Sailing the Red Sea off the coast of Eritrea and Yemen – Day 28

Hello from Jeff.
Well, as I write this note, Ron and I are about to celebrate 30 days on this journey.
I hope all of you will indulge me while I share some thoughts on a variety of subjects that occur to me while our Hero sleeps, well at least my hero.
It’s just after 5am and I am up as usual, my body clock doesn’t seem to be bothered by time zones, regardless of our location it seems to know when it is 5am and I awake. As many of you know already, I never reset my own wrist watches. They always stay on local time. Now that means Las Vegas, of course.
I started that habit when Ron and I were living apart when I began to build the business that became World Wide Scan Services back in 94. It was easier to know what time it was in California so that I wouldn’t wake him or call him too often while he was working.
It’s a habit that I have kept all these years; I leave my watches on whatever time zone we call home.
Anyway and yes I warned you all that this was going to be a jumble of thoughts on a myriad of topics.
We are still several days from Egypt and we are both looking forward to entering the Suez Canal in just a couple of days. Having crossed the Panama Canal (my 3rd Ron’s 2nd) just this past January or was it December it will make our 2nd canal in a short period of time.
We know that the Suez is completely different but the history attached to it I know will make the journey very exciting.
I wasn’t prepared for the contrasts this trip would offer, we have been guests of some of the world’s great hotels, Beverly Hills The Peninsula, in Singapore the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok The Peninsula and in India the Taj Hotel of Mumbai and the Al Arab in Dubai and yet with the exception of Beverly Hills and Singapore we have also seen abject poverty in these same cities sometimes within sight of our hotels
The canal cruise we chartered in Bangkok, now suspended because of the Red Shirt demonstrations was over whelming in its display of people living so far below the poverty line that I am certain it cannot be measured The children begging in the cities we visited in India was both incredibly sad and intimidating
I have spent time wondering not so much about these people where poverty is a way of life and yet they seem to cope and in unguarded moments you can see them smile and laugh with one another but rather my thoughts have been on the people who have served us meals or summoned Taxis when asked the ones who have cleaned our hotel rooms or cleared our dishes. These people who wear spotless uniforms at work and speak in many cases English which puts my own to shame not to mention usually a number of other languages as well
What do they think of us? Their salaries certainly put them several rungs above the others I mentioned earlier but I am not certain just how many rungs
The staff on our ship Our stateroom Butler the Attendant and his assistant, they all sign 7 month contracts meaning they don’t see their families and yes they are all married and with children for at least the 7 months and in some cases even longer
I have no idea what they are paid I just know that whatever it is it’s not enough. We of course will supplement their income with our meager tips but I wonder if any job is worth being away from family and friends for such long periods
They are always helpful smiling and of course we never hear a complaint from them We because it’s in our nature try not to be total pains in the ass but we have seen couples on board who quite frankly should be barred from ever taking cruises because of the manner in which they treat staff and in some cases other guests. We have rediscovered something that we acknowledged many years ago, that is
The ability to pay for extraordinary vacations doesn’t automatically bestow manners or breeding upon a person
Well just as this first segment of our Journey is coming to a close in another week, we find ourselves having to say goodbye to all of the friends we have made on board so far When we dock in Athens in just over a week our first segment will conclude and the 2nd will begin New places new faces we both will be sorry to see our new friends leave They will return to their homes in Canada, Australia, Texas, Arizona and the Napa Valley We have been very lucky on this segment to have found so many new friends and we will do our best to stay in touch with them in the coming years
Notwithstanding my introspective nature I am having the time of my life WE both are The sights we have seen in the past 30 days have been nothing short of wondrous
The symphony hall in Singapore the majestic temples of the Golden Palace in Bangkok The intricate weavings of the fishing nets in Phuket The massive nature of the Gateway to India The shear heights of the Buildings of Dubai ALL of these wonders and so much more have already made this Journey magical and fun beyond even our expectations
Alright my treadmill awaits and I have abused you all enough for today we hope you are enjoying our efforts to share our Journey with each of you