The Andaman Islands are a territory of India along with the Nicobar Islands. Originally this was a penal colony.
I’m not too sure what to say about this port except that it was quite undesirable; hot, humid, dirty, smelly… pretty bad all the way around. One woman commented that she hadn’t seen anywhere with so much trash except Egypt - from what I saw she was right. We had planned to take a tuktuk and do a short tour of the area and a visit to the bazaar but we talked to a number of people who were returning to the ship and decided to skip it. There was no bazaar or local market like we like to visit - people said there was a street with some shops. There didn’t seem to be any local handcrafts, what they were selling were mass-produced items (probably from China). There are supposed to be some nice resorts here, but they must be located some distance from Port Blair.
It should have been a clue when the Captain was talking the previous evening in his regular announcement - he said we will dock at about 10:00 and expect to have clearance by 10:30 and you can go ashore… and at 11:00 you’ll be back onboard. He wasn’t kidding.
Now we are on a four sea-day stretch before Mumbai.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Singapore and Port Kelang
Monday, April 30 - Singapore. We had no tour booked here and since we missed shopping in Hong Kong with our late arrival back from our Great Wall tour we decided to just wing this port. We were docked at the Harbour Front Cruise Centre which had two large malls attached. We got off the ship and browsed around a bit and met one of the ship’s photographers. We all decided to take a taxi into the city to visit Lim Sim Centre - the electronics shopping area. We bought a couple more portable hard drives and then I decided to look at the new camera I’ve had my eye on… bargain -bargain- bargain… it did end up following me home. It was less than US price, but I still wonder if I could have gotten it for less. Then it was back to the ship.
The next day we were docked in Port Kelang, Malaysia. We choose not to do one of the tours into Kaula Lampor and instead did a tour that included a stop at a traditional house and stops at a Mosque and Palace and little India. The house was quite large as the family uses it for a bed and breakfast at times. The surrounding yard area was entirely turned into a tropical garden filled with orchids - great photos, but the temp was over 90 and the humidity about the same… way too much for me! If it were a bit cooler or maybe less humid I would have loved to spend a week there. The Mosque and Palace were just quick photo stops but we had a little time for shopping in Little India - I actually made a couple purchases there!
Now we have two sea days until Andaman Island for my back to recover a bit… and to study my new camera!
The next day we were docked in Port Kelang, Malaysia. We choose not to do one of the tours into Kaula Lampor and instead did a tour that included a stop at a traditional house and stops at a Mosque and Palace and little India. The house was quite large as the family uses it for a bed and breakfast at times. The surrounding yard area was entirely turned into a tropical garden filled with orchids - great photos, but the temp was over 90 and the humidity about the same… way too much for me! If it were a bit cooler or maybe less humid I would have loved to spend a week there. The Mosque and Palace were just quick photo stops but we had a little time for shopping in Little India - I actually made a couple purchases there!
Now we have two sea days until Andaman Island for my back to recover a bit… and to study my new camera!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
At Sea
Another lazy Sunday at sea… The special Sunday Brunch Buffet in the main dining room is wonderful and then the rest of the day is usually spent napping and reading. They did do a preview of the DVD created from our trip to the Great Wall; the videographer onboard is great. The video is a combination of information given by the guides and then just wonderful shots of the places we visited backed by music.
On Thursday evening we went to a special cocktail party for those passengers that went on the Great Wall tour and spent about 20 minutes talking with the Captain. I was curious about the special plans they might have for when we go through the Gulf of Aden. What he could tell me was that he is going to be briefed by the Royal Navy when we are in Singapore and that all passengers will receive a briefing and participate in a drill. Ok… enough on that (I guess my old career isn’t really gone).
When we got back to the cabin that night the phone rang and it was a dinner invitation from the Captain for last night (Saturday). It was really a nice surprise because they don’t do the formal Captain’s Tables on Princess - the Captain actually asks whomever he wants for whatever night. Pretty cool!!! Anyway, we had a great dinner with Captain Kent and two other couples and now we feel really special.
On Thursday evening we went to a special cocktail party for those passengers that went on the Great Wall tour and spent about 20 minutes talking with the Captain. I was curious about the special plans they might have for when we go through the Gulf of Aden. What he could tell me was that he is going to be briefed by the Royal Navy when we are in Singapore and that all passengers will receive a briefing and participate in a drill. Ok… enough on that (I guess my old career isn’t really gone).
When we got back to the cabin that night the phone rang and it was a dinner invitation from the Captain for last night (Saturday). It was really a nice surprise because they don’t do the formal Captain’s Tables on Princess - the Captain actually asks whomever he wants for whatever night. Pretty cool!!! Anyway, we had a great dinner with Captain Kent and two other couples and now we feel really special.
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