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Big bus is in NYC and we saw them in Istanbul. They are a worldwide company. Clogging the streets.

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Never been to Muscat. Don't remember how much. It's been a while. You are docked way away from the city. Way. The ships tours might be a good idea. Just be forewarned.

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Demos are very common in India we were in Calcutta for a total of 7 days and I think there was at least one every day. Maharajah burger. Had a few of those. Did the bread fall apart on you? Enjoy your time in Dubai.

I believe you are going to Salahla in Oman? The city is kinda nice. Very friendly. But the taxi thing could a bit of a problem. At the gate there are cars. They will take you in and ask what time you want to go back. They will quote a price. That's one way. They will find you. Then they bring you back and want to charge you for all the hours he was hanging. A. That's where the paper and pen come in handy. But the police at the port won't come after if there is a problem. Just beware.

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Not counting red fort, your right about that , humayoun tomb and the lotus temple are worthy places to visit. The others you didn't miss much.

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Would like to know what the 12 sites in one day was. I would have passed on rajghat for the red fort. Hope you at least saw it. I did write about the walking in Delhi. I have never had a problem but my friend got the poop on the shoe treatment. India is a great place to spend weeks traveling in a private car.

Saw my friend pics on fb from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Looking nice. Never been there.

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I noticed that too. Always a shame when that happens. The taj is just such an elegant structure. The slightest thing can take away a lot. But it's still the taj.

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I mean the sunrise was latter. And we had a taj view room from the clarks Shiraz as well. Just needed really really good eyes.

You time in Agra seems to have been very busy. But you did get to see a lot. My only thing that I might disagree with you is getting to the taj early. Maybe because we got there in Jan the time of sunrise was earlier so we got to see it change many colors. You now are pretty much at the end of tourist season. I think we went around 10:00PM to the full moon. And we also did it in one day. Looking toward to your report of Delhi. We spent about a week there.

I don't think I got any good pics at night. But that's ok. Being there was what it's all about.

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I just saw an ad for them and they say free wifi on board. $1 not bad. Don't forget to take a shower before you get off.

My wife has a mild form and what we do is never walk through the casino. Also one side of the aft pool is smoking. There it can get tricky. I have found that the more Europeans on board the more smokers there are. If you want to eat outside in the rear you are limited to one side.

It is possible that they are not allowed to. Some ports do not allow that. There was a cruise that stopped somewhere in the South Pacific a few years ago. New port. All the drivers were waiting at the gate. Bus after bus pulled in and the drivers realized that all the pax were going to bypass them. The blocked the gate and nothing go out. I believe the pax rebounded and the ship left. An extreme example but to the locals a real issue.

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Seems like it was a hassle leaving the ship. I do remember the long walk to the fate of the pier. I wonder if lots of people feel like you do and give the feedback to HAL that they might just skip Sri Lanka all together. Not sure why but it looks like that's what has happened to Burma.

The baksheesh culture is alive and well in India. But that's not why he would not let you take you own bag. No Indian that can afford to stay in a hotel would carry their own bag. Just doesn't happen. When we arrive in chennai at our hotel we walk outside and right away, can I get you a car? No , I said, we are going for a walk. The doormen just could not understand why we would do that. No Indian would. We would find that all over the country.

I think we were in that mall as well as we were at the hard rock restaurant. Hope you have enjoy the monuments in Agra. The city is nothing to write home about. Waiting for you report.

When dealing with a driver anywhere what you should do is carry a pen and paper. Make a price and have HIM write it down. Therefore you will have no problem. Learned that many years ago.

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We had a great guide in Agra. He was a collage teacher. For a full day we were told to pay him $25 but gave him $40. Amazing. With only one exception all our guides were wonderful.

Sorry you didn't like it. I thrive in places like that. Yes , an early start would have been better. Like I said, we hired a car and driver for six hours from the Hilton. I think it was like $28 and we gave him another $20 at the end took us everywhere we wanted to go and the car belonged to the Hilton.

Throughout the third world everyone tries to sell you something, some more then others. You will see that x10 in India. To be fair about Colombo the gov sell the idea about cruise ships coming that all these tourists come and spend. In reality ,sadly that is not the case. The line sells tours from a company most likely owned by someone from the gov and almost nothing gets back to the local population. Always a sore point with me. Enjoy India.

I did the prinsendam in 2002 stopping in Dakar, Banjul, Accra , Abidjan, Benin, Namibia , and South Africa.

But you can be sure it will not be east or west Africa.

I asked once but was told no. Did the Australian have a slice of beet in it?

A hamburger on the dinner menu. Well over 400 days on ships and never saw that on a dinner menu. Not that at time I would have wanted one. I have been tempted to order one.

The hustlers really only work the fancy hotels and the area around Connaught. Once they know you they are not so bad. We stayed at the ShangriLa for 5 nights. By the third morning they knew us and just said hi.

Considering how the had to discount the last one and cancelled the next one I think not. These cruises are planned 3 years in advance so don't plan on it.

Karims is the correct name. Really good nan and butter chicken.

Yes, the time to go is just when they open. That was you get to see the changing color of the marble. Hopefully the reflecting pools will be filled. They are not always. Agra fort is stunning. Things not to miss in Delhi are the red fort, the old Delhi, the Friday mosque, I know your on a tour but near the mosque is a famous restaurant called nizams I think. Good food. Qutab minar. Largest minaret in Asia. Be careful in New Delhi. Very safe but someone will always be outside your hotel. As you leave they will very friendly as you where you are going. No matter what you say they will tell you it closed. Blocked. There are riots that way. Street is closed. Etc. much better to go to their cousins emporium. They will only follow you about 200m. Then a new group take over. Kinda funny.

That's good. Not sure where that is but other then the taj, at night the air quality can be very bad. Lots of burning on cow patties.