Arrived this morning with a deep haze over the city with tall buildings barely visible. We discovered that it was the result of a recent sandstorm and would only clear after a good rain. I choose a tour into two neighboring emerites, Ajman and Sharjah. Two very fine museums were visited. One was the creation of a large number of buildings in which were life size diaramas depicting craftsmen and daily life in earlier times. Very nicely presented a clean. We visit...

Today toured Mumbai: Off the Beaten Path. We first strolled the vast Crawford Market which featuring many varieties of mango, just coming into season. Then rode the commuter train from Mahalakshmi Station to the Dhobi Ghat laundry. A shopping stop preceded lunch at the famous Taj Mahal Hotel. We then were guests in a restored old wooden home in a side alley from the Portugese era currently occupied by a clothing designer. A special feature was a visit to Mani B...

This morning ship docked at 10 AM in Mumbai. We underwent a face-to-face clearance procedure before leaving the ship. My tour today was a three hour panoramic drive around the old and new parts of the city with stops at the Hanging Gardens Park and the Dhobi Ghat outdoor laundry. We had a photo stop at Victoria Station and we slowed to see the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel. The hotel was completely restored after the terrorist bombing in 2008. This is...

Arrived this morning and went through a face-to-face immigration session with the Indian beurocrats. The tour today took us to old Cochin and we viewed the interior of the first church in the settlement, St. Francis. Originally Catholic, it became Protestant, then Anglican which it is now. Then we walked to the harbor and watched the typical Chinese fishing nets in operation. After a visit to a shop we stopped at the ancient palace of the King before returning to...

Today we are sailing west toward Cochin, India in calm seas and bearable sunny weather. Several very interesting lecturers had boarded in Phuket, one of whom was Christopher Buckley, one of my idols. He spoke about travels with his father on his various yachts including his trans-Atlantic adventure chronicled in Bill's book Airborne which I own and read many years ago. Another man, Loren Schoenberg, spoke about early American music of Irving Berlin and Cole Por...