Suez Canal

We entered the queue for the Suez Canal about 3 this morning. I was not awake at the time. I did wake up at 545 to see us sail thru post 156 at Port Suez. We are inching our way north in the canal at 8 knots an hour. There is absolutely no wake. We are the first ship in a convoy of 14 other ships.

The canal is a one way "street" with northbound traffic sailing from 3 AM to 3 PM and southbound traffic sailing the opposite times. The canal is not straight, as it makes it way thru some lakes (Little Bitter Lake, Great Bitter Lake) and a by-pass on its 193.3 km path to the Mediterranean Sea. I wonder if it was a 2 way "street' when it was finished in 1869?

I took a bunch of pictures up to KM Post 148, then I went inside for breakfast and I've just emerged at Little Bitter Lake. Here the canal is wide but still flat. I can see the other ships behind us and they look like they are floating on sand. It's a good illusion. I can imagine that's how we look to folks on either side of the ditch.

There are pontoon "bridges" along the way. I put quotes on bridges because they are portable. If there is a problem the bridges can be put together and floated to the east side. There are also ferry boats to bring vehicle traffic to the other side. The ferries are loaded, and when there is a break in the ship traffic, they squirt to the other side. The ships in the convoy are placed about 10 minutes apart in order to allow room for an emergency stop, and the ferries take advantage of that space.

As we sail north, the left or port, or west side of the canal is quite built up, while the east side is barren. Along the banks there have been villages, guard posts, pontoon bridge emplacements, and a few ferry terminals as well as dunes and "junk" leftover from earlier days. (Not ancient Egyptian ruins, just junk.) In Little Bitter Lake there is a peninsula and there are some fancy homes on it! They remind me of the homes you see as you drive to El Alamein on the Med.

We are now cruising in Great Bitter Lake. While I can still see land on both sides of the ship, it's very wide. (Not Gatun Lake wide in Panama, but still wide.) There is a peninsula in Little Bitter Lake that has some really big homes built along the shore. It's one the few places where I've seen something that resembles a private home. Most of the other buildings look like they belong to the military. There are armed guards walking along the canal, constantly watching. Every so often a helicopter flies by too.

Later

We went thru Great Bitter Lake (both Bitter Lakes are dry lake beds, but when they designed the canal, the engineers figured correctly that the dry lakes would fill and they would have less to dig) where we saw lots of ships waiting for us to travel thru, so they could exit when they were given the go ahead. At the end of Great Bitter Lake there is a large community. (I took so many pictures my battery ran out of juice...so now in working with my second camera.)

The next wide spot in the canal is Lake Timsha. The community here is called Ishmael and is even bigger than the last one. I talked with someone who was here before and he said 20 years ago, there were no communities alongside the canal, now there are many.

This morning started out as very pleasant. It's now 1230 PM and too hot to be outside. We have retreated to the Viking Lounge on Deck 11 where we can enjoy an air conditioned view of the canal.

We are past the Lake and heading for to by-pass and the Egyptian-Japanese Bridge that spans over the canal where Africa and Asia meet.

Later still
After the bridge we sailed another 2 hours at 8 knots when we started seeing signs if civilization. A ferry boat was taking trucks across the canal...there was a container port with lots of cranes, but none of them seemed to be working. Then we saw Port Said. A big city. A pilot boat came alongside and before we knew it we were in the Mediterranean Sea! It took just over 12 hours to make the crossing. If we had to go around Africa, it would have taken 9 days!

It's been a good day. I'll post some pictures later. While we are in a more populous area, I'm going to wait until we get to Alexandria where there might be a stronger wifi signal or even a FREE wifi. That would be a treat!

Safaga, Egypt

We are sailing to a rather obscure port in order to visit the Valley of the Kings..aka Luxor or Thebes or Karnak. This is the place where King Tut's tomb was found. It also the location of two important temples: Luxor and Karnak. Luxor is a "normal" sized temple, while Karnak is huge. The temples are 3 km apart making them "walkable" down a Sphynx-lined street. The folks onboard are looking forward to the 14 hour shorex, which IMHO is way too long to spend in a bus. It's about a 4 hour drive to Luxor, leaving only 6 hours to play tourist at some of the most remarkable ruins in Egypt. We spent 5 days here and we barely scratched the surface. The place is fascinating.

So once again we are going to have the "yacht" to ourselves. There's something grand about staying onboard when most of the folks are away. All the public areas on the ship are empty. If we want something we get it NOW! The crew are bored as there's nothing to do, yet they have to work. On the downside, I tried to enjoy the hot tub yesterday afternoon, but it was too hot! I stepped into it and immediately stepped out for fear of getting cooked! The pool was the same. The desert heats everything. Last night we looked at the movie, Skyfall, under the stars--what a delight. The temps were perfect and even when we were sailing, there was a slight breeze. The night sky was inky black and we were cocooned in a protective bubble, floating on the Red Sea! It was a bit magical. (I should have tried the hot tub then.) If the movie is good tonight I might try it out.

At Aqaba

There is a certain type of excitement you feel when you are near port. The excitement is even greater when you've been at sea for six days. We just landed in Aqaba. It's a sunny warm morning with a buzz in the air. "We are going to Petra" is heard throughout the ship.

This morning the port is busy. There is a pilot and 2 tugs leading us to shore. A few large ships are moored in the harbor. Buses are lining up waiting for the onslaught of tourists. Trucks carrying fresh food and produce are arriving to restock our larders. A few small boats are winding their way thru the traffic to start their day probably fishing in the rich waters of the Red Sea.

As I walked a couple of laps around Deck 10 (which is the top-most deck for walking around the ship) it was hard not feel the excitement. Folks were anticipating their journey to Petra. Others were worried if they had enough stamina to do the necessary walking. Others were filling up water bottles hoping they had enough water to endure the anticipated heat of the day.

License Plates

I collect license plates...well pictures of them anyway. Most license plates around the world are made up of numbers and letters, usually 6 to 8. There is usually something to denote the state or country or both. There might be a scene or emblem or logo on the plate too. In addition, most look as if they were made by a state agency and are uniform. Surprisingly most of the countries use "western" letters and numbers. This is true to Egypt where western numbers have replaced Arabic numbers. It is not true in Greece where the Greek alphabet is used. All EU counties have a uniform looking plate. US and Canadian plates are uniform in size too. All fit in the "license carrier" mounted on the vehicle.

License plates are a little different in India. We were in 4 states or provinces in this large country of 28 (or 29--depending on who we talked to...I need to see an official map) so I cannot talk about the whole country, but here are my observations. The license plates here are long (both in size and info)...at least 9 or 10 western characters, usually placed in groups of 2 or 3 or 4 (this helps one to remember the number). The plates were mostly white, but a few are yellow. Some taxis have painted the "plates" on the side and back of the vehicle. Cars and buses have metal plates. Scooters and motorcycles have mini versions of the plates with smaller size letters. Only in Goa was the state mentioned. The license plates in Cochin said "IND." Some of the plates for Mangalore had a symbol on them and a word, others were plain white plates without any identification as to place. The plates in Bombay were generic white with black characters. All the plates were written using western characters.

65% of India is literate. There are 3 basic languages--Hindi, English and the language of each state. Most folks cannot understand the language of their neighboring state, and some folks do not speak Hindi...so English becomes the common denominator.

Not everyone owns a vehicle either, but according to our guide in Goa, everyone wants to upgrade from a bike to a scooter or from a scooter to a small car. I can only imagine what happens when one billion folks get mobilized!

Sea daze

We are sailing on the Red Sea, which is as calm as can be. In fact we have had easy waters on the whole trip!

On this leg if our journey, we have 6 days in a row "at sea." When we first started cruising, sea days were a drag, now we look forward to them. They are very relaxing. All we have to do is plan what activities we want to do and do them. For this current cruise we are enjoying the lecturers and trivia. Right now my trivia team is in first place...but that can change in a heartbeat.

We have a formal night tonight, so the photographers are getting their lights and backdrops ready. This ship does not have a strict formal code as few men are wearing tuxedos and the women are not in long gowns. That's good, as I only bring sparkly tops and matching "formal" pants...it seems to work. In 2 days we will make landfall at Aqaba, Jordan.

Bab el Mandeb

We just turned the corner between the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea via the Gulf of Aden. The narrow strait is called Bab el Mandeb. About 10 miles of water separate Yemen on the north and Djibouti on the south. We could see a hint of land on both sides from our ship.

We have security on the ship until tomorrow, but the neighborhood is getting better. We passed Somalia as we entered the Gulf of Aden. We will be passing by Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, and Sudan before we dock at Aqaba, Jordan on the 26th. We will have sailed about 3000 miles from Dubai to Aqaba.

Contrasts

As I was looking at my 300 pictures of Dubai, I started seeing something I had not paid attention to while on the ground--the contrasts between old and new, east and west--that are visible throughout the city.

Along the Dubai Creek we saw high rise buildings right next to ancient dhows. The dhows were being readied to transport goods to India and beyond. Instead of using modern container ships, the goods were boxed or bundled, then they were going to be loaded by hand in the dhow.

On the other side of town there are several very tall structures including one that is the tallest anywhere. The technology and engineering needed to design and build these structures is advanced and somehow does not look like it would co-exist with the dhows. In addition, one of the tall buildings housed a skiing area! We are in a desert where it never snows, yet here's a place where anyone can ski! So we have folks loading the dhows on one side of town eking out a living, while on the other side of town, less than 2 miles away, folks are playing in some man-made snow for a diversion.

Then there the water taxis and the luxury cars and boats. I saw only one Roller, but there were many Lexi and that ilk on the road. And there were several 90 foot yachts moored along the creek. All of this is next to the public water taxi system that costs the rider the equivalent of 7 cents a ride. Everything is compressed in this society so you see the contrasts.

Dubai has it all: Rich and poor, east and west, ancient and modern. As I was looking at my pictures I wonder where the city wants to go? Does it want to embrace the west? Or the east? It seems to work. I wonder for how long?

Dubai

We had a quiet 2 days in this Emirate. The United Arab Emirates are made up of 7 emirate states. The largest is Abu Dhabi, then Dubai, and then 5 smaller states, the names of which I don't remember. Before we left one of my friends said Abu Dhabi and Dubai were the same place...well they are different, but they are near to each other. The state of Abu Dhabi contains 87% of the land mass of the UAE. That kind of gives you a picture of the size of the area. For us to get to the UAE we had to sail thru the Strait of Hormuz, which is a 12 mile stretch of water between Iran and Oman.

As you sail toward the UAE we saw two large groupings of buildings. Skyscrapers! The land mass is flat. Unlike Muscat, Oman where there were jagged mountains in the background, there is nothing on the backdrop but more flat land. The two sets of skyscrapers were Abu Dhabi and Dubia. They are that close together. As we neared land, Dubai came into focus. Lots of tall structures, including the tallest in the world! When we were in Shanghai in 2010 we went to the top of the then tallest structure in the world, and this one is taller! Someone said 2 Empire State Buildings, but I don't know if that is accurate.

We took a Hop On-Hop Off bus tour of the city. We took a dhow ride on the Dubai Creek and we walked around on the several huge high-end shopping centers. It's a Las Vegas type experience where we just gawked at the tall buildings and wondered why? Unlike Las Vegas, there's no drinking or gambling in a Moslem country.

We did not see the shopping center with the ski jump and skiing. We did not wend our way up the tallest building. We did see a lot of interesting and pretty buildings. I know where some of my gasoline dollars are going. Given that, we should all strive to keep as much of it as possible.

Muscat, Oman

We arrived in Muscat around noon. We had left the heat and humidity of India for the heat and dry of the desert state of Oman. Where India is green, Oman is the color of very dry dirt. It's drab in comparison but it's not boring. There is an organization here that India will never be able to pull off! It's also clean. I did not see any trash, even in the souk! The men are wearing starched white "dresses" and look like the heat is not bothering them. It was 41 degrees Celsius (about 110 F). That's righteous heat!

We took a freeway built in 2011, to the new mosque. The streets were clean. The traffic stayed in its lanes (unlike another Arab country, Egypt). The buildings alongside were all tidy and white. it reminded me of Ammon, Jordan which also had street after street of tidy white buildings. There's not a hint of green unless there is water. We are in the desert and there's not a lot of water. To show off, a few houses had fountains in front. There was also a municipal fountain display--bragging rights showing off the fact that there is water in the desert.

Muscat is built amid some young rocky-type mountains. They serve as a back drop for the city. They are young mountains geologically as they are very jagged. I asked our guide if he could tell me more about the make-up of the mountains, but alas he did not know! Something to google when I get home.

Lunch Man

In Bombay there are scores of "lunch men." Their job is to deliver a home made lunch to the office workers in the city. Their wives cook the food and store it in lunch boxes or bags or cans. These "boxes" are then arranged on a bicycle. Starting out early in the morning the lunch man delivers the lunch...then picks up the container on his trip home. This service is delivered for 300 rupees a month. There are 53 rupees to a dollar, so you can figure the cost.

The staggered commute times make this very workable. Someone who gets to works at 8:30 wants an early lunch, where the 11:00 commuter wants a later lunch. All the while, the lunch man and his wife have employment too.

Bombay or Mumbai India

Our last stop in India was Mumbai or Bombay. Everyone seems to call the city Bombay but the official name is Mumbai. The name derives from the Portuguese word meaning good bay, and the bay is good. The city is made up of 7 islands that have been connected together either by bridges or landfill on the Arabian Sea. The climate is moderate. Not nearly as steamy as the more southern areas we visited and not as hot. It only get 90 inches of rain during the monsoon as opposed to the 120-150 inches the other areas received. Today was very pleasant...not sticky humid and just the right temperature.

Bombay is a city! The other places we visited pale in comparison. This is the "Big Apple" or the "city that never sleeps" as our guide called it. It has all the trappings of a city too. There are traffic signals (not speed breaks) and rush hour ( folks come to work at staggered times to reduce the crush ...so starting at 8 and ending at 11 (with 30 minute intervals) folks come to work, in order to relieve congestion. They work an 8 hour day and begin leaving for home at 4:30. It makes sense. There are lots of big business as well as libraries and museums and parks and gardens.

While the majority of commuters arrive in the train or bus, many take their own vehicles into the city. The train transports 5 million people a day. The train also employs more people than any other business IN THE WORLD! We saw the beautiful old Queen Victoria Station the was built in the 1870s and it was a beehive if activity.

The streets are teeming with walkers and bikers and drivers...taxis, buses, cars and scooters. We did not see one tuk-tuk here. This is the "big time" and the little 3-wheeled cars are not part of the scenery.

Bombay is a city of more than 20 million souls. Needless to say we did not see all of it. I'm guessing we saw less than 1%. We saw the buildings of the Raj that were built of stone by the Brits. These classic Victorian ladies are substantial. They aren't moldy either, but then Bombay is oł not as humid as the south. The pretty old stone buildings have a grandeur that the modern high-rises can never attain. Below is a really bad pix of the train station. (I'm afraid I took the pix thru a window hence the shadows) but it gives the idea what the Raj stood for. Another beautiful structure is the clock tower at the University of Bombay. The "Big Ben" of Bombay, is a classic gothic tower set amid a campus if gothic buildings.

We saw the Malabar area where real estate sells for 100,000 rupees per square foot (that's about $50k). We saw some of the beaches that grace the city. Folks don't sun bathe in this part of the world as its not cool to have dark skin.

As with every city, there a mix of folks living here. The Jains live in the Malabar area. They are strict vegetarians only eating veggies that grow above the earth...no carrots or turnips or potatoes for them. The are Farsis who practice Zoroastrianism. There are Hindus, and Catholics and Moslems and even a few Jews. Our guide says that everyone lives in harmony. Maybe that is even true. Our guide said that there are many choices for school, but most folks choose to send their children to the Jesuit Catholic schools.

The city is relatively clean. I saw people trying to sweep the sidewalks! The culture however believes that it is all right to toss stuff in the street or on the sidewalk. Some states in India have banned smoking, and I'm thinking this might be one of them as I did not see anyone smoke. Yesterday we learned that if you smoked in Goa you would be given a hefty fine...I wonder if the same is true in Bombay? If an anti-litter campaign were started, I bet it would have similar results as the anti-smoking campaign has had.

The harbour is filled with boats and ships of all sizes. I just was a mega-hauler creep out in the bay. I don't think I've seen a working ship as big! The navy base is near to the cruise terminal. There is a naval museum in an old aircraft carrier.

It's an amazing place. I'm glad we came up from the south so we could see the smaller cities before getting to the "big time" city. It's a place that needs days and days to explore and sadly we do not have that option. if we did, the place to stay would be the Taj Mahal Hotel, where we had tea this afternoon.

Goa, India

Our third stop in India was Goa. Goa was a Portuguese colony for 450 years. It has a different heritage than the 2 other places we have visited. It's very Catholic. It also has a lot of buildings from 100-200 years ago that reflect the Portuguese style. The weather however is the same...steamy hot. 15 minutes outside and you need another shower!

Goa is in a jungle. We drove thru some of the passable parts of that jungle, but our guide said there were other places that were impenetrable. He also said the jungle was filled with snakes and we should not explore it. I don't know if snake means cobra, but I understand the warning!

We visited 3 old Catholic Churches that are considered "world heritage sites." Well our guide visited 3, I saw one...St. Catajen. It was huge and white and not moldy like so many buildings. The altar was carved teak that had been gilded but over the years the gold has worn away. Nevertheless it was stunning. Outside the church I saw a woman sweeping. A bit more sweeping could be done in India.

We also visited the "state store" for all of our shopping needs. I did not find anything I wanted but there were a lot of scarves, rugs, and fancy jewelry for sale. Outside the store were the nest of hawkers selling everything else from postcards and pictures to puppets and fans. Don't go to India without your fan as its really needed.

We drove to the capital of Panjim. Along the way I saw a "Toilet Complex" something that was new to me! I am always amazed by all the forms of transportation available. There are public and private buses, cars of all sizes, tuk-tuks, scooters (carrying the whole family) and the highly decorated lorries as well as trains and rusty boats. All cars on the roads drive no faster than 30 miles an hour with one hand on the horn ready to blow it in an instant. There are few signals but lots of speed bumps called "speed breaks" that do a good job slowing down speeders. There's not a lot of graffiti but there are billboards and signs everywhere.

Mangalore

Our second stop in India was Mangalore or Mangaluru as the locals call it. It is in another state, Kannada where yet another language is spoken...and there are several local dialects within that main language. Our guide, Maxom Kevin (I did not get his last name), was a college graduate in Hotel Management, a Roman Catholic, and fluent in at least 4 languages...English and Hindi and Cockany (the language of Catholics in the region) and the language for Kannada. (In 1947, when India became independent, the 28 states were created based on the predominant language of each area. It must have been a monumental task.)

Today in Mangalore we saw St. Aloysius Catholic Church and School and College. Because we were in Cochin yesterday, I expected to see the same conditions...what a surprise to see near spotless grounds, nicely painted buildings and no mold! Groundskeepers were sweeping the 107 acre campus so that it looked nothing like the "mess" we saw the day before. We only saw the church -- a highly decorated church that was something else. We were not allowed to take pictures but I'm guessing if you look up St. Aloysius Church in Mangalore, you will see the beautiful frescos and canvases that decorate it. All the painting was done in 2 years and 7 months by one man! Some of the decor is very reminiscent of what you see in the Cistene Chapel. And it also proves that with care, things can be maintained in this hot humid environment. (The temps range from 68 to 100+ with high humidity throughout the year..there are only 2 seasons--summer and spring.)

From this beautiful church we next visited the oldest Temple of Shiva in all of india. The bronze statue of Shiva is said to be from 1160 AD. We viewed the statue and yet again could not take pictures. We could take pictures within the Temple grounds.

Our last stop was another temple to Shiva...only this one was created by a very rich man for the "untouchables" because he felt that all people, no matter what caste, should have a temple to pray in. That was in 1902. In 1991 the temple was completely renovated with marble and bronze gold and silver and it's a magnificent temple not just for untouchables but for everyone. BTW it was clean too.

It was a good day but way too hot. Today I brought a wet wash cloth with me to cool us off...it came in handy. It also took off some if the dust we collected walking along the narrow streets getting to and from the temples. Tomorrow we go to Goa.

PS..I just found a picture of the altar area of the church...it was in Wikipedia and it was public domain to boot.

Cochin, India

I've heard if this place for quite awhile as I worked with 2 folks from here, when I taught at the University of Guam. They told me it was where all the smart people in India lived...and guess what, it's the only state in India that had 100% literacy. (BTW there are 28 states in India)

We visited a temple to Shiva, the destroyer goddess, the old St. Francis church started in 1502 and at one time was the final resting place for Vasco Da Gama before he was removed to his fatherland of Portugal. (we visited the church he is now buried in when we were in Lisbon 2 years ago.) From the church we went to the fish market and the "Chinese Nets." All along the way I was gawking at the scenes that flashed before my eyes. It's a very different world. The fish market had freshly caught fish, but it was placed on plates without any ice. Since it was about 100 degrees outside, I have to wonder how long the fish would stay "edible."

Two Firsts

Yesterday, on my morning walk on Promenade Deck I saw sunrise on the Indian Ocean. This morning I saw my first glimpse of India. We land in Cochin in about 10 minutes.

Colombo Pix