Month: November 2009

Contributed by: filbert Monday, November 16 2009 @ 07:13 AM CST

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Three

November 4 (Wednesday, Day 7, Cochin, India) –

Port call: Cochin

Regent hosted a special event for everyone today in Cochin involving snake boats. The Indian state of Kerala is known for its snake boat races. These are long, skinny boats that hold 100 men.. The annual race occurs in August but Regent organized (i.e paid for it) 9 different boats to race for us. We were bused 1.5 hours away and then took boats to a permanent pavilion in the middle of the backwaters.

More after the jump . . . See Beautiful Cochin and Kerala by Bus! (A photo essay):

Teak logs

Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies

Garbage

A typical shop–bulk food bags, probably rice to the right, candy to the left

Pradeep Stall & Cool Bar, with hammer & sickle road paint

Nice houses

Nice church

Not so nice houses

Rest stop

Sree Narayana College

Nice temple

Our guide on the bus was fantastic. Ajita told us that Kerala (the Indian state that Cochin is in) is the wealthiest state in India and has a 97% literacy rate and everyone has a home. One problem that they have is that the educated people are refusing to do manual labor so people have to be “imported” from neighboring states to do manual labor. The Communist party came to power in Kerala in the 1950s but it’s really a form of socialism rather than communism that is in play. Ajita is a woman and has two daughters and told us that she doesn’t believe in arranged marriages and that she wears silver rather than gold like every Indian woman wears since she doesn’t believe in dowries, either. She and her husband (who earns less money than she does) are using their money to pay for their daughters education and they will be expected to find their own husbands and a dowry will not be paid since they are using that money now for their education. She is definitely a radical in her town!! Her 16-year old daughter wants to be a lawyer but Ajita realizes that many challenges will make it difficult for her to achieve that goal since she is a woman. However, she’ll support her however she can.

Next: The Boat Races!

Contributed by: filbert Sunday, November 15 2009 @ 07:06 AM CST

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Two

November 2 (Monday, Day 5, Boarding Voyager, Mumbai, India) –

Our cruise itinerary

More after the “read more.” We woke up around 5:30 (the jet lag was really beginning to take hold) and watched tv. We ordered room service breakfast and started to pack. We originally were going to leave the hotel at 1 PM but we now decided that we were “done” with India so we called the front desk to change our prepaid taxi to 11 AM.

Our prepaid air-conditioned taxi (we had to pay extra for the A/C) was waiting for us. Our luggage was strapped to the roof and we proceeded to the dock about 10 minutes away. We pulled up to the dock and our driver got out to talk to the guards. He came back and said “Yellow cards”. We explained we didn’t have yellow cards and gave him the Regent invoice and our passports. That is all that we’ve ever had to give at other countries to access the ship for the first time. Well, this is India so that didn’t work. He saw our yellow international vaccine records in Snookums’s bag and said “Yellow card! Yellow card!” Snookums tried to explain that they were shot records but it was easier to just hand them over. He came back a few minutes later and said they were the wrong yellow cards. We kept explaining we didn’t have any other documents. He patiently talked to the guys in white uniforms and then the guys in brown uniforms and would come back to the car and then go back again. Finally he came back to the car and said we had to go to Immigration a few blocks away. He drove us to Immigration and he and Filbert got out of the car. Snookums stayed in since our luggage was in the car. The driver later came out of the building to get Snookums so she left the car and was hoping that the driver was trustworthy. (He was!)

Filbert was sitting in front of a government bureaucrat and the bureaucrat looked at Snookums and said her first and middle names, and then proceeded to take several minutes to carefully examine the passport. We were finally told we could leave so we got back in the taxi and the driver drove back to the original gate. Almost by the time we got there, the Regent representative that was at the Immigration office ran up to the taxi to say we had to return to the Immigration office. He got in the cab (it didn’t have room, but we managed) and the driver turned around to return to the Immigration office. More paperwork was stamped and signed and then we were told we could leave. We drove to the main gate again and thought the driver would be able to show the paperwork and yellow cards and drive through right away. Well, that didn’t happen. It took the driver another 10 minutes of talking to the white uniformed men and the brown uniformed men before we were allowed to go to the ship. 70 minutes after leaving the hotel we arrived at the ship. It should have taken 10 minutes. This is India, though.

We got on the ship and told the Regent official what had happened and she immediately called the Regent port agent that we saw at the Immigration office to straighten things out. People that joined the ship after us didn’t have to go through the “yellow card” nonsense. (The yellow cards were only for people that were leaving the ship for a shore excursion and then returning to the ship the same day. They weren’t supposed to be required for newly boarding passengers.)

As we expected, we arrived before our cabin was ready. We were ready for this, though, and went to the laundry room and started two washing machines with our dirty Mumbai clothing. Then we went to lunch and enjoyed civilization.

Free laundry, we’re there!

Civilization in this case consisted of lunch, washed down with Diet Canada Dry ginger ale.

Ginger Ale (diet) on the Pool Deck

We dined with–well,by, actually–this Indian mantis, which was actually a bit camera-shy.

Mantis on the Pool Deck. We don’t think he/she/it was a paying guest.

The cabins were ready around 2:30 and when we got there our luggage was there so we unpacked until we had to go to the mandatory lifeboat drill. That was followed by the “block party” where everyone gathered in the hallways to meet each other. The man across the hall from us, Per, is from Norway and one set of neighbors is from the UK. The lady that teaches arts and crafts is our other neighbor.

A few photos of our cabin:

We went to dinner and chose a table for two. We barely made it through our entrees we were so tired and left immediately, without even looking at the dessert menu. Embarkation day is always tiring.

Sunset from the Seven Seas Voyager

November 3 (Monday, Day 6, Cruising the Arabian Sea) –

Looking forward from our cabin

We woke up and worked out. Filbert walked around the deck and lifted weights and Snookums went to two exercise classes (Muscle Mix and Get on the Ball).

Filbert got Snookums’s pc to finally connect to the wireless network so that she could use the free internet. (He did this mainly by leaving it alone for a half hour to allow the poor thing to come to terms with its new surroundings, by the way.) He then attended the “Inside Incredible India” enrichment lecture and enjoyed Diet Canada Dry ginger ale that was served. According to Dr. Mark Elovitz, Director, Center for Strategic Geopolitics, “India is incredibly complex.” He also said that India is about one third the size of the United States but has four times the number of people and that more than 75% of the people in India make less than $2 per day. Plus over 800 million people in India do not have a flushing toilet. (We know that firsthand from visiting Judy in Hyderabad two years ago and seeing the men use the lake for their toilet….)

A bottle of very good champagne was delivered to our cabin due to the immigration snafu. It’s already been put away to bring home along with the 3 bottles of hard liquor that made up our in-cabin bar package and the other bottle of cheaper champagne that was in our cabin.

We saw several tan sea snakes on top of the water but that’s it for sealife so far. At first Snookums thought they were palm fronds or something but then realized that they were sea snakes.

Tonight was the “Welcome Aboard” formal night. Due to Filbert’s weight loss, his tuxedo wasn’t going to fit and we didn’t have time to get it tailored so he decided to bring his Indian kurta for formal nights. So he wore his Indian kurta (knee length tunic over drawstring pants), his scarf and flip flops and looked dashing. We went through the receiving line and the ship’s General Manager (in his formal Regent uniform) told Filbert “You’re cheating!” Filbert amiably agreed. It was pretty funny. We also met Captain Gianmario Sanguineti.

We sat down and started talking to another couple. David and Margarita now live in Switzerland but are from the UK (although she is Swedish). We ate dinner with them, too, and had a very nice evening.

Next: Cochin! (Or is it Kochin?)

Contributed by: filbert Sunday, November 15 2009 @ 06:51 AM CST

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part One

October 29 (Thursday, Day 1, Flying to Mumbai, India) –

We left our house at 9:30 AM for KCI. Security was no problem and we had a little bit of time to spend in the Admirals Club. We got on the plane for Chicago and were happy to have the middle seat empty between us. We got to Chicago and now had a 5-hour layover. We spent 2 hours in the Admirals Club and Snookums took a shower right before we left and went to O’Hare’s Terminal 5 for our Air India flight.

Our Air India 777, viewed from the O’Hare Admiral’s Club

More after the jump . . . We learned that for the non-US flights, Terminal 5 is used. Terminal 5 is actually less commercial than KCI and very dumpy! We spent another 2 hours patiently waiting for the on-time flight. There’s nothing like a scheduled 5-hour layover PRIOR to two more 8-hour flights. . .

We got on the plane and were happy to have the middle seat empty once again. Yippee! Snookums’s entertainment system didn’t work so Filbert changed seats with her so that she could watch movies. None of the overhead reading lights worked in the middle section of the plane so when Snookums wanted to read, she used Filbert’s flashlight. Chicken curry was served and it was quite spicy and Filbert enjoyed it. Snookums ate the low cal meal that was special ordered for Filbert (which he didn’t want since he was looking forward to regular food for the first time in about 2 months) and was very happy with the broiled chicken and white rice entrée.

Arriving at Frankfurt Airport. Gotta love European airports.

After all of the entertainment system problems (including the airplane having to reboot the entire system for some reason) Snookums watched “Bride Wars”. We also got a breakfast of a pastry and a croissant about 2 hours prior to landing in Frankfurt. We landed 45 minutes late which meant our 1.5-hour Frankfurt layover was no longer very long.

October 30 (Friday, Day 2, Flying to Mumbai, India) –

We had time for a quick bathroom break while we walked to the gate. The Frankfurt airport is being renovated so the women’s room was kind of a temporary thing with two stalls. Snookums waited in line and couldn’t get her empty water bottle under the faucet to refill it so she had to buy one. A bottle of water (.75 liter) cost $7.31!! The price one must pay to stay hydrated.

We lucked out again and had the middle seat empty between us. All of the entertainment systems worked as well as all the overhead lights. The meal was chicken curry (again) and this time both of us had it. The snack that was served about 2 hours prior to landing was a cucumber sandwich. The big news of this flight was that Filbert actually slept for 2 or 3 hours. He has never been able to sleep on planes before but the 51-pound weight loss must have had something to do with it. He was very excited to get in some shuteye and wake up feeling rather refreshed.

We landed on time (10:30 PM) and cleared Immigrations, the H1N1 check (which consisted of turning in a piece of paper that the guy didn’t look at) and Customs. We paid for a pre-paid taxi to take us to the Intercontinental Marine Drive in Mumbai and got ready for our adventure in India.

We had the name, address and phone number of the hotel for him. Considering it’s one of the top 5 hotels in all of Mumbai and is located on the main drag of Mumbai, we didn’t think we would have difficulty getting delivered there. Wrong! Our driver stopped several times to get directions from other drivers. We finally saw the hotel before he did. He was going to let us out about 3 blocks away but we had him drive to the hotel. Our taxi pulled up and security guards immediately did a bomb check. We got out and had to go through security in the hotel, too. (And we had to go through that check every time we entered the hotel.) Our room was ready (which was good, since it was now 1 AM!) and since we used points for it we were NOT given an upgrade. But, it was a very nice room and would have even been a nice room in the US. We showered and went to bed around 2 AM. It was a 29-hour day for us, door-to-door.

By the way, two years ago we landed in Delhi, India around the same time of night and were amazed by the traffic and chaos. Mumbai, though, was kind of sleepy and even during the day, cars drove in the correct lane and didn’t crowd the streets in order to make a 3-lane road into a 7-lane road. 3 lanes meant that 3 cars drove side by side and that’s it. Tuk tuks (3 wheeled “taxis” that spew diesel fumes) are not allowed in downtown Mumbai so we never saw any of those at all. And, we only saw 3 cows (ox?) and they were being used for pulling carts. So, Mumbai was like paradise compared to Delhi. The difference was astounding. We had read that Mumbai is very cosmopolitan and that people that live in Mumbai look down upon people that live in other parts of India and now we can see why that is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a place we need to visit again, but it’s quite tolerable!

October 31 (Friday, Day 3, Mumbai, India) –

We ate the $12 hotel breakfast buffet. Besides the normal Western breakfast foods, there were at least 10 dishes of Indian foods and we had to try them all. These includes minced lamb with peas, chicken in a yellow sauce, potatoes and peas in a rice dosa (kind of like a burrito), lentil broth, mashed chickpeas covered in some kind of breading, cheese donut (a donut with parmesan cheese sprinkled on it – it wasn’t sweet), etc., etc.

Towards the end of the meal a woman asked if we were going on a cruise and we said “yes” and then realized that both couples were going on Voyager. I still don’t know why she thought that two Caucasians eating breakfast in the Intercontinental restaurant were Regent cruisers, but it all worked out. They are Chuck and Janet and live in northern Minnesota and also have a house in the Hill Country of Texas.

After breakfast we went back to our room. Snookums was starting to feel a little “iffy” in the stomach but was ok. We decided to walk around. Snookums wanted to see the tiffin wallahs at Churchgate Station so we made that our destination. (A tiffin is a metal layered container that holds food.) Tiffin wallahs are uneducated Indians that collect lunches from the suburban homes and deliver them to the workers in the city. Three layers of tiffin wallahs are used – those that collect the lunches in the suburbs, those that sort the lunches and those that deliver the lunches in the city. There are around 5,000 tiffin wallahs and each one is responsible for about 40 lunches and there is only one mistake in every 6,000,000 deliveries. Each tiffin wallah makes $40 – $80 per month.

After seeing two of them (we were kind of early), we kept walking and just wandered around Mumbai. Mumbai is much, much nicer than Delhi or Hyderabad but it is still India though. We had sidewalks 95% of the time which was not the case at all in Delhi. There weren’t as many beggars, either, and no one harassed us for money or to buy anything. We saw many games of cricket being played on Oval Maiden which is a very, very, very large grassy oval in the middle of Mumbai. It was around 95 degrees and a little humid but bearable, especially in the shade. Even Filbert didn’t sweat that much due to his 51-pound weight loss.

Cricket, anyone?

We got back to the hotel around 3 PM, showered and took naps. (Snookums also cleaned Filbert’s shoe since he stepped in dog poop at some point during our walk.) Dinner was room service – pasta for Snookums and Indian food for Filbert. We went to bed fairly early and ended up waking up around 4:30 AM. Jet lag!

November 1 (Saturday, Day 4, Mumbai, India) –

We woke up at 4:30 AM and read the paper and watched tv. We had lots of channels and half were Hindi and the other half were English. Filbert had his instant oatmeal for breakfast and Snookums’s stomach was still kind of “iffy” so she didn’t eat anything. We decided to walk to the Gateway of India and saw the Taj Mahal Hotel across from it. The Taj Mahal Hotel doesn’t look that pretty and we couldn’t see any damage from the terrorist attack earlier this year. George W. Bush stayed at the Taj Mahal yesterday for some business dinner he attended. We didn’t see any sign of him.

Gateway of India

The Taj Mahal Hotel

Along the way we stumbled across the “Festival of India.” It was a blocked-off street with a lot of small booths–sort of like a Santa-Cali-Gon or any other arts-and-community-festival type event almost everywhere.

Festival of India

Snookums wanted a Diet Coke (we only ever saw sugared soft drinks for sale at the little stands we passed) and when we saw a McDonald’s we went in. Our large Diet Coke cost around $.80 which is very expensive. Vegetarian burgers were only $.40 each. We don’t know if all sodas cost $.80 or if Diet Coke was more expensive. Anyway, we kept walking after a very short break.

We stopped for ice cream a block from the hotel since we read a review saying it was the best ice cream in the world. (Snookums’s stomach was finally “healed” by now.) We each had a scoop for $.40 each. The shop was very clean and very modern and was quite nice (and had great A/C). However, only ice cream scoops were sold – no sundaes, no shakes – just scoops. They need to modify the menu to make more money!

The Dome

The Intercontinental’s outdoor rooftop lounge, the Dome, is mentioned in many travel guides as THE place to go to watch sunset. In addition to a view to the west over the Arabian Sea, it also has a commanding view of the Mumbai waterfront, called the Queen’s Necklace. We were there when it opened–actually, we were the first two in the door–so we got good seats. Filbert had a glass of Yellow Tail wine (an inexpensive Australian wine that cost a lot in Mumbai) and ordered calamari. While we were there, Chuck and Janet came and we joined them at their table. The sunset was pretty.

The view of the Queen’s Necklace at sunset

Sunset from The Dome

We went to the Italian restaurant in the hotel for dinner and Chuck and Janet showed up a few minutes later so we asked them to join us. Each of us ended up ordering pizza, which wound up being quite good, actually.

Next: Boarding the Seven Seas Voyager!