Sand & hills abound

Thursday 11th
A joy to wake up (early I must add) to smooth waters and the sun shining through the haze of humidity and sand dust. After a few hours the city of Dubai appeared and grew larger as we manoeuvred into the port and the impressive Cruise Ship Terminal.  Many officials in traditional dress were getting their photos taken with the ship as a backdrop. 

On the way into port the Captain informed us that we were going to be arriving even later than anticipated as they had had a problem with one of the engines overheating.  Some readers may be aware that the ship had major propulsion problems last year that resulted in cruises being shortened, altered and eventually cancelled.  Hopefully the current issue is unrelated.  The good news is that we are still cruising at just under 20 kts.

Eventually we were among the first to get off and we took a taxi to the Mall of the Emirates, which is about half an hour from the port. We had been to the Dubai Mall last time we were here and we wanted to see something different.  It is hard to compare, as Dubai Mall was large & opulent, with floors devoted to specific categories, whereas Emirates is a bit more of a Westfield - only much bigger and more variety.  The highlight was the indoor ski village, with chairlifts, ski slopes, Swiss village & even penguins!  Considering that it was mid 40s outside, the thermometer inside the ski enclosure was -2.  We had an iced coffee looking over the snow enclosure.  A very enjoyable visit. Note, no shopping apart from coffee & 1 muffin, which came to just under $US20.

Got a taxi from the mall straight away, which was surprising as last time we had to wait about 30 minutes. A very pleasant driver, but unfortunately he got lost within the port area, which was quite funny. I still gave him a tip as he was a trier.   It was as we were "exploring" the port that I worked out that we were at an entirely part of the terminal from when we visited in 2013.  The terminal area we are now in is huge and has free WiFi.  

Onboard we grabbed a sandwich and a cool drink and rested before heading out again for our Night Safari.  After a couple of false starts, due mainly to the Shore Excursions lack of communication, we boarded our 4WD.  Each vehicle carried 6 passengers - 1 in the front, 3 in the middle back seat and we 2 in the back back seats with our knees up to our necks.  Actually it wasn't that uncomfortable as we had a lot of side room. 

It was about an hour drive to the conservation area and on our way we saw a lot of the outskirts of Dubai, from apartments to large homes on gated & ungated communities to the new '"up and downs".  Our driver was from Pakistan and he was keen to get ahead of as many of the other drivers as possible (we started off at #21).  There were some 35 vehicles from the ship and we subsequently found out that about the same number of vehicles not with other tourists. It is as 3 lane highway all the way and I estimate that we were doing well over 100 kph when this noise flew past in the slow lane at about twice our speed!  It looked like a Lamborghini, but I'm not sure.  Hey, even the police we saw were in a Mercedes (where are the Commodores). 

One thing that took our fancy quite a long way out was the Camel Racing.  This is huge business and the stables, tracks etc went on and on for miles. Apparently the camels are not ridden by jockeys, but by robots!  As we entered the reserve,  stopped to allow all the tyres to be partially deflated for the sand dunes. The drivers certainly enjoy the thrills and so did we.  Efficient as ever, we stopped at an appropriate spot to catch the sunset.  As one can imagine, a bit of a logistical nightmare with some 60+ pretty much identical Toyotas and, um, identical drivers?!  Once again, amazingly it was the drivers who recognised their passengers.

More dune riding (actually that is not quite correct,  as we kept to a defined track) and we arrived at the the Centre, where there were stalls and refreshments before the main dinner.  There were free Camel rides, but we'd done that, so went and found a table.  In typical style, tables were 2 feet off the carpet and we sat on cushions, which was fine until you tried to stand up😁.  So yes, they had huge red carpets spread out on the sand for both the seating area and the entertainment.  A 3 course meal was served and this was really delicious ( no sheep's eyes etc.) To finish up there was a most proficient Belly Dancer.

The sky was clear and a gentle breeze kept the temperature down to 33.  We had been told by our Port Lecturer that we should take a jacket as it would be cold.  Ha ha.   By now it was about 9.30 and all the drivers were ken to get going as we have to go back to get there tyres reinflated and there are only a dozen or so units.  About half way back to the ship we came across the tail of the usual traffic jam - we are talking 10.15pm. It seems that everyone comes out at night!  By the time we reboarded it was almost 11.00 and we were pretty tired, but got a cup of green tea and were out like a light.

Friday 12th
Despite the big day yesterday, we still woke early.  Forgot to mention that yesterday we achieved Elite status with Princess, so fluffy towels, upgraded bathroom supplies and a whole free mini bar, which we converted to 2 coffee cards - much better value.  Anyway we had decided to have a quiet day as many stores and stalls are closed in the morning for Friday prayers & we sail just after noon. So we went down to the terminal for free WiFi. And so did 3 or 4 hundred other people.  It may be free but the demand overwhelmed the system so my plan to upload photos  was thwarted. 

Vivian had bridge again and we have invited Christine & Mark2 to view our view before dinner.  At dinner Margie gave us all a copy of her book "Sketchbook Arabia", which is beautifully illustrated.  An amazingly talented woman indeed.  I think I previously mentioned that she and Ash lived in Dubai for 20 years before returning to NZ. Ash said that he hardly recognised the place now.

Happily we went to the show, which featured an English  comedian, Ivor Richards who was excellent. We have a new Cruise Director on board, Peter Tredgett, a cockney. Dan, the former CD has stepped into the Deputy role as Victoria has gone home to Canada after 7 months onboard.  Dan is becoming CD on our favourite ship, the Ocean when we get to Southampton.  However much to do and see before then.  Had no trouble sleeping ,(never do) as we sailed back on smooth seas towards Oman.

Saturday 13th
Lovely sight coming into port.  This part of Oman is very rocky and dramatic hills surrounding the port. The old forts are clearly visible and looked magnificent with the morning sun.  Docked around 8.00 and we were fortunate to catch an early shuttle to " town".  This is yet another working port where you are not allowed to walk on the wharf.  We got on the shuttle, drove 200 metres to the terminal building, got out, went into building, scanned, went out and got back on the shuttle!!  Anyway town is only a 5 minute drive away and when we arrived we were surrounded by numerous taxi drivers and eventually got one to take us to the Grand Mosque. 

It certainly is grand, and set in huge gardens on a 10ha site.  We felt that it was more visibly attractive than the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.  Our visit concluded with a visit to the Women's Islamic Information Centre, where we were served cold water, coffee & dates.  All very civilised and pleasant & informative on the Sultan's view on women and education - he is strongly in favour.   Unfortunately we (sort of) fell for the taxi scam.  He told us that the Fort was just 10 minutes away over the hill, but after half an hour, well past the airport and probably half way to either Yemen or UAE, he said that it was another 20 minutes away.  At this stage we said that we wanted to go back to the ship.  This was fine, but he had great difficulty in getting off and then into the motorway to return.

Having said that, it was extremely interesting, seeing all the development going on.  The roads are excellent and well maintained. What surprised us was the greenery, particularly all the way out to the airport. After that, it was pretty scrubby as I suspect that not too many Westerners get out there.  We got back to the Souk (markets) before 12.  Had a mango smoothie, which was delicious.  This was the same place we had iced coffee last time we were here, & the same man!  The iced coffee had consisted of Turkish/Omani coffee black, hot and strong, with a bowl of ice!  No such problems this time though.

The Souk was very hot and busy and we thought was not as appealing as last time.  Many many of the stalls had identical stock, which was not evident as couple of years ago.  So we were once again lucky that the shuttle turned up almost as soon as we got to the road and we were whisked back to the ship.  We thought that we'd go up to Horizon as nothing else was open on a port day. Walking down the passage we met a woman carrying some food who told us that it was bedlam up there as most of the tours had returned and there were well over 1000 looking for lunch!  We said our thanks, retreated to cabin, phoned room service and had a delicious salad & sandwich looking out over the port. 

Oman is a clean and pleasant country, we particularly liked that the buildings are generally no more than 5 or 6 stories high as theryv appreciate the natural beauty of the surrounding hills.  Of interest to some, I've just had an email from Alastair (our son) and he is about 300 km inland from the port - he reckons it is about 50 degrees there.  I think that our early 40s are just fine, with a nice cooling sea breeze picking up.  We have now just set sail and have 5 days at sea before we reach Aqaba in Jordan and our planned visit to Petra.  Fingers firmly crossed for this ☺.