This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise In contrast to the trip to Luxor, our time in Cairo was pretty depressing. First, you have to realize that Cairo is the largest city in Africa and the Middle East at 20 million people. From the overview, you learned that poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and…
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise Sharm el Sheik is at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula. It was a sleepy little town for many years, but now has become a huge resort area boasting some of the best diving in the world. While I was very tempted to take advantage…
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise One of our favorite stops in the Middle East was Petra, the capital city of the ancient Nabataeans, an industrious Arabian people who settled in southern Jordan over 2000 years ago. Petra sat on the north-south trade route, with caravans bringing goods from the Red…
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise After leaving Oman, we spent 4 days transiting to our first stop in Egypt (Safaga), including a couple of days on the Red Sea. While most of the trip was uneventful, we did have on run-in with Somali pirates. We had earlier boarded (at sea)…
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise Okay, let’s start with a test. How many people actually know where Oman is? Be truthful! Well, I didn’t really know either. Frankly, I’ve always paid more attention to Asia than the Middle East. But if you look on a map, you will see how…
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise Well, our sojourn around India finally came to an end. Unfortunately, during our last day in Jaipur, Glen developed an unpleasant case of “Delhi Belly” and, as a consequence, his day in Mumbai…
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise Heading north from Langkawi, you quickly cross into Thailand again. Our stop for the day was Phuket, Thailand’s largest island, located in Andaman Sea. Phuket traditionally made its money through tin and rubber, but in recent years, it has been all about tourism – enjoying…
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise Langkawi (the official name is Langkawi, the jewel of Kedah) is an archipelago of about 100 islands located 20 miles off the coast of Malaysia and quite close to the border with Thailand. Like the mainland, the population is primarily Malay and they practice Islam. …
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise Ah Singapore! This was my third time visiting (Deb’s second), and we agree it is one of our favorite cities. It is a true jewel in Southeast Asia and a crossroads for trade across the Pacific. It is highly diverse both ethnically (Chinese, Malay, Indian,…
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This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise Well, we decided to brave the grueling traffic around Bangkok to go visit Ayutthaya, the second capital of Siam. Although much of it is in ruins today, at one point (around 1700) it was the largest city in the world, with over 1 million residents. …
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