Hitting the Slopes

The next port of call was Dubai, which the whole ship was excited about.  Even from the beginning of our contract Dubai was one of the ports that people said was very fun and exciting.  Dubai is one of the largest, most modern cities in the world and we were in port there for three days.  The stop started off with a bang when we realized that the port had free internet!!!  It wasn’t the best signal, but it was strong enough that we were able to get the signal even on the side of the ship if you sat close enough to a door or porthole.  Ha ha!  I know it seems silly, but when you are counting your every minute and second on the internet and having to pay for it all, being able to surf for free is a huge blessing! 

Now this city is completely unique from anywhere I have ever been.  It was really only built up to be as large as it is in the last decade or so from finding major wealth in oil and tourism.  It now resembles some sort of a Disneyland version of Chicago and Las Vegas combined.  There are some of the most unique skyscrapers and incredible hotels unlike anything you’ve ever seen.  One of the incredible sights is just driving through the city and seeing all of these buildings rising up out of the sand.  That’s what makes this place so crazy!  In most cities it grew gradually from older, established towns, but here it is just a series of skyscrapers connected by sand.  I couldn’t believe how odd it was to not have older, smaller buildings connecting these gigantic, modern structures. 

On the first day I went with Rose on a shuttle bus to the Mall of the Emirates.  This is one of the largest malls in the world with stores and restaurants from all over.  We were dying when one of the first shops we found was a Krispy Kreme store!  Ha!  Clearly a necessary stop.  After making our tummies more than satisfied we began wandering through the stalls of normal stores like H&M, Guess, a supermarket…we were a little overwhelmed, having not seen a mall in about 5 months!  We had fun wandering around and eventually ran into some friends who were admiring the mall’s signature INDOOR ski slope.  Now you have to remember; we are in the middle of the desert.  The winter here is maybe into the upper 60’s and these people have never seen snow, so having the 3^rd largest indoor ski slope in the world here is really unreal.  We couldn’t believe the whole thing and decided to try to go the next day.  That night we just stayed on board, though, sitting on the crew deck with food and drinks, music, and laptops as a large majority of the crew sat out taking advantage of the free internet.

The next morning I got up early with Rose, Elena, and Bruno (a worker in the boutique) and we headed to the mall.  Now:  I have never set my feet in skis or attempted to ski in my life!  I was a little nervous, but I figured I would be fine…hmmm.  Upon arrival we saw signs posted everywhere stating that if that staff of the facility felt you were not strong enough in basic areas (turning, stopping, speed control) you would be asked to leave without a refund.  I obviously became more worried.  I stepped up to the ticket counter and ordered one “slope pass” to which I was asked, “Are you an experienced skier?”  I paused, kept my mouth shut, but grinned, raised those eyebrows and nodded, “Mmhmm!”  Got through that. 

Now remember: all the while I am asking all sorts of retard beginner questions to the girls, but acting like I know what I’m doing.  I did this through the process of picking up our jackets and pants, putting on the ski boots and skis, picking out poles, etc.  I was in a nightmare.  We finally got inside and we were blown away.  This place was AWESOME with a full ski lift, about 4 slopes or so, a “snow park” with toboggan slides, tubing, ice bar, etc.  I headed straight for the bunny slope with all the 4 and 5 year old kids where I started walking to get on the little moving sidewalk-syle lift to take me up the hill.  I was off to a good start when I stepped right out of my skis before even getting on.  After getting to the top I began down the hill, trying to turn just as the girls had shown me while they watched from the bottom of the hill.  I turned, but it didn’t work so I tried turning more and all of the sudden I started spinning round and round!  Ha ha!  My arms and poles were flying, I was screaming, the girls were on the ground laughing and by the time the third turn came around I got stopped turning, but was facing the wrong way, going backwards now down the hill!  HA!  Oh my word!  Anyway- I made it down and was just thankful no one seemed to have seen my brilliant skiing debut.  I was quite proud that I hadn’t fallen, though!

After a few successful trips down the tiny bunny hill I headed up to the smallest of the normal hills.  We were glad to find Brett at the top, snowboarding his way around, so he joined us the rest of the day.  I started down and went straight into a wall (they don’t have any trees to run into, but the walls are plentiful.  Ha ha!), but again I stayed on my feet and completed the slope.  I was really proud that by the end of the day I went from the very top down the hill a few times and now I can’t wait to go down some real slopes OUTSIDE!  Ha ha!  To keep the snow frozen they had to keep the facility really cold, so we were only able to bear it for about 2 hrs before Elena looked like a little blueberry and we decided to head out.  We had a really nice lunch at Chili’s of all places!  We were glad for big ole’ American portions!  Ha! 

The last day was pretty quiet just walking around and got some good lunch.  Overall I was really impressed with Dubai.  The people were very nice and hey- I learned to ski!  Who can say that they learned to ski in Dubai- in the middle of the desert of the United Arab Emirates?!  Ha ha!  It’s certainly an experience I won’t soon forget.  Love you all and can’t wait to talk to you more in person.  My time on the ship is coming to a close very quickly; only about 5 weeks left!  Miss you all!

Tripp

Oh Man! It's OMAN!!

Alright- we have major catching up to do.  I know it seems like I am just lazy, but honestly… after writing so much for the past 5 months and seeing so much everyday and talking about it and living it with passengers… the blog can get a little daunting.  I will make sure to get caught up in the next few days, though, as we will be at sea and I should have plenty of time to write. 

The next port on our journey was Salalah, Oman.  It’s pronounced just as you may think and yes- I did enjoy saying it each and every time it came out of my mouth.  This southern part of the country of Oman is famous for frankincense!  I was on tour and hopped in my bus where we headed to a frankincense tree.  The incense is basically just sap droplets that are scraped from the tree, dried for a few days, and sold for burning, creating perfumes, using to breathe for medicinal purposes, etc.  It’s a very strong smell (think Catholic mass), but the Arabs just SWEAR by the stuff.  I wasn’t impressed, but I found the tree and harvesting process to be very interesting. 

Then our bus headed to a very large, stretching beach and some cool rock formations that overhung like stalagmites (or tites… whichever comes down from the ceiling) and where we got to see some natural blowholes.  Unfortunately the tide was down, so we didn’t see them blowing L.  Following our beach visit we began to climb up mountains inland of the port of Salalah.  This land looks like the surface of the moon at some parts and then has huge canyons and cliffs covered in grass.  The variety of the landscape made this a very unique port.  We reached the top of the mountain (after dodging camels that were heading back home on their own like dogs…seriously) and visited the alleged tomb of the prophet, Job.  I was very skeptical of the whole thing, but when I asked my guide how we knew it was Job’s tomb he said, “It is!  It is! “  I inquired again and he said, “We know because a few years ago the government told us!”  Ha ha!  After the clear explanation I was truly a believer.  Driving back down the mountain we watched an AMAZING sunset and headed to the local souq.  The souq is a local market hear in the Middle East and they usually sell local handicrafts, frankincense, clothing, jewelry, etc. 

The next day I had an AMAZING tour in Muscat, Oman.  I was in a tiny van with 7 passengers, a driver, and our guide whose name has escaped me.  Ugh.  Anyway- it was amazing because it was like we were on a private VIP tour, able to ask our young guide anything and everything.  Of course being here we are always around women in black robes and men in their traditional white robes.  Our guide was able to explain all about his outfit and how it is illegal to not have fresh, clean, ironed robes because the Sultan wants his country to be viewed in a positive light.  OH!  The sultan!  He has been ruling Oman for over 40 years and the people here LLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE him.  Genuinely- he is doing an incredible job and is taking care of his country in a big way.  These are proud, happy, beautiful, smart people.  Muscat was one of the cleanest places I have visited.  It looked like the whole city was a private country club.  The Sultan makes sure of this and you can get fined for not having fresh paint on your house, having a dirty car, etc.  It’s amazing. 

Our first stop in the van was to the local fish market.  Now, I have been to fish markets before, but we were the ONLY non-locals and we went right down to the sea where small boats were still coming in with young men on them delivering their catch.  We next went up to a large concrete slab where there were GIGANTIC fish everywhere being scaled, shopped, chopped, and bled.  It was disgusting…and awesome.  Next we went to an old fort that has been restored and there, again, were no other guests there.  We went through different rooms and our guide showed us what each room was used for like the guest rooms, where court was held, the ladies sitting room, etc.  He got into the different customs of his people including how men have to sit a certain way at all times, but women can sit how they like.  He explained the marriage process and how a boy must ask for the hand of a girl and there is a 3-week period where the family of the girl goes around asking EVERYTHING about the boy’s habits, responsibilities, family, education, money, aspirations, and then if approved the boy must present a dowry to the girl, who will give it to her sisters and family.  It was incredible to hear him talking about this not in a storybook, but as part of his own life coming up. 

The next stop was a natural spring further inland.  We saw many local families having fun here, some dressed traditionally, but others not.  It was strange every once in a while to see a man with 2 or 3 wives, but besides that it was all quite normal, including the teenagers banging on trash lids and coolers and singing to the rhythm!  Ha ha!  It was really fun.  Next we went to the 5-star Hyatt Hotel in town for lunch.  This place was INCREDIBLE.  I can’t even describe it, but to say it was huge and opulent and fantastic.  We had a GREAT meal with the guide where we got to ask more questions.  He showed us his hand-embroidered hat that the women of the family make, told us about his education, and joked about the joys of having a Sultan.  He said, “You all think democracy is so great, but every 4 years you have people lie to you over and over to get into office.  You pick them and then you usually HATE them.  We don’t get to pick our Sultan, but we LOVE him and are SO happy with what he’s doing!”  It was just interesting to see this young man explaining a benevolent dictator as the greatest ruling power.  It was very interesting to see that point of view.

To finish up our time we headed to the beautiful palace and Grand Mosque, one of the largest in the world.  It was so amazing of these guys to be so open and genuine with us as we traveled.  I felt like I was really learning so much through the whole experience and I’m so grateful for my guide.  Now if I could only remember his name… OH MY WORD!!! That makes me so frustrated!!! 

Tripp

Yo ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life for Me!

I know it’s been a while since I wrote, but there hasn’t been too terribly much to tell.  I will get you all up to date, though.  After Petra the ship returned to Egypt to the port of Safaga where the guests were touring to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.  The crew had organized the third and final crew tour that day, but there were complications.  It seems the Safaga Port Authority really screwed up and took forever to clear all of the crew passports for our tour.  As we waited and waited, we finally had to cancel the tour because with the travel inland and everything we would have no time in the port.  This was a big bummer especially for those poor crew members who were only going to be able to get off the ship in this particular port by special permission, etc.

Instead we took the shuttle bus in to a resort that had a really big pool spread out along the coastline with some beach, a swim-up bar, restaurants, etc.  We just spent the day soaking in the 100+ degree heat and awaiting our departure from the frustrating, hoop-jumping, haggling, dirty Egypt.  We had just about had enough.  That night we also had a special event called “Sheik, Rattle, and Roll” where we were dressed in Sheik-inspired outfits and performed 50’s and 60’s music on the pool deck.  It was actually really cute and we tried to have fun with the whole thing. 

Finally we sailed away from Egypt and had basically 4 sea days until we would port again in Salalah, Oman.  This was where things starting getting interesting.  Donna Hampton has certainly been concerned because the past 24-28 hours we have been passing through the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, also known for the recent pirate attacks in the past year or so.  Now- we have been fully briefed and prepared and I have felt 100% safe on board the ship, but of course we have to be prepared for anything.

The ship has had Israeli guards on board for the past few days that are here specifically to protect the ship.  Also our ship is certainly not a target for the pirates and we travel too fast for them to even have any way to attack us.  We also have taken other safety measures like closing off some of the open decks, shutting off certain outside lighting, we have had ship escorts around us from various countries, and even had a couple helicopters circling today as we cleared the more dangerous area.  Everything has gone very smoothly and I am glad to report that there is nothing to report!  Donna- breathe. 

We did have some fun yesterday, however, by making light of the situation and sort of giving everyone permission to be distracted and laugh at our own fears.  We did a Pirate Treasure Hunt on board!  Ha ha!  It was actually really cute.  It was a big scavenger hunt where guests broke into teams and had to complete pirate-themed tasks in order to get “skull points” and win a small prize.  Of course guests were more than ready to get into full competition mode and all the entertainment staff were ready to play, too!  We were each in charge of a different station.  I was decked out in full bandana-clad, tattooed, eye patch-wearing, blacked-out-tooth, scruff-covered glory!  Ha!  It was really fun and definitely got our minds off everything happening that day. 

Anyway- I can’t believe I haven’t gone insane having 4 days at sea like this, but I have been keeping busy preparing my cabaret for next cruise.  (It’s a one man show with me on the piano called, “Boy with Dreams.”  Look for details and hopefully recordings in the next couple weeks!)  I have also had fun eating in Compass Rose almost every night and watching guest entertainers perform.  One lady performing on board right now is Giselle Summers and her show the other night was a tribute to Barbara Streisand and she BLEW ME AWAY!  If you closed your eyes you would absolutely believe she was Babs herself.  (I couldn’t help but get a little sentimental thinking of Dad crying listening to “The Way We Were” during her rendition.  Ha ha!)  My last saving grace to stay busy has been 2 Arabic channels that have been showing on our tv while sailing through the Red Sea.  They play English movies with Arabic subtitles and I couldn’t be any more thrilled!  It’s the little things.  So…that’s my life right now.  Not too much to report, but I will be glad to head to a port tomorrow after a long break!  Hope you are all doing well and the crisp autumn air is making you feel more alive everyday.  Enjoy it!

Tripp

A Stroll through the Siq

Today we were in Aqaba, Jordan.  The ship was here overnight, mainly for the big tour today to Petra.  Now I have been now to quite a few ancient cities and very famous ruins and truly beautiful sights, but I can tell you… NONE of them have been like this.  It’s such a completely unique experience and archeological find that I just found my self fascinated, asking our guide tons of questions. 

We were on a crew tour again today and we took the 2-hour drive to Petra through amazing terrain.  It was true desert, with rising rounded mountains and just really dry, arid climate.  I know we have areas like this in the states, obviously, but I really had never seen anything like it.  At one point I shouted, “This is just like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!”  While I was proud for having found some corollary, I would have preferred it be something other than a Disneyworld roller coaster.  It really was all I could relate it to, though!  Ha ha!  Finally we reached the bus lot, but we were far from the actual city of Petra. 

We slowly walked down a large gravel road that was surrounded by the same canyon-looking rock formations and had horses traveling parallel to its path.  We began to see carved openings in the rock faces more and more.  Our guide explained that we were entering the city of Petra, but that this was just sort of the entrance.  He said that throughout the day we would mainly be seeing these large openings, some ornately carved, others simple holes in the wall, and that they were actually graves.  The city is still being excavated, but much of what we see is thousands of graves they have found.

We walked down the hill for a while until we reached what is called the Siq.  Now, the city was actually not discovered until 1812 when an explorer convinced some Bedouin people (Arab desert dwellers) to show him the city.  He had heard of a secret city, but no one knew where it was.  The secret to its anonymity is the Siq.  Pronounced “seek,” this is just a rock formation where two walls are formed by the rock faces and a small opening is formed.  This particular Siq was formed after an earthquake and the opening between these two giant rock walls ranges from 8-30 feet along its over mile-long stretch.  You see, the city is hidden past this tiny, natural canyon pathway.  The people didn’t carve it, but just took advantage of the rock hallway of sorts.  It’s AMAZING!  You walk and walk and walk down this tunnel sort of thing, many times with sheer rock faces on either side of you reaching hundreds of feet high.  It’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen.  We had fun just exploring the Siq, climbing the rock faces and taking pictures.  One of the most interesting parts (I thought) was the hand carved water drain or aqueduct carved into one of the rock faces.  To get water the people carved this gutter that wanders the entire length of the Siq. 

Once you reach the end your breath just catches in your throat.  Talk about a grand entrance.  All of the sudden from the dark canyon you literally see a light at the end of the tunnel.  The walls open up into a giant area and you are standing directly in front of the grandest tomb of them all!  The ancient people called the building the treasury, but this tomb, built for the king, is an ornate façade covered in details of columns, figures, etc.  The amazing part is that it isn’t built, but CARVED directly into the red sandstone by hand.  Our guide said he wasn’t sure how long it took, but they began with a solid rock face and chiseled in a full front of columns and gable, porch area, and the inner tomb.  The room inside was HUGE (probably 30 feet high and 15 feet wide) and to think that it was all carved out of the mountain by hand is just incredible.

We proceeded to walk through past more large facades of the wealthy and past huge walls covered like a honeycomb with tons of simple tombs for everyday citizens of Petra.  To walk around and realize what must have been here some four or five thousand years ago is amazing.  The town was abandoned and covered with sand until being discovered in 1812, but what a treasure.  It has recently been added to the list of 7 wonders of the world and I can certainly see why.  The sad thing is that just from natural disintegration, Petra is slowly disappearing!  What a lovely spot and an AWESOME archeological find.  If you have any chance of making it here I would highly recommend it. 

Our day was finished with a walk (or hike) back up to the bus through the dust, sand, horses, camels, and in 100 degree heat!  It was a refreshing stroll to say the least.  We had lunch overlooking the scene and rode back to the ship completely pooped.  It was a long, but fun day.  Tomorrow I am excited to go to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt.  Who knows what adventures are in store?  Hope you are all well.  I am having a blast, but I will be so happy to be home with friends and in a place that is familiar.  Have an awesome week.  Love you all!

Tripp

PYRAMIDS!!! (Who needs a better title?!)

I did it!  I have seen the pyramids!  I can’t believe it still, but it was an amazing day!  The ship docked at Port Said, a port at the north end of the Suez canal, about a 3 hour drive from Cairo.  These Middle Eastern countries were so different right from the start.  For instance, before the workers on shore would help tie the ship and let us dock we had to throw over cartons of cigarettes and boxes of liquor to appease them.  Oh boy.  They also gave us a really hard time and forced us to do a crew drill that morning, making our time at the pyramids shorter and shorter.  After a lot of hassle, though, we got off the gangway to do our crew tour…but we didn’t know where to go.  No one seemed to be in charge and we seemed to just wander around for about 20 minutes before we finally figured out the busses to hop on.  Finally we were off!

Our tour guide’s name was Ahmed and he was a 30-something Egyptian that had recently gotten married and was super nice, trying his best to give us lots of info about Cairo, the port, etc. and figure the best schedule to see the pyramids.  We drove and napped and drove some more.  I was overwhelmed with the amount of poverty I saw as we were driving, though.  I couldn’t believe the mud houses, trash EVERYWHERE, what seemed to be sewage in the streets, etc.  It was really awful.  Ahmed told us about how Egypt has control over the Suez Canal (the man-made canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas) and makes 40 million dollars per day from it.  This is a major passage for war ships, cruise liners, cargo ships, subs, and just about anything else.  He joked that he doesn’t know where any of that money goes, though!  We were all a little wary of the whole situation, though, when we quickly realized everyone was watching as we drove by and staring into the busses.  We also had a POLICE ESCORT taking us into the city.  Ahmed said not to worry about it, but the armed gunmen in the back of the car weren’t too comforting.  (I wish I was making some of this up!)

After the 3 hour drive we reached Cairo, drove over the Nile River (HELLO!!!) and reached Giza, home of the pyramids.  It was astounding to see such iconic structures just rising up out of the city in the blazing heat.  I didn’t realize how close they were to the city, but their looming silhouettes were visible for miles as we drove nearer.  We finally arrived and I thought I was going to scream I was so excited.  We jumped out at a panoramic viewpoint and took pictures with all 3 pyramids in the background.  It was just unbelievable; to be standing in a place that is multiple THOUSANDS of years old was humbling.  I have never felt like such a speck or blink of an eye in my life, but I felt good about my insignificance at this truly mighty sight.  The three pyramids were tombs, of course, and we learned of the 3 generations of pharaohs who had them built. 

Dealing with the locals was interesting here, as well.  Everyone wants money and the Egyptians try their darndest.  There are men ready to whisk you away for a camel ride, dressed as sheiks for your picture-taking pleasure, men selling plastic pyramid carvings (that are 2,000 years old, of course!) and everything else under the sun.  They cried out to us, “Where are you from?!”  and would start bidding, “10 dollars.”  Brett was successful at buying a souvenir offered to him at 10 dollars for 1 euro and 1 dollar!  Ha ha!  I thought that was an interesting purchase.  Anyway- as much as the haggling is a nuisance, it’s impossible for any of it to take away from the glory of the pyramids.

After the first stop we had another stop closer, right between the two largest pyramids and we began having photo shoots and even climbed 3 or 4 tiers up the pyramid of Cheops, all next to a “No Climbing” sign and with the Tourism Police blowing their whistles in the background.  It was necessary.  Lastly on the plateau we went to the Sphinx where we walked through part of the ancient tomb to arrive close by.  To see this guardian standing with the icons of the pyramid shadows as a background was just surreal.  Even now I am reviewing the day through pictures and I am blown away.  I can’t believe I was actually there. 

It was an awesome day and on our way home we were all starving, so Ahmed decided he would take orders and he stopped at a local Egyptian restaurant and got us all falafels and sharmas (a chicken wrap thing).  Here in the Arab countries the sun is BLAZING hot during the day and when it sets it goes down for good and it gets really dark.  On our ride back to the ship it was itch black so we all fell asleep and couldn’t believe it was only 9:00 when we arrived back!  Still having growling tummies, Elena and I got the idea to go see if there was time to make it to Compass Rose, the main dining room.  Luckily, the maitre’d knew us and was happy to help out!  Ha ha!  (Helps to be friends with the right people!)  Oh my word.  What a long, exhausting, fantastic day!

The next day we sailed through the Suez canal and we’re now ported in Aqaba, Jordan.  Going on another tour tomorrow!  Woo hoo!  Love and miss you all…

Tripp