At Sea after India.

As we sailed away we were “protected” by the Navy. And then we had internet.

Our favorite restaurant manager is Casper. We have known him for several years and several cruises. His mother came on board in India and will be here for about a month. Today is Casper’s Birthday.

We ate in the Italian restaurant. Kathy had a veal cutlet. I had lamb but it wasn’t very photographic.

I will try to enter a story for all 3 days in Mumbai since I had no internet. I don’t remember all of the building names and won’t try to find them on the web.

The laundry. About 700 workers wash the clothes.

The shore line was crowded with people most of the time. Especially around the Gateway Arch.

We walked by a University.

Cows are special.

We walked through a large market. Fruit and nuts.

Hospital

But the best building I will call the birdhouse. It is right next to the dock.

Departing Mumbai, India

For some reason no one on the ship had internet for the entire stay in Mumbai. The story on the ship was the Indian Navy blocked the satellite signal. I can believe that is true since we were docked right near the Navy Base.

Once we sailed away I got on the web. I will try to get caught up on our next few days at sea.

Goa, India

We took an excursion to a spice farm. I little strange in my mind. There was a shelter of sorts where we had lunch and a walking path (definitely of sorts) to view various spice trees. The majority of the farm we did not see. I hope the trees were more organized there. Otherwise harvesting would be very difficult.

Peppers

Mace and nutmeg are the same tree but very different parts of the “fruit”.

This farm also has flowers and cashews. Strange!

Heliconia

cashews. The fruits are used for juice and the nuts roasted and shelled.

Sunset

Cochin, India

No internet for a while.

Natasha, one of our favorite servers, was promoted and received her first stripe. She was very proud.

Our excursion took us to the famous Chinese fishing nets.

Not only the fishermen would fish. So did the eagles.

Then on to the Dutch Palace of Mattancherry.

I enjoyed some of the flowering trees. I have no idea what it is.

Sri Lanka

We took a shuttle to a shopping center our first day here. There was a security check just to enter and the security guard made it very clear to me NOT to take a picture with my camera. I didn’t!

The cafe had braise lamb shanks for dinner. One of the servers said I was BAAAAD!

The next day we had an excursion called snapshots. There I could take photos. Our first stop was at Indelendence Memorial Hall.

Some interesting architecture in the city.

And the best one was the Lotus Tower especially at night.

Of course there were Buddhas and Temples everywhere.

At Sea. We went to a couple lectures. A slow day but it felt good after a few hot humid excursions.

It was pizza day in the Cafe. Like in huge pizzas. And they couldn’t make them fast enough.

Pepperoni was the big hit. I wasn’t willing to wait long enough for that. So I had seafood pizza.

At sea heading to Sri Lanka.

On sea days we typically listen to some lectures. Somehow, we get to know these people and we are often joined at the naughty table at lunch or dinner.

This is Robin Petch, the wildlife expert. Our lunch was grilled shrimp and a salad.

Then at dinner we had a brief visit from Carl. He works in Corporate Viking. And he works next to Joachim. Joachim was the Hotel Manager on our Grand Pacific Cruise in 2019 and we saw him again on our Northern Lights Cruise. So I asked to take a photo.

And my dinner was very special. Lamb chops, bacon wrapped scallops, a baked potato and eggplant.

We were also joined by Bob McMahon, the History Professor from Ohio State University.

Phuket, Thailand

This area is the local version of Miami Beach. Many resorts, beaches and water sprots like jetskis.

But it is in Southeast Asia. Much different in many ways. Like infrastructure.

Our excursion went to a cashew plantation, a lookout on a hill and another Buddhist Temple.

The strange part of the lookout was a elephant statue display.

And the Temple.

There was a special dinner on the ship. Most everyone went to the pool area. It was well decorated but the roof was open. It was hot! So we ate in the cooler Cafe. The muscicians got into the act and paraded around both areas.

You can tell that the singer knows the naughty table. Thumbs up to us.

After dark we saw the locals fishing for squids.

Penang, Malaysia

Our excursion went first to Chinatown. The best part was the street art.

The next stop was to view the huge Buddha Temple. Unfortunately, there were 900 steps to reach the big Buddha. We only had 30 minutes. No chance!

The last stop was to a garden. But we weren’t planning on viewing the garden. This area was teaming in monkeys and they were just wild. No cages. Just trees.