A Magic Carpet, er Ship ride to Arabia.

[Anna]

I've also heard about sonic repulsion - very loud noises directed towards the pirate craft

 

[Pushka]

Loving the report Pushka. Oman looked amazing

One of husbands friends worked for the Sultan Qaboos a few years ago. He spent 6 months there. He loved the place. We sent him the photos yesterday and he said he misses Oman a lot. Paid for his house freehold and his fiancées engagement ring. Bet it was a rock! No taxes in Oman.

Having said that we liked Oman a lot, we organised ourselves on tours and only did the Dhow cruise with the ship as we couldn't organise that privately as May 1 starts off season in Muscat. Those who did the ships excursion, especially in Salalah, did not like it one bit. The rumours going round that we only stopped there for refuelling. Well, the fact we didn't refuel there at all seems to have escaped them.

 

[Pushka]

Almost through the tricky bit. It's hot hot hot today. I never drink coke. This trip I'm on my fourth!

 

[Pushka]

Hmm. At the narrowest point these three skiffs got the attention of everyone.. I could only capture one and another partially on the left. But they don’t look like fisherman. This is how pirates launch their first attack. We passed them by.


Currently on port side we can see Djibouti. Leading up to Eritrea. Up from Somalia. And massive container ships.


On starboard we can see Yemen leading into Saudi Arabia. We are about to enter the Red Sea. It’s blue.



An even larger container ship.

 

[Pushka]

So it turns out that tonight is the highest risk night. We are still off the coast of Yemen and not that far from shore. much closer than last night. There's much more talk about it tonight, even from the crew. They have to remove anything wooden from the decks. We can see lights in the sea from small skiffs. Their behaviour will be tracked to assess risk. Saw the security team just now grabbing some food in preparation of a long night. They seem nice chaps. Everywhere is in darkness. Eating outside in the dark as we preferred to eat outdoors.

Tomorrow we are doing a cooking class. Turns out to be Australian class. Sigh. Then tomorrow night they are showing Maverick movie under the stars on the big screen. Popcorn included. Looking forward to it. On the other hand it's forecast to be 100 in Jeddah on Saturday and everyone has to be completely covered including men. An interesting day I'd suggest.

We had afternoon tea in the Wintergarden this afternoon. Too much food.







followed by a gimlet and frozen daiquiri.

 

[RooFlyer]

Turns out to be Australian class. Sigh.

Lamingtons! Bonza!!

 

[Scr77]

Lamingtons! Bonza!!

I was wondering what one cooks in an Australian cooking class!

 

[bPeteb]

I was wondering what one cooks in an Australian cooking class!

Bunnings sausage sizzle, over done steak

 

[TheRealTMA]

I was wondering what one cooks in an Australian cooking class!

Chicken Parmies and Dim Sims!

(Plus Kangaroo and Lemon Myrtle pies!)

 

[Pushka]

Better not be skippy. MrP forgot the Vegemite. Maybe they will have some and he can nick it. I was thinking Lamb Chops and if so will have the discussion on how to prepare and cook them, after the other night. And Pav. But lamingtons might be the go. Fairy bread.

 

[Pushka]

Well, the Red Sea is officially - Blue. It is a gorgeous day today and somewhat cooler than yesterday.



The armed group were offloaded just now and returned to their mother ship.

The cooking class was fun and in a lovely kitchen. We are having dinner there tomorrow night. Chefs Table.

The chef. Preparing filo pastry. We all prepare a base. This whole bench is an induction cooktop.



Then it was on to main meal. Our job - to round off potatoes. The hardest job by far. But we did it. So many bowls. The others chopped garlic and herbs.




Potatoes cooking. The whole bench is an induction cooktop top.

Piping the entree goat cheese mix.



Entree

 

[Pushka]

Our finished dish. Tasted wonderful.


So the menu.

Entrees. That went pretty much to plan. Note all the potatoes we had to prep.



Barramundi for main. Except - no Barra on board so they substituted Mahi Mahi. Ummm. Not so good. And I hate Brussel sprouts. I tasted one that had garlic shallots butter etc. nup.





Then - I guessed it. Pavlova. No mango onboard. So strawberries. But not tru pav either with that soft meringue texture and marshmallow, but instead individual and hard meringues. I thought pav was a worldwide thing but the Americans had never heard of it.






It was a fun session. We received a nice apron. The wine was free flowing and excellent.

There was not one there who wants to go to Saudi Arabia tomorrow. The Saudis haven’t even processed some of the visas yet. Port talk in a while will be interesting

 

[Pushka]

We have just spent a delightfully funny half hour at the Jeddah Port talk. No, the talk wasn't funny but watching the behaviours of people as they realise the theatre is packed and how they deal with that. It's sad I guess that many people have no concept that their actions impede on others. Like standing in front of people who had arrived earlier. A lady from Byron Bay we'd met in a queue was losing it. She was just laughing. Actually if we were kids at school we'd be in trouble for laughing. She didn't get a seat so was standing on the side. So many people just stood in front of her. She turn to us and we'd all laugh. She'd also go and tell people who were standing in front of others that there were people behind them and to move. Then Viking put extra high benches in, and which put people way above those who were seated behind them and had arrived much earlier. One old guy would walk from one side to the other, across everyone seated, then stop, in front of others then continue on and repeat.

Anyways Jeddah sounds, well, potentially interesting but an hours walk through old Jeddah in 37 degree heat should take a few people out. They told us we should take the umbrellas. Yeah. They are the size of golf umbrellas. And that everyone has to cover up from neck to wrist to ankles covered. Women possibly head scarves. Oh, and to put on sunscreen. Where we ask?

The souk looks great though. We'd like to just DIY but they said tonight that DIYers wouldn't have access to the bus to take you to immigration until 12.30 pm. We berth at 8am. Way to endear people Viking. We'd like to ditch the included excursion but don't want to hang around until 12.30 either. We are doing separate tours. Mr the general one and me the one only for women to see how women live. . Carefully curated I'd expect.

 

[RooFlyer]

If gold is your thing, check out the gold souk. Traditionally they sell by the dirham/gram, irrespective of artisanship. So competition can get done well priced pieces.

20 years ago anyway

 

[Pushka]

If gold is your thing, check out the gold souk. Traditionally they sell by the dirham/gram, irrespective of artisanship. So competition can get done well priced pieces.

20 years ago anyway

Funny you should say that. That’s where the shuttle is dropping us off. Is it near the general souk?

High tide is 12,43pm so maybe the mosque will be floating.

The armed guards leaving us today.


Sunset tonight.







Movies under the stars now. It’s hot. Popcorn provided. Maverick.

 

[Pushka]

We are back on the ship after our foray into Jeddah. Mr P happily listening to the footy. Through his ear phones. This port takes the prize for ugliest fpr tourists but it is a very busy industrial port. Cute lil tug helped push us in, this time port side.
I said last night there was no reason why Viking stops here. They didn't even offer paid excursions, just the free ones. I wondered why and maybe they get freebie fuel. We'd been refilled in Mumbai a few days ago. So unlikely I thought. And just now came the annoucement that we were refuelling.

We decided this morning to dump those excursions and jump on the shuttle. Well, there are two. One to immigration then one into Old Jeddah. immigration requires pre Visa, and full biometrics. It's tedious for me as here, and in India everyone struggles to get my prints. I have no idea why.

Passed through immigration then onto the shuttle bus We'd also brought our quiet vox which is the system Viking uses on their excursions for their hosts and it means you can wander away and still hear them. In case we decided to latch onto another tour. We were early and the souks weren't really opened yet but we found a cute little place to buy a camel. I'm on a camel hunt. I've got two now. But not for me.

Many of these are through the bus window so sorry for that. It's a city changing and it wants a million tourists within a couple of years. Okaaay. The cruise terminal looked new and getting in didn't take too long as many gates were open.



Juxtaposed with rubble.


The usuals. In fact it boasts one of the largest shopping malls in the world.


They are developing canal waterways, suspect based around the Dubai waterways.




A beautiful mosque on the water but not the floating mosque.





Towards the corniche.

 

[Pushka]

We were dropped here and could already see a Viking group so we tuned in to hear what was being said. Several unfit people were already struggling. Beet red and puffing. The included tour consisted of an hour long walk. It had just started. We stayed with them for a bit then walked away.

The buildings are being restored with time but they have a unique style.











The shops were fascinating. I had local currency so was able to negotiate a bit. For the camel. Now I need a donkey.


They would only sell a bolt of fabric not a measure. But it was beautiful.

 

[Pushka]

We were told that both men and women had to fully cover up, women with a scarf of going to a mosque. Someone on the excursion asked if the women were able to wear some of the more revealing dresses we could see in the shops. He said yes, the law has changed and people can wear as they wished. Sigh.
Our lollipop man. We had joined a different tour and this time the speaker was excellent. He has an Insta profile. This guy would walk at the end for any stragglers.



Legumes.




Everyone was super friendly and welcomed us. They all wanted me to take their photo.




Fabulous dates.

 

[Pushka]

Did I mention that as as walked through the ship there were officials from Saudi Arabia in military uniform ensuring all the alcohol had been locked up?

More Old Jeddah. By now it was stunningly hot and people were wilting. Many left the tour to get the shuttle back.

Oopsie.




Sweets. Local and imported. But more, the shop was air conditioned.






The guide bought a box of these for us to try. Delicious.



You know how there's one in every tour? Well, this one wanted to try souvenir shops for - a thimble. . Next, it was haggling over how much dates were and whether they were boxed or wrapped. At this point I started grumbling to MrP then he reminded me we weren't supposed to be on the tour. . Next, it was the perfumerie. She wanted to try EVERY fragrance.



Rapdily losing the will we decided to stay with the guide as he was excellent and gave us a laugh when he didn't remember he was miked up and he gave a delicious sigh after one of the more meaningless questions from thimble lady. The bus they were using was also going back via the corniche which we wanted to see and thought we'd have to take a taxi. Doing the number count was tricky as many had left the tour. And we had gate crashed it.



The guide was excellent but we were both surprised when one of the LOTFP actually went up to him and touched his black head braid. WT?

 

[Quickstatus]

one cooks in an Australian cooking class!

I was going to say prawns on the barbie.

Really interested in those induction stoves