Gallivanting101

Crappie Cairo - Wonderful Pyramids!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Sat, 15 May 2010 03:01:00 +0000

(Still getting caught up from this trip. Rome, Greece and London postings coming soon. We'll also put up two links to a lot of our pictures once we get them uploaded to the website.)

Okay, now we've been to the slums of Mumbai and our table mates, Duane and Kathy, had mentioned several times that Egypt was just filthy. Right, right, right. Little did we realize how much of an understatement that was! This place was FILTHY with rubble and trash EVERYWHERE! Words can not describe this place. Therefore, I took picture after picture after picture! Towards the end of the day Candice pleaded with me not to take another picture of the trash but I just couldn't help myself.

For some reason I've always been enthralled with trash but this was a pure SHOCK to me! Mounds of rubble piled up next to the roads and the irrigation canals along with piles of trash that were dumped over the edge of the canal sides. A lady on our bus told us she saw a dead camel in the water! Sorry to say that i missed that one but it doesn't take too much to imagine the extra detail! On our way out to Sakkara the irrigation canals stunk so bad that Candice had to resort to covering her mouth and nose with a washcloth that I had brought off the ship. Oh yeah, I took the picture and it is priceless! You can see her eye glaring through her sunglasses! As she was downloading the pictures later the next day, she ran across and started laughing so hard that she cried. Believe you me, she wasn't laughing at the time but I believe I was. I found the entire 18 hour day to be rather humorous and adventuresome!

We started the day off by getting up at 3 a.m. We had to have eaten breakfast and meet our tour group in the Chart Room by 3:45 a.m. to catch the tender off the boat in the mouth of the Suez Canal. Our ship transited the canal the entire day while we were off seeing the sights and garbage for 15 hours!

We had to have a security escort from the ship to the pier of Port Suez, so we made a five boat convey. We should have done this in the dark of the night but somehow the sun beat us and dawn was breaking as our convoy was headed out for a 20 minute cold journey. We laughed as we passed a sheep ship called Bader II, which was pointed out by our tender captain, when I said it's name is Baaaaaddddddder two, just like a sheep would say it! Ah, entertaining the troops so early in the morning is a tough job but someone has to do it.

Once we landed on the pier, our passports were checked by immigration officials and we walked the long pier to board the coaches. Another country who wants us to carry our passports with us is a sure sign of trouble to come. Trust me - they want to be able to identify the body! So off we were to the big city of Cairo. Eighteen million people live here with three million more that commute into the city daily making it swell to an odd twenty-one million people amongst as many piles of trash too.

As we drove through the city of Port Suez it was apparent that the military is one of the biggest employers in this area. The place looked like early 1950's buildings. There were larger buildings towards the outskirts of the city and many of these looked uncompleted. Now this government in Egypt is crazy because they don't collect taxes on buildings that are not completed. Hence, no one completes their houses. They leave about three feet of re-barb sticking up out of the the third or fourth floor and sometimes just empty blocks of rooms on the third floor. What makes things worse is that the larger projects all throughout this area and Cairo have been abandon due to their money being siphoned off. No one knows where the money is but I'll bet all they have to do is look in the mirror and they'll find it. To look out and see old houses unfinished with new projects unfinished was somewhat confusing because they really all looked the same with the exception of size at times.

Further into our drive in to Cairo the military had a strong presence. Long concrete walls lined their base with guard towers perched high on the front road containing guards with guns. Funny thing was there was a hole the size of a dump truck through the compound wall, which ran for miles, and no one was guarding that. A little later there was a pile of trash mounded up so high against the brick wall that you could just walk up to the top of the wall of garbage and step over. This was almost comical. All kinds of guards and trucks at the gated entrances, like someone was really doing their job, yet big holes exposed for all to see.

Now we had a security guard on each bus. They were all dressed in suits with ties and you could see their short 9" curved clip and handle from their guns protruding out from under their suit jacket. Along with these guards, we had a police escorts from Port Suez all the way into Cairo to our first hotel. I'm sure we were quite the spectacle with 12 buses rolling down the highway with police escorts speeding ahead and falling back intermittently with guns mounted on tripods in the back of the trucks and rifles in their hands.

Coming through Cairo during morning rush hour was too much. Coming from a country where there are rules, it was odd to see scores of people trying to cross the interstate on foot with fast moving traffic. People were stuck out in the middle and stuck on the sides of the highway, unable to cross in front of five lanes of 60 mph traffic. This would never be allowed to happen in America, my friend! It was incredible to watch.

The closer we got to the city center the thicker and higher the rubble piles got. Trash like I had never seen before with people living just steps from all the garbage! There were large lots in between houses with heaps of rock and concrete dumped out by dump trucks scatter around the piles of trash. We couldn't figure out what they had in mind. None of it was ever spread out and it was as if a construction company had just used an empty lot for their personal dump. Very rarely was a lot clean and level. One comes to mind. There was a restaurant that sat about three floors high with full length glass walls looking down into a semi-clean empty lot below but the rest of the entire area had piles of garbage surrounding it. I'm sure it was a view and a half to have with your meal.

Like I said, words just can not describe what we saw and thank God I had the movie camera to capture some of the sights while we were moving by. As we approached the Nile, the homes were very old and now not only was it a dump, the area had dilapidated houses which looked as if they would fall over any minute. Everything was coated in a 'nice' dark, grey dust color. Not much color other than cement grey and the occasional brick red. Even the stagnate garbage took on the dark grey hue.

Now twenty years ago, once you crossed over the Nile, it was a drive through the desert to get to the pyramids. Not today! The city has encroached upon the pyramids and some of the nicest hotels in town sit at the base of the road right below the pyramids. This newer section of the city is not any better than the older city, just a little newer with newer trash.

Now our first stop was breakfast at the Meridian Hotel. As we entered, there was a sign welcoming Government Motors, so I know where some of your tax dollars are going, people. The hotel was nice but their cleanliness is not up to my standards. Since we had been up for six hours at this time, I found a little bit of food to eat. Candice opted out for the most part. After using the restroom, we headed out to board the bus. While we were walking down the sidewalk towards our bus that was parked in the street, we heard this horrific screeching of tires skidding all the way down the road. Well, yes, there was an impact after that 5 second skid. Who do you think this guy rear ends? THE POLICE CAR! What a riot (especially since no one was hurt)! Well our security detail was standing outside the bus and I was trying to get around him and his gun in order to take a picture. The accident was on the other side of the bus as we passed, so I missed the really good shot but managed to get one with the car's engine leaking steam.

After that excitement, we headed right up the hill to the Giza Pyramids. Our personal tour guide called all of us Ha-Buh's. He'd say, "Now Ha-buh, we'll get off the bus and walk up to the top of the parking lot and I'll give you some details about the pyramids." He told us not to buy anything on the way and there would be some free time after he was done explaining things to us. Well, right off the bat this old man and woman start shopping with the vendors that gathered around the bus with all kinds of pyramid paraphernalia. Well our guide starts yelling for Ha-Buh but apparently Ha-Buh doesn't know their name yet. So, the guide finally had to yell off the vendors. He must have known them since he is up at this sight all the time. We finally got the group together and got the low down on the place.

The two tallest pyramids, which are the father's, and his son's, are each 365 steps high with the third one being the grandson and not as tall as the first two. The pyramids are spaced out in order to accommodate long ramps on each side that extended out for 100's of meters in all four directions to get the large blocks stacked up on each other. I think our guide told us that they are aligned with Orion's Belt. The base of the second pyramid is laid with individual pieces of stone measuring 30 meters long and about two feet high which makes it look much larger than the father's but it's not. The father's pyramid was built on more stable ground which needed less support but both are 170 meters high, I believe.

On the side of the father's and grandson's pyramids, there are smaller ones for their wives and daughters. The pyramids were built when the rulers were alive and once they died it was a thirty day process of mummifying their bodies. They cut all the organs and placed them in urns. They replaced the hearts with solid gold ones and this was the only reason the tombs were raided, for the gold. In the later years, the people started putting the bodies underneath the pyramids in secret rooms to halt the grave robbers.

We were warned not to let anyone take our pictures because they would then want you to pay them. Also, they might run off with your camera. Well, kids partake in this ritual and sure enough someone on another bus handed their camera over for a picture by a camel and off ran the camera. We were approached by multiple groups of kids hounding everyone. I told Candice, "My God, they've got the kids working this too." We declined very politely but they'd mock our answers. These kids were flashing new cameras in their hands and acting like they were just other tourist but I'd be willing to bet those are the cameras they ripped off of other tourists.

The police don't seem to care about the crime or all the vendors, and vendors there were. Too many camels all over the place and you had to watch your step. I asked a policeman if I could take his picture on the camel. He said yes, then he wanted me to pay him a dollar. Yeah, right! I just walked away. We then loaded up the bus and drove to an overlook of all three pyramids. Well, there were rows of vendor stalls lined up on the top of this mountain. It was hard to focus on the historical aspect of the place while everyone is trying to hustle you but we did the best we could.

Loading up all the Ha-buh's, we then drove down the hill to the Sphinx. It was much smaller than we had imagined and sat very close to the Giza Pyramids. I always thought they were way off in the distance but nope. Right over the hill and down a little. No McDonald's across the street from the Sphinx but there is a Pizza Hut. It was quite disgraceful to see these monuments taken over by intruding businesses and houses. No lack of vendors here at the Sphinx either. We got to walk up the gated path and check out some side rooms up to the top perch on the side. Below and off to the side some ruins were housed within the tall walls that sat next to the Sphinx. All with original marble stone walkways. The Sphinx was hand carved from one piece of rock and the nose was damaged by the enemies of the day. It was an insult to swipe off someone's nose in those days, thus the broken nose.

Once we were done with these sights we headed over to Sakkara, where we saw some tombs and the Titi step pyramid that dated back 4,050 years ago. We were able to walk down into the tomb of Ka-Gemni and see the crypt with it's inscription. The hike/crawl down was about 75 feet long and you had to really squat down and keep your head low. Once down in the tomb you could stand up. The walls were decorated with carvings and hieroglyphics.

The other ancient tomb of Mereruka was above ground with excellently preserved wall carvings and some painted areas still showing. The guards were elder Egyptian men and one was trying to tell me to take a picture of the walls even though pictures weren't allowed. I shook my head no and he insisted that I take a picture. I was tempted but then I thought about the movie "Midnight Express" which was about a Turkish prison and decided I didn't want to be thrown in an Egyptian prison that day. So, when I exited the room, he gave me the motion that he wanted money by rubbing his fingers and his thumb together. I told him I didn't take the picture and walked into another room. Since natural sunlight was streaming from the windows above, I didn't think a flash would hurt, so the rule didn't make any sense unless it was designed for the 'guards' to be able to make some money. Needless to say, I'm glad I'm not in prison somewhere in Egypt.

We drove over to the Titi step pyramid and the ancient city center. From here you could see the very first attempts at the linear pyramids in the distance. It was easy to see their early attempts of the straight line pyramids we know today. The second attempt was a little better and third one was even better.

Once we were done with these sights it was time to head back into Cairo, past all the smelly irrigation canals that branched off the Nile. I couldn't get enough pictures of these trash filled canals. If I could only have a 'scratch and sniff' card to hand out with the pictures!

We worked up such an appetite with the smells and the garbage sightings, it was time to go get some lunch. We stopped at the Mena Hotel which sits directly under the pyramids across the street from the Meridian and is one of the oldest hotels around with all handmade chandeliers and hand carved woodwork. This hotel had the only real grass I saw in Cairo that day. The grounds were beautiful and was an oasis in a sea of trash. Half the lunch was good. The other half we decided not to touch. This is also the hotel were six Germans were gunned down at the bus stop outside the hotel a couple of years back. Comforting thought, eh?

After all the Ha-buhs got back on the bus we went over for a demonstration on how they make papyrus paper. Of course, this was one of those tourist's traps but quite a few people purchased something from this shop. Now the artwork on the papyrus paper was beautiful but I just couldn't see it hanging in my house. Once we did a once-over through the shop we headed upstairs to catch the bus. There was a couple from Long Island that we met earlier that morning and they started telling us this wild story. They said one man on our bus needed to cross the street to the pharmacy to purchase some toothpaste. Now, the traffic was hectic and there were sirens going off every five minutes. I really thought we might hear a bomb blast any minute. Well, the guy couldn't get across the street due to the traffic, so our security guy pulls his gun out, walks out into the traffic and stops it dead in its tracks with his gun pulled. The guy who needs the toothpaste crosses the road and the same thing happens again when he needs to cross back over to our side again.

Too bad we missed this because the camera would have been wielded! Our security guard was really good at keeping an eye on us. He acted like he was ready for action any minute and watched the goings on around us with an evil eye. He was young but Candice had wished he had worn better shoes for running instead of his fancy shoes. I told her that he didn't need to run if he has a gun to shoot. He just has to have good aim! I don't think they mess around over here! A gun can speak volumes without ever uttering a word!

Our drive to Port Said was long and I kept dosing off. As night fell, it was apparent that we weren't going to be back to the ship at 7 p.m. We were over an hour late and once again we had a police escort from Cairo all the way to Port Said, which was 135 miles away. Our bus was waved back by the police while we were trying to pass another bus and they kept revving to the front of the convoy and then falling back. On the back roads we got a couple of stares and it was nice to be driving at night time in a vehicle since it had been so long since we had done this.

Once at the pier, we were shuttled through a gauntlet of vendors hawking their goods. The closer we got to the ship and within the security entrance, we noticed Cunard personnel blocking the way for anyone to get out of line and do some shopping outside the pre-existing vendor walls we had to snake through. Cunard greeted us with hot chocolate as we made our way to the gangway and since it had turned dark, cold and windy, it was a welcomed drink!

The day was long but we saw so much! Cairo is not a place to visit for the faint of heart. The pyramids were great! Some times I think the ancient Egyptians are rolling over in their graves. The current Egyptians have fallen far from their ancestors. They are a mess and unorganized. The government needs to get a handle on the situation but I doubt that will happen. They need to take care to preserve their ancient treasures but that seems to be a half-hearted effort. I found the people not to be impoverished but lazy, detached and unconcerned about their surroundings. Everyone was well fed and well dressed with proper hygiene but they lived in constant and deep filth. The problem is that these people aren't poor enough! If they were poor like the people in India, they would be recycling the garbage for money. Cairo would be a great project for a sanitation engineer!

The next night at dinner I had to apologize to Duane for ever doubting just how horrible Cairo's environment was. He told me that Alexandria was even worse and a guy on our bus said that Russia is going the way of Cairo, which is a shocker for me too. His wife asked if we could imagine spending the night in Cairo. At the time, I told her we would be in the country for another five hours and it was hard enough to imagine that!

We did the pyramids and that is all we ever probably need to do in Egypt for quite some time. If the tourist need security detail, I suspect it would be hard for us to arrange an independent visit. I also doubt we'd ever visit this place again. A once in a lifetime visit to Cairo is enough because the memories I have etched in my memory will definitely last me more than a few decades. I am all hustled out, Ha-Buh'd out, trashed out and wiped out! Therefore, I am all Cairo, Egypt 'd out for now!

Sandy

Unexpected Port: France

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:56:00 +0000

Well, we are sitting in the north of France, dropping off our German and continental Europeans. Lucky dogs with their land route back home. There is this little thing called the Atlantic Ocean I need to get over.

Last we have heard is that all flights are going. It just needs to stay that way for 4 or 5 more days.

The stress of that and the amount of luggage we have has almost been unbearable. Will be stateside soon, hopefully!

Posts and pictures to come soon after.

crj

Lucky Cat doesn't like Iceland

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:03:00 +0000

So the lucky cat has struck again. Hopefully this whole flight delay/ash cloud will be over soon. Otherwise we will be hanging out in the London airport. Updates on flight status to come as we learn ourselves.

Cairo, Athens, and Rome writes to come soon too. Last days on the ship. Ready to be home, especially down that that there is a roadblock. Fingers crossed, prayers being said.

crj

Sharm El-Sheikh (or should I say Sham El-Sheikh)

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:59:00 +0000

Right off the bat Sharm El-Sheikh was a rip off! Egyptians think tourists are in town to solely get ripped off by them and that is what they tried all day long. Not all taxis were allowed in the gates of the port area. So someone paid someone off to be allowed in the gate. As we were headed out across the pier, I noticed a mother, father and daughter in front of us. I ran up to them and asked them where they were headed. We told them we were going to Na'ama Bay and we would share a taxi with them. They thought that was a good idea so as we approached the taxis, we told them we needed a car for five and they tried to put us in two separate taxis. We had to stand firm and tell them we wanted only one cab. They said no, so we said we'd walk outside the gate and find one. Well, they called us back and told us one cab would be $10 USD each. Now, we knew the beach was only 3 miles away and after several arguments, we settled on $20 USD for the entire cab, knowing all too well we were still getting ripped off.

Our cab driver tried to change the price to $25 but I shouted him down and told him that we settled at $20. I felt like I was in kindergarten in this fight but we were already being financially violated, so enough was enough! Once he dropped us off, there was the sign showing what the fare should have been. We calculated that we should have been charged $5 USD. Total tourist rip off but we got to Na'ama Bay in one piece and had our ducks in a row for the return trip. I was ready for another fist-to-cuffs encounter!

We headed down to the beach area and found the public beach. All the beaches are private and the hotels have them all snapped up with the exception of this one public beach. We paid two dollars each for the use of a chaise lounge, padded cushion, umbrella and a beach towel. They issued us one ticket and put the number 2 on it.

The beach wasn't very wide, probably about 25' across the public area and about 10' to the water. All the hotels had small fences running the length of their property with a small break at the beach, then a roped off floating fence around the water directly in front of their beach. Each property had a security guard sitting at the end by the beach and there must have been 9 or ten rows of chairs stretching all the way back to the road with the hotels across the street. Not too scenic and too touristy looking. The beach had small pebbles on it with rather large rocks just beyond the entrance to the chilly water. I took a walk down the beach and as the sun rose in the sky, the clear water got a little better looking in color. This area is one huge snorkeling/diving area with world renowned coral reefs and the 'Blue Hole' not too far from here. There are over 1,000 species of fish and over 100 different types of coral. There was a nice breeze blowing and the sound of the waves were very relaxing. We got the first row view of lounge chairs and anything towards the middle or back would have been miserable. We contemplated taking a glass bottom boat ride but decided against it.

There was a Muslim couple sitting next to us and she was covered from neck to ankle in black clothing and went swimming in every bit of it. Very odd and weird but whatever! Other than that, most of the people on the beach were foreigners. Quite a few Russians in town too! A whole group of Egyptian men came to swim at the public beach and we saw them taking pictures of these European girls laying out on the beach. Once they noticed, they turned over and shortly after that, they left. I noticed none of these men had chairs or towels, so something was going on there, or the locals can swim for free but my guess would be the former. After soaking up some shady breezes and recovering from Petra the day before, we decided to pack up and start doing some roaming and shopping. When we handed our towels back in, the guy wanted our ticket. I thought 'How odd.' What does he need our ticket back for - here are our towels. When we handed him the only ticket we had, he asked for the other one. We told him we only got one. He took it and put it under the counter and I told him that the other guy had written '2' on it. As we walked away I told Candice that he was going to resell that ticket and pocket the money and the first guy pocketed the money the first time around for the second ticket. Corrupt society to the hilt! But I guess if you can't beat them, you join them.

Shopping in Sham El-Sheikh was peppered with long, continuous but polite "No thank you' s." I'm glad Candice got broken in with all the other port stops because this one would have caused her a mental breakdown. Everybody was pushy and wanted you to step into their stores to take a 'free' look. Nothing was priced and believe it or not Pringles cost the equivalent of seven US dollars. Needless to say we skipped on those and headed to McDonald's for french fries and a Coke. We met two nice National Guard guys from Kansas in there and invited them to sit at our table. They were there to keep the peace and their job was four months away from being done. Total time would be one year away from home. McDonald's was their refuge too. The workers knew them well and they said this was their only day off this month. We don't pay those guys enough for the work they do!

Now Na'ama Bay is a young tourist's party haven. The streets were wide and every establishment had outdoor bar areas with chairs, carpets and low tables squared off in sections. Some had palm trees cut in long lengths with carpet draped over them and cushions to sit on the floor. I would have liked to stuck around and observe the nightlife but it wasn't meant to be.

We had several shop owners invite us into their stores to sit down on couches and write about their stores in a guest book. I'm not too sure what the hell was up about that but I'm sure it was some bogus trap. We declined this nonsense every time. The opening question they would ask you is 'Where are you from?' It's best just not to answer at all. Then they would say in a stern "Excuse ME PLEASE, can I ask you a question?" The answer was no every time and then they would sometimes turn a little ugly. I have no idea why these people would think you, the tourist, are there to benefit them since it's your time and your vacation. Lord knows I didn't have time to explain to everyone of these people that we were only in town for the day and there was no way I could sign all their books or do business with everyone!

Now it looks like the Russian tourists rule this joint. Lots of restaurants and bars with Russian writing and Russian food. As far as I could tell, these Egyptians didn't care who they were ripping off. Everyone was an equal opportunity victim! We stumbled across one store that had prices on their merchandise and that is where we actually bought something. While inside a worker came up to me and asked me why Candice was so mad. I just started laughing and told him that she was just really concentrating on the merchandise. I called over to Candice and told her that he wanted to know why she was so mad. She started laughing with me and told him that she just doesn't smile. Someone once said that Chloe on the show '24' always looks like she is constipated and I sometimes joke with Candice that she looks like her. I told her I should have just told the guy that she was constipated! Ha, ha. (Candice - Smiling is hard, when I'm always thinking about something.)

After running the gauntlet of store vendors along the main party streets we decided to head over to the area they call Old Sharm. We saw six crew members from the ship and I asked if they wanted to share a cab back. They said okay. As we approached the taxis they asked for two. Now I didn't think they were going to dicker the price but eventually they asked how much. Ten dollars per cab. Not what it should be but better than twenty, so we climbed in. Candice and I asked to be dropped off at Old Sharm and the crew went back to the ship.

Nothing was different down at Old Sham either. More vendors hawking their wares but we did purchase two items after dickering the price. As we walked past the bar area, some blonde Russian named Sergay asked if we wanted to have a drink with him and his three buddies. Once again, we had to decline any and all offers. Well, right next to him was an Egyptian guy who asked us the same thing. Now why does he think our answer would be any different? I know this scam. These people sit there and invite you to drink with them and then stiff you the bill. Not only do they stiff you the bill but the bill is inflated by about ten times the real cost. These two characters looked like they had been drinking all day and I'm sure they had a tab they wanted to dump on some poor soul. Not us, Jack!

Once again this place was a powder keg of bars with shops surrounding the entire area. What was neat in this party area was the authentic and rustic party atmosphere. They had tables and chairs up on the flat mountain sides with tiki torches, chairs, tables, and carpets. I'm sure it would have felt like you were partying primitively but I would be interested in knowing how many drunks fell off the small mountains and died. I would have been more interested in watching the party crowd in Old Sharm vs. Na'ama Bay area. It looked a little more wild down here. Now hookah pipes are all the rage over here but there is just something that I find off-puting about them.

This area also had vendors that operated as the local's grocery stores, if you could call them that, down the street from the party and shopping places. Fruit and vegetables were for sale in the store fronts along these dirty streets with some of them looking like back alleys. It was colorful and plenty of dogs were living down in this area. I snapped a couple of pictures and soaked up the atmosphere knowing we were about ten minutes from walking back to the safe, welcoming Queen Victoria.

We met one of our fellow world cruisers that we fondly refer to as Caruso (we don't know his name). He wanted to hire a taxi back to the ship and we told him that we were walking. He accepted our offer to walk with us and by the time we got back to the ship he told us that he was thankful that he ran into us since he didn't know the way back. We told him we were through with the taxis!

The British family that we shared a taxi into Na'ama Bay told us earlier that they had family that came over to Sharm El-Sheikh for week-long vacations all the time. They stated that they didn't see any reason to visit this place for a week and that nothing attracted them. I would have to agree with them. If you are a big diver or snorkeler, this would be the place to come and check out. Also if you wanted to party with a bunch of Europeans and Russians, this would be your place. We on the other hand got the Egyptian shakedown and don't need that experience again but I would like to see this place at night. It would prove to be a great people-watcher place with an added bonus of drunks to boot! I can imagine that you had better have your camera ready for all the night action!

Sandy

Tid-bits from Candice - I really didn't think this port was bad. Pushy - yeah, but not much worse than anything else. Sandy thinks I've become desensitized to hawkers. Yeah, growth in my bubble. I've learned to not even say "No thank you." I just say "No." The thank you just gets them mocking you. Quite off-putting. Also, another trick is to where sunglasses. That way you can still browse on the sly, while still saying no. One of the best lines came from Sharm el Sheikh; hawker, "Don't be like the Russians. At least say hi." Well I think I know why the Russians don't say anything to them; they were very impolite. I'm very tired of the line "I'll make you a good deal." "How much is ____?" "I'll make you a good deal." "Okay, how much?" This goes on for way too long, only to find out they want to rip you off. The one and only store with labeled products was the only place I actually bought something. Straightforward, this is what we have, this is how much we want, do you accept or not.

The day at the beach was nice and lazy after hiking in Petra the day before. Except for the dirty old arab men. The was kind of disturbing, but I kept my clothes on and just stayed under the umbrella for a beach-side nap. Totally worth the two dollars. Very glad we didn't get scarred into buying the "Beach Day" tour from Cunard for $70. They went to the exact same beach we did, just a couple of fences over. We got the better deal!

crj

Queen of the Mountain

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:56:00 +0000

Petra: home of the famous line, "Henry Jones Jr. We named the dog Indiana." There weren't any knights or nazis in the Treasury building, but it definitely lived up to what I had expected. A major highlight of the trip. The only downside was the short time we had to visit.

The tour book cited that this trip would include 4-5 miles of walking. Walking level:high. And that it wouldn't be a sidewalk stroll; we were venturing into uneven rocks and sand. Old people beware! After two months onboard, we basically know all of the younger (at least able-bodied) people. I had an idea to round up these people for a faster tour group, but Sandy overheard a dance host with the same idea. See her post for that story. We told our biker (as in bicycle, not motorcycle) friends, Beth and John the low-down and who to contact about securing a spot. They got on the "fast bus" list, yes there was a signup list for the tour. Spots were snapped up quickly. Nora and Morgan were one and two on the standby list, but didn't get on. Refreshments were included on this exclusive bus, too. Thanks to Jay, we passed a trash-bag full of left over cookies from a sail-away party.

So morning of, we make our way to the "fast people's" bus, thinking we were going to have all these fit people because Jay only wanted fast walkers. We were boggled as to how some of these people acquired a spot on the "fast bus." These people were quickly left in the dust once we hit the gate to Petra. Sandy and I followed a group of about 10. We might not have had a tour guide to tell us all about what we were seeing, but out of all the Cunardians we saw the most. Learning about what we saw can happen at home, we can't see Petra at home. (Like Chris and eating at a casino. She can eat at home, but she can't gamble at home.)

We hit the trail down to Petra through the Siq and made it to the Treasury in 25 minutes. "That is really good time. Especially for more than one person." -Christine the Cunard lecturer. Record time! Onward past the amphitheater, temples, and main street, we had past more than what most people see on their whole tour. Our destination was the monastery, the furthest building in the lost city of Petra. We came across a sign that read, "Travel beyond this point without a guide is strongly discouraged." The path went from fairly developed to a sand pit scattered with rock piles then to a ravine with switchbacks. I was leading the group and little by little put more distance in between us. It is hard for me to walk slow on even ground, much less while climbing a mountain. I looked back and made eye-contact with Sandy, then kept going. I waved down to her once more, before the path was obscured from the trail below. I kept hoping they were still following, because I didn't want to stop or go back down for them.

After a 30-ish minute hike, I asked a couple how much longer. She looked at me then to her husband, apparently they were French and didn't know what I was asking. So I trudged on, finally made a finale peak in a narrow valley and there she was on the right. Even better was the mini-cafe with cold Coca-Cola left! (It was actually the coldest coke in all of Petra, at the furthest point from civilization. Who would have thought? There were even Pringles. Didn't get those, but a snack of Pringles and coke can be had in 99% of the world.) Bought myself a drink and plopped down on the front row of cushioned benches. It was quite a view; the monastery was massive, entirely carved from the stone wall.

As I was soaking in all of the sights, I started to worry about Sandy and the rest of the group. Not so much Sandy, but her having to help one of the other people. I really didn't want to hike back down only to come back up. I tried to remember the people I passed on the way up and then judge how far the group was from them. After 15 minutes, I finally saw an Asian couple I passed pretty early on pop out of the valley, "My group should be up soon." Then I saw two of the older women with Sandy right behind them. After Sandy and I milled around together, we decided to head back down and told Jay not to worry about us. Jay, "Five women beat us up." That is how I got the name "Queen of the Mountain," ever since around the ship.

Once back down in the main city, we looked around the city gate and the area where Brown University had an excavation site. We also climbed up to the Urn temple. Met Nora and Morgan here. They asked where we had been, the monastery. They were just now 1/3 of the way through Petra. Morgan, "Our tour was slow as shit. We left them." That was what I feared, being stuck with a slow tour. Very glad we took the day in our own hands; it paid off seeing the monastery.

By the time we hiked out of Petra to our lunch at the Crown Plaza Resort, Sandy was quite dehydrated. It took us a good 15 minutes and 5 people to get us a bottle of water (included with our lunch). During this time, Sandy was literally banging on the table and yelling about wanting a bottle of water opened at the table (Not refilled from the tap and brought out like it is a new bottle, those scam artist!) We also needed napkins, but that was secondary to the water. What did we get first? That's right, the napkins. Sandy looked at me absolutely disgusted, so I told her to actually get up and ask someone. She did; they also seemed oblivious. She walks back to me, "What is so hard about getting a bottle of water." I am pretty sure she walked back into the kitchen. On our way out, she ripped the label off our 2-liter bottle so they couldn't reuse it. Don't mess with Sandy Miller!

We might have seen a lot, but was like a drive-by touristing. There was so much more to see, i.e. a trip back to Petra in the future. One of the best ancient sites I've been to, because it was so removed from modern buildings. It allowed you to really escape into the past.

crj

Petra Perfect!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:56:00 +0000

Petra was incredible to say the least and Aqaba, Jordan wasn't half as bad as I expected. Our tour guide, who was a woman, dressed like a westerner and explained that the people in Jordan take education seriously and the girls get one in Jordan. She gave us the political lowdown and the difference between Jordan and Saudi Arabia, who is their neighbor to the south. Jordan, the country, came into existence just recently and Aqaba is their only port city. The border of Israel is just a short ride away. Aqaba had a McDonalds, a KFC and other western food joints. The city sits at the base of a huge mountain range and exports natural resources like phosphate and shells. The area has been settled since 4000 BC and the people were very friendly with smiles and waves right out of the port gates.

On our way to Petra, we saw large land masses called wadis which are expansive valleys created during ancient torrential deluges. Tall mountains rising in the distance with slopes of greenery scattered down the sides and disappearing into the desert and dry river beds below. Just awesome sights to see and MASSIVE! The river Jordan flows just to the west of this area from Mt. Hermon to the Dead Sea.

Bedouins abound out in the wadis and you can see their black tents set up in the distance with camels and donkeys grazing close by. They mark their land by piling up rocks to form a small column, which is funny because I didn't think they owned land. They move about every 4-6 weeks to 'greener' pastures so their goats have something to eat but apparently they lay claim to the land and the right to set up shop again. The Jordanian government moved quite a few of them into housing a couple of years ago to make life easier on them but there is still a healthy population still roaming about.

Once we got out to Petra there were plenty of nice, new hotels (Movenpick/Crowne Plaza) scattered around the mountainside with the old local shops and small hotels. Internet signs all around and the economy was booming with tourists. Once again, there were so many foreigners here that you'd never guess you were in the Middle East. The only thing that gave it away was the ruins, the camels, and the headscarfs.

Hiking into and around Petra was excellent and one full day is not enough to soak it all in. We made it all the way out to the furthest point, the Monastery, and by the time we made it back to the Crowne Plaza for lunch at 3 p.m, I had salt and mineral deposits caked around my neck and the back of my neck. It was a hot day but not too hot and we were lucky enough to have a slight overcast of clouds and a nice breeze blowing. Even in these conditions, the sweat came out of the body but quickly evaporated. I thought the grim on my neck was dust and sand that got kicked up by the horse chariots, donkeys and camels but Candice told me I had standing salt on my neck.

The day I think our tour will be given water on the trip is the day they don't! I had always taken our own water and then the tours give us bottles of water too, so this day I thought I'd take some apple juice in my bottle just to have a variety. But that was all we had - no water, but we did buy two warm sodas up in the mountains of Petra from vendors. We were a dehydrated, grimy mess but we were having fun!

Now Petra is another treasure trove and you have free-range out there. We were on the bus with the lecturer from the ship, Christine, so we had two good guides. Jay, a dance host, had arranged to have a fast-paced people bus all to ourselves. I heard him on the Lido Deck the day before this trip telling people to put on the running shoes because we were going to be moving through Petra fast. I waved him over and told him that we would like to be on his bus. He said he was going to the tour office with all 40 tickets and getting the same bus number. I rang Candice in the room and told her to bring our tickets up. We were number 3 and 4 on Jay's list.

Christine had said you could find some pottery shards today that were original. Well now, there was plenty of pottery on the footpaths and walkways but it was think and not the thin, painted pottery they were known for back in 1st century. The Monastery is way in the back of this 20 square-mile city, so once we got up to the road less traveled, I started looking in the side crevices of the path and found two pieces of thin shard with paintings on them. Christine told me that I probably had some original pottery. I asked her if I could take it and she said "Yes, they don't seem to be too worried about anything." So I did! On the way back down I tried to find the same spot to look for some more but couldn't quite locate it, plus we had to get the move on!

There was only one guard in this entire area and he was posted at the very first building, the Treasury, after you come through the Siq, which is the high walled canyon walls of the mountain that were worn away by wind. I think there were a few tourist police on horses but they were there for emergency help and not to guard the ruins. Much of the place was accessible and we even climbed up into the Monastery, which was about 9 feet high. I got a toe-hold on the base, reached up for this man's hand and Candice pushed me from the bottom. I thought getting up was bad enough but after investigating the interior room and alter, I realized I had to get down too. It was like jumping off the high-dive! It took me a couple of attempts to get brave enough to jump down from a sitting down position. I picked a spot that didn't have any rocks sticking up out of the sand and jumped hoping I wouldn't break a leg. My left foot took the brunt of the jump and the ball of my foot was talking for quite some time afterwards. I thought I'd have problems with it and it felt bruised but nothing developed from it, so I was happy about that.

Aqaba, Jordan and Petra were fantastic and they would be a great base camp area since there is so much to see and do in this area with it being a perfect hop off spot for Israel, the Red Sea and the Jordan River. Four different countries, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel, in such a small area make for great sightseeing. I felt very safe throughout our entire visit and even the hawkers in Petra had nice manners. These people actually see their tourists as their bread and butter and seem to be thankful that you are there!

Sandy

Salalah- Howla!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:55:00 +0000

Salalah was another port in Oman but it wasn't as pretty as Muscat. Their turnabouts were planted with flowers, plants, and stonework. One even had nice grass and trees mounded up in a small hill fashion but for the most part the highways were long stretches of wide open desert with houses way off the road. Salalah was a pretty dry and baron landscape but the Sultan has four palaces in the area, two of which we were able to view, his and his wife's. That may be the secret to staying married, not only separate beds but separate palaces!

We purchased a tour from the ship which was listed as Wadi Off Road and we were very grateful once we got past the guarded, safe gates of the port since there were over 300 taxis waiting for their new victims, I mean visitors, waiting outside the gate! Although there was a sign posted just before you drove out of the port, I don't think any of the shuttle buses were stopping for you to view the list of approved taxi fares. Lord have Mercy on those people getting mobbed by 300 Arabic drivers!

Now our tour had come with a warning that if you had a bad back DO NOT TAKE THIS TOUR. Well, we found out that was not to be. This SUV we climbed into had a roll bar in it, which would have come in handy in Muscat, but we didn't need it today. Nothing off-road about this trip and we lodged a complaint with the travel department since we expected nothing less than dry river bed runs and a little off road action. Our roads were paved all the way!

Even though it wasn't an off road adventure that day we did get to the Palace of the legendary Queen of Sheba, Khor Rouri. These ancient ruins date back to the 2nd century and it was once the center of the lucrative frankincense trade route. These trees grow only in Southern Arabia and a small part of northern Africa. The coastal waterfront had a natural fortress made out of two high mountains with a break in the middle of them that allowed the ocean to flow into this small harbor. The city sat high on an opposite mountain with a beach area below. We had total run of the large ruins and they are still excavating today (I think things move a lot slower in these parts of the world).

One of our first stops was a camel sighting on the beach. Hundreds of camels were down on the beach and I don't blame them for hanging out there during the day instead of the desert heat. The people who live up in the mountains bring their camels down to the beach for feeding every day and just like sheep, the camels know their owner's voice. So when the owners come to retrieve them at the end of the day they follow. We even saw small caravans of the camels walking back home later in the day. The sight of all these camels on the beach was nothing but strange and it made for a great photo shoot.

We also stopped by the old town of Taqah to view the castle and fort, which was high on the hill. There was a man on our tour who had served in the army and his barracks were in an old building that sat across the street from the castle. He got a good kick out of the fact that the building was still standing along with the bullet holes in the outside walls from 60 years ago.

We headed up and over the mountains to the Wadi Darbat where herds of goats, camels and donkeys live along the small riverbed. During the rainy season this place floods and the surrounding vegetation comes to life. The locals come for the day and weekend to picnic and camp out. We also visited a natural spring and a bird sanctuary. While at the natural spring we noticed a rather large sign about poisonous snails and the danger of swimming in the water. Even though the water was fast flowing through the rock gorge and there were local kids swimming in it, I guess the snails could still get on you. While walking around I noticed a rather large bone and tried to figure out if that was someone's dinner or the leftovers of a wild animal's body. I kept walking and found some jaw bones with some teeth still attached and a few more bones. By the looks of the bones, I guessed it was a wild camel that died - but then again maybe it was someone's dinner.

We were only in Salalah for five hours that day and initially that would seem like enough time to explore this baron land but just like Muscat there are many things to see and do in the area but too spread out to see in one day. The population is listed as 197,169 but since we drove up the coast and not into the city you could have fooled me. We passed a Hilton and a handful of other hotels on the way out of the port but they don't really look like a place that you would want to hang out for a week. Not that the buildings, of what we could see, was hideous but there was such a baron stretch of land and desert that sat between the road and the property that it looked very uninviting. Neighbors were few and far between too.

Salalah supposedly has Job's tomb located outside the city to the west too, but I'm going to say that it's probably not since two other places claim his tomb too. How many Jobs are there and was he real or just a fictional character in the bible? I ended up buying a bedouin-handmade bowl with camel leather on the bottom with woven straw and thread with a design in it for $24 USD. Their money is worth three times as much as ours, so it was only eight of their dollars. My only thought was where in the suitcase is that going to go? They told me I could use it to milk my goats and then drink the milk right from the bowl. I'm thinking no for that one. I didn't buy it for functionality but its uniqueness and beauty. I wouldn't dare spoil it with milk!

Sandy

Top of The World in Dubai!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:58:00 +0000

Never in a million years would I ever had envisioned myself celebrating Easter Sunday in an Islamic country and not going to mass but that is how I spent Easter 2010. Not only that, we accidentally stumbled into the wrong building while trying to find a museum and they tried to convert us to Islam. Within a minute's time Candice figured it out and we made a B-line to the exit where incidentally they wanted you to take free cassettes and books. Ah, that'd be a no-go! Mind you we did have Father Gold celebrating mass at 5 p.m. but Dubai is so big, area wise, there was no way to get our hop-on hop-off bus to include our ship as one of their stops.

Two days in Dubai is not enough time to cover such a large area. The old Dubai Creek area was the historical part of the city and very picturesque. The first high rise buildings were built in this area starting around 1971, the time the UAE formed. Years and years ago the creek was actually shallow enough to cross by foot when the tide was low but since then they dug it out and made it into the waterway that it is today.

With our two day Big Bus ticket that we purchased we got a free one hour Dubai Harbor cruise on a traditional Arabic dhow, which is an old wooden ship that is still used today to bring cargo and goods up from North Africa and other various regions (no container shipping here - good old fashion, ancient sea route merchant trading going on here with original wooden boats). There were plenty of these old fashion boats unloading their wares dockside. Everything from cars to tires to floor tiles. Good old fashion commerce at work! Both banks of the waterway were busy with activity and tons of these boats operating on both sides of the 'creek.'

The traffic on the streets around this area was congested and at times stop dead in its tracks to accommodate the shipments off the boats. The boats were awesome and we sat up top on floor cushions with full English commentary up and down the waterway. I felt like we were on some cruise along the Nile the way we were lounging around and leaning against small little wooden banisters that lined the top of the boat while Arabian music played in the background. The weather was perfect; about 78 degrees, cool dry breeze, and sunny!

Once we got done with our harbor cruise we hopped a water taxi back to the other side of the creek. These ferries were fast and efficient. The cost was equivalent to thirty three cents. Good price but Hong Kong had this price beat by 5 cents. It's only 28 cents to ride the Star Ferry. These ferries only held 20 people but they could deliver goods in record time. They were dark brown, flat and only had an elevated one foot wooden box that ran through the middle of the boat for a seat.

Once over to the other side of the creek we walked around the boardwalk, shopped and headed over to see the mosque and the Al Fahidi Fort Museum. The museum is actually housed in the old fort used to protect the city and dates back to 1800 A.D. This is the oldest building in Dubai but it has been determined that the area is over 7,000 years old. They recently uncovered a mango swamp dating that far back while installing sewer lines near Dubai Internet City. The earliest settlers were pearl fisherman and traded with merchants on the old sea routes.

We hopped back on the double decker Big Bus and rode over to the Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House and Heritage Village. The house is one of the oldest in the area and was inhabited by the Sheikh's descendants until just recently when the family handed it over to the government. It has four wings surrounding a large courtyard and had one of the earliest forms of air conditioning ever known. Sandstone towers were built above the room containing an open roof with burlap stretched in 'v' shapes from the outer four corners to the center. This allowed the breeze to be caught from all directions and was thus forced downward into the building. The four wings housed exhibits of money and coins from the area dating back to 1791 and various other artifacts along with aerial pictures of Dubai throughout the last one hundred years. At one point in time it looked like it was just one big sand bar. A far cry from today's hustling and bustling city.

The amount of reclaimed land is amazing and they continue to reclaim it today with the Palms and the World. We transferred buses over to the blue line and headed out to these new developments of Dubai. The World is only accessible by helicopter, plane or boat. The Palm has rows and rows of tall condos and houses that are labeled and addressed as frond A, frond B, etc. The Atlantis Hotel is out on top of the crescent and you drive under a tunnel of water to get over to it. I wouldn't think there is much land underneath to dig a tunnel but surprisingly it was deep and long. I'm only thankful I didn't have to figure out the engineering on that project!

The Burj Al Arab is close by and is the only self-proclaimed 7-star hotel in the world but who knows since they don't allow the general public in (unless you spend at least $170 per person on food/tea in their hotel). It sits out on its own island and has a heliport at the top of the building for guests flying in from the airport. That's a sure way to beat the traffic, eh!

We swung by the Ski Dubai and checked the place out. We were going to ski but the time constraints didn't allow us plus after being in the Rockies this was small potatoes. Instead we headed over to the Burj Khalifa Dubai, the tallest building in the world. We had a tour with the ship to visit this building and 'walk in the clouds' but they had to cancel since they had electrical problems. Just our luck the observation deck was back up and running by the time we arrived in town on Sunday but we didn't know it until I overheard someone on the Lido Deck that night say they went up in the tower.

I found out Wayne and Hazel, a blind couple on the world cruise, had gone up. Now Wayne hangs out in the casino and the smoking area by the casino bar so I knew just were to find him for all the answers to my questions about this Burj operation. On the way down I remembered we were in port so the casino wasn't open and feared I wouldn't be able to find him but I turned the corner and there he was sitting all by himself, smoking and enjoying a drink. I made quick work getting all the pertinent information for the next days visit. Wayne was a wealth of info and he told me that he talked them into selling him the tickets for half price since he couldn't see anything anyway! He's my kind of guy!

The second day we headed out to the newer part of Dubai with plans on being at the Dubai Mall which is located right next to the Burj Khalifa at noon since we needed to be back on the ship at 4 p.m. We stopped out at the beach and some shopping at a hotel before hand. The weather this day was a little hotter with a little less breeze although the buses were air conditioned very well. They even have air conditioned bus stop booby-huts for public bus transportation. I guess you would have to have something like this during the height of their summer months or people would just melt into the pavement.

The stop we wanted was the last on the blue line and we got out to the building about 12:15 p.m. and got in line for tickets. Seems the word got out that it was back up and running because we barely got a 2 p.m. ticket and some time slots for the next day and that night were already sold out. We did a little shopping at the mall which consisted of Godiva Chocolate and Garretts Popcorn from Chicago. There was a store called Bateel which looked like chocolate candy but it wasn't. I said I never heard of this one. Is there one that I'm missing? I stepped inside only to find out that they sold candy but it was all date-filled or was wrapped in a thick jellied preservative. They gave us a sample and I asked where they were based. Saudi Arabia was the answer. Well that explained everything! Those people don't know how to have fun nor how to bone up on calories! I told Candice that candy wasn't candy unless it contained chocolate.

We were in heaven with our food alone not to mention we would soon be whisked up to the top of the Burj Khalifa. We reported for duty at ten to two and had to check our bags and go through the x-ray machines. After walking through some hallways we approached a moving sidewalk that had a video playing along side of the long wall showing the history of the area. Next we went up an escalator and there were some displays showing the construction and building of the monstrosity along the hallway. We approached the elevator and boarded. Once inside the elevator with the doors shut, we were enclosed in something a little brighter than total darkness. A checkerboard of 18" long by 10" tall television screens surrounding all three sides lit up and started playing video and music. Pin lighted rows of lights in different colors started going off in a multiple level horizontally.

Total time in elevator - 1 minute! We went 124 floors in 1 minute's time! No movement was perceived at all and the only way you could tell you were going up was the popping in your ears. It's as if we stepped in a room, waited a minute and walked out but it was 124 floors later. Awesome high speed elevator! Not all elevators are created equally. The doors opened and a flood of light came rushing in - blinding light since it had been so dark.

Once our eyes were able to focus, the view was just fantastic. You could see for miles and the desert ran out beyond the city limits for quite some distance. Looking down on every building, street and shopping mall was a sight to behold. Things are big in Dubai just like they are in Vegas so nothing looked too small except the cars and I don't think you could even see the people from this high. We could look out and see the 'World' development. Half the floor was an outdoor observation deck with openings between the windows and the other half was an indoor, full glass floor to ceiling observation area. Once outside you could look up and still see 36 more floors above you along with the lightening rod. One hundred and sixty floors in all.

You could spend as much time as you wanted but after 35 minutes we had to get moving towards our shuttle back to the ship. As usual we ended up in a supermarket to purchase three six packs of Coke and two cans of Pringles. Lots of labels that we knew were present in the store! We decided our diet could live here! Lots of foreign people visiting this city and they were mostly from western countries so we felt like we were right at home minus the sand. Very few Dubai women out and about in society and any women we saw working were usually Asian or foreigners. Most shops had male workers which was something you had to get use to.

Dubai is all about the shopping! Huge, beautiful malls everywhere you look. Souk is the name they use for store/shopping areas and they have dedicated Gold Souks, Silver Souks, Spice Souks, etc. The Dubai Mall that sits underneath the Burj Khalifa had a three story aquarium where we saw divers feeding the fish and an ice skating rink with a huge TV screen and sound system playing music. Outside there was a water show that ran at night just like the one in Las Vegas at the Bellagio.

Dubai is dripping with money, shopping malls and new construction. If I were a shop-a-holic I think I'd have a panic attack trying to figure out where to start. Close to the Palm they have a mini-Hong Kong already built and the plans call for it to be twice the size of Hong Kong when they are complete.

After talking with Lee and Joe we found out you need a license to purchase liquor in the grocery stores and the pork section is curtained off like a triple X section in a movie rental store which we thought was quite humorous. Candice asked if the checkout person handled the pork or not and we all scratched our heads. But then again, they probably get the foreign women to check you out. Joe seems to think they are paying off the terrorist to leave the UAE alone since they have never been hit, especially now that they have the tallest building in the world. Sounds like he grilled the taxi cab drivers pretty good while in the car.

Dubai was not easy to get around but they are just now opening a new metro system down on the newer section of the city but only the red line is up and running. Too much distance between the old part of the city and the new part much less too much distance just between the hot spots in the new area. Too much ground to cover but we did the best we could using the Big Bus Company. Lots of things to do in and around Dubai but you'd need about a week to do it justice. Very clean city with flowers, shrubs, trees, and fountains all along the roadside. You know - Disney nice but over long distances! They use 2.5 million gallons of water PER DAY and have a large desalinization plant. The contrast of green and color against the desert colors is just remarkable. It makes you think the desert is a lush place and Dubai pulls it off with style. Don't plan on coming to Dubai unless you have plenty of time and a fat wallet for all that shopping.

We docked right by the QE2 which someone had bought and was going to open up as a hotel but they went bust. So the ship sits still and quite at the pier and looks a little strange and ghostly. As we got off the ship the first day Candice noticed razor barbwire across the back deck of the boat! I couldn't help it, I had to snap a couple of pictures! Queen Victoria looked like some floating prison from the rear!

We had our pirate drill this morning and the instructions are if you here the alarm followed by the words "Attention, Attention, Security Threat" we are to go the interior hall outside our cabins and hunker down. A two-page sheet was delivered last night explaining that the ship is taking an internationally approved transit corridor and we will be transiting it under the protection of an International Task Force, including the Royal Navy, assigned to protect merchant vessels from pirate attack by a UN mandate.

Lights out and curtains closed after nightfall I just so happened to be up around 3:15 a.m. when I looked out the window and saw nothing - total darkness. I went up top to check out the ship. I walked over to the edge and looked down the length of the ship. Very eerie and quite with the exception of the sound of the water below. It felt like I was riding a ghost ship or a boat in the Pirates of the Caribbean. I kept envisioning a grappling hook come flying over the banister. Being all alone in the middle of the ocean under the darken sky made me feel a little scared! We will be under heightened security alert until we get past the Egypt. They installed sound blasting machines at the back (2) and the front (1) of the boat and they've pushed all the deck chairs during the day to the back of the rails for water hose runs. Lucky cat is motionless, so all should go well! Ha, ha!

Sandy

Life Begins at 170kph (Or it might end)

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:57:00 +0000

Muscat is the CLEANEST city in the world. Tons of flowers and plants line the roadways along with green grass. Quite the oasis in this magnificent area where the tall cliffs of the mountains rose up out of the sea! Picture worthy anywhere along the coast! Too bad we had to leave the coastal area for the desert adventure.

Now Cunard doesn't sell tours into the slums of Mumbai so I was surprised they had a desert dune driving tour on their agenda. Well worth the dinero we paid. Someone was even thinking since they took a backup SUV and there were a couple of times I thought we'd personally need it. I didn't think I'd need a seatbelt just yet but once I saw the speedometer get up to 175 kmh I started digging it out and we weren't even 'out of town.'

The drive out to the desert was just gorgeous. Very wide open, dry river beds with nothing but rocks and a little scrub in them. Off in the distance you could see houses and the occasional scrub bushes covering the ground floor at the base of the mountains. I would love to see the dry riverbeds during the rainy season! Everyone gets a plot of land when they turn 18 years of age and they have to keep it for at least two years before they sell, if they are going to sell it. The government decided what piece of land they will give you. Seems like things are a little backwards around these parts. All the lots have a nice, expensive wall around them but the lot sits empty until they can afford to build a house. In America you build the house first and when you can afford the fence, it goes up.

We drove about two hours outside Muscat and besides the scenery the only real big thing we saw was a small town that had a camel racing track located right off the road. All kinds of people attending and the parking lot was full to the brim. We couldn't see the track, only the grandstands.

We finally came upon the desert dunes off to our right and just in time. The drive got a little tiring and you could have almost fell asleep on the drive out but the loud, crazy-arabic music our young driver was playing kept you awake not to mention his crazy-ass driving. I believe he heard me pray, out loud, to God a couple of times as we were passing cars doing about 90 miles an hour! "Oh God," escaped my lips more than twice that day! I envisioned myself having to pull out our medical evacuation insurance policy which we bought pre-trip! Thank God was watching over all of us that day!

We finally came upon a small town where we saw rather large palm tree oasis' ringing the outskirts of the desert. Our caravan pulled over in order for all cars to catch up and the drivers switched over to 4-wheel drive.

The old adage of where the rubber hits the road changed that day for us to when the rubber hits the sand. The paved road had a definite ending and the desert sand had a definite beginning. We were well on our way to flying over the sand dunes lining the used valley road out to the 'camp.' A couple of times it felt like we got air-born and at other times I thought the rear-end of the SUV was going to come all the around!

We got some great pictures and a small video before our battery ran low on that camera. The sand was flying and we were in a mad dash with the other vehicles to get to the desert camp. Switching positions back and forth with the other cars was something right out of the movies, especially since the guy in the next car was filming us as we raced down the valley. Even though we had seatbelts on our heads and bodies where moving in all directions.

We had a nice lunch and got pretty close to some wild camels. Their teeth looked like their toe nails! Too funny but they smiled for the camera and we snapped their picture! On the drive back out to civilization we stopped by a Bedouin encampment for some coffee and sweets. The coffee was like a small expresso and the sweets were made of some honey and apricot mixture.

Driving back to the ship we saw more wild camels and goats and pulled into a hotel out in the middle of nowhere for a restroom break. It was a decent hotel with a pool but let's just say I wouldn't be staying there for an extended vacation. We stopped and got gas for .14 a liter but before you get too excited let me tell you that their money is worth almost three times as much as ours. So it averages out to $1.20 a gallon.

In the town right at the edge of the desert we saw the only Western people (blonde haired mother, father and child) we encounter on the entire trip. They were sitting in a mechanic's shop having their car worked on. Not a good picture, heat or no heat, and I wouldn't have wanted to change places with them. There definitely was a language barrier and their numbers are different. The 2 is a backwards 7, their 6 is a forward 7, the 5 is a sideways zero with an eight being an arrow up and the seven is a 'v'. A dot is a zero. The road signs are in both English and Arabic and that is how we deciphered their number system. Our driver spoke no English so I couldn't imagine what these poor people with car problems were doing for communication.

There are lots of tucked away places dripping with beauty to see in Muscat but it's probably best to have a local guide with you. At least they know the lay of the land! I will probably never get back to this place in my lifetime since it is so far out of the way from anything else but it is a fantastically clean city, modern, new and pleasing to the eye! No poverty to speak of and every make of luxury car you could imagine running around town. If you got the time and you're ever in the area it is a must see city and desert!

Sandy

Riding Your Very Own Brand New Camel! Watch Out, They Spit!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:57:00 +0000

-Aladdin ("Can I call you Al? Or maybe just Din. Or how 'bout Laddi? Here boy.")

We didn't ride any camels, but they were everywhere.

With Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia leading in the race for best port city, coming out of nowhere is Oman. I honestly was not expecting much, but Muscat delivered. We took a desert dune drive in 4X4 Landcruisers. It was awesome! This is one of my favorite activities we've done so far. It was so different (in a good way), i.e. it wasn't another city with buildings or temples to see. It was one of the very few tours that had an "A" for Activity with an activity disclaimer. Cunard definitely needs to get more of these trips in their tour book.

The day started off waiting for our tour to group up in the Queen's Room. We saw Nora and Morgan and said we would ride with them in the 4X4, the young people car. So the tour group marched out to the pier. We didn't know if we were riding a bus out to the dunes or if the suv's would be there, but we saw fifteen Landcruisers. Sweet, wasn't looking forward to a 2 hour bus ride out to the desert. So Morgan picked number 6 in the caravan. Only to find out that our driver didn't speak English. It would be a provide your own commentary kind of tour. All the other drivers saw the young people car; they were asking who was driving it and if he wanted to trade. We were quite a hot commodity.

After everyone was situated in the suv's, we were off in caravan fashion. At least for a while, number six was to become a caravan of one shortly. It was exciting driving out; it felt like we were going on a mission. Arabic music was playing, very mood-setting. The port gate was the catch in the tour, causing us to be separated from everyone. We pulled over on the side of the road, next to Lu-Lu's Hypermarket. We kept waiting, not seeing any white suv's headed our way. A cell phone was eventually pulled out, conversations had, and then we were on our way. Hopefully to meet back up with the group. The thought did run through my head, "What if a van pulls up, and we're thrown in. News headline: Four American kidnapped in Oman." It was a fleeting feeling. I never felt in danger, but it is better to always be playing out scenarios and to be prepared. "I have a pen in my purse. Weapon?" It worked for Jason Borne.

We were on our way, driving though the city. Everywhere we looked were car dealerships, not just a section of the drive but the entire drive out of the city. Past the airport and out of the city, I looked to see how fast we were actually traveling. I had noticed that we were riding people's bumpers in traffic, but I never looked at the speedometer. After doing the calculations (10k = 6.2 miles, thank you cross country), I informed everyone that we holding a steady speed of 102 mph. Amid more Arabic shouted phone calls, we finally took an exit, only to go over the pass and get back on the interstate. We only backtracked one exit. Speeding down the two lane highway, we spotted the group. We were happy to see them, and they to see us. They were waiting at a "comfort stop," quite literally a single hole in the floor. It is bad enough for a lot of women to be quick, but remove the western toilet and add a little Cunard attitude, you've got issues.

Back together, we headed off through the mountains and over wadi crossings (valleys that are dry except in the rainy seasons). Palm trees/little oasisses, long haired shaggy goats, donkeys, and camels were right off the road. It was really scenic. Past the city of Ibra, we started to see sand off to our right. A quick regroup outside the town, and we were off the pavement. There was a warning sign about driving in the desert. Started off with "Dear Tourist," listed some rules and cautionary guidelines, and ended with "Enjoy your trip!"

Driving in the sand was a lot like driving on snow. A lot slipping and sliding, with an occasional fishtail. All quite adventurous. We stayed in caravan formation, until some of the drivers got a little impatient with the slower ones. Then it was no holding back. Landcruisers were passing each other, kicking up sand. Everyone was holding on to the "Oh Crap!" handles. Our driver took us off the main "road" onto some ridges. Pretty sure the car was airborne for a split second. So fun.

The drive out ended at a camp compound, where we had a grilled lunch waiting for us. There was chicken, lamb kebabs, rice, pita bread, olives, hummus, and fruit. A nice spread for being out in the desert; there were even western restrooms, with an "s." There were some camels right outside the gate, too. Sandy took some pictures before lunch. I went out with Nora and Morgan, who had a mountain dew. I think the camel knew what it was; he had Morgan pinned against the wall, nudging the can. It was a priceless sight; Morgan looked like we was facing a firing squad.

Loading back into the cars, I sat in the middle back seat. Perfect viewing. The music was down from when we entered the desert camp, but our driver turned it up once we hit the dunes. My response, "Perfect! The soundtrack to my death." One song was a really bad megamix of Arabic songs. There was no fade in/fade out, let alone an underlying beat to connect the songs. Other than the megamix, the music really did put a movie soundtrack feel to the trip. My view could have been "Camera one" in an action movie. Think "Blood Diamond," when the group of reporters are attacked and Leo takes the suv off-roading without the use of a steady-cam. Also, the other cars were like the bad guys chasing us. So exhilarating!

Some of these old women that went on this trip were a riot, in that they didn't want to go fast on the sand. The tour was called "Desert Dune Drive," did they think it would be a Sunday drive? I would have been irate if they wound up in my car.

After all the fun on the dunes, we started the two hour drive back to the ship. We were slightly late, but that is the beauty of booking a trip from the ship. They won't leave you. Once again, it was surreal rolling into the port caravan-style, like we were some returning from a very important mission. Everyone was out on their balconies waiting for us. It was a great day, A must-do if you ever find yourself around a desert.

crj

Slummin' in Mumbai & Lovin' It!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:20:00 +0000

We started out going through the streets from the pier to a flower, food market and temple. The streets were pretty filthy and not a drop of cement for sidewalks any where. It was a little shocking at first to see the filth and the poor living conditions but the people didn't seem to mind it at all. As usual there was construction down through the streets which needed to be wrapped up in less than two months due to the rainy season coming. I'd hate to see this place in the rainy season even without the construction. The streets had cows sitting on the side of the roads and people would bring them grass and lentil tortillas to eat.

My number one stop on our private Mumbai tour was the slum area which we visited next. Things were dirty but there seemed to be order in this messy looking area. Nothing is thrown away; everything is recycled. The people live in the top part of the buildings and work in the lower floors. Most of the workers in this area were men but there were a few women. Most of these people are immigrants and it was mainly the men who came looking for work while leaving their families behind. To my surprise they had satellite dishes on the roofs too! Good for them!

We took pictures from the above highway and saw dogs and kids down in the garbage pit which had an open sewer running through the middle. Believe it or not you couldn't smell it but Candice said she could as she waited in the car (she didn't want to go down into the 'pit' with us).

We climbed down into the area via a straight stairwell that was about twenty five feet down. The alley street ran parallel to the sewer we saw from the top but was out of sight due to buildings being on both sides of the alleyway. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. As a matter of fact I found nothing revolting about it. Yes it was dirty but the people were nice, mild mannered and hard working. Funniest thing I saw was Oreo plastic wrap covering the ceiling of one business which is funny because I didn't even see Oreo's in the grocery store we visited. As a matter of fact soda was the only thing we recognized besides some Kellogg cereals in different packaging.

Our guide told us that some of the designer named goods are made right down here in these slums. We saw some UK designer jeans being made, cardboard being salvaged, bars of soap being recycled and big steel drums with dents being pounded out, cleaned and repainted. The people were all too happy for us to step inside and check out their operation. They were very proud of their work. We had to take our shoes off in order not to dirty the work area which made me think to myself that my shoes are probably cleaner than their workers feet, so go figure.

Now we had partnered up with the people we met from Liverpool, Keith and Colette, and took a private tour. We had and an air conditioned minivan with a woman who spoke excellent English as our guide and a driver who spoke very little. We felt very safe everywhere we went since we had our guide right by our side. Without her we wouldn't have been in any danger but I think we would have been hassled by the street vendors even more. Nineteen million people living in the area and at times it felt like everyone of them was trying to sell us something.

We next headed over to another part of the slum area and walked through the streets. We went in the back alleys and saw the clay pots that they had made curing in the short, outdoor ovens. Somewhat smokey and cramped but the people were fantastic. Little kids who wanted their pictures taken and then they wanted to see themselves on the camera. There are so many kids that the school works in shifts. Older ones go in the morning and the little ones go in the afternoon.

We headed over to the dobi ghat where they do all the laundry. Only men work down in the laundry area. Hotels, manufactures and the wealthier people send their garments and clothes for cleaning. The trains ran above and along side the entire wash area. They were filled with people who were hanging out the doors due to them being so crowded. Our tour guide told us that people loose their lives by falling off all the time. While we were here I decided to give out my bag of chocolate candy to the beggars and kids. I had been saving my chocolates that they put on our pillow every night and I was also taking chocolate mints from the dining room so I was loaded with about 3 pounds of chocolate squares.

After getting out for pictures at the wash area, we all got back in the car and cracked the windows about two inches and we handed out the candy from the safety of the inside of the van. I even had our driver handing it out after giving some to him for his kids. Now these kids knew the word chocolate and all kinds of hands were reaching inside the car for a piece of it, even the adults. It felt good to give them a little taste of the sweet life and I could have done this all day. I took the bags and held them upside down to show them that there was no more. Once the chocolate was gone one kid started asking for 10 rupees. After we drove away there were more fingerprints all over the windows than you could imagine which the driver later wiped down at the next stop. I can just imagine the scene after we left. Cunard candy wrappers all over the streets! Ha, ha. Don't worry, somebody will come along and recycle the paper!

After this we headed over to the Taj Hotel, the one they shot up and started on fire a couple of years ago. The Gate of India which was completed in 1911 was right across the street. This was truly a wonderful area that I wished we had more time to just hang out in. So many vendors coming up to us saying they would print out our picture of us at the gate immediately. We tried to explain that we didn't need one but it was almost futile. Lots of little boats in the harbor area and very picturesque. I only wish we had walked across the street to see the inside of the hotel but the traffic was chaotic with horns honking, vendors trying to sell and lots of people around so instead of being able to think all you found yourself doing was trying to keep an eye on your car and your tour guide.

Next we visited the gothic style building of the Victoria Train Station and went in to see the train platforms. This building dates back to 1880's. Most of these trains travel south of Mumbai with a few heading north. It is so extensive that the train system is the largest employer in India. Lots of beautiful Victorian and Gothic buildings in the city. One sight we did not get over to was the hanging gardens but more interesting than that are the Dokhmas, which are the Towers of Silence, in which cadavers are hung on seven columns for vultures to devour in accord with Parsee tradition. Parsee is a small religious sect in India and they believe this is the ultimate sacrifice. It would have been a sight to see but apparently the public is not allowed to see these Towers of Silence which is probably a good thing!

Our last stop was a shopping area in which textiles were sold amongst the many other items. Believe it or not our driver dropped us off in the middle of the intersection since there was no place to park. Now this intersection was an area where four roads converged at the top of the shopping area and everything from hand carts to buses to old taxi cabs from the 50's were trying to maneuver through. Horn honking was a must for each driver. It was chaotic but picture perfect so I had whipped the camera out for some wonderful movie taking and captured the sights and sounds of the city. What an experience; the sun beating down on you, cats walking on the roof of the shops a couple floors up, horns honking non stop, people pushing carts with goods on them and non air conditioned old cabs crowding the streets. It was almost a sensory over load. You could actually feel the heartbeat of the city moving all around you. There is no describing this place. You really have to experience it yourself.

One other thing we saw was the lunch box system. Our guide told us that nobody eats anything cold. They always eat hot food and nothing is dry; it's always cooked in sauce. So meals are cooked at home, a delivery guy comes to pick up the lunch box and he takes it to the train station where he puts it on the train for the ride across town. Once across town another carrier picks it up and delivers it to the person at the office. Once eaten the container makes its way back to the house it came from. It's hard to believe that people have full time jobs delivering meals they don't even make but hey, there are plenty of people to put to work over here, so I guess it works for them.

India was magical for sure and a great adventure in and of itself! Lots of lovely, resourceful people, lots of chaos and lots to experience with all five senses. I really don't see myself coming back any time soon but if it was along the way to another destination I wouldn't mind visiting again. The slums were an eye opener and a far cry from what I had envisioned; not sad or depressing but hopeful, optimistic, and promising. Given half a chance I think these people could run rings around us. I'm glad I got to experience it and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Sandy

Bombay Appendix from Candice:

I'm sure Sandy filled you all in on the pertinent information on Bombay, but here are a few little nuggets from me.

Private tours are totally worth it, especially in a country like India. A little pricey, but considering we would have paid 2/3's of it for a Cunardian tour, we got a better deal. You're only there once (at least that is what I say now, things could change), better do it right. I think I would have been a complete mess without our tour guide. She was like my security blanket; people really didn't mess with us since she was there.

I was a little skeptical about visiting the slums, but they were nothing like I had imagined. The whole area was teeming with activity. It was a little shocking to see people pop-up out of dumpsters, but it was recycling in its purest form. This I can relate to. I recycle aluminum cans only because someone will give me money for them (not for any environmental reasons). This was what the slums circled around, an industry of recycling everything. We saw broken clocks being "cannibalized," the glass, the plastic, and the metal all headed off to different parts of the city. Everywhere you looked people were hauling around bags of accumulated items back to their homes. When they had enough for it to be economical to hire a push cart, they would take it to a recycling center. Sandy must have a little Indian in her.

Sandy almost got wounded by a cow outside a temple. We were taking pictures of them on the sidewalk; they were happy campers eating their grass that people feed them on their way to the temple. Sandy "Take my picture with him." Next you know, the cow is starting to ram its head into Sandy. She jumped out of the way before any real damage was inflicted. But Keith bought some grass to feed him; he was only too happy to take the grass. No photos though.

I loved all the architecture in the fort area, seemed bizarrely like Europe with palm trees. The Victoria Terminus train station was what I was really interested in seeing. It didn't disappoint. We had to cross a couple of very busy streets to get to the terminal; I felt like George Castanza in the Seinfeld episode with the frogger machine. There didn't seem to be a lot of ticket monitoring; everyone just seemed to be getting on the trains and hanging on anywhere they could. There weren't any doors or basically any windows on any of the trains. So no announcements of "Please stand clear of the door while they are shutting," assuming they even had an intercom system, highly unlikely. Outside the station there was a used book stall. This little operation had quite a few good books: Atlas Shrugged and New Moon are the two that stick out the most. Someone over in India has a good taste in reading material.

The Taj Hotel was a surreal sight, after watching the terrorist attacks on television a couple years back. The hotel was beautiful; there was very little damage left from the attacks. The only downside was that this area was where all the tourists go, therefore this is where all the hawkers go to sell their goods.

crj

Housekeeping. Sorry there haven't been any pictures. Internet and time are hard to come by. We will post a lot of pictures when we get back to the states.

We Took the Tuk Tuk in Cochin!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:18:00 +0000

Part I from Candice:

Well, I think "Cochin" is Indian for rip-off. At least that is the way the day started off. Most of the time, money can be exchanged on the ship, no problems. The rate isn't that good, but there isn't a service charge. So it all evens out. This is all fine and good, until we hit those odd ports, like Cochin, where a local bank comes on board to exchange money. These people don't speak english and they don't tell you the exchange rate. You just hand them the money; they hit around on the calculator and give you some rupees. Thank goodness we only got $40 exchanged, because with the rate they gave us it was equivalent to only $30 dollars. Total gip. If I had a little forewarning, I wouldn't have done it. It is frustrating to try and calculate all of this in such little time.

Onward to our "tour" of the harbor. It was basically what our ship sailed past in the morning, except we were on a tiny little boat with benches that faced inward. Stupid. The real kicker was how slow we were going. This infuriated Sandy, which in turn got me all worked up. A lady next to us asked, "Too much togetherness?" "No, frustration. And we deal with it differently." But a positive spin on the "tour" is that we could have spent a lot more on a crappy tour.

The tuktuk was an experience. Sandy's story is below. Before you read it, allow me a defense. I was up for a trip to Fort Kochi, just not an extended excursion. I had a very small list of sights that I wanted to see. Maybe a little shopping. So after I saw St. Francis Church and bought a purse, I was ready to head back, but that was apparently not in the cards. This purse I bought looked good hanging up and was only six dollars. I did see that there was some dirt on it, due to the street vendors basically keeping their items out for so long. I thought "Okay, it is what it is." Plus, Sandy said it can be washed. I'm trying to make a decision, but my anxiety started rearing its head. It was a brash decision, but I bought the purse. Little by little, I realized that I didn't want it and that there were more defects. Great. Sandy said give it to somebody. "I am not giving this to anybody!" So this on top of the never-ending tour was getting frustrating. Sandy was no help; she encouraged the prolonged tour and ignored my pleas of "Tell him we want to go back to the ship." I sound like negative nancy, but I did enjoy myself. My anxiety level tends to have a limit, probably half the size of Sandy's.

Later while back on the ship, Sandy was recalling her Saigon rip-off. "I've come to accept my postcards." After a second, I followed with a laughing (slightly hysterical) reply of "Acceptance is the first step." This set off an episode of laughing, the kind where you couldn't breath. It was a nice way to take the edge of the day off.

Part II from Sandy:

Cochin, India was very exciting! After taking a harbor tour with Cunard (our second official purchased tour) we took a tuk tuk ride all the way into Ft. Kochi and this was truly an adventure! Never mind that the harbor tour seemed to be too laid back and slow going but when we got off the boat, we were given bad information. We had requested that we be dropped off in Ft. Kochi while on the harbor cruise but the tide was too high and they told us private boats could not drop off at the piers. So instead of boarding the bus for a two block drive back to the ship, we asked were we go to catch the ferry. Next jetty down was what we were given.

We got over to the next jetty via side roads only to find that this ferry went to some island starting with a 'V.' Not a whole lot of English spoken either at this ticket office and we surely stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the locals. I almost felt like an animal in a zoo with all the stares but on a lighter note as we boarded our bus there was an open barred window with some young mens faces peering through. Once I saw them I waved and they were only too excited to be acknowledged. Also while we were on our harbor cruise there were some young girls on the banks in their school uniforms and they got excited about their visitors too when we waved back at them. Very friendly people and beautiful faces with big smiles!

Striking out on our own to find the real jetty for the Ft. Kochi ferry we went out towards the end of the peninsula and rounded the corner. The all too familiar stares with all eyes upon us was a little unsettling but I never thought we were in any danger. I think we were just an oddity. We were approached by a tuk tuk driver who was awfully persistent and a little irritating. He was young and eager to get our business but we thought we needed to take a ferry due to the time of the day and the distance we needed to go. Once we got over to the other side of the peninsula we found the jetty but there was no ticket window or time schedule. After an inquiry we found out this one was for port authority workers only.

Luckily we spotted an information office and Candice went in to get some directions while I tried to hold off the tuk tuk driver that had followed us all the way down the street and an older man who wanted to take us across by his private boat. Looking back it was quite comical but once we found out the ferry we needed didn't leave until 1:45 p.m. our tuk tuk driver was in business. He told us it would take 30 minutes to drive over and it would cost us $2 US dollars. At this point in time I was glad he was as persistent as he was.

We loaded up in the open air tricycle cab with a motorcycle engine and three hard rubber tires (no air). Very interesting and fun! We felt every bump in the road and when we finally got to the bridge it was a real balancing act for him to stay just on one tire track side of the road. We felt like we were truly doing the amazing race since our driver was going as fast as he could and we looked around and wondered where they would put the camera crew.

The ride was not for the faint of heart! We hung on the bars on the side and secured our bags so they wouldn't fall out all the while taking movies with the camera. Our young guy had no qualms about pulling out into on coming traffic to pass big trucks and buses. We played chicken through an intersection with a big rig and believe it or not we won. Brake pedals mashing to the floor followed by a couple of quick jumps towards the center, followed by a stall, then another small jump. I could have leaned out and kissed the fender of the big rig we were so close. But our cab driver finally took the big jump out and around all the while shouting some obscenity towards the other driver. We experienced this more than once but this was the closest call. Shortly after this we saw two accidents within 100 feet of each other. A brand new car had run up under a bus and smashed the hood and another new car had been hit in the rear panel! I just kept hanging on waiting for the impact as we wove our way through the streets that at times suddenly became three lanes with us in the middle.

About 25 minutes into this ride we pulled up to this air conditioned store and our driver insisted that we get out and go in. He knew we were looking for shopping but we specifically told him we wanted to be dropped off at St. Francis Church. As usual, he was very persistent that we go in and shop and we realized he was going to get paid for us to walk in. I told Candice that we'd humor him and go in, make one quick round and come back out, which we did. We found our driver in the back parking lot getting paid and we climbed in the tuk tuk. He looked happy as he crossed the lot towards the tuk tuk. This happened several times during the trip but hey it was a way for him to make a little more money so I didn't really care too much. Candice was another story.

What I did enjoy about our driver is he was actually a quasi-independent tour guide. He showed us the Dutch Cemetery which dated back to 1729, the large washing area on the water banks, an elephant over the wall (they were charging you 15 rupees to walk into the courtyard), a 500 year old tree (questionable, but what the hey), the Chinese fishing nets, which we saw on our harbor cruise, the Dutch Palace which didn't look to palace-y and some other small sights. He took us by a spice shop and some local street vendors, too.

Candice was calling to go back home to the ship but this atmosphere was right up my alley. Goats ran around the streets like dogs and cats and in packs. It was too funny, weird and cute all at the same time. Trash was thrown on the side of the roads and we saw a couple of people picking through it - one man's garbage is another man's treasure. Thank God it didn't stink like garbage. Some nicer hotels were sandwiched across the park area by the water front and we did see a few foreign tourist besides the Cunardians. Our driver took us down some back alleys that were very interesting and quite empty. Even though he didn't speak much English he knew all the pertinent words. I hope he didn't hear or understand Candice complaining to get back to the ship. I on the other hand was having fun and promised her that we would not be going in any more stores but I still wanted to see the sights he would show us.

Candice was determined that we were driving around in circles and got frustrated with me when I told her we were heading back to the ship but she wasn't convinced until we saw some familiar sights. I told her that they were probably one way streets. I don't think she bought it but It was nice to see what their everyday life looked like and it made me appreciate what we have back home. No smelly foods cooking either. As a matter of fact I smelled something good cooking and we figured it was due to the spices they were using. Only a little fishy smell around the boats and fishing nets.

Cochin is a large port town and most of the commerce is associated with cargo shipping so I'm sure this part of India is wealthier than most areas. One island was tax free and there was access to the larger part of city by ferry for 2.5 rupees. I'm thinking that's were I might live if I had to set up shop in Cochin! In the area there are four or five islands with most of them connected by bridges. The maps Cunard gave us lacked a total layout of all the islands which caused us to be confused for a little while. All the islands were flat and everywhere you looked there was a fishing boat somewhere.

This place is worthy of a visit, but I wouldn't consider an extended or even an overnight stay. The day was memorable and I'll always remember our pushy little driver just trying to eek out a living. We ended up paying him five dollars and I think the experience was well worth it! Candice was relieved to get back to the ship and later at the evening show our cruise director said he saw people coming back on the ship, dropping to their knees and kissing the floor. I didn't think it was that bad, but it got a good laugh. I can vouch that Candice didn't seem as bad as he described but she was close! On the other hand, a spa worker for Cunard got in a tuk tuk accident . It tipped over with him in it going down the road. We heard he ended up in the ship's hospital per the Chief Purser at dinner that night. Oops!

Sandy

Phuket - The HOT Spot!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:33:00 +0000

We've been in five ports for the last seven days so we seem to be backed up in getting our post out. We have posted all of our tales below in several postings and are now caught up. Still no way to get pictures posted and the one day we were ready to post the ship's server was down for maintenance. We hit two ports back to back then one day at sea and then three more ports for the next three days. This vacation is getting a little tiring. The old adage "I need a vacation from my vacation" is standing true. You're out all day in the port, back on the ship to clean up, eat dinner, download pictures, study the next days port, pack your backpack, get to bed and then you're back at it again the next morning for another full day. It's coming all so quickly it's hard for us to say what we did or where we saw something. I thought it was just my memory getting to me but Candice is having a hard remember all this stuff too (Candice: I'm just having a hard time with what the currency rates were for a place). That gives me a little comfort but not much!

We've been invited to eat with the Chief Purser and his junior assistant for Tuesday, the 30th. We are still waiting for that next elusive Captain's cocktail party.

We are up to 11 golden tickets in trivia. We weren't able to play while we were in port since we were out running around. We just can't get enough of these! They are suppose to get some new prizes for ticket redemption in Dubai.

They postponed our pirate drill until after Dubai. We understand that no one will be allowed on the 3rd and 10th decks since they will have the water cannon hoses laid out and everyone is to keep their curtains closed at night and most lights on the boat will be darkened with security on the outside decks. Meanwhile I'm stocking up on food in the cabin just in case something goes down. We suspect they'll tell us to lock ourselves in the bathroom if anything happens but either way I'll be ready!

PS Lucky cat is back to waving. We'll see how he does! Ha, ha.

Phuket was really a touristy island. They seem to have recovered well from the 2004 tsunami in Patong and now have evacuation routes marked down on the waterfront and a small sign commemorating the event.

We had to tender in from our ship and I saw a sign placed on our ship that said 'security warning - stay back 50 meters' for the first time. Candice told me that they had been hanging that up in every port but it is usually on the other side of the ship where we can't see it. Once on shore we stopped in a basement grocery store to stock up on some Cokes and Pringles for our beach excursion.

Back out on the streets we found a Tuk Tuk which is an open air, covered truck, to take us about six miles up the road to Kata Beach. On the way there was a section of roadway on a long hill but not too steep that had a bunch of temples placed on the side. Most seemed to be broken down, tipped over and dilapidated. They were mixed in with newer ones standing totally erect. I couldn't figure out if they were memorials for people who had died in traffic accidents on the road or what. It was something to see even if I didn't understand it.

Once on the beach we rented more lounge chairs, a table and an umbrella for 200 Baht. There were so many chairs they had to number them so you could find yours amongst the throng of them wrapped all the way around this 2 mile circular beach. I couldn't figure out how they ran this system or who got the rights to operate these chair rentals but it was an operation and a half. The heat was stifling to say the least. Apparently it had just showered before we got over to the beach around 10 a.m. so the humidity was even higher than usual as the sun started barring down on us. No sunbathing that day, just sitting under the shade of the umbrella trying to survive the heat. We think it hit triple digits that day.

As we sat there watching the waves roll in we tried to figure out if the weather was this way every day or if we just hit an usually hot day. You could feel the heat surrounding you, not so much that you were hot because apparently the air around us was hotter than our bodies. A lot of Europeans were vacationing here and I had a a nice conversation with an elder couple from Canada out in the water. They had been in the area for 2.5 months and had 2 more weeks before flying back home. They asked me about all the places we had visited and I told them what our favorite places were. They asked me if I was worried about the pirates and the safety of the entire trip. I told them I wouldn't let a few thugs thwart my vacation plans. The lady said she really liked my attitude about that and was surprised I recommended some of the places like Vietnam since she had heard different stories. I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder!

As I was coming back in from the water to the lounge chairs I was surprised to look up and see Candice had left our belongings unattended on the beach and was walking into the water. I guess I had talked for quite a while and she was quite desperate to get some relief from the heat in the water. She motioned for me to get up to our belongings and later told me that she was watching me the whole time and knew I was talking since my hands were waving around. Bless her heart, even if I did look towards the beach I never would have spotted her amongst all those umbrellas.

There was an opportunity to have another foot massage on the beach but it was too hot to really enjoy it. The only saving grace for the day was a nice breeze that blew too infrequently but when it did, it was great! I found my myself trapesing down to the water every fifteen minutes. We decided we'd start moving over to the next beach, Karon Beach back towards Patong, after the heat of the day passed. So around 2:30 p.m. we packed up even though the heat hadn't subsided to any measurable degree. We tried to pay attention as to how long the drive from Karon over to Kata was on the way there and decided we would try to walk it.

A few small hills and hot sidewalks later we stuck our heads in the first grocery store for a look around. Air conditioning was good but nothing like the air conditioning in the 7-Elevens. Everyone we have visited in our travels are quite the heat refuge, especially in the tropics. I'll never look at another 7-Eleven pre-trip in states the same again. Unfortunately their fountain drink machine was down so we settled on another bottle of Coke.

Walking through the shopping in this area, Candice found a dress to buy. Starting price was 690 Baht and she passed it up but we got to the end of the stalls and had to turn around and go back to exit. Upon strolling back by the price magically dropped to 250 Baht. She bought it! I felt sorry for these people having to hawk their wares just to make a living. We prefer shopping with things priced. We don't like having to ask for the price because it will tie you up for 15 minutes. Everyone kept asking us where we were from, a conversation starter (and it's best not to start one-if you know what I mean), and once we didn't answer them they'd guess we were from Sweden. Seems there is a direct flight from there to Phuket and Candice had the coloring. I don't really look like I could be Swedish but our first room steward thought I was, so maybe I could pass for Swedish.

Trying to get a Tuk Tuk back to Patong proved to be a little challenging. We preferred to split the fare with someone going that way and after walking to and fro just trying to find a driver I spotted an older couple that looked like they were also looking for a ride. I shouted across the road and asked them if they wanted to share a Tuk Tuk. They were French and didn't speak English but apparently they understood Tuk Tuk and agreed they would split the fare. Three hundred Baht later we made it back to Patong. Our first mission was to find a happy hour bar followed closely by a foot massage place.

Seems we stumbled across the foot massage place first since the happy hour 2 for 1 bars were not as plentiful as they were on Kata Beach. One hour of foot massaging for me and a pedicure for Candice with air conditioned air was right in line. I actually stepped inside to see how air conditioned it was before we said 'yes." They gave us a nice cold cup of sealed water to drink, unlike the Hong Kong massage where they gave me the medicinal hot water to drink. I wasn't about to drink that water since it was hot much less whatever they put in it to take the edge off of the painful foot massage. I made it through that one with some pain but it felt good at the same time. I thought this one was going to be less painful since they were just serving ice water but she really worked the center of my feet good and I thought I was going to come up out of the chair a couple times. I think my feet thanked me both times!

A little more shopping along the street front where the tsunami rolled in and then to the bar for a drink. One vendor had the actual video of the water coming on the beach at this particular spot. It was pretty weird watching it and looking around seeing exactly where the water went. At the hotel street bar we choose the 'My Dear' drink which tasted a lot like the Singapore Sling but was actually a little better. It was a perfect way to spend the rest of the evening until our ship sailed at 7:30 p.m. With what little Baht we had left to spend we revisited the basement store and bought two cans of Pringles then made our way back to the tender pier. (Candice: 110 Baht = two cans of 55 Baht. Perfect!)

We always thought we'd like to go to Phuket on vacation for a little longer stay but the weather proved us wrong. One thing for sure is our hotel would have to be air conditioned to the hilt. There is so much to do and see on this island and you would definitely want to rent a motor scooter to get around. There are plenty of smaller islands to take boats out for snorkeling and beach visiting. They have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It seemed to be TOO touristy and packed with too many tourist too, especially around Patong but we'd give it another whirl in a heartbeat but maybe after researching a cooler month to visit, if there is such a thing!

Pulverizing heat in Phuket is a no go but Phuket in and of itself is a GO!

Sandy

Kickin' Around in KL

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:33:00 +0000

Kaula Lampur was another port with an hour bus ride into the city. These long trips into the cities are on our tab so we have to pay Cunard anywhere from $50 - $80 each depending on the city for the transportation but the 30 minute or less shuttles are taken care of by them.

The highways are modern, clean and wide with three and four lanes going each way at certain times. Most of the roads are toll roads and motorcycles are not allowed. They ride on the outside on a small pathway. They had about 30 toll booths lined up all the way across the freeway. As we approached the city our escort told us not to carry our bags on the outside shoulder due to people on motorcycles driving by and grabbing your bag off your shoulder and speeding away. He also warned us about pick-pocketers. After being in 'safe' Singapore the other day I didn't have my handy money holder in my backpack that goes around my neck so I had to be on heightened alert all day.

Our bus dropped us off at a monorail station and we made quick time to get purchase our tickets over to a subway stop and then buy tickets over to the Petronas Towers at the other end of town. There is no cost to go up the Petronas Towers but they only hand out 1,700 tickets a day for the bridge visit. We quickly made our way to the line that starts forming at 6 a.m. everyday with tickets being issued at 8 a.m. Sad to say that there were only 14 tickets available before the 2:45 p.m. scheduled time to be back on the bus according to their TV monitor so this was a bust. No way, no how were we going to be able to get up there without a ticket. Too much security and not enough time. We knew it was a long shot to get tickets for that day but we had to try. You're only here once, right? The only redeeming aspect was we didn't waste any time in line only to find out our time frame tickets were all snatched up. Tours left every 15 minutes but we understand one person could ask for 60 tickets if they were a tour company hosting 60 visitors and we didn't even get into town until 9:50 a.m. then had to make our way across town. So we did the second best thing; we took pictures from the outside and they had a Formula One car sponsored by Petronas displayed in the front of the building. Petronas Towers was built with oil money and they also had a private hospital across town. Seems we are running a little ahead of the Formula One circuit over here. April 4th is race day. We choose to skip the KL Tower located up the hill but did snap a couple of pictures.

There is a huge, modern mall in the basement of the Petronas Towers and we stumbled across another Aunt Annie's. Time for a little taste of home. These pretzels only cost the equivalent of .75 in US dollars. Too bad that's not the price in the states! After our mid morning snack we took the subway over to the central part of the city to see the world's tallest flagpole in Merdeka Square or Independence Square. The Union Jack was lowered on August 31, 1957 and the Royal Selangor Club which only allowed the British in sits across the street from the Sultan Abdul Samad building which now houses government offices.

Once again the heat was on and the humidity was high. By the time we walked down to the National Mosque, the KTM Building and the KL Railway Station built in 1910, we were melting. The walk was nice with some shade but by the time we got over there I think every Cunard tour bus was there too. We heard that you couldn't go in the Mosque unless you were a worshipper and that was okay with us.

We made our way over to the Central Market that has been there since 1888 for some shopping. On the walk over we were on some side street of the highway and every 25 feet there was a storm grate. We came across one that was missing its cover and if we had been looking up and not paying attention it would have been a bad accident. It was about 2.5' square and it would have been about a 15' drop to the bottom. No safety regulations in this country; no tape, no barricades, no nothing, just a big hole in the middle of the sidewalk. In the market we did a lot of browsing but only purchased a Coke for a cool down. Thank God for Coke and its international sales!

We walked over to Chinatown and strolled down the sales stalls complete with knockoffs of every namebrand you can think of. They had a couple flower stalls located in here with some pretty flower arrangements but I'd hate to see what they would have looked like by the end of the day and the heat. We then caught a subway over to the Sentral Station to visit a shopping area and the National Museum. Seems they knocked down the shopping area and were busy building with a major construction job. Getting over to the National Museum was quite tricky since we had to cross over some interstate roads but we finally made it over there. Nice grounds and good air conditioning. Very nice displays and pieces inside including items from shipwrecks around Malaysia. They had money made of tin and in the shape of grasshoppers and elephants about four inches long and two inches high. Too funny to imagine carrying a bunch of that around in the days. And I thought Australia's money was cumbersome! The Modern Malaysia gallery had a timeline on how they stamped out the communist movement in their country in the 1950's and some modes of transportation. We had a very good visit and welcome rest from the heat.

Finding our way over to the monorail station was a little more difficult than it should have been but that was the system we needed to be on to get back to our bus. You'd think all you had to do was look up, find it and follow it but it is actually pretty low to the ground and hidden between the buildings. Once back over in the vicinity of our bus stop we stopped for some more Cokes and spent the last of our Ringgits in a supermarket on Oreo's, a Twix and a can of Pringles. There were no benches in the mall so we went downstairs where the little food restaurants were located and sat down in one just waiting for someone to come along and tell us we had to leave since we weren't eating their entrees but that never happened. I had 60 ringgits, a little more than $20 USD, left from Kota Kinabalu and it lasted all day. Not that we have bought a lot of stuff this entire trip, we are about shopped out. I look around and think who is going to buy all this merchandise they have on the shelves. We can't figure out if they just replenish as quick as they sell it or if they are not selling much. Seems like everyone has the same merchandise to a large extent too. Chinatown is ironically on Petaling St. but I think it was supposed to be called Peddling St. I think the spelling was lost in translation.

KL is very cosmopolitan and inexpensive. On the ride back to the container terminal in the suburbs there were numerous new and large housing condo/apartment complexes about 4 stories high set on large plots of land that were previously undeveloped complete with play grounds and small parks. They looked very modern and livable out of all the housing we've seen lately. Very American looking but with an art deco flare. If you wanted to do some serious shopping here you could do some minor damage on your credit card and get some major purchases.

Seems like everyone has left their mark on Malaysia's largest city. The Chinese, the buddhist, the Hindus, the British, Islam; they're all there living in harmony. Modern high rises, temples, mosques and colonial era buildings. Malaysia is the only city in the world to have a million-year-old primary forest within the heart of the city. I would have liked to have gotten out to the Batu Caves which are located 13 kilometers outside the city. They are made of limestone, 400 meters long and 100 meters high with 272 steps to the top. I think we could have made it there, up to the caves and back but I don't know how much else we would have been able to see. Lots of stuff we didn't get to see as usual not enough time. Wouldn't mind coming back if it crossed my path along the way to another place but probably not on its own.

Sandy

Singing the Praises of Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:32:00 +0000

Candice's Title "Clearly, you've never been to Singapore!"

Prior to getting into Singapore, we were given our passports and strict instructions on what not to do in order not to get arrested. Jaywalkers to be fined on the spot. No littering, smokers beware. Drug peddling serves you up a death sentence. Back in 1994 Michael Fay grabbed headline news when he received a judicial canning for violating the law but it seems that Singaporean law enforcement has eased somewhat since then. A guy on the elevator told us that he had lived there for quite a while and most of the warnings were overblown but we made sure we didn't jaywalk even though we didn't really see any police presence.

Nothing like a few tough laws to get a city looking clean and spiffy. Singapore was VERY clean and orderly, and a far cry from the days of the pirate's rule. I guess when you are your own island state you can pretty much control your borders and illegal immigration. Sir Stamford Raffles arrived in 1819 and claimed it for the British. He laid out a plan for the city giving the Chinese their Chinatown, the Arabs their own area and the Indians their Little India center. The average yearly salary is equivalent to $35,000 USD. Unlike other large cities you can walk fearlessly down the streets any time of the day.

Our 10 minute shuttle bus from the container terminal dropped us off at the Harbour Center and from there we caught the subway into the center of town for a look at the Fullerton Hotel which use to be the old post office. It was a very fancy hotel with open air cafes and restaurants in the center on the bottom floor with all the rooms looking down the atrium. I didn't get to check out the bathroom but I'm sure it would have been 'orange-eating' worthy by the looks of the Rolls Royce out front. This hotel sat on the Singapore River with wonderful views of old time white bridges that still had the signs up saying no oxen or cattle can cross. It looked very Disney-esque.

Stepping into the Empress Palace Museum before moving on helped to relieve a little morning heat. We walked over to the Old Supreme Court and on the backside of this building was the futuristic looking, flying saucer New Supreme Court Building. We then strolled past St. Andrew's church but didn't go inside since it was closed. Next was the old building of City Hall. Very elegant and commanding over looking the Padang which is an open grassy area used for sports and special events.

Making our way from the War Memorial and under the street tunnel, a young guy passing by us read my forehead. He shouted over the tops of our dinner mates heads, Lee and Joe, pointed to me and told me that I was very lucky. I asked him how he knew and he told me he was reading the lines on my forehead. He told me that April was going to be very lucky for me and asked were I was from. I just wish I was as confident as he was about my luck. We'll see what happens!

Out to the waterfront we saw the Merlion, the city/state's recently adopted symbol. There was water shooting out of his mouth and into Marina Bay. Whenever we saw this on t-shirts or elsewhere in the city I pronounced it in a deep ZooLander movie fashion - Muuur Lion. Across Marina Bay they were building a three tower building that was connected all the way across the top with a deck that over hung the buildings by about 100 feet. On one side the buildings base swooped up with the back side of the building going straight up. An architectural feat in and of itself. Not quite done but almost there.

From there we walked passed the Victoria Theatre which is used for concerts and special events over to the Singapore Flyer which is a large glass enclosed ferris wheel. It just so happened that the flyer shut down for maintenance ten minutes before we got there and they said it would be down for at least one hour. We took a break from the heat and Candice got a biscuit and a Coke at Popeye's. I pulled out my some chocolate chip cookies from the ship for everyone to share and drank some water. After that the flyer was still down and we decided we wouldn't want to get stuck on it and waste our time just looking down on the city.

Once on the move again we walked up the road past some construction (ah, the sound of progress) and even the construction areas were well maintained and peculiarly clean. Underneath their major intersections you will find new shopping centers and access to the subway. What a great and COOL (literally) way to get from one side of the street to another. It is really a whole city underground and we spotted a Godiva Chocolate store down there. We marveled at the thought of being able to go shopping in the rain and not getting wet at all; right off the subway into the stores and back out again!

We then made our way over to Raffles Hotel, which was built in 1887 and is one of the last great 19th century hotels in the world, to experience the Singapore Sling at the Long Bar. Funny, small peanuts to eat and throw the shells on the floor made for a perfect compliment and we took some pictures to remember the event. It was a beautiful hotel that covered nearly an entire block. The lobby was only open to the guests but the bar and the courtyard bars were open to anyone willing to pay $25 for the drink. Candice and I split one and it was roughly $18 USD which Joe and Lee treated us to since we were giving them the royal tour of the city. They were just shocked to see how much ground we covered that day and they still talk about it today. They bought a tour off the ship in Ko Samui for a five star hotel and beach resort for $79 a person that included lunch but I think the hotel was built back in the 1950's and their beach had murky water. Not too fancy and I know Lee was very disappointed but she did say they had a good pool. We told them we just caught a mini bus over to a different beach and they DID drop us off at a 5-star luxury hotel with gorgeous water. After that experience Lee didn't want to buy another trip so I offered to let them run with us in Singapore. I think they feel like they got their money's worth with us. We do seem to be cheap dates! (Candice: Candice and Sandy tour company to be starting soon. Book now for the best excursions!)

After Raffles we jumped back on the subway and went over to Little India for some shopping and to see Sri Veeramakalimman Temple but it was closed from noon to four, so only pictures of the outside. From there another subway ride to Orchard Rd. which is the high-falutent area for shopping. From there we walked out to the Botanical Gardens which were mostly tropical and very relaxing. Made me want to make my yard into a tropical paradise with tropical plants, waterfalls and goldfish.

We split with Lee and Joe since they wanted to stay longer at the gardens and we headed back to the subway for the trip back to the Harbour Center via shopping at a mall on Orchard Rd. We ran across an Apple Store and checked out email, Candice's Facebook and looked up a few websites all in about ten minutes. This would have taken us at least 30 minutes on the ship.

Back over to Harbour Center for more shopping and spending the last of our Singapore dollars before catching the bus. We ended up buying a 28" suitcase for $21 USD. It was an I-Polo brand - no knockoffs in this country, just made up names. We tried this back in Vietnam since we saw some luggage for sale at the pier but by the time we made it back from the city it was all snatched up. With this bag we can put both our garment bags inside this suitcase and have less bags to handle while traveling though London. Right next to this store was a store selling t-shirts showing all the things you can not do in Singapore in a grid style with graphics and the words "Singapore, A City of NO." I didn't buy one but I did snap a picture which I hope to post later. At least the locals have a good sense of humor about the laws.

Lying just 90 miles north of the equator Singapore was a delight to tour even in the heat. There is plenty we did not get to see so we would definitely put this place down as a return visit. It was my kind of city; clean, modern and well laid out. Only drawback on their subway system was always having to get our $1 deposit refund from our last subway ride before buying a new fare. We should have been able to recharge the card but something wasn't working and the machines did not give more than $4 in change which was another small hassle. Even though the laws are rigid and the media is scanned at the state level with inappropriate websites blocked it was by far the most 'western friendly' city we have experienced. Meaning you could identify food, stores, and tastes from home in a far, far away place all the while speaking English! Singapore again for SURE!

Sandy

Thai Massage in Ko Samui, Thailand

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:31:00 +0000

Candice and I declared Beach Day on Ko Samui. This was the second port in a three-in-a-row port days so we decided we'd hang out at the beach and take it easy.

Story from Candice: Beach day had been decided. We're up early, in line for our tender ticket. Got to get off the ship bright and early. Mission completed: tender ticket one. Once on the dock, we are off in a sequestered area, roped off from all the taxi drivers. I tell mom to get an idea of what a taxi ride is going to cost, so we walk up to the rope. Taxi driver one flips his sheet over, one way to Chaweng $35 US, round trip $70 US. We look at each other with the expression of he is crazy. So we step back under the tent, away from the rope. Sandy and I discuss prices a little and get a game plan down while still in our "safe zone." The last thing I say to her before we exit is "I don't care what price they give us, just a straight trip to the beach. No tour. I don't want to get snookered into a tour." Waited for her confirmation, she agreed because we had had this conversation while on the ship too. But I said it one more time, "No tours! Just get me to the beach."

So we walk out and approach a guy, Sandy is haggling about prices. All the while, I'm looking around for someone to split the cost with us. I keep approaching people, asking what are you guys trying to do today? I think they thought I was a taxi/tour guide myself. I mean, I didn't look like anyone else getting off of the ship. They didn't really answer me, but then we found a German couple. He told Sandy this taxi/covered seats on the back of a truck will take us around the island for $10 a piece. "But I just want to go to the beach." Sandy asks driver, "Can you drop us off at the beach after a half-island tour?" I look at her, wondering if she was paying attention to our conversation we just had. The Germans and the driver tell us we have to wait for a bus load of people to leave though.

I pulled Sandy aside, "What did we just talk about not five minutes ago? No tours. I refuse to get snookered into a tour. Plus we would still have to wait, and or pay for a taxi back from the beach once we were let off this tour." Logic won out so we continued to look, bumping into another set of Germans. A minibus taxi to Chaweng for $80 round trip. Sold! The first set of Germans actually joined us, coming to 9 Germans and us for $100 return trip. After haggling $10 a piece sounded pretty dang good.

Back to your regularly scheduled program:

So, after getting the 9 Germans and the two of us loaded up in the mini van we headed over to the north side of the island to Chaweng Beach. I asked the driver if there was a hotel were we could rent their lounge chairs and use their pool. He said he'd take us to a good one. I was hoping it wasn't another Fiji deja' vu. There for a while we were driving past 'Beer Town' and 2Much4U clubs on the back alleys of this small beach town with no beach in sight but much to my surprise we popped back up on a paved road and drove up a nice hilly drive to this 5-Star Resort called Centara. This place was exuding swank and at first I didn't think they'd let us walk through their lobby and down to the beach but we did. Our driver pointed and said the beach is 'that way.'

We got out, walked across the lobby and check in desks, snapped a few pictures and walked down some marble stairs and out to the terrace with the natural rock pool with a bar in the middle just beyond the eating area. There were nice gardens and walkways out to the beach and everyone had yellow towels on the lounge chairs. No way would our blue Cunard towels would pass mustard so once we walked out on the beach Candice and I continued walking down shopping for chair rentals.

We ran across a shaded Thai massage place along the way and told them we'd be back. We walked a little further and found two chairs and an umbrella for 100 Baht - SOLD! After getting set up I grabbed 250 Baht and headed back to the massage tent for a Thai massage before I got all sandy and sweaty. One hour of pure massage delight with a breeze blowing was well worth 200 Baht plus a tip. They had four beds a breast and the bed next to mine was some old guy from Belgium who must have weighed 275 pounds. It was funny to see a guy this size getting a massage but I guess he was there for some heavenly delight too. As the girl got done with him I heard her tell him she would see him next year. He must come to Ko Samui every year. A Thai massage involves a lot of compression and contortions, not really muscle manipulation but it all felt good to me!

By the time I got back to base camp Candice was ready to jump in the water. Once out of the water we purchased a Coke for 30 Baht and pulled a bag of peanuts out of our bags. Fresh out of Pringles! We spent the day hunkered down at our lounge chairs with frequent visits to the water and more Coke purchases.

Towards the end of the day we packed up shop and Candice got a foot massage while I waited. She was laying down getting her foot massage and I took a couple of pictures of her and this young guy laying next to her getting a manicure and pedicure. It was quite humorous! These two girls were working feverishly on him and the nail fragments were flying right and left. His hands and feet must have been a mess but he sure did look like he was enjoying the pampering! So funny I had to sneak the camera out for funny photo.

While I was waiting a man after my own heart came along with a bag full of aluminum. He sat down under the shade tree and I noticed he didn't have any hands. They were cut off at the wrist. A guy from down the way came up to him and gave him some money which he took between his wrist. He carefully opened up his pants with his wrist and somehow secured the money within his baggy pants. I watched him press on the bag of garbage in front of him listening for the familiar rattle of aluminum but there were none in the bag. I got my last 100 Baht out of my bag and walked over to him to give it to him. He stretched out his wrists and even though I knew he didn't have hands I half expected to see a hand come out to take the money. Then it dawned on me that I would have to place it between his wrist for him. Once again he opened up his pants and secured the money within. He was an old man and I would have loved to have chatted it up with him but I don't think he spoke any English. It was a very memorial moment and it will stay with me for the rest of my life. I really liked this guy's work ethic and survivor skills. He was doing what he could to make money; very industrial and very humble.

We had to meet our Germans back at the resort at 3:15 p.m. for the drive back to the pier for the last tender at 4 p.m. The area on the other side of the beach was what I would like to call 'early primitive party spots.' it was rustic but apparently it held all the paraphernalia for a good nightlife time with some shopping mixed in. We all pitched $10 in a piece for the $100 cab fare and a $10 tip for the driver. One older German guy spearheaded the job of collecting the money and after everyone paying in he was short $10. After quite a bit of German words were spoken another guy figured out he didn't pay for his wife the Germans all rolled with laughter. They were really funny and they certainly spoke more English than we spoke German. Germans are really fun people. Put me in a 15 passenger van with them any day of the week and I'll be just fine even if I can't understand them.

Later as we sailed out of Ko Samui the sun was setting and it was just gorgeous as we passed smaller islands for about an hour or so. The fishing boats were out and in the dusk of the evening you could see the smaller ports in the distance lit up with a few of the surrounding city lights. What a perfect ending for the perfect day! Ko Samui would be an ideal place to vacation to get away from it all and possibly try out the 2Much4U place since you I don't think you could get enough of Ko Samui but I'd like to try!

Sandy and Candice

Bangkok with a dash of Protestors

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:31:00 +0000

Well, we took our first "real" tour with the ship. This was only because they decided that we weren't capable of taking care of ourselves in Bangkok while protesters were roaming around. We were signed up for "Bangkok On Your Own," but a day before we arrived in Bangkok we got a letter advising that this tour was canceled on account of the protests and that the other tours could be altered to avoid them. The next best option was "The Grand Palace and Shopping."

The tour started out with a two-ish hour drive into the city. (Sometimes I really think I'm back on a track team with as much time as I'm spending riding a bus) But the "exciting" part of this ride happened in the first ten minutes. The tour guide comes over the microphone, "Yes, today we will be seeing the Grand Palace, Emerald Buddha Temple and then shopping in Pattaya." Sounds fine, but Pattaya was back at the ship, not Bangkok. A lot of people were using this tour just to get into the city due to the aforementioned cancelled tour. So after the word Pattaya, my head snaps to see if others heard what I heard. They looked confused too, but no one was saying anything. So shy, little Candice pipes up and yells halfway down the bus to tour guide, "Whoa, we are suppose to be shopping in downtown Bangkok." That's all it took to get the British started. We almost had another episode of mutiny. Tour descriptions were pulled out, while tour operation headquarters was called.

We had pulled the bus over on the shoulder while all this was going down. When everything seemed somewhat settled we still weren't moving, Sandy starts saying "Let's get going, figure this out on the way." Everyone joined in, bringing the tour guide back to the present. The bus started to roll out and the air conditioner above the seat next to us starts to leak on these British people I met standing in line. The wife was fusing over her husbands pants that were now wet with dirty water. He moves to the front. Not two seconds later, she is having her own shower of a/c rain. "Oh, bloody hell." Then it was our turn to get a little wet, but we didn't get it near as bad. It was priceless, what a way to start the day.

The day eventually turned around. The drive didn't seem that long, we were on very modern (the most American-like road system) interstate with at least four lanes the whole way. Had a "connivence" stop and encountered one of the worst bathrooms on our trip so far. (Best being a toss up between Exchange Square in Hong Kong and Rex Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, fyi) It was not a western toilet and it didn't flush, had to use a bowl to pour water into the porcelain hole in the floor to flush (I use that word very loosely). A quick stop at 7Eleven (they are everywhere, more so than McDonalds), and we were on our way.

The Grand Palace was a sight to see. Think "The King and I." This is where it all really happened. It was a pretty big complex, a lot of different temples and buildings that were intricately decorated. A person could spend two days there and not see everything; we had a little over an hour.

We had to be completely covered (shoulders and ankles) for this little trip; okay except for the heat. I think Arkansas weather prepared us well for this. We had a woman go down towards the end of the tour, she was pretty dramatic about the whole thing. After Sandy poured some water on the back of her neck to cool her down, she comes up to me, "This isn't any worst than when I mow the lawn." Like these Cunardians mow their own lawn.

After rounding up a bus load of tour #17s, we were off to shopping. Out two to three hours of shopping on our own turned into cram something else that is in the area into our tour. Luckily, right down the road was Jim Thompson's House, which is a collection of six different traditional Thai houses from around the country. Jim, who reinvigorated the silk business in Thailand in the 50's, had these houses relocated to Bangkok and westernized them. He later went missing while on vacation, and his houses were turned into a museum. All of his belongs are still there, including some very old buddha statues and dishes dating back to the 7th century. It was actually his birthday, so they were celebrating.

We did do a little bit of shopping. Nothing like knockoff Hurley shirts for six dollars. If we really liked shopping, we could be doing some serious damage. We almost needed a calculator while out to determine the exchange rate. In Thailand we had to divide by 33 to get one US dollar. The prices can throw you off, just due to instinct. I'm not paying 100, all the while it's really $3. Had an Auntie Anne's pretzel in the mall and DQ blizzard. I was really in need of some comfort food, and it was a little taste of home at just the right time.

While waiting for the bus, we did see some protesters drive by in the back of two trucks shouting and clapping. I'm just glad we didn't see any blood being pour over walls in protest. I don't know if I could have handled that.

With the little time that we had, we were really pleased with the day. The tour company was good, too, aside from a leaky a/c unit. They had water, cool towels, and bananas for us. Wasn't expecting all of that.

crj

Apple is Awesome

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:46:00 +0000

So we are in Singapore at the Apple store. FREE Internet! Thought we would just let you know we are doing well. About to have a pirate drill on the boat tomorrow.

We had a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel. Will post more later, just dropping a quick line thanks to Apple.

Post later...
crj

Saggin' in Saigon!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:36:00 +0000

We finally hit some land-ho on Thursday, March 18th! We took a bus into Saigon from our port, Phu My. It took us one and a half hours that included a bathroom break to drive in to Ho Chi Min, aka Saigon. The bathroom break was a new experience for me. A porcelain pit on the floor with water constantly running through it! Note: You must pick up your toilet paper outside the stall before you enter. Thank God I had tissue on me! You can be sure that I'll remember that rule and I suspect this stop will be an oasis compared to some of toilets we'll run across before this trip is up. Candice decided she didn't need to go until she found a set of 'western style' toilets. Oddly they were named "Nu Woman." Ha, ha!

At this rest stop, which every bus stopped at, there was a group of people hawking their wares. The security guard came over and kicked them outside the fence but one guy stayed in between the buses and was able to avoid the guard. Once the guard was distracted with something else the people came back through the fence, scatter and starting hawking for more sales. The whole bus was watching all this go down and we clapped for them once they made it back inside the fence! It was great theater for a while until we had to pull back out on the road.

Once our tour bus rolled into Ho Chi Min City we were handed a nice, warm bottle of water (yuck) and a map of the city. We were turned loose with instructions to meet the bus at 3:00 p.m. for departure and we got down to the brass tacks. With the heat rising from the streets and the sun beating down, we set out to became millionaires by exchanging our money. No passport needed in this country. Ten US dollars rate $198,000 Dong. Why with a $100,000 bill in my hand it was picture taking time! Have you ever heard of the movie "A Fist Full of Dong?" I think we were starring in it, ha, ha!

First stop was the War Remnants Museum. It was chalk full of propaganda which I expected to take with a grain of salt but I think they went over the top when they showed that a guillotine was used in the prisoner camps. I'm no war history buff but I don't think this 18th century device was used in modern warfare. They had a static display outside in the courtyard and that was pretty neat to see the tanks, helicopters, and airplanes. I did take objection to their recreated version of the prisoner camps which Candice opted out of viewing. The entrance fee was less than $1 to get in and that was about all it was worth but on the other hand I did get a good lesson on how to produce propaganda; don't talk about your role in the war, only the enemies. The Vietnam War was an historic event in our time and I felt we needed to visit it since we were in the heart of Saigon but Candice made me promise that I would keep my comments to myself. So self control was the rule for the moment!

The US Embassy, something I really wanted to see, is no longer standing but the Presidential Palace that the Viet Cong overran with tanks and smashed the gates down in 1975 is still standing. It has been renamed Reunification Hall. They conduct meetings on the first floor on a daily basis but we were able to visit the other three floors which were the living quarters of the last president before Saigon fell. Everything is the same as it was back in 70's and it was too weird to see all the old radios, desk and telephones in the basement. There were also map rooms and reception halls for international and local guests on the second floor with a special room for receiving ambassadors. The third floor had a gambling room with a bar and a billiard's table with the family's living quarters on this floor too. Fact: The gentleman that was president in 1975 now resides in California.

Next stops included the Notre Dame Cathedral, which didn't open until 3 p.m., so we didn't get any inside pictures but plenty of the outside. The bricks and the stain glass came over from France when it was built in 1877-1883. The post office was a gem. Nothing has changed in there since it went up except the picture of the current president. You could make phone calls from there, exchange money and post some mail too. Taking a step back in time allowed us some time for cooling off a bit. Oh, no air conditioning but the fans worked rather well and it was time for a cold, $20,000 Coke! Later in the day we found them across town for only $10,000 a piece. I think this was the tourist trap price but who's bickering when it's 37 Celsius degrees outside and a little over a dollar in cost. By this time our shorts were wet with sweat and starting to droop and drag, not to mention our backs were soaked from the lack of ventilation from our backpacks.

Back tracking to the center of town we ran across the Opera House which was very classy looking but unfortunately the communist use it for some of their meetings. I didn't think you were suppose to mix business with pleasure!?! Along the streets we took pictures of the 'wire' situation hanging over our heads. Thousands of wires bundled together and running the length of the streets converging to look like a manmade accident waiting to happen. I think there were as many wires strung on the poles as there were motorbikes on the road. I'd hate to be the person that has to trace a problem on those lines.

Saying Vietnam is Motorcycle City is an understatement to say the least. Racks and racks of motorcycles parked along the side of the streets, you'd think you were at a motorcycle factory. Crossing the traffic was a game and we can safely report we won every time. These motorcycles on the road don't stop for anybody! You just have to be brave, commit and start walking across the street. They just weave in and out of the people. Mr. Magoo wouldn't be in any danger here! The key is for you to not stop walking once you commit. A blind person could cross the street easier in Vietnam than they could in the US. I think Vietnam has a great Olympic dodge ball team in the making!

Honda was the first motorbike to be sold in the country and all makes are referred to as a 'Hon Da' no matter who manufactures them. We saw someone transporting a washer on one and another one had a plasma TV still in the box going down the highway. Not only were the 1000's of motorbikes on the street amazing but the wardrobe these people were wearing was a little dumbfounding. It was equator hot and these people had on long pants, jackets and we even saw one wearing gloves. I guess the heat WILL make you crazy! Ha, ha.

Next stop was the shopping market and a market it was! Stalls so close together you barely had any room to maneuver down the aisles much less with a backpack on your back. What a hot operation this place was. Vendors carrying trays full of soup and food running through the crowds and somehow all of it being delivered without a drop split. Little plastic stools were pulled out and offered up for us to sit on while we browsed their goods leaving hardly any room for anyone to pass. I felt like a little kid having tea while we were looking at the ceramic ware. This was the only sitting for the day except for the bus ride and a small stop in the Rex Hotel at the end of the day.

As if we didn't get enough of the market and bargaining that took place inside, we found we had to contribute to the street vendors income too. Candice actually partook in the ceremony this time. With bags loaded and almost out of 'funny money' we headed for the Rex Hotel for some air conditioning and a peek in the lobby.

This was a very nice hotel and was used by the war corespondents during the war. While Candice was in the restroom, I started to peel an orange in my lap with a hand towel laid over my lap. Since we hadn't eaten all day (no Pringles around - only a knock off version) I was pretty wiped out and hungry and I didn't want to sit on the bus for an hour and half with orange all over my hands. Well Candice came out of the restroom and was not too pleased seeing me peeling this orange in the lobby. She asked me what I was doing. I told her I was about to eat an orange. She wasn't having any of that but I was too drained to care what anyone thought. I guess the heat not only makes you crazy it also makes you 'just not care.' After Candice's exit I packed up my towel full of orange peel and headed to the restroom myself. Let me tell you the bathrooms were nicer than the lobby so I washed my face, my hands and my orange and ate it in there all by my lonesome. Candice came in about 5 minutes later yelling my full name and telling me we only had 5 minutes to get to the bus. I offered her a slice of orange but she said NO. I immediately thought, good, that's more for me! Once we got on the bus I heard this guy tell his wife that he wasn't late and still had seven minutes. I told him to tell that to this one pointing towards Candice. She was just thankful I was on the bus at this point in time.

The ride back to the ship was great for observing everyday life in Vietnam. Whole rows of storefronts lined the entire highway with breaks every so often almost all the way back to Phu My. The people were very friendly, resourceful and ingenious. They are hard workers and seem to be quite happy. The country seems to be prospering and China now outsources some of its manufacturing to them. I could hang with these people but they'd have to do something about all the dirt on the roads and sidewalks. Thank God we visited on a sunny day because if it did rain it would be one big muddy mess. The Saigon River had plants growing in it or washing down it and this made it look more like a large creek instead of a river. Small temples were erected outside people's houses and things were quite colorful. They seem to have a good sense of family especially when a family of four all rode on the motorcycle at a time.

Sorry to say there were no McDonald sightings at all in Saigon, only KFC, Coke and Oreo's.

All in all It was a good day even if we did have to keep picking up our saggin' shorts all day all the while grinding out that new hit wonder 'Pants on the Ground.'

Sandy

Shanghai In the Rearview Mirror/By the Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:24:00 +0000

We finally started moving at 6 a.m. this morning and no one was more relieved than the captain. I think he caught a lot of flack but it was totally out of his control. He said that in the forty years he has been at sea he has never been delayed by fog for that long. He did tell us that we were given first passage down the river, so that was a good thing. We will have to miss the port of Halong Bay which is a pity but at least we are moving towards Ho Chi Minh and back on schedule. We'll be there by Friday. That means we will be going to Bangkok, so keep your TV's tuned in to the news. We'll be there March 21st, riots or not although they looked very calm today. I don't think I'll be wearing a red shirt that day!

It rained last night and I think that helped cut the fog down but we are still surrounded with fog even after sailing all day. It's still cold and overcast so we are looking forward to returning to warmth and sunshine. A little bit of heat wouldn't hurt either.

Now that we are looking at Shanghai in the rearview mirror I can look at the city in a different light. The weather didn't help our view of the city since it was cloaked in gray, damp, cold, foggy skies. It really was the kind of weather Hollywood paints when filming a communist country scene, so the setting wasn't the best and sunshine would have gone a long way! We also read in our port of call information that Shanghai is called the Queen of the Orient and the Paris of the East. We can't quite see that but they are currently building a skyscraper that will be slightly taller than the Dubai's Burj Khalifa when completed. Future plans call for another building almost twice as tall as, 4,000 ft high. I don't know if I'd trust that height but China is going for it. No Chinese engineering went into the Maglev train but Chinese labor built it. So the city is trying to make its mark in the world and currently they are under construction everywhere in the city trying to get ready for their 2010 Expo. So, our views were not glamorous or bright but they might have been with a little sunshine and no fog.

Joe and Lee had been to China before and we told them about our map experience at dinner. They said we had a 'bad' map. I really didn't think there was such an animal. Our map looked legit with advertisements, glossy paper, and the correct main streets but apparently there is no quality control in making them. So things would have been much easier with a 'correct' map. We, honest to God, thought we were loosing our minds trying to find our way around! Joe and Lee told us we didn't get to see a good representation of China and we should really look into visiting again. My mind is so foggy right now I can't even entertain the thought.

The funniest thing was that I bought this 'Lucky Cat', the kind that waves his paw back and forth, in Shanghai. We saw them in HK and we really don't care for cats but for some reason I thought to myself this is probably the last place I could buy one of these classic cats so I did. I got back on the ship, pulled him out of my bag and set him right next to the TV with his little arm waving. He ran all night and all the next day but after dinner that night and being stuck in Shanghai for 26 hours I decided HE just might be the problem. So I pulled the plug on him and took his battery out to see if we could get underway. Well, I guess it finally worked - seven hours later. I am very leery of turning him back on since there are storms scheduled to hit Vietnam. What part, I don't know but I don't want to chance it. Right now he is just sitting by the TV and that's all I'm going to let him do for now! Ha, ha!

By the Numbers

13,901 Nautical miles traveled so far

251 United States Passengers on board since HK

515 UK passengers on board since HK

481 Australians on board since HK

185 Germans on Board since HK

34 Hours delayed by fog

1 Port of call missed

$88 HKD foot massage at 10:30 p.m. + $12 HKD tip makes for best $100 HKD spent!

5 Golden tickets won in trivia out of last nine sessions! (We're starting to kick -A)

1 Pirate drill to go

3 Empty washers and 3 empty dryers found on our floor at the same time!

1 Ring lost

1 Ring found in the vacuum cleaner

1 New British couple self-removed from our dinner table (they didn't like Americans)

1 Happy dinner table! (We miss our Aussies, Nan and Betty)

1 Ship - finally moving!

1 Happy Captain!

5 Days of no sunshine - boo!

Sandy

Polar Extremes

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:23:00 +0000

Tourist Friendly Hong Kong

Loved, loved Hong Kong. It is has been one of the most navigable cities on this trip. The metro ticket system was slick (one of Sandy's words). All you had to do was touch the map of where you wanted to go and it told you how much. Rode the Star Ferry across the harbor, a must do. Actually, after reading the Hong Kong guide books in the library, we did/saw about 8 of the top ten things to do/see in Hong Kong. Rode the escalator up past SoHo.

The night market was fun. I did a little haggling, got a good deal. Was quite proud of myself, I usually had Sandy do that for me. The highlight of Hong Kong was on the second day. Went out to Lantau to see the Big Buddha. And big it was. It was nice to get out of the city and see the mountains on Lantau. Way less populated, on top of the Buddha you couldn't see any other towns/villages other than the one right at the base.

We survived on a healthy diet of McDonalds. The golden arches never looked so good. They were everywhere and I was thankful. French fries and coke were so much more appetizing after seeing the markets and nameless foods. There was so much more that we could have seen, or things more in depth. I wish we had had more time, but very pleased with the day and half that we had.

A Whirlwind 5.5 Hours

Could have done without Shanghai. We were late getting to the port (that was an hour away by bus). The tour book is a little deceiving on port hours. It said 8am to 8pm. Two days out that changed to 10am to 8pm, with the last bus from the city leaving at 6pm. It is all very misleading. So we were down to 8 hours in Shanghai. That was until the fog, oh the fog, moved in, pushing our docking to 11am. We queued up way early to be the first of the ship, which was 11:20. First bus out of the container dock, how luxurious for these Cunard people, right?

So all day, I had a ticking clock in my head. It was quite nerve wracking, trying to get our money's worth of Shanghai. Well, this turned out to be even more stressful, because of language barriers, faulty maps, and the crowds. No one spoke English, aside from "Watch? Gucci? Just look pretty lady." That got really old, really quick. I was stuck in a crowd of asian women in the Yu Gardens, "Excuse me" got no results; I basically contorted myself through them. Mom watched the whole thing go down and said that my face was priceless, should have gotten a picture. This was all down in Old Town, where the crowds were close to unbearable. I'm talking worst than Disney World in the height of summer tourism season. Nobody moved, much less moved fast. I was in agony. I am quite surprised I didn't breakdown earlier than I did (see following paragraphs). My bubble is getting a workout.

We've discovered Sandy has a much shorter stride than me while walking. And mine gets about a foot longer when I'm angry, lost, or simply flustered. So Sandy's new nickname is Short Stride Sandy, triple S. So I'm trying to navigate us through Old Town with a horrible map, while Sandy keeps asking people for directions. I kept telling her to stop, it was just wasting time because no one spoke English. And I was right. She kept entertaining street peddlers, too. I kept yelling at her to stop talking to them, I'm sure she was upset with me too for walking too fast. The only driving force I had all day was the countdown clock and the last bus to get us back to the ship. So here we were on a time crunch, Sandy is chatting it up with peddlers, who chased her across busy streets and into convenience stores. This slowed me down, making me more jittery. It was a vicious cycle. Talk about stress, I didn't want to be stuck in China.

The final straw was the trip/trek back to the buses. Getting a taxi was a feat considering the language barrier and me slightly flipping out. I knew where we picked the cab up and were we needed to be on the map, but I instantly got turned around and couldn't find where we were going. After a long while, I finally found a street and knew we were going in the right direction. But then we turned in the opposite direction, my heart sunk. I almost made us get out of the cab and run to the buses (we had five minutes to get there). The more I waited on this decision, the further we got from the buses, the more my heart sped up. In the end we got there, I have come to the conclusion that one way streets forced us that way. But honestly who knows.

So the taxi driver lets us out. I still have a little yuan to spend (actually 100 yuan/14 dollars). Convenience store=a couple of cokes. I have a one track mind, get in-get out, get on the bus. Sandy on the other hand starts haggling with yet another peddler. She is asking me for money, I'm asking her for small bills. All the while I'm picking up little snippets of their conversation and getting really frustrated with the guy. Well, I get a couple of cokes and run back outside to catch the bus. Well there was a long line of buses and it starts dawning on me that none of them are on, they don't have drivers in them, they don't have the "Cunard Shuttle" signs that we've grown accustomed to. My heart starts racing like crazy. And here is my breakdown. Guy is still talking to mom, she is saying no. I think he isn't getting the message, so I turn around while running to the front bus and yell like a crazy woman NO! I think he still followed us, but I had finally reached the door of the bus. Frantically asking "Cunard?" When I saw a bunch of old people sitting in the front seats, I praised the Lord. I heard some people chuckle, and looking back, I am sure I looked crazed. Sandy seemed pretty lax about the whole thing, but I was not going to be stuck in China. If she knew how much it would cost to get us to the next port and that we were losing the time onboard (ie food and lodging costs already paid for), I think it would have made her move a little faster. (She says she is aware, but I wasn't chancing it.) Little did I know we would be stuck in China, sitting dockside more than 24 hours later. Got very antsy.

Anyway, I did have a good time on the MagLev train. And apart from the crowds, Old Town was very authentic, neat Chinese architecture. There was a Dairy Queen there, would have gotten some ice cream if it haven't been so cold. We probably had more good times than what I'm recalling, but the horror stories just stand out more and are easier to tell. Shanghai would probably been a much better experience, if the circumstances had been different (ie longer time, not so rushed, docked closer). All this taken in to account, I probably won't be back. That was really the whole point to this trip, see the world and learn where I wanted to go back.

"No Clue"

That is the name of the trivia team we are on. Every sea day there is trivia three times, 10, 11:15, and 4:15. Our old dinner table mate, Ruby, has had a team all along, but people dropped off in Hong Kong. We said we would take their spots. Sandy and I alone would not do so well, but let me tell you we are quite an asset to the team. The first trivia after Hong Kong (where we picked up new segment cruisers) was back to mutiny on the trivia hostess. I leaned into Sandy, "The British are back." We got a good laugh out of that. The last segment was quite calm, at least during the late night trivia we had gone to. The prize for winning is a golden ticket, to later be redeemed. Before we joined Ruby's team, she had 6 tickets since SanFran. In three and half days we have won 5 quizzes, with no British people to answer the British questions. We've knocked the British team "Babettes" off their winning streak. Twice we've gone into a tie breaker and lost, one was a very British question, when did Duchess Fergy get married in 1986. Honestly!? Props to Arkansas State for helping with a question, what two colors can wolves be? Gray and red, ASU Red Wolves native to the area. Sandy knew it, I backed it up with ASU knowledge, table really wasn't sure about it. But we got the point. Also, on a quiz challenge that wasn't played for a ticket, what is added to diet coke to make a geyser? Mentos, thank you Michael Miller!

crj

A Tale of Two Cities

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:47:00 +0000

Visiting Hong Kong in 30 hours and sleeping just 5 of those thirty hours makes for a hectic schedule. I don't know how these older people are doing it. Although we did hear that some of them booked a hotel in downtown for the night instead of taking the shuttle bus back to the container terminal where the ship was docked. We only had one day at sea before hitting Shanghai and we could have used two days to recover. We now have three days at sea before we hit the mean streets of Halong Bay, Vietnam but right now we may miss that port because we still haven't left Shanghai due to fog and we are 19 hours late leaving Shanghai! Damn Communist - you can get in their country but they won't let you leave! Have they heard of a GPS system? The longer we sit here, the more the river traffic gets backed up. The captain has requested preferred treatment but we were denied. They say it's too unsafe for us to travel down the river and out to sea. I think someone is just waiting for payment/bribe - politics as usual. I swear it was foggier when we sailed in but they say the fog is even worse at the mouth of the river. Ahem, we could be here for days!

Hong Kong - crisp 60 degrees with sun coming through the pollution haze!

HK was a breathe of fresh air, figuratively speaking. The air quality was horrible and the pollution hung in the air like a thick fog, but it wasn't fog. Don't believe those photoshopped pictures of HK; I'm almost positive it's never that clear. Quite a few people were wearing the surgical face mask and some of them had a designer flair to them. Now the refreshing part. Practically everyone spoke English, the transportation was very navigable and quick, and it was a very clean city.

I think the HK subway is the best thing going. All the stations are enclosed in glass so there is no wind blowing through the tunnels, which means the dirt and hot/cold air stay on the outside and it's very clean. There was a touch screen when purchasing the fares and it was as simple as touching the station that you wanted to go to and the price would pop up, you'd insert the money and out would come the ticket and your change. No need to write a book called 'HK subways for dummies' - just do it! The machines accepted bills up to $50 (unlike Shanghai only $20) and I don't believe I ever saw an attendant since there was no need for one.

The ferry system was also a delight. The Star Ferry Line ran from Kowloon over to Hong Kong Island about every ten minutes and the fare was roughly .28 US cents. What a bargain! One thing I really liked about this ferry line was a sign that read 'watch out for moving platform.' This is why the ferry ran so efficiently. When we were in Australia they'd take 5 minutes tying up the ferry and securing the platform before anyone could get on or off. Here in HK it was a 'passenger beware - we're running a tight ship operation' which I agree with, so watch the platform as you are exiting. Time is money and in HK even more so.

We took the mid levels too which is is an escalator system that runs from downtown HK Island up to the mid level neighborhoods. It only runs downhill until 10 am and at 10:15 am it runs only uphill until the wee morning hours when everyone has to come back down for work the next day. There were longer stretches of the escalators at the bottom but as you got to the middle of Mount Victoria they would end on a flat street where you would have to walk across the street and maybe up a few steps to continue on up the hill. I think we had so much fun riding them that we actually rode past our stopping point to pick up the tram that ran all the way to the top of Mount Victoria for a panoramic view. So we got lost up in the hills but thank God it was all downhill to get to the tram.

Mount Victoria was very nice and modern with beautiful views, we only wished there wasn't so much pollution in the air because we really would have been able to see for miles around. Just the skyline over to Kowloon was murky and you wished you could have taken a rag and wiped away the fog on the camera lens but it wasn't fog. Now this place was a 'good' tourist trap - if there is such a thing! There was a Madam Trausseaux (sp) wax museum at the top and, of course, Disneyland's name and paraphernalia were all over the place along with gift shops selling everything and a swanky shopping center housed inside the "Wok" which was a modern building shaped like it's name.

After going to Mt. Victoria on the tramline that had run since 1888 we headed over to the back alley street vendor to pick up our stone stamps that we had ordered with personalized names in Chinese characters. Now the back alleys were where the sightseeing was at! Let's just say I wouldn't be doing any dining in this area for numerous reasons but probably the biggest reason would be that I didn't recognize much on the menu. These people use every bit of every animal, fish, and vegetable - every bit. There is no waste but I think they took the 'Sandy' thing too far! Sandy would never eat fried fish stomachs. Those would be garbage in my book. These back alleys and the way these people operate are a true wonder. One vendor would have old machine parts spread out in a small place and right next to him was a kitchen for a restaurant and a dishwashing operation and next to that was a vendor selling clothes and hardware. Truly amazing and spectacular but I would have to say the US Health Dept. would have their hands full in HK!

After Mt. Victoria it was time to head back over to Kowloon and up to the Stanley Market for some shopping. We rode the city double decker bus up top for a bird's eye view. Another very efficient system with no big loops to all parts unknown in the city; buses 6, 6X, and 6A all went to Stanley, and only Stanley, via different routes; we choose the most scenic. The modern waterfronts on both HK Island and Kowloon are built on reclaimed land and you can definitely see where the original waterfronts started back in the day. The difference was remarkable; old meets new, east meets west. We saw the original post office and passed Happy Valley, which is a huge, all grass horse racing track that is the busiest of any in the world with big races happening on Wednesday, the day we were there. This valley, which is about the only flat land around, is draped with cemeteries and graveyards up the hillsides. It's very pretty and old but I'm not quite sure if they call it Happy Valley for the cemetery, the racing, or just the flat land. We also ran across Repulse Bay (odd name since it was so nice) which is a modern resort and residential area. It was funny to see all the businessmen down on the beach in their business suits and barefoot. We drove past a modern building here over looking the bay that had a nice architectural effect to it. In the middle of the building there was a huge open hole/deck about 20 floors high that you could see through to the mountains. But it wasn't for aesthetics my dear, it is so the dragons can come down from mountains and get a drink of water! Later the next day we saw some more of these buildings out on Lantau Island.

We shopped for a while through Stanley Market and finally ate a little lunch at the McDonald's which consisted of french fries, a coke and an orange for me. Thank God for potatoes. Between the Pringles and French Fries, we are subsisting. After lunch we walked across the courtyard to one of the oldest temples in HK, Tin Hau, which was a female goddess who protected sailors (if my memory serves me correctly). If you travel, you know McDonald's are always located right by the world's great landmarks or almost in them - St. Mark's Square in Venice anyone? Just outside the temple was the beach that wrapped around the Stanley area and the maritime museum, which was the original Murphy House in downtown that they brought over brick by brick to Stanley. Seems there were extra parts/columns that they had left over after reconstructing it, so they just set them up along the sidewalk outside. They look nice but there is no telling which floor is missing their supports.

After another Mr. Toad's wild ride back into town on the double decker bus we headed over to the Avenue of the Stars which is like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Lots of stars and hand prints but we only recognized about three of them. Next up was the Symphony of Lights which started at 8 pm and we heard the best place to watch it was from the Avenue of the Stars. But first we headed up Nathan St. for some shopping and dinner, which was guess what? McDonalds! After walking back to the waterfront we were set for a show and half with lasers, lights, and music, plus this is the Guinness' World Record for a permanently fixed light show. It includes 36 buildings and I don't know how many lights but it spans both banks of Victoria Harbor. Well were we ever disappointed! They couldn't hold a candle to a Disney production. First the music was lame-O. Secondly, it wasn't loud enough and lastly it needed new choreography. They had the right tools but no va-voom! We ended up leaving disappointed after 10 minutes but on a brighter note we beat the crowd over to Temple Street for the night time shopping market. We caught the midnight bus back to the ship and ended up getting to bed about 1:45 a.m. after some room service. Man cannot subsist on McDonalds only!

After about 5 hours of sleep we caught the bus back into Kowloon. Today's schedule would take us out to Lantau, an island southwest of downtown, to see the world's largest Buddha and a Buddhist monastery. After a ferry ride, and a subway ride to the end of the line we made it out to the gondola. Since the ship ran out of Hong Kong dollars we went to a bank to get some more money exchanged. First they told us it would cost us $50 HKD. Okay, that's roughly $9 USD and we were in a time crunch, then they wanted our passports. What? We've got these Cunard Gold Cards. Will these do???? Apparently not. All I got to say is if you are a foreigner in a strange country (because this happened in Shanghai too) you had better have a passport on you if you want money exchanged! At the time the money exchange didn't open until 10:30 am but it still wouldn't have done us much good since we would have needed our passports and the ship requires us to leave them in their offices for port inspections. We got to the ticket window and I just ended up puttng the tickets on the credit card in order to save our subway money and shopping dollars.

What can I say? This was the highlight of my HK trip. The gondola ride was probably 25 minutes long; first over to the island that the new airport sits on and then again across the other side of the bay up to the top of the closest peak of Lantau and then we were dropped over the mountains into the village. There was a bit of a wind kicking around but the heights alone and the thought of a plane hitting our wires and everyone falling to the ground was a scary thought. The views were fantastic and no exception to the rule of high rise apartments and condos along the base of the mountains. A jungle of buildings just like downtown HK. The Buddha was enormous and we set up pictures with us giving him a 'high five' from below. There was construction going on at the base and I recognized 'the sound of progress' going on. They are having an expo this year, so I think they were making some improvements to the garden area. Making our journey up the steps of Pow Lin where the Buddha sits on top was quite nice and the views from top were awesome.

Due to our time constraints we didn't have time to walk over to the monastery, which was 30 minutes away but we did have time to buy some merchandise and for the first time I felt I might just need to buy a buddha for good luck. To our surprise (wink, wink) we found Pringles and Coke and stocked up with a few cans. We had a gondola car all to ourselves on the way back down, so we popped a couple of tops and feasted on the way down. There was a hiking path all the way up to the village, very long, but we decided if we ever came back and had the time, it would be neat to hike out to the Buddha.

Back from wince we came but instead of taking a ferry we rode the subway as close as we could into Kowloon. The ship doesn't buy back coins so we stopped at a 7-11 to use them up and made it back to the shuttle bus just in time for the 2 pm last bus. On the way we saw the Russian Olympic Team touring HK on their way home but we didn't have any time to snap a picture. Too bad! They looked snazzy in their bright red uniforms.

Not only does HK have the world record light show and Buddha, they have the largest suspension bridge too and we sailed under it as we let HK drop out of sight. As we sailed north towards Shanghai we could see all kinds of fishing boats anchored along the way and other boats hawking their wares to the fishermen. My only regret was that we did not get out to Aberdeen to see the 'boat people.' These people live on their boats and make their living on the boats. Some of them never step foot on land if you can imagine that. Most boats go out during the day to make their living and then come back into the harbor for shelter at night, so maybe we wouldn't have seen much. Maybe next time!

Even though HK started out as an opium trading center, and to the British's advantage they let it continue in the colonial period to ensure their continued foreign presence, it is now the the trading capital of the world. Hong Kong has 266 islands, Lantau being the largest with HK Island being the second, and quite a bit of land all the way up to the Guandong Province called the New Territories. Even though HK was handed over by the British in 1997 they are a Special Administrative Region and as long as the communist let them run their 'one country, two systems policy' things will go well for the people of HK. We saw as much as we could in 25 hours but there is plenty of nooks and crannies that we would like to come back and see. It's worth a second, longer visit!

Shanghai - cold and overcast with heavy fog!

It's living up to its name! We have been Shanghai'd, which means 'up river.' We've been sold up the river and can't get back out to sea. I think the fog combined with the pollution is a double whammy for us.

So the Chinese officials got on the ship in HK and we all had to go visit them with our passports and fill out a health questionnaire the day before we came in to port. Cunard also told us that we must carry our passports with us at all times. My little red flag started moving up my flagpole...wonder why that is??? In case we miss the boat? In case we get arrested? In case we cross some imaginary line??? Glad to say we never needed to show them.

Shanghai was pretty much a navigational mess. We had to be bused in from an hour away to downtown Shanghai from the automotive terminal. Now guess what we saw at this terminal? Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW's. We also saw a Mazarrati dealership in town and Morgan saw a Porsche dealership. Who in China is buying these cars???? Must be some government officials (wink, wink).

So we get into town after an interesting drive and nothing seems quite like the maps we had studied or have in our hands. The information desk at the bus drop off was a card table with a folded piece of paper with 'info' written on it - nothing else! The maps showed up momentarily (we managed to get the first bus off the boat since we were two hours late arriving in port due to the fog) and they started charging for those. How much we don't know but entrepreneurship is healthy and alive! Next came the watch sales people. I'll give it to them, I like their spunk!

I heard this girl say they wanted to go to the Maglev train and I told her we were headed to the same place and we would share a cab ride with them. Then I remembered we'd need a taxi out to the Teahouse Gardens and Old City from the Maglev train so the four of us set out to find the subway and decided to take the taxi later. This was 'Amazing Race' comical. No one, and I mean no one, spoke English. I did spot an American by himself and asked him if he knew what the subway symbol looked like. He offered us his 'free map' from his hotel and told us he hadn't ridden the subway while he was here on business but he did at least point us in the right direction that he understood the subway to be. As we walked down the street we found out he was from right outside of San Diego and he has a brother who lives in Pine Bluff and a cousin in Sherwood, AR - small world, eh?

Did I tell you that signs are not in English either? It would make sense since no one speaks it. Very little English to be found. Well, we finally ran across a sign that said subway in English and it showed a picture of stairs going down. Great, we thought we found it. Wrong. It was only an underground passage to the other side of the busy boulevard. So we were right back to square one. Well, we finally spotted the metro but now we were on the wrong side of the street. Once down in the subway the next step was to study their system and try to maneuver our way out to the correct subway station to pick up the airport train, the Maglev. On our way out there we did bump into one other person who spoke English and took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about our plans.

Upon getting to the terminal we purchased a ticket, 80 Yuan, for a trip out to the airport and stood there on the platform waiting for the train when we realized we didn't even know the names of our travel companions. We were so focused on getting down the road that we failed to realize that we missed the customary introductions. Their names, Colette and Keith from Liverpool - Good British people this time - their young, so maybe that's the difference! The Maglev is the fastest train in the world and just as luck would have it we got the afternoon train which travels at the top speed of 431 km per hour and that converts to 267 mph. You cover 25 km in just 7 minutes. Once we got there we sat on the train for the ride back, ha, ha. It felt funny not to get off but that was what we came for - to go back! The scenery along the way was pretty awesome too. We saw buildings in ruins right next to other houses that were whole. We couldn't tell if there had been an earthquake or if they were just falling apart or if they were knocked down but not hauled away. Hard to tell but it was a sight to see no less.

Once back in town we went over to the Pearl Tower, the world's third tallest radio tower, but we didn't buy a ticket to go up due to the fog. We then headed over to the '88 Observation Deck in the Hyatt Hotel but it was up in the clouds too. We then shared our cab ride out to the Old City and parted ways with Colette and Keith. We visited the Old City and bought tickets into the Yu Gardens. Both were very large and you could get lost in either one of them. Wall to wall people since it was a Saturday AND we were in a city with 20 million people.

Candice and I got off the beaten path and saw the real Shanghai down the narrow streets. Shopping was fun and very adventurous! I'll let Candice tell you about the guy chasing me back to the bus trying to sell me watches! I didn't mind but Candice got fed up and shouted at him - well I guess I just told you the story but her story will be more elaborate. While we were shopping the back streets and running into streets not on the map and not finding streets that were on the map, we ran across some foul smelling food cooking. We've been told it's fermented tofu but who knows. They say you need to acquire a taste for it. Let me tell you something, if you have to 'acquire' a taste for anything, best thing is not to start at all. I never saw it but there was steam coming cooking off the wagon and people standing around waiting to buy it. Needless to say, the smell is still haunting us back on the boat every now and then, even after two showers.

After feeling our time slip and slip and slip, we decided to make our way back to the ship by taxi. What an adventure! We had the address preprinted for us from Cunard so we thought we should have no problem getting them to understand where we wanted to go but, no, it took us 3 taxis for someone to understand where we wanted to go. We understand the taxicab drivers can't read. Oh yeah, traffic jams are common in Shanghai too around 5:30 p.m. So when our woman driver ran into a jam she quickly turned around and hit some side streets and, of course, more traffic but probably quicker than the other way. We kept checking with her to make sure we were still going to the right place and between no English and us turning the map every which way and pointing to where we needed to be, we finally became confident that we would get back to the buses by 6 p.m.

We finally arrived and a shuttle bus never looked so glorious to me! Well we had quite a bit Yuan to get rid of so we ran into the c-store for some Coke purchases and that's where I ran into the man with the watches. I didn't really need a watch or want a watch but I entertained the guy but in the meantime I was losing points with Candice!

We got back to the ship and went up on the Lido Deck for dinner, took a shower and hit the bed with a movie. We got a couple of announcements from the captain telling us that we would be delayed in leaving but we woke up this morning and here we still are, sitting in Shanghai port!!! Now we are close to 24 hours off schedule and I see trouble brewing. We will have to drop a port to squeeze the time. I'm up for knocking out Bangkok since there is civil uprising there. Let's hope the captain makes the right call.

Even though we ran out of time and didn't make it over to the Bund, another historical section of town on the other side of the river, I don't think there is much to bring me back to Shanghai and this departure situation is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Captain just came across and said nothing is moving up or down the river so we suspect it won't be until tomorrow at noon before we start moving. So...who knows where we will be in another 24 hours! The captain has forewarned us that we will need to go through a 'special' - read pirate - drill before we get to Singapore so maybe this delay is a blessing in disguise with the timing of pirates, civil unrest, typhoons, etc.

One city - YES, one city - NO - that's the tale!

Now everybody sing .....Sittin' in the dock of Shanghai....

(Candice to post later)

Sandy

Stand Fast, Secure the Rigging!

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:26:00 +0000

Captain's Log:
We are sailing into some monsoon winds in the South China Sea, according to the captain. The ship is a'rockin'. Swells at 4 meters, expected to reach 6 meters throughout the night. All the old people were advised to stay in their cabins, don't want any broken hips and what not.

Housekeeping note-I don't know when the next round of pictures will be. The next couple of ports we are visiting have some long busrides into the city centers. Therefore, once we are off the ship for the day, we are off until we set sail at night. So, I won't be hauling the mac around with me all day. It will at least be after Shanghi. We'll be in port for the next day, so if you want to check out the webcab, it won't be just the sea. But we are docking in a container/shipping yard, so I can't promise a great view. We are sailing out of Hong Kong at 3pm local time on Thursday (I think it will be 1am Central on Thursday) If you're up and about.

Until then...
crj

Outwit, Outlast, Outplay

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:28:00 +0000

The original Survivor Season One was filmed on Borneo island. Not near where we were, but our visit provided some insight. I had my own immunity challenge in Kota Kinabula. Survive the Sunday Market, quite hard with my aforementioned social bubble. This market, aka tarps and tables setup on a street, was a sight to see, well smell really. It was so dang crowded and hot, I was about to have a melt down. All while trying to snag a good deal; I am Sandy's child. I had to keep moving, feel like I wasn't stuck. Had to keep looking back for Sandy, catch her eye and wait in my little one foot space. (Once back on board, the pool was stop number two, only after stop one for food. I completely dunked myself; fyi that never happens.)

We also passed the central market, mostly their open air food market. 99% of the food I couldn't even tell you what it was, no idea. But the smell, oh my the smell. So not only was I trying to figure out how I would use this food, but the real question was which one smelled so dang bad. I have never loved Wal-Mart so much and will now forever defend them against the anti-Wal-mart hippies. I would like to see them try shop in these markets. A day and two showers later, I was still catching wiffs of KK. I just couldn't shake it.

The residents of KK were all wearing jeans and polyester. I was melting away in the heat and my cotton skirt. I don't know how they did it. Plus the head scarfs, no thank you.

It was all a sight to see. Very eye-opening. Mount Kinabula was off to our north. Nice view from the ship. The harbor was a very pretty turquoise color (look past all the trash in the water) with a couple of islands around. The island closest to the ship had a fishing village on stilts.

Back on the ship...Started a new book today. The Host by Stephanie Meyer. No Cullens or vampires, but still very good, can't put it down. These cocktail parties have confirmed that I am a lightweight. After two cocktails, and of course "second drink," I felt like the toy punching bags with the weight at the bottom. Dinner was interesting. I think Cunard is using better alcohol than Tunica.

Hong Kong is just around the corner. I've got my wallet out and ready to spend. Going to see Stanley market and Temple Street night market. This is where my luggage space disappears. My navigation skills are ready to be put to the test. I didn't get the nickname "Nav" for no reason.

crj

KK was just Okay

noreply@blogger.com (candice (thecrjreviews)) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:27:00 +0000

After sailing four days from Exmouth and hitting Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia on the island of Borneo, we hit civilization. KK had modern buildings, high rises, new automobiles and a water front view but we spent most of our time in the street markets shopping and hanging out in the local Sunday markets. They were selling everything from hamsters to dogs, purses to jewelry, shoes to belts amongst the mean heat in the street with the occasional popped tent for shade. In the Caribbean the stores keep their doors open with air conditioning running to entice you to step into their shops for a look. In the street market you were enticed to step up to the vendors table just for some shade! I thought I was going to lose Candice there for a while. I knew it was hot but I was dealing with it. She kept giving me warning signs that her fuse was about to blow. Too many people crammed in a small space, too hot and no personal bubble around Candice makes for a tricky shopping experience. Thank God there was a breeze blowing that day but you had to get on the outskirts of the market to feel it. i believe it's the only thing that saved Candice.

After the street markets we walked over to the Atkinson Clock Tower which is one of only three buildings that was left standing in the area after WWII bombings. It was built in 1902, is all wood and contains no nails. Across the way was Signal Hill Observatory and that was about as close as we were going to get to it since the heat changed our minds about walking over to it.

We headed down to the waterfront next and saw the classic old fishing boats by the dock and even though the water was an emerald green there was trash and debris floating around. We were warned by Nan and Betty not to go swimming, so the ride out to the beach was a no-go after seeing that - no toe test needed here!

Along the waterfront was a fish market which seemed to be over by the time we got there and an open air market which still seemed to be humming. Forget trying to identify any labels in the stores, they are non existent for the most part except the bottled goods. I'm thinking we'd all whittle away to nothing under these conditions because the smells you get while shopping are not appetizing at all and it makes you look at everything as suspect.

After shopping at a high-end mall in downtown, we headed back to the ship for a late lunch. Once back on the ship I couldn't find the strength to get back out in the heat so that was the end of this excursion ashore for me and I hit the pool. Candice ran back into town to make a quick purchase since we ran out of ringgits (dollars).

I didn't get to a few things that were on my 'to do' list, like the headhunter village in the Sabah Museum (47 heads) and the hanging 72 sided tower, because they were on the outskirts of the city. But after hearing of the harrowing taxi boat ride that Nora and Morgan took over to Marine National Park it didn't seem worth trying to venture outside the city center. Nora and Morgan agreed to a 25 ringgits ($1 = 3 ringgits) ride over to the park. When they got there (short ride over) he wanted 25 ringgits a piece. They were dropped off in some shaddy place and the guy was going to leave them, so they said they wanted to go back and when they got back he wanted 100 ringgits. Nora said they paid him 20 and walked away but they did still have their liver and kidneys, so things were fine. Later they tried to get the 'real' ferry over to the 5-island park.

KK has a lot of Muslims, then Hindu and Buddhist with only 8% Catholic and as we started traveling into the city I saw their flag which looked like Pakistan's. There for a brief moment THAT is where you thought you were after catching a glimpse of the people. Later while back on the ship, we heard a call to prayer......which made me start praying! Ha, ha. That was a sign of things to come later on in our trip!

After realizing that we didn't cover KK they way we had hoped to, we doubled up on our next two ports, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and Candice hit the travel books in the library and we compared notes. We're in Hong Kong for two days and we are excited about this next port. We have a lot of ground to cover but I believe we can do it justice and get it all packed in. We plan on being first off the ship and not back on board until the wee, wee hours. Then we'll be back at it the next day before we sail on to Shanghai in the evening. The only saving grace in Hong Kong will be their transportation system. It is extensive and cheap! It was designed to move large masses of people around in the most efficient manner, and Lord knows we'll have to be moving fast!

Sandy