Prepared July 22, 2012 at home Kona, Hawaii
April 6, 2012 at sea eastern Indian Ocean enroute to Mormugao, Goa, India: So Many Lectures, So Little Time
Silver Whisper departed Kochi, India about 11:00pm and sailed northward up the coast of India. It would be about a 30 hour cruise to Mormugao, the port for the Indian province of Goa, which was our next stop.
J & E used most of the day to complete and post the account of their overland trip to Dien Bien Phu and northwestern Vietnam. This included using a hand-held portable scanner to scan maps of the little-visited region of northwestern Vietnam and of the battlefield.
J & E used most of the day to complete and post the account of their overland trip to Dien Bien Phu and northwestern Vietnam. This included using a hand-held portable scanner to scan maps of the little-visited region of northwestern Vietnam and of the battlefield.
Sea days are often enlivened with lectures by notable people, especially authors or academics whose disciplines are of interest to the literate, well maybe semi-literate, cruise audience. On this cruise, lecturers had included James Bradley, "Flags of Our Fathers", and Bill Bryson, ""A Walk in the Woods", and numerous others. Usually, J & E had forgone these lectures because they conflicted with bridge, but today two lectures were in the morning, while bridge was in the afternoon. Both lecturers were speaking on interesting topics. Diana Preston was to speak on the sinking of the Lusitania, based on her book "Willful Murder? - The Sinking of the Lusitania," and Philip Hurst on modern India's geopolitics, "A Tiger with a Bomb: India Facing the Future." The lectures normally last 45 minutes, are profusely illustrated, and keep one's attention, even in a darkened theater. (Well, for most guests anyway; on occasion, there can be heard light snoring.) Lectures also can provide background knowledge for the area where we are cruising and going on shore tours, as Mr. Hurst's did on India.
One additional aspect of the lecture program is that cruisers can invite the lecturers to lunch or dinner, and it gives you an opportunity to raise related topics and ask further questions. All-in-all, it is a very positive aspect of the cruise experience, and on long cruises with numerous sea days provides for an interesting intellectual experience not often associated with the halcyon life of cruising.
We were again sailing in pirate waters. All of the Indian Ocean north of an east west line of latitude from the coast of Mozambique west south of Diego Garcia to the longitude of Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari), India is currently considered pirate waters, called the "Extended Risk Zone" by international maritime authorities. (See Chart) So even though sailing well within 200 miles of the Indian coast, the ship was blacked out and extra watches and security were in place. It was, as a minimum, good training for the ship's crew, for the upcoming crossing of the northern Indian Ocean from Mumbai to the United Arab Emirates and on to Safaga, Egypt.
April 7, 2012 in port Mormugao, Goa, India: India's Christian Enclave
We were docked at Mormugao by 8:00am, but both of us decided not to go on tour (we had been in Goa in 2009 and toured extensively), and the port area of Mormugao has very little to offer. Mormugao is a major coal port -- need more be said. We stayed on board and worked on the blog, read, and played cards. E won again, and it was getting very tiresome for J.
When we returned to our room, we found that the Easter Bunny had visited, and we had received an Easter basket with E's annual chocolate rabbit. Surprising new knowledge, Indian rabbits can swim and climb aboard cruise ships. Let's hope the pirates don't find out. Actually, the basket was from the Officers and Crew of the Silver Whisper.
April 8, 2012 in port Mumbai, India: A Day at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
We were not participating in an organized tour of Mumbai and intended to spend the day at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Western India Museum, and still normally referred to by its original English name (Prince of Wales Museum). (Interestingly, the city's English name, "Bombay," seems to have been largely replaced in the local English vernacular by the new Indian name, "Mumbai." But, it is easy to see why the Museum's new Indian name has not really caught on.)
We did not go ashore until about 10:00am, because the Museum was a short taxi ride from the pier, and we did not want to find ourselves outside a locked museum and the subject of unwanted attention by Mumbai's street people. Walking up the pier, we passed the INS Viratt (R22) one of the Indian Navy's aircraft carriers. (It was formerly the HMS Hermes.) Then, we passed row-on-row of newly-imported Japanese and Korean trucks and buses until we reached Green Gate and the taxi stand. Gone are the days of the yellow and black Ambassador taxis with their Sikh drivers who took you where they wanted to go. In new Mumbai, the taxi is a new, clean Marrudi/Suzuki, with a driver who takes you to your requested destination at a prearranged price and even offers to return for you at your convenience. See, change does happen.
After a short drive through the old Imperial Bombay section of Mumbai, best known to Western tourists for the Gate of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel, we arrived at the Museum to purchase our ticket. In the long- cherished tradition of Indian bureaucracy, it was not "a" ticket but three tickets, and the lines were so complex that if it were not for the help of a retired Indian Army Sepoy (now museum guard), J & E likely would still be in line (probably the wrong one!).
Needless to say, we had to limit our viewing to a small number of even the items currently on display. We chose those from the 42 items which were described in some detail in the Audio Guide. Since J had his Camera Pass (with string), he was allowed to image some of the interior and art works.
About three hours into viewing the collections, and long before we had finished the 42 Curator's Choice items on the audio tour, we were suffering severe museum fatigue, Also, the Museum's main spaces are not air conditioned, so it was getting very hot. A stop at the museum shop for J's de rigueur t-shirt (Gate of India with stamp), and we returned to our waiting taxi. The taxi was both on time and in the place where the driver said it would be, so with a short drive by the Gate of India and the Taj (accompanied by numerous attempts to entice us to visit tourist shops), we returned to the port and Silver Whisper. Then, it was lunch and a long nap. Culture is very tiring.
We were again sailing in pirate waters. All of the Indian Ocean north of an east west line of latitude from the coast of Mozambique west south of Diego Garcia to the longitude of Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari), India is currently considered pirate waters, called the "Extended Risk Zone" by international maritime authorities. (See Chart) So even though sailing well within 200 miles of the Indian coast, the ship was blacked out and extra watches and security were in place. It was, as a minimum, good training for the ship's crew, for the upcoming crossing of the northern Indian Ocean from Mumbai to the United Arab Emirates and on to Safaga, Egypt.
April 7, 2012 in port Mormugao, Goa, India: India's Christian Enclave
We were docked at Mormugao by 8:00am, but both of us decided not to go on tour (we had been in Goa in 2009 and toured extensively), and the port area of Mormugao has very little to offer. Mormugao is a major coal port -- need more be said. We stayed on board and worked on the blog, read, and played cards. E won again, and it was getting very tiresome for J.
Mormugao from Seaward
Self-Propelled Coal Barges, Mormugao, India
Focusing on the port city of Mormugao does not do justice to Goa. Goa was a Portuguese colony from the 16th through most of the 20th Century and the Vatican of Asia during that time. There are three major 16th Century cathedrals and other important historic sites related to Roman Christianity spread in Asia and Africa. Also, there are the normal number of tourist beaches and resorts. But not around the port!
N.B. -- If any of you desire to see images of the the catherdrals or the dead saints entombed there, let me know and I will add them to the blog. They are from a earlier visit in 2009.
That evening, after sailing for Mumbai, the Captain hosted a special Asian dinner for World Cruise guests. It was, of course, exceptional, adding even more weight to J's ever-expanding waistline and other body parts. So you can appreciate the meal, we have scanned the menu, but no images. J was too busy eating to take any pictures.
Captain's Asian Dinner Menu
All this on the last day of Lent, and near the most holy site in Asia!
Bacchus wins again!
When we returned to our room, we found that the Easter Bunny had visited, and we had received an Easter basket with E's annual chocolate rabbit. Surprising new knowledge, Indian rabbits can swim and climb aboard cruise ships. Let's hope the pirates don't find out. Actually, the basket was from the Officers and Crew of the Silver Whisper.
Easter Basket and Orchid
The Orchid was our "house plant;" it traveled most of the voyage with us.
April 8, 2012 in port Mumbai, India: A Day at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
We were not participating in an organized tour of Mumbai and intended to spend the day at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Western India Museum, and still normally referred to by its original English name (Prince of Wales Museum). (Interestingly, the city's English name, "Bombay," seems to have been largely replaced in the local English vernacular by the new Indian name, "Mumbai." But, it is easy to see why the Museum's new Indian name has not really caught on.)
We did not go ashore until about 10:00am, because the Museum was a short taxi ride from the pier, and we did not want to find ourselves outside a locked museum and the subject of unwanted attention by Mumbai's street people. Walking up the pier, we passed the INS Viratt (R22) one of the Indian Navy's aircraft carriers. (It was formerly the HMS Hermes.) Then, we passed row-on-row of newly-imported Japanese and Korean trucks and buses until we reached Green Gate and the taxi stand. Gone are the days of the yellow and black Ambassador taxis with their Sikh drivers who took you where they wanted to go. In new Mumbai, the taxi is a new, clean Marrudi/Suzuki, with a driver who takes you to your requested destination at a prearranged price and even offers to return for you at your convenience. See, change does happen.
After a short drive through the old Imperial Bombay section of Mumbai, best known to Western tourists for the Gate of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel, we arrived at the Museum to purchase our ticket. In the long- cherished tradition of Indian bureaucracy, it was not "a" ticket but three tickets, and the lines were so complex that if it were not for the help of a retired Indian Army Sepoy (now museum guard), J & E likely would still be in line (probably the wrong one!).
Museum Tickets -- General Admission, Camera Pass, Audio Tour
Note: Convenient string to attach Camera Pass to camera. Provided WITH ticket!
The Museum is sited in a large garden near the Gate of India, and the garden (The Crescent) is still maintained as originally designed. The building itself, designed by George Wittet, is considered a model of the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture typical of British India in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. At the core of the collection are the donations of Indian miniatures by Seth Mavji in 1915, the Major Art collections of Sirs Ratan Tata and Sir Dorab Tata, and the antiquities collection of Sir Akbar Haydari in the 1920s and '30s. The Museum's collections contain over 50,000 pieces of art and artifacts.
Needless to say, we had to limit our viewing to a small number of even the items currently on display. We chose those from the 42 items which were described in some detail in the Audio Guide. Since J had his Camera Pass (with string), he was allowed to image some of the interior and art works.
Central Hall, Key Gallery
Hindu Statuary, Key Gallery
Ivory Box, Mughal Tradition, 1903
J & E spent most of their time in the Miniature Painting Gallery. The Museum's collection of miniature paintings is one of the best we have ever seen. It encompasses most of the Indian schools of miniature painting from the 14th to the early 19th Century, including numerous examples from the Sultanate and Mughal periods. No imaging was allowed in this Gallery even if you had a chitty (with string). But you can view some of the Museum's finest miniatures and other items at www.themuseummumbai.org. The web site also will give you access to many other galleries of the Museum's collection.
About three hours into viewing the collections, and long before we had finished the 42 Curator's Choice items on the audio tour, we were suffering severe museum fatigue, Also, the Museum's main spaces are not air conditioned, so it was getting very hot. A stop at the museum shop for J's de rigueur t-shirt (Gate of India with stamp), and we returned to our waiting taxi. The taxi was both on time and in the place where the driver said it would be, so with a short drive by the Gate of India and the Taj (accompanied by numerous attempts to entice us to visit tourist shops), we returned to the port and Silver Whisper. Then, it was lunch and a long nap. Culture is very tiring.
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