Days 7-10: At Sea
As I’m writing this, we are skirting our 2nd cyclone (hurricane) of the trip. This one is pretty benign, but the first cyclone as we crossed from Malaysia to India made for some pretty rough seas. Water was sloshing out of the pool and everyone was walking around the ship like they were drunk. I ran on the treadmill and had to continuously hold on to one handrail the whole time to keep from falling down. As you can imagine, quite a few people got seasick. Lynda and I both put on our herbal patches behind the ears and had no problem. Tip: The medicinal patches you get from the doctor are super expensive. We found the herbal ones you can get on Amazon are really effective and will save you a lot of money. Another tip: When booking a room, get one in the middle of the ship. Rooms on the ends get a lot more motion. Ours is in the middle of the ship and for those 3 days I was really happy it is.
I really thought four days at sea in a row would be long and boring. As it turns out, not so much. The cruise ship schedules TONS of stuff to do on these days, and we managed to take advantage of a few of them: There are lectures on the ports of call we have coming up that are very interesting, trivia competitions, afternoon tea, working out, reading, writing my blog, working on photos, pool time, movies in the cinema, and cards. And we eat. I swear, one day I ate 5 times! It’s ridiculous.
We also had a meeting for our Taj Mahal excursion that is coming up. There were a number of people who were upset because we are paying a lot of money and were scheduled to only get about 2 hours actually at the Taj. I initially thought the same thing, then I saw the weather forecast: 43 degrees Celsius. I don’t know exactly how that converts, but I’m guessing around 107. In the middle of the afternoon. With no shade. I’m looking around the room thinking after 2 hours, these people are going to be begging to get back onto that air conditioned bus.
Random miscellaneous info:
My new favorite drink is the Kiwi Colada. Yum!
Did you know that turning back the clock by ½ an hour is a thing? It is 2 nautical days west of Malaysia and again after leaving India.
Writing a blog is a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. First of all, writing for someone other than just myself changes slightly what I say and how I say it. It forces me to write in complete sentences and with some degree of flow. I also have to go through my photos and choose some to compliment what I’ve written. That takes some time. (I do like that when I get home, a lot of the work will already be done though.) Finally, the Internet. Not only is it often sketchy, but because I’m uploading photos, I’m blowing through data. By downsizing my images before posting, I’m saving a lot of space, but it is what it is and I’m still enjoying the challenge.
Lynda and I are still getting along great. We really are good travel partners. As she put it, “We have the same travel energy.” That, and we pretty much have the same goals when it comes to what we want to experience.
Day 11: Cochin, India
So the day finally arrived. We were off to see the Taj Mahal! Remember that ridiculously expensive $1400 excursion? We were so excited. We had our carry-on luggage at 15 pounds or less (we decided to not to check a bag), we boarded bus #3, and we were off to the airport……or so we thought.
Much to our surprised we got a couple of stops in on the way to the airport. First, we stopped at St. Francis Church, the first European church built in India (sometime in the 1500’s) with its swinging cloth fans and beautiful floor.
Then we got to see the Chinese fishing nets (only used here and in China) which use large rocks as weights to bring the nets up. It’s a primitive system still being used and I was excited we got to see them.
Once we got to the airport, our flight on IndiGo Airlines was delayed a couple of hours. That wasn’t necessarily a problem as we had nothing scheduled besides travel for the day.
Security in India is tight. Just about everywhere we went we had to pass through security. There is often a separate line for men and women, women having to go behind a curtained area to be scanned with the metal-detector wand. We also saw plenty of machine guns throughout India being used by the police and security officers. When we had our layover on the way to New Delhi, security boarded the plane, checked everyone’s boarding passes again and made sure every piece of carry-on luggage belonged to someone still on the plane.
When we finally arrived in Delhi, we took a bus to our 5 star hotel in the diplomatic area of the city and on our way we passed a number of embassies. It was a really beautiful, wooded area with gardens and parks. And clean. Yep. Clean. Granted, this was the really good part of town, but before coming to India I was expecting a mass of humanity, lots of trash, and for it to be really, really smelly. So far, none of that. (We would later see lots and lots of trash on the streets of India, but you can also see there is an effort under way to change that culture. Unfortunately, they still have a long way to go.)
When we arrived at the Taj Diplomatic Enclave Hotel, it was at the same time as a wedding party. This must have been some wedding. The guests were dressed in the most stunning dresses and suits I’ve ever seen. We had to pass through security to go into the hotel and fortunately, we were able to get a few photos there.
As a symbol of welcome, the hotel greeted us by putting a red dot on our forehead and a beaded garland around our necks. We also were given a green tea that had mint and spices in it: Sweet and salty. And for the first time on our trip, when we got to the room we had more bottled water than we could possibly drink. (For some reason, bottled water on the ship is crazy hard to get and NOT included in our drink package.)
Our room was super nice with maybe the best rain shower I’ve ever experienced. Remote control blinds--even in the bathroom. Some of the guests even had rose petal foot baths when they got back from the excursion the next day. And then there’s the food. Buffet style seems to be the norm, which I usually equate to pretty average food. Not here. Every single thing we ate was so good. I, of course, didn’t know what most of it was, but every dish was delicious.
Day 12: Agra (The Taj Mahal!)
I woke up that morning with real gratitude in my heart. I was so grateful for the opportunity to be on such an amazing trip. I was grateful for the beautiful room and hotel I got to stay in. I was grateful for being in India, and I was especially grateful that I was going to be seeing the Taj Mahal that day. This was a bucket list day.
After breakfast (yep, amazing), we took a bus to the train station. What a great experience. It was crowded, but so full of energy and beautiful, interesting people. I loved it. The most surprising thing was that no one in our group of 74 got separated and lost.
We rode in the first class car, which was plenty comfortable. Lynda could even charge her phone. I’m sure the second class cars were much more crowded, so I didn’t regret the comfort for the 2 hour train ride to Agra. From there a bus to the Taj Mahal.
Ahhh, the Taj Mahal. What can I say? It literally took my breath away. There is an outer courtyard surrounded by a red brick wall, then you pass through a large gate to get to the famous white marble mausoleum. As we walked through the gate, the Taj was framed in the doorway. Wow! As we stepped out onto the lawn I was just blown away by the site in front of me. It was everything I was hoping it would be.
If you’re interested (if not skip this paragraph): The Taj Mahal is one of the 7 Modern Wonders of the World. It’s a mausoleum that was commissioned to be built in 1632 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan when his wife died after giving birth to their 14th child. It was meant to be a testament to his love for her, and he planned on building a matching black mausoleum on the other side of the Yamuna River with a bridge between the two so they could visit each other in death. It is made of marble and perfectly symmetrical. It cost about a $1B in today’s dollars and almost bankrupt the Shah. Unfortunately, before he could build the black mausoleum, he was imprisoned (more like house arrest) by his son, who was very ambitious and wanted to rule in place of his father. The black mausoleum never got past the foundation. After he died, the Shah’s tomb was placed next to hers, and later still, both bodies were moved, so the tombs now sit empty, however beautiful. That is pretty much all there is in the white building—just the two empty tombs. Aside from the white mausoleum, there is a mosque built in the red brick of the surrounding walls and gates. To maintain the symmetry, an exact building is also on the other side (but not a mosque also). The Shaw was Muslim, his wife Hindu. The Taj is a mix of the two styles.
As two of the only blonds there (and in most of this part of India), Lynda and I were soon everyone’s best friend for selfies. We took selfies with old and young alike, friends and families. And we turned our own cameras around too. It was all good fun and it made the experience even that much better.
As I predicted, 2 hours was enough time in the heat for our group. It had rained the day before, so it wasn’t even as hot as originally expected. Still, 4 people in our group of 74 had serious trouble with the heat. I heard one was even hospitalized, but I don’t know if that is true or not.
Lunch was another amazing buffet at another 5 star hotel in Agra, after which, we went to Agra Fort. This is where the Shah was kept imprisoned by his son. From the fort, the Shah could see the Taj Mahal, and the resting place of his love. If you go to the Taj Mahal, don’t miss going to the Fort too. Its circumference is over 2 miles long, so it’s quite large, and very impressive.
We took a loooong 4 hour bus ride back to the hotel in New Delhi so we could catch our flight the next morning back to the ship. As we were nearing 9:30 that night and getting close to the hotel, I asked Lynda, “Was that train ride this morning or yesterday?” It was the same day. Craaaaaazy long day but absolutely no regrets!!!
Day 13: Goa
We were sad to leave our luxurious accommodations, but were also looking forward to getting back “home.” Flew from Delhi to Goa. It was a pretty early sail away, so no time for seeing the city.
To be continued......
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