Wednesday, April 23, 2014
24 Dubai... Playground for the Rich... so we went to Abu Dhabi
Sorry for the lack of pictures but this internet is really bad at the moment....
Sailing into Dubai has not changed... you see the city looming up in the distance but it is all clouded in a haze.... Not from pollution but from the surrounding sand storms.
As you get closer you do not realise just how tall the Burj Khalifa is until you realise that the high-rise around it only come half way up its towering height.
In front of us already docked was the Queen Elizabeth. We were lucky enough to get the prime spot in front of the Port Rashid Terminal, and later in the day, our old partner in crime the Europa 2 pulled up behind us having last seen her as we passed her near Vietnam.
Today we went to Abu Dhabi. We had a Mini Bus of 21 people and once again I booked our wonderful guide Shehnaaz. We had a wonderful day and most of that can be attributed to her. Her energy, knowledge and passion is second to none.
It is approximately 90minutes to Abu Dhabi from Dubai, and Shehnaaz kept us entertained with everything you needed to know about the area. As we drove through Dubai she would point to all these landmarks and talked about how they hold the Guinness Book of records for one thing or another. I think Dubai holds the Guinness book of records for holding the most Guinness book of records!!
Driving through Dubai is like driving through a gallery of sculptures, as each building looks just as amazing as the next ... so many works of art in one place.
As you drive along the freeway the road changes colour, and then you know you have passed over the border. Abu Dhabi is made up of a group of islands linked by roads and you don’t even realise that you’re passing from one to another. Though not as busy as Dubai, Abu Dhabi is catching up fast.
Our first stop was the Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This was the most exquisite Mosque we have ever seen. Made from white marble with beautifully inlaid columns, stunning chandeliers and magnificent carpets. From every angle this mosque is a master piece. The shimmering blue pools out the front, the many gold top columns, and the many domes that line the roof... First we headed down to the bathrooms... Even if you didn’t need to use them they were not to be missed.
The first room we walked into, the marble was of the purist white with beautifully inlaid flowers and stunning stain glass windows. This room is specially designed for the women. You then enter the main prayer room which featured 3 amazing chandeliers made from Swarovski crystals. We tripped over our jaws as we walked into centre (I love those OMG moments) .... You know when you go to a shopping centre and you see a child frantically running around looking for its parent ... lost not knowing where to go next... Well that was me... I stopped to take a photograph and when I turned around everyone was gone and I was surrounded by all these strangers.... do I stay put, or do I follow the crowds... do I sit down and cry until a nice security guard comes and finds me and takes me to the lost persons tent.... phew no need.... Shehnaaz came to the rescue and found me and led me back to my family...
Many of those on tour who have also been to the Taj Mahal said that they thought this mosque was much more impressive.
Next we went to the Emirates Palace Hotel... the only way that we could enter was by having a booking at one of the cafe’s with a minimum spend of 100 dirhams. This palace is a replica of the Kings palace.. just beautifully decorated in elegant creams and gold.
The cafe’s cakes looked so delicious, dripping in gold leaf, and how could you come here and not have the speciality of a Cappuccino topped with 22k Gold flakes. They use approx 5kg a year of gold leaf in their foods. For lunch we passed on the gold leaf camel burger and went for the simple Mezze with lots of dips, breads, samosas and stuffed vine leaves.
After dragging ourselves away from all this decadence we headed over to the Heritage Village for glimpses of life before the discovery of Oil in Abu Dhabi in bygone days. There was an Arabic campsite, with traditional houses, old traditional markets and a small museum. There were little shops dedicated to their crafts. One shop for leather goods, a glass blower, pottery maker, ship builder and blacksmiths. The place was a-buzz as it looked like there was an Abra regatta about to take place just in front of the village.
Shehnaaz treated us to a sweet that she just loves .... and lo and behold, out of the bag came what we greeks call Loukomades..... Donut textured balls... crisp on the outside, soft in the middle and coated in a date syrup... hopefully once I can upload photo’s again you will see what I mean...
One more stop before we head back to Dubai, and that was to Yas Island to visit the formula 1 track and Ferrari world. Shehnaaz is a gem; her adage is “let’s try, they can only say no”.... As we drove around the outside of the track she points out the Hotel that the track actually goes right through the middle... She tells our driver “lets drive up the gate and see if we can get in....” ha no one there and straight in we go.... we hop out and we can look straight onto the track... there are 3 ways of watching this race ... 1 is from the grand stands, 2 is from the hotel, being from your window, at the bar, in the restaurant or by the pool, 3 from your boat that is parked in the Marina that also lies next to the track.. As bold as Shehnaaz is she takes us all into the hotel and onto the restaurant balcony over the track... “Keep walking” she says “keep going until they kick us out “ lol
We left the hotel and headed over to Ferrari world, the big red roof that sports the Ferrari Logo cost the owners $1,000,000 for the rights to display it. We only went into the building as far as the turnstiles and of course the souvenir shop where they are obviously trying recoup their money as the prices for the merchandise was unbelievable.
Back on the bus and it was time for a little rest on the 90 minutes back to Dubai.... one last call ... the dancing waters just in front of the Burj Khalifa. Once again Shehnaaz instructs the driver to try and sneak into one of the hotel entrances so we can be dropped off close to one the best viewing vantage points.... and we are in....
By now this tour is teetering on 12 hours and we are one weary bunch of people.... She takes us back to the ship where we make our way back up on deck for a quick bite, and then what ended up a long drink!! There was music and dancing and first time on this cruise we didn’t go to bed till after midnight.....
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
23 Mystical Muscat
Muscat has remained a mystery to us since it was a missed port in 2011, but today it was our time to visit. Moving cabins paid off. We woke early looked out our doors and saw that we were just arriving into Muscat harbour. It only took a second to throw on some clothes and jump out on to the balcony and watch the rest of our sail in. A lovely sail in as dawn was just breaking (this was around 6 am). We were probably herded into the port early as we had the cruise ship Amedea was on our tail.
Right next to where we dock there was one of the biggest private yacht berthed we had ever seen. It belonged to his Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said..... Just next to that was another small ship which is actually the supply ship for the yacht.
There was shuttle that took you to the port gates where we were to meet our guide. Having made arrangements to meet at 7.30 am only the night before, we got there and waited and waited and waited.. We started to worry as it got closer to 8am. It was hot, we were being pestered by the local taxi drivers and we were getting anxious knowing that we had such a short time in Muscat.
We were using Marks Tours and we had never had any problems them when we first booked them in 2011 even when during mid cruise we had to change our tour to Salalah. Ashok was great at organising our tour at the other end of Oman. We used them again last year when we once again visited Salalah. Now finally in Muscat and after 2 phone calls chasing our tour, Garry was just about the negotiate a taxi van, when a mini bus came flying around the corner with Marks Tours boldly printed on the side.... It was a no brainer stick with the large mini bus.
Don our guide was apologetic and obviously Ashok had emailed me one thing and told his guide another. Don was a great guide and very informative. He is actually Sri Lankan but lived in Oman for many many years as a naval officer.
Off we went for the 25 mile drive to the Grand Mosque. Unfortunately for us it was a Friday, which is the Muslim religious day so the mosque is closed to the public. We could only admire it from the outside. As beautiful as that was with it’s 22karat gold dome and beautifully landscaped gardens we missed it’s exquisite interior with its Swarovski crystal chandelier and supposed largest single piece carpet.
This visit gave our next stops time to open as it was so early. Next we visited the fish markets that were doing a roaring trade. Fish of every shape and size were on sale. Once you bought your fish you could take it down the back where you could pay for someone to clean and fillet the fish for you.
From one market to another, not far from here was the Muttrah Souk. This reminded of a light version of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar without the carpets or leather coats LOL... As usual the women love these stops and the husbands loyally followed their wives in and out of each stall.
Next stop was the Bait Al Zubair Museum. A snapshot of how the Omani’s used to live, not able to take photos inside ... just outside ... I loved the beautiful elaborate clothes that were on display.
Then we went to the Sultan’s Palace.. A stunning building surrounded by beautiful gardens on one side and the sea on the other. The sultan does not spend a lot of time here, as now at the age of 82 he spends his time a little further out of town at another grand complex. The Palace is also flanked by the 16th Century Portuguese forts of Jalali and Mirani.
We drove along the Corniche and watched as the beautiful vistas passed us by.
Always seems funny to be back on the ship at lunch time which then gave us the rest of the day to enjoy the ships activities and to prepare for our visit to Dubai the next day.
Monday, April 21, 2014
A Room with a view...
Well it just goes to prove it is not what you know but who you know..... Our good friends Ron and Edie who we met on last years 90 dayer have cruise enough to know most of the cruise staff intimately... That included the Hotel General Manager..... a whisper in an ear here , a little smile there and before we knew it we were carrying our clothes down the corridor to cabin no 7000... Yes it is right at the very front ( thank god for our calm seas ) but our new balcony cabin has an 180 deg view out the front of the ship.... it is like having bridge cam without turning on the TV .... we love it.
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