Where in the World are Dave and Elizabeth?

Look who found our picnic table that was hidden by trees. More about why we were hiding our midday snack in today’s blog.   I named him (or her) Malé cat, even though he lives on another of the Maldives.   Day 1 of 2 in Malé, Maldives Today marks the start of the altered itinerary in which we bypass the Suez Canal, the Middle East, and Europe in favor of going around Africa.  It’s obviously safer given current issues, but it’s still a little sad to miss Petra, Istanbul, Ephesus, Athens, India, and other stops. The revised schedule includes some amazing places, too, so I am focusing on that.  Instead of heading north to Mumbai, India, as originally planned, we sailed from Sri Lanka to Malé, the capital of the Maldives. The people of the Maldives are generally of southern Indian and Sri Lankan Indian descent. They converted from Hinduism to Moslem in about the 11th century.  Of course, it is Ramadan right now. Moslems have been a significant minority in sever...

Today, we took a Tuk Tuk tour of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The process of connecting with our pre-arranged guide was chaotic, but we finally connected amid the tumult of traffic and hordes of freelanceTuk Tuk operators . 🛺   Our first stop was the Christian Reformed Church of Sri Lanka, also known as the Wolvendaal Church. It was completed in 1757, when Sri Lanka was governed by the Dutch. At that time, it was in a wilderness outside the city, and tunnels were built from the port to the church building. The governors were buried in the floor, similar to the tombs in Westminster Abbey, and those who died of a historic plague in Sri Lanka were marked by a skull and crossbones on their stones. The church building is still in use.  We stopped outside of a red and white mosque. The red symbolizes the inside of a pomegranate. We stopped by a Hindu Temple, 🛕  People were worshipping within. There is an ancient temple and a newer temple side by side. The temple is dedicated to the go...

 Singapore Part 3 Dave and I are grateful for Anthony and Phyllis.  They had never met us, but, when Dave contacted them (with help from our Nashville brother, Henry Ong),they showed us such hospitality! We were planning to taxi 🚕 to the Central Christian Church on the north end of Singapore, but Anthony offered to pick us up.  He drove from their home in one part of the city to the cruise port on the south end of the island. He took us about thirty or forty minutes — via one of Singapore’s cool underground expressways — to where the church meets.   Anthony gave us a tour of the wonderful building which the church designed and built. He introduced us to many members. Among other things, Anthony and Phyllis help head up a benevolence ministry. The time is worship and fellowship was great. Everyone was welcoming. After, Anthony and Phyllis, along with a brother named Desmond, took us to lunch at a Chinese Clay Pot Restaurant. We had planned to take a taxi or subway to...

Singapore, part 2 of 3 Late in the afternoon, we regrouped and headed out again.  Our first stop was Singapore’s famous Garden by the Bay.  We toured one of the giant, domed greenhouses.  When nighttime came, we walked over to the manmade “tree towers” to watch the light show.  It was synchronized with selections from an opera that were broadcast simultaneously.  After the show was over, we went to the top of the main “tree” observatory to view Singapore’s nighttime skyline.  The lights were gorgeous, but I hugged the center while the others all ran to the edges to get even better looks..   Our friends told us that no visit to Singapore is complete without chili crab or a visit to Newton Food Centre. So off we went! After walking in circles, we finally found a cab and got to the hawker center around 10:PM.  Dave and I were so thirsty, we must have chugged a gallon between us of freshly squeezed limeade.  We all feasted on the crab as well as ...