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Jane Rider

Jane Rider

reiste i 35 land Les mer🇺🇸Houston
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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise
      Our neighbors, Pat and Bob
      French Onion SoupI don't know what it was but it tasted goodMystery food that tasted great

      Formal Dinner

      30. mars 2024, Indian Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      We continue towards Africa on the Indian Ocean. Tonight was formal night. Fortunately formal means no jeans and men must wear a shirt with a collar. Everyone on the ship was served a a 5 course dinner complete with wine for each course. With my wine tolerance of 2 tablespoons it was overwhelming. I didn't recognize most of the food but it all tasted wonderful.

      Nautical term: To know the ropes. There were miles and miles of cordage in the rigging of a square rigged vessel. The only way of keeping track and knowing the function of all these lines was to know where they were located. It took an experienced seaman to "know the ropes."      Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise
      1

      Wildlife on Wildlife Watch!

      29. mars 2024, Indian Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Another sea day. Wildlife watch is at 7:15 AM each morning. We gather in the Explorers Lounge on the 7th floor sometimes on the deck and sometimes inside behind the glass. We usually see only waves and clouds but for the last few days there have been a lot of flying fish and dolfins: common dolphins, pantropical spotted whale, Indopacific spotted dolphin. I have not been able to catch them on camera so I will post what we usually see.Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise

      VOC & British East India Co.

      28. mars 2024, Arabian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      A first of several sea days on our way to Mauritius. One of today's enrichment lectures was about the Dutch East India company (the VOC) and the British East India company. Both of them were integral to the exploration and colonization of the world. Not only did they have charters to do trade but they were granted police power, no liability and occasional military back up. The speaker likened this to granting Amazon a monopoly with American support, ability to raise and use an army and navy, and power to negotiate with foreign governments. Move over UPS and DHL. Walmart and other retailers better market through Amazon or we will put you out of business. If Mexico has some businesses that don't want to comply we will send the US military. (Sounds a bit like United Fruit doesn't it?) Maybe we will let Amazon run the Mexican government. Capitalism at its best!Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise
      Houseboats on the Backwater
      Seen on the way to the backwaterRice fields bordering the backwaterWash dayPrimary care clinic

      Cochin

      27. mars 2024, India ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

      Cochin ( population of greater urban area 2.1 million) is a busy port in southern India on the Laccadive Sea. Instead of touring the city we chose to go to the backwaters that run through the rice fields. It gave us a contrast to the urban areas. There were very poor dwellings with people bathing and washing their clothes in the muddy river juxtaposed with developing luxury resorts.

      A few extras: I was also able to see some new birds and learned this is where Darjeeling tea grows. The tea experts say that tea bags contain "dust tea"-- the tiny crumbs of tea leaves left over from processing--definitely inferior.      Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise

      Going to Cochin

      27. mars 2024, Laccadive Sea ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Leaving Sri Lanka and headed to Cochin, India. This will be our only stop in India giving us a tiny glimpse into a vast and diverse continent. We would have had several stops in India before the route changed due to problems on the Red Sea.

      I heard the news about the container vessel colliding into the Baltimore Bridge. Ironically it was headed to Colombo, Sri Lanka our previous port. I didn't comment on the port, but it was huge and quite busy. I think its business has increased because of the Red Sea pirates. It is a convenient port with access to multiple countries after sailing around the Horn of Africa.

      Sadly, I took no pictures of the port but will attach a few of the city that show it is moving into the modern world. One picture taken at night shows the dock. Best I can do.      Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise
      Geoffrey Bawa house
      Geoffrey Bawa house--outside inGeoffrey BawaGeoffrey Bawa housePartial view of Parliament complex

      Modern Architecture in Colombo

      25. mars 2024, Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

      I learned that the founder of Modern Tropical architecture, Geoffrey Bawa, lived in Colombo so of course I wanted to see what this was all about. I visited his home in which he connected and remodeled 4 small bungalows. He skillfully combined the indoors and outdoors, played with light and kept the visuals simple. Wall decorations but no "gee gaws" or designs reminiscent of temples. Very peaceful inside a busy city.

      He designed muliple buildings, the most famous of which is the Parliament building. We were only allowed to see the outside. His buildings are characterized by how they fit into their natural surroundings. He was quite a pioneer!      Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise
      Banyan tree in temple represents tree Buddha sat under
      Example of museum like items in templeSolid jade BuddhaInteresting buildingIndependence Hall Memorial 1948Muslim Mosque. Yes it was rainingMajor department store chainGood bye Sri Lanka

      Colombo, Sri Lanka aka Ceylon

      24. mars 2024, Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      Sri Lanka has a history similar to other southeast Asian countries having been colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch and then the English. Unfortunately its post colonial period has been marked by more civil war and strife but recently it has become more stable and its economy is recovering.
      Main industries are textiles, tea, gems and jewelry (it is the only source of a medium blue colored sapphire) and tourism.

      We visited a popular Buddhist temple (80% of the population is Buddhist). Uncharacteristically it seemed a bit like a museum because it displayed many of the items it had been gifted. It also had a tree that represented the tree Buddha sat under. Apparently a banyan tree is supposed to be included in all Buddhist temples.      Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise
      Robert Fortune
      A little green tea anyone?

      Story of Tea Part Two

      23. mars 2024, Bay of Bengal ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      We are now in the Bay of Bengal and it is time for part two in the story of tea. The Brits were not satisfied with correcting the trade balance. They wanted to know how to grow and process the tea leaves, secrets closely guarded by the Chinese. So they financed a spy, a renowned horticulturnist Robert Fortune. He was able to locate and gain access to the area growing green tea. He discovered the Chinese were adding gypsum and Prussian Blue (potential poisons) to green tea to make it green because they thought the Brits liked the greener color better. He was also able to smuggle out plants and seeds. None of these survived because an Indian port official left the terrariums carrying the plants open. Meanwhile he was searching for the source of plants for black tea. He discovered it and found out it was the same plant with different processing. This time he labeled the terrariums "Do Not Open." They made it successfully to the fields in India where tea thrived.Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise
      Tea plant
      Opium plantProfits

      Story of Tea Part One

      22. mars 2024, Bay of Bengal ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Sailing through the Andaman Sea. Since today is a sea day I will tell the story of the Chinese, the Brits, tea and opium. As Britain imported tea it rapidly became the beverage of choice even displacing beer. In addition, it improved the health of Britain because they had to boil water to make it. Water in those days was often contaminated and probably tasted pretty bad. However as demand rose Britain began having trouble paying for it and China would not share the plants or the processing information. In fact Britain was paying with silver and it was depleting the treasury. Then Britain discovered they could ship opium from India to China. As Indians became addicted to opium demand went up and soon the trade imbalance disappeared. The Indian government tried to oust the British to stop the opium imports. The Brits prevailed in three wars so not only did the Chinese fail to stop the import of opium but they had to allow the Brits access over multiple new ports and cede Hong Kong to Britain.

      But this is not the end of the story of tea. More in my next posting.      Les mer

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    • Jane RiderReisendeWorld cruise
      Buddhist Temple
      Inside the Buddhist templeCashew fruit is yellow; the nut is the small brown attachment.Vendor stalls lining the road.Interesting party boat in harbor

      Phuket, Thailand

      21. mars 2024, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Phuket, population 400,000, is an island off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. It used to produce tin and rubber but now its economy is based almost entirely on tourism. Sunshine and white beaches are attracting tourists in increasing numbers.

      We visited a cashew production site, a Buddhist temple and viewed the beach. The government just opened up real estate sales to foreigners and housing prices have escalated. Traffic was moderate but as the population continues to grow I suspect it will become a nightmare.

      Next will be a few sea days.      Les mer

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