MARCH 22, 2008 – ON THE WAY TO BOMBAY (MUMBAI), INDIA

We got our tickets for tomorrow’s tour of Jewish sights, of which there are many. Clothing directions were given and we were warned that there might be photo and videotaping charges. I don’t have a problem with any of this and I do get annoyed when visitors cannot observe these simple requirements.
Today’s is my mother’s birthday. She died at 68 but had she lived, she would be 83 today.
I woke up at 8:30 and I gather from Ed’s remarks that he didn’t sleep well last night. We got up, got ready and I saved him at seat at the lecture.
A DIVIDED WORLD: This is Capt. Irving discussing the Portuguese and the Spanish and their conquests. Along the way he discussed Magellan and some about Vasco de Gama. He has a done a very nice job of putting this content together and he observes all the tasks speakers should: tell then what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then review it and tell them what you’ll cover next. Given our traveling in the past few years, much of this history is very real to us.
TRIVIA: I never quite got it straight whether we were #2 or #3 but we didn’t win. This was a tough one. The group that won did it with 13 points out of 20 I think. I don’t know what the prizes were.
LUNCH: Sid and Elizabeth, two of our trivia partners, and a few other folks we’ve visited with around the ship, were our tablemates for lunch. If we had sat with Father, I was going to ask him if it’s true that it’s not a sin if you don’t enjoy it? That was a statement made this morning which I found intriguing. I have my own answer of course, but I’m always interested in Father’s Irish spin on things.
HOLLYWOOD’S BRITISH GENTLEMAN: Barry again did a bang up job, this time about the life of David Niven.
COOKIE TIME: We had been told that fresh cookies are put out in the Club Bar each day at 3 pm so I got two absolutely fresh, peanut butter cookies.
INTERNET CAFÉ: I took Ed a cookie and then checked my own email. I had over 40 emails, about half of which were junk mail, though I did find the AT&T bill in the Junk Mail box (Ed had asked me why I bother looking at it since it’s costing to do so). We heard from Carol, one of the Prinsendam colleagues from last year, who is retiring. Yippee! I couldn’t be happier for her and I hope she has as much fun in her retirement as she’s earned after all these years working for the state.
OVERLAND TO THE TAJ: One of the ladies on board has Indian roots and she stopped me to say that she was glad I hadn’t gone to the Taj. India is on alert (thus the policemen in cochin with automatic weapons) and the Taj is closed so you can’t go in to see the inside. She believes all the changes that were made to the trip were a function of this alert.
By the way, the alert is because of the turmoil in Tibet and Pakistan; India is squeezed in the middle of them.
Several folks have mentioned going to the Taj with Grand Circle Tours or Overseas Travelers (not sure about the latter), so maybe that’ll be a good option for us sometime.
FRANKIE & FRIENDS: Today his topic was: “Disasters at Sea.” I’ll bet it was pretty funny but I had other things I wanted to do.
TRIVIA: This was held in the Casino Lounge due to religious services being held in the Pacific Lounge where we usually meet. They have the nondenominational service first and then the Catholic Mass since we are in Mombai tomorrow. This change in location had been announced this morning. When it was time to start, one of our usual members was missing so we invited another singlet to join us. At about question #3, the missing member showed up saying that they had gone to the Pacific Lounge. This may be true but Gisela had gone up there to bring down any trivia folks and she hadn’t seen someone. So this person sat down and shortly after began participating in the answers. This is very unfair and so I moved to another group of only two, a couple who were an absolute delight to play with. The winning group had 15; the three of us had 10. But I met some new folks and I enjoyed them tremendously.
EMAILS FROM HOME AND ELSEWHERE: Mike wrote to catch us up on the family news. One of his bits of news is a howl though and so I share it (without asking for his permission I might add):
“It’s too bad you missed the Taj Mahal as it might not be there on a future trip…Word is that the United Arab Emirates have purchased it and will move it to Dubai as an added attraction. It will be reconstructed adjacent to the ski slope and become part of a three icon attraction which will, depending upon the result of ongoing negotiations, also include the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. Too bad Dubai came too late…might have been able to save Ebbet’s Field.
“By the way…it may be cheaper to stay on the cruise…premium gasoline is pushing $3.90 per gallon and in fact we were in West LA yesterday and saw an over $4.00 per gallon price in several service stations.” I have to share this with the others on the ship; it’s too good not to pass on.
THE AWESOME CROCKS: Murray writes that he and Ro layed over for 2 days in the Dallas airport before they were able to connect for a flight. Val writes that they had a delayed flight, lost luggage, and then their ride to their house was either late or didn’t show up. And Val sends us a trivia question to practice our little grey cells: What was the name of the indigenous people on the island of Guam? I have to look it up. Some folks have said aboriginal peoples is answer enough – for them perhaps but not for the awesome crocks.
INDIAN IMMIGRATION: We recall that a few years ago an Indian immigration official came onto the ship in Oman and we had to personally appear before them before we got to Mombai. And if my memory serves me right, it was at some ungodly hour in the early morning. Before we hit Cochin, we had to complete Indian immigration paperwork, and had we gone to the Taj, we would have carried our passports. Apparently, there was an Indian immigration official on board prior to Cochin who had certain people come to be personally seen.
So in the morning, we have a tour that starts assembling a little after 8 am. We must appear before the Indian immigration folks between 7 am and 7:30 am to be cleared prior to leaving the ship.
TODAY’S WEATHER: Drizzaling, and outright cloudbursts several times today. On one occasion, the bridge came on the loudspeaker to warn folks to get off the promenade deck and the upper open decks because they were going to get drenched. As I write this, the railings on the patio have balls of water hanging off the bottom of them.
DINNER: Just Ed and I. With the folks on the overland missing, plus those with runny noses and other pulmonary problems, there aren’t very many folks present at the tables for tonite’s Indian cuisine.
TONITE’S ENTERTAINMENT: A singer who has performed before and which I missed. I think I’ll miss it again tonite. Ed and I heard a snippet of his performance and decided we’d watch the documentary about the Great Indian Railway at 8 pm and turn in early. Ed didn’t have any coffee for supper as he thinks that might be part of his sleep problem.
And speaking of caffeine, we are going to look for some tomorrow as we have six days at sea after tomorrow to Dubai. I’ve heard that there will be additional information in tonite’s patter about what’s likely to be open tomorrow and where we might go. After our tour, I do want to see the Taj hotel and do some other stuff near there. The ship is in port until 10 or 11 pm, so we have lots of time before curfew.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS: I finished it last night; what an unexpected and an usual ending. But it brings a smile to your face and I could see this being made into a movie at some point. It is easy to read and holds your interest.

MARCH 21, 2008 – COCHIN, INDIA

We had a 8:40 am call for our tour so we had room service again. It’s nothing fancy: Raisin Bran, banana (when they have them) coffee, iced tea, and sometimes a half grapefruit. We saw the ship coming into the harbor, actually the mouth of a river, and berthing. There were several locals waiting: two to sell wares and one to give information. Further, there were several police types including two with automatic weapons who stayed posted on both side of the gangway all day.
Our weather for several days now has been rainy and/or overcast. Today was no exception with drizzle and sprinkles all day. It is so humid and wet here. The buildings are riddled with mold. It must cost a fortune to keep a building painted.
OLDEST JEWISH SYNAGOGUE: Last time we visited here, we couldn’t see it because it was Saturday; this time it was Friday so same problem. There are only 7 men left, all aged, so they have to collect others to make a minion. We saw photos of the inside and it must be very lovely. We were told that you must take your shoes off to preserve the semi-precious stones which are inlaid into the Chinese tiles on the floor.
This is in an area called Jew Town; there is evidence everywhere to demonstrate this, but today it is many small shops and no Jews.
DUTCH PALACE: We had seen this on our last visit; we had to wait for it to open up for us today. It was so humid inside. The Frescos on the walls depict Hindu sagas. They were painted many years ago with vegetable dyes and other local materials so they are fading fast. No photos are allowed because of this.
A Howda, the elephant chair the raja used, and a palanquin, the little hut the women rode in while men carried it on their shoulders, were on display as well. This time there wasn’t a snake charmer outside. You can bet I looked closely as I was almost on top of them last time before I noticed.
ST. FRANCIS CHURCH: This is where Vasco de Gama’s remains were buried for 14 yrs before they were returned to Portugal. The church is now a Southern India church; it has gone through Catholic and Anglican along the way. Good Friday services were being held so we remained in the back to watch for a while.
CHINESE FISHING NETS: This is a very unique feature to Cochin. Last time we were here, they were still being used. It is very labor intensive. Now it is not fiscally viable to do this.
As the ship was leaving the harbor, I saw the water and how yucky it is. As the ship turned in the basin to move out, the odor wasn’t very pleasant either. Yet I saw evidence of fishing nets along the way out. I cannot imagine eating something that came from these waters. There are water hyacinths floating down as there were last visit, though not as many this time. And the rains wash down everything from the interior to the ocean.
OBLIGATORY TOURIST SHOPPING TRAP: This was supposed to be high end products. Clearly their quality was better (though in some instances overstated), but the prices were ridiculous. Wool jackets, unlined, embroidered, that I can get through National Geographic Catalog for around $100, started at about $250 here. There are other examples too.
I did see something very special: a table cloth with a solid cotton backing and a top with cut work in it. It was all hand sewn. No I wasn’t interested in buying it because I knew in advance I’d never pay what it was worth. They also had bed spreads made like that. And other table cloths that can be used for twin bed spreads, many very beautiful.
LUNCH: We had lunch by ourselves on ship. Then we went to see the two stalls on the pier. Ed was dickering with a fellow for a brass (?) elephant with it’s trunk up, but they could never agree on a price. I looked at some saris, all exquisite but where would I wear one? The Punjab style, tunic over billowing pants with a scarf at the neck, might interest me but there were only 3 available, and none in a color combination I’d want to live with. Furthermore, I wasn’t sure that they wouldn’t be quasi-muslin after the first (hand) washing.
FRUIT PLATE: We are given fruit plates as we request them. Our cabin steward rides herd on the room service department for us so that we are rarely without any fruit in our room. The form we complete has choices of oranges, pears, apples, and something else I’ve forgotten. However, now I simply write something that says: “we like all fruits so a variety is appreciated.”
I had completed one anticipating that we would be gone to the Taj, so I wrote on it that it shouldn’t be delivered until 3/23. I asked Rodolfo if the date had been changed since we didn’t leave after all. He had already taken care of it and we had a wonderful selection of fruits waiting for us in our room. Ed says that the person who does this is the same guy who usually brings our breakfast when we have room service. We always tip (except for one time when he wouldn’t allow us to tip him for reasons we still don’t understand), and Ed thinks this is why we get such a nice selection. We do each at least 4 fruits a day between us and sometimes more.
LIBRARY: We hadn’t been to the library in a long while, so we read the USA Times.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS: by Sara Gruen. It is a NY times bestseller. I’m almost done. I think this would be an excellent book for folks to read for fun (it reads very easily and quickly), but it is also superb in reflecting the experience of living in a nursing home. The story is of a 93 y/o man in a nursing home and it rotates from that experience to his early life. I won’t tell you more as it would spoil it. It was a book club selection on the ship earlier in the cruise. The current one is The Kite Runner which I have already read, so I’m using this time to get caught up on other reading. I finished Iberia and Dave is tackling it city by city.
Ed clearly was hung up on the TV. I feel shut out as once that TV is on, you can’t get his attention and you certainly can’t pull him away. So I went to the Casino Lounge and read while one of the pianists practiced. I watched the sail out of Cochin from our balcony.
DINNER: Hank and Erna went to see some folkloric dances at a theatre. The make-up and drama has much of the Peking Opera to it.
Hank also showed me one of his recent paintings. He made it with felt tip pens and colored pencils. It is fanciful and quite interesting. He said he was estimating it would sell for about $2,000. It is slightly larger than 8 x 10. Dave and Twyla were telling us that he has a painting in the Museum on the mall in DC. His name is Henry (Hank) Lyons if you want to google it. What a delight he is and Erna is a sweet lady. They are a cute couple.
Ed’s having an after dinner snooze. I suppose that’s what it could be called. I don’t think I’ll go to tonite’s entertainment. It is the dulcimer player and the singer Jamila we saw a few nights ago. I enjoyed each but I don’t have much interest in seeing them tonite.