Up at 5:00 am today, making sure we get off to the airport in plenty of time.  Brad & Courtney are both busy today, so we’re using Uber for transport.  I-30 is closed in Arlington today for construction, so I’m anticipating lots of extra traffic on Hwy. 183 to DFW Airport.  There is also a Veterans Day Parade in downtown Fort Worth, so there may be some added traffic congestion going through town.  Judy reserved an Uber last night for a 7:30am pick-up.  At 7:10, she gets a text saying the Uber has been cancelled because her credit card needs to be updated.  Naturally there are issues trying to get it updated in the app on her phone, so I had to schedule the ride on my phone (thinking we’ll have a few minutes).  A note pops up that he’ll be arriving in three minutes.  Our relaxed final 15 minutes of prep turned into a hurried rush to the lobby for our ride.  He spots me, we load up, and we’re off to the airport.  Hope we grabbed everything.

Sure enough, on 121-North, there are two police cars blocking all the lanes driving very slowly? Not sure what that’s all about. We didn’t see any construction or anything else that would create a problem, but it got really slow for several miles?  Arrived at DFW before 8:00am, checked in, and worked our way through security (no lines). Once inside, we found a “Love Shack” eatery (Tim Love) and had a really good breakfast taco.  We’re ready for our flight.

While we sit, I started working on this blog entry, and Judy went for a walk.  When she gets back, she’s talking about our delay of almost an hour that just posted.  Ugh! We have a long layover in Atlanta before our Rome flight, so it shouldn’t be a problem unless we have more delays.

Oh yeah, I just got an article from someone on the “Cruise Critic” website talking about flooding in Petra.  No one was injured, but lots of tourists were scrambling for higher ground.  There’s a long narrow canyon everyone walks through to get to the historic site.  Apparently it turned into a river for a while.  We don’t get to Petra until Saturday, Nov. 17, so maybe it’ll be cleaned up and ready for tourists again.  Petra was one of the main reasons I scheduled this cruise.

Made it to Atlanta with time to spare (about 3 hrs.).  Had lunch/dinner at a Fridays, and now we’re waiting to board our Rome flight.  Our seats on the flight to Atlanta were comfortable.  Here’s hoping the Rome seats are as good or better.  It’s a 9 ½ hours flight, arriving in Rome at 9:40am.

It’s sad as we leave the ship today.  It’s been comfortable, and you know what you’re getting with a cruise.  There are no guarantees with our tours beginning today thru India.  Interesting times ahead.

Off the boat at our assigned 7:30am time, but no guide was waiting.  We’re off really early.  I probably should’ve tried to send a message and let them know how early we were scheduled. We patiently wait while the ship empties out.  Lots of people like us waiting on independent tour operators.  Thankfully we found a place to sit while we wait and the sun is hidden behind clouds.  It’s actually a comfortable temperature with a cool breeze.  Yesterday’s rain chilled things off.

Our guide, Faheem (Pakistan), and driver, Salvin (India), show up at 9:00, talking about the awful rains in Dubai (his home base) this morning.  Since they get rain only twice a year, the city hasn’t spent much on infrastructure to drain, so the streets quickly flooded (kinda like west Texas towns).  But after talking to him more, we realized his goal for arrival was 9:00am, so he’s right on time.

Abu Dhabi in the 60’s.

First stop is the Corniche (beach front) in Abu Dhabi.  We walk around the area, admiring the cleanliness and the views of the downtown skyline.  There is polished marble everywhere.  Then we make a long walk to the Heritage Village, a museum displaying the traditional desert living.  As we walk we learn more about Abu Dhabi and its ruling family, as well as all of the other UAE states (Dubai, etc.)

After the museum, we drive to the Emirates Palace Hotel.  It’s the same place we ate Saturday night after the mosque.  We got more of a tour today.  Faheem worked here in Hospitality for eight months, before becoming a guide.  We were especially curious to try the 23k gold leaf (real gold they say) topping for ice cream and gold flakes for cappuccino.  It’s fun!  While we sit in the “coffee shop”, we do a lot people-watching, checking out all the Emeratis dressed in their traditional attire.

Lamborghini and a Rolls in the background as we walk into the hotel

Yum!

After the hotel, we cruised down the main road for a daytime look at the Grand Mosque.  No need to go inside, since we had a good visit Saturday night.  Next stop was the Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi.  They are associated with the Louvre in Paris, and the city is also building a Guggenheim “franchise.”  Unfortunately, they’re not open on Mondays.

Grand Mosque in the daylight

Abu Dhabi Louvre

Our last stop is “Ferrari World” on Yas Island.  It’s a huge indoor amusement park, connected to an even bigger mall, next door to the Yas Island Formula One Race Track.  We ate Indian food in the mall fast food court for a late lunch before entering the park.

The park has the world’s fastest rollercoaster.  They’re not kidding, 230 kilometers per hour in 5 seconds at the start.  Without goggles, it would peel your eyelids back. There are a few more rollercoasters and some 3-D rides, all well done.  Mostly, the park is a big commercial for Ferrari and Italy.  Around every corner are cars on display, and a couple of the rides simulated driving a Ferrari.  Also, for 800 dirham ($270 USD), I could drive a Ferrari around the racetrack for a half hour.  Not today. I’m saving my money for more of that 23k gold topping.  The entire park is built indoors.  It’s quite impressive (and comfortably cool).  No sweating it out in hot lines here.

After Ferrari World, we begin the drive to our Dubai hotel, Atana.  The highway is 14 lanes, so traffic isn’t a problem.  We arrive at our hotel around 7:30pm.  We’re surrounded by lots of tall buildings.  I’m anxious to see tomorrow, if Dubai can match the opulence we experienced in Abu Dhabi.

We really hate to leave this hotel.  Food and snacks are only a few doors away, and the location of the hotel couldn’t be better.  I hadn’t realized it before, but we’re only a four blocks from the American Embassy. Now that I know where it is, I could spot it from the windows in the Club Lounge.

View of the hotel as we came in last night.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that Judy lost her only functional pair of reading glasses as we transferred from a dock into a long-tail boat.  We didn’t see them fall.  As we pulled away from the dock, Judy was checking her purse, and realized they were missing.  The boat driver said something fell out of her purse.  Darn!  Guess we should be glad it wasn’t her phone!

Back at the hotel, later I went on a search for an optical shop to purchase another pair.  I also have her first pair, which lost a screw and had a loose earpiece.  I found a spot in a nearby mall, handed them the old pair and asked them to fix them (language issues).  They said they would try but couldn’t guarantee it.  They also checked the strength and showed me where the reading glasses section was.  Since we’ve been looking for weeks (as far back as Abu Dhabi) for a 2^ndpair, I went ahead a purchased a pair.  The workers told me to come back in 30 minutes to check if the original pair were fixed.  I also wanted to make sure the glasses were the correct prescription for Judy, and if the frames were fashionable.  Everything passed and I went back to the shop, where they had the original glasses repaired.  We’re back in top shape on reading glasses!

Caught a taxi in the lobby at 8:30 to head to BKK Airport.  The taxi prices are a set price from downtown to the airport, so no fears of any possible scamming by the driver.  We checked in easily enough with Bangkok Air.  We knew our luggage was going to exceed the maximums for these domestic flights in Thailand.  Fortunately, there is a set rate of 90 baht per kilogram for anything over 20kg. We’re at 27kg for each of our two checked bags, and are charged 1260 baht or the equivalent of $38.50.  I was afraid it might be the standard $150 per overweight bag.  What a relief.

Catching up on writing in the Bangkok Air lounge.

Bangkok Air has a convenient lounge for all their passengers with drinks, snacks, and wifi.  What else could anyone want?  (washrooms are just down the hall).  The flight departs on time at 12:05pm, is comfortable with lots of room, and takes slightly over 80 minutes.  The taxi from the airport to the hotel is also a fixed price, so no haggling necessary.  We’re checked into the Chiang Mai Shangri-La and in our room by 2:00pm.

After unpacking, we head out to explore the local neighborhood.  We found a local laundry a few blocks, so as we leave the hotel, we’re packing two bags of laundry, trying to look nonchalant.  Found the laundry, he weighed our two bags, and our charge was 148 baht, about $4.50.  A single piece of laundry would have cost that much in the hotel.

  DD Laundry, near hotel

After the laundry, since we’re saving so much money, I decided we deserved a foot massage, and found a local massage across the street from the hotel.  It was great!

Scrubbing on my feet before the massage

Time for dinner, and we walked down the street to a local restaurant.  I had asked the concierge about local Thai food, and it was his recommendation.  The food was good!

  Inside the restaurant.

   Steamed rice

   Cashew Chicken

We stopped at a 7-11 on our way back to the hotel, purchasing some soft drinks and ice cream (necessities).  Back in the room we get ready for our early (6:00am) departure for our temples tour of Chiang Mai.

Sleep for me was intermittent during the night on the plane.  I couldn’t seem to put more than 30-45 minutes together at any given time, and that only happened a couple of times.  Judy seemed to sleep better.

We arrived at the Rome airport around 9:00 am.  Immigration and Customs were quick.  Luggage was on the carousel when we arrived at Baggage Claim, and we found a Celebrity Cruise person checking on everyone.  We received instructions on where to go next.  We should have listened more attentively.  We ended up walking an extra half-mile searching for our Celebrity bus contact.  We had walked right by them just before we exited the terminal.  They were stuffed in a corner of crowded meeting area.  We dropped off our bags and waited for bus to arrive.

We boarded the shuttle bus around 10:30, and began the drive to the port of Civitavecchia, arriving around 11:50.  Check-in was quick and we were onboard quickly, searching for a place to settle until the staterooms opened up.  The rooms opened around 1:30, and we found our cabin, up on Deck 11, near the back of the ship.  It’s a great place to be.  We’re one deck above the Oceanview Café, where the ship’s buffet is located. We’re close to the elevators, which take us down to “Blu”, on Deck 5, the restaurant for Aqua Class cabins. It’s just what we need, close proximity to lots of food with minimum exercise.

After trying to settle in a little (our luggage hasn’t been delivered to our room yet), we attended the required Emergency Procedures exercise.  It’s 20 minutes of standing quietly while various staff in the room or over the PA exchange turns giving us instructions if there was ever a problem. After the meeting, we attended an informal sail-away “Cruise Critic” gathering where we exchanged greetings with several of the people we’ve been corresponding with.  Several of our early excursions were organized by Cruise Critic contacts.  We met our tour organizer, giving them the cash for our portion of the upcoming tours, and getting instructions for when and where we meet tomorrow afternoon for our tour of Siracusa, Sicily.

After instructions, we head to “Blu” for dinner.  It’s a great meal, but by now, we’re so tired (29 hours since we waked up in Fort Worth yesterday), we mostly just want to sleep.  After dinner, we head to the room to unpack (luggage has been delivered).  We finally find a place for everything, and zonk out.  I think I was snoring before my head even hit the pillow.  Poor Judy!

Moon over the ocean

Breakfast in our hotel was good.  There were lots of choices on the buffet, both Western, and Arabic.  I’ve never seen so much lamb turned into breakfast foods. Pork bacon or sausage, are not to be found.

View from our hotel room.

Our guide, Mohammad (Egyptian), picked us up about 9:20am.  We joined a single woman from Karachi, Pakistan (spoke decent English), and a family of three (4-year old boy) from Italy.  Our guide gave all the information for the tour in English, and then repeated it in Italian.  As the tour progressed, the Italian family spoke enough English to converse about the fact they were from Sicily, Taormina, specifically.  Our guide told us he sometimes has as many as three languages for tours off a cruise ship, English, Italian, and Spanish.  And of course, he speaks Arabic.

Our first point of interest is “The Palm of Jumeirah Beach”.  It’s the famous man-made islands built in the shape of a palm tree.  A large Atlantis hotel (same company as Bahamas Atlantis), is at the very tip of the islands.  A monorail runs the length of the trunk from the mainland out to the hotel.  There’s a really nice boardwalk (18km) along the rock breakwater protecting the entire complex.  Thousands of trucks were required to haul all the rocks in from Oman.  This was a HUGE project.  Lots of building still going on, hotels, residences, etc.

Atlantis, and they’re building and even bigger one next door

Next stop was a viewing of the Burj Al Arab hotel, the iconic “Sail”.  You can’t get on site without a booking or restaurant reservation. Our hotel concierge worked to get us a reservation in the restaurant at the top of the hotel, but the starting price for a fixed meal was nearly $300 USD per person.  I guess pictures from afar will have to do.  The only rooms in the hotel are large suites encompassing two floors.  It’s very exclusive.

Burj Al Arab

We had time to visit a shopping area nearby.  It’s part of a complex of three hotels connected to each other by canals, referred to by the locals as Dubai Venice.

Next stop was the Marina District.  It’s a man-made waterway with some very exclusive hotels.  We walked around the boardwalk, admiring the boats, and amazing spiral tower.

The Dubai Mall and the Burj Al Khalifa is our next stop.  The mall is advertised as the world’s largest with more than 2500 name brand stores.  It contains a lake with fountains that “dance” similar to the Bellagio in Las Vegas. There is a light show that displays on the Burj Al Khalifa – the world’s tallest building.  There’s also a huge (5 stories) indoor waterfall at one end of the mall. The mall is huge.  We walked our legs off.  As we entered today, we saw some of the huge aquarium that’s also part of the property

The Waterfall

Burj Khalifa, 828 meters

It seems so much better when we stand in front of it.

 From the 125th floor observatory

 Lake where the fountains dance

Our tour ended around 2:00 after our trip to the top (125^th floor) of the Burj Khalifa.  We decided to stay at the mall and eat, walk around, while we wait for the fountains and light show that began at 6:00. We ended up in the Five Guys restaurant enjoying a vanilla shake, with a view of the fountains and light show.

The water show seemed average to us, nothing special.  We finally decided to head home, and as we were leaving, a light show began, displayed on the Burj Khalifa.  It was something!  With only 10 minutes left when it ended before the next fountain show, we decided to wait.  The 2^ndfountain show was much better.  Different music and fountain actions made a difference.  After the show, we walked to a taxi stop, bound for home.

Light Show!

Day 1 in Dubai has been one amazing thing after another!  What a blast, and our guide was good, getting us in and out of places quickly. We can’t wait till tomorrow.

Our 6:00am departure today comes so early.  Our guide, Fa, arrives just as we get to the lobby, so we’re on our way quickly.  We failed to pay attention to the weather (it’s been great our entire trip), and it’s raining this morning.

After a twenty-minute drive to the other side of Chiang Mai, we arrive at an intersection with a brightly lit shrine and several food carts.  There are Buddhist monks standing in groups in several places and people are placing food items in gold-colored bowls held by the monks.  They walk here every morning between 5:00am and 7:00am to receive donations and then walk back to the temple to distribute to those in need. The proper procedure is to place the offering of food items in the bowls, then kneel and receive a chanted blessing from the monks in return.  The rain makes it more interesting, combined with our repaired knees that don’t feel that great when kneeling on pavement.  We “soldiered through”, made our donation, and watched them walk back to the temple.  It was raining so hard we didn’t get many pictures.

We continued to drive up the mountain for 20 more minutes.  When we arrived at the small village that serves as the base area for Doi Suthep (the temple), Fa gets our tickets and we board a tram (funicular) to take us to the top.  What a relief!  I had read something about 300 steps to climb, but Fa decided it was too slick for us to take the stairs.  That saved us from wimping out.

This may not be my best look?

At the top, the temple area is beautiful and quiet.  We’re early, and few if any other visitors have arrived yet.  The rain is continuing.  No one may wear shoes in the temple area, so we’re walking around barefoot in the rain. Again, there’s so much beauty. The temple was originally built in 1572. There are lots of monks around doing their monkly duties.  In one of the smaller temples, we went in, trying to keep our heads below the level of the monk (as advised).  As we kneeled (ouch) he sprinkled water on our heads to purify us, and then chanted a prayer.  Normally, the view from the top of the mountain is gorgeous, but rain/fog is not cooperating.

 Not the best day for the panoramic view.

We rode the tram back to the bottom, and began a short drive to another temple near the city.  It’s called the Tunnel Temple.  It’s built into a hill with lots of small rooms branching off the main tunnel for some serious meditation.  Above it all is a shrine built in the Sri Lankan style (as opposed to the Lanna or Bangkok style)

Next stop is a restaurant for breakfast.  We had a chance to try Thai food cooked in the Northern style (different peppers and curries).  It’s slightly different and good.  After breakfast, we’re taken back to the hotel where we caught up on our sleep.

We finally cleaned up and headed out to make a laundry swap.  We picked up our batch from yesterday, and left some more (can’t beat the price, less than $4 for the 2^ndbatch).  We returned to the room, dropped off the laundry and headed out the local night market.  We walked about 10 minutes and began to pass shopkeepers setting up on the sidewalk. We made a few small purchases, but kept walking until we finally reached the big market area.  This market opens every evening at 6:00, closes at 11:00, and is open every day of the week.  Everything “Thai” that anyone could want can be found here.

  How about some fish to feed on the dead skin on your feet and legs?  It’s a “Fish Spa”.

We shopped for a couple of hours before eating dinner in a Thai restaurant in the market.  The food was good and cost about $5.20, including drinks.

  On the way back to the hotel, on the sidewalk.

It’s been a fun evening of hanging out around the locals, the expats, and the tourists. We made our way back to the room to prepare for our long drive tomorrow, even farther north, to Chiang Rai, near the borders with Myanmar and Laos.

Our favorite meal on our most recent cruises has been the breakfast in Blu.  We sleep well and wake up early (body clocks not adjusted yet). Breakfast was indeed great, and an added treat is the view of Mount Stromboli, a big, active, volcano, from our window seat in the restaurant.  Vacation has started!

After breakfast, I headed out to check the game area for table tennis opportunities.  There are two tables, and several good players are already going at it.  After playing a little and walking around the ship, I meet Judy in one of the lounge areas for an official “Cruise Critic Connections” party.  There are snacks, etc. and a great view of the ship’s passage through the Messina Straits.  Italy is to our east (port) and Sicily to the West (starboard).  It’s narrow passage, and there are lots of ships traveling in both directions.  This is one of the spots where the captain earns his pay.  Back in our cabin, we relax and then begin getting ready for our afternoon excursion to Siracusa.

The Straits of Messina

The group (8 of us) meet at 1:45 and we’re able to exit the ship (docked in Catania) quickly, once we were cleared.  We meet our guide/driver, and start driving to Siracusa.  It’s an hour and a half drive, and the guide begins to tell us how tight our itinerary is.  2:00pm is late to disembark a ship and begin touring.  He keeps trying to make the point that there’s little chance to do everything we were promised.  He’s in a tough spot.  He’s in a car with the actual guests.  Whoever defined the itinerary and confirmed prices, etc. is back in the office trying to dodge the blame for promising, but most likely not delivering.

Sure enough, in Siracusa, we had three main destinations, the Roman Ruins Archealogical site, the Duomo (cathedral), and the Church of Santa Lucia (Caravaggio painting).  Due to our late start on the day, and new winter schedules, the Ruins, are closing as we drive up (3:30pm?).  We head on into town where we get the chance to walk around some interesting narrow medieval streets, enroute to the Duomo, and the Caravaggio painting.  Of course, Church of Santa Lucia (painting) is closed on Mondays, and the Duomo is almost ready to close.  We walk through the Duomo, with it’s interesting mix of Roman and Greek architechture.  After the Duomo, our tour options are limited, so we opt to sit in a café along the waterfront, enjoying a light dinner, and the beautiful evening.  It’s warm, we’re off the ship, no wind, and the setting sun makes a beautiful picture.

These are the relics (bones) of Santa Lucia

We make the drive back to Catania.  On our way back, Michelle, our tour organizer, convinced the tour company to refund some of our money, so we got 30 euros refunded.  Back at the ship around 7:30, we freshen up in our cabin and head to dinner.  The traveling and jet lag are beginning to have an effect.  Sleep couldn’t come soon enough.

We have our guide from yesterday, Mohammad, back again today.  Rezya, the Pakistani woman is also with us.  We’re picked up first, then go by to get Rezya at her son’s apartment.  She has a son working in Dubai.

Burj Khalifa in the background

December 2, Sunday, is the National Day of the UAE.  The country is 47 years old, gaining their independence from England in 1969, and signing the unification agreement between the seven different emirates in 1971. As a part of the agreement, the Sheik of Abu Dhabi is the president of the country, and the Sheik of Dubai is the Vice-President and Prime Minister.  The face of Sheik Zayed, the founder of the UAE is everywhere.  This year is also the celebration of 100 years since the birth of Sheik Zayed.  His grandson is the Crown Prince, and the de-facto ruler.  Everyone here seems very proud and satisfied with the rulers and government.  UAE has a population of 9.4 million, with the majority of living in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. 85% of the population are expats/foreign workers.

Sheik Zayed Celebration poster.

Old photo of Dubai from the 50’s

As we drove Monday evening from Abu Dhabi, we passed the de-salination plants along the coast, pulling water out of the Arabian Sea.  Outside of a few small wells, this country and these cities would be nothing.  All their water comes from these plants.  When you look at pictures of Dubai from the 60’s and early 70’s, how did they get to this?  Unbelievable!!!

First mosque built in Dubai

Our first stop is the original mosque built in Dubai.  It’s small, compared to what we’ve seen lately, but important in the history of Dubai. Our second stop is the 225-year old Fort of Al Fahidi.  It houses the Dubai Museum.  Inside the small fort are several homes and rooms built in the traditional style, demonstrating how desert families lived.  Then we’re led down a ramp and there is a huge museum area underneath this small complex. It contains many life-size dioramas of life in the desert and how they survived and thrived.

Replica of boats used by pearl divers, the first main industry/business of Dubai, long before oil.

The rectangular structure on the roof of the small building is a “wind wall”.  Inside is a triangular wall.  When the wind blows across it, the cool air is forced into the building and the hotter (lighter) air is forced out.  “Desert Air-Conditioner”.

After the museum, we make a short walk to the Dubai Creek, the original inland waterway into Dubai. We pass through a souk (market) area. I’ve been through lots of markets during our travels, but these guys were really “good”.  As I tried to turn down one sale, another guy wrapped a turban around my head and had me in his shop in front of a mirror, all while I was saying “No, No, No”.  His price dropped from 10 dirham, to 1 dirham as I walked away.  ($1.00 = 3.66 dirham)  I almost turned around.

We walked to a small dock area with small boats, called “opera”.  We climbed aboard one and it took us across Dubai Creek to the older traditional areas and lots of souks to explore.

Our first stop was the Spice Souk.  Rows and rows of shops selling spices and incense.  There are lots of strong smells, very different from what we’re used to.  The next stop was the Gold Souk, with rows of shops selling gold, silver, diamonds, and other precious stones.  Mohammad tells us most of these shops are legit.  Of course, if needed, I could buy a Rolex or Omega watch cheap down one of the alleys, according to all the guys approaching us.

 Window shopping in the Gold Souk

After the souks, we opted to be dropped off at the Mall of the Emirates.  It’s much smaller, with only 500 stores.  Attached to the mall is Ski Dubai.  Yep!  It’s a huge indoor (obviously) complex with ski hills complete with chairlifts. There are some small ice chutes for toboggans.  This is crazy!  If you can imagine it, around here, they’ll build it.  Another ski area opened in May in another area of Dubai.  There are also plans to build another skyscraper that is 1000 meters tall.  Apparently, somewhere else in the world, a building is about to open that’s slightly taller than the Burj Khalifa.  The emiratis are not about to let themselves be topped.

Ski Dubai

Ski Dubai from the outside

Back at the hotel later, we relax, and then taxi over to the JW Marriott Harbour Hotel in the Marina area for dinner.  I wanted to try and get some pictures of the “Palm of Jumeirah” island complex from the highest point.  Dinner tonight is on the 52^ndfloor in the Observatory Bar & Grill. We have a great view as the sun disappears.  While we’re watching boats and jet skis scurrying around below us, some skydivers drift in, landing on a small runway area nearby.

Google version of the Palm Jumeriah

Actual view of Palm Jumeriah.  The Atlantis Hotel is way out at the end.  To it’s right is the new Atlantis they’re building.

The “Big Eye” of Dubai (ferris wheel) in the setting sun.  It’s still under construction.

The Marina area from our dinner perch on the 52nd floor.

I wasn’t sure when I began planning the Thai segment of our trip if we wanted to even travel to Chiang Rai. It seemed that half of the tours/attractions listed for Chiang Mai involved travel to Chiang Rai for different activities.  Many of them involved visiting temples, others focused on travel to the Golden Triangle (border area of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.  Several of the trips included visiting the local hill tribes. I settled on the temples, figuring the added travel time north to the borders wasn’t worth it, and the hill tribe visit would be “staged” for tourists.

Window decorations at breakfast.

Our guide, Puma, (she’s also the driver) met us at 7:00am and we started north.  She did the best job of establishing the tour specifics of any of our guides the last 5 weeks.  It only took her a couple of minutes to tell us exactly where we were headed, what we would see, and how long each segment would take.  It seems simple, but too many times, we would have appreciated more information, and less guesswork.

Chiang Mai has a population of 1.6 million, and Chiang Rai has 1.3 million.  Out of town just a few miles, the road began to climb into the hills and mountains, and became two lanes, with an occasional passing lane added on short uphill segments.  A long segment of the winding mountain roads was undergoing heavy improvement to straighten it out, requiring lots of dirt movement and bridges.  If you could imagine a two-lane road between DFW & Austin, and the traffic struggles that would involve.  Lots of trucks and tour buses made it even more grinding.

 Construction issues Rice paddies The better section of the road

The halfway stop (90 minutes) was a hot springs area with a market and washrooms.  I was able to dangle my feet for a few minutes in one section.  The locals were boiling eggs in some of the other pools.  In the flatland areas we passed they were growing rice, corn, and many other crops.  40 years ago, Northern Thailand was the center of the poppy/opium market.  The King of Thailand, Rama the 9^th, banned poppies as a crop, and began training the local farmers how to grow coffee. It’s now the biggest crop in Northern Thailand.

 Hot Springs Boiling some eggs.Boiling some legs!

When we reached Chiang Rai shortly after 10am, our first stop was the “White Temple”.  Twenty-two years ago a wealthy businessman began the process of renovating a small ancient temple into a tourist attraction.  He wanted to bring tourism and jobs to the area. The sculptures and designs around the temple try to reflect on the horrors of hell, and people trying to get to heaven.  Inside the temple were painted contemporary pictures of world events while it was being built, including a mural depicting the 9/11 twin towers destruction.  There were two huge eyes painted on the walls, one with the reflection of George W Bush, and the other containing Bin Laden. This isn’t your average Buddhist temple. Since the project began, it has expanded and building is still continuing as the property grows.

 It looks like it snowed Arms reaching up from Hell!

 These are not your usual tree decorations!

Our next stop was the “Blue Temple”.  It was designed and built by one of the team members who helped with the White Temple. It’s not as large as the White Temple……yet…… but it’s expanding as well.

 Working on part of the Blue Temple expansion

 Picture taken thru a globe near the entrance of the Blue Temple.

 They know how to carry out a theme.

 No shoes allowed.

 Even the gong is blue.

To fill out the rainbow, our next visit was the Chinese “Red Temple”.  The color motif red wasn’t obvious.  It seemed to be more a nickname as a nod to “Red China”.  A huge Buddha sat high on hill overlooking the area, and a beautiful temple as well on the property.  These temples have been a wholly different experience from the temples we visited in Bangkok.  They’re much more tourist centric.  Of course with every temple, shoes are left at the door, and women’s pants must come below the knees.  Shoulders cannot be bare.

We ate lunch in a large river resort hotel.  There was a huge buffet with all types of foods, including western.  It was empty as we arrived, but tour group after tour group kept walking in, and it was full before we left.  There was a singer with a beautiful voice, but lacking a sense of pitch.  Ouch.  She had to be related to the owner.

We left Chiang Rai around 1:30 for the drive back to Chiang Mai.  An hour out of town, we exited the main road for a short jaunt to the “Grand Palace”.  It’s another attempt to turn an old temple into a new and shiny place for travelers to stop between the two cities.  It had it’s own modern updates.  One of the sculptures displayed a figure wearing Converse high top shoes.  Another had a cell phone stuffed into his pants. This temple was geared for a younger, hip crowd.  There were bells everywhere, and everyone seemed to be ringing them.  It had something to do with respecting Buddha.

 Check out the cellphone in the waistband of the closest sculpted figure.

Every “hip” temple figure needs a pair of Converse Hi-Tops.

We arrived back at our hotel at 5:30, after a very slow trip through the mountains.  We made it back in time to pick up the laundry we left yesterday, saving us a trip tomorrow morning to get it.

Friday evening rush hour.

After freshening up, we went back out for another visit to the night market.  It’s been fun renewing my bargaining skills.  We made a longer tour tonight.  The street on both sides is full of booths, two and three deep. There are some open pavilions with rows and rows of stuff to buy, and places to eat.  In the morning, the pavilions become “fresh markets” with vegetables and fruits and locals purchasing groceries.

Chiang Mai has been everything I hoped it would be.  It’s calmer than Bangkok, and much different than the southern beach areas of Phuket and Koh Samui we’ve visited previously.  Which do we like the best?  None are better than the other, just different in their own way, and unique destinations.

Early breakfast in Blu! Relaxing atmosphere with great food! We moved into a different time zone overnight, so the clock moved up another hour.  We were 7 hours ahead of Central time.  Now we’re 8 hours ahead.  There will be several more time zone changes during  the cruise, and more still when we head to India and Thailand.

I headed up to the table tennis area to meet someone I played yesterday.  He didn’t make it as scheduled (time change got him).  I killed time wandering around the ship, and went back to the table tennis area for a little tournament.  There were 16 players, from several nationalities.  I got beat in the 2^ndround by the eventual winner.  He was Chinese, but living in Canada.  Games were played to 11 points, but winner must win by two.  I lost 17 to 15.  Thought I had him a couple of times, but couldn’t finish it.

I purposely scheduled our “Inside Access Tour” later in the cruise for a sea day in the middle of several others, figuring we’d need a break today.  For whatever reason, the ship decided the later days wouldn’t work, and moved up the tour to today.  We were badly in need of a rest day to recover from all the travel and yesterday’s excursion, but didn’t want to miss this tour.

A security guard traveled with us the entire tour.  After a security check (wands, etc.) our first stop was the Bridge and Navigation area. A Bridge officer met us and discussed the operation of the bridge and how it was manned, training, etc.

Engineering was next, where all the operations, engines, water production/treatment, electricity, etc. are monitored and controlled.  Very interesting!  So many details to be taken care of.  Lots of monitor screens to keep track of.  An annoying buzzer kept sounding every 3 to 4 minutes.  The engineer would reach over and turn it off.  When someone asked, he said it was there to make sure he wasn’t dozing off.  If it wasn’t turned off, the bridge knew he was not on task.  His shift was four hours on and eight hours off, for the entire cruise.

Lots of monitors in E

Next stop was the environmental area.  Translation – trash!  We observed how they crushed, baled, burned, and recycled everything possible (water included).

Bottles waiting for crushing

Bottles after crushing (this is the “green group”

Loading bottles into the bottle crusher

Fluorescent bulb recycling (worried about mercury)

Cans crushed and bales

Plastic bottles crushed and baled

The laundry was next with all the washing, folding, and pressing for thousands of sheets, towels, table clothes, napkins, etc.

Pressing machine for cloth napkins all the way up to sheets

Towel folding machine

And the finished towels

We walked down “I-95”, the main walkway in the interior of the ship for crew to move about, out of sight of the guests.  We saw the crew mess (cafeteria), and finished our tour in the galley (kitchen).  So many food prep areas and staff organizing and setting up various food items.  It was almost 4:30pm, so the cooking hadn’t cranked up yet.  We really enjoyed the chance to check out so many of the ship’s operations.

After the tour, we relaxed a little, had dinner, and relaxed around the ship before turning in for the night.