Additional Dubai

March 29, 2008

We have continued our visit to Dubai, UAE. This city is known for its many shopping centers or Souks. On our first day here, we visited the Blue Souk, which is famous for its jewelry, especially gold, diamonds and pearls. The following day we visited the premiere mall called the Mall of the Emirates. Many designer stores are here, but of special interest is the indoor ski hill. There is a section within the mall that is completely enclosed and has a ski hill, sledding for children, and a toboggan run. You only need to bring your own gloves and boots. This mall also houses an area called the magic planet that has a merry-go-round, other rides for children, many pinball-type machines, and an open bowling alley that is viewable on all sides. The residents of Dubai consider Fridays their time off for the weekend and in the evening they do their favorite pastime, which is going to the mall. It was quite crowded on Friday.

After shopping, most of which was window shopping, we had dinner at the most interesting architectural-designed hotel in Dubai. It is the Burj Al Arab. It resembles a large sailboat in the harbor and it overlooks the “palm tree” and “world” shaped man-made islands. It is so exclusive that they will only allow you to cross over the bridge and enter the hotel if you have a reservation for one of its restaurants. We had wished to have afternoon tea, but it was fully booked for at least 3 days, so we had dinner at their outdoor beach restaurant. This is situated on the landside near the entrance to the bridge. This gives the restaurant fantastic views of the hotel and at night they have a light show that features the hotel.

The following day we decided to visit the new Raffles Hotel in Dubai. It is very beautiful with marble fountains and a top floor that has a group of restaurants, one of which was voted the top restaurant in Dubai for this year. The hotel has an Egyptian theme. It is connected to another upscale mall with many designers from all over the world. This is the Wafi Mall. Another part of this mall, Khan Murjan, houses a new area that is designed to resemble an “old-time Arab market.” This is quite beautiful with many exotic building materials. All of the malls seem to have spared no expense in the use of marble, chrome, glass, ceiling stained glass mural and beautiful woods.

Our final outing for this day was to take a desert safari. This turned out to be quite a treat as we bounced over the sand dunes with a driver in a 4WD vehicle. However, we had a really crazy driver who seemed to think he was invincible and at times we were speeding through the desert making turns where we found ourselves tilted at least 45 degrees. He seemed to also think it was great fun at the same time to pass other 4WD land cruisers. This evening culminated with a camel ride, outdoor barbeque, and a belly dancing show. This was definitely the most adventurous tour we have taken.

The next day we will be embarking on our flight to Cairo. Hope all goes well.

Mumbai, India and Dubai, UAE

March 23, 2008

Happy Easter. It does not quite seemed like Easter here in Mumbai (Bombay), India as it is really not celebrated here by many people.

During the few days before we arrived here, the ship was showing the movie of the life of Gandhi. We had seen it years ago but decided to watch it again. This turned out to be most fortunate as the first stop on our tour today was at the house of a friend of Gandhi who insisted that he live there whenever he was in Bombay. The house has now become a museum with many artifacts of Gandhi’s life. They also made miniature rooms to depict the significant events of his life. These were very meaningful to us as we had just seen many of these events portrayed in the movie.

After this we visited the Prince of Wales Museum. This was built in the early 1900’s to welcome Prince George on his first visit to India. He later became the king of England. This was quite a fantastic structure with many artifacts of the time period and beautifully landscaped grounds.

We also visited some local shops that focused on the many spices from India and beautiful silk fabrics. We also had a typical Indian lunch at a hotel called the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately it was unreasonably expensive.

Our tour also took us through the city before returning to the ship and we saw people filming a movie. Mumbai is the home of Bollywood, which is the equivalent of Hollywood but makes more movies and has no studios! They just film wherever they like on the streets in Mumbai.

Unfortunately the disparity of wealth within the country was also revealed as we saw many beggars. We were told that this is the largest city with 20 million people and that the city grows by 500 people a day as people flock to the city in search of work. The other interesting difference is that even though the city does not seem to have a lot of luxurious homes, the cost of the homes are quite high. It is in fact the 3rd most expensive place to purchase real estate in the world.

We will be at sea for three days before reaching Dubai, the fastest developing city in the world.

March 27, 2008

We arrived at Dubai, United Arab Emirates today and witnessed firsthand that there indeed is 24-hour around-the-clock building and development occurring. This country first gained independence from England in 1971 and was formed by 7 kingdoms joining together.

Today we visited the fort of Sharjah. This is the oldest city in the area and where commerce started with the outside world. Today it is still a very conservative Muslim city. It follows strict Muslim laws including not having any alcohol in the city. If you are found to have alcohol or to have consumed alcohol, you may be put into jail for 6 months. However, if you go into the city of Dubai, everything is pretty much allowed, drinking, smoking, gambling, prostitution, and having multiple wives. However, one’s dress is to be conservative, covered shoulders, knees, and feet when you are in Mosques, of which we were not allowed to enter, not being Muslim.

We also toured a museum that told how the suburb of Sharjah was basically funded by King Faisal and Kuwait after money had been advanced to this area but it was then found not to be rich in oil as were some other areas. The agreement between the 7 kings who formed the UAE was that all areas would profit from the oil so as to keep peace between the districts.

It is certainly evident that there is much wealth here with all of the constant building. Dubai is home to 25% of the world’s cranes. The building is taking place on artificial land as they keep filling in the sea to enlarge the city. Some of this fill is being designed to aerially resemble the world with the countries represented by islands and islands designed as large palm trees. Some of the current land owners are Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods, and David Beckham. The city currently has the tallest building, which is not finished yet; and no one will tell how tall they are going to make it. They plan to have the largest international airport. They also are working on a Dubailand that is to be on the order of Disneyworld but twice as large. You can see the pattern here, have the largest, the best, and the most unique.

We have now started our own adventure as we have left the ship for the next 8 days, while they are at sea. During this time we will stay in Dubai for 3 more days, fly to Cairo, Egypt for 3 days, and rejoin the ship the following day in Safaga, Egypt. Wish us luck and a safe visit.

Cochin, India

March 21, 2008

Today we reached Cochin, India. This is a seaport city that has seen many foreign rulers. First were the Chinese, followed by the Portuguese, Dutch, and English. When the Portuguese governed this area, they established the oldest church in their fort named St. Francis, a Catholic church. This church was changed to a protestant church, Dutch reformed, with the arrival of the Dutch. Finally it was changed again in 1804 to an Anglican church with the arrival of the English and remains an Anglican church today. This area many years ago also had a large Jewish population and a Jewish quarter of the city. There are only 8 Jewish families left, but there is still a lot of English influence in the architecture, even in new buildings being built. Another famous site remaining is the Chinese fishing nets that were introduced here more than 400 years ago and are still used by the local people today.

Over the last few years the city is trying to be developed for a tourist area. From what we were able to see, because our tour did not go to the new area of the city, there are new high rise buildings in the city, but other areas still remain poor and not very clean. There does not seem to be a good infrastructure to deal with garbage and the environment.

An interesting interview of two staff Indian staff members onboard the ship was held as they are both soon to be married, one in a Catholic service and the other in a Hindu ceremony. Learning about the traditions of the Hindu wedding was most interesting as it is an arranged marriage, which is still a part of the Hindu Indian culture.

Since we will be in port on Easter Sunday, the ship will be holding an Easter service today presided over by a retired minister who is a passenger. We are happy that this will be available. There is a Catholic priest who has a mass each day but the protestant services are usually held by the crew only when we are onboard on a Sunday.

Phuket, Thailand

March 19, 2008

We visited Phuket, Thailand on March 16th. This time we decided to take a tour ourselves by renting a small van with another couple. The 2nd section of this cruise ended in Singapore and there were passengers leaving the cruise and new ones joining. We met a couple from Madison, WI. We joined them and told our driver of the areas we wanted to visit. We saw one Buddhist temple, did a little shopping, saw elephants that were available for hire to ride, but our companions were not interested, so we just took pictures. After this we visited some of the area that was affected by the Tsunami a few years ago. Most everything has been restored to its previous state. We also did the “obligatory” visit to the sapphire and ruby jewelry factory and showroom. This was mandatory for all tour guides even if you toured on your own. Prices were not that good, hence we passed on this. We did find some silk products that impressed us, however. Our guide also took us to a beach area, but it was not the most famous one, hence not that beautiful.

The highlight of the day actually was when we returned to the ship and experienced the evening entertainment. Today’s program was a Chinese musician, Ping Xin Xu, playing the hammer dulcimer. This is a very difficult instrument to play and he had a very diverse repertoire of music. He received an overwhelming standing ovation.

For the next 3 days we will be at sea. Time to catch up on doing the laundry, knitting, sudoku, and reading. We are looking forward to India as this is another country we have never visited and will first visit Cochin, India.

Singapore

March 15, 2008

We arrived in Singapore today. This is a very modern city that has only been independent since 1965 and all the updated development has taken place since then. Our tour today included a Singapore river cruise that allowed us to see both the new high rise buildings and the old shop houses. These have been preserved as part of the old historical city, which were buildings that had shops on the first floor and living quarters above in 2 or 3 more stories. We also toured the Chinatown museum that told the story of how the Chinese immigrated here and now are 76% of the population. The rest is made up Indian, Pakistani, Malays and Eurasian. The city is very clean and orderly.

After the tour, we visited the Raffles hotel, which is named after the Englishman who first developed Singapore starting in 1819 after convincing the Sultan to cede it to the East India Company. This is the hotel of the famous Singapore sling drink that was invented between 1910 and 1915. Tin enjoyed a Singapore sling and I had a “virgin sling.”

We also enjoyed participating in a walk on the deck for the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Fund as one of our onboard activities yesterday.

Our next port will be Phuket, Thailand on Monday.

Bangkok and Ko Sumui

March 13, 2008

Yesterday we visited Bangkok, Thailand. Originally we were scheduled to dock there; but due to an accident with a crane at the dock a couple of weeks ago, we docked at a smaller seaport named Laem Chabang. This port is where they export around 1 million cars that are manufactured here for Japan.

We then went by bus for 2 hours to Bangkok. While in Bangkok, we were told of the many unsuccessful efforts by many countries to colonialize Thailand. One group, the Chinese, many centuries ago immigrated here as are evidenced by temples and many business ventures. Among others, we saw a 5-ton solid gold Buddha in a Chinatown temple. We then visited the King’s palace. This palace encompasses many elaborate buildings that architecturally are quite intricate and decorated with gold, gemstones, and many glass tiles of a variety of colors.

At this time there is also an ongoing event happening. The King’s sister had died awhile back and she is at the palace for the people to pay their respects for about 7 months while a new crematorium is being built just for the purpose of her cremation.

We also took a small boat ride down the river and saw the many stilt houses still in existence along this area, which were in great contrast to the new high rise buildings, temples, and the palace. It is also interesting to see that the king is depicted many places throughout the city with large portraits.

The following day we traveled by sea to Ko Samui. This is a resort area along the sea. It is a small island that has a few nice hotels and also more temples and Buddha statues. It also is known for its monkeys who harvest coconuts for the people.

Tonight at dinner, we bid a fond farewell to some of our new friends as they will disembark at the next port, Singapore, in 2 days.