Welcome to Sevastopol, Ukraine
Sevastopol, formerly known as Sebastopol, is located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula with a population of 342,451. The city, formerly the home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, is now a Ukrainian naval base mutually used by the Ukrainian Navy and Russian Navy. The unique geographic location and navigation conditions of the city’s harbors make Sevastopol a strategic important naval point. The trade and shipbuilding importance of Sevastopol’s port has been growing since the fall of the Soviet Union despite the difficulties that arise from the joint military control over its harbors and piers. It is also an important center of marine biology research. In particular, the studying and training of dolphins has been conducted in the city since the end of World War II, initially as a secret naval program to use these animals for special undersea operations. Sevastopol (together with Kronstadt and Gibraltar) is one of the most famous naval citadels in Europe. It was founded in 1783, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, soon becoming an important naval base and later a commercial port. In 1797 under an edict issued by Emperor Pavel I, the military stronghold was renamed Akhtiar after a small Tatar settlement on the north shore of the inlet. Finally, on April 29, 1826, the city was returned to its original name of Sevastopol.
What’s in a Name
The name of Sevastopolis, or currently Sevastopol, was originally chosen in the same etymology trend as other cities in the Crimean peninsula that was intended to reflect its ancient Greek origins. It is a compound of two Greek nouns: sevastós meaning “venerable, reverend” and polis meaning “city.” Despite its Greek origin, the name is not old. The city was probably named after the Empress Catherine II of Russia who founded Sevastopol in 1783. She visited the city in 1787 accompanied by Joseph II, the Emperor of Austria, and other foreign dignitaries. In the west of the city there are well-preserved ruins of an ancient Greek port city Chersonesos founded in the 5th century BCE. The name means “peninsula” reflecting its location and is not related to the ancient Greek name for the Crimean Peninsula
Labels: Travel information
March 30, 2008 (Personal)
Istanbul
Our second day in Istanbul was not exactly as expected, but it was certainly interesting. This was the day that the CEO of Holland America arrived, along with his entourage, to celebrate the 50th World Cruise. The company had planned a party for all 1200 guests, as well as about 250 staff at one of the ancient Cisterns. It was quite a venue to begin with, but the entire party was over the top. There were enough seats for all of the guests, 3 stages, 3 bars, enough Turkish food to feed more than 1500 people, wait-staff everywhere, and even some Gyros preparers on the spot. We had decided not to eat dinner, which was a great idea.
Once we got to the venue, we were walked around the place, told about the coat check, the bathrooms, the bars. Everything anyone might want to know. Then there were 37 buses scheduled to arrive with about 35 people in each one. They asked for helpers to assist the people disembark, so I volunteered. Carter had disappeared and I wanted to keep busy. Well, this ended up being more of a job than I anticipated. The Cisterns weren’t built to be handicapped accessible, so first the guests had to get off the buses, walk across a cobblestone street, up a ramp, then down another ramp. There truly wasn’t much walking and the inclines were minimal – but they were a challenge to more than one person. So many of these people just don’t look down!!! We only had one man fall, coming in, and that was on the cobblestones. He got his cane caught between stones.
We wandered around the party most of the night, watching the entertainment, but Carter was especially anxious to see the belly dancers. He got a great seat right in front of the stage, but – just his luck – there was an accident with two guests who had decided to leave early, so he had to leave and go help them out. He totally missed all of the belly dancing! After this was over, the fun began because everyone seemed to want to leave at the same time. The lighting at the entrance was minimal, so Carter and I again stood next to the ramps and steps, trying to minimize accidents. By the time everyone left, they were under the influence, so their walking was in even worse shape.
We returned to the ship to a huge Chocolate Extravaganza – see Carter’s photos. But in anticipation of problems during the night and an extra heavy clinic tomorrow, we went to bed early.
March 31, 2008
At Sea – in the Black Sea
One note I forgot about Istanbul. The toilets. Carter and I ate as some nice places and at one of them he used the restroom before I did. He came back to our table with a wet left leg. He wasn’t sure how to flush the toilet because they had some metal plates on the wall, but also a handle closer to the floor. He decided to try the handle and gave it a twist. Nothing happened, so he truly opened it up. Well, water spewed forth, all over the floor and his left leg. It was sort of like a bidet, I guess. Surprise, surprise.
Labels: Personal
March 30, 2008 (Personal)
Istanbul
Now I understand why everyone loves Istanbul. This place seems to have the good of both the east and the west. The people are friendly; of course, always willing to sell you something “at a good price”, but if you show no interest, they move on. The hassle factor is minimal. Many of the alleyways remind me of Greece, the laundry hanging across the alley, up floor after floor remind me of Hong Kong, and there are always the Indian fake-watch vendors. There are the frequent calls to worship from the mosques, the women in burkahs, but also women in western dress. Truly a melting pot.
We decided to take a tour of the city in one of the open-air buses. It was fun because no one on the bus spoke English. All the tourists were speaking languages we couldn’t identify, but we nodded, took each others pictures, and pantomimed a lot. It was a chilly day, and despite layers of clothes, the open air became unpleasant. We sat on the top for the first 95 minutes and spent the last 10 minutes on the lower level. I have never seen so many mosques in my life, nor so many police. There was a police convention at the arena and there were flashing lights and uniforms everywhere.
Afterwards, we were dropped off right in front of the Blue Mosque, but rather than go for a visit right away, we wanted something hot to drink. So we went to a restaurant close by. We thought we would sit on the first level, but they encouraged us to climb some spiral stairs to the next level. I even sat down, but when they heard we were only going to get something to drink, they showed us the up stairs again. The next level was only a bathroom and office level, then up more stairs and we were at the top. This place was like a Vietnamese house. Many levels but really skinny. There was room for only about 6 tables across the front of the restaurant and many 4 behind them. Then you ran into the wall.
Carter asked the waitress for the favorite dish, she gave some ideas and we just pointed to an unknown item. When it arrived it was covered with red sauce which make me a little weary, but it was fantastic. It had beef, tomatoes, a huge pepper and yoghurt. Since we had already eaten lunch, we didn’t need this, but it was great. Then, of course, we had to have dessert and had rice pudding covered with crushed pistachios. Carter and the waitress got into quite a conversation – she wanting to come to the US to perfect her English. She has a job at the Grand Canyon for the summer and needed encouragement.
Then off to the sites, but we got side tracked to a carpet dealership. I could see it coming. Carter wanted to have this experience, so off we went, going thru the ritual of tea drinking, bargaining after looking at a zillion carpets. The last thing we need is another carpet, but we have 2! I’m sure they thought I was a grouch because I just sat there. At least I was sitting down for this time. They have promised that it will be sent, even gave us the tracking number. We shall see.
We then visited some of the major sites and then back to the ship so the others could go off for the evening. I don’t know how much more time we can have off since we have a huge party tonight at the Cisterns. The head of the company for Holland America is arriving, since this is the 50th anniversary of Holland America. I think we have to be there for this entire reception, as well as more receptions tomorrow.
Turkey just went to daylight savings time and we didn’t quite make it. Carter was still sleeping when clinic started. We don’t get the same warning that the passengers do about the time changes……I figured something was going on this morning when all the doors were slamming around 6:30am. This just seemed too early. Usually I am the only one up. I became curious and several minutes later when down the stairs and asked a passenger what time it was. She told me 8am. Yikes! Quick run to wake up Carter. I ran to the Lido and got him some breakfast, then started the rest of my day. Tomorrow is another time change as we head toward Sochi, Russia.
Labels: Personal
March 27, 2008 (Personal)
Our trip thru the Suez Canal was warm, but not hot. It was amazing to notice the amount a growth in civilization that has occurred in only 2 years. The unending sand is overwhelming. It just seems as though it would be so difficult to just live there.
Today was spent in Alexandria, Egypt and busses of passengers took off for Cairo. Carter and I stayed back since we have been there before. Debbie and one of the nurses took off locally to do some shopping and after they returned we decided to walk to the new library. Debbie and Carole Anne spent most of their time at the Souks buying almost everything Alexandria had to offer. They are both young and setting up their households, so it was fun to see. We don’t need anything new in our house!
Two years ago I had walked to the library with another passenger. I had been trying to keep up with him, so missed most of the scenery. This time I actually was able to lead Carter correctly and enjoy the sights. Their sidewalks were in poor repair, loaded with refuse – but interestingly there are never any bottles or cans on the street. There must be a recycle program that has an incentive to collect these items. The library is about 2 miles away and the curbs are of varying heights, so it was like lunges all the way there and back. We always seemed to have some horse and buggy vendor following us around, badgering us to take a ride. As we kept walking, the price seemed to float down.
The women 2 years ago were about 60% in burkahs. Today they were about 90% in burkahs. Maybe this is a warning that Egypt is going from a secular nation, more toward an Islamic nation. I think we should all take note. In the library itself, the female staff were all without head scarves, but almost all of the patrons wore them. Those women who were the most covered – head to toe and even gloves – all had on the most ornate and gorgeous heels. I guess they have to express themselves somehow. They also wore such heavy make-up on their eyes. This was the first time I saw glasses perched outside the veils. I certainly would have to do that. I can’t see the ground without my glasses.
March 28, 2008
The ship has officially changed into cold water clothing. All the officers changed from whites to blues. Now I can’t find Carter as easily is a crowded space. This was a big deal and the coordination was worried about for days. To begin with Carter hadn’t gotten the whole information about this changeover, so he didn’t have white shirts, ties, the correct socks, shoes, etc. We could have bought it all in Hong Kong, but were in trouble here. The last cruise Carter didn’t get blue uniforms because they ran out of fabric, so he just wore a suit. Luckily, Debbie and Carole Anne (the crew doc and one of the nurses), took measurements of Carter and happily went shopping. Thank goodness!! They came back with some of the most gorgeous Egyptian cotton shirts I have ever seen. And they fit beautifully!
Just a quick note of grumbling on my part about some of these passengers. We were invited to have dinner with a woman in the dining room. We were seated at her table in the dining room and we had assumed it was a private dinner. Well, one man came up to us right in the middle of dinner and wanted to discuss his prostate. I thought that was rude! I didn’t want to hear all the sordid details of his ailments and I am most certain that this lady didn’t either. I’m sure these symptoms have been going on for a while, and he could have waited until after dinner. I think he just wanted a free consult. Ok, now I’m done complaining.
Istanbul next. I am almost finished with all my chocolate. Now on to Turkish delight. It looks cool and a little rainy.
Labels: Personal
Welcome to Sochi, Russia
Sochi is a Russian resort city, situated in Krasnodar Krai just north of the southern Russian border. It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. At 90 miles (145 kilometers), Greater Sochi is claimed to be the longest city in Europe. As of the 2002 Census, it had a population 328,809, down from 336,514 recorded in the 1989 Census; however, in 2006, the population was estimated to be 395,012. The city has been selected to host the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014. Sochi almost alone of larger Russian cities has the aspect of a subtropical resort. Apart from the scenic Caucasus Mountains, pebbly and sand beaches, the city attracts vacation-goers with its subtropical vegetation, numerous parks, monuments, and extravagant Stalinist architecture. About two million people visit Greater Sochi each summer, when the city is home to the annual film festival Kinotavr and a getaway for Russia’s elite. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 1,142 square miles (2,957 square kilometers) Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, lies just north from the city. Sochi also has Europe's most northerly tea plantations.
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Grand World Voyage Signature Event at the Binbirdirek Cistern
This evening Mr. Stein Kruse, President and CEO and Mrs. Linda Kruse will host a Grand World Voyage Signature Event in the oldest cistern in Istanbul. The Byzantine Emperor Constantinus built the historic Binbirdirek Cistern in 330 CE to hold water for the Lavsus Palace. Special guest Ambassador Ross Wilson, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, and local dignitaries will attend the Grand World Voyage Signature Event. A wide and plentiful selection of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, representing the many geographical flavors of Turkey, will be served continuously throughout the evening. The venue will feature a variety of seating options – bistro with bar stools, couches as well as more traditional tables and chairs – with plenty of seating for all guests. We encourage you to explore the Cistern during the event and marvel at the majestic architecture. You will discover some special treats and interactive experiences ranging from Turkish fortune tellers and taffee-like ice cream to shoe shiners and doner kebab kiosks. Attire: Informal, non-heeled footwear recommended. After the reception at the Cistern, Mr. and Mrs. Kruse invite you to join them at the Dessert Extravaganza Bazaar, in the Lido midships area onboard the ms Amsterdam.
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Welcome to Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul is Europe’s most populous city (the world's 4th largest city proper and 20th largest urban area) and Turkey’s cultural and financial center. The city covers 27 districts of the Istanbul province. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait, and encompasses the natural harbor known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) side of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world which is situated on two continents. In its long history, Istanbul served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330-395), the Byzantine Empire (395-1204 and 1261-1453), the Latin Empire (1204-1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922). The city was chosen as joint European Capital of Culture for 2010. The historic areas of Istanbul were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985 as the city has many architecturally significant entities. Throughout its long history, Istanbul has acquired a reputation for being a cultural and ethnic melting pot. As a result, there are many historical mosques, churches, synagogues, palaces, castles and towers to visit in the city.
The Many Names of Istanbul
The modern Turkish name İstanbul can be attested, in a range of different variants, from as far back as the 10th century; it has been the common name for the city in normal Turkish speech since before the conquest of 1453. Etymologically, it derives from a Greek phrase that translates to “in the city” or “to the city.” Byzantium is the first known name of the city. When Roman emperor Constantine I made the city the new eastern capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, 330, he conferred on it the name Nova Roma (“New Rome”). Constantinople (“City of Constantine”) was the name by which the city became instead more widely known. It remained the principal official name of the city throughout the Byzantine period, and the most common name used for it in the West until the early 20th century. The city has also been nicknamed “The City on Seven Hills” because the historic peninsula, the oldest part of the city, was built on seven hills, each of which bears an historical mosque. The hills are represented in the city's emblem with seven triangles, above which rise four minarets. Two of many other old nicknames of Istanbul are Vasilevousa Polis (“the Queen of Cities”), which rose from the city's importance and wealth throughout the Middle Ages; and Dersaadet, originally Der-i Saadet (“the Door to Happiness”), which was first used towards the end of 19th century and is still remembered today. With the Turkish Postal Service Law of March 28, 1930, the Turkish authorities officially requested foreigners to adopt Istanbul as the sole name also in their own languages
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Early History of Istanbul
The first human settlement in Istanbul, the Fikirtepe mound on the Anatolian side, is from the Copper Age period, with artifacts dating from 5500–3500 BCE. A port settlement dating back to the Phoenicians has been discovered in nearby Kadıköy (Chalcedon). Cape Moda in Chalcedon was the first location which the Greek settlers of Megara chose to colonize in 685 BCE, prior to colonizing Byzantion on the European side of the Bosphorus under the command of King Byzas in 667 BCE. Byzantion was established on the site of an ancient port settlement named Lygos, founded by Thracian tribes between the 13th and 11th centuries BCE, along with the neighboring Semistra, of which Plinius had mentioned in his historical accounts. Only a few walls and substructures belonging to Lygos have survived to date, near the Seraglio Point, where the famous Topkapı Palace now stands. During the period of Byzantion, the Acropolis used to stand where the Topkapı Palace stands today. After siding with Pescennius Niger against the victorious Roman emperor Septimius Severus, the city was besieged by the Romans and suffered extensive damage in 196 CE. Byzantium was rebuilt by Severus and quickly regained its previous prosperity, being temporarily renamed as Augusta Antonina by the emperor, in honor of his son.
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Welcome to Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandria is at the western extremity of the Nile River delta, situated on a narrow isthmus between the Mediterranean Sea and Lake Mareotis. The city is Egypt’s leading port, a commercial and transportation center, and the heart of a major industrial area where refined petroleum, asphalt, cotton textiles, processed food, paper and plastics are produced. Much of ancient Alexandria is covered by modern buildings or is underwater; only a few landmarks are readily accessible, including ruins of the emporium and the Serapeum and a granite shaft called Pompey’s Pillar. Nothing remains of the lighthouse on the Pharos, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the site of the royal palace lies under the older (east) harbor. Alexandria was founded in 332 BCE by Alexander the Great and was the capital of the Ptolemies. The city took over the trade of Tyre (sacked by Alexander the Great), outgrew Carthage by 250 BCE, and became the largest city in the Mediterranean basin. It was the greatest center of Hellenistic civilization and Jewish culture. The Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament into Greek, was prepared there. Alexandria had two celebrated royal libraries, one in a temple of Zeus and the other in a museum. The collections were said to contain 700,000 rolls. A great university grew around the museum and attracted many scholars, including Aristarchus of Samothrace, the collator of the Homeric texts; Euclid, the mathematician; and Herophilus, the anatomist, who founded a medical school there.
Alexandria’s History
Julius Caesar temporarily occupied the city of Alexandria in 47 BCE while pursuing Pompey, and Octavian (later Augustus) entered it in 30 BCE after the suicide of Antony and Cleopatra. Alexandria formally became part of the Roman Empire in 30 BCE. It was the greatest of the Roman provincial capitals, with a population of about 300,000 free persons and numerous slaves. In the later centuries of Roman rule and under the Byzantine Empire, Alexandria rivaled Rome and Constantinople as a center of Christian learning. It was (and remains today) the seat of a patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The libraries, however, were gradually destroyed from the time of Caesar’s invasion, and suffered especially in 391 CE, when Theodosius I had pagan temples and other structures razed.
the Royal Library of Alexandria
The Royal Library of Alexandria, also known as the Great Library or simply the Library of Alexandria, was once the largest library in the world. It is generally thought to have been founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BCE, during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt. It has been reasonably established that the Library or parts of the collection were destroyed by fire on a number of occasions (library fires were common and replacement of handwritten manuscripts was extremely difficult, expensive and time-consuming). To this day the details of the destruction (or destructions) remain a lively source of controversy. Ancient and modern sources identify four possible occasions for the destruction of the Library: Julius Caesar conquest 48 BCE, the attack of Aurelian in the 3rd century CE, the decree of Theophilus in 391, or the Muslim conquest in 642 or thereafter. Each of these has been viewed with suspicion by other scholars as an effort to place the blame on particular actors. Moreover, each of these events is historically problematic.
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March 25, 2008
Red Sea, entrance to the Suez Canal, anchored (Personal)
I must gloat. We have met some Duke fans, very nice people, but they aren’t talking too much right now due to the NCAA basketball tournament. I think this is why this tournament is so much fun – it is totally unpredictable. Georgetown lost too. I can only cross my fingers for UNC.
We survived the Captain’s dinner, of course. This time I was seated between a retired commander in the Navy (almost 90 years old) and his wife (the same age) and on the other side a man who was a tool maker from Chicago, in his 70’s and an ex-table tennis champion. The older couple were both close to deaf, but wanted to talk. The other guy and his wife were very difficult to get going and didn’t want to participate in any conversation the older couple was involved in. Carter said afterwards that I was being rather loud and clear. He was 20 people away and heard every word. Well, I did try speaking softly, then medium volume, but just got blank stares. They when the older couple realized I was asking them questions, they leaned forward and I put out the volume. At one point both he and she leaned forward and he obscured her view of my lips, so she just swatted him with the back of her hand. I’m sure I registered shock on my face. He just shrugged and moved back. Must be a common occurrence.
Carter, on the other hand, was seated between 2 single women, neither of whom wanted much of their dinners. So, not wanting to waste good food, Carter managed to down at least 2 full meals. Surprise, surprise, he had the rumblies the next day. Anyone who eats 2-1/2 fillet mingons (sp) should have a digestive problem. Thanks goodness, he is back to normal, after a regular diet for a day or so.
We spent the day yesterday in a place called Safaga, Egypt. It is the coast town directly east of Luxor. 500 people from the ship piled onto buses to make the 3 hour bus ride to Luxor. They visited the town and the Valley of the Kings, as well as watching the light show at Karnak. I watched the buses leave, each with its own police escort. Honestly, I have never seen so many guns in one place. This place is sandy, mountainous – but no trees on the mountains – just sand, and hot and dry. I remember it only too well from 30 years ago.
I was on the bicycle in the gym this afternoon and got a full report from a very talkative passenger. I guess the tour was 16 hours long, hot and exhausting. At the same time he was in awe of the history he witnessed. As he described the crowds, the packed viewing of the tombs, and the short time he had for viewing due to the number of tourists. I think back on our trip year ago and realize how lucky we were. We had rented bicycles and drove out to the Valley of the Kings. We didn’t even have to lock up the bikes because there were so few people. I remember a guard here and there, but few guns and maybe 3-4 other people in the tombs or viewing the monuments. We were blessed and could take all the time in the world.
March 26, 2008 (Personal)
Suez Canal
Yesterday the Suez Canal entrance was gloomy, almost as if we were in the middle of an impending rain storm. Of course, there was no rain. I couldn’t tell if it was smog, or what. Today is more clear and starting to get hot. The entire environment looks like the pictures in the children’s Bibles – stone block houses surrounded by desert. There is a thin strip of green that has intermittent irrigation ditches. And of course, there are the ubiquitous soldiers with their guns. These make me nervous, not reassured that I am safe.
We were having dinner with another couple and they are devout Catholics. They told us a funny story about the priest. I guess one of the first Masses they went to, he looked around the room and said, “Looking at the age of the people in the room, I have decided to just go ahead and give you all the last rites now, as a group.” The woman was surprised, but she seemed to accept it rather well. She thought it made sense.
The ship is like a little town with unending rumors. Last night as we were waiting to see the show a woman came up to me and said, “Bob is dead again.” Bob is her husband. I thought I was having one of my hard-of-hearing moments and asked her to repeat herself. She said the same thing again. I must have had a totally confused look on my face, so she said, “I guess the rumor is going around that Bob is dead again.” Then I got it. About a month ago, it was reported that this man had died – so here we go again. Her husband found out who started the rumor and thought it was funny to go to his room and show himself. She was laughing and said he would have to have another resurrection moment. They are both Jewish.
Bert, the food and beverage manager, did a Marathon in Safaga because he had said he always dreamed of running in the desert. Cindy, the lead nurse, went along with his wife in a rented car as medical support. She had IV’s, and AED, tons of water, Gatorade, etc. They drove out into the desert and then turned around and he ran back. He said this was the easiest Marathon he has ever run (he has run 200 of them!) because of all of the fluids, glucose and attention. When he entered the port area, he didn’t even look winded. When all was said and done and Carter had checked him out, he had gained about 2 pounds – all that extra fluid. He was doing this run to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and managed to raise over $5,000. The ship put out an arch of pink balloons at the finish line, as well as served pink lemonade to all those who helped and/or watched. The funny thing was that there was a group of passengers and crew who decided to ride bicycles along side him for the last 10 or so kilometers. Unfortunately, they got the wrong directions and rode for 10 kilometers in the 110 degree heat before they figured out that they were not in the correct place.
Some passengers saw something on CNN that the US had bombed somewhere along the Suez Canal. I didn’t hear this and certainly there has been no mention on board. We shall see……
Labels: Personal
Welcome to the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal, west of the Sinai Peninsula, is a 118-mile (163-kilometer) maritime canal in Egypt between Suez on the Red Sea and Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea. The canal allows two-way north-south water transport from Europe to Asia without circumnavigating Africa. Before the construction of the canal, some transport was conducted by offloading ships and carrying the goods over land between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The canal comprises two parts, north and south of the Great Bitter Lake, linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea. The canal has no locks because there is no sea-level difference and no hills to climb. It allows the passage of ships of up to 150,000 tons displacement, with cargo. It permits ships of up to 50 feet (15 meters) draft to pass, and improvements are planned to increase this to 72 feet (22 meters) by 2010 to allow supertanker passage. Presently supertankers can offload part of their cargo onto a canal-owned boat and reload at the other end of the canal. Some 25,000 ships pass through the canal each year, about 14% of world shipping. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera masterpiece Aida, written to commemorate the opening of the Suez Canal, was completed too late for the 1869 opening and premiered at the Cairo Opera House in 1871.
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The Lighthouse of Alexandria
The lighthouse of Alexandria (or the Pharos of Alexandria) was a tower built in the 3rd century BCE (between 285 and 247 BCE) on the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt to serve as that port's landmark, and later, its lighthouse. With a height variously estimated at between 377-492 feet (115-150 meters) it was among the tallest human-made structures on Earth for many centuries, and was identified as one of the Seven Wonders of the World by Antipater of Sidon. It may have been the third tallest building after the two Great Pyramids (of Khufu and Khafra) for its entire life. Some scholars estimate a much taller height exceeding 180 meters that would make the tower the tallest building up to the 14th century. Pharos was a small island just off the coast of Alexandria. It was linked to the mainland by a man-made connection named the Heptastadion, which thus formed one side of the city's harbor. As the Egyptian coast is very flat and lacking in the kind of landmark used at the time for navigation, a marker of some sort at the mouth of the harbor was deemed necessary – a function the Pharos was initially designed to serve. Use of the building as a lighthouse, with a fire and reflective mirrors at the top, is thought to date to around the 1st century CE, during the Roman period. Prior to that time the Pharos served solely as a landmark or day beacon.
Labels: Travel information
Welcome to Safaga, Egypt
Port Safaga, also known as Bur Safaga, is a town in Egypt on the coast of the Red Sea. Having numerous phosphate mines, it is regarded as a top phosphates export center and a marine port connected by a regular cruise shuttle service line with Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Safaga City is considered one of the most important therapeutic tourist centers, as special medical researches have proved the potential of attracting international tourism to Safaga. The resort is reputable for its unpolluted atmosphere, black sand dunes and mineral springs which are purported to ease rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Safaga has a small but thriving tourism industry, specializing in scuba diving. What was for many years a merchant port, Safaga, with its wide azure bay, long sandy beaches and pretty islands, is now a favorite sports destination in the Red Sea Riviera. It is especially popular among windsurfers, and was the host of the 1993 Red Sea World Windsurfing Championships. For cruise ship guests and tourists alike, Safaga is also a good starting point for a day trip into the Eastern Desert to check out the granite quarries of Mons Claudianus or to Luxor, one of the most impressive sights of Egypt, only 137 miles (220 kilometers) away.
Say it in Arabic
Arabic is the official language of all Middle Eastern countries except for Afghanistan, Iran, Israel and Turkey. There are many differences between the sounds of English and Arabic and therefore, the transliterations of words will not be exact. It is important to know that no matter what dialect of Arabic you speak and how poor your pronunciation, any attempt to communicate with the locals in Arabic will be graciously appreciated.
Hi Marhaba
Hello (response) Ya hala
Goodbye Ma’a Salāma
Please Law samaht
Thank you Shukran
How are you? Kayf hālak?
Pardon/Excuse Me ‘Afwan
Sorry ‘Assif
Do you speak English? Btah-ki inglīzi
I don’t understand Ma bif-ham
Yes Away
No La
How much?
Labels: Travel information
March 22, 2008
Getting toward the Red Sea (Personal)
As expected, our visit to Oman didn’t go as planned. Carter ended up having to take 3 people to the hospital. One was crew and he stayed there for some surgery. The other 2 were cardiac patients and Carter was going to deliver them to the cardiologist and return to the ship. Well, it took forever just to get off the ship. Everyone was ready and waiting by 7:30am, but they didn’t even get off the ship until after 10:00am. By this time, it was getting way too hot for me, so I bagged the visit and did stuff on the ship. Carter didn’t return until after 3pm that afternoon.
It ended up that it was Mohammed’s birthday, so everything was closed for a 4 day weekend. The cardiologist had agreed to come in on his day off and see Carter’s two patients. The way things work in Oman is that you pay for everything before you get it. So the consult had to be paid for, then the echo, then the EKG’s and so on. And they wanted cash only, no credit cards. Carter had made sure that he had the port agent’s number, so he was able to call him whenever another payment needed to be made. This whole process took hours, so naturally, they all got hungry and thirsty. Carter asked the port agent to go get them something to snack on (no idea what Omani’s snack on) and something to drink. The Port Agent returned with orange juice and Pepsi to drink and then his snack food was the Arabic equivalent of Twinkies. Carter was aghast!
At the end, the total for all of the tests, plus the 2 consults was less than $500. And this was on a vacation day for the doctor. Good price by our standards.
Some of the nurses and passengers had great stories after their visit here. Most of them saw wild camels, and some even feasted on camel meat. The people were most friendly and most wanted to discuss politics. With the language barrier, this was difficult, but they certainly weren’t happy with our foreign policy and wanted to know how the general public felt. Some awkward moments.
We got invited to another Captain’s dinner. Why me? It must be Carter’s electric personality.
Labels: Personal
Happy Easter
Easter is celebrated on a Sunday on varying dates between March 22 and April 25 and is called a ‘moveable feast’. Connected with the observance of Easter are the 40-day penitential season of Lent (beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding at midnight on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday), Holy Week (commencing on Palm Sunday, including Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion, and terminating with Holy Saturday) and the Octave of Easter (extending from Easter Sunday through the following Sunday). During the Octave of Easter in early Christian times, the newly baptized wore white garments, white being the liturgical color of Easter and signifying light, purity, and joy. Easter also embodies many pre-Christian traditions. The Christian festival of Easter probably embodies a number of converging traditions; most scholars emphasize the original relation of Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach, from which is derived Pasch, another name for Easter. The origin of its name is unknown. Many scholars believe it probably comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival continue today with the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in the coloring of eggs with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts. During the Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes (1877 - 1881), it was Mrs. Hayes who originated the custom of inviting children for egg rolling at Easter on the White House lawn. Happy Easter from all the Officers, Staff and Crew of the ms Amsterdam!
Labels: Travel information
The Karnak Temple Complex
The Karnak temple complex, universally known only as Karnak, describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings located near Luxor, Egypt. This was ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut (meaning “The Most Selected of Places”), the main place of worship of the Theban Triad with Amun as its head, in the monumental city of Thebes. The complex retrieves its current name from the nearby and partly surrounding modern village of el-Karnak, some 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) north of Luxor. The complex is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world. It consists of four main parts of which only one is accessible for tourists and the general public. This is the Precinct of Amun-Re, and this it is also the main part of the complex and by far the largest part. The three other parts, the Precinct of Montu, the Precinct of Mut and the Temple of Amenhotep IV (dismantled), are closed to the public. The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction work began in the 16th century BCE. Approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features are overwhelming. Construction of temples started in the Middle Kingdom and continued through to
Labels: Travel information
The Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings was used for primary burials from approximately 1539 BCE to 1075 BCE, and contains at least 63 tombs, beginning with Thutmose I (or possibly earlier, during the reign of Amenhotep I), and ending with Ramesses X or XI. Despite the name, the Valley of the Kings also contains the tombs of favorite nobles as well as the wives and children of both nobles and pharaohs. Around the time of Ramesses I (1301 BCE) construction commenced in the separate Valley of the Queens, although some wives continued to be buried with their husbands in the Valley of the Kings. The Theban Hills are dominated by the peak of al-Qurn, known to the Ancient Egyptians as Ta Dehent, or “The Peak.” It has a pyramid shaped appearance, and it is probable that this echoed the pyramids of the Old Kingdom, more than a thousand years prior to the first royal burials carved in the area. Its isolated position also resulted in reduced access, and special tomb police were able to guard the necropolis. While the iconic pyramid complexes of the Giza plateau have come to symbolize ancient Egypt, the majority of tombs were in fact cut into rock. Most pyramids contain sections that are cut into ground level, and there are full rock-cut tombs in Egypt that date back to the Old Kingdom. After the defeat of the Hyksos and the reunification of Egypt, the Theban rulers began to construct elaborate tombs that would reflect their new found power. The first royal tomb in the valley were those of Amenhotep I (although this identification is also disputed), and Thutmose I, whose advisor Ineni notes in his tomb that he advised his king to place his tomb in the desolate valley.
Explorations Speaker Series
Join Dr. Shreeyash Palshikar at 11:00 am for Caste in Contemporary India. The caste system in India has intrigued people around the world for many centuries. This talk introduces the religious, social, and political background of the caste system. In this talk, you will learn how caste differs from class, how groups have been able to move up in the caste hierarchy, and get insights into the subtle variations in this complex system. At 2:00 pm, Hassan M. Eltaher presents Cruising the Suez Canal – Sailing Through World History. This illustrated presentation will tell the story of the Canal by putting it in the context of international trade, engineering prowess, and strategic rivalries among both adversaries and allies. The story cannot be told of course without dwelling on the repercussions of the Canal on Egypt and the lives of the people who live along its banks.
Labels: Travel information
Welcome to Salalah, Oman
Modern Oman is home to the Port of Salalah; its location makes it a major entry point to India, the Middle East, and Africa. Salalah is the capital and seat of the governor or Wali of the southern Omani province of Dhofar. It is the second largest town in the Sultanate of Oman and a traditional stronghold and birthplace of the Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The Sultan traditionally lives in Salalah rather than in Muscat, the capital and largest city in Oman. Salalah, despite lying in the Arabian desert, enjoys a temperate climate through most of the year. The town is also subjected to the southeast monsoons between late June and early September. Visitors from across the Persian Gulf flock to Salalah to enjoy the monsoons and avoid the harsh heat faced by the rest of the region during the same period. Also in this period, the town’s population nearly doubles. The town has a large expatriate community, mainly from India, as well as a private Indian school, known as Indian School Salalah. The city of Salalah is known as the perfume capital of Arabia. The city is a popular destination for tourism due to the natural attractions of the Jabal al Qar mountains and abundant stands of frankincense trees lining mountain stream courses. Around the city and into the mountains the countryside is lush and green with the vegetation supporting herds of cattle. Salalah is a city of antiquity, boasting the ruins of a palace reputed to have belonged to the Queen of Sheba and the resting place of the biblical prophet Job in the nearby Jabal al Qar. It is also the alleged resting place of Nabi Imran, father of the Virgin Mary.
Spring Equinox
An equinox in astronomy is the event when the sun is directly above the Earth’s equator, occurring around the end of March and September each year. More technically, the equinox happens when the sun is at one of two opposite points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator and ecliptic intersect. In a wider sense, the equinoxes are the two days each year when the center of the sun spends an equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on Earth. The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). It is celebrated by many cultures around the world in various manners. In many Arab countries, Mother’s Day is celebrated by the March equinox. It also marks the first day of various calendars including the Iranian and Bahá’í calendar and is also a holiday for India, Turkey, Zanzibar and other countries of Central Asia. The calculation of Easter in the Christian church (first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox), uses its own definition for the equinox – it always falls on March 21. The earliest possible Easter date in any year is therefore March 22.
Labels: Travel information
March 19, 2008
In the Arabian Sea (Personal)
As we settle into “at sea” time there is a sense of peace on the ship. I think all the ports of call are stressful for people. There is added stress right now because the places are so different from what we are used to. When we are at sea, life resumes a routine that is comforting. In the last 2 days I have had numerous people say they would like to skip ports and just keep sailing. I can see both sides, but I would hate to never stop anywhere. We would be true isolationists. I think I enjoy the conversations and discussions that have come forth from this trip to SE Asia and India. It truly takes people out of their (and my) comfort zone.
Yesterday the ship celebrated St. Patrick’s Day and guess who had forgotten to bring anything green. Carter had an excuse because he had to wear his uniform, but not I. We were invited to a cocktail party and were soon festooned with green necklaces, hats and tiaras. Looked a little ridiculous.
Carter and the clinic continue to be on a non-stop patient flow, so I thought we might have to miss our hosting a table last night. But never fear, he got away. This time we were placed with a table of 5 women and one man. Most of the people were from Wisconsin and the table conversation revolved around fishing and all sorts of names of fish I had never heard of. Many of them were ex-teachers, so I could make conversation about that. One older woman said she was on the cruise because her husband had Alzheimer’s and she had to use up all their money so he could be financially covered under Medicare. That made me sad and angry with our health care system.
I was perusing the table and noticed 2 containers of condiments. One I was sure was a ranch-like dressing, but the other one looked like a very soft Stove Top dressing. I asked and was told it was horseradish. The container must have had at least a medium jar’s worth of horseradish in it. We wouldn’t use that in our family in a year! Within minutes of the serving of the shrimp cocktails, the container was emptied. Of course, Carter joined in to help deplete it. The man at the table said that he has 2 shrimp cocktails every evening – and on top of that he had 4 lobster tails last night!
Do the Midwesterners eat that much horseradish?
Tomorrow we are going to Oman and have to take a man to the hospital. Carter said I can tag along and do the “site visit” forms for Holland America. Sounds interesting to me.
Labels: Personal
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 (Personal)
We left India and there was nothing further mentioned about the Yellow Fever, especially after the officials received a gift of cigarettes. Even though I consider this extortion, I have to accept that this is the way most of the world works, plus it saved about 30 crew members from getting an unknown shot.
Our eating adventures were interesting, sometimes tasty and sometimes firey! We went to a restaurant relatively close to the port - $2 by cab for 4 people. They had a tome for a menu, so we asked the waiter to order for us. He insisted on a chicken appetizer – which ended up being a leg and a thigh made with yogurt in a tanduri oven. It was excellent, but a little hefty for just an appetizer. The dishes kept coming for about 2 hours, with curries, different flavors for each dish. I had to forgo some dishes, but Carter cleaned the platters. As we were standing to watch the show that night, he and I both were in great need of Tums. The next morning there were a few rumblies, but no overt gastric distress.
Our second day in Mumbai started out on a bad foot when 2 patients came to the infirmary just at the end of clinic and both needed to be disembarked. Carter said the medical decisions were without question that these people needed further evaluation and needed to get off the ship, but the logistics of convincing them was the difficult part. One lady didn’t have cancellation insurance and didn’t want to go. I think it was a combination of no insurance and fear of the unknown. Her companion also had no cancellation insurance, so she was frustrated having to make the decision to stay on shore with her friend and lose the cruise, or stay on the ship and be alone, wondering what was happening to her friend. Not an easy decision, so she was lashing out at Carter and the rest of the ship’s staff. Carter hadn’t dealt with someone like this before, so it was rather stressful for him. The rest of the staff (front office, guest relations, etc.) dealt with it better than he.
Then we were invited to go out with the doctor who is the liaison in India for Holland America. He came to the port to pick up Carter, Cindy and me, then drove for almost an hour in impossible traffic to the restaurant. I couldn’t believe it, but they took us to a Chinese restaurant in India. At first I felt relieved because I thought I would have something milder, but no….this is a Chinese restaurant in India – so there is an Indian flavor to all of the dishes. Once I saw all those red flecks of spices on the food, I longed for my Tums. In the end, there was more than enough for me to eat, the company was fun and we learned much about the Indian culture as Carter grilled them with questions.
We drove back in milder traffic and then were handed boxes and bags of medication that Dr. Memon had bought for us. Cindy had about 10 bags which were light, but very difficult to handle. I had a box that was about my max for carrying – Kit would be proud that I have kept up my weight training. I’m only a little sore this morning. And Carter had a huge box that I could hardly lift.
Found out that the extra nurse who was sent to take off some of the pressure had visa issues and was sent back to London. Maybe she will join in Oman?
Labels: Personal
March 16, 2008
Mumbia, India (Bombay)(Personal)
Yellow Fever shots have not been mentioned so far. We aren’t asking.
The medical department has been going crazy. Even Wayne (one of the nurse’s husband) and I have been enlisted. And as the department gets busier and busier, the rumors abound. I just went upstairs for a cup of tea and was asked by the hairdressers if 7 people have actually died. I think I disappointed them when I said “only two”, and they knew about each of them. There have also been some very seriously ill people and they caused quite a bit of lost sleep for Carter and the crew. Luckily, the patients survived, even getting somewhat better, and were taken to hospital here in Mumbia. Holland America has sent another nurse to the ship to help out, thank goodness.
Our morning started with a phone call from immigration at 5:45AM requesting that Carter go down to one of the lounges to sign more paperwork and answer multiple questions posed by the officials. We had been forewarned that the summons might come early, so we were up by 5:30. It was amazing that it took so many officials to do the questioning and then each paper Carter signed had to be made with 6 copies and then inspected by another official, then stamped with an official stamp by another, then inspected by another. It was almost comical. Carter says we can thank the British for all this paperwork, just that it hasn’t changed since 1850. No Xerox here.
We were able to get a little breakfast before the next call which said the ambulance was here to take our patient. Carter had agreed to go with the patient and spouse since they were VERY weary of getting disembarked in India. Somehow or other, I was included in the transfer, which was fine with me. I was curious. Again the Indian authorities required that all passports and people be matched, along with a “landing card” which also had to be stamped, and since these people couldn’t get up to the officials, I became the messenger. By the time I had taken care of this, the crew member and passenger had been disembarked and were in their ambulances. I dashed out, handing off documents here and there and hopped in the ambulance with Carter.
Now this ambulance was something to see. There was a tank of oxygen, the gurney with the patient and a bench which the patient’s spouse, Carter, a non-English speaking assistant to someone, and I were sitting on. Other than the oxygen, it could have been a hearse. Carter was glad the patient was doing better….We did have some oxygen and IV ports available, but nothing else. Sort of scary!
At 7am on a Sunday morning, Mumbai is quiet. The air was polluted and grey, but the traffic was manageable. It took about 20 minutes until we arrived at the hospital. The poor spouse was instantly stopped, while the patient was taken upstairs with Carter. There were huge discussions among the 6 people behind the counter and finally a deposit/bill was presented for 50,000 rupis. At first the spouse balked, but I said, “divide by 35-40” and the response was a sigh. Then there was a discussion on the cost of the ambulance and after about 20 minutes the bill was presented: $8.00 equivalent.
Once in the room it was amazing how long it took just to get vitals. Usually in an ER it is finished with minutes of admission. Here it took about an hour for just the BP, temp, pulse and oxygen level. All of the items to take these measurements had to be brought into the room individually. There must not be enough to put one is each room. The one thing that did arrive instantly was the breakfast. Since the patient was essentially NPO (nothing by mouth), this was a disappointment. In general the hospital was exceptionally clean and the nurses were very attentive.
The port agent and his assistant were there and were supposed to be arranging for a hotel for the spouse. They hemmed and hawed, discussing this and that until the head nurse arrived. She understood the problem, got on the phone, made a reservation at a hotel within walking distance and even got a confirmation code. The port agent was still trying to figure out which hotel to call. I had to chuckle.
Finally the doctor arrived, the patient was assessed, Carter gave his spiel, and things began to happen. The most reassuring thing was that there was another doctor, a woman, who was hired by the cruise line to facilitate. She was wonderful and instantly took command of the situation. Her English was excellent, her medical knowledge was up to date and she was able to assist both the patient and the spouse. I was impressed. We felt the patient and spouse were being left in capable hands.
Then the port agent, his assistant, Carter and I piled into a mini-cab. I only wish I could have had a photo of Carter trying to bend his body so that his head would fit in the cab. Of course, he was relegated to the middle seat in the back and honestly, the space between the front and back seat is measured in centimeters. It was tight for me. The cab didn’t have the best door latches and each time we went around a corner, the doors on my side of the car would open if you were leaning on them. I scooted closer to Carter who was already cramped – so I wasn’t in good graces. The red light for the temperature was on in the cab, plus the horn must have been smashed so many times that it was sunken into the steering wheel. He had an auxiliary horn, which he used excessively. Of course the windows were open the entire trip and these cars drive very close to each other. At one point there was a horrible coughing fit and I thought it was from the guy on the other side of Carter. It was from the passenger in the cab next to us! I just closed my eyes most of the trip because the traffic rules are so different and I don’t do well with near misses.
We are going out to dinner later tonight. I have my Tums ready.
Labels: Personal
Mumbai’s Geography
Mumbai is located on Salsette Island, which lies at the mouth of Ulhas River off the western coast of India in the coastal region known as the Konkan. Most of Mumbai is at sea level and the average elevation ranges from 33 to 49.5 feet (10 to 15 meters). The northern part of Mumbai is hilly and the highest point of the city is at 1,450 feet (450 meters). Three Lakes are within the metropolitan limits: the Tulsi Lake, Vihar Lake and the Powai Lake. The first two are present within the Borivali National Park and supply part of the city’s drinking water. Mumbai also has three small rivers within the city limits originating in the National Park. The coastline of the city is indented with numerous creeks and bays. On the eastern seaboard, large mangrove swamps rich in biodiversity occupy most of the region. Soil cover in the city region is predominantly sandy owing to its proximity to the sea. The underlying rock of the region is composed of black Deccan basalt flows and their acid and basic variants dating back to the late Cretaceous and early Eocene geological eras. Mumbai sits on a seismically active zone owing to the presence of three fault lines in the vicinity. The area is classified as a Zone III region, which means an earthquake of magnitude of up to 6.5 can be expected.
Early History of India
Stone Age rock shelters with paintings in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent. It gradually developed into the Indus Valley civilization, dating back to 3300 BCE, followed by the Vedic civilization which laid the foundations of Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early Indian society. The empire built by the Maurya dynasty under Emperor Ashoka united most of modern South Asia except the kingdoms in the south. From the 3rd century CE, the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient India’s “Golden Age.” While the north had larger, fewer kingdoms, in the south there were several dynasties where science, engineering, art, literature, astronomy, and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings.
The Maharaja of India
The word Maharaja is Sanskrit for “great king” or “high king” (karmadharaya from mahānt “great” and rājan “king”). Due to Sanskrit’s major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in India, the term ‘Maharaja’ is common to many modern languages, such as Bengali, Hindi and Gujrati. Its use is primarily for Hindu potentates (ruler or sovereign). The female equivalent to Maharaja is Maharani, a title used either by the wife of a Maharaja or, in the few states where allowed, by a woman ruling in her own right. The term Maharaj denotes separate noble and religious offices, although the fact that in Hindi the suffix ‘a’ in Maharaja is silent makes the two titles homonyms.
Labels: Travel information
Welcome to Mumbai, India
Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city. It is located on an island off the west coast of India and has an estimated metropolitan population in 2005 of 17 million, making it the sixth largest metropolitan area in the world. Clustered along with its outlying satellite townships, it forms one of the world’s most populous conurbations. The city, which has a deep natural harbor, is also the largest port in western India, handling over half of the country’s passenger traffic. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India, and houses important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange, and the corporate headquarters of many Indian companies. Owing to the immense business opportunities available in Mumbai and the relatively high standard of living, it has attracted migrants from all over India and South Asia, making the city a potpourri of various communities and cultures. The appellation Mumbai is an eponym, derived from Mumba: the name of the local Hindu goddess Mumbadevi and Aai, which means mother in Marathi. In the 16th century, the Portuguese named the area Bom Bahia, meaning Good Bay. Later corrupted to Bombaim, it is still known as such in Portuguese. After the British gained possession, it was anglicized to Bombay. The name was officially changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995. .
Labels: Travel information
March 12, 2008
Chennai, India (formerly known as Madras)(Personal)
As many of you know, India is one of the hardest places in the world for me to understand. Today has been no exception. To start out with, this country isn’t on a regular time zone, as the rest of the world. We had to change our clocks by 30 minutes. While it may be 1pm for you and technically 1am for us, it is 12:30am instead. I guess this isn’t as bad as Nepal, where they are 45 minutes off the rest of the world.
Anyway, a conflict started about a week ago when the ship’s medical department was told by the Indian Dept. of Public Health that all crew members had to have up-to-date yellow fever immunizations with documentation. All those crew members who were not up-to-date would have to get an immunization by the Indian authorities, at the ship’s expense. No prices were mentioned and we didn’t even know if they actually had the vaccine, or were just going to inject saline, as they do in many African countries. This was not being required for any of the paying passengers. I went nuts because there is no medical indication for a yellow fever shot for the itinerary we are currently on. We have not visited any ports where there is yellow fever and will not for the rest of the cruise. Because of this, the yellow fever vaccines had been removed from the ship prior to the voyage.
The ship asked for documentation of their reasoning, the Indians threatened the entire ship would be delayed in docking (meaning passengers would be angry because they would miss their shore excursion), and the argument continued. The medical team and I all worked on the yellow books, trying to figure out how many people needed shots – taking hours just to compile the data. Finally, the crew doc decided to call the Seattle office and ask for help. Sally, the director in Seattle, wrote an authoritative e-mail to the Indian Dept. of Health, quoting the WHO’s (World Health Organization) recommendations and called their bluff. As of this morning, we weren’t sure what was going to happen.
We entered Chennai Harbor and had to wait about an hour longer than expected to dock because there was a crane that needed to be moved out of the way. (At least that was the excuse.) Then their immigration officers came on board. I happened to be downstairs when they came on and was able to direct them to the lounge they were meeting in and they were down right rude to me. I was just being helpful and polite, but they acted as though they owned the ship. It ended up that each passenger and crew needed to be issued a “landing card” before anyone could be disembarked. The ship had to prepare all the cards, but each one had to be stamped by an Indian official. This took about an hour, delaying all of the shore excursions that were planned. The passengers were agitating.
Finally, those cards were issued and people started to get off the ship – but once off there were frequent glances back to the ship – feelings of “What am I doing here?” The dock was filthy and smelled of rotting materials. It had rained several hours before and the entire surface of the dock was glistening with an oily-muddy slime. There were 3 very poor women trying to move the water with grass-like brooms. They had their saris hiked up between their legs and they were barefoot as they moved the sludge around. I watched the crew who had on white shoes and white pants as the sludge slowly climbed up their clothes. I’m sure the laundry will be busy tonight.
In the mean time, the crew who were selected to get the yellow fever shots were sequestered in a room. If the shots were going to be given, there was no indication of time and there was the concern that any delay would impact the clearing of the ship. These poor people had to wait until 11am and then were dismissed. Nothing was said by the authorities and no one from the ship asked about it. I guess Sally truly called their bluff.
At the moment, we are waiting the sail-away, but there is a delay because the Indian authorities have now required that each passenger present him or herself in person to them along with their landing card and passport. Many of the passengers are disabled and even when we did the temperatures on everyone before Hong Kong, the nurses went to their rooms. Honestly, these people didn’t get off the ship, and most certainly aren’t the ones who are going to want to jump ship and seek asylum in India. I have a feeling this is just another way for India to make a little extra money. Each minute we are docked costs money, so they are making this drag out.
So my question remains: What is India thinking? They are alienating so many first time visitors and re-enforcing the ambivalent feelings many people have had over the years. Many old timers are concerned that Chennai has deteriorated since their last visit several years ago. This place is hard to understand…..
Labels: Personal
March 11, 2008
At Sea near the Bay of Bengal (Personal)
How could I have forgotten our favor store-front business in Singapore? We were in a mall and passed a shop that had a tinted window, so you couldn’t see in clearly. But the bottom of the window was definitely tanks full of fish. With closer inspection we realized that there were many human feet dangling in the water with the fish. Come to find out, this is a “Soothing store” that has the fish eat the dead skin off your feet, while they (the feet) relax in cool water. All this pleasure for only $29.95/30 minutes.
We are now closer to India. For a while we were passing Sumatra, right close to Aceh, the place with the horrible tsunami. It makes you think how lucky we are. And we were at sea, so a tsunami wouldn’t affect us anyway.
Last night was another Captain’s dinner. The last one I was seated with very active, social people. This time Carter had that clientele and I was with the group that didn’t talk much. I honestly worked at it but had the disadvantage of being seated with some people who were half deaf, some were close to blind and most couldn’t remember much. I would start a conversation and find that they had forgotten the topic almost immediately. They could remember how many times they had been around the world, but didn’t remember many of the places.
We were all given a “treasure chest” which contained the menu. Each course was written on a separate card, so I would read it to these people just before each course. Then when the course was delivered, they would ask me what they were eating. They couldn’t see it and wanted to make sure they were safe. Oh, me. There was one lady who had been a professor of textiles at Auburn University and another man who was with it, so we were able to chat, but they were rather far from me, and I didn’t want to ignore my close tablemates.
One thing we had to eat was amazing. It was a salmon and sole combination that had been woven in a basketweave design, then served in a bouillabaisse sauce. I can’t imagine spending my afternoon weaving two kinds of fish together. The flavor was rather strange, but the presentation was nice. It was the caviar served on top of a slice of lobster, on top of an egg salad mixture that was wasted on me. I am getting quite adept at moving stuff around on the plate to look as though I have eaten it. At least there weren’t the different liver pates they had the last time. Those I don’t even want to touch. Carter was seated next to a woman who didn’t eat fish, so he had 2 meals instead one.
Labels: Personal
Sunday, March 09, 2008 (Personal)
Our time in Singapore was not too easy on the medical team. They disembarked 7 people and had one death. The man who died had told his wife that he wanted to die at sea, so it wasn’t totally unexpected. Of course, it was hard one everyone, especially his wife. She decided to fly home from Singapore to be with her children. The other 7 who left may or may not return to the ship in India, or whenever they are fit enough to do so. Once all of the medical problems were dealt with, the paperwork took over. I felt so sorry for the nurses as they tried to sort thru the requirements for each individual insurance plan. One of the nurses was speaking with the insurance company and the lady at the other end was being rather critical that they hadn’t been notified earlier. Cindy finally said to the woman, “I came on shift 16 hours ago and have been working with sick patients the entire time. What time did you come on shift?” That shut the lady up.
Hopefully, all of the sick ones are off since we are headed into less than friendly medical territory. India is not bad in Mumbai, but other places aren’t that reliable.
The second day we were in Singapore offered more free time. After Carter did his boat drill (they never end….), we took off on a hop-on/hop-off bus. We were here 30 years ago, but it was almost a new city to us. I was feeling that this was just another port with the container cranes and hustle and bustle, until I looked out the window and saw a huge marble statue of a merlion (1/2 lion and ½ mermaid) perched on the hill right outside the ship. I remembered that from before. Otherwise, the city had grown into a huge commercial hub. Everything is sparkling clean – not a cigarette butt or piece of trash visible. I have never seen so many shopping malls, all new and pristine. Alemitu would go crazy here.
After our tour we went to eat at a very strange restaurant. I guess it had opened the day before and there were many nationalities trying it out. There was a huge Indian family, several people who looked Asian and even a Muslim family. I decided to stay on the safe side and eat a meat pie. I figured this used to be an English colony, so I could get a good meat pie. It came with a salad, but I decided I would skip that. Carter, however, ordered a fajita. Well, my chicken pie was filled with jalapenos – so much for the mild, boring British and the salad had juiced jalapenos on it for dressing. Carter’s fajita meat and veggie mixture was made with soy sauce and tasted like Chinese stir fry. I ate some of each and Carter finished the rest. I took a Tums upon return, he felt great!
Labels: Personal
The Ides of March
In 49 BCE Caesar, who had held many of the highest political offices in Rome, marched into Italy to challenge the leaders of the Republic. After defeating his enemies, he ruled as dictator until his murder on the Ides of March (literally, the 15th day of March, May, July, or October or the 13th day of the other months in the ancient Roman calendar) in 44 BCE. Caesar’s assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, hoped to restore the Republic, but it was no longer possible. Neither the urban masses nor the military would allow the old aristocracy to regain control. Rome needed a strong hand to administer the state and control the army, since the old system of government was unsuitable to rule an empire of 50 million subjects. If Rome wanted to maintain its dominance, the government needed to create new administrative and military institutions. Caesar planned to transform the Roman state, but his few years in power were insufficient. His followers included his longtime military deputy, Mark Antony, and his great-nephew (and adopted son), Octavian. They first defeated Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, a city of ancient Macedonia, in 42 BCE before turning on each other. By 30 BCE Octavian was the unchallenged successor to Caesar and the master of Rome. Three years later the Senate proclaimed him Augustus, the supreme ruler.
Labels: Travel information
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. Bollywood is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the Indian film industry. Bollywood is one of the largest film producers in the world, with over 800 films produced a year. Bollywood is commonly referred to as Hindi cinema, even though Hindustani, understood as the colloquial base common to both Hindi and Urdu, might be more accurate. The use of poetic Urdu words is fairly common. There has been a growing presence of Indian English in dialogue and songs as well. It is not uncommon to see films that feature dialogue with English words and phrases, even whole sentences. There are even a growing number of films made entirely in English. Bollywood films are mostly musicals and are expected to contain catchy music in the form of song-and-dance numbers woven into the script. Indian audiences expect full value for their money, with a good entertainer generally referred to as paisa vasool, meaning “money’s worth”. Songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills — all are mixed up in a three-hour-long extravaganza with an intermission. Such movies are called masala films, after the Hindustani word for a spice mixture.
Labels: Travel information
Early History of Mumbai
Artifacts found near Kandivali in northern Mumbai indicate that the islands had been inhabited since the Stone Age. Documented evidence of human habitation dates back to 250 BCE, when it was known as Heptanesia (meaning “A Cluster of Seven Islands” in Ancient Greek). In the 3rd century BCE, the islands formed part of the Maurya Empire, ruled by the Buddhist emperor, Aşoka. During its first few centuries, control over Mumbai was disputed between the Indo-Scythian Western Satraps and the Satavahanas. The Hindu rulers of the Silhara Dynasty later governed the islands until 1343, when the kingdom of Gujarat annexed them. Some of the oldest edifices of the archipelago – the Elephanta Caves and the Walkeshwar temple complex date from this era. On December 2, 1911, the Gateway of India was built to commemorate the arrival in India of King George V and Queen Mary and was completed on December 4, 1924. In 1534, the Portuguese appropriated the islands from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. They were ceded to Charles II of England in 1661, as dowry for Catherine de Braganza. These islands were in turn leased to the British East India Company in 1668 for a sum of £10 per annum. The company found the deep harbor on the east coast of the islands to be ideal for setting up their first port in the subcontinent. The population quickly rose from 10,000 in 1661, to 60,000 in 1675; In 1687, the British East India Company transferred its headquarters from Surat to Bombay. The city eventually became the headquarters of the Bombay Presidency.
Labels: Travel information
Welcome to Chennai, India
Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Chennai has an estimated population of 7.5 million, making it the fourth largest metropolitan city in India and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. The city was established in the 17th century by the British, who developed it into a major urban centre and naval base. By the 20th century, it had become an important administrative centre, as the capital of the Madras Presidency. Chennai's economy has a broad industrial base in the automobile, technology, hardware manufacturing, and healthcare industries. The city is home to much of India's automobile industry and is the country's second-largest exporter of information technology (IT) and information-technology-enabled services (ITES), behind Bangalore. The city is served by an international airport and two major ports; it is connected to the rest of the country by five national highways and two railway terminals. Thirty-five countries have consulates in Chennai. The name Chennai is an eponym, etymologically derived from Chennapatnam, the name of the town that grew up around Fort St. George, built by the British in 1640. The town was named after Damarla Chennappa Nayakudu of Chandragiri, father of the ruling chieftain of the area, Venkatapathy Nayakudu, although some believe Chennapatnam was named after the Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple, as the word Chenni in Tamil means face, and the temple was thought of as the face of the city.
Customs in India
• The word no has abrasive connotations; therefore do not outright refuse an offer but find a vague way to get around it, such as I’ll try.
• Keep small change handy as street merchants and taxi drivers often claim that they have no change.
• Tipping is a certain way to make sure things get done. It is more than a gift for a job well done.
• Keep your hands in your pockets when walking by temples, as street merchants will often make you pay for a bracelet they put on a free arm.
• Never pat or touch an Indian’s head.
• It is rude to point with your fingers. Instead, use your chin to point. It is also considered rude to beckon with your palm up, whistle or wink.
• A side-to-side head movement denotes agreement while an up-and-down head movement means no.
• As cows are revered animals by Hindu people, wearing leather of any kind can be seen as offensive.
Say it in Hindi
Thought of as the most important Indian language, Hindi is only spoken as a first language of 20% of the population. Nevertheless, it is the official language of the Indian government and seven states of India.
Hello/Goodbye Namaste
Yes/No Jee hang/ Jee Naheeng
Thank you Shukriyaa
Excuse me/Sorry Kshamaa Keejiye
I’m lost Maing raastaa bhool gayaa
How much for…? …kaa kiraayaa kitnaa hai?
I don’t understand Maing naheeng Samjhaa
Where is the bathroom? Gusalkaanaa
kahaang hai?
Do you speak English? Kyaa aap ko
angrezee aatee hai?
Labels: Travel information
The Republic of India
India is a large, triangular-shaped country in southern Asia, buttressed by the long sweep of the Himalaya in the north and protruding into the Indian Ocean in the south. It is bordered by Pakistan to the northwest, China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north, and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. India covers a land area of some 1,281,930 square miles (3,287,000 square kilometers), though disputed borders with Pakistan and China make this figure somewhat arbitrary; India is the seventh largest country in the world. Northern India contains the snow-bound peaks and deep valleys of the Himalaya and the vast Gangetic Plain, which separates the Himalayan region from the southern peninsula and stretches from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. South of the plains, the land rises up into a triangular-shaped plateau known as the Deccan, ranging in altitude from 985 to 2950 feet (300 to 900 meters). The plateau is bordered by the eastern and western ghats, ranges of hills that run parallel to India’s coasts and separate the fertile coastal strips from the interior. It has been said that India is less a country than a continent, and it holds as many variations in religion, language, customs, art and cuisine as it does in topography. For the traveler, this cultural feast is India’s great strength.
Labels: Travel information
Sunday, March 09, 2008 (Personal)
Our time in Singapore was not too easy on the medical team. They disembarked 7 people and had one death. The man who died had told his wife that he wanted to die at sea, so it wasn’t totally unexpected. Of course, it was hard one everyone, especially his wife. She decided to fly home from Singapore to be with her children. The other 7 who left may or may not return to the ship in India, or whenever they are fit enough to do so. Once all of the medical problems were dealt with, the paperwork took over. I felt so sorry for the nurses as they tried to sort thru the requirements for each individual insurance plan. One of the nurses was speaking with the insurance company and the lady at the other end was being rather critical that they hadn’t been notified earlier. Cindy finally said to the woman, “I came on shift 16 hours ago and have been working with sick patients the entire time. What time did you come on shift?” That shut the lady up.
Hopefully, all of the sick ones are off since we are headed into less than friendly medical territory. India is not bad in Mumbai, but other places aren’t that reliable.
The second day we were in Singapore offered more free time. After Carter did his boat drill (they never end….), we took off on a hop-on/hop-off bus. We were here 30 years ago, but it was almost a new city to us. I was feeling that this was just another port with the container cranes and hustle and bustle, until I looked out the window and saw a huge marble statue of a merlion (1/2 lion and ½ mermaid) perched on the hill right outside the ship. I remembered that from before. Otherwise, the city had grown into a huge commercial hub. Everything is sparkling clean – not a cigarette butt or piece of trash visible. I have never seen so many shopping malls, all new and pristine. Alemitu would go crazy here.
After our tour we went to eat at a very strange restaurant. I guess it had opened the day before and there were many nationalities trying it out. There was a huge Indian family, several people who looked Asian and even a Muslim family. I decided to stay on the safe side and eat a meat pie. I figured this used to be an English colony, so I could get a good meat pie. It came with a salad, but I decided I would skip that. Carter, however, ordered a fajita. Well, my chicken pie was filled with jalapenos – so much for the mild, boring British and the salad had juiced jalapenos on it for dressing. Carter’s fajita meat and veggie mixture was made with soy sauce and tasted like Chinese stir fry. I ate some of each and Carter finished the rest. I took a Tums upon return, he felt great!
Labels: Personal
March 7, 2008
Singapore (Personal)
I know it sounds so exotic to be on a World Cruise, but quite truthfully, there are also the mundane activities of daily living that are a trial. For example, Carter gets most of his laundry taken care of, but I have to wash my own clothes. Carter’s clothes are washed by the crew laundry, but their timing is random. Sometimes we get the clothes back in 2 days, and other times it is 4 days. It just depends on the paying passengers and their needs. Crew is always relegated to the back. So, I do most of our wash, other than his uniforms. This works ok, but what is normally a non-thinking task becomes all consuming. First of all, the officers are able to wash for free on the 7th floor. We live on the 6th floor. Unfortunately, there is only one washer and dryer and it can only be used from 8am-8pm. So it has become my quest to find out when the machine is the least used. There are probably 25-30 people who can use this machine.
My day may begin with a trip upstairs just when it opens, to find that the machine is in use. I try to plan a 2nd trip up, lugging the dirty laundry, the soap and the Chlorox, when I think the first load will be finished – in addition to time allotted for the person to have come back to move the wash to the dryer. Often, I will get there and find that the 1st person has not returned and there is a note on the washer, “Do not remove my clothes.” A 3rd trip and 4th trip may ensue. Often it takes 2 hours just to find an empty machine.
As time has gone by I realized that few people want to wash between 12 noon and 2 because this is when they are taking naps. Or that few people want to wash on a port day, so that gives me a chance. Several times I have flooded the entire wash room – washing machine malfunction and the last time the dryer sounded as if it were drilling thru steel. It makes you appreciate your simple washer and dryer at home.
Another trial has been trying to decide which side of the bed we are each to sleep on. I have slept on the left side of the bed for 35 years. This particular bed is mashed up against the wall, on the right side. There is an armoire at the end of the bed on the right, so it is a trial to get out of bed if you are sleeping on the right. The phone is on the left. Carter made the excuse that he thought he should sleep on the side next to the phone, but the real reason was that he didn’t like to climb over my legs and scoot out of bed at the foot of the bed when he got up at night or tried to get up in the morning. So, reluctantly, I agreed to move sides. It has taken some getting used to, but we are adjusting. I have started to fluid restrict myself, so I don’t have to get up in the night, but the phone excuse was bogus. He doesn’t wake up to the phone, so I wake up when it rings, then have to wake him up so he can answer the phone. The one good upshot is that my blankets are tucked in under the mattress, so I have more control on them. Carter can’t hog them all……so good can come from adversity and we aren’t too old to learn new tricks.
The hallway outside our room now smells like coffee or sugary sweet rolls. Interesting.
Labels: Personal
The Names of India
The name India may refer to either the region of Greater India (the Indian subcontinent), or to the contemporary Republic of India contained therein. The term is derived from the name of the Sindhu (Indus River) and has been in use in Greece since the 1st century. The term appears in Old English in the 9th century, and again in Modern English since the 17th century. The Republic of India has three principal short names, in both official and popular English usage, each of which is historically significant. All three originally designated a single entity comprising all the modern nations of the Indian subcontinent. These names are India, Bharat (named after King Bharata) and Hindustan (The Land of Hindus). The first Article of the Constitution of India states that “India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states.” Thus, India and Bharat are equally official short names for the Republic of India, while Hindustan is used by Muslim nationals and is mostly used in historical contexts (especially British India). Indians commonly refer to their country as Bharat, Hindustan or India depending on the context and language of conversation. In a few Hindu texts such as the Manu Smriti and a few early Buddhist texts, India is known as Aryadesh. It is mentioned as Aryaavarta in the Manu Smriti. So Arya is used for members of the Arya Dharma (now called Hindu Dharma) and Aryaa is a designation for the Aryan tribe.
Explorations Speaker series
Join Kate Ross as she presents The Indian Ocean Trade Network. Centuries before Columbus, enormous trading occurred among civilizations along the Indian Ocean. The network spanned from the powerful city-states along Africa’s Swahili coast through the Middle East to India eastward to island and mainland kingdoms of Southeast Asia and then finally to Ming China. This was a vast commercial system that witnessed thriving trade and cultural diffusion since ancient times. Based on the latest historical research, this is a rarely told story of the formation of the Indian Ocean trading network itself, and the roles played by the varied regions adjacent to the Indian Ocean in creating the first truly global trading network.
Labels: Travel information
The Merlion and Sentosa Island
The merlion is a figure with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Its name comes from a combination of mermaid and lion. The merlion was used by the Singapore Tourism Board as its logo up to 1997 and continues to be its trademark symbol. Supposedly, the lion head and fish body of the creature recalls the story of the legendary Sang Nila Utama, who saw a lion while hunting on an island, en route to Malacca. The island eventually became the sea port of Temasek, a precursor to Singapore. The original Merlion statue stood at the opening of the Singapore River, installed at a ceremony in1972. In 2002, the statue was relocated to its current site that fronts Marina Bay with the completion of the Esplanade Bridge in 1997. A taller replica can be found on Sentosa Island. Sentosa, meaning tranquility in Malay, is a popular island resort in Singapore which features a beautiful sheltered beach, historical fortifications in Fort Siloso, dating from World War II, two golf courses and two five-star hotels. Sentosa was once known as Pulau Belakang Mati, which in Malay means the "Island of Death from Behind". Different versions of how the island came to acquire such a name abound. One account attributed the name to murder and piracy in the island's past. A second claimed that the island is the paradise of warrior spirits and a third account claims that an outbreak of disease in the late 1840s almost wiped out the original settlers. In a 1972 contest, the island was renamed Sentosa.
Colonial Rule in Singapore
On January 29, 1819, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles landed on the main island of Singapore. Spotting its potential as a strategic geographical trading post in Southeast Asia, Raffles signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah on behalf of the British East India Company to develop Singapore as a British trading post and settlement, marking the start of the island’s modern era. Raffles’s deputy, William Farquhar, oversaw a period of growth and ethnic migration, which was largely spurred by a no-restriction immigration policy. The British India office governed the island from 1858, but Singapore was made a British crown colony in 1867, answerable directly to the Crown.
Labels: Travel information
Welcome to Singapore, Republic of Singapore
Singapore, an island country and the smallest country in Southeast Asia, is located on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, south of the Malaysian state of Johor, and north of the Indonesian Riau Islands. The site of several ancient port cities and a possession of several empires in its history, Singapore was a Malay fishing village when it was colonized by the United Kingdom in the 19th century. It was further occupied by the Japanese Empire in World War II, and was later part of the merger which established Malaysia. When Singapore acquired independence, having few natural resources, it was socio-politically volatile and economically undeveloped. Foreign investment and rapid government-led industrialization has since created an economy which relies on exports of electronics and manufacturing primarily from its port. According to the quality-of-life index assembled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Singapore has the highest standard of living in Asia, and is ranked 11th in the world. Measured by GDP per capita, Singapore is the 22nd wealthiest country. The geographically small nation has a foreign reserve of US$119 billion. Eighty-three percent of Singapore's population lives in housing estates constructed by the Housing Development Board and nearly half use the public transport system daily. As a result of efforts to control motorized traffic, the maintenance of natural greenery, strict regulations on industrial locations and emissions, and other pro-environmental initiatives by the government and the private sector, Singapore has been able to control its pollution levels to well within World Health Organization standards.
What’s in a Name
The name “Singapore” is derived from the Malay words “singa” (lion) and “pura” (city), which were derived from the Sanskrit words “sigha” and “pura”. In Tamil, a language of Singapore, “singam” means lion and “puram” means city. Hence, Singapore is known as the Lion City. The naming is attributed to a prince named, who according to folklore, was caught in a terrible storm that did not cease until he had thrown his crown into the water. The waters calmed immediately after that, and he sailed to the closest island he could see. The first animal he saw after setting foot on the island was a lion and thus, he decided to name the island Singapura. Recent studies of Singapore indicate that lions have never lived there (not even Asiatic lions), and the beast seen by the prince was most likely the Malayan Tiger.
History of Singapore
The first records of settlement in Singapore are from the 2nd century CE. The island was an outpost of the Sumatran Srivijaya empire and originally had the Javanese name Temasek, meaning “sea town”. Temasek rapidly became a significant trading settlement, but declined in the late 14th century. There are few remnants of old Temasek in Singapore, but archaeologists have uncovered artifacts of that and other settlements. Between the 16th and early 19th centuries, the island of Singapore was part of the Sultanate of Johor. During the Malay-Portugal wars in 1613, the settlement was set ablaze by Portuguese troops. The Portuguese subsequently held control in that century and the Dutch in the 17th, but throughout most of this time the island’s population consisted mainly of fishermen.
Labels: Travel information
March 6, 2008 (Personal)
It seems so long since we were in Hong Kong…..The last week we have been in Vietnam and it has certainly been a different experience from visiting via airplane. On top of that, it has been rather cold for Vietnam and the air is amazingly polluted as the people are burning whatever to stay warm. We visited several areas that are heavy coal producers, so the air was grey and in some ports felt full of particulate matter. My eyes smarted just stepping outside. It smelled charred.
On top of that Carter and the infirmary were in overload. Most of the passengers who have breathing problems were very stressed – even their oxygen concentrators were not enough to overcome the pollution. Several passengers should have been sent off, but it was decided to keep them on until Singapore – if nothing else but for the better air quality. And that is added to the fact that many of the passengers have now reached the point that they have used up most of their reserve and they are starting to have very difficult problems to manage. The main problem for the medical team is to try to stay healthy themselves and not get overtaxed due to lack of sleep.
Vietnam itself was interesting to see thru the eyes of veterans. Once we entered the waters and saw the land, many of them had a visceral reaction to the place. They became subdued and saddened. Many just plain couldn’t get off the ship. They looked off onto the pier and saw the men squatting, smoking cigarettes; then they looked at the topography, the flat, lush landscape and felt the humidity. It all came back and most of it was painful. I can only imagine what the response to deserts scenery will do to the present group of soldiers serving in Iraq. Very sobering and sad.
Due to the medical situation on the ship, as well as the fact that we had been here before and the others had not, we stayed on the ship in HaLong and Da Nang. When we got to the south, near Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), we took the shuttle into the port town. It was about an hour bus ride into this town – and we were still an hour away from Saigon. There are many more Catholic churches in the south than the north. They were very visible and grandiose. There were also some interesting sites. The little roadside restaurants were funny and I wish I could have had someone explain them to me. Most of them were open-air establishments with their little plastic chairs on a dirt floor. The corrugated roves were supported by poles and then strung between the poles were hammocks. It looked as though you would come into the restaurant, eat lunch and then have a nap. How convenient!
We had our first rather scary experience here and were disappointed. We were dropped off in town at the local fancy hotel and decided to go for a walk around town. Of course, we gravitated toward the park, overlooking the Saigon River. I suppose we should have taken note that we were the only white people in the park, but we figured it was because of the intense sun. While we were walking a young man came up to us and really started to crowd Carter. He was trying to get to his fanny pack. Carter was polite at first, but the kid kept crowding. In frustration, Carter pushed him aside. At this point, the kid called to someone else in the park and I could see that we were going to get double-teamed. So we started out of the park, back to the area where all the hawkers were. Before we reached there, this guy returned and began to get rather aggressive. Again, Carter pushed him away and luckily we were able to leave the park………..Once we got back on the ship, we spoke with other passengers who said they had similar unsettling experiences while in this town. It sad to have our visit left with a sour taste.
March 7, 2008
We have been traveling west and just had to put our clocks forward an hour for going to Singapore. This made no sense, until we looked at the map and figured that Singapore and Malaysia all wanted to be on the same time zone, so even though they are in the area that should be one hour back, they chose to go forward to be with the rest of Borneo and Brunei. Take a look at the map. It defies reason.
The social obligations of Carter’s job are probably the hardest part for me. We spend many evenings attending cocktail parties (something our generation rarely does) and fancy dinners. Women spend most of the day preparing their clothes and jewelry for these evenings. This isn’t exactly in my repertoire – and lucky Carter just has to wear his uniform. I have found that if I go to the gym right before and get rid of much of my excess energy, I do much better being social.
Funny story right before we left Saigon. Carter had sent a woman off to be evaluated at a local hospital, probably to have surgery. The hospital called and said they could only communicate in French. Was there someone who spoke French? Carter volunteers – a mistake!! Neither of us knows any medical French. There were many, “Je ne comprends pas.” statements. Poor Carter! Finally, he made them understand that he wanted to speak with the patient. That worked and he then got most of the scoop.
Two people we have become close to are leaving in Singapore. But they live in Sacramento, CA and are already planning to come up to Ashland, OR to meet when we go to the Shakespeare Festival. Should be fun.
Kit got hit by a car while riding his bike. Luckily, there is no head injury, but he separated his shoulder and my need surgery. Nate and Alemitu are there being supportive, thank goodness.
Labels: Personal
