Petra, Pt1

Imagine this:

You are walking through a narrow canyon.


















The ground is sandy. The occasional chariot passes by you at breakneck speed.



You are walking like this for 15 or 20 minutes when all of a sudden, you catch a glimpse of something through the rock...



















To be continued...

Safaga Can be Surprising

While everybody took the all day long bus trip to the Valley of the Kings, I stayed onboard the ship. It's a really long bus ride. If you are very keen to see this you can just see my pics from last year's trip.







There was a shuttle bus to some kind of beach resort/hotel. It's amazing what one will find in the middle of nowhere, Egypt.









Even more amazing is that all the Germans found it as well. Germans everywhere... Eek!



Some of the suites


These very Egyptian containers put to very good recycling use




And a restaurant/cafe where you can take advantage of a hooka pipe

A Camel for all seasons

As seen a couple of hours ago in Petra, Jordan

How To....

completely ruin some kid's cricket game in Cochin, India.



Swing, Battter batter batter...

Arrrrrrrrrrr...

I was taking my afternoon nap when there was a loud knock on the cabin door. "Security!" yelled out a voice. "Hide the tortillas!" I yelled, scrambling to put my food somewhere, anywhere out of sight. "Security" the voice yells again. "Porthole!"



I realize what's happening. Today we will be in pirate infested waters, the gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia. They closed all the portholes as a precaution, and none of us are allowed to go onto the promenade deck or outside on the lower decks today.









I stare at my closed porthole. Pirates! I really, really want to open it to take a look. "Imagine if the pirates came in my porthole?!" I started.. Sherwin: "You know they're not pirates like that, they're just casual.." Me: "I realize Johnny Depp won't be crawling through my porthole anytime soon.. Anyways, if they're casual they can't come in. It's Informal night tonight."

Pirates have seized more than 24 ships in this area in the past year. I don't think we have an ultrasonic weapon like the Seabourn ship had, so I might just have to pull out the Accordion if they come near. Rumour has it that the Captain is up on the bridge right now with a gun.


I am quite happy to announce that Pirates did not deter the Bridge Players,


The Pool Floaters,


It did not cancel the Sextet's pool set (much to their chagrin)




Nor did the Pirates even get a chance to be offended by this blatant display of Americanism:

The American Buffet











Mmmmmm, Beef Brisket... Do Pirates eat this?




Take a look around - Do YOU see any Pirates?












Yikes, I just heard a thump underneath my porthole. I hope it's just the waves...

Today, in Salalah...

we met the coolest beast in the desert.






This wild camel was so friendly, he stayed behind for some pictures as his herd walked away. I have never met such a friendly camel. He let everyone fuss over him and pat him.



Usually, every day there is a little time to go ashore. Today there was about 1 hour. Which is enough for a camel spotting or two. Especially in that heat.

It still amazes me how the desert meets the ocean


The port gate-


We tried to take some pictures outside the port and just about got mobbed by Taxis.





It was enough time for a short taxi ride into the town.


We passed a fountain. What a luxury and display of wealth that must be in the desert.



The town closes between 1 and 4. It must be just too hot.








We saw the beach








And I got to use the bathrooms in a Mosque.




We went to the Supermarket. Which is what he actually called it. We were planning to buy some stuff until we realized this was it..




On the way back, I was happy to see the same herd of camels as last year. That pretty much made my day.

Curious about the Cruise Ship?

In Dubai I finally got to meet up with fellow blogger and new friend Grace. Her blog is called Sandier Pastures and is about her expat family life in Dubai. I have been a little busy for blogging so for all the details and pictures you can go to her 2 entries about our meeting and the cruise ship, here and here. She was paying good attention in the tour to all my little facts! How interesting to see it from another perspective!

It was great to meet her and her nice family. If you're reading, Grace, thanks for the fun time!

Why don't you pay her a little visit while I get caught up on my blogging!

Ancient Passage

Three cheers for my final cruise before Vacation!!! Athens could not come fast enough. My big hope this cruise is to see Petra in Jordan (Aqaba).

The Hippy Island

The following pictures are from Hong Kong, although you just might not recognize it from these pictures.

Steph took me to Lama island, a short ferry ride from the ship. This is the hippy island with a beach and a power plant.













We passed all kinds of live seafood and fruit.







The ping pong table at the temple



And the strangest sign







We took a walk to the beach. It seems like all kinds of foreigners were living in holiday houses around there.


I saw the most beautiful wild plant, a mixture of yellow and pink blooms that looks to be in the Mint family.





The power plant in the distance


And finally, the beach. The Chinese bugs had a great old feast on my ankles.











It being a Hippy Island, it was easy to find a Hippy restaurant. We are in heaven with our Hommous wraps.

The Bar at the Pier, Saigon

Here it is, in all its glory. The much awaited and looked-forward-to bar at the pier. Next to the giant pile of garbage, with its Karaoke, dollar beer, and plastic chairs. Right beside the ship it's the best party ever. They even keep a wheelchair by the gangway to roll up drunk crewmembers.

The family who runs this joint must be doing so well, we thought. After a chat with Mama-san, we realized that they paid 1.000 dollars a day to rent it.

To my amusement, the waitresses carried around a huge stack of american bills in their hand. The family members are really nice, and often stop to have a drink and chat with us. We even made Mama-san do some whisky shots.

Duds checks out the money


There's Mama-san in the middle of all the guys, celebrating Sherwin's birthday in style.


We had two nights of this partying on the pier. Also on the pier were some nice knock off DVD's, souvenirs and some great Rolexes. I am currently enjoying my favorite TV series on DVD now in my cabin.

By the way, we closed the Karaoke both nights.

In between all the pier parties, we had to go to the pier for lunch as well.


2 coconuts, a fried fish, and well... do you really need to see another crab?

Last year the bar was on the actual pier. See the one beside the ship? It was right there.


The ladies who worked there were throwing the garbage right over the rail in front of us, into the Saigon River. Styrofoam, plastic, paper, and food were just floating by us.

Don't forget the Balut. I later found some stashed in the cabin for later. I took the liberty of putting them in the fridge.


My favourite menu was still there.