A wandering coffee seller on the beach with his coffee pot and cups.

There is so much more to say about Aqaba and Petra but words don’t do justice to the sights and sounds of these two cities. The King of Jordan is revered by everyone we spoke with.  He, his father before him and his son who will become the next king rule quite differently than the Sultan in Oman.  Oman is a absolute monarchy (the King rules supreme) while the King of Jordan is the head of a constitutional monarchy which is somewhere between Great Britain and its Queen and the United States with a President and all the powers that he personally controls outside the constitution.

Interesting to see women on the beach.  They are covered from head to toe and cannot be seen in a bathing suit…except at high end pools in the five star resorts that line the waterfront.  Marriages are not arranged as they are in Oman but living arrangements are still the same.  When one marries an addition is put on to the house and that is where you live with your parents, grandparents and other family members.  In Peru and Chile, the reinforcing rods for pouring concrete are never finished off.  The reason is that you don’t pay tax if you don’t finish the house.  In Oman and Jordan, the reinforcing rods hang out for the building of the next story to the house following a marriage. Four storey homes is the maximum.  You can also have 4 wives!

Women cannot be seen in bathing suits on the beach but still go in the water.

Goats are sold in the market with heads on and they wander freely along the highways.

Families travel to the beach for miles as Aqaba is the only port city in Jordan.

Lots of camels provide transportation and great photo opportunities around Jor

Without a doubt, Petra in Jordon is the highlight of the trip.

From Oman and its capital, Muscat we travelled south and then around into the Red Sea.  Once in the Red Sea we headed north to the Gulf of Aqaba and the only port in Jordan, Aqaba.  This is a fascinating city.  From our ship we can see the border with Israel, the border with Egypt and the border with Saudi Arabia.  It is one of the few places in the world where four borders come together.  Visitors from Israel, for example, come across from the adjoining city of Elat in Israel.  At the border they walk across and are picked up after clearance by buses in Aqaba, Jordan.  Surprisingly we have not seen any type of military presence with the exception of armed guards at the entrance to the Jordanian palace on the west side of the city.  Aqaba is the only port city in Jordan making it strategically very important for imports.  Jordan, as we were told many times, does not have any resources, not even fresh water and therefore has been able to stay independent and free from takeover attempts by the surrounding three nations.

A two hour bus ride north on the King’s Highway takes you to the mountain town of Petra and an experience that you will never forget.  Petra is more than two thousand years old and was built by the Nabataeans in the heart of the Shara Mountains.  It prospered until the first centuries BC and AD and was a vital part of the major trading route connecting ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.  Deserted in the middle of the 7th century, only the local Bedouins in the area knew of its existence.  Rediscovered in 1812, the site of this fascinating and beautiful ancient city is now a UNESCO heritage location and has been designated as one of the new Seven Wonders of the world. The walk into the site takes more than an hour and is very rough terrain but well worth it.  As you approach the site you are walking through a very narrow path with walls of sandstone towering hundreds of feet on both sides of you.  All of a sudden you come around a curve and in the crack in front of you unfolds this forgotten city–all carved out of the rock.

All of a sudden you see through a slit in the rock, the formations of The Treasury.

More details of the Treasury emerge as you get closer along the path.

The Treasury rises hundreds of feet into the air. Excavations below the site continue to this day and are finding more and more structures of the ancient city.

Ever since we left India we have been travelling in what has been identified as “high risk” seas. In the last ten years there have been a number of attacks on ships from pirates out of Somalia. From a high of more than 200 attacks annually to last year when there were only a handful, ships need to take additional precautions when transiting this region. The Amsterdam is no exception.

Our current location on Sunday morning, Apri 7.
Speed and heading is shown in the top left corner.

We are now travelling between Somalia and Yemen. The ship has now been rigged with high pressure water hoses every 20-30 feet along the third floor promenade. The hoses are charged and ready to go. Crew assigned to the hoses lie on their stomachs and direct the water spray along the sides of the ship in order to sweep any potential pirate back into the sea. In addition to the high pressure hoses, a series of high intensity sound generators have now appeared on the upper levels. The highly directional sound generators also act to repel any approaching pirates. Additional security with night visions goggles are patrolling the decks around the clock. Guests are asked to keep all outside windows covered from sundown to sun up and any outside lights are covered including the curtains in the dining room and in the lido (casual dining).

While the risk is considered low the captain is taking all precautions. He noted in a letter to all passengers that while unseen by passengers, we were being shadowed by naval ships from coalition countries. He also added that the best deterrent we had was our speed and therefore through the risk area we would be travelling at our maximum speed of about 25 knots. In a drill for all passengers and crew we had to come out of our cabins, sit on the floor away from any windows while the crew manned the high pressure hoses. Sitting on the floor is necessary as passengers might be toppled if the ship had to make any evasive moves at such a high speed.

We come out of the high risk areas midway up the Red Sea. The greeting on the ship for these days has been……Seen any pirates?

After much anticipation, Muscat did not disappoint. The scenery was spectacular and after what we saw in India and Indonesia there was just no comparison.

Muscat is perched on the water’s edge with mountains directly behind the city. Streets were paved, there was absolutely no litter and the grass was green and trimmed as if it was on a putting green. Cars were modern with every type of luxury vehicle on the road beside you.

We saw beautiful buildings, one after another with marble and granite walkways that you could eat off. There is virtually no crime here and anyone who is out of work for more than a short period of time is placed in the armed forces or the police department. In other words, everyone has a job and the country provides land and homes for all. Also interesting was the continuing tradition that marriages are arranged and the family unit consists of the children, their parents and their grandparents. They live and eat together in the family home. Children who achieve more than 85% in high school at graduation are automatically sent to schools of higher learning abroad with room, board and tuition paid by the country. How is this all possible in this day and age?

Oman is governed by a Sultan who has absolute authority. He is the commander of the armed forces, chief magistrate and country treasurer among other titles. He assumed power when he deposed his father in 1970. Also of interest to us was the fact that the sultan has two super yachts (picture below) and they were both in port. He uses them as floating palaces when he goes outside the country for meetings. We also visited the royal palace, only to learn the sultan has six residences and not all of them are in Oman. One is in Germany and he maintains another one in Great Britain. The wealth is staggering and it is all from gas and oil exports and an expanding tourism business. Another cruise ship was in port while we were there. It had 3500 passengers on board. Even the port was spotless and appeared to have been washed prior to our arrival. You have to ask yourself how all this can be accomplished—is it the fact that it is a monarchy or could this be accomplished in a democracy?

More pictures of Muscat in the next posting.

The sultan’s yacht in Muscat harbour.

The Grand Mosque in Muscat is clearly in the same league as the Taj.

The Al Said, one of two of the Sultan’s yachts cost 300 milllion dollars to build and is the second largest private yacht in the world.

A visitor at the Grand Mosque.

The Grand Mosque built by the Sultan with no money spared.

The chandelier in the dome of the mosque is the second largest in the world.

The youth of Oman are all smartly dressed very personable.

The Gateway to India is along the waterfront.

Submarines, frigates and an aircraft carrier are all next to us.

The laundry is a sight to behold in the middle of Mumbai

How do they get the right laundry back to the right person?

Sellers of souvenirs hound you on every street corner.

As I said previously there is so much to see in Mumbai.  Fortunately one of our two days was a Sunday and the streets were less crowded than normal.  Mumbai has no subway system but the combination of a railway that brings everyone in and out of the city and a collection of taxis, with and without air conditioning make for traffic jams you would not believe.

A visit to Dhobi Ghat was a highlight of Mumbai.  There for more than a hundred years, laundry is brought to this central city location to be soaped, soaked, boiled and beaten and then ironed.  The scene is a rainbow of colour and there is no laundry ticket.  How they keep individual orders for laundry separate is a mystery to this day as there is no paper record.  Today the majority of the laundry processed here is commercial but not exclusively as the pictures demonstrate.  Around the laundry are some of the worst slums you can ever imagine.  An interesting anecdote is that only men work in the laundry.

In contrast to the laundry there is the arch known as the Gateway to India. Built in 1911 under British control, the monument sits on the waterfront to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary.  Originally it was the entrance to India for steamers arriving from Great Britain and was also the location for the final departure of the British in 1948.  A central square immediately in front of it overflows with visitors while the backside of the arch is the ferry terminal.

As we leave Mumbai, we enter pirate waters.  The next blog will detail the ship’s precautions to prevent an attack by pirates as we cross the Arabian Sea.  Many of the passengers are not sure of what to make of the threat.

Slum areas frequently surround key tourist areas.

Mahatma Gandhi’s house is preserved as is his personal library and is open to visitors.

After weeks of speculation about what we were about to see in Mumbai, the city did not disappoint.  While it is hard to suggest we saw everything there was to see in two days, we certainly got to experience this port city at its best and at its worst.

Our ship the Amsterdam could not have been in a safer location as we were docked next door to the Indian Naval Headquarters.  Alongside us at the various docks were frigates, destroyers, an aircraft carrier and six submarines.  From our deck and cabin we could peer down and watch the activity.  Flag raising and flag lowering on those ships is still a formal ceremony which we were able to witness both days.

Mumbai has a rich history.  British rule ended in 1947 but the traditions continue.  British architecture is seen everywhere.  Victoria station, the main railroad stop in Mumbai sees 6 million passengers a day pass through those gates.  Cattle still wander through the main streets seemingly oblivious to the traffic that knows nothing about lanes or right of way.

In a matter of a few minutes you can travel from the opulent Taj Palace Hotel on the waterfront to the slums of Mumbai.  Begging is everywhere and families seem to camp out on street corners waiting for a handout.

We were fortunate to visit the home of Ghandi and see where lived and hear of the early beginnings of his life and leadership.  He was a lawyer by profession and started his campaign for human rights when he like so many other countrymen was asked to leave a railway car that was deemed to be ”white only”.  His teachings were basic human rights yet even today, seem too advanced for major sectors of the population.  A surprise was the predominance of elections signs promoting the communist party and the use of the hammer and sickle emblem on those posters.

In spite of the poverty, our tour guide was quick to point out the significance of medical tourism where individuals come from around the world for medical procedures where they can pay for faster service or obtain services unavailable in their place of residence.  We also learned, that the one number one export of India was not a fruit, vegetable or spice but registered nurses.  Who would have thought!

Certainly two days isn’t enough to truly see the city but then again it was enough.  More on Mumbai in the next post.

After Sri Lanka we headed west and then south around the tip of India. I think the cruise line decided to introduce India to the passengers in a very gentle way and to give us a small taste of what is to come when we arrive in Mumbai or Bombay as it was originally called.

Cochin is a coastal city midway between the southern tip of India and Mumbai, the capital. Cochin for thousands of years has drawn sailors and their trade to Cochin’s multiple canals and waterways. Pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves were shipped from here for centuries, first by the Chinese, the Romans, then the Dutch and finally the British.

The world famous Chinese fishing nets welcome you to the harbour and have come to symbolize the city. Our tour took us inland to visit the town of Alleppey, known as the Venice of the East. Alleppey is nestled amid a thick tangle of lush tropical vegetation and dense palm groves. House boats travel the extensive network of rivers, lakes, canals and lagoons of this area. LIfe on the river is very different here when compared to the big cities and our houseboat excursion provided a great glimpse of family life, commerce and traditions that have remained unchanged for thousands of years.

Villagers bathe in the waters, clean their dishes, wash their clothes and animals, all at the same time raising and lowering the water levels for their extensive rice fields. Boat building is traditional and there were literally hundreds of houseboats plying the water. Tourists charter these boats for 22 hours. They come complete with bedrooms, a dining room, three crew members and large generators powering air conditioning and all the latest in electronic gadgets that guests may wish to power. The bathrooms (washrooms) were modern but I still cannot figure out how and where the shower and bath water is discharged.

From the cruise ship port to this backwater area was about two hours by bus and it is apparent garbage is disposed by simply throwing it out of your residence window to be piled high along the streets. We were told it is a generational issue with reform coming slowly but only from a younger generation. The smells, the filth and the density of the people and traffic make a stark contrast to the first class resort where we were treated to an amazing lunch cooked before our eyes of fresh Indian seafood, fresh fruit and local desserts.

On to Mumbai for two days.