Finishing up the Middle East

You have good days and bad days in all aspects in life.  Regent prides itself on offering some of the most unique and exciting itineraries in the cruising world.  Hello!  I am seeing amazing places.  Sometimes, though, there are things that are just out of the company’s and the ship’s control.  We arrived in Al Bahrain, Bahrain and everyone was excited and getting ready to head out into the city for tours.  We loaded the buses with passengers and were driven about 2 blocks to a passport control building.  Before heading in we waited in the bus for a little over half an hour.  Upon entering the building the officers were holding people, taking far too long to look at every passport, not accepting crew, etc.  It was a DISASTER!  By the time we left the port we were almost 2 hours late and everyone was quite grumpy. 

As a tour escort I am only there as a liaison from the ship for the guest’s sake in case I am needed.  When our tour guide got on the bus and didn’t know how to use a microphone for his commentary…I knew we were in trouble.  The guests and I had to show him where the microphone was…literally.  Oh my word.  We began driving and he would say one or two things that were practically inaudible and then he would just giggle into the mic over and over and over!  He had NOTHING to say.  We stopped at deserted sights and I had guests immediately BEGGING me to take the bus back to the ship.  About an hour into the tour I pulled the guide aside to tell him we needed to head back, but he had other concerns.   There was one man on tour that wanted to go shopping (even though nothing was open) and he was furious that the tour had the potential to be cut short!  UUUGGGHHH!!!!!  Anyway- after sitting for 2 hours in traffic in downtown Bahrain, the man was satisfied and we came back to the ship 2 hours late.  The guide was COMPLETELY oblivious to how horribly the tour had gone, but I was mortified as a representative of the company.  What a mess!

That night there was a ship-wide tour (that many decided to skip after other awful experiences on tour during the day) to the Formula One race track.  It was a really fun night.  We boarded buses and drove up to the beautiful, new facility that seats 45,000 people and with an escort we actually rode the buses around on the track!  It was so funny and you could tell how excited our driver was; he kept laughing and shouting like this was the greatest thrill in the world!  Ha ha!

After our drive around we headed to the royal, VIP box where there were local dancers, musicians, henna artists, falconers, etc.  We got to go up to the top floors and have cocktails, finger food and stand out on the balconies while cars did a racing demonstration.  It was a very lovely evening, which was a good make-up for the TERRIBLE day almost every guest had on tour.  It was such a mess. 

The next 2 days we were docked in Abu Dhabi, which we had heard being compared to Dubai.  It is another very big, wealthy city in the United Arab Emirates.  This city was quite different, I thought, though.  It didn’t seem to be quite as much of a “Disneyland” sort of set up with bizarre high-rises in the middle of sand.  There wasn’t some sort of a competition for who could build the strangest building or have the most glamorous, over-the-top façade.  It seemed like this city has used their money to build a very stable society and normal downtown area.

Our shuttle bus service took us to the Marina Mall, which gave us a nice overview of the city on the drive there.  I was blown away by how much greenery there was along the waterfront promenade the ENTIRE length of this huge downtown.  This road was called the corniche and was an extensively landscaped park that I knew I wanted to explore.  Anyway- on the first night I headed to the mall and looked around for a bit before I decided to go see a movie.  Having been out of society for almost 6 months now, I hadn’t heard of any of the films playing, but I didn’t care.  I picked some thriller called “A Perfect Getaway” and headed in to the theatre where I was one of about 10 people not in traditional Muslim robes of the 50 people in the theatre.  I was SO glad to have a night alone, though.  I hadn’t realized how much it had gotten to me to not have that time away, by myself.  When I am home I love to disappear and just take drives every once in a while and do things by myself, but always being on the job and in different cities everyday, it’s hard to do that!  Afterwards I headed to a restaurant that had internet access and just sort of vegged on hot chocolate and wifi!  It was a great night.

The next day I headed back out to the mall by shuttle bus, grabbed some food and then began making my way back toward the ship via taxi.  I had the taxi drop me off toward the top of the corniche so I could go exploring through the park myself.  I turned my ipod on and found all sorts of great fountains, gardens, water features, lakes, cafes, a hedge maze, and some really beautiful views of this skyline.  It reminded me of Waterfront park in Louisville, but about 20 times as big and more landscaped and designed.  At one point I heard the call to prayer ringing out from a mosque and I was made fully aware that I wasn’t in the West.  It’s bizarre feeling out of place in my own skin at times.  I have rarely been the odd man out, but after the Middle East and Mumbai (which you’ll hear about soon…I promise) I have become much more aware that a blond kid from America can sometimes be about as odd as they come, depending on where in the world you are. 

After Abu Dhabi we made one more small stop and sailed away heading toward India.  I have never been more surprised by a visit to anywhere I have traveled like I was with the Middle East.  It was shocking, beautiful, HOT, I met lovely people, and I really would like to come back to explore more.  I felt like I only got to scratch the surface, but I am only fascinated more by the Muslim world and the wonderful characters I had the privilege of meeting in the last couple of weeks.  Hope you are all doing well.  I officially have 32 days left on my contract.  Can you even believe it?!  Miss you guys!

Tripp