We were up at 5:30 am, checking out the Suez Canal.  As we sail south, our cabin is on the starboard (west, right) side of the ship. There’s lots of development, as well as agriculture visible from our balcony.  It’s a hazy day, and there’s still a strong smoky smell.  I still can’t believe we’re sailing through Egypt!

We have breakfast in Blu. It’s on the port (east, left) side of the ship.  This side of the canal is mostly desert.  A few settlements are visible, but nothing like what we’ve seen to the west.  There are several small ferry docks, and two major bridges we saw as we sailed through.  One of the bridges was stationary, the other was on a center pedestal, and swung out into the canal, meeting the other half, swinging from the west, and meeting in the middle.  There were also lots of barges staged on the western banks that looked like they could quickly become temporary bridges in case the main bridges were knocked out.

Bridge swivels from the center

Barges staged on the shore ready to be pushed into the water, connected, and used as bridges.

Judy and I spent most of the day sitting in the front of the ship in the Reflections Lounge.  It’s an area fronted with windows with great views of the canal as we move through.  There are big comfortable chairs and tables.  We planted ourselves early, avoiding starvation with the occasional snack or sandwich.

 Looking out toward the Sinai Desert Looking back at a large container ship following us.

I started catching up on blog entries.  I haven’t really had time, or felt like writing much before now.  It doesn’t take long for me to get behind and forget what we’ve done, so it’s work to keep up.  Judy spends her time reading some of her digital library or listening to podcasts. She’s been storing up lots of materials, just for days like today.

 The Southern exit of the Suez CanalOff on the horizon, ships lined up to enter the canal.

We sail out of the canal around 2:40pm.  It’s interesting to see the long line of ships queued up to enter from the south. There were several huge container ships following us through.  They can really stack those containers.

Exiting the canal

I attended a lecture session presented by the magician from last night.  He had some easy tricks he could teach everyone to take home and impress their grandchildren, etc.  Naturally, he finished up with a slightly tougher card trick, and the opportunity to really learn it from his two-CD video presentation, available in the lobby for $35.  A guy’s gotta make a buck.

The rest of our day is uneventful as we relax and prepare for a big day tomorrow in Petra and Wadi Rum.

Had an easy departure from Delhi this morning.  At the airport, security guards were checking tickets & passports at the outside doors before we could even enter the terminal building.  Once inside we found the Jet Airways domestic check-in.  It was a long line and took about 20 minutes before we reached a desk.  At the desk, they informed us of a chance for a cheap upgrade to Business Class, so we jumped on it.  It was great, with decent food, lots of room, etc.  It’ll be make it hard to go to the back of the plane on our later flights.

Our tour contact and driver are waiting and we are quickly delivered to the Radisson Hotel. Enroute, it’s obvious this is a more rural & agricultural area, at least on the drive into town.  The hotel, is nice, and we had two hours before we were picked up for our evening activity.  While we’re killing time in the coffee shop, I decided to walk next door to a silk weaving factory, recommended by our guide Delhi (he grew up in Varanasi).  Inside, there were the anticipated sales rooms, and a large room with some very old hand-operated looms for weaving the silk brocade patterns.  One of the looms was a two-man job, but they all looked very complex and time-consuming.

I was by myself, so I had time to watch them work and admire the patterns they were weaving. Eventually a salesman found me and walked me into a sales area where he explained some about their products.  The family had been in the business for 7 generations, and the work is beautiful, but it’s expensive.  I had to leave to catch our guide for our evening tour, but planned to visit again when we returned to the hotel.

We were picked up at 4:30, beginning the trip to Evening Aarti.  We had no idea what we were going to watch.  Our driver worked his way through some crazy traffic, dodging cattle, people, bikes, motorbikes, cars, and buses, as we drove toward the Ganges River. We had to get out and walk the last kilometer because of the huge crowds.  We finally came in full view of the river and all the activity.  It’s impossible to describe the sounds, and scenes on the bank as everyone prepared for the evening prayers.

Varanasi is the place where Hindu believers want to die and be cremated.  Our first activity at the river was to board a small boat which took us up the river to a Ghat (riverbank area) where bodies are being cremated. Cremations are taking place 24/7. As the boat moves closer, our guide describes the activities taking place…..washing the body before cremation, building the pyre and the burning, throwing the remaining bones into the river after the cremation, and so many other significant traditions for the mourning families.  It’s a dramatic sight as the sun sets.

Our next stop was to float off the bank in sight of the evening prayers, delivered by sets of priests in several different sections of the riverbank.  This was all taking place simultaneously, and each group had amplification and big crowds were ringing bells, and taking part.  The colors, the sounds, the smells, and the energy from the whole thing was amazing.

Our guide helped us leave a little before the ceremony ended to beat the crowds.  But the crowds departing were still crazy as we walked out, dodging all the oncoming motorbikes, rickshaws, and tuk-tuks, all going every direction.  Crazy!!!!

Back in the car, our driver worked his way back to the hotel.  It took about 30 minutes.  We went next door, to the silk-weaving factory to check out the products, eventually buying a few beautiful items.  Back in the room, we prep for our early trip out in the morning.  We’re scheduled to be picked up at 5:30 to travel back to the Ganges to observe the Hindu pilgrims bathing in the river.

As we went to breakfast, only a few clouds hung in the sky.  The sun was bright and if I wandered into a sunny area, it was hot. We enjoyed another long breakfast with Dom, Shannon, and Lara, and then headed out to our designated assembly spot. It’s shady most of the day, we’re at a pools edge, (there are five pools on the property), and only steps away from the ocean.  Access to food is too close, actually, requiring thought and restraint from overeating.

 Set-up for a long day Cooling off. The BISS Trio.Working with Dom on sponge balls technique.

Plans were made for massages at 3:00.  As if we knew what would happen, light rain began to fall at 3:00.  After massages, it was time for freshening and prep for dinner.

Dom contacted me and said he was set-up for VR play (virtual reality) in their bungalow.  This was my first experience, and hopefully not my last. It was a blast with the 3-D imagery and total immersion in the digital environment with the goggles and headphones. Dom had set-up devices that look like motion sensors (that’s one of their jobs) on tripods around the room that help define the area of play and movement that takes place within.  He gave me a taste of several different types of games, including shooting games, as well as puzzle games.  As I gained familiarity with the controllers, I improved.

Dinner was great as we experimented with different Thai dishes.  We’ve been here long enough that the restaurant staff is familiar with all of us and they’re having fun with our accents, as are we with theirs.  This has been a nice 3 full days of relaxation. Shannon, Dom, and Lara, are all coming directly from jobs, and the relaxation is total.  Judy and I haven’t exactly been working, although several of our tours have felt like work with the combined educational and physical elements. This Khao Lak segment has been reminiscent of our Phuket visit in February of 2014.

I’ve been looking forward to our Petra visit as much an anything we’re visiting this entire trip. We scheduled a private tour to ensure we’d get everywhere we wanted in the short time we have.  It took a few minutes for our driver to show up, and I was beginning to get anxious.  Never fear! We were quickly rolling out of the port for our day of adventure.  Our driver, Ramd, is Bedouin, born in Petra, but living in Aqaba.  He has six kids, with the oldest 20 years old.  Ramd said he himself had 7 brothers and 4 sisters.

Departing Aqaba.  Across the water is Aiyalat, Israel.

Roadside camels

Looking across Jordan

The drive is two and ½ hours.  The first section is a major freeway that climbs up from the port.  It’s very reminiscent of Tijeras Canyon coming out of Albq., only a lot longer.  It’s the main road to Amman.  We hit a more gradually climbing section, with occasional small villages on the roadside, as well as several small groups of wandering camels.  We finally turned off the main road and began a serious drive up a two-lane road to Petra.  Near the top of the drive, we took a rest stop at a gift shop, bartering with sales staff, etc.

“Modern” Jordan

We arrived at the Petra Visitors Center around 10:30am, where our driver bought our tickets.  He then walked us to the Petra Guides office, where we were introduced to our English-speaking guide.   He’s responsible for a two-hour walking tour downhill into Petra.  It’s somewhat over a mile going in, then, obviously, an uphill climb coming out. Our walk in was leisurely, with numerous stops to discuss the history of the development of the area, first by the Nabbateans, and later the Romans.  The first segment was a gravel, rock-filled road.  The entrance to the Sig, the narrow canyon that hid the site for thousands of year was dramatic.  The road through the Siq was mostly limestone pavers, brought in by the Romans.  It wasn’t too hard to negotiate, but Judy and I both are nervous about sprained ankles, etc.

For us, one of the most interesting notes of the ancient city was the handling of the clay pipes on one side of the path for the water for humans, and open irrigation canals carved into the walls on the other side for animals and more basic needs.

Water Channels carved into the side walls.

When we finally arrived at “The Treasury”, the iconic façade of Petra, it was especially dramatic, bathed in sunlight as we came out of the shade.  We wandered around the area with lots of other tourists and hawkers selling camel rides, etc.  Then we continued to walk down to the main city section and “The Theater”.

First view of “The Treasury”

“The Theater”

The exit from Ancient Petra

After admiring the carvings and buildings, we began the long ascent out of Petra.  It took us about 50 minutes to make the walk, with a few short breaks.  It’s beautiful going in, and equally beautiful coming out.  Back at the top, we met our driver, who took us to eat at a Jordanian buffet, with a nice variety of foods common to the area. After a relaxed lunch, we began the drive to Wadi Rum, a national reserve area a few kilometers off the road back to Aqaba.

About 70 kilometers out of Aqaba, we turned off the main road, headed to Wadi Rum.  I didn’t know much about the area except that it was where much of Lawrence of Arabia was filmed.  We also were told that more recently “The Martian” was filmed in the area.

Train used in “Lawrence of Arabia”

Words or photos can’t describe the beauty or vastness of the area.  It’s gorgeous, and empty.  There were so many wide-open areas with huge mountains of rock jutting out of the ground. No words……….?

We had a driver hired for two hours to take us out into the area to discover some of the more picturesque views.  We effectively had only a little over an hour before darkness, but we made the most of it. There weren’t really any roads. Our driver just took off across the desert headed to our next destination.  I regret that we didn’t have more time to spend here.  We were told the area is home to the world championships of rock climbing.  Not hard to believe.

At dusk, we left Wadi Rum, heading back to Aqaba port.  As we neared the city, I asked a question about the nearness of Saudi Arabia, I should have looked closer at a map.  Israel is 3 kilometers away.  What I thought was more of Aqaba across the harbor was really the Israeli City of Aiyalat. Further south on the east the coast became Saudi Arabia, and about 20 kilometers south, the coast on the west turned into Egypt.  There are a lot of borders around here.  Aqaba is Jordan’s only port.

We made it back to the ship around 7:00pm. We were both dead!  I was so tired, I couldn’t get the energy to go eat. I went down for some ice cream for both of us, bringing it back to the room.  I tried to stay awake for a little longer (not sure why), but gave up fighting it around 8:30, and the snoring began.  We were barely out of the harbor before I was out of it.

This is the earliest departure on our schedule for our India segment.  We meet the driver & guide at 5:30am.  We drive, then walk back to the Ganges for morning prayers and the bathing ritual of the Hindu pilgrims.  The closer we get, the more crowded it becomes.

 Pilgrims praying in the nearby shrinesMorning prayers

Our guide tells us the priests get water out of the river at 4:00 and take it back to their temples/shrines where they wash and clean the building.  Then around 5:00am, morning prayers begin while the Hindu faithful begin to bathe in the river.  There are priests available to receive gifts and pray for people.  We saw a few instances of women mourners who were having their heads shaved for a loved ones memory.

Early morning bathersPriest praying for a pilgrim

We board a boat again and paddle along the riverbank, observing the different “ghats” or defined riverbank areas where different sects or groups regularly bathe.  All I can think about is the sanitation issues related to bathing in water where ashes and bones are dumped, as well as all the other things effecting the water purity.  After the baths, believers take water back to their homes (in every possible container) to add to their shower/bath water at home to “wash their sins away”.

After touring downriver, we turned around and went back upriver to the site of the cremations.  There are none currently taking place since a memorial service must be held before the cremation, and few families are scheduling funerals at 2:00 or 3:00am, for a 5:00am cremation.

Morning on the Ganges

We’re let off the boat a hundred yards upriver from the cremation site, and begin a walk through the old section of town.  The paths are so narrow, in places I can touch the walls on both sides at the same time. We meet motorbikes, bathers, beggars, priests, and locals as we walk.  We had an encounter with some cattle spooked by a dog.  Judy and our guide had to scramble up a small wall to avoid a minor trampling.

 Cremation site we visited last night

Pilgrim washing a shrine with water from the Ganges

Much of the area is on the verge of collapse and the government has decided to widen and improve the access to a “Golden Temple” site that has significant meaning to the pilgrims.  There are long lines of people with water, flowers, and other gifts for the priests of the temple.  Military/police security is everywhere, and I’m told not to take pictures?

These are the cattle that provided Judy’s “close encounter”

We eventually worked our way out of “old town”, found our car, and went back to the hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, we finished packing, and met our contacts at 10:30 for our 1:00pm flight to Khajuraho.  The short flight departed a few minutes early.  The airport in Khajuraho is small, and by 2:00pm we were checking into our hotel for a quick freshen up.

Our guide meets us at 2:30 and we begin the tour of the temple complexes in Khajuraho.  Population of the town is only 20,000.  It’s very small, accessible and quiet.  We start our visit at the largest complex, which is a UNESCO site.  It’s calm and peaceful, with beautiful landscaping, and some impressive temples built in the 10^thand 11^thcentury.  Our guide gives us some the basic facts on Hinduism and the significance of these temples.  To us, they resemble Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which he later mentioned were built at about the same time.

The carving on the exterior walls is very detailed and has survived the years in amazing condition. The temples are all sandstone, but built on granite.  Along with the standard elephant, camel, and soldier carvings, there are many erotic scenes portrayed.  Our guide keeps telling us the artists wanted to tell the entire story of the people of the time, including the sexuality of the times.  It’s pretty graphic.  One of the thoughts that keeps rolling through our minds is how great the architecture and design are for the temples, and how ramshackle everything is outside the walls of the complex.  Not much of what exists in the area away from these temples will be here in 800 or 900 years.

Our guide offered us several opportunities for evening activities (light show, traditional dance, etc.), but we decided to relax back at the hotel.  The early morning visit to the Ganges is beginning to wear on us.

Today is just a repeat of yesterday, without the massages.  Thought we were going to get a rain shower for a while, but it drifted away, leaving us with a light breeze.

There are things to do in Khao Lak besides being super lazy.  This area is a well-known diving area.  I’m not interested in boarding a crowded boat with a lot of people I don’t know, for what might be a hot ride across a rolling body of water.  There’s an elephant sanctuary nearby, where the tourists participate in feeding and bathing the animals.  This is different than our last visit four years ago when we watched elephants paint and kick a ball, and then rode one around a trail on a mountain.  If there were kids along, this would be a required visit, but for us, by ourselves, it doesn’t seem interesting enough to leave our loungers.

Hard at work at my Moracea job!

Lara wandered out of the resort and into town Tuesday afternoon, and reported back that it didn’t seem too interesting.  Since we spent a week in Thailand this trip, and a total of 15 days spread out over two vacations in 2014 and 2015, the town of Khao Lak holds no allure.  The night market in Chiang Mai would be a hard act to follow.

Lunch on the beach.  The sun was brighter today so I had to break out the hat!

Evening dinner provides a chance for us to experiment with some different Thai foods.  I’m beginning to enjoy the different curries, although I’m not sure I can taste the difference between the yellow, red, and green varieties.  There’s a Thai guitarist/singer tonight in the restaurant.  As we came down the stairs to eat, we could here him singing Johnny’ Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.  He had a couple more Cash favorites, as well as Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and the Eagles. He handled it all pretty well, and added to the evening experience.