Cultural Landmarks of Egypt and India Days 18 to 22

On the deck of the Bolette at the Salalah leaving party

Oops, this might all blur into 1 a bit!

Day18

We continued travelling at 22 knots well into the afternoon, longer than the captain had warned, but more than that we noticed little difference, except when walking through the lido deck, between our cabin at the bow, and the restaurant at the stern. The roof had to remain closed which meant it was like a sauna! That was it for our excitement though.

Managed to get this photo of a flying fish whilst sailing in the Indian Ocean. They travel 20 to 30m in about 12 seconds before disappearing below the waves again

Temperature is an odd thing onboard, the bar staff and chamber maids wear the same clothes, all the time, be it Norway or India. The ladies always wearing tights. The only change to this uniform is if they are serving on an outside deck, so there are some quick changes between shifts. The ship is maintained at what I suppose is a constant temperature, but what felt a little too warm in Norway in February and sometimes feels a little too cold in December in the Indian Ocean 

Here's another one, a little bit blurry

The new lecturers were getting into their stride including Arabic for beginners, which seemed a bit of a shame as we had left Egypt. Brian did give it a go, as he had tried it on Duolingo last year before we went to Egypt, but it was still difficult!

Wildlife spotting has also been difficult as it has been very windy, straight into the face.

This was Nautical Day where we were supposed to dress up as sailors or pirates, something we weren't told about so had no preparation for. This was Brian's best effort!

We did have a little excitement first thing though as we couldn't get into our cabin immediately after breakfast as for the first time the magic cabin fairy hadn't quite finished so we went to stand on the promenade deck. We were lucky we'd chosen the port side as so had the masked booby who was flying in our shadow for at least 45 minutes, swooping down to feed on the flying fish that kept leaping above the water sometimes in huge flocks, or is that shoals? (Does it change if they are above or below the water?)

They are lovely to watch, and it's our first time of seeing them. Unsurprisingly they are hard to photograph though.

Day 19

Our third consecutive sea day, this may sound dull, but actually sea days are great. There is so much going on, the majority of which last 45 minutes, occasionally 30 (gym classes, hurrah, and cooking demonstrations, it's amazing what you can do in 30 minutes if all the preparation is done, which is how it works. There are kitchen staff employed just to weigh and measure and chop and place in small bowls) and occasionally 60, but usually 45. This is true for lectures, dancing and entertainment. The entertainment has changed since Safaga, so we have an illusionist, an amazing young lady electric violinist (we were aware of her and her boyfriend onboard as they are half the average age of everyone else, but didn't know which of them was the performer) and a pianist/trumpeter who plays just the sort of piano Brian would love to be able to play.

Day 20 Salalah, Oman

Managed to snap this photo of a turtle over the edge of the cliff

Another port, another tour, out in very comfortable, air-conditioned 4x4's a good choice as the port was 25km and a $40 taxi ride from the town. Our car mates were ok, but not necessarily our cup of tea.

Our driver spoke a smidge of English, but really it was just the guide who would educate at the various stops. The first stop was at a viewpoint where we could see over the town of Taqah (which strangely was the name of the guide too) and over the sea. Quick photo stop, though I was happy as ours was of a turtle!

Walking round the Queen of Sheba (or not!) fort ruins 

Second stop was some ruins, fabled to be those of the fort of the Queen of Sheba. Taqah was asked about this but said he couldn't tell us lies, the dates were all wrong. We had 20 minutes to walk round the ruins, which was enough for everyone, except our car mate whose camera battery went flat at 19 minutes but who decided that 40 minutes would be fine! This was all terribly upsetting for the guide as our 13 4x4's were meant to be out  of the way before the next group of vehicles arrived! It so nearly went horribly wrong.

It's situated on high ground at the river estuary as it enters the Indian Ocean

Third stop was a waterfall, very pretty, green and lush, not what we expected in a country that is 80% desert. Camels, cows and goats were in abundance, particularly camels on the road to our next stop. Some of the camels had pouches on their nether regions. I worked out it was the females and wondered if it was to wean the young. It was actually to prevent the young from drinking all the milk so there was some left for the young of the farmer!

A perfectly disguised lizard that we could only see when it moved

Fourth stop was a set of little springs and a couple of caves. Fortunately we were in 4x4's as we took a cross country short cut. We were quite late by now and all getting ready for our lunch. It was very pretty, but by stop number 5 another spring we didn't hang around for long!

For some reason our return to the ship was a big thing, music and a welcome home banner, one end of which was held by none other than the captain! He is a laugh.

The pretty waterfall at the third stop

It was a short day in Salalah so plenty of time for a sail away party on the back deck with free rum punch and entertainment from Funky Blue who we do enjoy, but never see much of. The guitarist seems to spend half the set wandering through the audience or round the pool.

Lots of photo opportunities on the stroll round the waterfall

One small moment of 'excitement', on returning to our cabin after the party to change before dinner neither of our key cards worked, and nor did that of our chamber maid. It must be the battery she said, I'll get security to come and change it. Ho hum, time for a drink then! All fixed pretty sharpish though, just as well as no restaurant dinner for those wearing shorts! This was between dance sessions so we went to the guitarist who has moments of loving life, at the first sail away party he wouldn't even leave the stage when his set had finished, but joined Funky Blue in their set, whether they wanted him to or not! Anyway, us being there stopped him having to play to the chairs, so after some chat with us, he changed guitars and played some rocky stuff, much more to our taste.

Camels feeding on the ferns by the river

Day21

Another sea day, a good part of which was spent talking to a couple called Edwina and Sid a couple from dancing who I'd actually arranged to meet as we really do seem to have a lot in common in the way we have lived in the last few years. Lovely to talk to.

And a camel traffic jam on the way to our next stop

Dancing takes quite a lot of our day. We had a little practice on our own this morning after Brian had been through his notes. There is class at 12.15 which we go to if it's a new sequence dance. 16.30 is recorded music for dancing in my favourite Observatory lounge, with the first of three sessions, downstairs , before our dinner to a live band at 17.30. shower, change and crossword has to fit in between these sessions. Second session is our favourite, first dinner are eating and we haven't been joined in the bar by Jim. Third session is before our dinner, and after many of first sitting have come out. It's busy. It's all go!

Dragonflies deserve a mention too, particularly for one as pretty as this!

Another formal night tonight, the Black and White Ball. Formal nights are slightly different in the day, starting first thing as there is cava available at breakfast, next to the fruit juice! There were canapes before dinner for the last one (we thought this was special but apparently Sue and Jim get canapes every night, is this because they are on deck 6 or because they are gold members, based on the number of sea days they have spent with Fred Olsen? We are only on deck 2, and inside at that, and are only bronze members, though we will be silver by the time we leave this cruise, it'll be a long time till we find out how to be 'special') no canapes today though. There was a private party opposite where we normally sit, we weren't invited, though the Captain, and Mrs Captain were! The food generally has a more expensive option on formal night too, Chateau Briand, lobster thermidor and beef Wellington spring to mind. We are also accompanied at dinner by the string trio, and various tables have officers sat with them which apparently means endless free wine. Nobody has joined us on ours though, we are just so unimportant!

The fourth stop in Salalah at the caves and stream

The 'ball' element was really just Funky Blue, Howard the guitarist, and a set by four of the theatre company in the theatre. Along with free cava! It's worth remembering all these things if we come again and decide not to take the drinks package!

Day 22

The view down from the cave

Our last sea day before five consecutive port days,  four stops in India and then the first of our Maldives stops. It's going to be full on. Not what we are used to at all. When are we going to fit in whale watching (which has not been successful for us so far though I did see the dorsal fin of a false killer whale yesterday) and exercise classes? We have two booked today, spinning, which was jolly hard work the last time, and yoga which could be bad as we have no idea what we are doing!

It is flying past, only 10 days left, assuming nothing else happens in the Seychelles so we can actually fly home. I'm glad we didn't book to spend Christmas there!

Our welcome home party back at the Bolette. Music was playing and staff were dancing. Even the captain is there, he's the one holding the right of the welcome home sign. Two to the right is the Entertainments Manager, Andy Godfrey

This was the cargo ship parked next to us at Salalah. I was quite amused by its name, see below

Stingray is a great name for a ship

Meanwhile our ship is taking on supplies and there's a crate of watermelons going on board

The Salalah leaving party was a bit of a riotous affair. Here's the guitarist walking round the edge of the pool, the keyboard player is on the right and the lady singer is on the other side

Afternoon tea and we are fairly restrained, but Jackie couldn't resist the little chick cake

Another formal night and Jackies all poshed up again