ON TOUR Pics Archive #1 2006

These images have been made on a 5megPixel Point and Shoot camera, the ones taken from aeroplanes have also been taken through three inch thick, dirty glass. They have  not been chosen for their technical merit, rather to add colour to the stories..

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THEM, IN REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER ... 

To see the previous

ON TOUR Pics Archive #2 2005

Click HERE

Do You Think They Like It?

"No parent wants to have to take their baby to and from the hospital on a Honda. What ... do you think they are stupid?" The speaker is an expat Englishman married to a Vietnamese woman. With his massive income they have bought a second hand 4WD but he won't drive it. "No way, I have a Vietnamese driver. If the locals saw me driving it, they'd drop their bikes under it and demand I buy them new ones!" He says that all Vietnamese want cars and this is going to be a huge headache for the government. Still, UNICEF reported that in 2002 the 11 kids a day who died from traffic accidents were only 12.7% of the child deaths, the number one cause (48.8%) was drowning. This pic of a family of four will be replaced when I can get the dream image: an in-focus family of six!

Make Way For The Man With The Fence

He, with half the bikes, is headed for the road on the left. We, and most of the cars and trucks, are headed for the road on the right. Somehow, with lots of tooting, it happens. The tooting is to let you know 'I am here!' ... but there are so many people tooting that it loses impact. Riding a bike in Saigon is a great time to listen to your MP3 player. Just make sure you keep your eyes peeled.

Everything Stops For The Train

Slowly approaching the end of its two day trip from Hanoi, (it was three days up until last year), the train in Vietnam has travelled about the same distance as Brisbane to Melbourne through some pretty spectacular scenery as it negotiates the mountain ranges in the middle of the country.  

Street Stall

Hat, sunglass, coconut, magazine and cigarette sellers ply their trade to the passing throng of Hondas. It is not known if she pays a fee, but these stalls are only setup along stretches of pavement which are not in front of existing businesses. Since the late nineties capitalism is the key driver for all except the largest state-owned businesses in Vietnam.

Well-Tended Trees

The tree along all the Saigon streets are remarkably well cared-for. They have the lower metre painted white, are numbered, and treated with great care. They overdose on carbon dioxide from the Hondas and receive a daily wash during the wet season. 

Mike Down 

Suffering another long lunch in Saigon, Mike Down is another Ansett Refugee who has been in Vietnam for three years.

Wayne Martin 

Originally from Adelaide, Wayne started flying in Vietnam at about the same time as Mike Down and sees no reason to leave his adopted new home. 

Antarctic Explorer Returns 

Captain Dean Marshall waits for lunch guests at the La Caprice Restaurant at the top of the Landmark building in Saigon. He recently returned from his second trip to the white continent. Like all good expeditions it was curtailed as Mother Nature served-up a few reality checks. 

Frantic Ferries 

Providing a link between one residential area and downtown until the new tunnel and bridge are completed, these ferries never stop operating, maniacally spinning across the Saigon river, dodging weed, ships, barges and each other. At night, as you gaze down from the rooftop bar of the Majestic Hotel, when they disgorge their load of, perhaps, a hundred hundred Hondas, the spewing headlights look like fire from a dragon's mouth. To watch an ambulance, lights flashing, waiting for the ferry to get their cargo to hospital ... gives new meaning to the word patient.

City Port - Saigon 

The never-ending stream of traffic, both up the road and on the river, ensures the spectator is never bored. The life-giving weed that meanders down from the mountains doesn't seem to clog the boats' propellers. In the foreground the Russian hydrofoils that whisk you to the beach city of Vung Tau are parked. Take earplugs and a good book for the ninety-minute trip and grab a seat near the emergency exit. Previously regarded as a lower class suburb, the area across the river is set to become the financial centre of town. 

Saigon Side Streets

The practical conical hats and hanging shoulder baskets are as common in the side streets of Saigon as the demon cigarette stalls and footpath-mounted Honda Dream II motorbikes.

Pre Work Coffee

With the flags all flying for Reunification Day a group of office workers stop for coffee at a street-side cafe.  

Saigon Opera House

If you are planning on a trip to Saigon, save the evening of the 9th of the month for a trip to the Opera. After the speeches (in both Vietnamese and English) you will be treated to an excellent nights' entertainment. There is a good chance that whatever you see will culminate in a great version of Nessen Dorma.  

Three Historic Sights

Out front of the Opera House is Lam Son (Peace) Square, where in 1963 a Buddhist Monk protesting at the treatment of Buddhists by the then Catholic President Diem, (his nutty wife and insane brother), set himself on fire. (Pic and story HERE) Then there's the famous Continental Hotel, which featured in Graham Greene's book The Quiet American, which continues to stand like a rock. And finally the Cyclo-Driver offering you a lift around the streets. Just agree on a price before you get in. Chances are he may be very well educated, maybe even a surgeon or professor from 'the old days'. They say that when the northerners arrived they decreed that men of importance, their sons and their sons' sons would be prevented from rising-up again. Who knows if it's true? But many believe that between three to twelve years in 're-education camps' was a little over the top.  

Saigon River Sunrise

Asian sunrises and sunsets are distinctive, especially during the wet season where the moisture in their air fogs your camera lens for half an hour. The river never stops, either the traffic or the ship yard. Approaching this bend every ship has to sound their horn five times as they commit to the turn. Two 777 Expat Captains spent three months getting a riverside apartment in an exclusive building, (including paying a special 'handling fee' to improve their position on the list), right opposite the ship yard. They moved after one night. 

Wet Weather Riding

At the first splat of rain the normally fluid Vietnamese traffic goes crazy. Whenever they are, the riders will stop, dismount, retrieve their rain capes from under their seats and struggle into them with a flourish. A great marketing aid, many companies have their logo printed on the capes. The cape will extend over all the family, from the handle bars to the back of the bike. During the heavy rain everyone drives onto the petrol station forecourts and waits under the awning. It's nothing to see two hundred bikes crowded there, and an exasperated attendant trying to find his real customers. Many, like this guy in the orange, put their feet up on the petrol tank to keep 'em dry. 

Roll Cloud - Tan Son Nhat Airport

A full developed roll cloud precedes an active thunderstorm at Saigon's Tan Son Nhat (pronounced Tan-son-at) airport during the wet season. Lasting only twenty minutes, the daily storms kill the steamy heat of the day and wash the streets. For Pilots the trick is to take enough fuel to hold for duration of the weather which shows up on aircraft's two weather radar systems, or divert to your alternate landing point for fuel. 

Frightened Flight Attendants

Obviously Flight Attendants (you can tell by their identical bags), these Vietnamese girls are scared of the morning sun damaging their skin. They earn about double the monthly wage of the average Hanoi worker (40% from their airline and 60% from buying saleable items). A week of flying brings in about the same amount as their rice-farming relatives make in a year, but they have to pay dearly for the privilege. Some, without important family contacts, have to pay an extortionate amount to secure a job. And then they have to split their income with many extended family members. Their working conditions are hard and time off is rare.

2004 - Before The Safety Era

"See that old tower, tear it down." From the safety of a Vietnam Airlines cockpit Peter Capewell and I marvelled at these three guys dismantling the very tower they were standing-on. The shot doesn't show the hideously strong wind blowing at the time.

2005 - Cleared Land

The old buildings have gone and the new world has arrived in the form of a set of architectural drawings given as aid by the Japanese. The drawings are of Fukuoka's new International airport, designed to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes. Free of charge. The only rider is that Japanese companies get to win the tenders. Clever. But Japanese companies demand safety standards...

2006 - Well Underway

Wearing bright orange hard hats whenever on site, the Vietnamese workers looked incongruous, carrying their lunch in their helmets swinging from the handle bars as they rode their Hondas to work, then dutifully wearing them on their heads even when there was no structure higher than a man. Hopefully the Japanese safety standards will trickle through the community and we'll see real welding masks used, instead of fifty-cent sunglasses.

Lighting Experts

Q Bar patrons gaze across the street at the Caravelle's front entrance, decorated with thousands of miniature lights in the shape of the Vietnamese flag to celebrate Reunification Day. You think you have seen spectacular lighting until you see the Saigon street decorations, like those from Christmas Eve 2003 (below).

Q Bar

Under the Saigon Opera House a bar which would be more at home in New York shatters all your illusions about Asia. New York prices keep the locals at bay.

Taxi

If you are the size of a normal Australian bloke, don't try sitting like this. In an effort to control the pollution and sheer numbers of Hondas in the decade since the switch from bicycles, the Vietnamese Government has introduced a few rules: only one Honda per person AND a max engine size of 150cc. The Police have 250cc bikes so they can go faster than everyone else. Bike Taxi Riders are on every corner, watching the world go-by and soliciting anyone on two legs. When you realise that their bike is rusted-through and observe that you are a safer rider it's time to take the plunge, but study the traffic flows first and get a helmet!   

Going Parking

When everyone in the extended family lives under the one roof there's not much privacy. Saigon's French-inspried flood-proof gutters make a good spot to park the bike, sit down and get serious. This is the median strip of the main street although here there are not many cars. Just out of shot the Hondas continue to thunder down the right hand service road.  

Buskers

Only in Vietnam does a Busker have a speaker, microphone, battery, amp and, oh yeah, A Bass Player! As they shuffle up the street in the gutter one wife grabs the speaker and moves it up ahead of them. The other wife is hiding from the camera behind the bass player (you can see her shadow). She's probably soliciting tips but is scared-off by the camera.

A Nice Night Out

Westerners ask about Vietnam, expecting it to be, well, I dunno. If you had told me that they had the coffee culture for over a hundred years from the French, and had been having coffee and croissants for breakfast when Australia was still at the jam and toast stage, I would have been astounded. Overlooking the city of 8 million's main intersection is three floors of Costa Coffee shops. This night was a cause for celebration, Reunification Day (Independence Day) - 31 years after the north and south finally joined. It took a few years, a war with Cambodia and another with China (they won both), and there have been a few teething problems. But now they come out to party for any occasion, Tet, (New Year), every full moon, Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas Eve...um, Saturdays.  

DVD Memory 

Kim and Thuy (Pronounced Twee) sell DVDs. Every DVD I have bought in Saigon has been sold to me by Thuy. She was showing me the latest releases ("that one's no good ... this one ok") when she flicked past one without showing it to me. I say, "What is that one?"  She says, "I sold you that one already." She was right. But I haven't been there for over a year. 

Imagine The Traffic 

Many thousands of roads around Vietnam look like this. What will happen if cars replace the bikes? You can't stop this country. At over 8 percent growth a year it's only a matter of time. 

Trouble Ahead 

Sunday afternoon. Everyone is at the riverside restaurants for lunch. Hundreds of Hondas are jam packed in the parking areas. If only twenty percent of the bike population switches to cars, Ho Chi Minh City will grind to a halt.  

Bin Anh Village 

Twenty minutes by cab, or by water taxi, the Bin Anh Village is a magnificent place to relax on the bank of the Saigon River. On Sundays, the French  / Vietnamese owner jams with a cool jazz band whilst you enjoy a very nice lunch at a fine dining table in the shaded open air. They also do candle-lit dinners and overnight accommodation. Their sister property at Vung Tau is reportedly the best value resort if you want to just go somewhere to relax. Check it out  HERE. 

Coolie Captain 

Vietnam Airlines Captain Ian Burberry, late of the UK and now an Aussie, hams it up for the camera. Note: there is nothing in the baskets and he already has a lean. Just wait 'til we fill them with all the bottles he just emptied. 

A Big Uc (Australian) Draws A Crowd

Dropping-in on friends in an outlying suburb where a visiting Australian is a rarity draws the kids from nearby to have a look. Imagine the stories at school tomorrow!  

Not Far From The City Life Is Tough  

Pedal power is common, there are few four wheeled vehicles, and getting a cab is impossible. In a country with 84 Million inhabitants, about 60 million live in rural areas. 70% are under 25. About 58% are women. A million kids enter the workforce each year. As number one exporter in the world for pepper, and number two for each rice, coffee and cashews nuts; with monthly wages in Hanoi exactly half of the Chinese workers 140 kms away, it's easy to understand why the Gross Domestic Product was a healthy 8.4% last year. And why Canon and many other companies are flocking to build factories there.

Caravelle Hotel 

Dressed in the traditional silk Ao Dai dress, these girls are the official greeters at the state-owned Caravelle Hotel in Saigon (HCMC). They fell about in raptures of laughter whenever the camera came out. 

Card Seller, Top Location 

Perched at a classic location for tourists, this postcard seller is out front of the Reunification Palace, where, on the 8th April 1975, a South Vietnamese fighter bomber Pilot, Ngyuen Tanh Trung seeing the writing on the wall, dropped his bombs in the grounds of the Palace before fleeing with his plane to join the advancing forces. Note well, his bombs didn't damage anything and they now say he was a spy from the North who had infiltrated the South's Air Force. Affectionately known as 'Bomber Trung', he is an extremely pleasant 777 Pilot and also the Chairman of Vietnam Airlines. 

Tank Number 843 

Rumbled through the gates to the Palace on April 30th 1975, ending the war between South and North Vietnam. There were no Americans troops there, or Australians ... well not officially. The Aussies were the first to pull out in 1973, followed by the Americans. The North then flooded south and into the city of Saigon. Those pictures of the Huey Choppers lifting the people off the US embassy? They were flown by a rag-tag bunch under the auspices of the UN, Australian Qantas Captain Ron Bishop among them. The original tank, number 843, sits gleaming in the grounds of the 'Reunification Palace' ... or is it? Probably not. Many believe the original is in Hanoi. 

There's A Book

Written by a French Photographer about the things that Vietnamese can get on their Hondas. I've never seen it. But I have seen: a ladder, huge panes of glass, a washing machine, a TV, a Computer, a family of six (but no-one has ever managed a picture), dogs on the handlebars, pigs across the back and plenty of baskets of ducks. The best was a bath that was two thirds hanging-off the back and which was causing the front wheel (and hence all steering) to only be in momentary contact with the road every few seconds or so. These guys weren't anything special - but they were in focus.  

Coming Through, Please.

Under the orange hat is a keen set of eyes, waiting for the moment to launch the motorised, Honda Cub powered-truck laden with tonnes of wood. The rider knows that my taxi will never give way, so all is relatively safe.  

Same River, Different Day.

A ship-load of US Dollars silently glides up the Saigon River, just as the French Franc powered-ships of the early nineteen hundreds did before them. The Vietnamese are as addicted to tourism as the colonials were addicted to their opium. And the rest of the world is happy to oblige.

Blue Bin Day, Phu Nhuan District

Vietnam is land of contrasts. Here one of the recycling ladies prepares to cross the busy Nguyen Van Troi Street, the main drag in from the airport. Instead of Blue Bins and noisy machines, she and many like her trawl the rubbish for their eco-friendly gold. She may be on the lookout for plastic PEP bottles, or it may be glass. She may also collect for her colleagues and they'll swap whilst sitting in the shade during the middle of the day. Behind her, at what was a huge Karaoke Club and is now the Yamaha Cycles Service Centre, is a symbol of the future of Vietnam: an expensive new car and its driver.  

Blue Bin Day, Tanh Bin District.

Coca-Cola Bottles are finding their way back to the plant for refilling.

Miss Lién Lê Thi 

In the orange hasn't seen me for over a year. I already had the camera going as I walked-in. It either says something about my looks ... or her memory. At the first store on the left in the Ben Tanh Market, she is in charge of selling me shirts. Always has, always will. She makes you sit down on a dinky little plastic stool and force feeds you shirts until you burst. Then the haggling begins. She's there seven days a week, 9.30am until 7pm. If you thought you worked hard for a living, think again.

Hard Ship 

Is the name in gold of the boat in the foreground. The name accurately describes life on the second boat, the record-holder for the 'Most Heavily Laden Vessel Yet Still Remaining Afloat' in Vietnam. With the gunwales seriously-flooded, she motors upstream. If the load of earth gets wet, say in a wet-season thunderstorm, or from a bow-wave from a passing ship; she's a goner. Her Skipper is not as crazy as you think. He's steering from atop the roof.

Instant Workshop Service 

Under the tattered umbrella a lady waits for her Honda to be repaired in 'the shop'. Snigger you may, but she's getting the best of attention and it's instant. Think about that next time you have to make a booking to get the car serviced.

Honda-less 

In the city of nine million people, there are still many people - mainly women - who don't have motor cycles which are known by the generic name: Hondas. This means relying on the bus service, which is very cheap and pretty good. In the last year bus shelters have sprung-up, making the waiting a more dignified experience.  

New Salon, Omni Hotel, Saigon. 

If its pampering you're after, you can't go past the girls at the New Salon. Foot treatments, pedicures, manicures, hair cuts and massages. Oh, and they have a million things for women too.  

Three Special Girls 

The airport reunion with Miss Nhu, my ex-housekeeper, Linda (Hair Dresser) & Jenny (Masseuse). Even though you are expecting it, Saigon's (Ho Chi Minh City) 35 degrees and 90% humidity seems much hotter than Bahrain's 45 degree dry heat. And a big change from Melbourne's chilly 7 degree start.    

VIP Welcoming Committee

Where else can you ring to make an appointment at a salon and the principals

arrange to meet you at the airport? Now that's service!

S Is For Saigon 

For nearly 200 kms the Saigon River snakes its way into Ho Chi Minh City, having been born in eastern Cambodia and joined up with the Dong Nai River about 30 kms upstream from the city. The Dong Nai starts in the central southern highlands of Vietnam. 

The Writing Is On The Wall

There is nothing better than the look of an Essendon supporter when he realises his team faces certain defeat. Sadly, the victor here is the most despised team in the competition, Collingwood. And there is nothing worse than a gloating Collingwood supporter. Groan.

Cold and Dark in the Shade

The shade from the new MCG Member's Stand at the start of a match in April extends as far across the ground as the old stand's shade would have during the last quarter of a mid-winter day. What's it mean? Well, you have to turn the lights on earlier in the day. And hope that the grass gets enough early morning sun.

Flag Hides From Shade

In the old days you could unfurl a huge Aussie Flag on the surface of the MCG on Anzac Day, spin it around and keep out of the shade. Now, after the new Members Stand has been completed, you have to try very hard and stand still. The new stand is too small to house the Members on a Big Day, and as with Flemington's revamp, you can bet they will admit thousands of new members to pay for it. The architects have included lots of open airspace which should have been used for extra catering outlets. The food that is now available is a joke and on Anzac Day, the outlets were severely understaffed. Big Mistake.   

Kick To Kick In The Park

A Melbourne boy kicks an Australian Rules Football to his friend under one of the huge old Gum trees in the park that's home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, oblivious to the 92,366 other people swarming to the ground. It can't last. Patrons used to be allowed to have a kick on the hallowed turf after the match. Not anymore. Banned because of either because of Terrorists or Occupational Health and Safety concerns. You just watch. Soon kicking a ball in a park will go too.

Kick To Kick At The G - Jul 2004

With Officials protecting the centre square (and the precious cricket wicket area) hundreds of supporters get the chance to experience what it's like to kick a goal at the G (the MCG) after a match on a cool winter evening.

The Shrine Of Remembrance, Anzac Day 

In World War 1 Australian & New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers embarked on a futile campaign on April 25th 1915. Led by the British Army against the Turkish at Gallipoli, it lasted seven months and cost 8,709 Aussies and 2,701 Kiwi lives. Whilst a huge percentage of the tiny countries' populations at the time, it was minor compared to the carnage of 87,000 Turks, 22,000 Poms and 10,000 French.  They'd still be there had not a young, stuttering Aussie reporter visited the battlefield and, with an English correspondent, penned a letter criticising General Hamilton and his 'red-feather men' - arriving in Marseilles General Hamilton had him arrested and the letter confiscated. Eventually arriving in London in September he rewrote the 8,000 word letter from memory and delivered-it to the PMs of both Britain and Australia. As a result Hamilton was recalled and the troops withdrawn. His name: Keith Murdoch. Read about the Gallipoli campaign HERE and The Murdoch Letter HERE.

Dawn Service 

Every year Aussies & Kiwis gather to remember (it's the only thing we agree on) ... and the Turks (now our friends) host thousands of young Aussies who make the pilgrimage to the tiny Anzac Cove every April 25th. They look after our dead as if their own. In Melbourne we get up early and go to The Shrine. The light is turned-off and, in the freezing dark, we hear the dulcet tones of the best radio voice in the world, Tony Charlton as he spends half an hour before the service musing about individual sacrifices made for all of us. Approaching dawn the short service is held and the Army's Bugler is tested during The Last Post (he never stuffs-up). This year 30,000 went and only one mobile phone went off... "G'day, where are you? I'm here, in front of the Shrine..." The offence should attract the death penalty - it's the least we could do. Then we have a big greasy breakfast and go to the footy to watch Essendon get beaten.

Camberwell Junction 

Kylie Minogue was brought-up in a side street to the left of this pic, in St John's Avenue. She apparently has bought an apartment in that tall building ahead, supposedly the tallest apartment building in the world (this week), the Eureka Tower. Ho hum, she is one of three or four Melbourne celebrities that the salesmen whisper, "It's confidential, but I can tell you XXXXXX also just bought an apartment in this block." If that was the case, Kylie, Eddie McGuire, half a dozen footballers, their ex-wives and a refugee from Big Brother must all have about ten new apartments each.  

Blue Bin Day, Camberwell

In the street where Barry Humphreys was raised, the blue bins are out in force. Eco-friendly locals doing the right thing. Thirty years ago Autumn meant smoke. Leaves were raked-up and burnt in the gutter (front garden) and in the incinerator (everyone had one) around the back. Weekend suburban visibility was zero. 

Coptic Christians Protest In Collins Street

Protesting Coptic Christians march up Collins Street Melbourne. Founded in Egypt (the word Coptic means Egypt) with about 8 million members (or just over 10% of the population), it is the also the key Christian religion in Ethiopia with half the population, 38 million, as its followers; and a further 2 million in Eritrea. A further 4 million or so are sprinkled around the globe. They complain that, in Egypt, they are discriminated in the workplace and face restrictions on church construction. They have fears that Christians are being forced to convert by Islamic extremists and (their protest signs) claim that over 1,000 Coptic Christians have been tortured or murdered.    

Michelle's Secret

Since Ansett gave her extra time-off, (like forever), Cabin Manager Michelle Matthews turned her hand to publishing. Shopping Secrets, A7 Magazine and more recently those nifty little packs of cards sold at every bookshop in the world from Australia to the UK and even China: Dining Secrets, Bar Secrets, Shopping Secrets ... even Spa Secrets. She secretly stole a great property in the centre of Melbourne, very near the GPO. Click here to see her work.

The Limekilns

South Walkerville beach, sadly covered by weed following a storm, was the home of a limestone mining operation between 1878 - 1926. About 700 people lived here, there was the Coffee Palace and the Town Hall, a school and many shops. The remains of three of the six Limekilns can be seen. The lime was open-cut mined and transported by waiting ships out along a 400 yard long pier which meandered around the rock outcrops. Under Prime Minister (Pig Iron) Bob Menzies all the ironwork was all ripped-up and sold to the Japanese. A few years later it all came back, rained-down upon Darwin. Meanwhile, to stop the pig-iron-built Japanese submarines from parking and stealing our Prime Minister, our friends The Americans ripped-up all the ocean-side piers in Australia, leaving us with four lone posts. Now only one remains.  

The Waratah Fault

Locally known as the Bluff, the Waratah Fault is an important geological feature. Nothing much has happened since the massive slip about 400 million years ago, except that once, just to the right of that last rock, my Dad got six King George Whiting and three Bay Trout in one day.  

Bird Rock

Taken from on top of the Bluff, (it's overgrown now), Bird Rock sits in the foreground. What does it look like to you? On the horizon Wilson's Promontory peers out from the left and the Bass Strait Islands on the right.

Fluffy Cloud  

Dusk over Waratah Bay, near Wilson's Promontory - the southernmost point of the Australian mainland.

Rescuers retrieve another victim (picture AFP via internet)

In Bahrain The Al-Dana Turns Turtle 

About 200 people gathered to celebrate the conclusion of the building of the Bahrain World Trade Centre's two towers, (see story on the Grand Prix page), taking-in a dinner on the dhow (Arabian Fishing Boat) which cruises the picturesque waterfront, departing from the Marina Club. (Aside: many will know that my first way of learning about a new city is to take a boat trip. That I have never done so in Bahrain is testament to the fact that I have never found the operators’ craft enticing.)  

Bahrain's Marina Club, departure point of the ill-fated cruise.

The boat is the Al-Dana and it can take 100 passengers. Nearly double that arrived to start the night. Some guests immediately realised that it was a plan fraught with danger and decided to dine at the Bam Bu Thai restaurant instead. The Indian skipper was not happy with the situation and one report said he refused to serve the dinner on the cruise, requiring staff to serve dinner whilst still tied-up at the wharf. It is known that although he did not want to put to sea, the party organisers insisted.

At least one would-be passenger, who had decided against going, changed his mind, saying he had to go. On the PA he implored people not to gather on the top deck of the newly-refurbished dhow, making it top-heavy. It didn’t help.

Shortly after departing, about an hour late, the boat hit a ‘large wave’. In Gulf terms this probably means about three feet. It was enough to tip the boat. Downstairs, one of the first victims to be rescued told the Gulf Daily News  … “the refrigerator and oven slid to one side of the boat and with that extra weight, the boat couldn’t sustain it any longer and we rolled…”

There was no time to get the lifejackets deployed. Now at least 57 are drowned and 27 injured. The Coast Guard was alerted by a passenger with his cell phone. The Bahraini Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force were assisted by the US Navy whose huge 5^th Fleet is based here. Divers were in the water immediately.

The people eating their dinner in the Bam Bu received an SMS from someone who knew they had gone to the function and had heard the news. One Fillipina woman was alerted to her brother’s fate by her sister ringing from the Philippines, who had seen it on TV and was wondering if it was the same cruise she knew her brother was taking. The dead include 25 Britons, 20 Filipinos, 10 South Africans and 10 Egyptians.

St.Christopher’s School, favoured by the English expats, has lost three fathers of students. The ranks of building company N.A.S., and contractors Murray & Roberts and W.S.Atkins have been decimated.

In the irony of most shipping tragedies, the weather the next day is clear, fine and sunny. A lone red, white and blue helicopter appears to wander aimlessly overhead. The sea usually takes three days to release its grip on the bodies it takes. We’ll know the final numbers soon. 

A new day dawns on the site of the tragedy. 

Information sources: BBC World, AP, Radio Bahrain, Gulf Daily News, Reuters, AFP, witnesses and friends.

Update: 36 Hours Later  

Gulf Daily News reports that there are 57 known fatalities and that only two other people are missing. It seems that the boat had 126 people on board when it departed the wharf under the command of a sailor who did not hold command qualifications. He is now being held by Police. In one story, a Filipina Waitress said she implored the 'Captain' not to depart. When he said they would have to go she asked for life jackets for her and her two co-workers. He produced them. Hers saved her life. One of her colleagues died and the other is still missing. 

The Dhow Was Similar To This One

A brown Dhow similar to the Al-Dana lies across the water from the Coast Guard station where the wreck has been towed pending the investigation. A Disco was playing on the top deck and many people were dancing at the time of the sinking. The second building from the right is the World Trade Centre (side on view). The party was to celebrate the conclusion of the concrete work for the twin towers. Now the Chairman and Project Director are among seven senior executives who have been lost. 

THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR... 

Famous songwriter and friend of Bahraini Royalty, Michael Jackson joined the VIPs in the Tower to watch the Grand Prix, as the local Gulf Air Pilots put both their A330 and A340 through their paces. Jackson, suffering bad press over the demise of his Neverland property in California has moved to Bahrain and will soon release a tribute song to raise money for the victims of the killer hurricane Katrina that flattened New Orleans. 

CLICK HERE to see the page of Bahrain Grand Prix.

WHY ME? 

The new Midland team's Tiago Monteiro sits patiently in the pit lane at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix having failed to get the car on the starting grid. Metres away, on the other side of the pit wall, the other cars are making a clean getaway. He ended-up in 17th place. See the page of pics from the Bahrain Grand Prix HERE. 

WITH A LITTLE HELP ... 

Singer, businessman, inspiration for the Hope Institute for Bahrain's Special Needs Children, Samir Habib-Allah, and Lisa Morgan belt-out the version of With A Little Help From My Friends made famous by Joe Cocker; backed by The Hope Charity Concert All Star Band with the Manama Singers and Victoria Dancers. Throughout the concert, images of the work done by the centre flank the stage, swathed in a brilliant light show to a great audio mix, all provided by volunteers.       PhonePhoto

BREATHE IN, YOU'RE TWO FAT... 

The Self Proclaimed Indian Houdini, (don't bet on it), Magician Samraj inserts about twelve swords through a box full of girls, as well as a big white rectangular tube. Everyone can see they haven't exited or re-entered. The stand is totally see-thru, the backdrop a painted canvas. Say the magic words, 'Yabbra Kardaaabruh ... is magic!' ... a flash of gunpowder and presto: two unsliced chicks.

PhonePhoto

MARRIAGE COUNSELLING  

For years she has put up with her crazy husband chopping her in half every night. Strapped to the table, the blade comes down, splatters red with her gizzards, the assistants pull the two halves apart, the head still yelling on one side of the stage and the feet wildly kicking on the other. Little kids in the audience almost throwing up. Seconds later she is back together