April 7th and 8th – Consuming Conspicuously in Dubai

Dubai is like no other city I've been to in the world. 

That doesn't necessarily mean that I like the place all that much, but it does have a totally unique appearance and atmosphere. Because, this is possibly the most modern, most manufactured, and most international city in the world – something that they've stretched to the point of ridiculousness (like pretty much everything in Dubai really).

Just sailing towards the city presents you with an almost unbelievable skyline lining the coastline – from most angles, it looks like something from a cartoon or a science fiction film. From the sea, you can't make out the outline of the ludicrous palm islands, but dominating everything is the world's tallest building, the phenomenally tall Burj Khalifa glinting in the sun – twice the size of anything else. 

In a place where "locals" make up just 15% of the population (and where they don't seem to have much to do with everyday life here), everyone you meet is from somewhere else, which just adds to the temporary nature of the place.

We arrived in the evening, so our first night we travelled down the 6 lane highway that cuts through the city to the Dubai Marina – a sparkling modern development of boats, skyscrapers and waterside restaurants. We had a delicious al fresco Lebanese dinner here; but what made this place different for Dubai, is that people actually walked round the Marina – yes, on foot and in the open air. This is not a pedestrian-friendly city, but the Marina was packed with promenading people of all races and nationalities. Looking at all the young people coming to eat, drink and be merry, the girls dressed in the shortest of skirts, it was odd to think that we were in what is nominally a deeply Islamic emirate – in Dubai, as long as you're spending money, it appears that anything goes.

To prove that the national religion in Dubai is money, the next morning we headed to the world's largest shopping mall, the Dubai Mall, at the foot of the monstrous Burj Khalifa. Again, apart from the groups of wealthy Emirati women dressed up in their burkhas, but carrying their bulging designer shopping bags, we could have been in any high-end western mall. It strikes me as odd that the mall is selling the most colourful and often-skimpy women's clothing, yet the local ladies are walking around in big black cover ups – when they get home to wear all this stuff, it must be like caterpillars turning into butterflies.

After watching the famous dancing fountains at the bottom of the Burj Khalifa, we decided to seek out what passes for real life here in Dubai, by catching the skytrain to the Creek, and then head to the Souk area. The train was packed with mostly Indians and Pakistanis, in fact, most nationalities were represented apart from the locals; and we then caught a dhow across the Creek, to the part of Dubai that was always its trading centre before the Malls and skyscrapers took over.

Suddenly, we encountered people actually walking along the streets, and the call to prayer echoed around (even if it was aimed at the Pakistani population rather than the Emiratis). The gold souk was interesting to wander around, even if I was less likely to buy here than in the luxury shops of the mall – it finally felt like there was a vibrant soul here that was missing in the sterile mall.

But, the evening was the main event. Some lovely friends were treating us to an evening meal at the iconic 7-Star hotel, the Burj Al Arab. From start to finish, this luxurious place is a study in opulence – from the towering, glittering atrium, to the fantastic dancing fountains, to the sumptuous uniform of the superbly attentive multi-international staff (amongst them, I spoke to Russians, Canadians, Indians and Sri Lankans).

This sumptuous seafood restaurant sits around an enormous aquarium, teeming with tropical fish of all shapes and sizes – it can be a bit disconcerting when a large dead-eyed shark comes to the window to gawp at you as you're mid-mouthful, eating one of his distant cousins. No expense is spared in the restaurant, but it did serve up the best seafood that I've ever tasted. It was an amazing experience to be in such an exclusive place - in a city that's all about conspicuous consumption, we might as well be consuming the best food possible.

This fantastic meal at the Burj Al Arab summed up so much of Dubai – it was over-the-top, yet wonderful to be a part of. The architecture was astounding, the prices stratospheric, the atmosphere supremely international, the setting hard-to-believe.

For me, there isn't a lot of charm about Dubai, but this super-modern city just demands your attention and can deliver experiences that you really can't find elsewhere.

April 4th – Lunch At The Taj Mahal

When I tell my friends that I went for lunch at the Taj Mahal, they would probably assume that I went to a dodgy South London curry house. However, today was one of those surreal days of cruising with Silversea, when they chartered a plane from Mumbai and flew over 100 of us over to the Taj Mahal for a day trip - the real one in Agra!

I had assumed that this would be a virtually impossible logistical exercise to get there and back in a day, given the distance, the bureaucracy of India, and the general chaos of its streets. Yet, the whole thing went off beautifully, organised with such military precision that it hardly felt rushed at all. Being able to land our charter at the military base at Agra (rather than at Delhi, which is a 3 hour drive away), meant that what seemed impossible, became possible.

It was a long day though – getting up at 4.30am, and getting back to the ship at 7.15pm. But, when you have a building as magnificent as the Taj Mahal as your end goal, a bit of fatigue is of no consequence. 

As someone who's never been to the Taj before, it's difficult to describe the feelings that the building inspires in the first time visitor. Of course, we've all seen it in a thousand photos, documentaries and films – but, seeing it in the flesh (or in the marble) for the first time is such a powerful feeling. 

This is a building whose architects knew all about the visual impact of the tantalisingly slow reveal. The Taj is hidden away within a high-walled compound, so a visitor on foot doesn't get any sight of it until they start to enter through one of the monumental gateways. Then, against the darkness of the gate building, your heart starts to beat faster as you catch your first glimpse of the white domes of the Taj shimmering away in the sunshine, perfectly framed by the dark portal of the gateway. It feels like you're walking into tourist nirvana, reaching one of the true holy grails of travel.

Normally in these circumstances, I can't help myself uttering the mindless tourist cliché of "wow" – but, as the Taj Mahal revealed its incredible beauty to us, I was just left speechless. When you're faced with absolute architectural perfection, what can you say?

The building was bigger than I thought it would be, yet once inside the mausoleum, it was smaller than I'd imagined. Somehow, the architecture was overwhelming, without being impersonal - it was obviously intended to be a huge spectacle, yet it touches you on an individual level. 

Seeing as it was intended to be a huge enduring statement of love from Shah Jahan to his favourite wife, I don't think I've ever seen aesthetic beauty encapsulated so perfectly in a single piece of architecture. Like his love (and his grief), the Taj is both wonderfully simple and incredibly complex.

Given the heat (in the mid-day sun, it was in the high 30s centigrade), we didn't have too long to explore, but even when I was walking away from the Taj, I couldn't keep my eyes off it. I was turning around so much that I eventually settled on just walking backwards hoping I didn't bump into anyone. 

Against the breathtaking splendour of the Taj, the rest of the details of the day melt into insignificance – the amazing lunch we had, the seamless travel arrangements that took us from coach to plane to coach, the visual assault that are the teeming streets of Mumbai – today was all about the Taj. 

It seems strange to look back and think that there were thousands of people also there, all sharing the same inspirational views as me, yet at times it felt like it was just me and the Taj. A truly incredible, indescribable, breathtaking building.

It feels like a dream…..

April 2nd – A Whistle-stop Tour of Cochin

Considering that we didn't have long in Cochin (in the beautiful Indian state of Kerala), we managed to pack quite a lot into our half day here. We arrived at 12pm, but the glacially slow Indian Immigration meant that it was more like 1pm that we were off the ship – seeing as we had to be back on board by 5pm, we had to move fast.

Negotiating with the tuk-tuk drivers is normally a real trial here, but somehow we got a guy to agree to drive us around for $5, so we asked him to get us to the restaurant at Malabar House in Fort Kochi ASAP. His idea of ASAP, was to pootle along at about 7mph, but at least he was a nice guy, and didn't take us to his "cousin's" sari shop on the way.

It might seem a bit strange to have lunch as a priority when time is tight and you're on an all-inclusive ship, but we needed to have some real Indian curry – for the last 1,000 years or so, Cochin has always been a centre of the spice trade, so we wanted to sample the city's raison d'être. It has to be said that everyone eating at the Malabar House was European, so it's not exactly a haunt of the locals, but the food was absolutely delicious – the best curry that we've had in a long time.

Having wolfed down the curry, it was back into the world's slowest tuk-tuk for a whistle-stop(!) tour of Cochin's greatest hits. In fairly quick succession, we sampled a few Cochin's influences from East and West. We went to see India's oldest Church, we visited the Chinese Fishing Nets (scarcely functioning, but as picturesque as ever), we frequented a spice shop (where I topped up on curry powder), and Tracy managed to find a nice Indian dress for the Asian night onboard that night.

An atmospheric place like Cochin deserves more time than this, but it can still pack in a lot of sights, and provide a lot of entertainment in just a few hours. Like the curry powder I bought, good things come in small packages.

April 1st – A Fast and Furious Day in Colombo

Every year that I come to Colombo, it appears to get just a little better – the streets are cleaner, things seem more organised, and the number of building sites around the city are a sign of a booming economy. Since peace broke out in 2009, there's a visible improvement in people's demeanours – to me, they generally appear much happier and more welcoming. 

Sadly, one thing that doesn't change in Colombo, is the way that the tuk tuk drivers at the port aggressively try to get your business, and attempt to overcharge the unsuspecting cruise passenger. It's not a pleasant introduction to the city. Having experienced this quite a few times, we knew to walk beyond the sharks at the port entrance, and to pick up a passing tuk tuk a bit later on.

Even so, as we were walking along, we were accompanied by a friendly, smart-looking chap who told us that he was a naval officer on his way back home. As we chatted, it all sounded quite plausible until, all of a sudden, he started telling us about a big festival that day taking place in one of the temples....... We've fallen for this one before – he arranges a tuk tuk for us, and after a load of driving around, the festival never materialises, and you pay an arm and a leg for wasting your own time. 

This hurdle negotiated, we headed through the old colonial Fort area, passing by some sections of the city that we'd not been able to visit before. Previously, they'd   been off-limits, languishing behind a "high security zone". Now that they'd been released from their exile, these grand old colonial buildings were slowly coming back to life. 

Unfortunately for them, in the intervening years, the focus of the businesses in the city has mostly moved elsewhere – it will be interesting to see if Fort can become the business centre of Colombo once again.

Next, we moved onto the Pettah District, where all the chaotic street markets are. This area used to look like a bomb had just gone off (maybe it had?), but while it's still a hugely busy district, teeming with people, the pavements are now spotlessly clean. Everywhere we walked, people said cheery "hellos", and gave us big toothy smiles – it really put a spring in our steps. We made it over to the fruit and vegetable market, which was crammed with people, yet the vendors still had time to indulge a couple of tourists who obviously weren't going to buy anything.

From here, we went to the Wolvendaal Church, a solid church built by the Dutch in the 1750s – with its historic pews and centuries-old tombstones, this place really wears its history on its sleeve, and we were given some interesting stories by the caretaker, who had a real pride in his job.

We then walked through a Muslim area where school was just emptying out – we picked up a bodyguard of 5 delightful young boys who giggled away as they tried out their English on us (they have pride of place on the first photo & we hope they see themselves here). It's interesting to think that what religious tension there is in this city, tends to be between the majority Buddhists and the Tamil Hindus – here, the Muslims tend to keep out of the conflict.

It was now getting scorchingly hot, so we caught a tuk tuk down to the Galle Face Hotel to have a cooling drink by the sea. This colonial grand dame has been through a long renovation process to bring it back to its old Days of the Raj splendour. They seem to have done a good job on it, although I heard mixed reviews of the food served for lunch.

We'd foregone lunch to do some more exploring, heading up Galle Face Green, buffeted by some cooling sea breezes, and then popped into the Old Dutch Hospital, which now has some upmarket shops, pubs and restaurants – all at decent prices.

So, we really enjoyed our day in Colombo – in the last couple of ports, it's nice to be able to visit places that are on the up, where signs of improvement are all around you. If only they could do something about those tuk tuk drivers.......