TIME OUT
Riding the waves
GUSTASP AND JEROO IRANI
|
The world takes on a different hue when you are adrift on the high seas.
|
Photo: Gustasp and Jeroo Irani
Ethereal beauty: One of the 1,969 islands that make up a World Natural Heritage Site at Halong Bay.
WE love cruising because it's swathed in a sense of grand adventure. Set adrift from land onto the high seas, the world takes on a different hue; one can plan one's life, hatch a dream and feel totally swept away by where we are and who we are with.
We enjoyed that familiar sense of freedom on our recent cruise on the Costa Allegra. It was just five nights and four days filled with the promise of stopping at exotic ports of call — Sanya, the capital of Hainan Island at the southern tip of China, and Halong Bay in Vietnam with two days at sea when dawn to midnight on-board activities would leave little time for introspection or ennui!
Our floating home
On embarkation, we were greeted by staff dressed in extravagant period costumes and escorted to our cabins. After a quick exploration of the recently refurbished seven-deck leviathan, we stood on the pool deck even as a soft ocean breeze caressed our skin. The ship shuddered, the throb of the engines quickened and we were off. The glittering Hong Kong skyline melted in a pyrotechnic sunset, briefly bathing us in glorious colour.
As darkness gathered and the Costa Allegra was decked in fairy lights, we explored our floating home. The Costa is a cosy and intimate deluxe ship, not big and brash like the new generation of ocean liners. It is indeed quite a saucy little ship capable of throwing her weight against the ocean which was occasionally a little rough.
On the at-sea days, when we weren't grazing at the restaurants, we succumbed to hours of dreamy lassitude in our Grand Suite with large portholes that fielded the rays of the sun in the day and moonbeams at night. Done up in warm hushed hues, it came with two bedrooms, a spacious bathroom with a bathtub and shower, walk-in wardrobe with a safe, TVs, telephone, music system and fresh fruits. There were 10 suites (with balconies) and only three Grand Suites, and 397 cabins. A swimming pool, three Jacuzzis, outdoor jogging track, five restaurants and five bars were some of the other on-board facilities.
Our itinerary was leisurely and not the speedboat variety. We would indulge in the Zen of doing nothing on board or make frantic forays in the great outdoors when the ship docked. For instance, we would dawdle in our suite on at-sea days; gaze at the floating scenery and the heart-swelling sunrises and sunsets. There was a sense of being reborn and feeling invigorated. By day, for the hyper active there were wine appreciation courses, art and craft classes, and exercise and dance lessons. We did sunrise stretches, took part in walkathons, and in pool and deck games and even learnt how to do the salsa.
Eclectic fare
And at night we enjoyed Italian theme nights with a gourmet dinner in the gilded Verandah restaurant followed by a ritzy show. There were French- and Chinese-centric dinners too and delectable samplings of Indian fare. Later we would head for the Folies Bergere Ballroom where the ship really rocked, to be entranced by glitzy fashion shows, international standard Vegas-style revues, headline entertainers, lusty Italian singers, and pianists who lent the cruise its siren charm.
Sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, we hung out on the deck, inhaling the salt-laden sea breeze, waiting for our port of call to be etched on the hazy horizon. Soon the port of Sanya on Hainan Island emerged out of tattered veils of mist. Later, after a quick breakfast, we went ashore, past Sanya's spanking new cruise terminal, and then boarded a bus to go to Wuzhizhou Island and Luhitou Park which was the shore excursion that we had opted for. The drive through Sanya, the southern-most city in the country, revealed a charming metro. Indeed China is slowly being prettified, thanks to wealth and tourism.
The Chinese essence
After a short boat ride, we arrived at the island with its palm-lined shoreline and the air of a manicured Eden. Yet Wuzhizhou Island has held onto its Chinese heart. Chinese women in traditional garb sashayed down immaculate paths shading alabaster complexions against the strong rays of the sun, with colourful parasols. A joyous getaway for the Mainland Chinese, Wuzhizhou was forested and sculpted with curved bridges, tiny shady pagodas. In the Bird Park, children chased skittish white doves and preening peacocks. At the Pirate Bar, men swilled beer while the women rifled eagerly through the curio stalls scattered around the island. At thatched roof restaurants, girdled by flowering lawns, families ate with warm noisy bonhomie on a variety of fare. We, however, enjoyed a classic Chinese meal, a 15-course banquet at the Harvest Qilin Hotel in Sanya.
Back on the Costa, we bade Sanya goodbye and the next morning, the ship dropped anchor in Vietnam. From Bai Chay Boat Terminal, we drove through Halong city, 170 km east of Hanoi. Languorous Vietnam is the perfect antidote to cacophonous Hong Kong. There is a tangible sense of history here... of a country ravaged by war and occupation but beginning to master the rudiments of capitalism, getting used to peace and learning to stand tall!
More intriguing than chasing history was our cruise around Vietnam's Halong Bay, a World Natural Heritage site with some 1,969 islets rising from the clear emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Halong Bay is ethereal, surreal and unvarnished in its beauty, an area where nature seems to have had fun. Lapped by waves for hundreds of thousands of years, the bay has been gouged into stalactite caves, crescent beaches and weird-shaped formations that erupt out of the sea like arms reaching in prayer to the heavens. The Halong Bay cruise was followed by a puppet show and a folklore show as well as a spell at one of the clamorous street markets.
Back to the world
Our cruise was coming to an end and on our last day, we enjoyed the high jinks on the ship, feeling totally disconnected from the outside world. When the following morning, the Costa Allegra docked in Hong Kong, we felt like we had been away in Lotus Land, and the world outside seemed slightly frightening and disordered. Fate would now have a chance to meddle in our lives, and upheavals and crises would become the order of the day!
Quickfacts
One can opt for a four night cruise or a five night cruise aboard the five-star Costa Allegra which sails out of Hong Kong.
For more information, contact TCI, PSA for Costa Cruises in India Tel: (022) 67401000, 22043535. E-mail: leisureagent@tci.co.in
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
