Dubai, United Arab Emirates Day 1 of 2

Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This is the country that was thrown out and stopped from running six US seaports sold to it by Great Britain. Another strange and very interesting place.

As we disembarked the ship, there was a bag pipe band playing all kinds of music. The men were all wearing white dresses and white rags on their heads with black rings to hold those rags in place. It was quite a warm welcome.

There are a few old buildings from the 50s and 60s but most of the city is less then 20 years old. Construction is everywhere. There are very high sky scrapers in many places, and again, all very new. They are presently building world’s highest building. It is being built by the same people from Chicago that built Sears Tower. There are also many new houses. Both look very American. Roads are all new and in good shape. Traffic is heavy but not nearly as bad as the Chicago or Miami areas. The vehicles look like they would in the States. A good mix of large American cars and Japanese.

We took a tour that started at about 9:00 this morning. We started by going by a new residential area of all villas. Next we went to the Jumeira Mosque. This is supposed to be the most beautiful Mosques in the mid east. This was one of the few that lets non Muslims enter but we could not as there was some kind of Saturday morning tour going on. Next we drove by several hotels and older homes owned by merchants and then on to one of only two museums in the Emirates. This one was mostly underground with many strange displays.

Next we had to cross a river they call the Creek. There are several ways to cross by bus but were going the fun way. By boat. This was a service provided by the government and cost about ten cents US. These are old wooden canoe like pieces of junk. They are totally unpainted and look terrible. What do you expect for ten cents? You might think their drivers must be good at what they do as they have been doing the same short crossing for many decades. Well forget it. These camel jockeys couldn’t drive anything straight to save their lives. Slam into the dock. Slam into the concrete sea wall. Slam into each other. We thankfully made it off and walked a couple blocks to the gold and spice souk. Souk means area.

There was one store after another with the same junk. If we were going to buy jewelry it wouldn’t be this very low class stuff. The mixture of people was something to see. From Arabs all in white dresses to Americans and everything between. After spending far too much time there, we walked a couple miles back to the bus. This was supposed to be very light walking.

It was just a short drive back to the ship. Tomorrow, maybe we will take a shuttle or taxi to a nicer shopping mall.

Gold Souk Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

At Sea

Sea Day. Nothing much. At 9:45 PM we had The Elton John guy again. This time it was a whole show similar to the one the real Sir John does in Vegas. That was about it.

Sailing Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Sea Day

Sea day en route to Duabi. Nothing unusual. We listened to lectures and tour talks and of course ate a lot and slept some. Art went to the doctor, got shots and is now feeling much better

Resting Sherm out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Mumbai, (Bombay) India, Day 2 of 2

Mumbai, (Bombay) India, Day two. We had arranged for a private van with a driver and guide for the four of us. Art did not feel well and Muriel didn’t wan to go without him, so it was just Bobbi and I. This one was an 18 passenger mini bus with a real bus door and steps and a full stand up ceiling. The air conditioning was too cool and had to be turned down even though it was over 90 out. Yesterday we roasted even with fans blowing on us in that lousy bus.

We had rented the van for four hours, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The guide was a heavy set woman who spoke English that sounded like American. She was very knowledgeable and cheerful. We have been lucky and have had mostly very good guides. She told us what the attractions and points of interest were and asked what we would like to see. Big problem. It seams we saw every one of them the day before. She then took us to some no one wants to see I think.

We went by a park with plants trimmed to look like animals. The fence on the outside had figures of many kinds of animals. We could see enough from the bus so we did not walk inside. Nearby were the Farsi caves. I am probably spelling it wrong but it sounds like “Far See”. She said she is Farsi and there are not many left. One cannot convert to Farsi. You must be born Farsi and that can only happen if both parents are or the father is and declares his new born to be. If only the mother is Farsi, the child cannot be. I don’t remember what she said the religion teaches as there are so many, but I do remember how they are buried. I hope you have had your lunch before you read on.

They do not bury or cremate. They take the dead to this caves area and hang them up side down in the caves. The dead are then left to be eaten by animals. The only animals that eat them here are birds. Mostly vultures. Whatever bones are left, after the birds pick them over, are dropped into the cave and covered with quick lime which quickly dissolves them. I do know a few living people I’d like to try this on but I don’t think this is for me. When I mentioned this to our butler, Ian, who is Indian and from this city, he told us a story. A friend’s mother lives in this area. One day she looks out the window and there, on her windowsill, is a crow with a finger in its beak. Oh, nummy.

We drove through a few better neighborhoods we had not seen and there was really nothing left worth seeing. We had already passed most everything we saw, the day before, so there was only one thing left to do. I told you before what happens when things get rough. Right! The tough go shopping. I must not be tough. I don’t like that idea. Bobbi does. So we went.

Now that we have been most of the way around the world and Bobbi already bought everything, there was not much left, but do not fear. She did come with a new idea. How about a sari? You know. One of those dress things some of the Indians wear. They wrap them around themselves like a used set of drapes and sometimes around their heads too. I told Bobbi that if she ever wore one I would tattoo a dot on her head and send her back here. She is fearless. This did not deter her. On she went on her sari quest. The guide knew the best sari stores and after we went into several we came to the conclusion they only go up to size very large. They do not come in huge. However, they all offered to have several sewed together to make one for her.

We are now sitting here in the middle of a large room filled with computers and about a dozen people. Neither of us has made a sound but every one is looking at us. I guess it’s because Bobbi has been reading this over my shoulder as I type and the look she is giving can only mean murder is imminent. Her looks leave nothing to wonder about. All seem to be able to read her looks. So now, to save my life, I have to do something.

I had been mistaken. It was not the saris that would not fit her. Even though the materials were beautiful, she would not buy one. It was the blouses she wanted that did not come in huge.

One of these stores did also have rugs. They were very pretty. I know that because the sales people told me that. All you have to do is kind of give a glance toward one and 7 or 8 people start unfolding and throwing them at your feet. I said I didn’t need any, but what do I know. I guess I really did, because now I own one.

After running out of sari stores, there was one thing we really did need. We had bought a fold up duffle bag with a handle and wheels in Singapore. We now had far too much junk for just that one and needed another. So we went hunting for a luggage store. The only thing they knew of was a Samsonite store we passed several times. I didn’t know if they had them, and if so, would they be too expensive for a one time use. They do have them in many sizes and colors. They are a lot more money then the one we got in Singapore but not very expensive. Mission accomplished, we went back to the ship.

Bombay is one of the most interesting cities I have ever seen. I am very happy we got to see this place. It was a great experience with many wonderful people. It is as foreign to Americans as anywhere on the planet but everyone speaks English to one degree or another. You can go anywhere and understand what is being said and they understand you. Taxis are cheap and very numerous everywhere. You will be use to them as the drivers are the same people as those in NY.

The entertainment tonight was outstanding. They got a guy who does Elton John. They claim he is the only person, authorized by Sir Elton, to do this. He sounds exactly like Elton. I have most of Elton’s albums and I know how he sounds. I am a big fan for many years.

This guy wears a wig just like Elton’s and he does the same bows and gestures. His piano playing sounds just like Elton too. The cruise director agrees. He is the one that picks or gives the final okay for the talent. He says that a number of years ago, they had the real Sir Elton John. One Million Dollars for a 45 minute show on the Mariner. Just 45 minutes. No encores, no second bow or thank you. He too cannot tell the difference when he hears them sing and play.

Indian Rug Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Mumbai, (Bombay) India Day 1 of 2

Mumbai, (Bombay) India. This place is amazing. Depending on whose version it is, there are 15 to 18 million people living here. From the looks of the streets, they all drive cabs. Actually, there really are not very many vehicles for the number of people and half are taxis.

At 2:00 PM we took a tour called Jewish Heritage. We were taken to see all the Bombay sights considered worth seeing. The Gateway of India, Dhobi Ghats, Malabar Hill, Marine drive, Chow Patty Beach, The Cricket Fields, The Crawford Market, The Taj Hotel, the Prince of Wales Museum, The Victoria Terminus and many Colleges, schools and other buildings of noted architecture. The most amazing was Dhobi Ghats. This is the place where they wash the laundry by hand on rocks in the river. Many thousand of pieces daily.

The Dhobi is the lowest class or cast of Indian people. They neither read nor write and there is very little chance they or their children ever will. They come to your house and pick up your dirty laundry or you drop it off. They somehow mark it and very rarely mix up anything. These Dhobis also run a lunch service. They come to your house and pick up a lunch that someone at your home has made for you. They carry these lunches on a 2 foot by 8 foot board they place on their heads. They walk this board full of lunches to a distribution point where they get help putting it down and then the lunches are sorted by destination and forwarded by other board heads.. Supposedly they never mix them up.

There were many very interesting sights and buildings but our main interest, this tour, was the Synagogues. We had a very good guide. She was about a 35 year old Jewish Indian named Yael. There are now only about 8,000 Jews in all of India and 4,000 in Mumbai.

The first temple we saw was Magen David Synagogue built in 1861 by the Sassoon family. They had escaped from Iraq after being persecuted by the Pashas. They were merchants and business men and they made a bundle here dealing opium. It was legal back then. They all left for England and other places in the late 19th century. They identified with the English culture and wanted to stay with it. Before they left they set up huge trust funds that still pay for the Synagogue, schools, uniforms, regular school, religious school and libraries. The students and their families pay nothing. They were not of the Indian race but the present Indian Jews are. Many of these Indian Jews immigrated to Israel. In 1948, when many tried to enter Israel the Orthodox were in control there. They refused them entry saying they were not Jews. For many reasons they changed their minds.

The Rabbi was with us on this tour. In each temple he opened the ark and red from the Torahs.

Once back outside there was a large bunch of boys, the students, coming toward us. They were all in uniform of white shirt and nice slacks. They had just left the School next door. We took pictures with them. We all entered the bus while the rabbi was still talking with them. Bobbi had brought a large bag of chocolates. These are the ones they leave on our pillows nightly when we are too full to eat them. Bobbi brought them out to the Rabbi. It’s a good thing she left and got back on the bus quickly. As soon as they figured what the Rabbi was handing out they mobbed him. I thought they were going to knock him down and they darn near did.


The second temple was The Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue. This is the temple where Bobbi took a picture of me carrying the Torah in its silver box and later reading from it while holding the silver pointer. The picture is real as is the Torah, but I can’t really read Hebrew. I faked it really good though. I wore my glasses and mumbled gibberish very well. You gotta see the picture. The only thing that might give it away is my hat. It was my Nike cap rather then the traditional kind worn for such ceremonies.

The third temple was The Tiphereth Israel Synagogue. These people came from Galilee in the second century. They are the Bene-Israel Jews. The other two had asked for donations in their very obvious donation boxes and then they asked for donations for the cleaning help. This last one had a donation box but you could not find it. Once you did find it, you could not put money in as it was so high on a wall and the slot was so small. These must have been the rich ones. Yael, our guide’s husband was here. He told us that the Temple had just been air conditioned. He was the president.

We then drove back toward the ship making a couple of stops on the way. Traffic in a city of about 15 million is ridiculous. Here too, you barely ever move and you drive by the bluff and shove your way in system. The bigger you vehicle, the more rights you have. Taxis will really run into you if you don’t move. These suckers need some serious slapping around. They are almost as bad as NY cabbies and both probably come from the same place.

There are very few high rise buildings of any kind for the number of people and the size of this city. There are very nice expensive buildings right next to slums. Except for the very expensive hotels and a few expensive apartment buildings, everything is filthy. Dirt hangs form the buildings. Garbage is everywhere. This is a filthy place in most areas. There are multitudes of people living on sidewalks inside boxes and other pieces of material. A bed for a baby was tied in the air between a lamp post and a street sign. Their trains are so crowded people are hanging out the doors.

One of our stops was the Taj Hotel on the way back. It was really beautiful inside and is supposed to have restaurants with decent food. There were some stores but not much was priced under $10,000 US.

Back at the dock there was a warehouse we had to walk through to get to the ship. We had been there that morning. It had about a dozen stalls with Indian junk. We had been there in the morning and Bobbi liked an elephant and some scarves she saw. We said we would be back if he could get more to look at. He did and Bobbi bought about a thousand I think. Earlier she bought a large brass elephant, she said I bought, from a nice old woman. Now we have elephants carved from wood, stone and brass. How did I ever do without them all these years?

Even though it was very crowded everywhere we went and there were many vendors asking you to buy things, no one got nasty on the streets or in the stores. People would say thank you for coming to my store even when they showed you a bunch of things and you bought nothing. While insistent, the street vendors and beggars never got in your way, not allowing you to pass, called you names, or made rude gestures. That was left behind in Cochin. You did feel safe on the streets here even when they were so crowded you couldn’t see two feet ahead.

As I said, this is a very interesting place to see. The history is amazing as are the different peoples. I am very glad to have seen it but I could never live here.

Shamas Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Goa, India

Goa, India. Goa is not a city. It is a state. Goa was ruled by Portugal until 1961 and of course has much of it’s architecture and influence. Though there was some, we did not see nearly as much poverty here. However: There was one area that was as bad as any we have seen.

We were docked in a beautiful area, not. This was a port of almost all iron and magnesium shipping. Mountains of ore were everywhere and the minimal old dock was filthy.

We had a whole ship, segment event today. The ship was allowed to dock an hour and a half late. We were due at the Taj Exotica Hotel for lunch but did not get there until 3:00 PM.

Just about every passenger was going. We could see buses lined up forever. We had to walk a couple hundred yards to get to these buses and some of it through slop, especially where we boarded the buses. It was an hours ride to the hotel and we were given a tour on the way. Before we left there was another long delay. Jamie the cruise director lied and announced they had closed the port for lunch but they got them to re open it. The truth was the cabs have a very strong union and they all lined up and would not let the buses pass. They were insisting that taxis be used instead. It took a while and a lot of officials to frighten them away.

Once at the hotel we were disembarked at the bottom of a small hill leading to a bridge and around a driveway to the lobby. After walking a few hundred yards several other buses drove right up to the lobby, as did our now empty bus. Real smart. March mostly 150 year old people up hill a few hundred yards in the hot sun when it’s close to 100 degrees out.

The lobby was beautiful and looked like something from an old movie. We walked through the huge lobby and out to the grounds in the rear. There were all kinds of games, features, people in costume and decorations, but all out in the hot sun. There was face painting, palm reading, magic acts, tarot card reader, limbo dancers, and on and on. Very pretty, very nice, very hot.

Lunch too was outside. Some tables were in the sun and some under cover. The food in the buffet was also outside but under cover. Muriel and Art arrived before us and had found a small area indoors and air conditioned a little. They had grabbed a table for us also. It was hard to keep seats when someone went up to get food. People would come up and try to sit down even though there were drinks and belongings both on the table and right on the chairs.

The wait staff was very friendly and efficient. Mostly the food sucked. The only thing any good was some kind of rice cake that was sweetened and taste like coconut and the beer was good too. Again it was all Indian food but modified to what someone thinks will be better for westerners. I have been to many good Indian restaurants over the years. There are many things we have all liked. Why they can’t just contact one of the more successful restaurants in the States and find out what they sell the most of, is beyond me. We barely had time to eat, pee, and then leave as the ship was due to leave at 5:00 PM and it was another hour drive to get back.

We went back in a different bus. The air conditioning in these buses was not great but did keep us from constantly sweating. The roads were all well paved but not nearly up to the standards in the US. Even brand new roads were rough.

We went back a different way. We went past an area of huge new homes and many more were being constructed. Instead of going through the city we were mostly on a divided 4 lane highway. It was faster but obviously longer as it took the same amount of time.

This place had much friendlier people. We did not see street vendors anywhere. As you went by, people and especially kids, would smile and wave at you.

Once back at the ship the big event was a couple of stray dogs at the bottom of the gang plank. One was a female, medium size, tan dog that looked a lot like a lab. The big sad eyes are what did it. That and the fact they were very skinny. Someone had thrown a cracker to the female. She must have never seen one before as she very gingerly snuck up on it and then tasted a corner. She decided it was definitely dog food and ate it right up and went looking for crumbs. Later one of the women from the ship brought out a cup and a bottle of water which she poured into it. At first the dog had no clue what it was but soon figured it out and drank it. The other was a smaller black dog that had a broken leg. It was far too timid to go near. Obviously people had been mean to it. Someone else came out with some kind of food for the dogs and finally the black dog too got up enough courage or more likely, hunger, to come up and eat the food. As the ship was pulling out from the dock, the two dogs watched with wagging tails, as if to say thank you.

Naturally Bobbi was crying when she first saw the dogs and again as she watched them say goodbye and thank you. Begging people she is used to, but not poor dogs.

Dog Story Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Cochin, India

Cochin, India. We had a tour at 9:00 AM. It was called Cochin and its back waters. There were four buses full doing this tour. We started off with the water part while some did the water last. We went about 2or 3 blocks and got out of the bus to get on a very old boat with no life preservers. It had tiny, flimsy, plastic chairs and one wooden bench for two or three people. It was more then big enough for the bus full. All it did was ride around in the same area we could see from the ship and had just been in as we docked. This was also a very speedy old tub. I think we might have gotten up to one knot or maybe not.

Finally there were enough complaints and they took us back to the dock where we walked through a store and down the block to the old Synagogue.

It was built in 1568 and is called Pardesi Synagogue. The floor is tiled with hand painted tiles from China and everyone had to take off their shoes and socks. The first Jews settled near kochi in 587 B.C. This entire area with many stores and stalls is called Jew Town. They have used this name for many hundreds of years. I find it offensive. So does the Rabbi. I also find most of the people offensive. There are only 8 Jewish families with a total of 13 people left here. Most left by about 1950 when they could go to Israel. Beggars and street sales men bug you continually and block your way. When we would get back on the bus without buying something from these street vendors, they would call you names and make rude gestures. Mostly this was just a shopping stop. As soon as we got to the store we has to walk thru, our guide quickly ran off and disappeared. He was busy telling all the store people and street vendors that he got a cut of anything bought by these tourists.

If you did buy something from a store, you had to haggle about the price and then they would try to cheat you. They would miss convert their rupee to the US dollar, Include less items then bargained for and change the agreed upon price. After spending too much time here and buying too much we returned to our bus #13. Next stop was the Dutch Palace which turned out to be just a short walk from right where we were. It had been originally built the Dutch. Bobbi went and quickly came back to the bus. She said there was nothing worth seeing. Finally we did all get on and continued the tour.

The next stop was some old church that was nothing special too. Next we went by the Chinese fish nets. These were non operational today because of an unusually high tide, but we could and did look at them. Whoopee. They were not much either. A few did get out of the bus to take pictures. Now it was on to the pit stop.

Naturally we could only stop at another store selling carpets, furniture, and many other kinds of junk. They did have washrooms two flights up. After that it was back to the ship. We went by an area of very large and well kept homes which were actually all mansions. We were told this was the English area.

It was close to closing time for the indoor lunch buffet and we had to hurry. We did get there just in time for lunch and afterward we went back down and out on the dock to see what wonderful things they were hawking there.

They did have some nice things for which Bobbi had to overpay. These people were some more crooks. They tried to use the wrong exchange rate and would try to tell you one price and then charge another.

I don’t like the people we have seen so far in this country or at lest in Cochin. I find them rude and crooked. Far too many are trying to cheat the tourists. They stand in your way trying not to let you pass without buying their junk. There is name calling and rude gestures when you don’t buy everything they are selling. We also have an Indian ambassador of some kind on board giving lectures. This creep is a Hindu and puts down other religions and has prejudicial remarks quite often. The Indians that are the help on board do not seem at all like that but I suppose after so many centuries of a class or casts system, prejudices are hard to eliminate. Being nasty and crooked is another matter. I just hope we find the people different at the other stops in India.

Non Cochin Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)