Santorini Ah, Santorini! What a glorious place! We anchored between two docks - one with a road, the other a path (shared with donkeys) or a cable car, rising to Fira Town. Santorini, the southern-most islands in the Cyclades group, was once an active volcano until 1628BC when it blew apart resulting in four separate islands now linked by ferries and water taxis. Fira Town and Oia (pronounced eeeya) are on Thira, the largest section where we were. As we sailed closer, it appeared that the cliff tops were covered with snow because it was so white. But, on closer observation, [View Full Entry]

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Sochi and Sevastopol We sailed across the Black Sea toward Sochi, Russia in cold, foggy weather. The coastline was not within sight until we were very close. I had developed a cold, and because of that, I decided to stay aboard and Bruce went on the tour. This is the only place we’ve been where we had to be on a HAL tour or have obtained a separate visa before leaving the States in order to go ashore. The Russians held us up for almost two hours before clearing the ship, and Bruce left for the tour with passport in hand. [View Full Entry]

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Istanbul Istanbul is so full of history that it is difficult to begin to try to describe the depth and beauty found here. It is a true melting pot of the world where Muslims, Christians, and Jews co-exist in peace, with each respecting the others existence in the same city. The city is divided by a river, placing one side in Europe, the other in Asia, unlike any other large city in the world. The skyline is dotted with minarets and domes of over 135 mosques. From lectures we learned that Byzas established the port in 657 BC, Constantine selected it [View Full Entry]

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Suez Canal, the Pyramids, and the Sphinx Two days before we entered the Suez Canal, an American contracted ship fired a warning shot and killed an Egyptian. Security on the ship was noticeable especially on the promenade deck where many people gathered to watch the transit. We had no incidents, and passed peacefully through the canal and on to Alexandria, Egypt. The actual passage was more interesting in many ways than the Panama Canal. There are no locks in the Suez because the level of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea is the same. It took thirty years to discover [View Full Entry]

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Safaga Our main purpose of docking in Safaga, Egypt is to go to Luxor and visit the Valley of the Kings and Temple of Karnac. We boarded our bus (#4 of 16!) at 6:45 for the four hour trip to Luxor. Because we were traveling in an escorted convoy, we had to wait for all of the buses to be ready, and as a result, it was closer to eight before we got started. The police cars stopped traffic at busy intersections so all of the buses could pass. There was an armed guard on the bus as well. We crossed [View Full Entry]

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Salalah, Oman Sultanate Oman is located northeast of Yemen and south of Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. Its shores are on the Arabian Sea and go north toward the Persian Gulf, but end before the Straits of Hormuz, at the U.A.E. border. Evidence shows settlement back 5,000 years, but until merchants began to sell frankincense, it was a relatively isolated country. Frankincense was thought to have divine curative powers and was widely sought after during the time of Christ, and was more precious than gold because it was only found here. It is a resin derived from the scraggly Boswellia tree, and [View Full Entry]

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Mumbai Our visit to Mumbai or Bombay, as we know it, was quite different from Chennai, India. Bombay is a huge city with a beautiful harbor known as the Queen’s Necklace when lighted at night. What we saw was not the abject poverty of Chennai, although sections of the city were indeed very poor, but rather a contrast between the old and the new. The first stop was at a house, now a museum, where Gandhi stayed during his lifetime. He did not own the house, however. The building is full of fascinating photos, letters, books, and memorabilia including letters he [View Full Entry]

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Chennai, India On March 12, 2008 our first anticipated look at India became reality as we docked in Chennai, the second largest city in India. Other than the Semester at Sea ship docked in back of us, the ships were all freighters, and there were lots of them. When we arrived we couldn’t tie up until two huge cranes were moved giving us space at one of the docks. Again we were in an industrial area requiring a long bus ride around cranes, trucks, freight, and miscellaneous concrete and metal structures to get out of the port. We had to arrange [View Full Entry]

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Singapore What a study in contrasts from Viet Nam to Singapore. The port where we docked is modern and clean. Ocean Terminal is connected to three huge malls, much like Hong Kong. It seemed we walked for miles just to leave the terminal. Other passenger ships were tied up across from us, and we could see ferries coming and going from an adjacent pier. As we looked out, we saw cable cars crossing over our ship, high speed rail running not far ahead, and buses and taxis and a subway station are right in front of us. People scurried every which [View Full Entry]

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Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City I am so happy I could publish pictures of Saigon while we were in Singapore. Thanks to McDonald’s wireless connection and a very nice young Chinese man who allowed us to use his password to get on the internet, I published three entries there while consuming two diet cokes. Now I can write about what we saw and heard. This tour from the port to Saigon, now named Ho Chi Minh City but still referred to by both names, took about an hour and a half. This time we had an excellent guide we could [View Full Entry]

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