Colombo Skyline

 

That night I seemed to be in a deep sleep as I dreamed I was drifting magically in a wide boat passing past temples on a lake. Eventually reality kicked in as I realized that the wide boat was our wide bed, and I was back safely in my cabin. Along with my irritating fleabites.

Albina had been very critical of her first two tours, starting with Colonial Mumbai. She was shocked by the dirt and the noise of the city. To me that is merely part of the exciting package that is India. She regretted that the guide was often unable to make hereself heard over the traffic noise of Mumbai and complained that the coach was dirty. She appreciated the faded glory of many of the buildings in Mumbai but was depressed by seeing them so neglected now. In the case of the Waterways of Goa tour she was particularly angry about the uncomfortable wooden seats of the boat, and the lack of toilet facilities. In view of this I am sure I was right in advising her that my own tour, which also involved a lot of walking and a long travel by coach and plane, would have left her with an even worse negative picture of the country. Luckily she was pleased with everything on the third tour, namely the Backwaters of Kerala. The coach was clean, the guide was informative and had a sufficiently loud voice to be heard, the boat was luxurious and had proper toilet facilities. She thought Kochi as a city much cleaner and not so noisy as Mumbai. I supposed in this way India somewhat redeemed itself in her eyes, but she stressed that she would never want to be in India again. Ever.

 

We sailed now into the full Indian Ocean and the sea was as smooth as in the Arabian Sea. Albina skipped breakfast and we both skipped lunch. I was also affected by a nose bleed, for the first time in a month, which was a little depressing. However, I spent the bulk of the day in the cabin with Albina, catching up on my blog after the last three heavy days of touring. We were supposed to have high tea but Albina that skipped that as well, although I brought her down three sandwiches.

 

Around 4pm the captain made an unexpected announcement. One of the crew members had been taken seriously ill and needed hospital treatment. As we were passing the Sri Lankan coast at the time, he had contacted the medical authorities and they were to send out a launch with a doctor to take her to Colombo for treatment. Consequently, the ship was being temporarily diverted to Colombo and was to wait for the launch to arrive some five miles off the coast. After sailing through an empty sea we plunged into the busy shipping lanes in the direction of Colombo. As Albina and I joined a group on the forecastle to watch for the arrival of the launch, we could see in the far hazy distance the skyline and features of the city of Colombo, with its cranes, skyscrapers and observation tower, similar in design to the one we had seen in Kuala Lumpur. Many of us brought our cabin binoculars onto the deck. Albina had been to Colombo, but I had not. For many passengers this diversion caused by the unfortunate sick crew member was a chance to see an extra country on the cruise that we had not expected to see. More surprising still was to see nearly 30 ships, mainly tankers and container ships, waiting patiently at anchor for a slot on the quayside. To me it looked like a serious bottle neck as I am sure that they may have been there for a number of days, if not weeks. I know that Sri Lanka's economy was in serious crisis, and the corrupt family that had run the country for many years had been booted out, but I assume that the port authorities simply do not have the capacity to turn the ships round faster. After a short wait a launch arrived from the mainland under a Sri Lankan flag and the unfortunate crew member, apparently a maid with an appendix problem, was taken off the boat. We all hoped she would recover.

 

We finally went upstairs for dinner at the View buffet restaurant. It was formal night tonight, with a special emphasis on the colour green. It was St Patrick's day after all. There were wonderful creations and a number even wore dark green leprechaun  hats. I conformed to the extent that I wore a pale green shirt chosen for me by Albina, but that was as far as it went. Still time for the late night quiz, Sharon was dressed in an elegant green dress and shawl and wore a green hat with flashing lights (at least until the battery ran out), and Ranald was in his traditional Robertson tartan trousers. Helen also wore a flowery pale green dress. The quiz was a disappointment because the special theme was St Patrick, a subject to which I had little to contribute. We still got nine answers right out of 15, but as usual we were beaten. The winners got eleven.

 

Back to our cabin as were watched Sky News on the television. My lovely Iga Swiatek had beaten Emma Raducanu at the Indian Wells tournament and Arsenal were out of the Europa League. A Russian plane had knocked a U.S. drone out of the neutral sky over the Black Sea. Poland had offered 4 ageing MiGs as an immediate delivery to weapon hungry Ukraine. The battle in Bakhmut continues with Russia losing far more soldiers than the Ukrainians, but still gaining ground through sheer numbers. Depressing news. I would prefer to trust our future to Fred Olsen Cruises and the peaceful Indian Ocean.