Last leg of the Journey & Oh So Sad

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It’s now 31st March and I am laying in bed typing this. It’s so sad that it’s now soon to end, we can’t believe how the time has flown and we have had a ball – and still are doing except for the counting down! Although, having said that, we are looking forward to seeing all our mates and family again soon but would prefer it if they could come here rather than us back to reality.

Phuket was great fun. We arrived in the morning and were moored out to sea so tenders into the town which was fun. We had begun the day with a huge breakfast on board with our pals before going to get tender tickets and the wait wasn’t long. Once we reached land we were plagued as usual by taxi drivers offering to take us around the place which we declined as the sun was out and the harbour area looked interesting. We strolled along being asked the usual questions “would we buy Rolex watches for 10 dollars?” etc… The place was very holiday makerish with lots of bars, restaurants and hotels, and, of course, shops full of cheap copies. We found a little café run by mother and young daughter where there was free internet so managed to send the last installment off from there, with Scott obviously “having” to have a beer. We were with our two friends Elly and Chris and, of course, Chris was willing to keep Scott company. Then there was more mooching around. I was determined to try a massage as they were being offered all over the place at really good prices. So, after a little retail therapy, Elly and I left the boys in a bar and headed off along the prom. It wasn’t long before we came across a massage place which looked fine from the outside and after a little negotiation over prices we got two massages (me a Thai body massage, Elly a foot and shoulder one) of one hour each for 500 Bahts which I think was in the vicinity of £10 for the two of us!! Elly sat in the seats on the ground floor and I was whisked away up the stairs to the lying down bits. I was invited to put on a pair of magnificent trousers which were a one size fits all and then lie on my front on a mattress on the floor. The very petite Thai girl then started with my toes and worked her way up bending and contorting bits of my body which made interesting cracking noises from time to time, followed by a deep but gentler massage culminating with her lying on me and then walking over me. An hour later I came out a new woman!! It was very very good and Elly reported too that her’s had been brilliant. Outside the shop were huge tanks full of small fish which nibble the dead skin off your feet – there were plenty of people sitting on high seats with their feet dunked in with most reporting that it felt nice. I didn’t fancy this as the thought of putting my feet into fish is revolting enough without wondering how many feet and in what condition they had been in before they were placed in the water before mine. Yuk!

As we walked away a very strong wind had blown in and when we looked out to sea the cloud was so low we couldn’t see the ship anymore, which was quite something being as how it wasn’t moored very far out and it is humungous. The shops were beginning to drag in their wears and tie down the shutters which is always a bit nerve wracking when there are Tsunami sign posts which must say must be followed at the first signs of one coming in.(although they don’t tell you what the warning alarms actually sound like, if they exist) Not knowing how they come in and with the record of disasters on board it always makes you a little bit nervous. Anyway it turned out that all it , was a heavy storm and it started lashing it down – so much so that it was very amusing and quite good fun. The rain was very warm and incredibly heavy!! We got soaked on the way back to the bar where Scott and Chris were, so we needed a couple of Pina Colada’s to help us get over this. The rain kept coming as we made our way over to the jetty where we were to get the shuttle back over to the ship and once there the queue was very long as the swell of the sea was making everything take a little bit longer. Also the jetty was a floating jetty so that was fun as we rocked our way along that and a little tricky for all those walking stick people!! It was a bit of a disappointment that the ship was leaving Phuket so early and we had to be back on board by 4.00pm as I think it would have been fun to see some of the nightlife here. I must say that is one of the down sides of cruising – most of the time I want to stay a little bit longer and see a lot more!

Once back on board, showers and the usual dressing up had to be done for yet another night of eating, drinking and entertainment! Also there were to be 2 days at sea before reaching India.

The two days passed with the same old stuff – more enjoyment! One of the evenings was the “World Travellers” cocktail party which are always good fun with all the free drinks – problem is you only get one of these per leg of the journey whereas we would like one every other night. Although one thing I don’t think I have mentioned is that we have now become “Platinum” members and the greatest plus point of this is we get 3 cocktail party’s and one free wine tasting on each leg of the journey and 8 free hours of internet!!! Of course, we have another badge too! Only one more level to go and we’ve cracked it – you can’t get higher than Diamond but afraid we won’t reach those heady heights on this trip. Will just have to do another.

During these two days the Commodore made a formal announcement to all passengers, as there had been some worry about passing through the Suez and negotiating Cruise missiles in the med, especially by the Americans and the Australians, that we would indeed be continuing on the planned route as the British Gov. says it’s fine to do so along with the Foreign Office (and we know how trustworthy they are don’t we?) Apparently the Governments of the USA, Australia and Canada have advised its citizens not to travel to these places unless it is essential travel but hey ….. we’re British!!!

Yesterday we were in Cochin in Southern India. We docked at 9.30am after a very pleasant cruise through beautiful landscape. Once again we ate a huge breakfast as we had been warned about eating anything whilst we were out and about unless we were in 4 and 5 star hotels. We hadn’t booked any excursions and armed with very little information at all we took off. Whilst in the queue to get off I began talking to these two chaps who also had no idea of what to do or where to go but as usual there were the swarms of taxi drivers and “tut tut” drivers (three wheel very amusing looking vehicles) all offering to take people on trips. We tried to get a cab for the 4 of us into the town but all drivers were unwilling to do that run as they all wanted to take us on a 4 hour excursion. Scott then asked the tut tut drivers if they would take us and once again they weren’t keen but one did ask how much we were prepared to pay. Scott thought he was being quite generous when he offered 500 Rupees (as 500 is quite a big number) but the chap laughed and walked off! We ended up agreeing to take a 4 hour tour between the 4 of us for 10 American dollars each which certainly seemed a very good deal being as how the ship was charging around 70 Dollars a head for similar trips. It was only after we had sat down for a while in the cab that Scott realized that his offer of 500 rupees was actually a princely sum of 50p so it was little wonder that he’d been laughed at.

We were taken to various temples and churches and synagogues that, if I am honest, weren’t very interesting at all but observing the towns and villages, roads and buildings and the everyday life of the people was fascinating. I think, for India, this is quite a wealthy area but definitely not in Western terms. The people are by and large very attractive with the most amazing teeth! and very friendly and smiley. Also most can speak English. We went to see the fishermen lifting their nets along the shores which was great to watch, they then sell their catch from little tables lining the shore line. All of the places we visited had an enormous amount of people trying to sell you an enormous amount of stuff you didn’t want. The taxi drivers also have a planned route where I am sure they take you to relatives shops to look at their wares (or they are being paid to take you to them) and our driver was no different. He took us to craft shop after craft shop and I must say these did have quite a few very nice things for sale! Beautiful silks, cottons, carpets and ceramics. We succumbed and bought a beautiful pale blue silk with hand embroidery bed throw and matching cushion covers. The rugs were tempting but the urge was resisted as were the ceramics.

At the end of the 4 hours the driver took us towards the ship but we asked to be dropped off at an hotel we had passed along the coast earlier that morning. With our two new mates, Tay and Rod, we went for large ice cold beers as it had been a very hot day so far – one of the hottest we’ve had. I had Mohitos which were very good. We then went and sat around the pool, where we came across most of the ship’s crew, who were having a great time on their time off. When it came to leave we teamed up with one of the waitresses, Beatrix, a very confident and humorous young Hungarian who led the way out and negotiated a very good price for two tut tut’s to take us back to the ship. This was great fun as the drivers decided to race one another and, for me, although it was fun I did have to travel quite a distance with my eyes shut as there aren’t many rules of the road here and everything just seems to narrowly miss everything else.

Once back on board I think the heat and the mohitos had taken their toll and a rest was needed before beginning the night!! Yep, you’ve guessed it, more drink, more food and more fun.

Well, I guess that’s it for now as it must be time to get up – I’m sure I have a music quiz to do at 10.30 and the sun is out so the rest of the day will be spent lazing by the pool with a book. Such a hard life. I really will find the return to reality quite daunting …. Who’s going to pick the towels up off the floor??

Oops, whilst I remember. Another announcement by the Commodore last night (he’s a busy man at the moment). This time it was to request that after dark we keep our cabin balcony doors closed, the balcony lights off, the curtains closed and the inside cabin lights off whenever possible. In addition the promenade deck and swimming pool decks are off limits after dark and the ships side lights will be turned off as it is necessary to keep visibility low as we are now in Pirate infested seas. Bring on Johnny Depp I say!! We also have an attack training session in a couple of days where I believe all those in outside cabins with balconies on floors 6 & 7 have to shut and lock balcony doors, leave the cabin, locking the door and sit on the floor outside in the corridor (that’s us as we are on deck 6). I have purchased an eye patch and inflatable parrot for this occasion … hey hey me hearties! Goodness knows what the training will be for avoiding those missiles in the med!

Well …. A little bit more excitement was had last night. After a relaxing and enjoyable day at sea we got ready for the Senior Officers Cocktail Party (Platinum members you know!!) and made our way down to the ballroom, picked up our first glass of champagne and made our way over to the buffet table to collect some prawns. It was whilst in the queue the chimes went off for an announcement and the Commodore came on sounding very serious, apologising for interrupting our evening and telling us he had some very important news …. everyone immediately hushed and I thought “WOW .. Pirates .. how exciting!!! It wasn’t pirates unfortunately, but he said that someone had seen something large and heavy fall into the sea and that the suspicion was that it was possibly a body. This had occurred at sunset, which by now was over an hour ago and unbeknown to most, the ship had done a figure of eight and had turned back and we were now in the same position as we had been at sunset. Nothing had been found floating in the sea (it was pitch black by now) and that all passengers were to return to their cabins and remain there until all had been accounted for. AND I HADN’T GOT MY PRAWNS!!! We got back up to our cabin and there were people in the corridors all chatting and looking a little worried. We went into our cabin and against the rules of not opening the balcony door after dark for fear of Long John Silver getting on board, we went outside and peered over the edge. There were search lights from the ship moving all across the waters – it was an eery feeling. Also it must have been very worrying for the old Commodore as in this part of the ocean it is important to keep a very low profile and all lights off – and there we were lit up like a Christmas tree. Miss Kim, in her dressing gown, (the ex-Bunny girl) had installed herself in our cabin along with two wee Scottish wifies – Miss Kim because she wanted to look over the balcony and she has an inside cabin and the Scottish wifies because they are Miss Kim’s pals and had locked themselves out of their cabin. Next doors came in for a chat and to borrow tonic for their gin and the Northern chap from down the corridor who came by to do a little dance. Much speculation went on as you can imagine – the odd announcement came through asking for names from cabin numbers to return to their rooms to be accounted for (obviously they were prematurely pronounced dead by the folk gathered in the room) and after maybe an hour the Commodore announced that all passengers were still on board but now he needed all crew to go to their muster stations so they too could be accounted for – all the while the spotlights were kept on the sea below. Miss Kim remained in our cabin extolling her own virtues – she was dressed only in her bath robe and only partially made up, quite a vision – as we kept trying to escape, eventually I had to excuse ourselves. Once again we made our way downstairs but everything was still closed up as the crew were all still being accounted for and thankfully, not long after, the announcement came over that everyone was still on board. It was a great feeling and I must agree with Scott, this should have been built into the schedule earlier in the cruise as it’s a great way to meet all your neighbours!!! After returning to dinner, we went to the evening show “A passionata”. We went with Chris &

Right that’s it – up to date with the goings-on now so off for a day in the sun.

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Photos

Cochin Ladies
Wont moan about the washing ever again

Phuket
Petrol Station

Comments

[wendy and Phil]

Thought you' d have been jumping ship by now
Hi both , was just chatting on facebook but you went off! just caught up with exciting times from your blog. Really thought you would be fed up by now but obviously not.Met up up with Sue and peter when they came to yorkshire to see new grandson. It was like old times including hatching a plan to go visit some friends in Toulouse and drink gallons of wine!!!, enjoy your last leg, priates and manoverboard included!!, love us