India

We arrived in Cochin, India this morning around 8:00. Like China, there was a different smell to the air.

I was nervous to visit this country. I'd heard stories, especially from Chris, about how different a place this is. Beggars, pick pockets, hustlers all making their rupees by taking advantage of tourists. Aggressiveness in the bazars and toward women in general. The advise is that females should wear long sleeves and pants or skirts that cover the knees otherwise you can be mistaken as promiscuous. Warning upon warning of the unsanitary conditions. Only drink bottled water but make sure the bottle is sealed. Inspect the bottom to ensure it has not been tampered with. If your plate at a restaurant is wet, wipe it off because that small amount can cause severe GI problems.

We went to breakfast. Jeremy was late and Ben was not acting like Ben. We signed up for the Cochin City Cycling tour making us one of the first groups called to immigration. Jeremy dragged himself out of bed and Ben now had a stomach ache.

We stepped off the ship and were greeted by Indian drummers and dancers. The sun was beating down on us and the air was thick with humidity. Jeremy turned a lighter shade of white and Ben wasn't sure he could make it.

On the bus, waiting for the last passenger, Ben bailed out. Sick to his stomach. We did some shuffling of paperwork so that Ben and I could re-board the ship and Chris and Jeremy could continue on with the tour group. We realized we had "Jeffery" Smith's landing card and not Jeremy's! Not good as this is what India acknowledges as your ID card. Mad scramble to find Jeffery who was either on one of the 20 tour buses or on the ship. We tracked him down and he couldn't have been more surprised that he had the wrong landing card.

Returned to Ben who had just lost his breakfast.

Chris and Jeremy returned to the ship after only half of the cycling tour. Jeremy turned a nice shade of gray as he cycled through the city before calling it quits. Just before re-boarding, he saw his dinner again from last night.

There were 50 cases of GI illnesses reported to the ship's doc after leaving Myanmar. The Smiths made 52 but I saw at least 4 more people who stayed on the ship today for the same reason.

We'll see how tonight goes. Docked on Willingdon Island just to the west of Cochin, we will admire India from across the Arabian Sea, for now.