HELLO from the Bay of Bengal - Indian ocean

Pictures for you ! From: Nancy Ruth Jacob-o'Toole ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Pictures from O'TOOLE WORLD CRUISE 2008 Note: This Shutterfly Collection is password protected. You will need to get the password from the owner to view the Shutterfly Collection. (1 of 113 pictures) If selecting "See pictures" doesn’t work, copy-and-paste this address into your browser: http://otooleworldcruise2008.shutterfly.com/

HELLO from the bay of Bengal/Indian ocean… (we are now, 9.5 hours ahead of you)

It is 6:14am…on April 5th We are cruising, ever so calmly through the water, via the ancient spice trade route through the bay of Bengal, to Cochin, India. Oh! I never thought that I would ever say that. So much history has come before these days, and I not a part of it…but a descendant OF it. It is beginning to be sunrise and, having gained yet another hour last night, I am feeling rested, and up early, enjoying, fully, the colors of the hot red sun, as it breaks away from the few clouds holding it hostage, before it escapas and finally shines ever so brightly, all on its own. It will be HOT very soon, and just now, I am enjoying the delicious cool breeze while I sit on the Verandah, before the heat of the day. Were you with me, I think that you would agree that it is nice out here, on the verandah, watching the small waves and hearing the slight breeze as we effortlessly cut through the water…but, instead, I am joined by the sun, the waves, the thoughts inside of me…and so you see, in am in good company. Right now, I am listening to the smooth whoosh of the waves which allow the bow of this grand vessel to cut them as if they were a sea of warmed butter…ever so smooth and calm…it gives one a chance to think without distraction. It has been quite some time since I wrote to all of you…and there has been so much richness of thought which I would like to share with you all. Ahhh! There IS much history, and we have been Oh! So fortunate to have a historian/story teller onboard to do that with us in lecture form, each morning…and I could never do THAT justice. Instead I would like to share snippits of time, my observations and feelings. Perhaps describe a person or two, and hope to give you a window into what It has been like being in Phuket , Thailand for the day that we were there. Ah! Phuket. This was our last stop in Thailand…and I was sooooooo looking forward to seeing it, and anticipating our wonderful upcoming excursion to see and to ride the Elephants. I was picturing in my mind Patrick and I riding, together, loping along in the rain forest atop that grand beast, in a basket or something…something I never dreamed of doing until just recently. I remember having ridden a camel around CHEOPS once, when I was there with Mom…and almost falling off, and so, I had hoped that the basket would offer some protection…I am just a bit older now, and the ground always feels a bit harder. Anyway…the day was met with great anticipation! Yes, that day, I arose early, too; Early enough to see the sun come up…filled with the excitement a kid feels on Christmas morning…I guess that I greet most new ports that way…I JUST CAN’T WAIT TO SEE…TO BE THERE…AND TO MEET THE PEOPLE! . Anyway, Back in Thailand, we started our excursion by traveling to a CASHEW nut factory. I must say, that I did not expect to see what I did see there. We learned about the beautiful trees on which the cashews grow…pretty yellow flowers out of which the nut appears and just how the nuts are processed. I don’t know about our country, but in Thailand, each nut casing is cut and the nut removed by hand ! I have pictures, which you may already have seen, (if not…have a re-look at them when you have time)…and look at the faces of these women whose job it is to do just this. Such character on their darkened and wrinkled old faces. Their dress is simple and conservative…long dress, ¾ length sleeved blouses, faded, and wearing plastic gloves. They have seen much. They have had a hard life…they are STILL working. They seldom look up…in my 30 min there, I only saw one look upward at us, once…so intent on their work…a sort of symphony of motion taking care not to miss a single beat! In this shop, they have the help of a press-machine to crack a hole in the nut, and then they quickly and skillfully remove the casings and then, the nut. The whole process takes only a second or two. As there is a sort of poison residue on one of the nut casing layers near to the outside (not touching the cashew itself), they must wear gloves to protect themselves while doing this for 10 hours a day. In return, they make about a $1.oo/day…if they are able to keep up the volume/hour. IMAGINE ! $1.00/DAY FOR 10 HOURS WORK…! This is piece work at the extreme! Even monkeys, gathering cocoanuts make, for their owners, $12/day! An they get exercise and BANANAS ! Sort of puts “a bad day at the office” into perspective…eh>? Back to the cahews…here, they make and sell about 8 or so kinds of cashews: seseme, hot pepper, honey nut, cinnamon, macadamia nut crusted and the list goes on. We had a chance to try most and they were quite good…each one. After this “rest stop” we headed on to the Wat Chelong Buddist temple and Monestary. It is revered for its enshrined notable buddist monks and for the fact that it is also the largest and most ornate of Phuket’s 29 Buddist monestaries. You can see by the pictures I have uploaded into shutterfly, the ornate quality of these wonderful structures. People often come to pray at a temple…at least once /day… take off their shoes, usually buy a lotus flower as an offering before entering the temple. Many sit or their knees, prayerfully, shaking sticks or clappers…rocking back and forth while praying; others sit quietly and with stillness…great with reflection. I would love to have known more about the way that they pray, but with all that we saw and heard about that day, I simply forgot to ask. Ah! That will alow more to learn yet another time…If ever I get the chance ! After removing our shoes, we went into each of the temples. Each was differently adorned and each had a different buddah. One had lots of colorful flowers, and beautiful stained glass windows; another, yellow ribbons and mirrored tiles; another many beautiful carvings. We, also, went into the larger, more central one. In that one, we climbed up to the top, passing one adorned floor after another…all with beautiful hand painted walls, doors and ceilings, filled with gold buddahs. Finally, at the top- that is where I got the shots of the entire complex of the monestary. Many Monks walked about among the people…always in silence with bare feet, their orange or yellow cloth wrapped around them Oh! So skillfully and delicately draped. The temples were truly beautiful, despite their dramatic and ornate quality…and I shall admit that when I left, I felt more quiet inside. Oh! I must add that at the exit, we found several Elephants…one large and several small ones…with leis around their necks……apparently, another Homage paid my many. This experience over…it was on to the Elephant camp. Such a great complex filled with activity…oxen drawn carts for transporting one from place to place…or, simply for an elegant ride. Elephants with their basket atop wandering freely about…the excitement was growing inside me. We started at the “ baby Elephant show”…another one like the one we had seen when I was chosen for an Elephant Massage…YOU GOT IT! …! ANYWAY, it was fun seing them doing what they were trained to do…hop, kneel, shoot baskets with a basketball…and so on. FINALLY, came the elephant ride. I wondered HOW we were going to GET ON the elephant…and soon found it quite civilized…as we were sent to a platform, and the elephants ambled up to us…the basket at platform level. ! Well, Pat encouraged me to get into the basket and before I knew it, our friend jumped in and off we went. I felt a sort of blow…as I had so looked forward to doing this with Patrick…and I still can’t believe that we didn’t get to do this special thing together, but, alas, it wasn’t to be. Pat followed several elephants back, so at least I was able to get some pictures of him as he arrived back into the camp…as you will see in the the shuttrfly link. The Elephants are quite gentle creatures…at least the trained ones I met…they let you touch them and feed them and as they walk, they amble in a stable sort of way. I never felt scared. It was wonderful. would love to have another chance to have this experience. Perhaps, we’ll find a place in India to have another chance…this time TOGETHER. Who knows? Well…….the day was fabulous and the trip each way such a nice thing. ..to ride comfortably air conditioned, time to just watch the side of the road…taking in the daily lives of the villagers. The countryside is barren except for occasional little villages and sporadic refreshment huts…very remote as one might expect. Now and then, one might see a person relaxing in a hammock, or someone “setting up shop” for the day. It was relaxing to ride each way…hearing about the culture and the societal mores of the people. More than once, I found myself drowsily drifting away, the words dulling as I allowed the experiences to just wash over me…as if in a dream world. “Yet it is true…I am really here “. Once “home” at the ship, I found that many vendors had set up a serious market just ourside of the boundaries of the pier…and although it was about 110 degrees and about 85% humidity…I confess that I couldn’t wait to get outside again to meet the people. Ah! Yes, I confess that along the way, I did some shopping. NOT MUCH, but just enough so as to have a vehicle to chat with the people…for I so love doing that. I found them VERY welcoming to me, even when I didn’t buy anything, but always when I was appreciative of their “artful items for sale”. I often asked if THEY had made the items, and HOW? They were eager to tell me, despite some language challenge, but the sense of pride in their work came through and it was easy for me to compliment them…and MEAN it. They liked it when I said “good morning” or “thank you” to them in Thai…they smiled and returned the offering with a “good morning, Madam”. They seem to be a happy people, most often smiling and all this despite the hard work AND the poverty. I love the ever so fleeting moments that I feel even a little connected to people of different cultures as I am learning that we all, really are, just the same and should connect! We DESERVE that ! Of course, once back on the ship, the air conditioning was a welcome thing, yet I felt a bit guilty as I could escape the heat and they couldn’t…EVER! I didn’t really like that realiztion. That night, we were treated to a wonderful , colorful and exotic cultural show on board the ship…really fabulous and very traditional costumes. I was able to capture some of that on “film” and hope to include it in the shutterfly link. After a long bath to finally clean my bare…”Buddist FEE”…and a nice meal…I fell into bed. To anticipate a glorious “sea day” of rest. The rest was welcome…and as I drifted off to sleep, I really felt glad to have been a visitor in Thailand…for it has left an indelible impression on me. The sea days are so wonderful…often people might think them boring …ah! Contraire !!! They are filled with high end lectured by historians, so often educating us about the very areas we are visiting…or theatrical book reviewers, often reviewing books written by or about subjects/ times/ or areas of local interest…or political or celebrity speakers. They are good abo ut tailoring their lectures to the geography we are experiencing to help all of us feel more educated about what we experience. That is helpful and wonderfully enriching to the overall experience. Usually, we go to about three hours a day of these… interrupted by lunch. Before we know it, it is about 3pm!!! I am taking more photo finishing classes and in addition to these there are a bllion other things offered to those who would wish for them…ie bridge, trivia, dance lessons, movies, art classes and the list goes on and on! One must find time to just “be” and we are doing better at that, by now. Anyway…I took a complete day off from photos and writing, knowing that I could resume today, once I felt more vigor. I could finish my thoughts about the days in Myanmar, but, frankly, those days were so special and filled with emotion, I would rather choose another time…if you will humor me that indulgence? I promise to do the writing before we hit India, for I am sure that country will offer so many more pages to relay stories and feelings; yet another epistle. It has been lovely just being with you this morning; albeit virtual, a lovely experience watching the sun come awake as I shared my stories with you. We are both well and send our love, Nancy

Ps………..go to shutterfly to see the last two downloads: http://otooleworldcruise2008.com/ password: CRYSTALS then…click on : otooleworldcruise2008 to access all of the albums..and ENJOY !

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