It’s been a busy few days, one way or another and I now find time to write as we make our way to our next port.
Across the Arabian Sea, through the Straits of Hormuz and into the Persian Gulf. We skirt Iranian waters here and their Navy call us, name and flag is all they want and wish us a pleasant voyage.
The 23rd broke cloudy, overcast and raining, not one would quite expect from an area which is mainly sand and desert. The wind was gusting 35 knots as we made our way through the hundreds, (literally), of ships at anchor or slowly steaming, waiting for ‘orders’. Every ship of every size was around, Container ships, Tankers, LPG carriers, rigs, you name it, it was here.
Passing a jack-up rig, under tow.
The skyline of Dubai beckons. The tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, 828 meters or 2716 feet dominates the skyline.
Getting to the pilot station involved many alterations of course as we wove our way towards it. Fortunately, the wind eased as we neared the port.
Overview. The green triangles are the transponders of ships
The ‘World’ to the south, the ‘Palm Island’ to the north
The approach and turn, through the breakwaters and towards the dock
A larger scale
Through the breakwaters
Docked at a magnificent terminal, marble floors, shops and capable of 2 mega cruise liners , a total of 14,000 passengers, at the same time.
The terminal
Loading the contents of 21 containers, our stores.
A chance to get ashore of course, so many choices, what to do and when. Guests went camel riding, dune safaris, trips to Abu Dhabi, hop-on-hop-off buses, or the shuttle to the Dubai Mall, the largest in the world, (but of course, Dubai has the ‘largest’, tallest of everything). The mall is 1.1 million square meters, 12 million square feet, one can get lost in it (and did 🙂 ) It boasts an aquarium, an Olympic-size ice-skating rink, 800 stores, a fountain complex which makes the Las Vegas Bellagio set look like a toy, in a word, amazing.
We decided on the shuttle-bus, which drops you at the Mall, (I know, I’m risking it 😕 ) and set off for the photo shoot. I found it difficult to capture the immensity of what I was seeing, however, here are some of my efforts. (Don’t forget one can double-click on any photo, to view a larger image).
Part of a 3-storey wall mural, water is falling behind the ‘divers’
The ice rink
Aquarium
Karen, Linda and Randy
Then, off to the Burj Khalifa, 828 meters high, one can travel as far as the 452 meter level.
Looking north
Looking south. “The Amsterdam” is a mere ‘dot’, centre left
Looking down, the fountain complex snakes around the lake.
The area around the lake, restaurants, bars and apartments
Down to earth once more and a wander around the lake and fountain complex; a drink, (non-alcoholic here of course) and a view of the fountain, it starts at 6 p.m. and goes on every 30 minutes throughout the night. A ‘still’ photo does not do it justice, I took video, however I have yet to compress it for these pages, I will try and add it later.
Tourists of every nationality
Our second day and this time it’s the ‘Old Town’ which takes our attention. Souks, or markets abound; the Gold Souk, the Spice Souk and the Fabric Souk. We stare open-mouthed at the gold and jewelry on display.
22ct Gold bangles and chain
Bejeweled bands of solid gold
No explanation needed
Heaven knows what this weighs, the waistcoat, not Karen 😳
Or this…..
Then to Spice and fabric………….
Sacks of spice
The covered walkway of the Souk
Moving the goodies
One reaches ‘The Creek’ and one can catch a small ferry to the other side…
The view across the Creek
A ferry crosses
Dhows tie up here and load or unload goods from around the Persian Gulf
I write as we round the northern tip of Oman, having just transited the Straits of Hormuz once more and we arrive in Muscat later tonight. I leave you with a sunset, captured after our ‘fountain’ experience and one of my favourites of this cruise.
