Subject: Report #87 Colombo to Dubai March 27, 2016 Sunday Happy Easter Still a heat wave 9 Pictures
We got up very early this morning, like at 4am. Had to finish packing, take a shower, and try to catch up on world news on BBC. Trouble is today is Easter Sunday…..Happy Easter, by the way…….and the programming was pre-recorded.
A modern coffee and tea maker was in our room, but it needed bottled water to use in it. Yesterday we had plenty of bottles, but we drank most of them. Kept a few to take with us this morning also. So we waited until breakfast in the dining room for coffee.
As promised, the staff was there before 6am to serve us our pre-ordered meal. Coffee was ready as was the juice. They like strong, full-bodied coffee here, so we needed to use milk and some sugar. The juice was a blend of papaya and pineapple, almost like a smoothie. While we waited for the omelet, they brought us a basket of assorted pastries….all fresh-baked, still warm from the oven. A plate full of watermelon, papaya, pineapple, and bananas topped off the ample meal. We finished by 6:20am with enough time to retrieve our bags and leave the hotel. But before we left, we paid cash for our meal the night before. There were no formalities like when you stay in a regular hotel, such as registering a credit card, or even checking out online. All we had to show them was our passports, the same as we did in Galle.
Lucky was outside waiting, which was easy for him, since he lives in Colombo. They loaded up his car, and we were on our way to the nearby airport, Bandaranayike International, just north of Colombo. There was no traffic to speak of, because it was Sunday and a holiday at that.
It was busy at the airport departure entrance, however. We were met by an A&K rep, who was introduced to us by Lucky. We said our thanks and goodbyes to him, then proceeded through the security check at the door. The first thing we did was an xray check with luggage and purses on the machine. No shoes, jackets, or belts off at this check. For some reason, I (Mary Ann) was the only one frisked by a woman guard. Not a big deal. Random search, we guessed.
Next, we lined up for the Emirates check-in counter. Us and hundreds of others. Thinking we would have been early arriving three hours ahead of the flight, turned out to be wrong. Everyone was doing the same thing here. A long line was forming and weaving back and forth like Disneyland. Eventually more agents came and the line moved quicker. The check-in was easy with our printed information. The weight on the luggage was 30 kilos, and we were way under that amount.
The next step was a mandatory check-in with immigrations officials. Passports and tickets needed to be seen. Again, a short wait for this check.
The second xray screening came after immigrations. Still, only our hand carrys had to go through the screening. From here, we went up an escalator to the upper level, where a large number of duty free stores were located. Many cafes, boutique shops, and souvenir stalls were there for the looking. Last chance for a trinket from Sri Lanka. Tried finding a key ring with a leopard on it, but all we could find were everything but the big cat. A red elephant in diamonds would have to do. They are considered good luck, right?
We checked out all of the shops simply to kill time…..we had over two hours to spare. Passing some of the little cubbyhole shops, we found they were willing to bargain. Trouble is, we already have many of these knick-knacks so passed on the opportunity. We saw wooden masks, carved elephants, leather (or close to it) handbags, silk scarves (possibly), tunics, and costume jewelry. Tea in one thousand varieties could be bought in a dozen small shops. Most of it was expensive. Searching for the edible cinnamon oil was not successful. All of their oils were strictly for the skin.
There was a Burger King, where a whopper meal cost the equivalent of $12 US. Having not eaten there for a long time, we are not sure those meals are that expensive at home in the US. Between the two of us, we had 40 rupees, but would need them for bathroom stops. Even at the airport, the bathroom attendants have their hands out when handing you TP and paper toweling.
We found the gate in the terminal, and waited outside for a while. We had to go through a final xray at this point, in order to access the waiting room for the flight. Showing our passports and boarding tickets, this time we were required to remove our shoes, jackets, and belts before going through the checkpoint. Pockets had to be emptied and watches off. They are truly serious about security in this part of the world, and it is understandable. We would never question the why of the checks, at least not when you could be overheard. Remember, you are not in Kansas anymore.
The huge room at gate 7 filled up quickly, and we were glad we had searched out seats where we could watch the planes coming into the gate. We would be flying in a Boeing 777, a very nice but big plane. A strange scene occurred while we watched the cleaning team leaving the jet we were to board. Each and every person cleaning the plane had to be frisked by security guards down below on the tarmac. Not sure what they would have been looking for. We did not ask.
The flight was delayed about ½ hour, due to too many planes landing at once. Instead of boarding at 9:20am, we got on the plane by 9:50am. The fight was boarded beginning with the back of the plane, then first class, business class, and finally the middle. Of course, we were in the middle, but had good seats for economy……aisle 18 J & H. Only one nice fellow was seated at the window, and he was nice enough to help me figure out the remote for stopping and starting the movie.
Emirate flights are nice, although the seat widths are not extremely roomy, there is plenty of legroom. The best part is the TV in the seat ahead of us. Pulling out the guide book, we saw a list of new movies, which included "The Revenant". We've been wanting to see it, and here was our chance. The only thing we feared was falling asleep in the middle of it, because we had gotten up so early this morning. Let us tell you, there is no way we would ever doze through this movie. In our humble opinion, it was one of the most powerful films we have seen in many years. It was riveting, visceral, and well-acted. Although brutal in subject, it dealt with a period of early American history that was violent and dangerous. A must see.
There were only a couple of times that the Captain put on the seat belt sign, due to air turbulence. Otherwise, the four hour flight went smoothly. The movie took up over two hours of it, with a lunch break in the middle. The lunch menu included our choice of tea, coffee, soda, wine, and/or beer. The appetizer was a small salad of diced cucumbers, tomatoes, on a bed of lettuce with a minced mutton patty on the top. There was a hint of mint in the vinaigrette dressing.
The main course, was a choice of minced chicken masala or BBQ chicken. They had run out of minced chicken, and we were happy they did, as the BBQ chicken was good. Wild rice, broccoli, rolls and butter were served with it. We even had real silverware with knives. None of that plastic stuff. Pineapple upside cake with a vanilla sauce made us happy campers. An added treat was a square of semi-sweet chocolate candy. Great for airplane food.
Dubai's International Airport is huge and extravagant, like everything else here. With the time change one and ½ hours back, we landed shortly after 1pm. The way to the baggage claim area was accessed by a humungous elevator that took us down several floors. But first, we had to pass through Dubai's immigrations. Every one of the agents was dressed alike….in a white robe and headscarves, wearing white sandals. And they were not particularly friendly, but being nice is not the description of their job. Security is number one, and we realized how serious when we had to look at a mounted camera alongside their desk. It is just a guess, but we figure that these cameras verify your identity as compared to your passport photo. Simply speculating…..
Anyway, we passed inspections and helped ourselves to a piece of mint candy at the desk as we were released. Baggage pick-up was at carousel one, directly in front of us. We could see our two bags going around in circles before we got there. So we picked up a free luggage cart, and proceeded outside to the taxi line. There was no line, and there were plenty of cars and vans available.
A nice well-dressed Indian fellow pulled over his SUV, and we were off to Port Rashid, a fairly short distance from the airport. We would say about 10 miles or so. The driver talked all the way to the pier, pointing out the major sites along the way. He talked a lot about his home country of India. Sensed a bit of homesickness. So much has been built since our first trip here back in 2001, that we barely recognized the area.
Before he could drive us through the port security gate, our driver had to get a pass. At the gate, we had to show our cruise cards, proving we were passengers. We had failed to even ask what the ride would cost, and figuring that he was driving this larger vehicle, it would be more than we paid last year. He did the conversion, and came up with $30 US dollars. Yep, same as last year.
At the terminal, we had to pass through xray inspections again. That makes four times in one day, at least. One good thing, when this is done onshore, you don't need to do it on the ship too.
It was really nice being greeted by so many of the crew members as we hauled our luggage up the gangway. It was a fantastic trip, but it was sure nice to be home. When we reached our door, a cute welcome home sign with two foil-covered chocolate bunnies was taped on it. Now who would have done that? Obviously, someone with a great sense of humor. We had an idea of who, but we were not sure until tomorrow.
We had our work cut out for us, whether we felt like it or not. Sorting through a week's worth of mail, the pile of NY Times papers, shipboard statements, and even gifts left in our absence took time to check out. Unpacking our stuff took longer. We produced four bags of laundry to go out tonight. The rest of our stuff took an hour to put away. We took the time to record our expenditures for the last seven days, and found they were minimal. Since this trip had been planned months ago, we only had tips and a few meals to cover. The rest had been pre-paid. Sure made everything easy.
Dinnertime came all too fast, and we found four of our tablemates had other plans for the night in Dubai. Greg and Heo had gone to watch the light show at the fountain at the Dubai Mall. It is impressive and a great way to spend an evening at the mall. Bonnie and Paul had booked the HAL tour with some friends that took them on the 4x4 dune ride and camp in the desert. We have done the same tour, and had a blast. We know they will love it.
The dining room had been decorated with everything Easter. The waiters were dressed in pastel shades of vests and bowties. They had a surprise for us when we opened the menu. They had printed a welcome back sign with our names printed on it. That was thoughtful, and nice to know we were missed. For the Easter dinner, although it was not formal (gala), we both ordered the 24 ounce porterhouse steaks. One of us polished off the entire mastodon, mostly because beef was not on our menu all week long. We sure made up for it tonight, or at least we tried. Have to say it tasted pretty good. Dessert for one of us was jello with a fruit plate. Excellent. The evening went by quickly as we all shared what we did for one week. It was fun for us to re-live the leopard sightings, as well as talk about the tent experience. Very different, indeed.
As usual, we walked the promenade deck, and discovered razor wire had been added to the lower railing. This is done every time we are in these waters, so it wasn't a surprise. We did have a letter left on our bed explaining the need for the extra security measures. Will share the details tomorrow.
For a change, we decided to attend the local Dubai Traditional Music and Dance performance in the Queens Lounge. Showing up at 9:45pm, nothing had started. We waited for a little while, but we were so exhausted, we left. Remember, we had gained the extra hour and a half, and were almost dead by now. Sorry we missed the show, as we heard the next day that the whirling dervish from Lebanon was the best ever. Figures, they just got a late start.
Looking forward to a full day in fabulous Dubai tomorrow. Love it here in "la-la" land.
Bill & Mary Ann
Early breakfast at Wallawwa
Juice and coffee with fruit plate
Omelettes and toast
Cheese, ham, and onion omelette
The kitchen at Wallawwa
Back home on the ship……..our mail accumulated
New gifts….two wallets
Our garden survived
A mysterious message on our door…..very nice welcome
