From Bali to Dubai with Fred Olsen

Wednesday. Leave home just after

8am to head for Glasgow airport to fly

out to Bali via Dubai. Somewhat

overcast and temperature in single

figures and dressed accordingly, I am

looking forward to some sunshine and

warmer climes.

Flight to Dubai uneventful but some

eight hours long. Pleasant meal and

attempt to snooze at odd times to help

deal with the four-hour time difference.

Dubai airport large and follow others to

transit lobby and await next flight. Not

much to do but over an hour passes

and we are on our way again.

Unfortunately, find a lady sitting in my

booked seat who had caused another

lady to shift, which meant I originally

sat in wrong seat. In trying to get

people into correct seats, troublesome

lady refused to move and I eventually

went and sat in her booked seat to

allow all to settle. Arrive in Bali and find

Fred’s representatives who are

sending people off to stand in different

areas of the airport, before moving out

into the sunlight to await appropriate

bus for transfer. Temperature in the low

30s and first shock to the system. Find

me some shade and a bottle of water.

Now Thursday and once transfer to

Boudicca complete, make way to

cabin, unpack and stretch out in cool

and snooze.

Friday and first tour to see scenic Bali.

Bali is Indonesia’s main tourist

destination. Tourism makes up about

80% of its economy. It is renowned for

its highly developed arts, including

traditional and modern dance,

sculpture, painting, leather and

metalworking and music.

Bali was inhabited around 2000 BCE

by Austronesian people who originated

in Southeast Asia and Oceania,

through Maritime Southeast Asia.

Culturally and linguistically, the

Balinese are closely related to the

people of the Indonesian archipelago,

Malaysia, the Philippines and Oceania.

Stone tools dating from this time have

been found near the village of Cekik in

the island’s west.

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I visited some rice terraces in the

mountains and saw some of the

central mountain countryside.

On the way to Singapore we crossed

the equator and had something of a

deck party to cekebrate King Neptune.

King Neptune and his Royal Entourage

have to pass judgement on those who

commit crimes against his Kingdom

‘The Deep’. Also, those who are first

timers at crossing the equator are

invited to ‘kiss the fish’ and be pushed

into the swimming pool. Good fun.

Singapore is an island city-state off

southern Malaysia. A global financial

centre with tropical climate and

multicultural population. Its colonial

core centres on the Pdang, a cricket

field since 1830 and flanked by grand

buildings. Raffles Hotel still exists and

serves tea and cocktails as it has

always done.

Singapore is a wonderful city

constantly changing and adding new

features. Only had a short stay, having

before decided to just walk about and

see what I could. If you have never

been before, go and be amazed by

their gardens, lightshows, cleanliness

and order. Do be prepared for their

prices, though, as they are probably

one of the most costly cities in the

world.

Sailing away from Singapore that

evening, we head for Phuket in

Thailand.

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Phuket is a rainforested mountainous

island in the Andaman Sea and has

some of Thailand’s most popular

beaches. Not being a beach fan, I

decided on a tour to see more ‘local’

places and visit the Sea Gypsy Village.

The sea gypsies spend most of their

lives at sea, fishing and living off the

sea. They have a small village where

they run a kind of cooperative system

selling their fresh catches to traders

and tourists. Their way of life is

changing and it is unknown for how

long they can maintain their lifestyle.

Another day at sea and we head for

Mayanmar.

Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon)

is the capital of the Yangoon region

and the largest city in Myanmar

(formerly known as Burma). Yangon

served as the capital until 2006, when

the military government relocated the

administrative functions to the pupose-

built city of Naypyidaw in central

Myanmar.

The financial and business capital is

still Yangon and we dock at its harbour

which is abut 20 miles from Yangon

itself. It is not possible to get from the

port to the city without some form of

arranged transport. It is possible to

arrange a taxi ride in, but you are at

their discretion as to the fare for

coming back.

Almost all the cruise tourists decided

to use the arranged tours which

guaranteed getting somehwere and

back before the ship set sail.

Having two days in Yangon gave me a

chance to do two tours. The first a

general bus trip to see different areas

in Phuket and the second to a small

village, Thanlyin, to see local houses

and the way the villagers live.

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A last look at Myanmar before we set

off for our next destination which was

Colombo.

Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka

and has a long history as a port on

ancient trade routes ruled successively

by the Portugese, Dutch and British.

That heritage is reflected in its

architecture, mixing colonial buildings

with high-rise buildings and shopping

malls.

Due to its large harbour and its

strategic position along the East-West

sea trade routes, Colombo was known

to ancient traders 2000 years ago. It

was made the capital of the island

when Sri Lanka was ceded to the

British Empire in 1815 and its status as

capital was retained when the nation

became independent in 1948. In 1978,

when administrative functions were

moved to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte,

Colombo was designated as the

commercial capital.

Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon)

is famous for its tea and rubber and is

often called the ‘Pearl of the Indian

Ocean’ due to its shape.

I went on a tour to the central

mountain region to visit a tea

plantation.

Here we saw how the tea was picked

and processed through to packaging,

before having tea and cake in the

garden of the plantation manager’s

bungalow.

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Next move. Farewell to Sri Lanka and

onwards to India where our first port of

call was Kochi.

On the way we passed the Maldives

islands which are slowly being

inundated by the rising seas. This

series of islands have many beautiful

beaches and resorts, which it would be

a pity to lose.

Kochi (also known as Cochin) is a city

in southwest India’s coastal Kerala

state. It was the centre of Indian spice

trade for many centuries and was

known as Yavanas to Greeks and

Romans. It is also well known by Jews,

Syrians, Arabs and Chinese since

ancient times. It rose to significance as

a trading centre after the port Muziris

around Kodungallur (Cranganore) was

destroyed by massive flooding of

Periyar in 1341. The earliest

documented references to Kochi occur

in books written by Chinese voyager

Ma Huan during his visit to Kochi in the

15th century as part of Admiral Zheng

He’s treasurer fleet. There are also

refernces to Kochi in accounts written

by Italian traveller Niccolo de Conti,

who visited Kochi in 1440.

Again, I managed two tours to see

Kochi and area by coach during the

day and then an evening city-highlights

and harbour cruise.

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Apart from architecture, temples, street

markets and various churches, it was

fascinating to see the cantilevered

Chinese fishing nets which have been

used in Kochi for many centuries.

They also have their own version of

the White House based on the design

of its slightly more famous

predecessor.

Having sailed away at sunset, we were

off to Goa for our next stop.

We dock in Murmagao, a deep natural

harbour and Goa’s chief port, situated

in the eponymous taluka (sub-district

of South Goa), Goa state, India.

When the Portuguese colonised part of

Goa in the 16th century, they based

their operations in the central district of

Tiswadi, notably in the international

emporium ‘City od Goa’ now Old Goa.

As threats to their maritime supremacy

increased, they built forts on various

hillocks, especially along the coast. In

1624, they began to build their fortified

town on the headland overlooking

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Mormugao harbour. The sultans of

Bijapour, who had ruled Goa before

the Portuguese, did not give up easily.

There were several invasions. From

the sea came the Dutch, who

eventually took over from the

Portuguese most of the coastal

settlements: the Moluccas, Batticaloa,

Trincomali, Galle, Malacca, Mana,

Jaffna, Quilon Cochie and Cannamore.

From 1640 to 1643, the Dutch tried to

capture Mumagoa but were finally

driven away.

I again managed two tours.

After a scenic tour of Old Goa and a

walk around the old Portuguese centre

and a visit to a major Hindu temple, we

visited a spice farm.

And so farewell Goa and off for

Mumbai.

The name of Mumbai is derived from

Mumba or Maha-Amba, the name of

the patron goddess (Kuladevata)

Mumbadevi of the native Koli

community, and meaning ‘mother’ in

the Marathi language, the mother

tongue of the Koli people and the

official language of Maharshtra. The

Koli people originated in Kathiawad

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and Central Gujarat. However, other

sources disagree. The British knew

Mumbai as Bombai which was

Portugese for ‘Good Bay’.

I went on a tour called ‘Scenic Mombai’

and saw many of the main attractions

including: Victoria Station; Taj Mahal

Hotel; The Archway to India; the

Hanging Gardens (built over what had

been an open reservoir said to have

been polluted by human remains from

the nearby Farsi Fire Temple Mount

where bodies are left to be scavenged

by eagles, in this case); the Dhobi

Wallah, a very large hand-cleaning

clothes service; and other places of

interest. Unfortunately, one crew

member reported having flu-like

symptoms and the authorities decided

we had to leave rather than stay

another day. Various temperature

checks etc having taken place since

leaving Singapore meant that more

checks were still necessary, then we

were cleared for entering Porbandar,

our next port.Portbandar is a coastal city in the

Indian State of Gujarat and is best

known as being the birthplace of

Mahatma Gandhi. The champion of

peace and father of Indian

independence was born here on 2

October 1869, and his former home is

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a place of pilgrimage for many from

India and beyond.

Onshore exploration in and around

Porbandar brought to light the remains

of a late Harappan settlement dating

back to the 14th century BCE. The

discovery of ancient jetties along the

Porbandar creek signifies the

importance of Porbandar as an active

centre of maritime activities. Indian

theology views Porbandar as the

birthplace of Sudama, the friend

Krishna.

Our berth position was about 1 km

from the shore so I only attempted one

shore excursion using a shuttle bus.

This unfortunately stopped at a road

junction some ??km from the city. As

the bus was immediately hemmed in

by trucks? demanding payment for

onward transmission, I decided to

have a short walk to see the rubbish

etc lying around and return to the ship.

Perhaps an official visit to Gandhi’s

birthplace is worth the hassle but I had

seen his museum in Mombai where a

model of his house is on display and

felt content with that. Comments from

others about the nature of the city

meant I felt happy in the shade on

Boudicca, sipping a G&T.

So farewell India and onwards to

Dubai for my return home.

We arrived in Dubai early Thursday

morning and after breakfast it was off

to the airport for my flight back to

Glasgow. Nothing in particular to say

about Dubai other than sand. Large

architectural building and a long

journey out to the sprawling airport.

As Captain Mikael Degerlund would

always say as his closing remark, “and

take care of each other.”

Bill Matthew. Sotland RMA.

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