After a lot of messing around at Tianjin, caused by the port authorities, we finally left the ship en route for Beijing at 1.oopm local time.
The transit time by coach was about two and half hours to the first stop, the Temple of Heaven.
It is a three storied circular building some hundred feet high, beautifully decorated and made completely of wood, with no nails. It sits atop a man made hill, and was the place the Emperor came to pray for good harvests etc. It was built about six hundred years ago, during the early years of the Ming Dynasty, by the emperor Ju Jan. Quite impressive.
Following a drive of another half an hour, we arrived at the Summer Palace, which as the name implies was the summer residence of the MIng and following emperors. It sits beside a man made lake, below a man made hill(locally mountain!). The mountain is the spoil from the lake, and is covered in trees, with pagodas showing through. A very attractive spot, particularly as we were there at sunset.
Another drive of half an hour, and an unexpected programme change, found us at a restaurant for a Peking Duck chinese dinner. I say unexpected, as we were due there at 8.45, after checking in at our hotel and being able to wash and change, and we got to it at 7.oopm. There was plenty to eat and it was all good, if at times a little surprising. Our table finished all our duck, and were surprised others had not, so we helped out.
on leaving the restaurant, another change was in store. We had a coach drive to see Tiannamen Square by night. Quite spectacular, but chilly. Fortunately, we had all brought winter clothes and coats. We stopped some way short, and then walked to it. after this, we finally made it to the hotel at around 10.15pm. It had been a long day.
Departure on 29th, from the hotel was 8.00am. Destination the Great Wall of China, the Badeling section. This meant a drive of about an hour, northwards. As we neared it, it started to snow. It had been cold enough in Beijing, but this added to the drama. on our arrival, we had to take a cable car to get to the wall, as it is one of the highest parts. Though the snow added to the spectacle, it did make the going hazardous. From the top of the cable car, there is a steep uneven path down to the first access point to the wall. This was very slippery, and there were a lot of people. The climb up onto the wall is very narrow, and not made any easier by the crowds on it trying to get off pushing down. Once up there, really there was nowhere to go because of the weather. The top of the access steps is flat, but then there is a very steep 100ft slope up to the next set of steps. the ground underfoot was covered in ice, making this nearly impossible. Ian had a go, pulling himself up by using the hand rail, but it was very hard going. Then came the flight of steps. A few chinese had made it this far, but the guards were not allowing any further progress, presumably on safety grounds. The came the return trip down the slope! It was a bit scary, but Ian found it was easier to come down facing up the slope, so that his feet were roughly parallel to the ground, whilst hanging on tighly to the rail. Fortunately he was wearing gloves. An attempt was made to access another part of the wall in the same area, but the entry was even narrower than the first. With the snow, the wind and the cold, sanity took over, and we all decided to make it back to the cable car, and the sanctuary of the coach.
An excellent chinese lunch followed, before we moved on to the Forbidden City. This was the official Palace of the emperors, and their winter home. A really beautiful area, which we crossed going from south to north, starting at the main gate. We passed the formal pavillions, before reaching the private quarters. It covers a huge area, and in our hour and half, it was only possible to see the principal parts. The highlight was the colours. Red for the doors and pillars, studded and decorated in gold. The blues, greens and golds of the walls, ceilings and fascias. Some of the buildings had been recoloured because of the olympics, and these were in a real contrast to those that had deliberately been left alone to show how they had looked originally.
Our exit was through the formal gardens to rejoin our coaches. Before leaving Beijing altogether, we had a final surprise, of a daylight drive roound Tiannamen Square, something they told us the night before could not happen!
The return the ship was uneventful, but the shock of getting out of a nice warm coach into the freezing air to go through all the chinese imposed formalities was.
In summary, this was a great trip, if a bit stressful at times. Every where we went there were hordes of chinese, who pushed, shoved and shouted.The weather started out warmish, and steadily got colder. It was good job we had taken our Alaskan outfits with us.

So that was Shanghai, and a most enjoyable stop it was.
We arrived on time, which meant that all the tours started as they should, for once. Our trip was the City Tour, scheduled to last for 8 hours.
Th first stop was the city museum. We were tol;d we had an hour, but the museum security staff made a mockery of that as it took 25 minutes for all of us (90 odd) to pass through. The guide changed the departure time by 25 minutes for the back markers, but did not tell those at the front. When we got back, there was alot of muttering and dirty looks. The museum, especially the furniture and jade was most interesting.
After a short coach movement, our stop was the Jin Yuan tower. The top floor for public access is the 88th, and is an observation deck. There is also a post office up there. Floor 57 to 87 is the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The lift to the top rises 9m per second, and the viewing platform is 340m from the ground. It was a clear day, which we gathered is a rarity in Shanghai, so there was plenty to see.
Next came lunch at a restuarant by the river, A good meal for vegetarians. There was plenty of it, so no one went hungry.
Following this, a visit to a 400 year old garden was made. The brochure described it as a peaceful haven in the middle of abustling city. Someone fibbed, as it was so full, one could hardly move round. Movement was not helped by various parties coming in at both the netrance and exit! Undeniably, on a good day it would be fabulous. OUtside the garden is the old city, full of shops, reataurants, takeaway stalls and touts. Noisy, bustling exciting, and great fun. Easy to get lost in though. Even children were touting for watches and hanbags, armed with pictures rather than the real fakes!
Our final destination was posted as a walk along the Bund. This is the riverside promenade in what was the old British section of Shanghai (more properly the British Concession). When we got there, it was a bit of a building site, and though we managed to get onto the promenade and take pictures, there was no strolling as it was all closed off. Our guide was shouted at by a little angry chinese man. It transpired we should not have been there, as the whole area was officially closed. In 2010, Shanghai will be hosting the World Expo on the Bund. To do this, the Chinese are going to put the dual carriageway underground, and turn the current roadway into gardens. Makes one think. They intend to do this in just over a year, and they have not yet started!
On board that evening, we were treated to a display of music, dance, gymnastics(contorsionism!), magic and general amazement. Very, very enjoyable.
We left Shanghai on 26th at 1pm local-5am UK. Before leaving, with others, we took a stroll down the quayside to look at the other boats that had arrived. The port police became unhappy, and like a bunch of sheepdogs, rounded us all up, and gently herded us back from whence we came. All quite good hunoured, and it its own way quite funny.
Now we are at sea, on our way to Tianjin, the port for Beijing. WE are due there at 8am local tomorrow.
The captain has just announced that we have now sailed the equivalent of more than halfway round the world, and we are nowhere near the international date line!

That was Hong Kong ,that was. We started the sail in at around 6.30am local, and being the sad people we are, we got up to watch.
The cruise Terminal is on Kowloon, right beside the Star Ferry terminal. Fortunately for us, the ship was moored port side to, which meant that we, on the starboard side, had a wonderful view across the water to Hong Kong island.
After a leisurely breakfast, we went for a stroll around Kowloon, and Sue managed to do some shopping. In the afternoon, we took the ferry(on the upper deck) across to HK island. From there, we moved on to Victoria Park, before taking the Tram up to Victoria peak. This is a cable controlled, rather than a funicular, railway, but the ascent is quite steep. Two trams operate together, acting as counterbalances to each other, with one coming down as the other goes up. The seats face uphill, which is fine as you go up, but a bit strange as you come down. Unfortunately, the weather was not being that kind to us, as the top was in the clouds. They did part occasionaly, to give glimpses of what lay below. We got talking to another couple off the ship. They had been to HK twice before, and had not managed to go up the Peak in clear weather on any of their visits!
After coming down, we made our way back to the ship on the Metro.
Having showered and changed, we went ashore again, to eat. On our return, we watched the lights show on the buildings on HK island opposite, which was quite spectacular. It was a lovely evening, and we sat out on the aft deck, with a drink, and listened to the various musical groups on board playing. A barbeque started at 10.30pm and we sailed at 11pm. We stayed outside, watching all the buildings on both the shores glide by.
This morning we are underway to Shanghai. The weather has changed quite markedly. No sun, the sea is rough, and about 30 knots of wind. Visibility is about 2 or 3 miles. Not sitting out weather. It is possible that we have seen the last of that, as we head further north. The ship is due in Shanghai early on Wednesday morning.
According to the Captain, since leaving Dover, we have sailed the equivalent of half way round the world.
Currently, we are 8 hours ahead of UK time.

Our brief stop in Viet Nam is over, and we are on our way to Hong Kong.
The port was Chan May, and we could not find it on any maps. This was not surprising, as it was just a large jetty in the middle of nowhere. It did seem to handle a little cargo traffic as well, but apart from the port offices, there was nothing else there. It was a 20 minute bus ride to the nearest village. Da Nang is the city in the area, and it was a further half hour away.
For us, the destination was Hoi An, a world heritage site. The tour was advertised as including three hours of walking in Hoi An, as well as drive through of Da Nang, but no-one seemed to have told our Vietnamese guide that. She had her own agenda. After an hour or so in the coach, we stopped at what we were told was a mountain of marble. In fact we were at a marble factory and shop. The work was interesting, as we saw all the stages, and there were some beautiful pieces. However, the downside was some very heavy and persistent selling. So much so that even Ian got irritated. Any question was met by pressure to buy something. Needless to say we did not. This stop took forty minutes, and should have taken ten.
Back on the coach for a further twenty minutes through the countryside, and we arrived at Hoi An. After disembarking, we visited a silk factory, where they showed us the whole process, from growing the worms, turning them into larva, harvesting and spinning the silk and finally making up the cloth, very interesting, and it took all of ten minutes. Then the hard sell started again. A lot of the passegers, incuing us began to get irritated, as we had yet to start the walking tour of Hoi An, and we had been off the ship for over two hours out of a five hour trip.It was one and half hours back. At this point, our guide began to get the message, and we started walking.
Hoi An is old, and was a port in ancient times. The town was split between the Chinese and Japanese traders, with an old bridge over a canal marking the joint between the two. The bridge itself was four hundred years old, and fascinating. As well as being a bridge, it was also a temple. The streets are relatively narrow, and lined both sides with interesting looking shops, selling mainly clothes and shoes. However, we did not have time to stop, as we had two calls to make. The first was to a 300 years old merchants house, still inhabited by a family that had been in it for six generations. After the is, we moved on to a rather splendid temple, dedicated to the goddess of the sea. This was the end of the formal part of the tour, and when our guide sprung her last surpirise on us, by telling us that we had to be back at the coach in half an hour, and it was about a twenty to twenty five minute walk. There was, as on can imagine, quite abit of muttering about this. We made it in half an hour, having taken a detour so that we could walk along the old harbour side.
It was a very attractive and interesting place, and I doubt that even if we had had the full allotted time we could have done justice to it. As it was, our journey back to the ship went through Da Nang, and was mostly done in darkness.
Our brief impressions of Viet Nam were of a lovely country, slowly being spoilt by the demands of foreign currency generation. We saw signs that serious development is beginning to take place, so that the country can compete for the world vacation traffic. It was hot, humid, and quite clean. Traffic competed for road space, be it a bus, truck or two wheeled. The use of the horn was imperative. We saw very few cars or taxis.
We enjoyed what we saw, but wished there had been more of it.

It has been a long time, or so it seems, since the last entry, and we have come a long way.
After crossing the Bay of Bengal, which was uneventful, taking four days, we arrived in Port Kelang. This is the main port in Malyasia, and provided access to Kuala Lumpur.
Having survived the Indian ports, this was a revelation. Clean and well organised, it was pleasure to pass through. So well organised that we actually left on our day long excursion ten minutes ahead of time! The drive in took about an hour, but the time seem to fly by. This probably was due to our guide, a Malay-Chinese lady(Christine) with very good english and a real sense of humour. She was joy to be with. On the tours, there is a laid out programme, which the guides are expected to stick to. Somehow, Christine managed to sneak in an extra in the shape a call at the Taoist-Buddist temple. This was modern, having been completed about seven years ago, though it appeared to be much older. Quite spectacular, and when we arrived there was service going on which added to the drama.
In the middle of the city is Independence Square, a large green space with sports pitches. Our call day was Sunday and on the road at the side was a gathering of well personalised cars, and further down a performance trial was going on. We walked from there to our next point of call. Kuala Lumpur is given its name from the junction of two rivers, and though now in channels, they are still there in the middle of the city. After an excellent lunch, we moved on to the Central Market. Very interesting and fascinating, though we did not buy anything( neither of us are small enough!! for the normal range of clothes on offer)
Our last visit was the Kings Palace, he was at home, but did not invite us for tea. Malaysia is made up of 13 states, of which nine have Sultans. One of these is elected king by the other eight.
He holds the post for five years, and then must stand down. He cannot be elected twice.
From Malaysia, we sailed to Singapore, arriving at midday on 16th. Our arrival was greeted by heavy rain, and that was how it stayed until late afternoon, which rather put a damper on things. We took the cable car over to Sentosa, and island just offshore, but the rain rather spoilt it, so we returned to the ship. We the took the underground into the city centre, and made our way to Raffles Hotel. After exploring the building, we found ourselves in the famous Long Bar. Here we both had the world renowned Singapore Sling. For messy eaters, this place is a must. Peanuts still in the shells are provided, and the shells are discarded onto the floor!
Back to the ship again to shower, and we made our way to China Town, and had supper at a table in the middle of a street, buying our food from a couple of street vendors, and our drink from another. It had stopped raining. Afterwards, we strolled round the remainder of the area, and Sue actually bought something, a rather nice, loose, blue skirt.
Day2 in Sigapore dawned dry, and as we were to discover, very hot. Having had breakfast, we set off for the city, and to Little India, having strolled through its quaint and narrow streets, we walked on to the Arab quarter, This turned out to be very pleasant and attractive part of town. A bit more walking found us at an underground station, and the train took the strain to the main shopping street, Orchard Road. Sue was very happy, as one of the first signs she saw was Marks and Spencers. We had to make a visit, but for the lady readers, this is not a low cost place to shop. Everything was more expensive than Marks in the UK, with some things twice the price. But Orchard Road is not just shopping Malls with air conditioning, it is an experience in itself, and place one can buy just about anything. By now, we were both very hot, sweaty, and a bit frazzled. It was about 3.30pm. We made a decision to return to the ship, shower, change and plan our evening.
Before going on, a bit about the Singapore underground or MRT. All the trains are air condioned, so nice and cool. There are no platforms open to the trains as they are in London. On going to the platform are, one is faced by a long glass wall. The train, which is driverless, comes in, and automatically aligns itself with the doors in the wall, and then both the train and platform doors open together. When they close, they do so with a brief warning, and quickly. There is no opening and closing because someone is trying to hold a door open. They shut hard. On the original two lines, even the staions are air conditioned. The ticketing system is also very different. When you buy a ticket, you pay a refundable deposit. At the end of the journey, you take the ticket to a ticket machine, and get the deposit back. The system is spotlessly clean, and very busy.
Back to our day. After leaving the ship again around 5.30pm, we took the MRT back to the city centre, and had a drink on the 70th floor of the Stamford Hotel, with views overlooking the city.
Another short stroll took us to the Singapore River, and we had singaporean dinner at a table beside the river, watching the small tripper boats leisurely moving up and down. It was quite romantic.
At 11.40pm local time we set sail for our next port of call. This is a change from advertised, and is Chan May, the port for Da Nang. We should have gone into Ho Chi Min City(Saigon) but they are building a new bridge across the river, and we are too big to get underneath the scaffolding.
Both KL and Singapore were great stops. Hot, humid, clean and very interesting.
We would go back to both again, with the emphasis being on Malaysia.

Now we are at sea again, having left India behind us. Three ports of call in three days meant things stood a chance of going a little astray, but more of that later.
First came Mumbai, where we had elected to do the city tour. We were fortunanate in our guide, a lady by the name of Venita, older and had a sense of humour (sometimes a bit black). Overall, our impression was of a rather dirty city, even by Indian standards, but still exciting. It was Sunday, so the shops were closed, and the streets relatively empty. This meant we could get around more easily. The Taj Hotel was a stop en route. It is functionning, but all the ground floor of the old building was still boarded up. At the other extreme was the 'hanging gardens'. This is a lovely open space, so called because it is built as the roof of the main town reservoir. The reservoir was built first in the 1800s, but unfortunately next door to the Zoarastrian Parsee funeral site. Their rites are such that the dead receive a funeral service with the last rites, then the bodies are placed on the 'Tower of Silence' to be disposed of by the carnivorous birds. Unfortunately the birds contaminated the water supplies, the city complained, and the Parsees built a cover rather than move their tower. No 'elf an safety in those days!!
We enjoyed our visit, made the more so by Venita.
The next day found us in Goa. Unfortunately, but to our advantage, the cruise ship terminal is being rebuilt, so we had to moor in the commercial port. The advantage was that we had to see quite a lot of Goa to get to where we were going. Apart from the countryside and villages we passed through, the main points of call were three churches, in the old capital ofGoa. One was built by the Italians in the early 1600s, modelled on St Peters in Rome, and is now deconsecrated. The next was the Basillica,The working cathedral, and contained frescos from the 1500s. Adam and Eve featured, but their faces were indian rather than european. The last was also a working church, dedicated to 'Bom Jesus' but very different to the other two. After another drive through the countryside, we reached the modern capital of Goa called Panjin, very much a mixture of ancient and modern. On the way there we stopped at an India government craft facility. Sue very nearly bought an outfit, but failed as the top was not really made for the 'european shaped' lady. Unfortunately they did not have her size in a colour that fitted. It was a pity, as it looked really nice on her. Compared to Mubai, this was avery clean part of the country.
Last stop was Cochin. We were really looking forward to this one as people had told us how lovely it was. However the best laid plans etc.! For a start, the ship was late on the pilot station by 45 minutes. This may not seem much, but with tight schedules it mattered. Next it took longer to moor than had been allowed. Finally, the local Indian authorities decided to be difficult. The end result was that we were one and half hours late in starting our tour. It should have finished with a harbour tour, with us being on board by 7pm. We did not start the harbour bit until 7.10pm, and finally got back to the ship at 8.15pm. We had 20 minutes harbour tour in the dark, with the local biting things having a field day on our bodies. This was certainly not Olsens finest hour.
So now we are heading for Port Klang in Malaysia, for a day out in Kuala Lumpor. This morning is hot and sunny, but with a lot of wind. About 28 knots at 9am local. The day has got of to a good start, as first time Ian has won the daily golf competition (the prize is an Olsen keyring!). Tomorrow, no doubt he will get a low or nil score, as usual. We nearly won the morning quiz as well, getting 19 out of 20 questions right. we actually got them all right, but before the marking started Ina changed one of the answers, as he was unhappy with the one put down. The old one was the correct one, so we came second and no prize. Still, there is always the afternoon quiz to play for. Another lazy day at sea.

What fun we had on Tuesday evening. An unidentified vessel was spotted approaching the Balmoral from astern by the lookouts, and on the radar. We were, at the time, in 'pirate alley' in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen. The captain took defensive measures ,and all the passengers assembled in what were designated 'safe haven' areas within the ship. Eventually, a warship of the anti pirate patrol, believed to be US, arrived, and the 'pirate' craft left. This all took place at about 8pm ship time, (5pm UK time) We were a little fortunate, in that we had not showered and changed for dinner. It was, to say the least, a little warm in the safe haven. After about half an hour from the alarm being given, the episode was over, and life carried on. The warship stayed with us through the night, and in the morning put up its helicopter to check that no other suspect craft were around. Throughout the whole episode, the captain kept the passengers informed as to what was going on.
It is understood that one British paper(The Sun) published a highly sensational version of events. It just goes to show that you cannot believe all that appears in some papers!
After an uneventful day at sea, we arrived in Salalah in south Oman to refuel, and do excursions. This port is primarily for container transhipment from the large ocean going carriers to smaller boats to serve the Gulf and some of East Africa. The town itself is 22 kilometers from the port, and really does not have that much to commend it. From chats afterwards, we were on the most exciting excursion, and ours included viewing ancient camel footprints solidified in limestone! We also saw the Sultans Palace(he was not at home!), a mosque, the souk where one could buy frankinsense, more frankinsense, and even get a haircut whilst buying frankinsense!! Possibly the most interesting visit was to the museum, whilst the liquid refreshment of fresh coconut juice was most welcome. Our guide was a local one, with a sense of humour. He was telling us about the area and some of its customs. Apparently, arranged marriages are very much the thing, with the bride being decided on by the potential groom's mother and sisters. Also that six children was the norm from such arrangements. He pointed out that under the rules of Islam, a man can have up to four wives. His view was that such an individual needed to be both healthy and wealthy! One interestin fact about the area was that for three months in the summer it rains and is pleasantly cool at around 26 degrees. As a result, many people from the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia come on holiday then. So much so, that the locals set up tents in the desert, and rent out their houses to visitors! We left Salalah at about 1.30pm local(9.30amUK).
Today the sea is calm, and the air temperature at noon was 76 degrees and likely to get hotter. Tonight is another dressing up night, into dinner jackets for gentlemen and posh frocks for ladies.
Our next port of call is Mumbai, and we are due there on Sunday.

The weather has now calmed down, and the heat has arrived. It is now noon local time, or 9am UK, and the outside temperature is 31 degrees. The sea is calm, with a gentle breeze of around 10 to 12 mph. It was a bit overcast earlier, but the sun is now breaking through.
We have another day of this before our next, brief stop,at Salalah in Oman.
Though it has been days at sea, life has not been slow. Ian's golf has been starting the day at 0945, even Sue has a go occasionaly. After that is the morning quiz, or may be go to listen to lecture. Cup of tea is then called for, before stroll round the decks and lunch. To day we have another time change at 2pm, when we will be four hours ahead of UK time. This shortens the afternoon, so today we are going to try to learn the Salsa, instead of Ballroom dancing. Another quiz at 4.15, and then it is time to start to think about getting ready to do our mile round the deck. We are getting quite good now. It is taking us 16 minutes or there abouts. When we started, it took 20. Having got that out of the way, we can sit on our balcony, glass in hand and watch the sunset. Our cabin is on the starboard side of the ship. ( it faces south when we are heading east).
Dinner at 8.30, then the cabaret, then maybe some bopping, and time for bed. Sooo exhausting.

It seems along time since the last posting, and a lot has happened. On Tuesday we stopped in Alexandria. it was sunny, not that warm, and windy. Sue did the city tour, and Ian went to El Alamein. Aparently there was not that much to see in the city, though Sue found the city libaray to be particularly impressive. In ancient history, Alexandria had a famous library but it burnt down centuries ago. The modern one is a fine replacement. The trip to El Alamein was interesting. The coast road runs about half a mile to a mile from the sea shore. The whole way from Alex to El Al was lined by holiday property developments, all120 kilometres! Not just single properties, but also large multi ocupancy blocks, though none were more than 3 stories high. Our guide kept telling us that these were owned by wealthy Egyptians. There have to be an awful lot of them! As might be realised, this rather diminished the effect of the museum etc at El Alamein. Still, it was very well done and impressive. The British war cemetery is on the land side of the road, which runs along a ridge, and overlooks the battlefield.
After Alex came Port Said. The only thing really to be said about it is that it was cleaner than Alex. We did not do anything much, apart from stroll round the town in the morning(everything closed until midday) and then walk along the beach promenade in the afternoon. At least it was cleaner than the beach! The weather was kind, the wind had dropped, and the temperature reached 17 degrees.
We left at 0100 in the morning to transit the Suez Canal. One side, the west, is quite built up, whilst the other is desert. Ships go through in convoy, there being two southbound and two northbound convoys each 24 hours. This is because the dug parts are only wide enough for one vessel. The convoys pass in the Bitter Lakes in the middle. Our ship was initially in the middle, but for some reason we were allowed to move to the front when we reached the lakes. Looking back, one saw quite an impressive sight. After leaving the canal, at about 7pm, we turned left up the Gulf of Akaba to Akaba itself. This is to be found at the head of the gulf, and is in Jordan.Next to it is Eilat, which is in Israel, and then Tarba in Egypt. On the south side about half an hour away is Saudi Arabia.
Our trip here was an overnight one to Wadi Rum and Petra. ONce on the coach, in lovely sunshine, we met our gude for the twodays, Basil. One of the first things he told us was that the south part of Jordan can experience alll four weather seasons in one day. Another was that he could prove we were all cousins, and that is wahat he called us for the rest of the trip. Quite endearing in a funny way.
It was about an hour to Wadi Rum, and the first thing we noticed on getting out of the coach was that it was very cold with a biting wind. On leaving the caoch, we transferred into what was loosely called a Jeep. The collection we travelled in would not have looked out of place in a UK scrap yard, but they did have four wheel drive to go into the Desert. This is Lawrence of Arabia country, and the weather was still fighting the battle,or so it seemed. It is also important in the ancient history of the area, and a race called the Abateans, who were around about two thousand years ago. They were mainly traders, and it was they who built Petra. Still, back to the wadi. We are sure it would have been realklly impressive on a nice day, but when one is coping with blasting rain, a bitterly cold wind and a sand storm, one is not really able to do aplace justice. Before we left the ship, they had said it might be cold, so we had taken fleeces. In hindsight, we would have been better off if we had taken our clothes brought for Alaska!!
FRom Wadi Rum, we moved on by coach to Petra. Now, that was an interesting journey. The wind was rocking the coach, and thrain trying to strip the paint of. It gave up and handed over to snow (or rather a blizzard). The traffic police closed the motorway to all but a few vehicles, either coaches, or 4x4s.We got through to Petra, but the descent into the town, which is confusingly called Wadi Musa, brought its own excitement. It is a pretty steep drop, and we found ourselves in the middle of a snowball fight. Reaching the hotel, The Movenpick, was like reaching a sanctuary.
We had a early start next morning to walk the few steps to the gates to Petra. It was dry, but very cold with a biting wind. The gates are only the beginning, as it is about 2 kilometres from there to what one recognises as Petra.It is all downhill, and the first 600 mtres are in the open, before one gets to the defile. Apparently this is part of the geographical fault line that includes the Great Rift Valley in Africa. Our guide, the excellent Basil, kept us well up to speed with all sorts of things that we would have passed unnoticing, if he had not been there.
Once through the defile, the first thing one sees is the famous Treasury building that everyone associates with Petra. but that is only the start. If one had the time and inclination, one probably needs two days to explore properly, rather that our five hours. What one can say is that it is an experience not to be missed. One thing to be said, is of the amazing colours in the sandstone, particularly after the sun broke through. The walk back is a good cardiovascular test, as it is all uphill. One could have hired a pony cart to traverse the defile, or a horse to do the bit from there back to the gates. But not us. We felt fit, young and sorry for them if they had to carry us.
To day is Sunday, St David's Day. It is windy, about 30 knots of wind, warm at 23 degrees, and a moderate sea, as we head down the Red Sea for Salalah in Oman. We have to round Aden, and avoid the pirates from Somalia to get there. We are due there on Thursday morning.