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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