Muscat, Oman

It is hot! We arrived here in Oman after a short 45 minute flight from Dubai. We had special services that met at the Dubai airport and whisked us through check-in and immigration. Then we met by special devices in Oman and while we waited in a comfortable lounge, she got our visas and we walked right through a very long immigration line. Our Omani escorts met us and brought us another special place....the Al Husn at the shangra-la. This is a hotel with in a hotel and it is beautiful
. No one under 18 is allowed and it has it's on very private beach with all ther service you could want.

We spent a morning at the private beach and it wasn't too bad for heat. The have nice sun beds with large awnings over them and we had a light breeze. The beach is also one where there are turtle nests and they are marked so you don't step in them. They are hatching now, usually in the very early mornings. The water was great as well.

While nit totally inclusive, they have Lots of nice extras like the mini bar is complimentary except for hard liquor. They have tea at 3:45pm and a complimentary
Hour at 6-7:00pm

We have a full day tour tomorrow to see an oasis and date planation with a local lunch.

We are even more spoiled than in the Voyager. If that is possible.

Last day at Al Maha

This place is great. Last night we drove uo to a nearby dune for the sunset, and it was spectacular. I'm hoping some of the pictures turn out well. Dinner was a barbecue on the deck. It is amazing how quickly it cools down after the sun sets. They had lobster, lamb chops, beef kabobs, chicken kabobs, and fish. There were plenty of accompanyments including a wonderful lentil dish.

This morning we got to sleep in until 6 then we met our guide for the dune ride...what a ride. They leave directly from the property and cross out of the conservation area in Dubai and enter the neighboring emirate. The dunes are higher here and the vegetation more sparse as it is a camel farm. We had 4 land rovers and this was not the tame dune driving we had experienced just out of Dubai. Our land rover got stuck on top of a dune and we had to be pulled off. One time we didn't make it all the way up the dune and slid down sideways with Jacque, our guide, makinging figure eights to make another run at it. It was exciting and a little scary.

It is hotter today so we are enjoying the air conditioned suite. We haven't seen too many oryx or gazelles today as they are hiding in the shade too. They will be out when it starts to cool off. Tonight is our last dinner here and we leave at 5:30am for the drive to the airport and put flight to Oman. Now if I can just get everything we need to carry on in two bags, they only allow 1 bag each on Omanie Air, I'll be happy!

Off the ship

I am really behind o. Our blog. We got off the Voyager on May 3rd,one day early. Due to some confusion about our luggage, we spent an easy morning, had lunch, said goodbye to many of our favorite staff members. Our tour company picked us up at the cruise terminal. We thought we would have to go through customs, but there was not anyone there so it was super easy.

We were drive to our hotel, Mina a Salam , which is immediately next door to the Burj. It is huge complex and we had a really nice room over looking the Arabian Gulf. Jan had the biggings of a cold so we had room service...pizza and a salad and drank most of a bottle of Australian wine we were still carrying with us.

The next morning jan's cold was much better and we had a nice 4 hour tour of the oldr parts od Dubai, like the museum, the older homes and the creek. We also got to see the new "tallest building" in the world close up.

After a nice lunch on the beach at the hotel, we tested unti
L our reservations at one of the nice sea food restaurants in the souk area. It is a huge area od many restaurants and shops. There are water ways all though the two hotels and the souk where you can take a abra (boat) between them. Our dinner was very good with Jan having a rraaly good roasted sea bass and Fred having a great tuna. We rode the abrha back to the hotel and had a good sleep.

The next morning we slept late, had breakfast, then dipped our toes into the Arabian Gulf. The new he's were beautiful. The previous two days had been windy with large waves, but this morning it was calm and you could walk a good 20 feet beef encountering anti deep water. The sand is very fine and the water a nice temperature. It is a private beach just for the guests in the two hotels so lots of sun beds and lounges with umbrellas.

Our driver picked us up at noon and it took about one hour yo reach our next resort. Wow. It is a stunner. We are staying at the Al Maha Desert Resort in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. It is a beautiful lodge with each suite an individual tent like structure with our own plunge pool. This afternoon we have had vists from the Arabian oryx, several small gazelles and lots of birds around our suite and really close up. They drink right out of the pool This place is like many of the lodges in Africa. We had a game drive late afternoon and will be going to dinner later.

We have wifi in our suite that is pretty fast so I will try and post some pictures.

Day 100 – April 25 – Cochin, India

We slept late this morning – almost 7:30am when we got up.  It was a very hazy day but the seas are calm again and we are not getting any rain.  This morning we have a standard sea day morning, i.e. Jan had bridge class, but we are arriving in Cochin at noon so there won’t be any afternoon lectures or activities today.

We have been to Cochin before when we did the Discovery Cruise in 2008.  At that time, we did a long trip to the “backwaters”, where we had a nice house boat ride and lunch.  This time we decided we would take the City Highlights tour to see what Cochin as a city looks like.  We had two choices of times and decided to take the morning tour on the second day in Cochin.

When we arrived, the dock was much cleaner than the one in Chennai and we were entertained by a drum core and Indian dancers while the ship was tied up.

We decided not to go ashore as it is so hot and humid and Jan wants to get started on her packing.  It will take her two hours just to fold all Fred’s shirts!

Day 99 – April 24 – Colombo, Sri Lanka

About 6:15a.m., the shipped moved from the cargo berth where we had spent the night to the passenger terminal.  It was much closer to the town and they had worked to make it appear very nice.  They had plants and small shops separating the passengers from the working cargo port.

We decided to take the shopping excursion, The Treasure Hunt – a shopping opportunity.  We visited three different kinds of shops as well as driving around the center of the city to see some of the main monuments and sites.  The three stops were a Jewelry Store, a handicraft store and finally a department store.  While we bought several things at each store, they were not large stores but it was a pleasant way to see the center of the city.

Again, we were impressed about how clean the city is.  It was a Sunday so the traffic was much better and it was still in the end of the New Year’s Celebration.  We saw a runners marathon, a tug of way, and families in the park where you could see the kids having foot races.

It did pour rain while we were at the Department Store, but it all but stopped when we had to get back on our bus.  So we did enjoy the shorter excursion and the shopping.

Tonight we had Jim and Pepper come over to our suite where we had a Champagne Tasting.  We opened three bottles of different Champagne, actually sparking wine in the “methode tranditonaelle” from Chandon in Australia.  We opened a brut, a sweeter white sparkling, and a Shariz that was still in the “methode tranditionelle”, i.e. it had bubbles.  Rajib had arranged a nice spread of various canapés complete with white table cloth and champagne cooler buckets.  We spent a nice evening tasting the various champagnes, munching on the canapés and finally ordered desert from Compass Rose to finish everything off.  It was fun!

So we leave Sri Lanka and would have to say we were very impressed with the country.  True, it still has along way to go and hopefully they can resolve the issues remaining between the Singalese and the Tamils without another armed conflict.  But the country is beautiful and there are many things to see and enjoy.  They are beginning to develop their beaches which are beautiful.  The people are friendly and seem to care about their environment as shown by the cleaniness of the cities, towns and countryside.  While we do not know that we will ever be back in this area of the world, we certainly would encourage others to see Sri Lanka.

Day 98 – April 23, Gallee, Sri Lanka

We woke to heavy rain showers that had been continuing through the night.  The Indian Ocean has finally decided to let us know we are really at sea after all.  Gallee is a tender port, meaning the ship cannot dock and we use the tenders to go ashore.  After stopping briefly to check out the situation, the Captain came on and told us that it was unsafe to use the tenders and so the stop had to be canceled.  He said he was working with the Harbor Master in Colombo to see if we could get a berth for the evening and he would let us know when he knew.

So we sailed away in the rain and didn’t get to see Gallee.

Jamie’s social staff got busy and put together a sea day schedule.  So Jan had an extra lesson and duplicate bridge day because of the canceled stop.  The remainder of the day saw us inside as it continued to rain.

When we did arrive at the Port of Colombo around 5:00pm in the evening, the only berth available was one way on the outside of the docks which was a bulk cargo berth.  So we docked there for the evening and the ship arranged a shuttle bus for anyone who wanted to go into Colombo for the evening.

It rained hard almost all evening and we decided to stay aboard.

Day 97 – April 22, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka

We woke today to a beautiful blue sky, green island and CLEAN AIR as we sailed into Tincomalee, Sri Lanka.  This city in the northeast of the island has been off limits for more than 26 years to anyone but the military as the war with the Tamil Tigers raged across the island.  It is a beautiful area.  The harbor is very large with an inter and an outer harbour.  Since this is the northeast of Sri Lanka where the Tamil Tigers were fighting the government until about two years ago, there have been no cruises ship here in almost 25 years…at least that is what we were told.

The dock was away from the major cargo area and had a long causeway leading to it so they could set up good security.  There was a large navy base near by as well as the fishing boat harbor.  Immigration proceeded very smoothly even though they brought a lot of people on board including at least one family.

We had signed up for the very long, nine hour trip to Polonnaruva, the Medieval City.  Since this area has been off limits to tourists, there were not any buses of guides based in Trincomalee so they brought buses, drivers and guides from Colombo, over four hours away.  Most of the buses they brought were small ones, holding about 18 people but they only loaded 13 in each bus.  The leg room was not as good as the larger buses but the air conditioning worked well.

We left the ship on time at about 7:45pm and we were on the second bus.  The roads in the area are terrible with lots of pot holes, broken payment and just generally very difficult driving.  Our guide was it was because the government did not want the roads improved during the civil war so the “terrorist” could not move fast.  There were police/army lookouts posts every 50-100 feet.  Some of them were still manned but a lot were no longer in use.  We did see a lot of soldiers guarding bridges, intersections and other facilities all with large rifles.

The next thing that impressed us was how clean Sri Lanka is.  Having just been in Chennai, where the port was so bad and the trash on the streets so pervasive, seeing green and no trash was quite obvious.  Even though the homes were what we would probably consider very poor, they were NOT surrounded by trash as we saw in India.  Yes, there was some litter but about the same amount as you would see almost anywhere in the world.

The area we traveled through for the first hour or so was home to a mixture or Hindu, Moslem, Christians and Buddahists with Moslem being the majoring in the area.  The Tamil “terrorists” were mostly Moslem.  Our guide explained there are two kinds of Tamils; the first group came with invaders in the 10^th century and the second group were imported by the British to work on the rubber and tea plantations.   However, we never could really figure out if only one of the “kinds” of Tamils were involved with the Tamil Tigers.

Once we had traveled just over an hour, we reached a good road that cross one of the “water tanks”, which are fresh water reservoirs.  Some of the ancient kings of Sri Lanka had built many of these water tanks to store water for agricultural and domestic use.  These water tanks have been expanded and create quite a large rice growing area.  The irrigation canals are extensive and many of them began centuries ago.

After two hours we reached the small town of Habarana, which is on the main highway from Trincomalee to Colombo.  Here we stopped at a resort which had originally been built in the 1970’s and recently remodeled.  It resort of over more than 27 acres surrounded by three nature reserves.  It is considered an eco-resort planned to be in full harmony with its surroundings.  Our stop was a quick one just to use the restroom facilities since we had at least 2.5 hours before we would have access to a restroom.

Another 45 minute drive took us to Polonnaruwa – The Medieval City.  This is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The site has been a settlement for thousands of years but the significant sites were started around 1055AD when a new King moved the capital to Polonnaruwau.  There a great city was built has lasted until an Indian king conquered Sri Lanka and destroyed the city looting the great temples and causing a lot of destruction to the buildings. 

We were able to see only a small portion of the archeological sits.  We saw several smaller temples on the way to the Quadrangle, the area with some of the most significant monuments.  Even though these buildings are in ruin, they are still considered holy temples and we had to take off our shoes and hats to enter.  Jan took an extra heavy pair of socks to put over her light socks and then just kept her shoes off the entire time of visiting the temple area.  She just carried her shoes from place to place…it was much easier that way and the thick socks protected her feet while walking on the gravel surface.  Fred decided he could see what he wanted to see from outside the temple door and so did not remove his shores.  We actually explore the Quadrangle site separately; Fred walking with his umbrella seeing the sites and finding resting places in the shade: Jan exploring the insides of most of the temples.

The largest of the temples is called The Vatadage (Circular Relic House).  It was a round temple that was the tallest of the buildings (none of them have roofs).  There are four different Buddha statues facing the four cardinal directions.  All of the walls are carved with figures from the Buddha Story.  The other buildings and Buddha statues but none quite as large as those in the Vatadage.

The final stop was the area called Gal Vihara where there are four very large and very magnificent carved images of Buddha.  They have all been carved out of a very large boulder.  One of them is a large recumbant Buddha, meaning to represent the passing of Buddha.  There is a large upright Buddha that was striking not only because of the size but also because of the interesting stripes of color in the granite which gave another level of interest to the carving.   The other two were both sitting, but one was smaller and was inside a cave.  While you could see all of the Buddhas from outside the roped area, Jan removed her shoes and donned her socks one more time.

After visiting these sites, all of which were magnificent and very interesting, we returned to the Cinnamon Lodge where we were to have lunch.  They led us through the reception hall, through the restaurant, along side the pool and onto a path that led down to the lake, or water tank, where they had set up an area for lunch.  There were cows, goats, and chickens along with an ox cart complete with ox…we never could quite figure out why but we guessed they were just for atmosphere.  They had a huge buffet set up with different stations for Sri Lankan curries, western food, such as pasta and chicken, other Sri Lankan delicacies such as chutneys and sambas, i.e. dried rice with different spices used as a condiment to other dishes.  They also had a salad station and soup and desert which was fresh fruit and several Sri Lankan pastries.

The tables were set with white cloths and there were 5 musicians playing Sri Lankan traditional music.  Everything we tried was good and most of it was not spicy hot at all.  We were just finishing our meal, when there was a flash of lighting and a clap of thunder and the skies opened up and it poured!  Of course, we had left our umbrellas in the bus.  So we hurried back to the restaurant/reception area but we did get quite wet on the way.  Amazing, most all of the guests were not upset and took the warm rain in stride. 

Next stop after a short 3 minute drive, was for the elephant ride.  While we were supposed to have had one hour on the elephant, they had already told us it would be cut short – 30 minutes.  However, it turned out we only had about 15-20 minutes.

You had to climb up a steep set of stairs set under the trees.  Then the elephant was led head first under the platform so you could step onto the platform on its back.  You had to set over the bars, then get down and sit with your feet hanging off the platform.  They put four people on each elephant.  Fred decided, wisely it turns out, not to attempt to ride and took Jan’s camera to get a picture of her riding an elephant.  The shots he took were of Jan getting on the elephant and then sitting on the platform on the rear…so all of the shots are of the rear of the elephant.  Jan should have kept her camera as the two elephant guides took the cameras of all the guests and took many pictures. 

Jan’s elephant was a 29 year old male.  The guides let anyone who wanted to ride on the elephants neck do so.  Two of the other ladies did and really enjoyed it.  When they were on the elephant’s neck, it would put its trunk back asking for bananas.  Of course, we had been sold bunches of bananas on our way to ride.  His trunk would get quite insistent in asking for the bananas and he actually blew air at one lady who wasn’t quick enough with the bananas.  Jan decided she would not try and get up, onto the elephant and back down again so she just enjoyed the view.

Unfortunately, they had Jan’s group get off of the elephants before they reached where Fred was standing waiting to get a better picture of Jan on the elephant.  The rain did stop while we road the elephants although Jan did get a wet seat from the water on the platform where she sat.   It was a fun experience!

Then we had the 2 hour drive back to the ship along the same roads.  We were almost back to the ship when we heard a large bang from the rear of our vehicle.   They got out and looked but kept going a short distance going very slowly.  The other buses all passed us and then we came on one of the buses that stopped.  The air bag on the suspension system had blown so they stopped one of the last buses and the two pilot cars and put us all into those to continue the trip to the ship.  We were already a bit late from the excursion so everything was ready to sail except putting up the gangplank. Up we went, up went the gangplank and away we went.

We had a surprise when we got to our suite…we had a reservation at Prime 7 that we didn’t know about.  So rather than spend a quiet evening resting, we had to hurry up, shower and get dressed for dinner.  Fred grumbled a bit but was a good sport and we had a very nice dinner in Prime 7 at the James Bond Table, so called because of how it is situated in the dining room with both persons sitting with their backs to the wall.

We both thought it was a great day and a great excursion even though we had gotten very wet.  We are impressed with Sri Lanka.

Day 96 – April 21 – Madras, India

 While the itinerary says,  Chennai, no one could get off this morning as it was all aboard at 8:00am.  Some of the Indian crew had been given shore leave to visit their families in this area.  For the first time in 26 years of Jamie’s sailing, the Indian officials insisted on a face to face DEPARTURE inspection.  That meant all of us including the crew had to personally appear before them again.   It was supposed to start at 8:00am according to the official instructions, but they didn’t show up until almost 9:00am.  Then in went very quickly as all we did was go back to the theatre with our passports and departure cards, given them to an official, who stamped our passports and gave them back.

We finally left the port about 11:00am and Jan thinks everyone on board the ship was very glad to be gone from the filthy port.  The beautiful white Voyager needs a major cleaning and the crew will be busy for days getting rid of all the black dust that has infiltrated every where.   We enjoyed the excursions and the area has much to offer, but the port facilities are terrible for a cruise ship.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the calm Bay of Bengal, an area that is known for its bad storms, none of which we saw.

Day 95 – April 20 – Madras, India

Today we did a long excursion to Mahabalipuram, Kalakshetra and Dakshinacnitra…7.5 hours!  We first drove along the coast and beach through a fishermen’s village.  It was hard to see just how poor these people are.  They homes are little more than grass and cardboard shacks except where the government has built rows of cement housing that look like prison barracks.  There is no running water in any of the dwellings.  There is a common well with hand pump on each row of housing and a toilet and bathing facilities very so often.  Regardless, of what we think, there was a lively community there with children playing, men coming out of the dwellings dressed in shirt and tie on their way to work.  They still fish from very small boats for small fish that they sell.

We then drove to Kalakshetra, a unique institution where they teach performance arts such as classical dance (like we had seen the night before), music, painting, drama and other fine arts.  While the school had just started its summer break, there were four young women who were still on campus.  They were post-graduate students.  They were not in full costume but in just bright dance outfits.  They performed two dances of the classical temple dances and it was very interesting to see their facial expressions, hand positions, feet and legs all moving in such a beautiful way.  The theatre was open air, but they had lots of fans going so it wasn’t too bad, but we could tell we were in for a very, very hot day.

Then we had a two hour drive along the Coromandel Coast to the temples of Mahabalipuram.  This complex was built by a Hindu King in the 7^th century.  This area is covered in large granite boulders and these were used as the material for the temples.  The first area we visited, the “Rathas” or chariot temples, was where five different boulders had been carved into monuments.  Each boulder was carved in a different style, but all had very intricate carvings from the Hindu mythology with people, animals and gods all depicted in some part of a story.  Then we saw a very large bas relief (they said it was the world’s largest bas relief) that had different sections.  Two of them were divided by a clef in the boulder that represented the sacred river Ganges and was called the Descent of the Ganges and the other side “Arjuna’s Penance”.  Both sides were intricately carved and very beautiful.  On the other side, there were more carvings but they had been covered with a roof sometime, probably in the 14^th century.

The last stop was at the Shore Temple, which was built on a cliff overlooking the Bay of Bengal.  This monument was built in a different style.  Instead of being carved from a single boulder, it was built of granite blacks, that were then carved into the various figures.  It was about a 300-400 meter walk and Fred decided he had had enough of the heat so stayed on the bus.

This is a very busy tourist area and we encountered the pesky vendors that inhabit so many of the Asian tourist areas.  Jan found the best way to handle them was to just ignore them and not even look at them or their wares.  Once they knew she was not going to buy, they left her alone.  It was also very, very hot.  We took our umbrellas and it helped to give us more shade than just our hats.

On the way back to Chennai (Madras), we stopped at the Taj Fisherman’s Cove Resort for lunch.  This is a beautiful resort with lovely gardens.  We had lunch in a separate air-conditioned pavilion.  It was served buffet style and features southern Indian cuisine, again.  There were various curries and rice dishes and they were all good.  The food was not near as spicy as the dinner at the Sheridan the night before.

The last stop was at the Madras Craft Foundation Art’s Village.  An American who married an Indian has been buying homes from the four southern states of India, moving them and reconstructing them in this village.  The idea is to have a place where the traditional housing and traditional crafts can be preserved.  So many village have few people left in them to maintain the traditional homes because they have moved to the large cities.  So here is a place where they can be maintained and craftsmen can continue to practice their arts.  It would have been a great place to visit if we had not already been hot and tired!

Back on ship, it was showers for both of us and then a quiet evening with dinner from all the canapés that Rajib brought us.

Day 94 – April 19 – Madras, India

We sailed into Chennai (Madras) this morning and found a very dirty port.  They had put us at a dock just across from where they were loading coal or charcoal, they said both at different times.  There was black dust everywhere and the dock itself was covered in oily, black residue.  The ship had put down plastic over all of the carpets on Deck 4 where everyone would be going in and out and on Deck 11 where we went on and off the pool deck.  While that helped, the stairs going up from Deck 4 to Deck 5 got very dirty.

The Indian officials planned to conduct a face to face immigration inspection in the morning.  The Captain got us in early but the officials would not come except at the appointed time, so we sat for more than an hour waiting on them.  The other new thing was we had to declare any electronics we were taking on shore with us even though we were returning every day to the ship.  So we had to list our cameras, cell phones or anything that might possibly be considered electronic.   When Jan took her customs declaration down, it had one of the cameras on it.  The official, who was very officious, get asking her if she didn’t have more to declare and took his time stamping his approval.  All she was taking ashore was a purse…what did he think she had in it?

We had decided not to do an afternoon tour and that was a good thing because immigration took a long time.  So we relaxed until it was time to go to our evening excursion, Southern Spice Dinner.

We got on the first bus of eight buses.  They broke the group into two sections with each going to a different hotel.  We went to the Sheridan and the other went to a Taj hotel.  It was about a 30 minute drive through the evening rush hour.

We thought we had seen dirty cities and a lot of poverty before, but there is nothing like what we saw in Chennai.  Because of the proximity to the port, everything in that area is covered in a black, oily covering.  Immediately outside of the port are the historic buildings from the British era.  In the dark we could not see very much of them.  After the historic area, there is a very long beach that is a popular gathering spot for the local population in the evenings.  It was packed with families and lots of little food carts.  Apparently, no one enters the water for various reasons.  We were told that very few Indians know how the swim and that most Indian women do not like to wear bathing suits swim at the beach.   That didn’t seem to matter to the people out enjoying the bright moon light and the cooler (relatively speaking) night air.

We arrived at the Sheridan and were shown to the Dakshin Restaurant, a restaurant specializing in the cuisine of Southern India.  The executive chef greeted us and we were told that he had started this kind of specialty restaurant over 20 years ago.  It was a fixed menu rather than a buffet which was nice for a change.  We also had entertainment. 

First, the meal…our plate was a silver, round platter covered with a banana leaf.  On the plate were three small round containers.  Everything was served from large dishes onto our individual plates.  Here is what we had.  Mini flavoured dosa (a crisp bread), Nandu Puttu (crab meat tossed with onions, ginger and green chillies), Kozhi Sukka Varuval (chicken morsels simered in coconut milk with cashew paste and spicies), Veinchina Mamsam (lamb morsels tossed with browned onions, coriander and spices) Tomato Pappu (Lentils cooked with tomatoes, onions and chillies tempered with garlic and mustard), Urulai Roast (baby potatoes tossed with onion and ground spices), Kai Stew (vegetable mélange simmered in coconut milk with onions ginger and green chilli), Veechu Paratha (layered bread of refined flour), Apam (lack pancakes of a fermented rice batter), Idiappam (steamed rice vermicelli), Lemon Sadham (lemoned flavoured rice) and Thayir Sadam (curd and rice, tempered with mustard, red chillies and curry leaves).

Wow – that was a lot of dishes but the amount they served us was a small portion.  Some of the items, such as the Tomato Pappu were like dips to be used with the various breads.  We also had several different kinds of sauces to be used with the breads as well.  The Kozhi Azadu (chicken), Tomato Pappu (lentils) and the Kai Stew (vegetables) were served in the small containers.  Everything else was on our plates.

Most of the dishes were spicy but nothing was too hot, at least for Jan.  Fred thought it all tasted about the same…lots of red chilies, but Jan thought each dish had a different flavor.  Desert was Indian ice cream, which had a very strange consistency and a strong cardamom flavor.

Our entertainment was two dancers in the classical Bharatanatyam temple dance style.  They were elaborated costumed in bright colors with lots of gold nose rings, earrings, and toe rings.  The two dancers danced for almost two hours alternating between the two of them and sometimes together.  This dance style was almost lost but was revived in the mid -1990’s and now is a popular style for special occasions.  They told us that both of these girls had started dancing when they were six and had been dancing for 11 years. 

This dance style is very active with not only the feet involved in specific positions, but also facial expressions, eye movements, and finger movements – sometimes different positions for each hand.  It was very interesting to watch and we enjoyed seeing this dance form.  The only probably was we were right in front of the stage and the music was a bit load and after two hours began to sound the same. 

We sat with Pepper and Jim and another couple and we enjoyed the evening a lot.  We did take some Zantac when we got back to the ship, but it was just a precaution and we did not have any problems with our tummies after the dinner.

Day 93 – April 18 – At sea on way to Madras, India

It is hard to believe we are even at sea.  The Bay of Bengal is as smooth as glass with no waves and only an occasional wind to stir the ocean just a bit.  We had our usual day at sea.  Tonight we had dinner at Signatures and it was very, very good.  Sylvester, Roxanne, Gilroy and Adriana all gave us exceptional service.  Adriana helped us select our wines.  With Fred enjoying lamb, he stayed with the red, but Jan was having beef so Adriana had her try a heavier red that was just right.   We left Signatures feeling very good and not over-stuffed.

Day 92 – April 17 – At sea on the way to Madras, India

Finally a day at sea.  There have not been very many on this segment.  Jan took time to call home and got to talk to Zach for a few minutes before her bridge class.  Lunch was on the deck after several good lectures.  Dr. Mark Elovitz, whom we met on the Mariner when we sailed around South America in 2010, is now on board and gave a very interesting lecture on the Middle East which Fred attended.  Jan went to the Horizon Lounge for a demonstration of Indian cooking from one of the chefs on board.

Lunch was on the deck but it was very hot.

We went up to the Observation Lounge for sail away.  We were sailing due west and the sun was right in front of the ship.   There was a cloud bank in front of the ship but you could see that the Captain was turning just a bit to go to the far side where it was not raining.  We decided that dinner would be at La Veranda where they still have the pasta menu we like so much.  When we walked out on the pool deck, there was a beautiful full moon just coming up.

Abigail found us the best seat on the back deck outside where we had a wonderful dinner in the moonlight.  It was so pretty with the moon shining on the water and the warm breezes from the Indian Ocean around us.  Violin, the wine sommelier, had us try a very nice Valpolicella instead of the chianti and we enjoyed it very much.  Mirjana, Veronica, and Daniel provided us excellent service and we had a great evening.

Day 91 – April 16 – Phuket, Thailand

We could not dock in Phuket City as planned as the taxi drivers are blocking the entrance to the port in a dispute with the bus drivers.  We had been told of the problem a couple of days ago.  So we had to go to the other side of the Island and anchor in Patong Bay and tender in.  The beaches all along this Bay are very beautiful.

We actually did a tour today.  We took the Spectacular Phang Nga Bay tour of 8 hours.  We started out with a drive over the hills back to the Phuket City side of the island then about one hour through the north of Phuket Island over the bridge to the Phang-Nga National Park.  Most of this park is limestone islands know as karst formations.  They are covered in green hanging flora and have strange and interesting limestone formations where the water is dissolving the rock.

We boarded one of the tourist boats with our bus of 29 having a boat just to itself.  Our guide, Jennifer, was very, very funny and a good guide.  Our first stop was along side one of the island where a shallow cave has formed from the weathering.  Inside the cave you could see some very old cave paintings.  They were brown and color and a little hard to see.

The next stop was a cave where an arch had been cut and of course we sailed through it.  There were several large boats there as well that were day trips out of Phuket for canoeists.  We saw several parties of canoeists paddling along the sides of the islands and exploring some of the shallow caves and interesting limestone formations.

Kao Ping-Gan Island was the next destination.  It is famous because part of the James Bond thriller, The Man with the Golden Gun, was filmed here.  We could not land on the island because there is not a proper jetty so we just sailed around it enjoying the views.

The final stop in the National Park was on the Island of Koh Panyee, a small island inhabited chiefly by Museum fishermen originally from Indonesia.  When the National Park was established, they could no longer fish commercially in the waters around their homes so it has become a tourist attraction.  There were many restaurants, hundreds of shops and small stores as well as the homes.  Almost all of these buildings were built on stilts with only a very small part of the island having any room for buildings.  One of the interesting things was the soccer courts.  Apparently, they young men of the island are very good at soccer and have even won some tournaments.  So the government has built a new soccer court on silts with special drainage for when it rains.   It was an interesting stop and we found some nice shirts for both us…as if we needed any more souvenirs.

Back on land we had a very nice buffet lunch of Thai food at the Phang Nga Bay Resort, a small hotel at the jetty area where we boarded the boat.

On the drive back, we stopped at a tourist trap where they showed how to tap a rubber plant.  They also had some elephants there which we did not see but others in the groups said was a very sad site and they felt the elephants were being abused.  

We saw an accident right in front of the bus when we had crossed back over to the mainland.  Our bus stopped right away to block traffic from hitting the young woman laying in the road and the others that were trying to help.  The other bus behind us also stopped and both guides and drivers got out to help.  Apparently, the young woman had fallen off the motorbike and had a very bloody head and face.  An emergency vehicle got there very quickly and they picked her up and took her away.  With all the motorbikes and how they drive, it is a wonder that we didn’t see more accidents.

The final stop was at a large pearl and souvenir shop but we only had 20 minutes since we had to drive back over the island to where the ship was anchored.  We had about 600 baht left and Jan found a white elephant for just that amount!

Back on board we decided to open one of the bottles of champagne we have for the sail away and watched from our balcony.  Rajib brought us three kinds of canapés and that was what we had for dinner.

Day 90 – April 15 – Penang, Malaysia

Today we decided to take the shuttle into the shopping area in Penang just to get off the ship for a while.  We took the 11:00am shuttle which left us at the Trader’s Hotel which is connected to three large shopping malls.  While it was late morning, a lot of the shops were just opening and it really was a local’s mall.  In all three, there were floors of electronics, i.e. cameras, computers, and phones.  One of things that stood out was the number of sock stores, whole stores selling nothing but socks.

The shopping malls were connected on the upper floors by passage ways so you didn’t have to go out in the heat or try and cross the busy streets.  The signage was good so we explored a bit of all three.  We really didn’t find a restaurant that appealed to us so decided to go back to the hotel and have lunch there.

Jan ordered the Malaysian Satay and Fred ordered a Malaysian dish I can’t pronounce of spell!  They were both huge plates of food and we shared some of each others.  The satay had 6 sticks of beef and chicken each.  They were marinated in different spices that were spicy but not hot.  They were served with a delicious peanut sauce that had other spices in it as well.  There were also cubes of cucumber, onion and a cold rice cube.  Fred’s plate had a huge pile of fried rice with eggs and vegetables, a chicken satay, a beef satay, two fried prawns in the shell, and a chicken leg.  Needless to say, we did not finish our plates!

We got back to the ship feeling very full but happy we had lunch off the ship for a change.

Again, we skipped dinner after the big lunch.

Day 89 – April 14 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

We decided to have a ship day today.   Both of us were tired of big Asian cities, and didn’t want to do any of the tours especially the ones with 1.5 to 2 hour bus rides each way.  We had visited both Kuala Lumpur and Malacca before.

We slept late, had a nice breakfast for a change and then decided we would start packing.

We have a complicated packing situation as when we leave the ship, we still have a 30 day land tour in the Emirates and South Africa.  So we began to separate what we know goes home and what we know goes with us.

We had purchased the small hang-up bag because we need to have “elegant casual” for the hotels including a jacket for Fred.  We also purchased 3 of the light-weight duffel bags to send home the souvenirs we have purchased.  Fred had packed up most of the souvenirs in 3 boxes but we decided it was too much trouble to take them off the ship and mail them from Singapore even though it might have been a light cheaper.  The new duffels are going to work well as they don’t weigh anything themselves but hold quite a bit and allow Jan to pack some of the breakables in the more sturdy of our regular suitcases.

It felt good to have some of the packing done with a plan on how to complete it before we leave the ship.

We had a nice lunch on the pool deck.  While it was hot, there was a breeze and in the shade it wasn’t too bad. 

We went up to the Observation Lounge for sail away and decided that we really were not hungry for dinner as we had hamburgers for lunch.  So we just enjoyed the evening there and returned to our suite.   

Day 88 – April 13 – Singapore

This morning we docked in Singapore to hot and bright skies.  We decided we needed some extra luggage, i.e. a small hang-up bag and light weight duffel.  Since the Singapore Cruise Terminal is attached to a large shopping center we decided to start there.  Right away we found a luggage store that had exactly what we wanted so there was no need to take the shuttle into the City. 

We decided to take the Cable Car to Sentosa Island since it was right overhead of the Voyager.  It was a short walk over to the ticket station.  So after hitting the ATM for some Singapore dollars, we rode the Cable Car.  It was interesting to see the Voyager from above.  When we got to the Island, we were at the Lookout point.  We bought day tickets because we thought we would see some of the attractions.

There is a free bus system on the island that takes you to all the various points of interest including the beaches.  So we decided to ride the various routes to see what the Island looked like before deciding what we wanted to do.  We planned to have lunch on the Island as well.

We transferred from the Blue Line to one of the Beach Shuttles to see the beaches of the ocean side of the island.  There are quite a few beaches and they are divided into the Family Beaches and the Adult Beaches.  The first family beach had a large rehabilitation project going on and so a lot of it was fenced off.  Since it was not the weekend, the beaches were empty.  It was very hot so we found a café and had a cool drink while watching the waves.  The thing that struck us was how clean the water and the beaches are even though we could see hundreds of ships at anchor waiting their turn to load or unload.  In most of the other harbors of the east we have seen, you see oil sheen and trash around the ships…not in Singapore.  They have rules and they enforce them.  It shows that you can have clean beaches even if there is a large harbor nearby.

We rode the beach shuttle back to the transfer point and took the other beach shuttle to the Adult side.  In the description of the restaurants, there was a hotel that had a nice hawker type food court.  However, when we got there the restaurant was up a steep set of stairs which arrived at a locked gate.

By this time in was very, very hot and Fred was uncomfortable.  We walked back down the street a little ways to see if we could find another place to eat but nothing looked very enticing.  We decided to ride the bus back to our starting point and try there. 

At the Cable Car, we decided that we had had enough of the heat and were not very hungry.  We still had the tickets we purchased that we had not used.  There was a lady standing looking at her map.  Jan asked her if she had just come up the Cable Car and she said yes.  I asked her if she would like our day tickets as we needed to go back down.  Her husband came up at that point and they were very happy to have the tickets and we were glad to give them to someone rather than throw them away.

We rode the Cable Car back down, went to the luggage shop and purchased our luggage.  We had enough Singapore dollars left for a snack as it was now about 2:00pm and we didn’t want a big lunch at that time of the afternoon.  We found a Vietnamese restaurant where we shared an appetizer platter that was very good and just the right amount of food.

We got back to the ship just as the skies opened up and it poured down rain.   We went up to the Observation Lounge for sail away and watched the downpour.  It finally let up about the time the ship sailed out of Singapore.  As we sailed out, a Holland American ship was sailing in to take our berth.  We were a little late leaving because they were still loading supplies.

We had dinner in Signatures for just the two us and it was very good and the service excellent.

Day 87 – April 12 At sea on the way to Singapore

Second day at sea – another beautiful day with calm seas and sunny weather.

Day 86– April 11– At sea on the way to Singapore

Glad to have a sea day after the busy two days in Bangkok.  Bridge classes and duplicate kept Jan busy.  Fred read more chapters in his book, Germs, Guns and Steel, which is about how the peoples of the earth evolved they way they did from a societal point of view.  He is really enjoying it; right now he is learning about how languages were developed and is asking all the guides about where their language cam from.

Dinner was in Prime 7 with Pepper and Jim and was excellent as usual.

Day 85 – April 10 – Bangkok, Thailand

We met Jim and Pepper for breakfast, checked out and then met our guide to ask if they could join us.  The guide called her boss and for a very reasonable amount, we were four or the day! 

We drove through parts of Bangkok around the Grand Palace before walking down a short food market street to the jetty for a boat ride.  There were lots of things being cooked since it was a Sunday and most Thai’s prefer to buy their food already prepared instead of cooking at home.

We boarded the long-tail boat, so called because it is driven by huge motor mounted on the back of the boat but the propeller is on a very long pool that is never very deep in the water.  They were very careful getting us all in the boat and the seats were more comfortable than the one’s the day before.

Our first stop was the Royal Barge Museum where we were able to get up close with several of the royal barges.  They were designed originally to be used as the King’s war vessel but with the advent of the Western Sailing ships, they became ceremonial in purpose.  They are made of teak wood and are quite something to see.  Each has a head that represents something out of Thai mythology.  They are bright and colorful and many have gold leaf.  We saw two men applying gold leaf to one of the barges that was under restoration.

After visiting the barges, we re-boarded our boat and took a very nice hour ride around the rivers and canals of Bangkok.  We saw temples, hotels, many local homes, some of which were very luxurious while just next door they were very poor, some of the city areas, some of the more rural areas of the city.  These rivers are very actively used by the citizens of Bangkok.  We saw children swimming, ladies washing dishes in the river, men washing clothes and many people fishing.  We all agreed, including our guide, that we didn’t understand how they could use the water for washing.

After our guide picked us up, we visited a handicraft shop.  It turned out to be the very same one where Fred bought Jan some very nice Safire’s after he discovered he had forgot her birthday..this was back in 2006 when they were on the Grand Asia Pacific Cruise.  Pepper was trying to find a Thai shirt and top but didn’t have any luck.  Jan and Fred each bought a shirt and then it was time for lunch.

We walked a short way down the street to another Thai restaurant for lunch.  While good, it wasn’t quite as good as the day before.  We had a pork meatball and sea weed soup, an egg omelet with sweet chili sauce, pork fried with garlic, beef with vegetables and green curry, which is a chicken curry.  The green curry was hot and Jan was the only one who really liked it.  Beer is a must when eating Thai food to tone down the spice!

After lunch we visited the Jim Thompson House museum.  Jim Thompson was an American who revitalized the Thai silk industry by taking some of the traditional fabrics to New York where he showed them to the Editor of Vogue Magazine.  She and her staff fell in love with them and made sure all of the designers saw them.  Now Thai silk recognized around the world as some of the best.  The house was interesting in that Thompson had purchased several house from different areas of Thailand and combined them into one single dwelling.  He was an architect so he used the traditional materials a little bit differently but created a beautiful home that is full of Chinese antiques.

The shop at the Thompson museum was very disappointing as it did not have a lot of silk but rather a lot of “logo” clothes from the Jim Thompson brand.

The drive back to the ship took about two hours and we arrived safely around 4:00pm.  During the conversations with the guide, she had said more than once that she liked wine but that it was very expensive in Thailand.  So Jan asked her to wait because she had something on the ship she wanted her to have.  Since we have an excess of wine purchased in Australia plus other wine given to us by friends, Jan got two bottles of champagne and took it down to Emy.  She was thrilled and said that she would share it with her friends at Thai New Year’s which is this coming week.

After the long drive and the big lunch, dinner was snacks in the room and an early bed time.

Day 84 – April 9 – Bangkok, Thailand – Overnight off the Ship

We were supposed to arrive in Laem Chabang, Thailand, which is the port for Bangkok at 10:00am.  However, the Captain got is in at 8:30am.  Since the ship had to be cleared and all the embarking passengers were first in line to get their passports and be cleared to disembark, we were afraid it would be very late before we could meet our private guide and driver.  However, the Executive Concierge very kindly went into the immigration room, retrieved our passports and got them stamped by the officials so we could be off by 10:30am.  We really appreciated her efforts on our behalf.

We met our guide, Emy, and driver (who never heard his name) just outside the terminal.  The van was brand new, large and very comfortable.  We had arranged to go to the Ancient City of Ayutthaya.  This was the Sacred City and Capital of Thailand for more than 400 years from the 1300’s to the mid-1700’s.  It covers thousands of acres on an island between three large rivers. 

We first had lunch at a pretty restaurant on one of the rivers.  The food was good and typical Vietnamese, i.e. a shrimp soup in coconut milk with a mild spicy flavor, a pork and vegetable stir-fry, a chicken fried with garlic, a dish of vegetables, a fish dish, and steamed rice.  After lunch, we took a one hour boat ride around the island where we could see the local houses on stilts, some of the new temples, and some of the ancient temples, most of which are in ruins.  We passed the restaurant where we had had lunch and we enjoyed the cool breeze on the river since it was very hot and humid.

After the boat ride, we went to visit some of the most important ruined temples.  The city was destroyed in 1745 by the Burmese.  They sacked then burned the town.  All of the statues of Buddha were beheaded they think looking for valuables inside.   One of the temples was the largest of the city and the most important.  Fred was really feeling the heat so he found a very nice shady spot to rest while Jan explored with our guide.  One of interesting things she saw was a stone Buddha head that had been tossed aside and a tree had grown up around it.  It looked like the tree roots were cradling Buddha’s head in a soft embrace.

We drove in one other temple where there was a very large reclining Buddha in the open area.  After driving around a few more of the areas on the ruined city, it was time to head to Bangkok.

We arrived at the Shangri-La hotel around 6:00pm.  We met Jim and Pepper for a drink at the Long Bar and then decided we had all had enough Thai food for the day.  No one really wanted to go back outside in the heat, so we had Italian food at the hotel. 

Jim and Pepper had cancelled their early morning bus trip out to the Floating Market and didn’t really know what they were going to do for the second day.  Fred invited them to join us for our second day and they accepted.

Day 83 – April 8 - Sihanoukville, Cambodia

We took the Highlights of Sihanoukville tour from the ship.  Sihanoukville is a smaller city and was once a hot destination for backpackers.  Now it is just beginning to see the development of new 4-5 star resorts.  We went first to a Buddhist Temple/Pagoda.  Here we encountered children who really would not leave you alone.  They were trying to sell you small things and some even just asking for money.  We chose not to buy or give them anything because we feel it encourages their parents to keep them out of school to make money.

The next stop was the Snake House, a somewhat tired display of various kinds of venomous snakes.  There were also some very sad looking crocodiles.  Then we drove a little ways in the city looking at various monuments such as the Lion roundabout and the Independence Monument.

We visited the local market which was really a local market.  Jan and Fred walked through quickly and back to the pickup spot for the bus.  Our final stop was at one of the only 5 star resorts in the area where we spent a very nice 1.5 hours.  They had local entertainment greeting the buses.  It was a beautiful white, sugar sand beach with warm water and very few waves.  The resort had drinks and snacks available for purchase.  Since we were a bit hungry and would not be back to the ship until about 1:30pm, we purchased a selection of their snacks, i.e. shrimp tempura, spring rolls, and sate.  With the cold beer, it was a nice snack and plenty for lunch.  Jan had brought sandals with her so she could at least get her feet wet!

Sihanoukville was not a favorite stop for most of the passengers, but we enjoyed being able to say we have been to Cambodia!

Day 82 – April 7 – At sea on the way to Sihanoukville, Cambodia

 Another sea day with hot and humid weather, bridge and food!  It was formal night, i.e. the Captains sailing away party.  We dressed up and had dinner in the Compass Rose, just the two of us and it was very pleasant.

Day 81 – April 6 – Saigon, Vietnam

Fred had had enough of the heat and decided to stay on the ship for the second day.  We were sailing early, i.e. 4:00pm so the shuttles were going to be just for the morning and early afternoon and only once an hour.  Luckily, Jan got up and got the first shuttle because it was so full that all of the crew had to get off and the one at 10:00am was full as well.  The shuttle took almost an hour to get into downtown Saigon where the shuttle left us off just across the street from the Rex Hotel.  Jan and Fred had been in Saigon in 2006 and it has changed.  There are still a lot of motor bikes but there are more cars as well.  The Rex has a fancy shopping area on the ground floor and has been remodeled.

Jan decided to try to big market down the street from the Rex.  She skipped it the last time.  It was a big market and very crowded.  She paid way too much for her first purchase and then discovered the outside ring of shops that were fixed-price.  Since she was still looking for the same thing she had already purchased but in a different color, she found that she should have paid $7.00 but she paid $20.00!!   Several of the fixed-price shops had some really nice shirts for Fred and blouses for Jan.  So she had lots of packages when she made her way back to the shuttle bus in time to get back to the ship for lunch.

Day 80 – April 5 – Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Today we joined the Mekong Delta in depth tour which was really nice.  We had a van for 6 with two other couples we had not met before but we enjoyed being with for the day.  The port for Ho Chi Minh City is no longer right in downtown, but an hour outside along the Saigon River. The distance from the city meant a long hour shuttle ride in and out if you wanted to go in by yourself.

The drive from Ho Chi Minh to the Mekong Delta took about 2.15 hours.  We drove part way into Saigon and then took a new elevated highway built through the rice patties with help from the Japanese Government.  This area grows a lot of the rice for Vietnam and for export.  We arrived at Cai Be, a city on the Mekong River where we boarded a small boat for just the 6 of us and our guide.  The boat actually had chairs instead of benches so sitting was comfortable but getting in and out of the boat proved to be more difficult at some of the stops.

The Mekong Delta is huge and is comprised on nine rivers.  The Mekong itself comes all the way from the Tibetan Plateau, through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  The amount of water that flows through it is enormous.

There are floating markets all around the Cai Be area and they are local wholesale markets, not the tourist kind.  Each boat displays what it is selling by hanging it on a tall pole.  We saw sweet potatoes, watermelons, and sugar cane in the small area we visited. The smaller boats that come to buy are the local distributors to the various towns and cities in the area.  They buy larger amounts, return to their areas, where they sell the produce to the small markets and shops in that area.

The river is not one channel here; it breaks into many, many channels surrounding many smaller islands.  We stopped on the Island of Thoi Son where we visited several family compounds where the families are small manufacturers.  First was a salt purerifier, i.e. he purchases the raw salt from the sale ponds, then purifies it and repackages it for both wholesale distribution and smaller packages for the local market.  They use the rice husks for the fuel for their ovens heating the purifying pans.

Next was a family who made coconut candy.  Then one who made candy from rice.  They showed us how they popped the rice, mixed it with a sugar candy mix, added peanuts, spread it out on a cooling table, then cut it and packaged it in small packages.  The last family made rice paper.  At each family we got to sample the fresh products as they were made.  They were all surprisingly good.

The only problem we had at the first stop was that Fred stumbled getting off the boat and went to his knees on the concrete.  He knew he had scraped them but his pants didn’t tear and he didn’t think they were scarped too badly.  But when we got back to the ship, there was a pretty good scrap where the skin was removed!

Since Fred had fallen, the boat crew was very careful with him getting on and off the boat.  They even asked for help from some of the other boat crews to make sure he was safe.

The second island we visited an older Chinese style house that now has a small boutique hotel on the property.  We had tea with samples of the very good Thai fruit, such as jack fruit, rose apple, etc.  They were all good.  After tea, we walked through their fruit gardens where many of the fruits we had just sampled are grown.  Throughout both of the islands we visited, there are small concrete “roads” that wind through the area.  You have to be careful of walking them, however, as they are also used by motorbikes and bicycles!

We left the boat on the Cai Be side of the river and had a very good lunch at a local restaurant.  We started with a Dragon Egg, which is sticky rice that has been soaked in peanut oil, and then fried in such a way that is makes a ball about 6-7 inches across that is hollow inside.  Next were a delicious soup, a whole fish (Elephant Ear fish) that was served in a way that it looked like it was swimming, spring rolls, a dish of meat, vegetables and noodles served in what looked like a hot pot, and a vegetable and noodle dish.  The fish was served in a rice cake with lotus root and pineapple and then dipped in the famous Vietnamese fish sauce.  There was more than enough food and all of it was very good.

After lunch, we made our way back to the van and the long drive back to the ship.  No dinner was required but Jan went to the local Folkloric Entertainment in the evening.