Friday, April 29 - Friday, May 6
What a fascinating part of the world! Steeped in ancient history and reaping the benefits of modern day oil and gas production, trade and tourism, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have presented us with a very different travel experience from Southeast Asia and India. Muscat, the capital of The Sultanate of Oman, was our first port of call after a two-day sail across the Arabian Sea from India.
Muscat, Oman: Bright, clean and new...with no signs of poverty but lots of construction. The Omani people, led by Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said, are very peaceful, well-educated, devout Muslims. Oman is strategically located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea a short distance across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. Our tour of the city of Muscat included a stop to see the outside of a beautiful new mosque (we couldn't go inside because it was Friday, the weekly holy day of prayer) and a visit to the colorful
souk (market) where I bought a scarf (from India!) and we enjoyed an interesting conversation with a young Omani couple after we requested their permission to photograph their charming children. Meeting and speaking with the local people is something that we really like to do during our travels.
Following our one-day visit to Muscat, we sailed on to the United Arab Emirates and stopped at the popular ports of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In our opinion, both places lived up to their reputation as modern cities vying with each other for the most over-the-top extremely tall buildings and exquisite grand mosques. Our visits to these locations provided us with great photo opportunities and I managed to post some of them to Facebook and Instagram while we were in Dubai. I am very disappointed that limited wifi on board the ship does not permit me to add photos to this blog! Our guided tour through the magnificent Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi was one of the highlights of our shore excursions, as was our visit to the 124th floor of the Burj Khalil in Dubai--tallest building in the world. And the fabulous Dubai Mall was just like any large mall in the U.S.--on steroids! We were fascinated with its fountains, walls, escalators, not to mention people from all over the world dressed in their local garb shopping at the internationally well known high end/expensive stores. (I limited my purchases to a few necessary cosmetics from Sephora!) There was an excellent wifi connection at Starbucks in the Mall where I was so happy to post some photos to my social media websites. And of course Dick was thrilled to get his Starbucks fix!
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| Abu Dhabi Skyline |
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| Dubai Mall |
Many of our fellow travelers who boarded with us in Singapore disembarked the
Voyager in Dubai, but we are on for the long haul! So we continued on our Grand Voyage with the ship back out into the Arabian Sea and down the coast of Oman where we paid another visit to Muscat, as well as the ports of Khasab and Salalah in Oman.
One afternoon while we were docked at the Omani port of Khasab I watched the "semi-illicit" trade activity on the piers. Khasab has an interesting trading position because of its proximity to Iran. Iranians export sheep and goats loaded into their small outboard motor boats across the Strait of Hormuz into Khasab. On their return trip to the Islamic Republic, the sailors load their boats up with huge bundles of electronic goods and American cigarettes. This trading is illegal under Iranian law so they make a mad dash across the Strait of Hormuz, where the lead boat tries to outrun and deter the Iranian authorities. It is said that they bring money and character to Oman so no one bothers them over here. Khasab is known as the "Norway of Arabia" because of its extensive fjord-like craggy inlets and desolate mountainscapes. We had an opportunity to explore some of this terrain and its 17th century Portuguese built forts. The next day, while touring scenic seaside Salalah (love that name!), we learned how frankincense is grown and harvested and the many benefits that can be derived from adding a few drops of it to our drinks and applying it to our skin and of course we had the opportunity to buy it!
Visiting this area of the world and learning about the origin and customs of the Muslim people has been very enlightening. The people we have met do not have anything in common with the radical terrorists who call themselves followers of Mohammed and commit horrific acts in the name of Allah. I think it is important for everyone to attempt to have an understanding and awareness of people throughout various areas of the world I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be welcomed as a visitor to this part of the Arabian world.
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| Omani Friends |
May 7-10: Sea Days
We are currently sailing on The Red Sea en route to Aqaba, Jordan. We have been sailing through an area known as High Risk Area (HRA) for Piracy. The captain has informed us that while sailing through the HRA we will be in permanent contact with an International Task Force that are assigned to protect merchant vessels from pirate attack. There was a mandatory anti-piracy drill on board the ship the first day that we entered this zone. I guess this is reassuring--as is the fact that there have never been any pirate attacks on passenger ships like ours! Anyway, we have been enjoying relaxing days at sea, reading, resting, time spent chatting with fellow travelers, trying not to eat too much... with occasional visits to the gym in an effort to make up for the times when we do overindulge! We are gearing up for day-long trips to Ancient Petra in Jordan and Iconic Temples in Luxor, Egypt, before cruising through the Suez Canal and on to Israel. Another two days and we will have been on the ship one month. This has been a fabulous trip for us!
