We’re in the final days of our world cruise.  Wow, what a journey.

There are many ways to measure a vacation’s success – by miles travelled, locations explored, lessons learned, people encountered, cultures experienced.  Some of our stops over the past four months have been second or third visits: Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Saigon, Cairo.   But the majority were new to us: India, Christmas Island, Cambodia, United Arab Emirates, Brunei, Costa Rica, Jordan, Petra and Haifa.

In all cases, whether familiar territory or new, we learned something.  We watched long-held assumptions disappear.  We learned to appreciate local customs, understand cultural differences, and see situations for what they were:  watching Christmas Island children making their own fun by joyfully sliding down a slippery boat ramp, and racing small handmade sailboats fashioned from tin cans; hearing the call to prayer over loudspeakers in Cambodia; smelling incense in Buddhist temples, fresh fish in outdoor markets, tropical blooms in Hawaii; hearing local music at every turn – Chinese gongs, Indian sitars, even bagpipes in Oman.

We saw cliff divers in Acapulco, scarlet macaws in Costa Rica, petroglyphs, fern grottos, water villages, museums, mosques, temples, Maori villages, schools, gardens, the Sydney Opera House, Ayers Rock, the Taj Mahal.  We rode the Singapore Flyer, the Hong Kong ferry, Saigon pedicabs, and an elephant.  We went swimming in the Red Sea, had tea in the Bedouin desert, and dinner on the beach in Bali.

We bought wonderful souvenirs – aboriginal art, silk bedspread and pillows from Hong Kong’s Shanghai Tang, a world globe, lacquer boxes from Vietnam, Tahitian pearls, and safari shirts from the Australian outback.

On the ship, we enjoyed great lectures, singers and dancers, pianists, magicians, comedians, cooking demonstrations and four o’clock tea.  We met wonderful people, all seasoned travelers with great stories.  And we ate – a lot.

But as wonderful as this adventure has been, please know that we have missed seeing – and hearing the voices of – our family and friends. We’ll be home soon!

Petra, Jordan

Petra, Jordan

Petra is best known for the tombs that were hewn into the rose red sandstone.  The tombs are reached by hiking down a narrow gorge about 1.5 miles long called the Siq.  The Siq is a deep split in the sandstone rocks created by the flash floods that flow into the Wadi Musa.  At the end of the narrow gorge stands Petra’s most elaborate ruin, Al Khazneh (“The Treasury”).  A little further on, an ampitheater was carved into the rock at a place where the greatest number of tombs could be seen.  The Monastery lies at the foot of the gorge.

Pathway to the Siq

The Obelisk Tomb

The Treasury

First Peek at The Treasury

The Theater

The Treasury

The Monastery

View From The Theater

Like the ruins in Luxor and the Giza Plateau in Egypt, the site suffers from a host of threats, including collapse of ancient structures, erosion due to flooding and improper rainwater drainage, weathering from salt upwelling, improper restoration of ancient structures, and unsustainable tourism.  The latter has increased substantially ever since the site was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.

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April 11, 2010: Salalah, Oman

Salalah and Dubai are as different as Des Moines and Las Vegas.  Although Salalah and Dubai are both located in U.A.E. Sultanates, that is where any similarity ends.  Dubai is a tourist’s mecca that is consumed by wealth and excess – as evidenced by the 160-story Burj Khalifa.  Salalah is a quiet, small port city in a rural part of Oman where the tallest building is about 4 stories.

Salalah

Salalah Perfume & Frankincense Market

Salalah is 12 hours by car from the capital city Muscat and is not a destination many western tourists would put on a “bucket list” of places they just have to see.  And that’s because there is simply not a lot to see.  Nonetheless, we found Salalah to be a very interesting stop because it was such a dramatic contrast to Dubai and because it gave us a chance to see how average people – persons like us – get along in a very different cultural environment.

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The Sultanate of Oman has a population of 2.5 million, one-half million of whom are “ex-pats” – - guest workers who for the most part fill the need for unskilled workers in agriculture, construction and the service sector.  The current Sultan must be applauded for dramatic betterment of the lives of Omani men and women.  The most significant change, in my opinion, was the government’s extension of education to all Omani boys, girls and young adults beginning at age 6.  In 1970, when the current Sultan deposed his father in a military coup, there were only three schools in the entire country.  Today there are 1,057 primary, preparatory and secondary schools that serve all Omani children.  The government sponsors a university in Muscat for qualified high school but there are also 12 government colleges and 40 private colleges that provide a more specialized curricula.  Education is entirely free through the twelfth grade but the government also subsidizes the cost of attending the university and colleges at a level that is influenced by a prospective student’s family’s income.  Health care is entirely free in all the clinics and hospitals that are popping up all over the country.

Judy & Jackie At Work

Salalah Market

Salalah is in the Dhofar District of Oman – a semi-tropical area of the country where coconut palms, banana and mango farms flourish and fields of alfalfa are cultivated to support the district’s livestock during the dry seasons.   Camels, cattle and goats are raised principally for their meat and milk although camels are also bred and raised for racing – a very popular sport in Oman.  The owners of all this livestock simply permit the animals to roam freely throughout the vast unfenced areas surrounding Salalah which makes an encounter with a herd of camels on the highways or even in town or on the beach a very common occurrence.

Salalah's Natural Harbor

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The first stop on our tour of the area surrounding Salalah was at a picnic/rest stop in the Wadi Darbat – a river valley in the Alcara (Moon) Mountains just a few kilometers inland from the sea.  While there, our tour guide arranged for a local resident to prepare sweet gingered tea over an open fire.  We were also offered diced camel meat that had been boiled with aromatic vegetables and spices over the campfire.  We were also offered a sample of camel milk, bananas and sweets (dates stuffed with cashews) purchased that morning from local markets.

Diced Camel Meat

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Tea Time

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Our next stop was at the ruins of a fort, palace and temple complex that dates back to the fourth century before the beginning of the Christian era.  In those times, Salalah was an important port on Frankincense trade routes.  Frankincense was then as valuable as gold and forts were constructed at Salalah’s natural harbors to protect this resource and its traders. The Queen of Sheba was taken by the mystical qualities of Frankincense and is said to have built a palace at the fort.  Archeologists are carefully unearthing the ruins of these structures and finding artifacts that document the nature of life and trade in those times.  Interestingly, older Omanis still speak of the various medicinal qualities of Frankincense and Myrrh and and the ability of these products to ward off spirits.

Frankincense Fort

Our final stop was at a Hilton Hotel that is located on an unspoiled, beautiful beach that extends for 50 kilometers along the coast.  We enjoyed a lunch of western food and drink as well as a lively demonstration of traditional Omani music and dance.

Salalah Hilton

Salalah Beach

I belong to a tiny but mighty organization.  Membership is made up of people who have celebrated their birthday in the middle of nowhere.

Mine was spectacular, by the way.  As required, we were in the middle of nowhere, sailing along the pirate corridor of the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden enroute to Oman.  I was unfazed by the sudden appearance of razor-bladed wire looped around the ship’s exterior and the sign (in English, apparently the preferred language of pirates) stating, “Warning: Stay 50 Meters Away from This Vessel”, or the giant ear-piercing sirens attached to the ship’s sides, or the Captain’s comforting announcements about the convoy we’d become part of, plus myriad other security precautions in place.  Hey, as long as the pastry chef could still bake birthday cakes, I wasn’t worried.

The Odyssey's Razor Wire Defenses

The day began with fun cards, e-cards, balloons and beautiful flowers, and continued with a great birthday dinner for eight.  And the birthday cake – chocolate with plenty of icing.

The celebration continued the following day.  Our Ensemble group explored Oman (see our blog for details), then lunch and entertainment at the Oman Hilton (yes, Hiltons seem as plentiful as KFC’s in this part of the world), and ended with ….another birthday cake!  I loved this birthday.

It’s going to be a lazy, blissful day.  Having just returned from my four-day journey to the Taj Mahal, I’m both energized and somewhat dazed by today’s India.   After a little reflection I’ll add some notes about the trip to our blog.  For today, we’ll probably just laze around the ship, perhaps attend one of the lectures, go to the gym, and enjoy yet another delicious lunch out on the deck overlooking the gloriously blue sea.

I’m trying to think of anything about this life that is unappealing – - the answer of course is …nothing!!  I therefore present ten more reasons (see our earlier blog) to keep sailing:

1)   Shore excursions – contrasts to see, understand, and appreciate.

2)   Eating outside on the deck on balmy evenings, or dinner on our veranda.

3)   Mythic overland journeys, Jeff’s to the Australian outback, mine to the Taj Mahal.

4)   Seabourn Square, where we read, have a latte, check ocean and weather conditions, chat with new acquaintances who quickly become friends, and plan our day.

5)   Opening our drapes each morning to see nothing but a glassy sea, or an interesting port, or thatched huts on a hillside.

6)   Showing up at the coffee bar each late afternoon and having the server ask, “the usual, Mrs. Burke?” (iced coffee, crushed ice, no milk, 1 packet of Sweet & Low)

7)   Same day laundry service, with pressed clothes just tucked back into our closet if we’re not here.

  Room stewardess drizzling the tub with bubble bath & flower petals.

9)   Did I mention the food?  And the interesting people we continue to meet? And the entertainment?  And interrupting a conversation to dash out onto the deck to see dozens of dolphins swimming nearby?  And ……..

10)   The ease of just running into people and having a quick, friendly chat – no appointments, no trips to/from the car or looking for car keys or checking the clock or wondering what to wear.

11)    And our clothes still fit, sort of.   Bring the crowbar, ‘cause I’m not getting off.

Dubai Skyline

Jeff

Dubai is a wealthy Arab Emirate that has seen its skyline and shoreline explode with new buildings and reclamation projects in the past five years.  Almost everything is new and very little of the local architecture except the new mosques reflect anything Arabian except in the most “Las Vegasy” way.  Highrise towers spring out of the ground and each one was designed to be taller than the one preceding it.  The Burj Khalif has the record so far at 160 stories.  We were told that if a challenger to its immensity appears, the towers are designed in a way that permits even more floors to be added.  Outrageous reclamation projects on the coast create “palm islands” for expensive residences (some now abandoned) and hotels such as the famous Burj Al Arab, Jumeira – a hotel shaped like the sail on traditional trading ships that formerly plied Dubai’s coasts and harbors.  Another partially construct reclamation project that is currently on hold will create a collection of islands shaped like the continents of the world.

Emirates Mall Interior

Dubai Mall of the Emirates

Burj Al Arab Hotel, Jumeira

The global recession has dealt Dubai a severe blow but even without it, it seems reasonable to doubt that all this growth is sustainable.  Dubai has only modest oil reserves and this is not an important element of its economy.  Trade, banking and tourism are said to be the foundation of its economy.

On the evening of our first day in port, Seabourn sponsored a “Dubai Dinner in the Desert” event for all passengers.  The site of the event was far away from the city in sand dunes that were accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicles.  Passengers enjoyed camel rides, having henna “tattoos” applied here and there, surfing sand dunes on snowboards, and a terrific buffet dinner and entertainment.

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Desert Camp

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Desert Dinner

Judy

I missed the first day in Dubai because our group visiting the Taj Mahal was still in transit.  We did not get back to the ship until 8:30 p.m. on April 7.

Dubai is one of those old/new areas of the world greatly influenced by its wealth.  It was interesting to see how the Emirati balance the benefits of modern schools, hospitals, roads and housing with its wish to keep cultural fundamentals intact.  Evidence of both worlds was everywhere.  Roads had colorfully landscaped roundabouts, usually with statues in the center, and directional signs in both Arabic and English.  Opulent government buildings and mosques lined the roads while herds of camels walked across streets at their own slow pace.

Shargah Mosque

Shargah Mosque

S?? Ministry of Agriculture

Koran Roundabout

Our tour of Dubai’s northern Emirates included Ajman and Sharjah, an Arabian souq (marketplace), beautiful mosques and government buildings, and the newly-opened Museum of Islamic Civilization.

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Shargah Mosque

The Museum was incredibly beautiful, with its golden dome (painted cobalt blue on the inside with inlaid gold signs of the zodiac).  My favorite display featured the new trend in Islamic wear for sports-minded women: swimwear with long pants, long sleeved tops and a tight fitting caplet for the head.  It was hard to see much improvement in mobility for these women, but I guess it’s just a matter of degrees.

Museum of Islamic Heritage

Museum of Islamic Heritage

This was a great day!

The Taj Majal at Sunset

Day 1.  Our group of 24 left The Odyssey at noon today, Easter Sunday, and took a tour bus to the Mumbai (Bombay) airport. It was SO hot (little did we know!).  We were met by our guide Hem Singh, a wonderful man from New Delhi looking most dapper – straw hat, jodhpurs, beautiful riding boots, polo shirt and dark jacket.  Our luggage disappeared as we moved through the airport but magically resurfaced later in our hotel rooms. We flew to Jaipur  (the Pink City) and had a quick tour of the city before checking into the Oberoi Rajavilas for the night.

Hem Singh, Tour Guide

Oberoi Raj Vailas, Jaipur, India

The Oberoi Rajvilas is a stunningly beautiful hotel!  It looks like an exotic movie set, all elaborate in rich wood and marble, with an imposing entrance that takes your breath away. The grounds are dotted with beautiful fountains, gazebos, and live peacocks strutting about.  Rooms have sunken bathtubs with private gardens, a four -poster bed, luggage room, changing room, and windows with glorious, peaceful views.

Oberoi Rajavilas

Oberoi Rajavilas, Jaipur, India

There were 12 lively people from New Zealand in our group, and they adopted me.  We had a delicious late dinner outdoors, where it was very warm but not stifling.  Tomorrow I’ll take pictures of the grounds before we check out and board the bus at 8:30 a.m.

Oberoi Rajavila Grounds

Day 2.  Woke up this morning to find a slip of paper under my door announcing the predicted weather for the day:  Between 104  and 107 degrees.  OK -  sunscreen, insect repellant, bottled water, hat, towel fresheners, Kleenex for questionable bathrooms,  a smile and an open mind.  I’m ready.

I sat at the front of the bus with my new friend Vicki.  It wasn’t long (about 5 minutes from the hotel) before I knew that having an “up close and personal” view of Indian traffic was not wise.   Our bus shared the road with cows, pigs, monkeys, water buffalo, a few snake charmers, camels, and pedestrians, all wandering aimlessly down the road.  Add to this a steady stream of furiously fast motorbikes, trucks piled with mattresses or bananas or people, 3-wheeled bikes packed with up to 8 people –everyone darting within inches of our bus, which apparently had no right of way.  Every – and I mean every – vehicle honked for attention just nanoseconds before careening around us or in front of us.  Our driver honked back, swerved to avoid yet another collision, and off we went down the road.  I was constantly flinching. Vicki’s comment : “You haven’t been to India before, have you?”   Next day I happily sat a few rows back, still holding my breath but adjusting somewhat to the chaos.   My favorite billboard:  “ India Transportation Department – We Have Your Safety in Mind”.  Right.

The Amber Fort & Snake Charmer

The Amber Fort

The jaw-dropping traffic situation notwithstanding, our bus rides contained two things beneficial – seasoned travelers and air conditioning.  This second day included a comprehensive exploration of Jaipur – the Amber Fort, City Palace, and an observatory built in 1734 but remarkably ahead of its time.  The world’s largest sundial tells time -  to the minute  – of any location in the world.  Our guide’s explanation was fascinating, but my attention wandered occasionally as the noon heat pulsating from the ground demanded a discrete search for just a few inches of shade.

Maharaja's City Palace, Concubine Quarters

City Palace Jaipur

City Palace Detail

City Palace Detail

Back to the hotel for lunch, then a 4 ½ hour drive to Agra.  We checked into yet another beautiful Oberoi hotel, had a great dinner, then set the alarm for 5:00 a.m.

Day 3.   Taj Mahal Day!   Met in the lobby at 5:30 a.m., then drove to the Taj, only a few blocks away.  Already warm!  Our walk to the entrance gate required nerves of steel; hawkers selling their wares, children begging, people swarming around us thrusting all kinds of books, scarves, beads, into our faces – it was disturbing, but stopping to buy something would just bring more of the same, so we learned quickly to decline and keep walking.

Judy at the Taj

Taj at Sunrise

Once through the security lines, we saw the Taj Mahal ahead of us!  It was absolutely mythical, exceeding all my expectations.  It looked like a postcard, white marble against a blue sky.  I took lots of pictures, hoping against hope that I could capture the moment.  We stayed for several hours, then went back to the hotel for breakfast.  Some went out again to tour the Red Fort while a few of us stayed at the hotel to get some rest before going back into the heat to view the Taj again at sundown.

The Taj ... nice, but it's not The Elks (EJB)

Taj Detail

Visitors at sundown included many more Indian families with lovely children and mothers in their colorful saris.  We all returned to the hotel for another delicious meal.  What a day!!

Day 4.  Up at 5:30 for breakfast, then onto the bus for the 4 ½ hour drive to the Delhi airport, where we would fly back to rejoin the ship, now docked in Dubai.  We arrived back at the ship about 8:30 p.m.

This was a fantastic trip!  I came away with so many mental postcards.  The disconnects between the challenges and poverty of everyday life for most Indian families, the opulence of the hotels, and the iconic beauty of the Taj Mahal made the contrasts more dramatic. There seems to be no middle ground.  It wasn’t difficult to be struck by the country’s cultural contrasts, for the caste system, while officially illegal, is alive and well.  Most families live at a level of poverty that is hard to describe and even harder to witness.  Those few in the highest caste are lucky recipients of a cultural gift basket of good food, lodging and education.  The differences are staggering.

It will take me some time to digest it all, but what I know now is that the experience was pivotal.

A Laundry and other roadside businesses

Our shuttle bus to the town center dropped us in a dirt lot where passengers willing to leave the bus were besieged by a mob of taxi drivers, tuk tuk operators and beggars.   Some passengers were so intimidated and discouraged by the depressing conditions they saw on the way to town and at the drop off that they simply kept their seats and returned to the ship for the day.  We left the ship and hired a taxi amid the melee to take us to Sokha Beach Resort only a few kilometers away.

Sadly, substandard living conditions appear to be the rule rather than the exception in Sihanoukville.  The housing we encountered were sheds constructed of clapboards and sticks that support a tin roof or a tarp.  They live without running water or electricity and sewage drains from outhouses directly into the water over which they are built.

Tarp Village

Water Village 1

We passed a large attractive apartment project under construction near the city and hoped it might be an encouraging step toward adequate housing.  We were told however, that the housing was intended for foreigners since the $500 per month rent is about twice as much as the average Cambodian earns in a year.  Foreign companies are said to own many of the hotels and commercial projects in the area since neither the government nor the people have the ability either to finance or construct them.  Except for menial work the projects offer, it does not appear that they have much enhanced the lives of Cambodians.  The populace subsists on agriculture and fishing.

Cambodian Boy Laying Fishing Nets

Net Fisherman

Contrasts between wealth and poverty are extreme.  The Sokha Beach Resort is short distance from Sihanoukille.  The resort is new and very attractive, but at one end of its white sandy beach a group of typical tin-roofed homes lies close to the water.  The sewage issue kept me out of the warm ocean waters in front of the hotel.  Still, I’m sure those employed by the hotel to serve wealthy visitors are happy to have a job and appreciate the earnings that support their families.

Sokha Resort Lobby

EJB & his elephant

Sokha Beach Resort

Sokha Beach

Sokha Hotel Pool

It is clear that Cambodia’s violent, troubled recent history explains the poverty and very difficult circumstances of its citizens.  Since 1970, the country has been nearly constantly at war in its unsuccessful attempts to suppress insurrections, to repel invaders from near and far and to deal with the genocidal excesses of a brutal, murderous dictatorship under the Khmer Rouge.  All this has taken an awful toll.  The State Department reported an estimate that up to 3 million persons  died in these conflicts – nearly one-half of the country’s 7.3 million population in 1975.

When the last of the Vietnamese army withdrew in 1989, peace talks began and a comprehensive settlement was reached in 1990.  But only in 1997 did most of the remaining Khmer Rouge fighters accept a government amnesty and lay down their arms, putting an end to nearly three decades of war.  Repatriation of refugees is still underway.

It may be a wonder that the country is not even worse off than it is.  The Cambodian economy continues to suffer from the legacy of decades of war, internal strife and corruption.  Per capita income and education levels are lower than in most neighboring countries.  The apparent absence of a middle class and a dearth of educators and professionals makes a recovery unlikely any time soon.  It’s sad and disturbing yet, as one of the photo above shows, perhaps the children will make Cambodia a better place.  It’s worked elsewhere.

Phuket is a popular destination because of its stunning white-sand beaches, sapphire blue seas, exotic marine life and lush, forested hillsides.  It is located in the Andaman Sea on Thailand’s Indian Ocean coastline about 500 miles south of Bangkok.

Although Thailand did not suffer the unrest that Cambodia experienced, it has had its share of coups and political instability.  Beginning in 2008, political protests by anti-government and pro-government demonstrators began in the streets of Bangkok.  Several persons were killed and many were injured.  In fact, when we stopped at Laem Chaebang, Thailand, the demonstrations in Bangkok were of enough concern to Seabourn that all tours to the city were cancelled.  Passengers who elected to go on their own were warned to be vigilant and to leave plenty of time to get back to the ship – a 2 ½ hour trip under uncomplicated circumstances.  Fortunately, the current demonstrations were confined to Bangkok and did not extend to other areas of the Thai mainland or to Phuket Island.

Rice Farming

Seabourn sponsored a special event on Phuket Island for those who signed on for the World Cruise.  It was held at a Thai Cultural Village in a pretty tropical valley only a few minutes from the ship.

Thai Dancers

Thai Dancers

Thai Boy

About 150 men, women and children greeted us.  Some were dressed in beautiful traditional Thai costumes.  The children wore their everyday clothing and, like children everywhere, they were very sweet and innocent.  The youngsters draped flower leis around our necks and directed us to areas of the village for demonstrations of Thai music, dancing, cooking – even Thai boxing.

3 Thai Children

Child Giving Judy a Lei

Elephant Parade

One of the venues showed us how monkeys that have been trained to harvest coconuts scamper up a coconut tree and twist off the ripened fruits at their stems.  This makes it easy for Thai farmers to gather the fruit without climbing the trees or using mechanical harvesters.  These amazingly agile monkeys are said to be able to remove up to 750 coconuts from the trees each day – probably 10 times the number a man could harvest by hand.

Baby Elephant Show

We were treated to rides in oxcarts drawn by Brahma steers and to a short ride around the village on an elephant.  As the nearby photograph indicates, Judy particularly enjoyed the ride was very disappointed when it was over.

Singapore is one of our favorites, a dynamic city rich in contrast and color with a wonderful mix of multi-cultural influences.  It’s extremely clean!  In fact, any person caught littering faces a hefty fine – and even chewing gum is on the  “no-no” list.

Raffels Hotel

Raffles Wedding

Raffels Fountain

Raffels Doorman

We joined the Ensemble group for a wonderful tour of the city, which included lunch and browsing at the famous Raffles Hotel, and a 30-minute flight on the Singapore Flyer, the world’s largest observation wheel (165 meters) offering great views of the entire city of Singapore plus Malaysia and Indonesia.  The tour continued with a drive through Little India, teeming with colorful food stalls and beautiful temples; the Arab district, and of course Orchard Road, known for its western style designer houses.

View from the Fly

Singapore Flyer

China Town

British Colonial influences are everywhere.  It’s truly a fabulous city, one worth yet another visit!