Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor #1 by Abhi

Despite the nautical nature of the stories, each voyage begins inland, in Baghdad, where Sinbad lives. However, to begin sailing, Sinbad (and we) must depart from which legendary port, twice invaded by the British?

Sailing east past Oman, one might land on the Kathiawar peninsula in Gujarat, home to an ancient seaport which shares its name with a grassy, brown planet in the Star Wars universe. What is the name of old city and historical site?

Sinbad sails south from here in one of his tales, landing by happy incidence, or fortunately, on the island of Ceylon. What English word is derived from another name for this island, and might describe the manner in which Sinbad arrived?

Let's take a short break from voyaging. Sinbad is celebrated in many art forms even today, including film. Which famous screen character met Sinbad on an adventure in 1936, an encounter deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry?

Back to our journey. Sinbad is also a figure in classical music, arriving here on Ceylon in the 6th movement of a Russian symphony. What is the name of this symphony?

If Sinbad were to sail south from there today, he might land on a secretive island, populated mainly by men and gigantic roaring birds. Which island is this, home to a British military base and launching point for U.S. Air Force raids during the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Sailing west, one might wash ashore with airplane wreckage on Réunion, a volcanic island that is an overseas region (not territory) of France. Name any one of the other places in the world that share its legal status.

If we continue even further west, we alight at Madagascar, home to some gigantic birds of its own. Madagascar's extinct Elephant Bird is said to have inspired which mountain-sized creature which featured prominently in the Sinbad tales?

While we're still in Madagascar--the country produces nearly half of which valuable culinary commodity, barely beaten by Indonesia?

Let's continue north. We follow the Swahili coast past Zanzibar, as Sinbad and many of his oceangoing compadres once did. The namesake tongue of the coast is jokingly said to have been born in Zanzibar, and gotten sick in Tanzania. Where did Swahili go to die?

Careful not to get kidnapped by unsavory characters as we round the Horn of Africa to return home. In Sinbad's fifth of his seven voyages, he is enslaved by the Old Man of the Sea. Which other famously unlucky seafarer has the Old Man of the Sea appear in his own tale?

As we sail towards Sinbad's home port, we might pass the city of Dubai. Today a center of real estate and finance, Dubai's wealth was initially built on the oil trade. But which global trade first brought Dubai to the Western world's attention?