Cultural Landmarks of Egypt and India Days 23 to 26

A nice welcoming party as we entered Mumbai

Day23 Mumbai

A 7 hour trip, felt like it was going to be long, but actually it was a really good day. We were in a tour with Sue and Jim, though that was only coincidental.

There are some fabulous old colonial buildings in Mumbai

Mumbai (well the small bit that we saw) felt safe, but it also felt like it could have been anywhere. Lots of interesting Colonial buildings and a very few beggars. They are obviously trying in Mumbai, all the local buses EV,s and taxis and cars are gas powered. A trip to the museum in the house where Gandhi stayed on his return from South Africa. 1917-1934. It was interesting learning about him having followed him in South Africa too.

And, of course, cats

A trip through the fruit and veg market was great, though in our free time we found the pet section, which wasn't so great. Kittens and puppies in little boxes...

St Thomas' Cathedral. Lots of references to the British East India Company in here

We drove past Victoria Station which moves 3 million people a day. The local train tracks are so intense that if laid end to end they would go three times round the world, these are amazing statistics.

Driving  past Victoria Railway station, now known by a very long Indian name that is generally shortened to its initials CSMT

We had a short window to get to see the dhabbawallas sorting out the lunches, home cooked but not brought in by the consumer on the train, as the carriages are so crowded. Lunch is brought in, in specific goods carriages and delivered to the individual as diets are so specific that 'grabbing a sandwich' is not a thing. The organisation is just crazy to imagine, but apparently there is only 1 in 1000000 mistakes! The four layer tins in their insulated coats then get loaded onto push bikes for delivery.

Walking through the veg market

We then all got onto a train, not at Victoria Station which would have been far too scary, but Church Gate station. I think it was probably stressful enough for our guide chaperoning 23 people onto, and off a train that only waits 30 seconds in the station. She did appear to get some assistance from a lad who disappeared as quickly as he arrived. Just outside the station we arrived at, the fifth stop, was the laundry, not that there was much sign of water, but there was a lot of laundry hanging up to dry. The bus then miraculously appeared to take us to lunch. This was a buffet at a good hotel and was absolutely delicious, though we all ate far too much. The dreaded 'free time' in theory to look at the Gateway to India, built for a visit of King George V and Queen Mary which was enclosed in a parade ground for a Naval Tattoo, and to do our shopping! See our three short Relive videos of our walks with more photos: click here for walk 1, click here for walk 2 and click here for walk 3

Which also sold cats, dogs and all manner of exotic birds

Straight back and up to dancing and so the evening continued, it's going to be a busy few days.

The Dhabbawallas of Mumbai delivering lunch to the workers

Day 24 Mormugoa and the waterways of Goa wildlife cruise 

Being led through the train station by our guide to catch our train

The day started well with Indian Ocean humpback dolphins at breakfast. It was very gratifying to turn round and find that I'd got the whole of breakfast looking out of the windows, not to mention the lady behind me who was so excited about what a good day it was going to be now.

We went First Class don't you know!

Never sure about a wildlife spotting trip, as the clue is in the name, it's wild, and may not want to be spotted! An hours drive from the cruise port towards Old Goa got us, through very green, countryside to the river and our little boats. We sedately got off the bus and onto the waiting boat, blissfully unaware till the end that the whole bus hadn't fitted on the boat. We were with Chris and Chris a couple we recognise from dancing who it was really interesting to get to know.

Slightly disappointed in first class. Apparently it means the seats are padded! There were doors on the carriages, but they didn't close, you could just fall out of a moving train onto the track if you got too close 

As a bird spotting trip it was great. Birds aren't my favourite but we saw lots of Brahminy kites, brown bodies and white heads, which means the kites in Mumbai and over other residential areas are probably Pariah kites (I've done some homework), egrets, a black drongo, though he didn't get a picture till Mangalore and lots of kingfishers with their copper chests and vivid blue tails. They really are special. Strange thing to see was bats, big bats, I'm assuming fruit bats, and a crocodile. Wasn't expecting that, and even after people had talked about them, didn't expect to see one of that size!

The Mumbai laundry. Local hotels and businesses send their laundry here to be done as space is so limited due to land cost to have facilities on site

They came round midway with beer and samosas which would probably have made the trip a winner even if we hadn't seen anything, but were just an added bonus.

Mani Bhavan house, now a very interesting museum and was the house Gandhi stayed at for a few years in the 1930's whilst planning protests against British rule in India

The trip also included lunch, which was quite a long way away and although good, not as good as the previous days, and very late. It was at a spice farm which hadn't been mentioned on the itinerary, but was obviously part of the trip. It was good, but the steps, and the strange bridge to get to the restaurant and farm from the bus also hadn't been included in the itinerary. Didn't bother us, but was certainly an issue for some members of the five busses!

India Gate, Mumbai. Built by the British to welcome King George V and Queen Mary and also the gate through which the last British soldier left through on Britains final exit from India in 1947

It was late when we got back. 18.15 by the time we'd showered, which was vital. This is the time first dinner sits down and would probably have been our first choice though we've already decided we are better off at 20.30. Does make it a late finish though so we decided to give the violinist a miss, but bumped into dancing teacher Chris on our way to the cabin, do bang went our attempt at an early night.

Day 24, Goa and our wildlife boat trip on the Mandovi River

Day 25

Mangalore

This has been out least favourite trip so far, though the company on the bus was good, Sue and Jim and Chris and Chris. A cashew nut processing factory. We know why cashew nuts are so expensive now. Image

There she is spotting

Each nut comes from an individual fruit and contains corrosive oil so has to be stored, dried, steamed, dried, cracked, shelled, heated cooled and peeled! The lucky ladies get 3 meals a day and $10 for 8 hours hard labour!

This, I believe is a Brahminy Kite. Most of my wildlife photos came out blurred as I'd zoomed in and tried to take them from a moving boat, never easy

This was followed by two Hindu temples, one new and one 1300 years old and St Aloysius Chapel, which did have some beautiful frescos and oil paintings, but wasn't quite what we came to India to see. Shoes off at the temples which with 32 people certainly added to the time everything took!

No mistaking this crocodile hiding in the undergrowth though. It was pretty large

I was beginning to think this would be the second cat washout day until we arrived at the fruit and veg and fresh and dried fish markets. As the bus pulled up there was the tiniest kitten on the pavement. I obviously made enough fuss I was allowed to queue jump to get off to say hello and have a play. The market was interesting, though the dried fish didn't look appetising and seeing it drying outside, on the edge of the bus station didn't add to its attraction!

Lots of quite large bats hanging from the trees

We raced back with fingers crossed that they would keep lunch open late, which they did fortunately. Brian is now trying to post a blog, the pre India one, hotspotting onto my Lebara SIM which includes India on my data package. It's not going well, it's very slow and keeps trying to back up photo's which obviously makes it slower and uses my precious data. Hopefully he'll finish and will then manage this India one tomorrow, but who knows!

Second part of the day was lunch at a spice plantation and we had to cross this wobbly bridge to get there. Fabulous buffet lunch.

Day 26

Kochi

Our last India stop was Kochi in Kerela. We did what was meant to be a 3mile walking tour. It wasn't that long, but it was a good trip, albeit hot. All our guides have said it is unseasonably hot, which doesn't bode well for Brian's plan to come out as it will only get hotter!

Followed by a tour round to see spices. Nice butterfly next to a cinnamon tree

We started off with the Chinese fishing nets, though we had cruised in past them at breakfast. It was interesting to see them closer too though. I did get my cat fix, and it was pleasing to see that the cat still wanted fuss even though one of the fishermen gave it a fish!

It appears they have quite big spiders here in India too!

The walk continued through Kochi Fort, though there is no fort left. A gentle amble and the Catholic church where Vasco de Gama was originally buried before he was moved to Lisbon. A toilet stop, conveniently in a shop that sold everything from jewellery to clothes to collectables. People bought, we didn't, particularly as we knew our next stop was in Jew Town which was lots of shopping. It doesn't sound like a good trip, but we did actually enjoy it. See our short Relive video of our walk with extra photos: click here

And back to the Glorious Bolette (as the captain keeps referring to it as)

Back in time for lunch having passed through emigration. We briefly had our own passports, but they collected them again as soon as we were on the ship. We obviously can't be trusted!

And time to dress up for the evening

As this is our last stop in India, tonight is Indian party night. I'm looking forward to the buffet and BBQ, though I'm not sure I'm going to be able to wear the outfit I had planned (even though it's not very Indian it's as close as I can get) as it really is very hot. Hopefully Brian we be ok in the £3.00 top he bought in Jew Town.

I'm sending him this, but I'm not sure he's going to be able to post, my WiFi really isn't very good!

Day 25, Mangalore and another great welcome, this time from some people dressed in tiger outfits

First stop was a visit to a cashew nut processing factory. Very noisy, very dirty and very 1960's Britain. An era we have left behind but still in existence here in India. It seems perfectly acceptable for women

to be employed in these grim conditions earning 'pin money' doing very boring, repetitive tasks

Visits to a couple of temples, this one and a 1300 year old one that we weren't supposed to take photos of. Don't forget to take your shoes off and almost burn your bare feet on the very hot floor!

And then to the market where Jackie found this very cute kitten

The fresh fish market

And the dried fish market

They are dried outside in the sun, in amongst the traffic

Day 26 (today!), Kochi and these are the Chinese fishing nets as we steamed past them on our ship

First stop on our trip today was the fishing nets. They drop those big nets into the water for 10 minutes or so then raise then to see what they've caught. Often nothing!

They are counterbalanced by these big rocks that they haul on to lift the nets. Here some tourists are helping raise one

I've forgotten what this was called now, Big Coconut plant springs to mind, but they have very attractive blooms

More large old houses. This one used to be owned by a very wealthy Jew who threw big parties in a ballroom inside

Jackie finds another cat who's been given a fish!

Jackie buying two small shoulder bags from a street trader

This we found quite amusing. The man is using a jackhammer plugged into the socket you can see. If you zoom in you can see there's no plug on the end, the bare wires have been poked into the socket. All perfectly safe, what could possibly go wrong?

St Francis Church, built in 1516AD (apparently 18.4% of the population in Kerala are Christian).  The famous explorer Vasco da Gama died and was originally buried in this church before being reburied in Lisbon, Portugal

And here's his now empty tomb

Here's inside the church and notice over each side are long pieces of material that can be swung to keep the congregation cool 

Well, that's about it from India, next stop (tomorrow) is the Maldives. Most post this now as there's dancing to be done....

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