Mark’s Watercolors

We headed around the southern tip of India towards the country of Sri Lanka. The weather was a warm 84 degrees and partly cloudy. The warm air from the south is mixing with the cooler air from the north creating a haze in the air.

This morning we attended a lecture by Brian Stoddart on India, where he showed us many photos from the times when the British ruled India. Many British service members preferred to serve their country in India because they often lived in lavish homes and had many servants to look after their every need.

The afternoon lecture by Werner Salinger was on Australia where they have had four Prime Ministers in just two short years. Like many places in the world they are trying to find a balance between China and the United States. Many countries in the world rely on the United States to keep the world’s waterways safe but, at the same time, rely on China for exporting raw materials and importing finished goods. Many nations find this a delicate balancing act to keep both countries happy.

Kent attended an Indian tea in the dining room while Mark attended the watercolor class where he painted a baby elephant.

The Rotterdam singers and dancers put on a show titled “Dance” with a wide variety of dances like Russian folk, Paso Doble, Waltz, Jump Jive, Indian and the Fred and Ginger.

Cochin Fishing Nets

Cochin Highrises

Cochin Shoe Store

Cochin, with about 2,000,000 inhabitants, is located on the west coast of India close to the southern tip. Cochin means small harbor, which it once was. It was once the center of the Indian spice trade, trading black pepper and cardamom. Today, it is known for tourism, information technology and its port. Being close to the equator it has a very tropical climate, little change in temperature and lots of humidity. Fortunately for us the humidity was not as bad as it was yesterday in Mangalore.

We arrived in port a few minutes late and it took a few minutes longer for the local immigration officials to come onboard to process our clearance to go ashore. Local officials required that each passenger present themselves to officials to have their individual passports stamped along with a shore pass. In many countries there is no face-to-face meeting required and the ship is able to clear local immigration without any participation from passengers. Imagine 1,200 passengers, anxious to go ashore, waiting in line to see a local official. It was not a pretty sight and people were getting upset with the process, and people not following the rules that had been established by the ship to expedite this process as quickly as possible.

We took a five-hour bus tour called Panoramic Kochi where we would mostly be riding in the bus and getting an overall view of the city. The bus was superior to the one we had in Mangalore and the air conditioning worked exceptionally well. We explored the new section of town where beautiful new high-rise condominiums have been built along the river and the sea. While some of the buildings are newly constructed and beautifully designed, the surrounding areas are still in need of progress. Old dilapidated lots with trash and unkempt shops and businesses surround this new construction.

We then toured the old area of town, including the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets that represent Kochi’s sea trade. These large nets are lowered into the water for several minutes before being hoisted back out of the water in hopes of catching fish that may be swimming along and are caught up in the nets. They use a platform with a cantilever system to more easily raise and lower the fishing nets. It is believed that Chinese traders brought these huge fishing nets to India from the Court of Kublai Khan.

Also in the old town is St. Francis, the oldest European church in India, built in 1503 by Portuguese friars. Vasco da Gama was buried here in 1524, his remains later repatriated to Lisbon in 1538.

The city of Cochin is located in the state of Kerala and translates as the land of coconuts. The area is covered with coconut palm trees and everywhere we drove we saw people selling coconuts on the roadside. They produce all sorts of products out of the coconuts, including oil for cooking and beauty products. They also use a large amount of coconut milk in their cooking.

Many of the local women were wearing colorful saris or pants with a tunic dress over the top. Some of the younger men were wearing western style clothes but the older men all seemed to prefer a shirt on top and a skirt of sorts rather than trousers. The piece of fabric would be wrapped around the waist and reach to the floor but can also be folded up from the floor and tucked into the waist to create a shorter skirt look. In older times both the men and women would have only worn a lower piece of fabric and would be topless, but this went away after Christianity came to town.

Our guides told us that the people of Kerala are very progressive, well educated and have not more than two children. She said that divorce is more common and that they eat all types of food including beef, which is sacred throughout most of India.

Overall we thought that it was a pleasant city but that it did not have anything particularly noteworthy to see. We passed many temples, shops and homes but nothing stood out as special.

The entertainer on this night was a young man from England, who played flamenco music on the guitar, by the name of Adam Westcott. He was a likeable young man and was an excellent guitar player. Unfortunately his music all sounded similar and while he was playing he had no eye contact or connection with the audience. Quite a few guests left the show before he had finished.

Mangalore Kadri Manjunath Temple

Mangalore Gokarnanath Temple

Mangalore Gokarnanath Temple

Mangalore Cashew Factory

Dating back to the 14th Century, Mangalore is located on the west coast of India on the Arabian Sea and is a major port for exporting coffee and cashews. It was a Persian trading port and was “discovered” by Vasco da Gama in 1498, and the Portuguese officially took over in 1526. In the late 1700’s the East India Company took over the city, but the Sultan of Mysore won it back until the British once again prevailed. A local monarch later defeated them before winning the city back, only to have it burned down by the Arabs. Today the city is both a tourist destination and a busy commercial port and is known as a center of education. The cities population is approximately 625,000.

The weather forecast said that it would be 81 degrees out, but with the humidity it felt much warmer and you sweat like crazy. The air is not very clear but we are not sure if this is from moisture or from pollution or a combination of both.

Our shore excursion took us to Kadri Manjunath Temple dating back to the eleventh century and dedicated to the Lord Shiva. The temples are filled with many individual statues of Shiva within altars, each with a priest present, who is ready and available to offer you a small cup of water to drink, and a dish or cardamom and red dye to place on your forehead in exchange for a small token of your appreciation. Outside there is a large pool of water that resembles a lake that people use to bathe or wash themselves before entering the temple. The temple is not particularly beautiful or grand but many locals wander in and out as we visit. Signs everywhere state there photography is not allowed but our guide says that this is just for the locals and not the tourists. Very strange.

Our next stop was the Gokarnanath Temple that is a much more modern temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and built for the non-Brahmins of Mangalore who were denied entry into Brahmin Temples. Here there are several large buildings each with very elaborate altars that look a bit like something that you would find at Disneyland. There are tigers, cows, half-man, half-tiger creatures depicted in plastic molds or painted with bright colors and gold colored paint.

For a twist of religions we then visited a Christian church called St. Aloysius built in 1900 and featuring a chapel with beautiful frescoes by Italian artist Anthony Moscheni. Moscheni was a monk at the church and thought that the newly constructed church was a bit stark so he spent the next two years and five months painting every inch of the interior himself. He painted the columns to look like marble; he painted bible stories on the ceiling and walls that resemble what you might find in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. On the altar he also painted flat services to look as though they were three-dimensional statues in stone. The church is really quite beautiful and so unlike anything I have seen in India.

Mangalore is where more than half of the world’s cashews are processed so our next stop was at a cashew factory. Here we saw how the cashew nuts are dried in the sun, shelled, roasted, cleaned up and packaged for shipment. Hundreds of women are employed here earning only a few dollars a day to quickly separate the shell from the nut itself and also to remove the thin inner skin similar to what you find on a peanut. This is still done by hand and not machine.

We departed Mangalore for our next port, Cochin, India at 5:00pm. The evening’s entertainment was an internationally acclaimed Russian classical pianist by the name of Rustem Hayroudinoff.

The weather warmed to a high of 79 degrees and we continued to loose time as we head further east. We moved the clocks forward another 30 minutes to be in step with the local time in India and Sri Lanka. We also moved out of the danger area for pirates so there are no longer guards stationed on deck.

Another relaxing day at sea where we attended a lecture with our new location guide David who talked about things to explore on your own in Mangalore and Cochin, India and Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

Brian Stoddart lectured on India and the sport of Cricket while Werner Salinger lectured on the world’s largest Muslim country, Indonesia. Kent attended the Royal Dutch Tea while Mark attended the watercolor class. We then saw the movie “Suffragette” with Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff and Helena Bonham-Carter.

The evening’s entertainer was Portia Emare, a vocalist from London’s West End where she has performed in several Broadway shows. She has a beautiful voice and we enjoyed her show of familiar tunes.

Yesterday about 300 passengers disembarked the ship and a new set embarked the ship. One of the passengers who boarded the ship yesterday is a friend of ours, named Gail O’Connor, who worked with Kent in the 80’s at PG&E in San Francisco. After Gail retired she started a travel company called “Sail with Gail.” She booked us on our first cruise to the Western Caribbean in 1996, some 20 years ago. They told us that we have sailed some 6,902 nautical miles since we left Rotterdam. A nautical mile is equal to 1.15 statute miles.

We attended the shore excursion lecture on the upcoming ports in Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. Kent had his hair cut by Boo-Boo who works in the salon onboard the ship. He now looks fabulous!

The evening’s entertainment was a show by the Rotterdam singers and dancers called “The Midnight Hour”. This was the best of the shows they have performed thus far. The songs were familiar tunes and the show was quick moving and upbeat.

Dubai Burj Al Arab Hotel

Ski Dubai

Dubai Marina

View from Burj Khalifa Tower

Dubai Camel Ride

Dubai is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and is the most populous city (2.4 million) in the United Arab Emirates. It is one of seven emirates, which make up the United Arab Emirates country. Dubai is the business hub of the Middle East. The economy once driven by limited oil reserves is driven today by tourism, aviation, real estate and financial services. Our guide told us that the UAE has about 8 million residents, of those 6 million are male, mostly foreign born. Dubai is called little India because more than half of the local population is of Indian descent.

We took a morning tour called “Dubai’s Architectural Marvels” that took us on an overview tour of the sprawling desert city of Dubai. In some ways Dubai reminds you of Las Vegas in that there are sections of the city that are stretches of high-rise towers of every shape and size in the middle of the low-rise homes in the midst of a desert. The skyline is absolutely jaw dropping by the sheer height of some of the skyscrapers. Many of the buildings are unique in shape, few are rectangular in shape and many have colored glass facades to make them shin in the sunlight.

Our first stop was at the famous Burj Al Arab hotel shaped like a sailboat and situated on a beautiful white sandy beach. They have some 220 all suite rooms from about $3,000 a night. Breakfast is not included but can be arranged for a nominal fee of about $70 a person per day. You have the choice of transportation from the airport to the hotel; you can be picked up by helicopter or Rolls Royce for an additional fee.

We then drove to the Palm Jumerah or Palm Island created from dredged sand from the ocean floor. The trunk of the palm tree has public access although the fronds are private and each have a security guard and gate for access. The trunk contains one condominium building after the next, as well as a shopping center and businesses. There is also an island ring around the palm tree islands that contains hotels. Here we stopped at the Atlantis Hotel, similar to the one in Nassau and built at a cost of $1.5-billion.

The next area we explored was the world’s largest artificial harbor called Dubai Marina. The once-desert area has been turned into a marina in a few short years and is now filled with high-rise towers of condominiums.

We drove by row after row of enormous single-family homes built by the government for the local people. If you are a local man and marry a local woman you are entitled to a government home for the rest of your life, all expenses paid. You have no mortgage, you pay no utility bills and they even give you cash to celebrate your wedding day. This is one way that they encourage locals to marry locals, rather than to marry someone from another country.

We then headed to the Mall of the Emirates where we took in the sights of Ski Dubai, the region’s only indoor ski dome offering fresh real snow all year round. This is very popular with the locals, since many have never seen real snow or been in any cold climate. Most come from a desert where the temperatures can reach more than 125 degrees in summer.

Our final stop was in the downtown district where we visited the largest shopping mall in the world as well as the tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa tower is 2,716 feet tall. We took a high-speed elevator on a 60 second ride to the 124^th floor where you have a spectacular panoramic view over Dubai and the surrounding desert. They say that if weighed, the total amount of concrete used in the construction of the Burj Khalifa would equal the approximate weight of 100,000 elephants. The blowing sand particles in the desert can often obscure the view from the tower but today the views were quite spectacular.

After returning to the ship for a quick late lunch we headed out on another tour titled “Arabian Nights: An Evening Safari & Camel Ride.” We headed out in a caravan of 14 Land Rovers to the sand dunes about an hour out of town. Here we took a short ride through the sand dunes to a camel farm. They raise the camels mostly for racing and milk, but also for transportation, pets and eating. The farm had several baby camels that were very cute. We then headed to a desert campsite where we rode a camel for a photo opportunity. At the camp you also had the opportunity to do sand boarding, smoking a sheesha (Arabian water pipe), tasting dates, have a henna design on your hands or feet and having a photo with a falcon. The falcon is a very revered bird here and falconry is quite a sport. They had a whirling dervish and a belly dancer perform for us before and after a barbecue dinner. The barbecue included salad, hummus and pita, rice and curry, lamb, chicken and beef, dessert and Nescafe coffee (Truly Arabic).

After returning to the ship about 9:00pm we were treated to a traditional Lebanese dance troupe, a whirling dervish and a belly dancer. The whirling dervishes have elaborate costumes with large skirts that they manipulate in a variety of ways all while spinning in one spot for some ten minutes or more. The skirts even have battery operated colored lights that they can turn on and off. The belly dancer got the upper part of her body moving in one direction, while the hips moved in another…. quite an amazing movement!!

It was an exhausting day but we were happy to have the opportunity to see a bit of Dubai and experience the local culture.

Before oil was discovered here some 50 years ago, Abu Dhabi was just a small fishing village. Today Abu Dhabi controls 95% of the oil production in the United Arab Emirates or UAE. Abu Dhabi is the largest of the UAE’s seven emirates and has a population of 600,000. Of these, more than 90% are expats from Europe, Asian, the US and other Middle East countries. Abu Dhabi has a reputation as a playground for the international elite who come here for the golf courses, luxury developments and high-end shopping malls.

In Abu Dhabi you will find the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the largest in the world with 82 domes, 1,000 columns, the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet and an enormous 24-carat gold chandelier. They say that the mosque will accommodate 40,000 people for prayer but this includes the large courtyard. You will also find the world’s first Ferrari theme park with more than 20 rides and attractions.

We took a four-hour Abu Dhabi highlights tour that started with a photo stop at the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque. The entire exterior is covered in a very white marble imported from four countries including Italy. We were not able to enter the mosque on this tour but the exterior is quite spectacular. We drove by the Emirates Palace now a lavish six star hotel and the Royal family’s current residence. Our next stop was at the Heritage Village to see the culture and traditions of the local people. They have many model homes from earlier times displayed, as well as small craft shops showing some of the country’s handicrafts and trades. They have a weaver’s shop, a glass blowers shop, a pottery shop, a blacksmith shop, a leather shop and a tailoring shop. We drove along the café lined corniche or waterfront area to reach Saadiyat Island where they are currently developing a huge entertainment and shopping area. They are busy building a new Louvre Museum, a new Gugenheim Museum, a new Sheik Zayed National Museum, a symphony hall, new housing and a huge shopping pavilion.

After lunch back onboard the ship we took a shopping shuttle bus to the World Trade Center Souk and shopping center. Here you can see the recreation of a traditional souk inside a huge contemporary building. Across the street is a traditional western style mall with floors of stores, many of them familiar to us in the US.

The city is very clean but not particularly appealing; the water of the sea is a beautiful light bluish-green and the people were very friendly. Most of the people were wearing western style clothes with very few people wearing the local white or black robes. Most of the people working in the shops and giving the tours were from other countries from South America to Asia.

Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque

Abu Dhabi Royal Residence

There was an Arabian BBQ tonight in the Lido and around the pool.   However, as it was Joakim’s last night on board, we asked several to join us for dinner in the dining room to send him off. Tom, Dennis, Robert, Steve, John and Joakim joined us for dinner to share stories and become better acquainted.

The weather was a comfortable and sunny 65 degrees. Mark attended a lecture on aid and development in Africa and Asia with Brian Stoddard. He was discussing the growth of India and China and how the increase in population will put a greater demand on the world’s food supply. China has been purchasing a vast amount of land in the Congo region of Africa as a place to cultivate more crops. In the not too distant future, India will surpass China in population and is on a steady upward trajectory. The demand for rice, chicken, pork and fish will increase dramatically as the world’s population continues to increase.

After lunch we attended a lecture on the United Arab Emirates or UAE by Werner Salinger. He discussed how the UAE is geographically between Asia and Europe and how the UAE is moving towards becoming an international hub. They have been building an enormous airport, extensive shipping ports and are building a rail system to link the seven emirates within the UAE.

The next activity was a chat with the Rotterdam singers and dancers and a backstage tour of the showroom at sea. There are four singers and six dancers who make up the cast and they come from all over the world. This question and answer session allowed the guests to learn a bit more about each of the cast members and how they are selected to be a member of the cast.

Mark attended the watercolor class where he painted a scene with two Oman mosques. Kent chose instead to visit the gym and sauna.

The show was another set of songs by the Opera Familia family that performed a few nights ago.

Muscat Souk

Al Bustan Palace

Al Bustan Palace Grounds

Oman Souk Shop Window

Oman is located on the Arabian Peninsula, east of Saudi Arabia, northeast of Yemen and southeast of the United Arab Emirates. The eastern side of the country is the Arabian Sea. The population of Oman is approximately 4 million with 1.8 million of those being foreigners who have come here to work. The country has been ruled by a monarchy since 1970, and by one man named Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Sultan Qaboos has absolute power over the land creating laws by decree.

Oman exports dates, mother of pearl, and one million barrels of crude oil daily. The people are of the Muslim religion and speak Arabic as the national language. The country has mountains that reach 6,000 feet in elevation but the landscape is volcanic and mostly devoid of vegetation, although rich in iron. Some crops are grown in the 3-month growing season from July to September. The shoreline includes beautiful beaches with decadent resorts. Muscat is the capital of Oman with about 1.3 million inhabitants.

In the morning we took a free shuttle from the ship about ten minutes into town where the souk or market is located. The souk has been here for about 350 years although it is quite modern today. The market is extremely large with different alleyways dedicated to a particular product. There is the gold section, the clothing section, the tailor section, the housewares section, etc. Kent had his eye on a gold colored elephant with colorful rhinestones but had a difficult time finding one for the two-and-a-half Omani Riyal he had in his pocket. One Omani Riyal is approximately $2.85. We found an Internet café where we could check emails and post some blog updates for one Riyal.

After lunch back onboard the Rotterdam we took an afternoon tour with high tea at the Al Bustan Palace, now a Ritz Carlton hotel, but once the Sultan’s Palace. The seventh floor is still reserved for the private use of the royal family. The lobby is very ornate with high ceilings, ornate grillwork on the walls and ceiling, crystal chandeliers, fresh flowers and orchids and lovely furnishings. Tea was served on large coffee tables between a pair of sofas. Accompanying the tea were two three-tiered serving trays filled with an assortment of scones, mini sandwiches, cakes, and goat cheese balls coated with chopped pistachios and chocolates. A male harpist played while we enjoyed tea and the smell of Frankincense burning permeated the air.

After tea we took a brief walk through the hotel’s shopping arcade and out to the gorgeous grounds with palm trees, swimming pool and white sand beach. The grounds are beautifully manicured and maintained. The hotel was fully booked so we were unable to see a room. This is the tourist season while the weather is tolerable. When summer arrives the temperatures can soar to over 50-degrees Celsius.

Our next stop on the tour was to visit the exterior of one of the Sultan’s seven palaces around the country. This enormous palace in Muscat is seldom used however it does have a large wing for guests of the royal family and another wing for the parliament. The sidewalks are paved in polished granite and beautiful gardens and wrought iron gates surround the palace.

The local men all wear simple one-piece garments similar to a robe from the shoulders down to the floor. They are beautifully clean, fairly tight fitting, usually in white and well pressed. The local women mostly wear black one-piece garments and many have their heads partially or fully covered under some type of scarf.

The town is extremely clean and well maintained. The streets are well paved, there is a beautiful pedestrian sidewalk around the shoreline with statuary, and you see colorful planted flowers along the streets. Most of the buildings are only a few stories tall. You find older neighborhoods around the area where the souk is located and as you drive away from the heart of town you find much newer construction of single family styled houses. The buildings are all painted white or light shades of beige as regulated by the government. Our guide told us that the city is so clean because the government can fine you if your home or car is not kept clean and well maintained.

We were in port until 11:00pm so there was no regular evening entertainment in the showroom. However at 11:00pm there was an Indonesian Crew Show performed by the Indonesian crew mostly from the dining room stewards and cabin attendants onboard. In a couple of weeks it will be time for the Pilipino crew show. They appeared to have a good time entertaining the passengers and showing them some of the local dances from their country. They work long hours seven days a week so they have little time to rehearse.