Day 77 of 111. Muscat, Oman

Today we visited Muscat, Oman. The Sultan was in town, but not at the palace. The blue and gold palace is like our White House where State functions occur but it is not a residence. The Sultan lives elsewhere in town. The Sultan’s Coat of Arms are crossed swords with a dagger. We thought that he might invite us to tea or least a ride on the yacht, but no such luck.

The main tourist item being sold at the ‘Souk’ (marketplace) is Frankincense for which Oman is famous. It is collected in the local mountains. The town is proud of this as evidenced by the giant white incense burner in the hills coming into town.

After we leave Oman, we’re headed to Aqabah, Jordan. To get there we need to pass through pirate-infested waters. The Captain is ready as evidenced by the razor wire installed on the promenade deck. We also have high pressure water hoses and four LRADs (Long Range Acoustic Devices) rigged, manned, and ready for immediate use. Cross your fingers!

We also had a ‘Sari’ night on the ship so the ladies could show off the Saris that they bought while we were in India. The staff in the dining room was dressed in appropriate attire to complete the evening.

As with every other place we visited, we saw McDonalds and even KFC. I didn’t see any Starbucks here. Oman is known for its coffee that is made from roasted date seeds. I don’t think Starbucks carries this yet.

Day 76 of 111. Sea Day in the Arabian Sea

The sea days are really a welcome change from visiting cities. The overland trip to the Taj Mahal was wonderful and amazing but also exhausting. We also enjoyed the trip to see the Elephanta Caves, but this meant traveling and visiting for several days at a time. The chance to attend watercolor class and another hands-on cooking class (as well as lots of naps) was needed. The cooking class was with guest chef, Paulette Mitchell. She is an expert in Indian cuisine and we started with a mango lassi (a yogurt and fruit smoothie that really helps tone down spicy dishes. There was interesting and tasty watermelon curry, a vegetable dish, spice rubbed fish, and a dessert made with yogurt, sugar, condensed milk, saffron and topped with chopped pistachios. Each dish was really tasty. My art project was a simple sketch of two camels. The technique was a background of paint made interesting with the use of a shower cap.

Day 74 of 111. Mumbai, India

After lunch in Jaipur, we traveled to the airport for our flight to Mumbai (formerly known by the British name, Bombay). Our travels took us through city streets where we saw camels (totally domesticated) and street shops with all kinds of items. The spiced noodles really caught my eye. Our flight to Mumbai was good and we boarded another bus to the ship. On route, we passed a beautifully lit building, the Victoria and Albert train depot. Even though we were traveling through the city at around 10:00 p.m., the streets were bustling because it was Saturday night and everyone was out with their friends. Our guide called Mumbai the city that never sleeps (like New York or Las Vegas). We had to wait for our passports to be processed, so we spent a couple of hours sitting around in the bus and then took a “comfort visit” to the Taj Hotel before continuing to the pier. It was nearly midnight when we boarded the ship.

The following morning, we had signed up for an excursion to the Elephanta Caves. Even though we were tired and a little sleep-deprived, we got up boarded another bus. The Elephanta Caves is a Hindu temple completely carved out of rock. It lies on an island that we can see from the ship, but must be reached by a ferry. Where the ship was docked is actually a military installation, so the ferry boats were not allowed in. We took a bus to the Gateway to India, a huge archway building built to commemorate the arrival of “Their Imperial Majesties King George V and Queen Mary” on December 1911. We boarded a two-decker ferry boat and took a gentle one hour ride out to the island. We disembarked at the end of a long pier. There was a cute little railway that carried visitors to the main portion of the island (or you could walk). To reach the caves, you had to climb 120 steps (more steps!). In this case, however, there were men who were willing ($30 US) to carry you up the steps. I saw several chairs at the base of the mountain, but cleverly, there were more opportunities to ride about a third and halfway up the steps. One of our party took advantage of the chair and she said she really had to hang on because the four men did not take it slowly.

The caves themselves were very interesting. My understanding of the Hindu religion is that there is only one God. In the northern part of India, Vishnu is the one and in the southern portion of India (such as Mumbai) Shiva is the one God. There are various manifestations of Shiva, however, and that is what the different sculptures represented inside the cave. At the back center of the cave was a large trinity of faces showing the Protector, the Destroyer (of evil), and the Creator. A very interesting point of these sculptures is that they exhibit scientific concepts that were way ahead of their time if you look at art in other parts of the world. Perspective, three-dimensionality, foreshortening, etc., are demonstrated in these sculptures at the same time that in other art, depictions of gods and people are flat. India has an ancient civilization that goes back six thousand years. I found this to be a great source of pride from our various guides.

Day 73 Of 111. Jaipur, India

Amer Fort is one of several forts in the city of Jaipur. This is way up on a hill and there are three ways to reach the top, by jeep, by elephant, or by foot. Unfortunately, we had hired nine jeeps. The elephants looked like a lot of fun, but the line to get on an elephant was very long and would not fit in our tight time schedule. There is a tall terrace in the fort where the people who rode up on the elephants could get off. The jeep ride up the very narrow streets was actually exciting enough.

The fort itself was also associated with a wall reminiscent of the Great Wall in Beijing. The fort also housed the royal family, so much of the inside was decorated with inlay and deeply pigmented paints. One of the high spots was a hall decorated by thousands of convex mirrors. The mirrors were set into the plaster and the candle light at night was reflected all over the room. It must have been an impressive sight. We visited the woman’s quarters where all of the royal wives lived. This is a Hindu kingdom, so the wives thought of themselves as sisters and helped to take care of each other’s children. This is in stark contrast to the Mogul kingdoms we visited where each wife was constantly scheming and working to move her child closer to the throne. No royal wife in the Mogul empire would allow her child to be “taken care of” by a competing wife.

Our guide, Ashok, is standing near a huge storage pot for grain. This would be opened for feasts or celebrations and huge pots were used to cook the rice or grain. There were small windows near the top of the entrance way where the wives would wait and watch for the king so they could throw flower petals down as he entered. This was similar to the flower petals we were pelted with as we entered our hotel, the Oberoi Rajvilas, in Jaipur.

After leaving Amer Fort we traveled to the City Palace. On the way, we passed quite a few elephants without riders. It turns out that the elephants only work until 11:00 a.m. As the temperatures rise, the elephants can get aggressive, so we were watching them go home for the day. The City Palace is still where the royal family stays when in town. Part of the palace (the yellow buildings) are off-limits to visitors. The rest of the palace is a series of museums, cafes, museum shops, and open areas that can be used for celebrations. There were preparations being made for a wedding the next day. Someone also said that this site has been used at various times for Bollywood productions. The textile museum was especially interesting because of the intricately embroidered robes and shawls on display. There was one dress that was mostly gold wire and weighed about 30 pounds. Some of the building walls were richly decorated with inlay work. Jaipur is known for its hand-cut and polished stones.

The highlight for me was a visit to the giant observatory and sundials at Jantar Mantar designed and built by Jai Singh. The sundial will tell the local time to within two seconds! There were several sundials of various designs to tell the local time and in which constellation we were currently in. These measurements were used for astrological forecasts. Maharajah Jai Singh built five different observatories, but this one is the only working one remaining because it has been maintained. The triangular wall is 90 feet tall and 147 feet at the base.

Day 72 of 111. Agra to Jaipur, India

The trip from Agra to Jaipur was pretty long and tiring. We will do some traveling tomorrow in Jaipur and then fly to Mumbai to meet our ship. This trip through India has been surprising and interesting and impressive. However, we have stayed in some of the most luxurious hotels (The Oberoi Hotels) that I have ever seen. This last hotel is located on 32 acres of manicured lawns and gardens. In the center of the grounds is a Hindu temple and the peacocks, peahens, parrots and other birds inhabit the beautiful grounds. When we arrived, we were showered with flower petals and given a dot on our foreheads for prosperity and good health. We were escorted to our room and when we arrived found the word “Welcome” written in marigold petals! The bathtub and shower open up to a small private garden. We spent the evening walking the grounds and marveling at the buildings and wildlife. It will be great to get back to the ship, but I am reluctant to leave these beautiful hotels. The website for the hotel has a video showing a visit by a young couple. Everything they show happened to all of us who visited (except the native costumes worn by the couple).