Day 29 Gulf of Aden

Day 29 22nd June

Gulf of Aden. We had Somalia to the west and Yemen to the east. We woke this morning to smooth, mill pond like seas, which were covered by either a sea mist or remanets of a recent sand storm. At first I thought the ship must be stationery as we felt very little movement but once I opened the curtains and door to our balcony, I saw we were travelling a reasonable speed. I guess we would have been travelling at 17 knots. I found out about 2 hours later, the ship's speed was 17.7 knots and we were sailing 945 metres above the bottom of the sea.

Around 4 pm we passed through the 'Gate of Tears', Babble of Namdab, the straight from the Gulf of Aden and into the Red Sea. 3.3 million barrels of oil pass through this straight every day. The Island of Jabutti, previously an old French Foreign Legion base, and  is now an American Airbase, is only a few kilometres from here.

Yesterday a Yemen helicopter circled around the ship before flying away. Two days before we arrived into Dubai we had a United Arab Emeriti military plane fly over us several times before flying away. An Italian Naval Ship passed by this afternoon and one of the bridge's Officers reported the aircraft carrier George W Bush was on the horizon. All this surveillance is due to the threat of pirate attacks.

Since leaving Cochin, the ship had put into place defence measures in case of a pirate attack. We had a pirate attack drill the day before arriving into Salalah and since then the ship's security has increased.

This afternoon whilst we were at lunch, a request for –O or A+ blood donors' came over the pa system. Several passengers immediately left their lunch table to offer their blood. Even Paul left his lunch to offer. He soon returned with the news that there were a lot of donors already in the hospital. We found out later that there were 15 passengers who stepped forward and 2 units of blood taken. The other donors are on standby if needed. The ship's doctor was amazed at the generosity of the passengers. 

Just came back from watching the movies under the stars, Red with Bruce Willis. Perfect night to be sitting outside, again the ship feels as if it is stationery…..must be smooth seas again.

Day 26 Salalah, Oman

Day 26 Salalah, Oman

The ship didn't arrive into Salalah, Oman, until 12 noon, 3 hours late. Due to heavy seas over the past 2 days the Dawn Princess sailed at 14 knots an hour, to enable passenger comfort. A heavy sea mist encompassed the ship on the arrival and departure giving the need for the ship's fog horn to sound at regular intervals.

I am surprised to find, again, high humidity in this desert country. Salalah is on the corner of the Arabian Peninsula which experiences heavy summer rains from the Indian Ocean, making it lush and green. The city is surrounded by coconut, banana, guava and paw paw groves.

It is considered the perfume capital of Arabia. Frankincense trees grow readily here and attempts to establish them elsewhere in the world have failed. The souks closed between 1pm and 4pm, so by the time we got to the Muttrah Souk, we had only 20 mins before the tiny shops closed. At least I had an opportunity to sample some sandalwood, mer and frankincense before they closed. I bought a local hat for Paul, the name escapes me. The shopkeeper accepted my Dhs (UAE) money for payment. He also took USD. The local money 'Oman Rials', were almost inaccessible to us, some passengers exchanged some in Dubai but the ship didn't sell any.

We had a look at the Grand Mosque from the outside. We missed out on entering the mosque as it is only open for 2 hours in the mornings for sightseeing. Pity the ship had been delayed as it would have been an interesting place to see. We spent some time looking at a banana and coconut planation. They had some young camels there as well.

The last place of interest was the museum. The grounds on the outside of the museum interested me more as it is the archaeological dig for Queen of Sheba's Palace.

Paul has been fighting a cough which has extended to his chest. The ship's air conditioning seems to affect quite a few passengers with this condition. He seems to be OK outside, away from the air conditioning but by the end of the day he is fairly flat. Next stop Petra which requires a reasonable amount of walking, so I hope he will shake it in the next 3 sea days.

Day 23 Dubai part 2

Day 23 Dubai

Hot; sand; exotic; palm trees; unbelievable: modern; hot; wealth; extravagance; hot; amazing; new; ….. Oh, did I mention the fact it was hot? 45C

A raising metropolis from a small Bedouin settlement in the 1950's, Dubai has been spurred on by the oil wealth of the 1970's and the then sheikh encouraged inward investment from around the world. There has been considerable investment on infrastructure i.e. freeways, canal systems, parks, business free zones, airports, railway system, ports and many more. Everything here is considered 'new', if no more than 2 years old, anything else is considered 'old' or traditional/heritage. The current 3 year old airport is about to be replaced by another bigger airport, which will be the biggest in the world. Four year old buildings are now 'old'.

The ship arrived in Dubai about 7.30pm on the 16^th June. Due to the rough seas out of Mumbai and three engines (still), we lost 5 ½ hours from the amended itinerary.  The revised port time had the ship docking in Dubai at 2pm, enabling us to drive to Abu Dhabi on a sightseeing tour; however the late arrival burnt this proposal. We were docked alongside the QE2 which still has a Captain and crew maintaining this proud liner at a cost of $60,000 a month. Dubai had purchased the QE2 with the plan to convert it to a 7 star hotel but since the 2008 GFC, property markets in Dubai have dropped 40% and finance has become limited.

We awoke early…well it was 6am for me. I raced down to the terminal to access some Dhs from the ATM so we had some local currency for our private tour. We went down to the terminal the previous night to see if we could change our $ but the money exchange was closed and the huge line-up for the ATM discouraged us from standing in line. There were quite a few people waiting to use the free internet sites in the terminal at that time as well.

The same 12 passengers joined Joanne and Gary on their private tour guided by Shehnaaz Mayet. The tour started at 9am and ended 7pm. I am fairly sure we managed to see most of the attractions of Dubai in the time we were there. Jumeirah Mosque, Souk Madinat Jumeirah which availed us the best position to view the dramatic, sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, Palm Jumeirah, the artificial manmade islands, spectacular Atlantis Hotel and its 11 million litre aquarium boasting 65,000 exotic fish. We visited Miraaj Islamic Art Centre which sold some beautiful handicrafts. We had a brief stop at the Mall of the Emirates to see the indoor ski fields, and then headed off to Bastikiya, an older part of Dubai with its original Windtowers, for a traditional lunch. After lunch we toured what I would consider the best museum I have ever visited in regards to presentation, the Dubai Museum, to see the way Bedouins lived before the discovery of oil. We then crossed the Dubai Creek on an 'abra' (local water taxi) to visit the Spice and Gold Souks. Walking around the souks became uncomfortable due to the heat. Paul's shirt was soaked with perspiration. The tour ended at the Burj Khalifah, the largest shopping Mall in the world this is where we went up to the highest observation deck in the world, 124 stories high (the building is 2600 feet high) and took in the 360-degree panoramic view. After returning to ground level we watched the water fountain show at the base of the building.

By the time we arrived back to the ship we were happy to have a shower and dinner then crash (Oh no; I meant retire) for the night.

Is Dubai the new Aladdin of the desert? There are some amazing projects still happening in this Desert City. The skyscapers, island developments and a ski run in such a hot and inhospitable climate, are all incredible. We even saw the world's largest lolly shop!

 It is already unbearably hot for the first month of their summer. Our guide explained most people living in Dubai will leave for 3 months to escape the heat, leaving those who are unable, due to finances or work commitments, to suffer the heat. The Dawn Princess is the last cruise ship to visit Dubai, as was the case in Mumbai, till after the 3 months of summer.

 

 

 

 

Day 23 Dubai

Burj Khalifah Lagoon,view from124th floor,in front of Burj Khalifah, in Dubai Museum, old fort now Dubai Museum

Mumbai part 2

Day 19 Mumbai 

Dawn Princess has been operating on 3 engines since the first day from Sydney despite specialist engineers boarding in Darwin and Singapore. Due to the ship's reduced power our schedule has been altered. In some ports we are to leave or arrive a couple of hours later or earlier and in the case of Abu Dubai, the port has been dropped. In Cochin the ship arrived 2 hours later however we were still able to have our organised tour with a few modifications. In Mumbai the ship arrived an hour later and the departure was to be two hours earlier but there were a few hiccups to the planned early departure. Several busloads of passengers who travelled by air to the Taj Mahal from Cochin and re-joined the ship here were held up at the airport and didn't get back to the ship till an hour after the proposed sailing. The ship also had to wait for a shipment of technical equipment and believe it or not, someone forgot to tell the harbour pilot that the departure had been brought forward. Paul and I waited on the back deck to watch the sail away for over an hour then gave up and went to bed.  I don't know what time we sailed as we were well and truly asleep. 

Mumbai…As it is the beginning of the monsoon season we were fortunate to experience only a couple of downpours during our tour around this fascinating city. We toured the diverse sights of the former British Colony with the same group as Cochin. The Gateway of India and the sumptuous hotel, Taj Mahal Palace, both on the harbour front, were our first stop for the day.  Next stop, a fishing village virtually covered in small pieces of broken up foam and rubbish washed in from the sea. The local fisherman use a raft to paddle out to their fishing boats anchored some 200 to 300 metres from the shore. These rafts are made of pieces of white foam (used to make the cooler boxes to store broccoli), kept within netting to make what I would describe as a huge floating pillow.  Mayhem and order is what we experienced for our third stop, a visit to the Old Victoria Railway Terminus with a daily traffic of 2.5 million people. Next stop was Gandhi's House which is now dedicated to the man and his peaceful philosophy. Next we visited the Jain Temple where we had to remove hats and shoes and leather items of any kind were not allowed inside. On the way to see the Dhobis gat (open air laundry) we stopped off at the Hanging Gardens and looked in the direction of the Towers of Silence (towers where a particular religious sect place their dead to be dried by the sun and eaten by vultures). The tour included a vegetarian lunch at a' western' style restaurant. We discovered our lunch to be colourful as well as tasty with NO after effects!

Mumbai is a mass of humanity in India's extremes. From very wealthy people to overwhelming poverty. Sky scrapers to slums.  Peaceful and serene temples to the blaring horns of road vehicles. We found it to be a fascinating city full of contrasts.

India certainly puts life into perspective and makes us appreciate how very fortunate we are compared to many people in this world. Yet I felt India had a soul.

Mumbai part one

Gateway to India, Taj Mahal Hotel, Fishing Village, Victoria Railway Station and Gandi's House.

Day 17 Cochin

Day 17, 11th June Cochin

Monsoonal rain threatened our visit to Cochin, however we were fortunate the rain held off till after our departure.  There were 12 of us who joined Gary and Joanne's private tour to the backwaters of Alleppley (Alappuzha). Land reclaimed by manmade dykes to grow rice or farm fish in the monsoon season on the flooded rice paddies, have enabled people to live alongside these waterways. On top of the dykes people have built houses, schools, churches and shops, all under the shade of coconut trees which line the banks. Most of these banks would be no more than 20 feet and in some areas less.

Once boarding the tour bus, we travelled 60 kilometres south of Cochin to Alleppley. The area has an abundance of coir factories which make door mats, ropes and other products from the coconut fibre. 70% of the population of Kerala are educated and the people are proud of this statistic. There are more females than males and both sexes are equally employed. Apart from exports of coconut products, fish and spices, a lot of the people work overseas and as a consequence the province has a lot private foreign money coming in.

Traditionally houseboats were used along the water ways to transport rice from the country side to markets but are now used as holiday houseboats. They are quite popular with honeymooners. These houseboats are made using material from coconut trees; the roof is woven from coconut fronds and the haul from the timber.

As we motored along the waterways we saw everyday life taking place. People washing themselves, clothes, cooking utensils as they stood on steps cut into the embankments. These steps were either made of stone or cement as well as the cut outs. Women in beautiful saris, stood ankle deep in the water to wash clothes by smacking them on stone pillars. We saw several women hanging washing on lines strung out between trees. Chickens, goats, dogs, ducks and the occasional cow appeared to roam freely around the houses. We saw a fishmonger alongside the embankment, in his open boat, selling fish to a lady who had come out from her house. A couple of chickens were scratching around them as the transaction took place.

We ate a lunch of local curries, rice and vegetables.  I know a lot of people back home who would have loved the curries. (Nic)

We returned to Cochin to visit Fort Cochin. The area housed various nationalities over the centuries. Firstly the Chinese, Jews, Portuguese, Dutch and lastly the English settled here. We saw St. Francis Church, the oldest church in India, built by the Portuguese in 1510 and is the original burial site for Vasco de Gama, the great explorer. His remains were later transported back to Portugal to its final resting place. Just nearby are the Chinese Fishing Nets.