… to Colombo, Sri Lanka …

… the largest city in Sri Lanka, the commercial capital but not the governmental capital. Because of its strategic port location, Colombo has been settled by almost every country during its long history, including the Greeks, Persians, Romans, Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Muslims, Dutch, and then finally the British, under whom the country was known as Ceylon. The city is a mix of old and new, with many lovely old British buildings still in use. A huge variety of gems are mined in Sri Lanka, and Colombo is filled with jewelry shops.

We took a bus tour of the city, looking at city landmarks including a 100-year old clock tower, a lighthouse, Independence Square (where we stopped for photos), and a new theater (both below). While we were at Independence Square, a just-married couple arrived in their wedding attire for photographs. Frank also snapped a photo of a kerosene-seller with his cart.

 

 

Our next stop was the Colombo Museum. Housed in a British building from the colonial era, the museum had some interested exhibits, primarily statues of Buddhas, and archeological finds.

 

The most interesting things at the museum weren’t inside. In a large tree nearby, we discovered an enormous group of huge bats nesting. I was lucky to catch one in flight; they looked like pterodactyls!

 

We stopped for refreshments at the Galle Face Hotel, built in 1864 and a Colombo landmark. The hotel occupies a prime location in the heart of the city overlooking the Indian Ocean. It faces the mile-long seafront promenade originally designed as a horse racing track. The snack was tasty and our ramble through the sprawling complex reminded us of the Hotel Del Coronado (except with lots of heat and humidity).

 

Several street people approached us as we got back on the bus, including a snake charmer with his cobra and a man with a monkey on a string.

 

Our next stop was the Gangarama Buddhist Temple. This large complex houses numerous huge statues of Buddha, as well as a live baby elephant, a huge stuffed predecessor elephant, and an elaborate collection of kitsch. The monks have collected everything donated to the Temple, neatly categorizing thousands of items in cabinets and on shelves, which made my librarian heart skip a beat. There was a shelf of nothing but large silver ladles! it was fascinating!

 

The most lovely moment came when one of the monks on the spur of the moment offered to bless us, and did so using a solid gold crown. After blessing us with the crown, he tied a string around our wrists, and offered a second blessing.

 

No description of Sri Lanka would be complete without a photo of a tuk-tuk, the local cab and delivery van.

 

It was a very interesting day!

… to Mangalore, India …

… an important port city, handling about 75% of India’s coffee exports and most of India’s cashews. India exports 55% of the cashews consumed in the world. Pliny the Elder and the Greek historian Ptolemy both referred to Mangalore in their writings.

Our tour began with the Achal Industries Cashew Factory which employs more than 500 workers. Almost 95% of the employees are women, who are picked up by company buses each day; there is a daycare facility on site, so they can bring their young children along. On the way to the factory, our excellent guide pointed out the cashew trees to us, and passed around an unopened cashew nut and a cashew tree leaf. At the factory we saw tarps of just-picked cashews drying in the sun. After about a week, they are roasted in huge containers. A conveyor belt dumps them in a steaming heap on the workroom floor. Each nut is processed by a crushing machine to crack the shell, then the shell is removed by hand and the kernel carefully retrieved. The opened cashew nuts are transferred to large trays and roasted. Then they are sent to another department for the peeling of the multiple layers of skin surrounding the nut meat. Next comes the grading department where they are sorted into 27 different groups based on color, size, and texture. After grading, they move to the packaging department which bags them. It is a much more time consuming and labor-intensive process than I would have dreamed possible, and I will never eat another cashew casually without thinking of all the effort that went into producing it.

  

 

Kadri Manjunath Temple, our second stop, dates back to approximately 1068. Lord Shiva is the main Hindu deity honored here. The temple grounds are picturesque and contain many major Hindu statues and sculptures, including a bronze seated statue which is said to be one of the finest in India. Located in a large and sprawling complex which includes a monastery, the architecture was fascinating. One special feature was a sacred pool. One dip in this pool is equivalent to saying a blessing 10,000 times. A fair number of people were dipping and we decided to check it out. The steps were a slick as ice with algae, etc.! One of the monks gave us sandalwood paste, and a scoop of holy water.

   

 

On the bus to the next stop, the guide told us about beeti, a tiny cigarette made by housewives as a cottage industry to make extra cash. She said you can get about 1000 beetis for US$5. They may be smaller but they’re just as addictive. Indians also use tobacco in combination with other things. They take a pan leaf, put betel nut and tobacco inside, and chew it. It’s also addictive.

Our third stop was St. Aloysius Church, located in the heart of the city. The church, which also houses a large school and college, was built in 1899-1900. What makes it a must-see location are a series of paintings by the Italian artist Anthony Moscheni that cover most of the interior of the church and depict the life of Aloysius Gonzaga. No photos of the paintings were allowed.

 

The last stop was the Gokarnanath Temple, a modern temple also dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple was built by a Hindu businessman for the non-Brahmins of Mangalore, who were not allowed to enter the Brahmin Temples. As in all Hindu temples, we had to remove our shoes and proceed with bare feet or with socks. The white marble floors were burning hot, leading one person on the tour to dub it the “Temple of the Burning Feet.” The white and gold color scheme and the many fanciful animals scattered throughout gave it a bit of a Disneyland flair.

 

 

It was a long, hot sweaty day; Alaska keeps looking better!

… to Phuket …

… Thailand’s biggest, most populated and most visited island. And here we had the biggest surprise of the trip to date: in a perfectly timed introduction, a guy came up behind Frank as we walked off the dock and asked him if we needed a taxi. When Frank turned around, he was shocked to see Frank III! It was a surprise a few months in the making. Frank III flew to Hong Kong a little over a week ago, just missing our Hong Kong port call. He’s staying with a friend and our schedule didn’t work with hers. Undaunted, he came up with a plan to fly to Phuket from Hong Kong, and surprise his dad there. And it all worked out amazingly well.

We had an 8 hour Phuket excursion booked, and barely that long in port. In advance, I arranged for Frank III to accompany us for the day, a second surprise for Frank. We had a wonderful day, and it was so great to see Frank in the flesh. 

Our first stop was Wat Tham Suwan Kuha, a Buddhist cave-temple about 200 years old. The cave sits in a wooded area, which is overrun by monkeys. The monkeys are fed by the monks and visitors to the temple, and are quite tame. The cave was also home to a large bat colony, which didn’t disturb the many seated, standing and reclining statues of Buddha.

 

 

The second leg of our trip was a riverboat ride to James Bond Island (Khao Ping Gun), the island where The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed in 1974 (with Roger Moore as Bond). The island is set in magnificent Phang Nga Bay, which is ringed with vividly colored limestone cliffs, and jutting karst formations reminiscent of those in Guilin, China. What a sight!

 

 

Our next stop was Koh Panyi floating fishing village, where 400 houses are built on stilts and are connected with wooden walkways. We took a brisk walk through the village because when we left James Bond Island, the motor on the boat stalled and a replacement battery had to be delivered by another boat after various other remedies had failed. This put us a little behind schedule. Fortunately the guide led the way through the confusing, twisting maze of walkways, lined with vendors selling food, souvenirs, and handicrafts. We briefly visited a school in the village, then reboarded the boat to head for lunch.

 

Lunch was served at the Phang Nga Bay Resort, overlooking the nearby mangrove forest and the surrounding hills, including one which I thought bore a remarkable resemblance to a gorilla. After lunch, we headed back to the port, passing many interesting temples on the way. It was a wonderful day, and we loved the chance to hang out with Frank III in Phuket! Thank you Frank, for making Phuket such a memorable port!

 

… to Singapore …

… the smallest country in Southeast Asia, with the highest standard of living.  Singapore’s island has grown from 600 square kilometers to 730 square kilometers through land reclaimed from the sea. Reclamation  ceased when Indonesia complained that Singapore was getting too close, and Singapore is now growing up rather than out. About 83% of Singaporeans live in public housing – some striking high-rises. Almost 90% of these folks own their own homes. 20% of each paycheck is withheld in special bank accounts, and employers contribute 15% more. One account is for retirement at age 60, the second for medical expenses. The third can be used for mortgage down payments and monthly payments. A diverse city with a Chinese majority, minorities include Indians and Malays. Religions are equally diverse - Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist, Confucian, etc. 

Nearly half the residents use public transportation to control traffic pollution. To buy a car, you first purchase a certificate at an auction which authorizes you to use a vehicle for 10 years. Certificates are rationed, so if there are many applicants, the cost is high, usually $50,000 to $100,000. That’s just for the certificate; the cost of the car may bring the total to $150,000 or more. Singapore is very safe and immaculately clean. Restaurants are open 24 hours a day, and the city prides itself on catering to any kind of cuisine a diner could want. Order is maintained through a strict system of punishment; caning is prescribed for many fairly minor infractions. The caners are taught how to apply the cane and the cane is treated with acid before the caning takes place. As the cane contacts the skin, the caner pulls back on the cane, causing it to remove strips of flesh.

We had two excursions our first day in Singapore. In the morning we visited the Peranakan Cultural Museum, which has exhibits of the Peranakan lifestyle. Most interesting were the jewelry and elaborate beaded articles used. A bus ride took us past the largest fountain in the world, located in the financial district. Water is thought to be a very lucky substance, hence the fountain’s location.

   

Our next stop was the Singapore Flyer, a ferris wheel similar to, but larger than, the London Eye. The view was spectacular! We returned to the ship, which relocated from one dock to another in the afternoon, for a rest before our next tour.

   

Our evening trip began with a lovely ride on a riverboat. The city’s skyline is magnificently lit at night. We glided past Chinatown with its bobbing red lanterns, under old bridges, and past skyscrapers with laser lights, including the Sands Bay Casino. We also saw the city’s symbol, the Merlion, half lion, half fish. Below, the Merlion and the Sands Casino, so spectacular at night.

 

We disembarked and took a walk along the riverfront, past the Art Museum, lovely hotels, restaurants, and bridges, then clambered into a trishaw, a bicycle-propelled sidecar. Our driver, Mr. Boo, was 67 years old and a bit of a character. He was probably hoping for a pair of light-weight tourists …  The ride ended at Bugis Market, famous for employing Singapore’s young college grads who can’t find jobs. They have created a new, hip fashion industry, and sell trendy clothes that are eagerly sought. The Market also sells food, souvenirs, clothing, sunglasses, and just about anything else, reminiscent of Q-Mart.

  

We ventured out the next day with our friends Lee and Troy to find an electronics megastore. It was a long way and turned out to be just another mall – Singapore has an unbelievable number of shopping malls. We went to the 2 year old Sands Casino. Our taxi driver, Stanley (yes, really), recommended lunch at the rooftop restaurant, Ku De Ta; we walked around the observation deck, and took photos of the infinity swimming pool on the roof. Amazing! Back at earth level, we admired the super modern lobby; the casino cost $6 billion two years ago, and the investment has already been recouped. We wanted to try the Singapore Sling at its source, the grand old Raffles Hotel. We sat in the Long Bar, soaking up the ambiance. A very sweet drink, designed in 1915 especially for women, it was great!

   

Next we rode the cable car across the harbor to Sentosa Island, a large amusement park under construction. The cable car gave us a great view of one of our fellow passengers floating in the mid-ship pool!

   

We returned on the monorail, which let us off in the middle of the Vivo Shopping Mall adjoining the cruise terminal. Much to our surprise, a local bank was in the middle of a huge ad campaign featuring a new credit card called “Frank.” Of course, this was an open invitation for photos with the original! After more walking and shopping, we stopped for a rejuvenating foot soak and reflexology treatment.

      

A wonderful two days. leaving us all wanting more!