Straits of Messina
So, mainland Italy on one side and Sicily on the other. THat was about two hours ago, now we're passing close to Stromboli (volcano). Apparently it sometimes puts on good displays for passing ships, but today (a) it's daytime, whcih is less spectacular; (b) there's cloud around the top.
We've started getting BBC World again as well as CNN now that we've come back into teh Med, and I've noticed two things:
1. Apparently the Americans and British have actually made some mistakes and killed some people?
2. It seems things are happening in other parts of the world than Iraq. Wow...
Amusingly as I first turned on BBC World it had a piece about bias in the American media!
posted by Simon Monday, March 31, 2003
Port Said
We just finished transiting the Suez Canal. It is not as spectacular as Panama, but is nonetheless interesting. One one side is population, and greenery. On the other is an empty desert streching off to the horizon. We are travelling in convoy, but this is not a military thing - it's normal procedure because for two-thirds of the length of the canal there isn't room for two large ships to pass each other. There was an American destroyer at the front of the convoy, but I don't think this was for our safety so much as because it needed to reach the Med!
Port Said itself is uninteresting, having been built as the port at the end of the canal. In fact, most of the place is built on land reclaimed with the spoil from the canal. Interestingly, I've seen Suez Canal Fees listed as in the top ten of Egypt's soruces of income. I'd expect this of Panama, but here it surprised me.
I've remarked before (althogh perhaps not here) about how none of the houses in Egypt ever look finished - there's always a bit of reinforcing steel hanging out, or part of another storey built. I found out the reason yesterday: apparently the Egyptians don't have to pay tax on a building until it is finished!
posted by Simon Friday, March 28, 2003
Gulf of Suez Written offline a day ago
We just passed through an oil field. We passed five platforms within a mile or so, on both sides of the ship, and I counted at least 7 more flares visible in the distance. This is the closest I've been to an oil rig, but the most impressive thing, at least at night, is the gas flares, which light up the sea around.
posted by Simon Friday, March 28, 2003
Sharm El Sheik
For those not versed in Egyptian geography, that's on the southern tip of the Sinai penninsular. A little bit of Egypt isolated from the rest.
I've just got back from a rather good tour that took us in a jeep into the Sinai desert, and then on a camel ride! (still with armed escort. The Egyptians take tourists' security seriously) There is some spectacular scenery, in the 'bleak, desolate and beautiful' way that I tend to like. I climbed to the top of some large rocks to look all around at mountainous desert... This is a very different landscape to the desert near Cairo. No sand dunes are to be seen here, but instead one gets huge rock outcrops and mountains. The sand itself is much coarser, approaching a gravelly texture in places.
Yesterday was Safaga. AFAICT the only real reason we call there is to do tours to Luxor, etc, which I couldn't do due to In-port manning. Safaga itself is a rather small, ordinary town, with a large grain terminal (where we were berthed). I ended up looking around Safaga for an hour on one of the crew bikes, then came back to the ship. The view from the ship was quite stunning though, as there is a little built-up area that goes straight into desert, with large mountains within 10 miles. It really is a case, in many places, of the beach being the desert meeting the sea, with no concrete or anything inbetween.
We haven't seen any more warships, except in port, since my last post. Which surprises me. But I guess the Red Sea is wider than I realised...
posted by Simon Thursday, March 27, 2003
Further up the Red Sea
Most of the other ships have gone, so it seems the appearence of a convoy was simply due to limited sea room - we've speeded up again now and presumably left most of the freighters behind. There are still a couple of container ships in view, but nothing military. Otherwise, life goes on...
I realised from CNN this mornign that we're now in the same time zone as Iraq! Not that this has much significance - I mean, so is Madagascar...
posted by Simon Monday, March 24, 2003
Red Sea
We entered the Red Sea about an hour ago, and as the sun goes down we can just see land on both sides still - this situation won't return for a couple of days until we reach Sharm El Sheik. We can also see a lot of shipping, including some military.
Whether officially or not, we seem to be travelling in a convoy. We and a number of cargo ships are travelling parallel to each other at the same speed, as is a destroyer- or frigate-sized warship. There's also a much larger warship (cruiser sized) going the other way, over on the horizon. I'll be interested to see if we're all together by morning, or whether we've simply got the appearence of a convoy at present due to heavy traffic through the traffic separation schemes in the Straits that I can't remember the name of...
posted by Simon Sunday, March 23, 2003
Arabian Sea
Part way thru six days at sea... not a lot has happened. Some passengers are scared, including one who phoned the Express, who published an article saying that there's a mutiny on board...!
I'm working on the basis that if there was much risk P&O's insurers wouldn't be allowing us through. Although apparently we're already being tracked by the military, and will be until we're in the Med, and will probably have a military escort through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. On the plus side, I might get to watch some Tomahawk launches...
posted by Simon Friday, March 21, 2003
Mumbai, still
Well as to the name issue, the locals still call it Bombay. At least, according to one taxi driver. He saw the name change as petty politics.
I mentioned the smell before. We could smell the city from ten miles offshore last night. But after just a day here, I actually kinda like it... bizzare.
Well, the Regal Cinema did turn out to be easy to find, once I'd persuaded my taxi driver that I didn't want to visit any shops en route. Unfortunately I got there after the people I was meeting had given up and left. So I randomly tagged along with some crew and then some passengers to visit the Gateway to India and buy some tacky souveniers.
This city is one of enourmous contrasts. Old British colonial buildings sitting grandly next to run-down shacks. Cows wandering through rubbish heaps in front of upmarket shops. Small fishing boats moored in front of large warships. And traffic. Lots of it. I read of report which said that breathing the air in Bombay is equivalent to smoking 20 a day. I can believe it.
I reflected today on some of the poverty I've seen in various places on my way around the world, and how different people in different places have different priorities. In Britain, you see dirty and malnourished kids in designer trainers. In the Carribean, no matter how badly off the family is the children will always be happy and well-fed. Not sure what it was like in Manilla - there were lots of shanty-town-like places, but I didn't get close enough for any detail. In Bombay, pretty much anyone seems to be clean, even if thin, but it doesn't look as though the kids have much special priority (probably sometimes because healthy-looking kids make begging harder). Admittedly in a city such as this this will be partly influenced by my only having seen the good areas - I have very little data. It's interesting though.
The aforementioned naval fleet has been steadily sailing throughout the day - at a guess, maybe 10-15% of them have gone. Which may well be normal for such a large base, but may also be indicative of something.
posted by Simon Wednesday, March 19, 2003
Mumbai
...formerly Bombay. And interestingly it's still the Bombay Immigration people that we deal with... :-)
We appear to be docked in the middle of a naval dockyard, with two aircraft carriers (both, I think, ex-RN Hermes class) and a lot of smaller surface combatants around us, together with a sizable fleet of small submarines...
I'm on duty until 1500, and then I have to try to find the Regal Cinema, where I'm meeting an Indian crew member who is going to show me around! I'm told it's impossible to miss, but this city is daunting...
posted by Simon Wednesday, March 19, 2003
Nearer India
I can see lights now...
Update: we're not going to Dubai, but we are still headed for Suez. Since we'll gain some time by not diverting into the Gulf, in addition to our published itinery we'll also be calling at Civitiawhatsit (for Rome) and Lisbon.
posted by Simon Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Off the west coast of India
Grr. Why do all my Vari*Lites break down 3 hrs before the show...! Tonight's show will be running with reduced lighting effects.
News in the past few days:
1. My contract was extended for another three-week cruise, until 28th April. Not very happy, but I'm goin galong with it as I get the chance to light a new show with the new show company. Besides which, the question may be moot because:
2. Somebody called George made a speech this morning. I don't think we'll be entering the Persian Gulf to visit Dubai nerxt week, or going thru the Suez Canal. But having got this far, if we turn around to go round Africa we'll probably be late home...
posted by Simon Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Bay of Bengal
On the southern fringes of it anyway. Phuket was quite pleasent - I didn't get to Phuket town but stayed on the beach for a couple of hours before I had to go back to the ship. While I'm not normally a beach person, it's nice occasionally and I haven't done that since the Carribean. I'm now somewhat sunburnt.......
posted by Simon Saturday, March 15, 2003
Still Singapore
Well, I spent three hours shopping hard, and bought... two packets of biscuits. I found the MP3 player I wanted, but the best price I could get worked out to only about 40 quid cheaper than the UK (this on a £250 item). It didn't include some bundled goodies that the UK box does, worth about £20. So I figured the remaining £20 difference wasn't worth the potential hassles about warrenties, etc. On my return to So'ton I shall be ordering a Creative Jukebox!
Singapore itself... first impression was LOTS of docks - from where we're bearthed (still, sailing in half an hour) there are container docks as far as the eye can see. We're actually berthed in the container port, as there is another ship in the cruise terminal. Singapore impressed me. It's clean, it's efficient. This is perhaps a demonstration of what really harsh criminal penalties can achieve (there's an instant fine of S$1000 (about £400) for chewing gum in public, or leaving litter, or not flushing a public toilet. Drug dealing, or theft beyond simple pickpocketing, carries the death penalty). Of course, the question then raised is how many innocents end up dead, or caned, or whatever...
Particularly impressive was the MRT (metro). It's fast and efficient, and has a very environmentally friendly ticketing system. All tickets are plastic smartcards. If you have a season ticket you simply hold it near a sensor and a display tells you how much is left. If you just want to make one trip the ticket machine charges you your fare (cheap) plus S$1, which is a deposit on the ticket. You use the ticket as described above, just waving it near the sensors, and when you finish your journey you can put the ticket (smartcard) into any ticket machine to get your S$1 refunded. No more paper tickets. I applaud.
Various crew members have spent lots of money. Some did so with no idea of the prices at home and have paid as much or more. Others have bargins...
posted by Simon Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Singapore
Let's see, where have we been. Nha Trang. Which I still haven't figured out how to pronnounce correctly. It is a relatively unspoilt local beach resort, which seemed very pleasant, apart from the pushy vendors. I don't think they get a lot of Western tourists, and people had turned out in their hundreds to make a fast buck. I'd been told that Vietnam had something in common with the Phillipines, in that a lot of the transport was converted US Army jeeps. This is no longer true, at least in Nha Trang. I found it interesting that there was no visible trace of the war, apart from all of the buildings being new.
THen we had a day at sea. Which was quite depressing, as there were lots of people getting ready to leave today in Singapore, and I was wishing them goodbye knowing that originally I was supposed to have finished here.
And now we're in Singapore. Originally when I was getting off here I was going to have arranged a few days of local leave, but as it turns out with in-port manning, etc., I have three hours this afternoon in which to explore and shop. Maybe I'll find a cheap MP3 jukebox, but from what I've heard Singapore isn't THAT much cheaper than anywhere else anymore, especially if you don't have time to go round lots of shops and haggle. We'll see... :-)
posted by Simon Wednesday, March 12, 2003
South China Sea
Again.
Yesterday was Manila. Which made around 100 of the crew very happy, as they could see their families. The impression I get is that Manila is not a particularly pleasent place. It's certainly not a tourist destination, and various Filipinos on board had warned me not to wear an expensive watch.
However, I didn't really visit the city, but was on a tour to about 2.5 hours away, where I was taken up and down a tropical gorge by canoe, and under a large waterfall. Which was relaxing and exhilerating. Apart from the other passenger in the canoe with me, who would not stop talking! I hope she doesn't read this...
This area was obviously not an international tourist area, but seemed something of a Filipino one - many intranational tourists (is that a word? It ought to be. But perhaps I should use the less obvious 'domestic').
A good day.
posted by Simon Saturday, March 08, 2003
South China Sea
Here's a nice quote from P&O's Manila port guide:
"Manila enjoys a tropical climate, due to its proximity to the equator".
Well, duh...
posted by Simon Friday, March 07, 2003
Hong Kong
I'm in-port manning. But was ashore this afternoon. Hong Kong is tall. Very tall. Not that the individual buildings are that high compared to other cities, but it goes on for miles - everywhere that has a flat surface has a skyscraper on it. I bought some stuff, but not the MP3 jukebox I was after. It was a little specialised for the cheap shops that I could find in my few hours off...
This is somewhere I could spend up to a week or so exploring.
posted by Simon Thursday, March 06, 2003
South China Sea
I think. We might still be in the Taiwan straight. (or Formosa straight. Which sounds better to my ear, but the people who live on Taiwan would probably disagree.)
Shanghai... was probably very nice. But I didn't get there, being assigned instead a tour to Sozhou. A city famous for silk production and gardens. First we went to a garden, which was actually rather nice, with lots of photogenic rock formations - it had a cold and bleak look, which I like (this is the middle of winter. Max temperature that day was 6 degrees C).
Then to a silk factory. Which was not interesting, except that I bought a pure silk shirt for about 15 quid.
Then an Embroidery Research Institute. Which was more interesting than it sounds, as they do produce some amazing stuff - embriodery that from a few feet away looks photorealistic. There was a really big one which was for sale for (I worked this out) approx £30,000UKP.
There was very little in-your-face evidence of this being a communist state. This may be the particular area (Shanghai is still full of British buildings...), or it may be careful selection of tour itinery. Or it may be geniune!
This would have been an interesting tour if it was near to the ship. But it really wasn't worth a 2.5hr drive each way...
Hong Kong tomorrow!
posted by Simon Wednesday, March 05, 2003
East China Sea
Well, it's been a while...
Tokyo was interesting. I spent the morning in Yokohama, which is thought of as being the port city for Tokyo. It's more than that, as despite being only 30km away it has 3.3 million people. Admittedly 700,000 of them commute to Tokyo every day... Yes, this country has a lot of people. The total population is around 125 million - that's three times the UK, and half of the US, in a land area roughly that of California. Except that the usable land area is only about 30% of this, as the rest is mountains.
Anyway, Yokohama. Sailing in to the harbour in the morning I could see lots of tall buildings, and Mt. Fuji in the distance. THis is impressive because it's around 50 miles away. It's not *that* high, as mountains go (about 12,000 feet), but it climbs out of nothing - there's no mountain range there. Like Mt. Robson in Canada. It's also notable for the fact that it's only visible in the morning from Tokyo or Yokohama, as by the afternoon it's hidden by smog and cloud.
One of the first things that struck me after leaving the very nice new cruise terminal (we were the first international visitors to use it, so there was a big opening ceromony) was the number of people who were wearing face masks while going about their daily lives. Presumably the only time they take them off is when in air-conditioned buildings. In some areas, around public transport etc, it was probably 10% of the people. The next impression was not a huge throng of people on the streets - this about 1000, after the office workers have started and before the shops open (mostly 1100 in Yokohama), but of one way of dealing with overpopulation - massive overmanning on everything. Having spent an hour trying to find an ATM which would take a foreign VISA card (this is not an ATM-based culture, and even when you find one most of them only have instructions in Japanese. I had a sticky moment of trying to work out which was the "return card" button when I first found this out), my destination for the morning was the Landmark Tower. This is the tallest building in Japan, and apparently has the fastest lifts in the world. It certainly seemed that way - it took about 40 seconds to ascend 900ish feet, and they keep accelerating until they start decellerating! There is even a speed gauge on the inside, above the one that tells you what floor you're on. But here was overmanning. On the way in to buy a ticket, there was a uniformed person at every corner to point the way and bow to you. In addition to the sign with an arrow by their head, and frequently the fact that there was no other way. There was then somebody to usher you into the lift, a lift operator, and two smiling people at the top to usher you out of the lift.
Having reached the top the view was certainly impressive - I could see Mt. Fuji again (by now only the top part with the snowcap; it was late enough in the morning that the lower slopes had disappeared into haze), and also Tokyo in the distance - my destination for the afternoon as tour escort.
The tour once again showed overmanning happening. Most places in the world we have a bus driver and a guide. In a few places one person fulfils both functions. Here we had a driver, a guide, and a driver's assistant. Whose main functions appeared to be standing by the door and bowing at everybody as they entered (performed dutiously as the temperature was 4 degrees C. She aquired progressively more items of clothing throughout the day.), fiddling with the air conditioning controls (performed ineffectually), and looking pretty (performed admirably).
Anyway, this team of three (later four, as someone from the tours agency got on) took us as speedily as Tokyo's traffic problem would allow to the Imperial Palace. Which is interesting simply as the only large green area in a rather crowded city. Some of the construction cranes nearby looked almost ornamental, as their outsides had been sheathed in chrome. Apparently this is because they are visible from the palace. Then to a buddhist temple. Which is interesting because it did feel totally different - we'd gone from a busy first-world city to what felt like a busy second-world city. It was still bustling, but everythign was traditional. Come to think of it, maybe somebody entering a churchyard-with-craftmarket in London would feel the same. And then up the Tokyo Tower. Which the intinery-with-attitude which the ship had been sent described as "not one of Japan's best value attractions but as one of the tackyest it's unmissable". True. It's not especially high any more, being only slightly bigger than the Eiffel Tower (which it resembles), and the main observation deck is less than half way up. But it's full of tourist stuff like an aquarium, a carnival freak show, etc... The tower is lit well though, and there is a nice night view of Tokyo. I'll find out how the photos come out later.
Then we had dinner japanese-style in a garden resturant. Which had many many courses and was rather nice. And returned to the ship. I felt afterwards rather like I did in Port Said and Cairo many months ago, that I hadn't actually seen any of Japan. Just some tourist sites. I still have little idea what the country is like, except for my brief wander around a new development in Yokohama. The hazards of cruising as a method of tourism.
The next morning I was signed off sick for two days, and have been confined to my cabin ever since. Which was very boring. And irritating because I missed Hiroshima, one of the places I'd really wanted to visit and had even swapped duties for. We've just had seven days at sea in which I could have been ill!
Now I'm officially alive again, and admiring the real world outside of my cabin. There is a force 10 outside, and the ship is moving more than it has at any time since the Bay of Biscay, two months ago.
One day I will come back to Japan.
posted by Simon Sunday, March 02, 2003