Unfortunately someone forgot to tell the 2 judges the criteria. The boats were launched one at a time in the pool and it was OK if you held on to it to keep it upright. There was no testing in rough seas. Oh well. We had a blast and got alot of compliments on our boat but didn't win. I wish I could have gotten a picture of them all in the pool at the same time. Most boats spent just a few seconds in the water. I had my camera ready in video mode to record the sea trials. Our boat floated great and was really stable. I would have loved to see it put through some paces.
We all got a bag and a bottle of champagne. I asked the cruise director what happened to the requirement that the boats float. He denied all responsibility for the criteria not being followed and said that was why we all got prizes.
We are being judged on:
Seaworthiness - Does it float in calm and rough seas?
Appearance - Including originality of design, special features,(such as propulsion, fancy amenities, construction team uniforms, etc) and decorative elements.
Cargo Capacity - Loaded up with 6 full 12 ounce cans and tested in calm and rough seas.
Wish us luck!
We could see Sri Lanka. There were many small boats out, likely fishing.
I got to see some dolphins jumping fairly far off the side of the ship. Then surprise! There was another group jumping right next to the ship. Spectacular!
We boarded some older non-air conditioned buses which dropped us in the bazar. Cows (pic. 2) were browsing through the streets. The bazar wasn't quite what I expected as it was more a general downtown area with stores (pic. 3). I set off to explore. The best stores were the fabric and saree stores. Some were friendly, some were not. This pic. was one of the friendliest (pic. 4). These ladies asked me to take their picture on my way out. They also had a good time playing with the calculator that I have hanging from my purse for currency conversion. I wish I could have bought something there but so far all I had found was incredibly beautiful fabric and sarees which I doubted I could ever successfully wrap.
As I strolled along one taxi cab driver was particularly persistent. Every time I walked out of a store, there he was motioning me to come get in the cab. It was making me a little nervous. I kept running into Princess passengers and after a little chat with a couple who had been here before I decided to hire a tuk-tuk to see the sights. I interviewed a couple, picked one with good English who seemed to understand what I wanted for a fixed price and off I went.
1st up the jail. It had radiating bicycle spoke wheel buildings (pic. 2) with very small ventilation windows. Most of the cells on the cell block (pic. 3) had just a small door (pic. 4).
Port Blair was an interesting stop and I had a ball there. It was definitely a set of strong contrasts. The streets were filthy and the women were dressed spectacularly. The fabric shops were amazing. The others, not so amazing. The museums were super cheap, $1-$2 to get in and would have been cheaper if I had gotten Rupees. I'm sure they have tourists coming through but they really aren't set up for it. Some of the shop keepers were friendly, smiling and helpful. Some rolled their eyes. No maps were available to indicated where the sights were. As a result a tuk-tuk must be hired to get to them. I suspect they weren't all that far from each other as I crossed the bazar 3 or 4 times in my tuk-tuk. The end result was a very authentic feeling experience. I loved it!
At dinner I heard that dolphins and whales were spotted. I saw some flying fish but that was it.
The patter announced a boat building contest. Teams were formed and a deadline set. I'll include a pic of our team's boat when we get it done. Should be interesting...
Pic. 1 is the port. Pic. 2 is of the Costa Classica which pulled into port sometime during the day. It was a much bigger ship than ours. Pic. 3 is of some picturesque boats during sail away. Pic. 4 is of the sunset during sail away. The little islands had a light house on them.
Pic. 1 is a gondola ride that was right above the ship. Pic. 2 is of the skyline as we sailed out.
Our captain left the ship in Singapore. I did not catch the introduction of the new captain but did catch his announcement regarding an increased security presence on deck due to the possibility of pirates. However he assured us that our open deck areas were secure. It appears that we have the sound blasters (pic. 3).
Today was the closing for Malaysia shore excursions, I canceled mine and will just do something around the ship. I also canceled the one for Port Blair. Tomorrow is Singapore. Singapore is supposed to be not too bad for pollution which will help with my lungs. I had not planned an excursion there since I have spent about 3-4 weeks in Singapore previously and seen all the tourist sights. I'll just go off the ship and see what strikes my interest.
I had a ship's tour scheduled so boarded my bus to head to Bangkok, a 2 hr drive. As we approached Bangkok you could see the black air surrounding the city. The air wasn't smoggy looking or brown it was actually black looking. As we drove into it you could see the air between where you were and very nearby buildings. I had never seen pollution so bad.
Thankfully I had my dust mask in my bag so put it on for the rest of the shore excursion.
Unfortunately no amount of dazzling gold monuments will make it worth my while to immerse myself in such pollution, hence the title of the post.
Our first stop was the Grand Palace. Lots of ornate buildings with incredible detail.
Next up was a wonderful Thai lunch followed by an entertaining dance show (pic. 2).
We were then taken to a rip-off shopping joint where someone followed you through from room to room. Earlier our tour guide had warned us off the street vendors telling us to buy things on the boat cruise which was clearly their stuff and they had also told us not to buy on the street because we would have a better experience at a market later. This was their version of a market, a very over priced controlled rip off handicraft market.
Back at the ship with 15 min. before all-aboard we found a much better shopping market but the ships staff were running through shouting a count down till all aboard and threatening to skip a port if we didn't get on board right now (We have 2 days at sea before Singapore so they looked kind of silly threatening to skip a port 3 days away).
I'll be happy to get to some ports with better air quality. I don't know how the residents of Bangkok put up with the air quality. It must take a terrible toll on their health.
