all those busloads of tourists, there were plenty of flies to go around for everyone, and it seemed that we each had one fly assigned to us to follow us everywhere. My sister said that later in the tour there were fewer people, so everyone got assigned several additional flies.
Finally, we arrived at a fancy hotel back in Giza for lunch. As we got off the bus the hotel had arranged 3 musicians to greet us (drum, trumpet, and bagpipes, what a combo), dressed in theatrical pharaoh costumes, and playing the triumphal march from Aida, followed by a John Philip Souza song. Odd but humorous. After lunch, walking out the front door to the bus, I looked up and right there in front of me were the pyramids. Gorgeous and breathtaking.
Our last stop was at a place where they make papyrus and paint beautiful scenes on papyrus sheets. We watched a demonstration of how papyrus is made (simpler than I thought) and then were left to wander around looking at the paintings.
We got back to the ship at 9:30 PM exhausted intending to go directly to our room but were enticed to look at some things at the market that is set up at the dock. My sister and I each decided to buy some traditional clothing -- long dresses for lounging around the house. At this point we badly needed food, a shower, and sleep, in that order. But the theater was having a show of traditional Egyptian folk dancing that we didn’t want to miss, so we grabbed a sandwich and in our bedraggled, slightly stinky clothes we went to see the show.
By the time we got back to our room we could barely move. A long day of constantly getting in and out of the bus (very high steps), and walking up and down steps (absolutely everything requires going up and down steps), a knee that is beginning to bother me, the heat, and the over stimulation of seeing so many wonderful things, used up all of my reserves of energy. But we needed to get ready for our all-day tour the next day (a tour of the museums and landmarks of Alexandria) and so we started laying out our supplies and clothes and tickets. It was at about this point that I caved in and decided to skip the next tour and after a few minutes consideration my sister did the same. Today, we are very glad we decided not to push ourselves too much.
General impressions of Egypt: The first thing I noticed was that there was rubbish everywhere we went. Canals of water were lined up the banks with rubbish and there was rubbish floating in the water. There was rubbish along all the roadsides and at the sightseeing stops. There were no trash receptacles that we could see anywhere. The prevailing color of everything is sand softened by the green of some trees (mostly palm and a kind of pine tree that has frothy needles, and eucalyptus trees), and the white, taupe, or black of clothing. Occasionally we saw the color of flowers, but not often. Occasionally we saw a woman wearing a colorful scarf over her black hibab. Most people are quite poor; the contrast between rich and poor is marked.
In the afternoon, the ship left for the entrance to the Suez canal. Apparently the protocol is that ships going south through the canal must queue up and then in the early morning we will start making our way through. Ships going north through the canal go in convoy during the night. Next stop is Jordan.
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