2015 ADVENTURE – PART 6

Passengers aboard the MS Rotterdam VI come from many countries and backgrounds and, no doubt, have just as many reasons why they travel.  Some, though able-bodied, spend most days in the casino playing what used to be called ‘one-armed bandits’.  Others just sit by the pool, their skin slowly assuming that leathered look.  One couple spend their days in the library; all day, every day.  At the other end of the spectrum are those riding in wheelchairs, pushing walkers, driving motorized chairs, walking with one or two canes, and even one man who gets around on a scooter.  Yet, at every port, they’re the first ones to leave the ship.  One woman we met never goes ashore because she’s afraid she’ll fall.  She’s traveling with friends and would rather be here than freezing in Québec, or alone in Florida.

There are so many things to do aboard ship.  I’ve read a couple of dozen books since we boarded, the best being The Art of Fielding by Chad Harback.  Movies play three times a day.  There’s live entertainment twice every evening.  Dancers, singers, jugglers, acrobats, comedians - we’ve seen quite a variety.  But the best, by far, was a guy by the name of Pingxin Xu who plays an instrument called the hammer dulcimer.  It looks from a distance like a writing desk, has 140 strings, and is played with two hammers that look like chop sticks.  He played Joplin, Brubeck, Mozart, The Sabre Dance, The William Tell Overture, and many other pieces we’d heard before, but not on the hammer dulcimer.  He had us all spell-bound.

For those who like to dance or just listen to live music, three lounges are on the go every evening.  There’s the daily mass, an interdenominational service and a gathering of Jewish faithful.  We’ve come to quite like Father Lou, a retired priest from Michigan.  And that’s saying something for a heathen like me!

Some travelers take the easy way out and book excursions with Holland America.  At the other extreme are those ‘independent’ travelers who prefer to do their own thing and just hire a taxi or tuk-tuk driver when they reach a port.  Others do extensive prior research and hire guides.  We’re somewhere in the middle, budget-conscious but eager to see and experience new things.

One couple from Québec bought their trip at the last minute, boarding, like we did, at Southampton.  Without a visa, they weren’t able to go ashore at any of the four ports we visited in India.  So, from Dubai to Yangon they were stuck on the ship for 11 days straight!  They’d planned to disembark at Yangon, only to find out they couldn’t get a visa for Myanmar.  Were they ever pissed!  Sometimes, you can be too smart for your own good.

Our first stop in Indonesia was the capital city, Jakarta, on the island of Java.  The day we arrived was our first rainy day after 43 days without!  It also marked the half-way point of the cruise.  The country is composed of some 18,000 islands, only one-third of which are inhabited.  Over 240 million people live in Indonesia, 140 million on Java alone.

The highlight of the day was meeting up with our École Régionale Évangéline classmate (Class of ‘70), Jean-Paul Poirier, and his Russian-born wife, Galena.  They’ve lived in Jakarta for the past two years.  We spent the morning in their lovely apartment and then drove to a mall in the city centre where the girls did a bit of shopping while Jean-Paul and I caught up on things.  He’s worked in some very interesting places, including Haiti, Burkina Faso and Guinea.  He and Galena plan to stay in Jakarta until the end of his current contract in three years’ time.

Our next port of call was Samarang, east of Jakarta, on the island of Java.  The main attraction in this part of the country was the Buddhist temple of Borobudu, a long day’s drive.  While it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we were ‘templed-out’ and so decided to skip this one.  Instead, we took the shuttle into the city centre, walked around and did some shopping.  This is what a typical mall parking lot looks like in Indonesia.

After a day at sea, we arrived at the island of Bali.  While the dominant religion in Indonesia is Islam, the majority of Balinese are Hindu.  Many of the ship’s crew are Balinese.  Excited families waited on the dock for the ship to arrive, anxious to spend a few precious hours with their loved ones.  I’m sure it’s a tough life, being away from home for so long, but the money and working conditions are better.  Kind of like Fort Mac is to Islanders.

Bali is not a large island, perhaps 40 kilometres long and 20 or so wide, but 4 million people call it home.  Tourism is the main industry and the place is very busy, much like Phuket in Thailand.  Elva and I decided to strike out on our own for the two days we spent there, and taxied the first day to Jimbaran Bay, a beach recommended to us by the onboard location guide.  Our first impression was a bit disappointing as the place was covered in all manner of litter.  But, it’s also where these fisherfolk eke out a living.

As we walked toward what looked like the town, the beach got cleaner and we came to a row of seafood restaurants.  Further along, we came upon the Four Seasons Resort.  I decided to check it out up close and see what it would cost for a room if ever we decided to come back this way: $650 to $850 a night!  I don’t think so!  We ate lunch at Menega’s, a beachside grill that served up the most delicious fish I’ve ever tasted.

On our second day in Bali, we hired a taxi and drove to the city of Ubud, stopping along the way at a batik factory and a place that made silver jewelry, both of which offered excellent opportunities for Elva to indulge in her favourite pastime.  While in Ubud, we visited the monkey forest, home to a semi-wild population of Balinese macaques.  I bought a handful of bananas for the little critters and tried to spread them around as best I could.  But, the dominant male would have none of it.  The greedy bugger got most of them in the end, stealing from the smaller members of the troupe.  And Elva couldn’t resist capturing this interesting entre-deux!

Before returning to the ship, we had the driver take us to Sanur beach.  Here, finally, was the Balinese paradise we’d heard about.  We strolled the beautiful boardwalk and peeked at the beachfront hotels, imagining ourselves spending time here.  Two days weren’t enough for Bali; we’ll be back!

 

The captain announced very sad news to passengers and crew as we sailed toward nearby Lombok Island.  On his day off, the Rotterdam’s Beverage Manager, Marthinus van Schoor, lost his life in a surfing accident on Bali.  The news cast a pall over everyone onboard.  I didn’t know the man, but I couldn’t help but think how devastating the loss would be to his staff and colleagues.  Imagine having to leave him behind without being able to say goodbye; not being able to pay your respects to his family; and having to meet the sometimes unreasonable demands of guests while dealing with your own grief.

Lombok is the laid-back version of Bali, an island of similar size and landscape, but with one-third the population.  Paired up with the Crockers, we hired a taxi for the day and set off through verdant countryside on first-class roads with comparatively little traffic.  The dominant crop is rice.  We stopped at a village inhabited by the Sasak people who live in traditional houses.  The highlight, as is often the case, was this unexpected and spontaneous concert put on just for us by a group of local boys.

From there, our driver took us to an isolated beach.  We were the only ones there.  The picture speaks for itself.

“Here, there be dragons!”  Seeing the Komodo dragon in its natural habitat on Komodo Island was on my bucket list.  I can now strike that one off.  While it doesn’t breathe fire, the dragon, actually the world’s largest lizard, can smell blood from 5 kilometres away.  I made sure to join in with a group that included only post-menopausal women.  Better to be on the safe side!

We walked through the lush rainforest, accompanied by a guide and two park employees with long, forked sticks, intended to keep the deadly carnivores at bay in case we encountered an aggressive one.  The heat was oppressive.  We saw several deer and wild pigs in the underbrush, both of them favoured prey of the Komodo.  Finally, after walking about about two kilometres, we came to the watering hole where males usually gather.  Sure enough, five of them were lounging there, dying to chomp on a set of calves just like mine!  We stepped gingerly around the circular area, trying not to look too appetizing.  The largest male, about 35 years old according to the guide, was about 2.5 metres long.

About 800 people live on the island.  The last human killed by a Komodo dragon was an eight-year-old girl, in 2008.  A horrible thought, but the world would be a poorer place without the Komodo.  Many large animals in Indonesia face extinction due to habitat loss, including the orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, and a species of rhinoceros.

Komodo was the furthest east we’d reach on this voyage.  The MS Rotterdam VI sailed through a maze of islands toward the big island of Sulawesi and the port of Makassar.  We’d decided to hoof it since the ship was docked close to the city.  To put it as generously as possible, Makassar has few redeeming qualities.  We spent time at Fort Rotterdam, built in 1667, and considered to be one of the finest examples of Dutch architecture in Indonesia.

The highlight of the day was meeting Rahmah and Aswin, the two young people shown on the right in the picture below.  Both are students and wanted to practice their English with us.  Aswin gave us a tour of the Fort, before the two of them guided us through the market area.  They were delightful!

Our last stop in Indonesia was the city of Surabaya on the island of Java, the country’s second largest city with a population of 3 million or so.  We were pleasantly surprised.  Of the three big cities we’ve visited in Indonesia, it was by far the cleanest and most orderly.  Our taxi driver took us everywhere we wanted to go, and for a very reasonable price.  Like all Indonesians we’ve met, he was friendly and helpful.

 

 

 

 

 

2015 ADVENTURE – PART 5

I can only think of two reasons why the Rotterdam VI would call at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.  One, they’re on the way from India to Myanmar.  Two, for people who keep track of such things, they’re one more destination to tick off the list.  An organization called the Travelers Century Club is made up of members that count how many places they’ve visited.  In addition to countries, they count overseas territories, non-contiguous regions, and islands belonging to countries (providing these have a population of more than 100,000 or are in international waters).  They even count as two places those countries that straddle two continents.

So, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Guadeloupe and other overseas possessions are each counted in addition to France.  Alaska, since it’s not joined to the rest of the continental United States, is counted separately, as are Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, etc.  In the third category are islands like Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete and Rhodes.  Surprisingly, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland also fall in this category, which sounds like cheating to me.  In the fourth category are Russia, Turkey and Egypt.  Since parts of each are found on two continents, they can be counted twice, providing of course that you set foot in both parts.  Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin is counted as two places since one part of the island belongs to the Netherlands and the other to France.

Another organization called Most Traveled Persons also counts all of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites on its list.  While this is all very interesting, for now, I’ll stick with the United Nations list of member countries.  By the time this trip is over, Elva and I will have visited 45 countries.  I’m just not sure whether or not to count Columbia, since the only time we set foot there was during an airport layover.

So, back to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.  We spent one day in Port Blair, the main town and administrative capital.  More than 570 islands make up the archipelago, many of them uninhabited, others inhabited by indigenous tribes that live off the land and the sea.  We took the shuttle to the main square and set out on foot through the chaos that is India.  We’d been told that the Aberdeen Market was the place to shop and walked past pitiful stalls selling all manner of junk.

A man gave us directions to the Cellular Jail and we walked there in the sweltering heat; it must have hit 40 degrees with the Humidex.  The British took possession of the Andamans in the early 1800s for commercial reasons.  In 1858, they built a prison to hold the most dangerous Indian freedom fighters at out-of-the-way Port Blair.  The Cellular Jail was nicknamed The Indian Alcatraz.  For 80 years, the British imprisoned, tortured, force-fed and hanged men from India who’d fought for their country’s independence.  The watchtower, the cells, the work houses and the gallows together tell a very poignant story.  India became an independent country in 1947, but not before many had given their lives for the cause.

From the traveller’s vantage point, it’s hard to know what to make of India.  Its population of 1.2 billion seems far more than the country is capable of supporting.  Tourism infrastructure is woefully inadequate.  In the four ports we’ve visited thus far, we’ve not found a single tourist information office.  Yet, each state has its own silly inspection procedures for tourists.  In Goa, we were subjected to five separate inspections between leaving and returning to the ship.  And, before being allowed to visit the country, we had to purchase visas at a cost of $150 each!  Sounds to me like a poorly-constructed job creation strategy for low-level public servants…  Not that India is unique in that regard, mind you!

Some places are so different that you want to take a picture of everything you see.  Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is one of those.  The country, closed to the outside world for so many years, began welcoming visitors again in 2005 when the formerly oppressive military regime finally came to its senses.  An election will be held in the fall of this year and people believe things will get better for them.  The renowned freedom fighter and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, is considered a national hero.

Paired up with the Crockers, we began our adventure by hiring a guide, Melvin, who claimed to be a retired police officer and hotelier.  We imagined that he might be Secret Service, paid by government to take us only to places where foreigners are allowed and to keep us out of trouble.  Whatever.  His English was very good, he knew where to take us, and he drove like a madman.  What more could we ask for?  This was our first stop, Myanmar’s answer to the Irving Big Stop!

Fifty-two million people live in Myanmar, including six million in the largest city, Yangon (formerly Rangoon).  It’s just as chaotic as India.  Infrastructure, especially the road system, is terrible by our standards.  Vehicles drive on the right, like we do, but steering wheels are on the right.  Why?  Because a previous military ruler decided on a whim that everyone would drive on the right instead of the left!  There is extreme poverty here, like in India, but people seem more industrious and they’re definitely friendlier, less pushy, and more accommodating.

In the two days we spent there, we visited all the must-sees in and around Yangon: the 1000-year-old Shwemawdaw pagoda; the Shwethalyaung Reclining Buddha; the reconstructed Golden Palace in the ancient capital of Bago; the incredible Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon; the National Museum; the Chinatown market; and the city-centre Bogyoke (Scott) Market.  But the highlight for me was the lovingly-tended World War II Cemetery where 27,000 Allied soldiers are buried, including this Canadian, Lieutenant P.I. Lowe, who made the ultimate sacrifice.

By the numbers, the Shwedagon Pagoda dates back to about 600 B.C., is 326 feet tall, and the terrace surrounding it covers 14 acres.  “Shwe” means “gold”.  The top two-thirds of the main pagoda is covered in gold leaf, replaced every five years.  The topmost section of the pagoda, the diamond orb, is 22 inches tall.  It holds 4,351 diamonds with a total weight of 1,800 carats; the apex diamond is a 76-carat monster!  The next section, the umbrella, is 43 feet tall.  It holds 83,850 gems and 1,000 pounds of gold.  At today’s price, the gold in the umbrella alone is worth a cool $25 million!  According to one source, the gold leaf that covers the rest of the structure is worth $2 billion, enough to make Wes Sheridan drool.  The temples where people pray are located on the outside terraces, at the base of the pagoda.  Despite the crowds, they are peaceful and sacred places.

As we sailed away, my thoughts were with the people of Myanmar who have suffered for so long.  New construction in downtown Yangon is financed by outside money.  It’s an encouraging sign that foreign investors have confidence that their investments will be both safe and profitable.  There is great beauty here.  People look you in the eye and smile.  They’re handsome and proud.  I’d like to see this place again in twenty years, in my carbon-fibre wheelchair, of course!  Maybe this guy will have bought a better truck.

Phuket is a tourist mecca; it’s evident as soon as you leave the cruise dock.  There’s money here and everything that goes with it: resorts, shopping malls, jewelry stores, McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Starbucks, Hooters, etc.  Signs advertise elephant safaris, snake shows, ATV excursions, parasailing, jet-ski rentals and, of course, Thai massage.(8)

We’d decided to hire a taxi to drive us around the southern part of the island for the day.  We started with an elephant ride.  Elva and I shared a bench on Pinky the elephant’s back and were guided through the forest on a thirty-minute ride.  It was a nice, relaxing activity and Pinky seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

From there, we went to Patong, a town on the west coast of the island where one of the more popular beaches is located.  The water is warm and crystal clear, and the beach is beautiful.

After lunch at a Thai restaurant in Phuket Town, we drove up to see the Big Buddha, a 45-metre tall statue made of white marble that stands on a high point of land with spectacular views of the island.  One day cannot do justice to Phuket, but we at least got a taste, maybe enough to make us come back some day.

Our next stop was magnificent Singapore, at once world-class city and sovereign country.  We were told that, before 1819, there was nothing here but a small fishing village.  British colonial administrator, Sir Thomas Sandford Raffles, convinced the local sultan to deed the land to the company he represented, the East India Company.  The British established a major trading post at the southern end of the Malacca Strait.  Today, Singapore is one of the Asian Tigers, a global economic superstar and crossroads of the world.

Imagine that 5.5 million people live on a series of islands one-tenth the size of Prince Edward Island, with an average income almost twice ours and a higher life expectancy.  Singapore has no natural resources: no oil, no fishing, no agriculture, no mining.  NONE!  The country takes cleanliness and order very seriously.  Chewing gum is frowned upon, littering is strictly forbidden, no hugging is allowed, and you’d better not get caught parading in front of your window in the buff!

We only had one day to see the city, so we boarded the hop-on-hop-off bus to get a general idea of the major attractions.  The Rotterdam VI will call here again for a day and a half in a couple of weeks.  Singapore is a world-class city, just as impressive as Dubai, but more refined.  It’s definitely a place to come back to for a one-week visit.

We’re now officially half-way around the world from home and just north of the Equator.

2015 ADVENTURE – PART 4

How many superlatives does it take to describe Dubai?  Answer?  There aren’t enough in the dictionary.  Dubai is one of seven emirates, or sheikdoms, that joined together in 1971 in a federation called the United Arab Emirates.  The only other one I’d heard of before was Abu Dhabi.  Since 1966, when oil was discovered, Dubai has become know for its incredible architecture and the feats of engineering that made them possible.

With only one day to spend, we were challenged to get even a taste of the city we’d seen only in pictures and had heard so much about.  We chose the hop-on-hop-off bus for the day and a desert safari for the evening.  Driving along the main four-lane thoroughfare, lined on both sides by some of the tallest buildings we’ve ever seen, we were gobsmacked.  Imagine Las Vegas on steroids, but without the tackiness.  While the place is a testimony to humans’ ability to transform nature, there is beauty here and attention to detail, the kind that shows the designers' appreciation for the aesthetic.

Our bus took us from the foot of the majestic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, to the shore of the Persian Gulf, and past the magnificent Jumeirah Beach Hotel.  From the beach, we got our first full view of the Burj Al-Arab, shaped like a sail and billed as the world’s only seven-star hotel.

Then, it was onto the Palm Island, with its sixteen ‘fronds’, home to luxury condos and beach houses.  The fronds and the 20-kilometre breakwater that protects them are entirely man-made.  This, and similar developments like the half-finished World Archipelego, will create 550 kilometres of artificial coastline within the city of Dubai.  We were told that a person buying on Palm Island gets two sets of keys: one for the property and another for a free car.  The free car can range from a Mini Cooper to a Lamborghini.  Just imagine how much you’d have to pay for a property to qualify for a free Lamborghini!  Palm Island is crowned by the magnificent Atlantis Hotel, said to have been a favourite haunt of the late Michael Jackson.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the top gun in these parts, and the new Dubai represents his vision for the future.  While it’s tempting to scoff at the Emirate’s hubris - knowing that the oil will run out one day - the economy here is clearly more than one-dimensional.  The city is a financial hub for the region, tourism and high-end real estate are huge, and the airport is one of the world’s busiest.

Our next stop was the Mall of the Emirates, home of an indoor ski hill and what must be the most complete collection of luxury stores ever assembled under one roof.  Name all the top brands; they’re there.  The mall is huge but, just across the freeway, another is being built, billed as the world’s biggest, and scheduled to open in time for the 2020 World’s Fair.  This is clearly a city meant for the very rich.

Later in the day, we shared an excursion with the Crockers.  We motored to the desert just outside the city in Toyota Land Cruisers, and drove up, down and around the dunes for an hour or so; just enough to scare the hell out of Elva!  Then, it was time to ride the camels!  We sampled as much of Dubai as we thought possible in one day and promised ourselves we’d be back for more, maybe in 2020.

After a three-day sail down the Persian Gulf, through the Strait of Hormuz, and across the Arabian Sea, we docked at Mormugao, a port city in the Indian state of Goa.  This part of India has a very interesting history, chosen in 1510 by the Portuguese to become the centre of their profitable spice trade.  Portugal held the colony even after India gained its independence from Britain in 1947, finally ending its rule in 1961.  Thanks to the influence of the Portuguese, Goa has a particularly rich cultural history.

As for its tourist infrastructure, that’s another story.  We took an excursion from the port to see several churches in Old Goa and the Panjim Market.  Tha Basilica of Bom Jesus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, holds the tomb and remains of Saint Francis Xavier.  I always thought he was in Antigonish!  Anyway, they take his body out of its coffin every ten years and put it on display for pilgrims.  I wonder why they don’t just let the poor guy rest in peace!  While visiting one of the churches, I thought of spending a little time in this penalty box; maybe next time.

We tired in the sweltering 35-degree heat and the traffic and chaos that is India.  Our guide told us that this part of the country is relatively calm and orderly.  Overnight, we sailed to Mangalore.---We’d decided to explore the city by taxi with our travelling companions, the Crockers from Montrose.  We started the day with a visit to the Achal cashew factory.  It employs over 400 people and is a beehive of activity, with most of the work being done by women.  After seeing how labour-intensive the process is from start to finished product, we’ll never again complain about the price of cashews.  By the way, they were delicious!

We spent the rest of the day exploring temples and churches and shopped at the city centre mall.  The one big inconvenience in India thus far has been the lack of wireless internet service.  This came as a surprise considering we had no such problems in even the poorest parts of Central America.

Our third stop on the west coast of India was Cochin in the souternmost state of Kerala.  Once again, it has a long history of contact with Europe, Africa and China due to the spice trade: pepper, cardamon, cinnamon and cloves, mainly.  We decided to test our comfort zone and hire one of the many tuk-tuks that line the cruise ship dock waiting for a decent fare.  Our driver, Sahal Abdhulla, promised to show us all of Cochin in four hours.  It turned out to be a good deal, not to mention a very entertaining half day.

There are no traffic lights, roundabouts, stop signs or yield signs here.  Pedestrians share the streets with motorcycles, scooters, tuk-tuks, taxis, cars, trucks, buses, and even goats and cows.  It’s a madhouse!  Somehow it works and people don’t run into one another.  Elva screamed for most of the first half-hour.

We visited a 500-year-old laundry where everything is done by hand, a Hindu temple, a Catholic church where the remains of the great Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, were first buried (he now rests in Lisbon), a beach, the Chinese fishing nets, a ginger factory, and an elephant festival.  Most importantly, we were able to get connected to the internet for the first time in six days.  Sahal drove us back to the ship after an exciting day, one we’ll not soon forget.

India is major ‘culture shock’.  So many things about it differ from what we’re used to: climate, crowds, food, sanitation, poverty, infrastructure, and the pace of life.  It’s an assault on all of the senses, all of the time.  It’s hard to imagine how one would find peace and quiet here.  Yet, the people are kind and friendly, and we never felt uncomfortable.  And Muslims, Hindus and Christians seem to get along just fine.

After three days at sea, we reached the Andaman Islands which, together with the nearby Nicobar Island chain, belong to India.  More about those in my next blog.