We awoke at 3:30 am, there were two wake-up calls just to make sure everyone was up. We had the buffet breakfast and were loaded on the bus at 4:45am for the drive to the airport. Our flight to Mumbai is scheduled for 7:20 am where we will catch a flight to Cochin at 10:20 am. We only have 55 minutes between flights and we told we would have to go thru the security screening in both Delphi and again in Mumbai.
Our flight on Kingfisher Air left on time and we had bulkhead seats in the front of the plane which provided a little more leg room. We were served breakfast which was some form of Indian pancake, different, but tasty. We arrived in Mumbai about 10 minutes early and were held on the plane while there was a discussion on how we could avoid going thru the security check. Again I am sure Hal and all the Gents on board appreciated the stewardess's, very attractive and the service though not the coffee was great.
In the end we left the plane by way of the jetway stairs and were put on buses, driven in a circle, had our boarding passes looked at and the re-boarded the same plane. I think the reason they just didn't let us stay on the plane was that everyone's seat was changed. We still had bulkhead seats, but on the other side of the aisle. Anyway it all worked out and we left on schedule. We were serviced a snack which was some type of chicken and noodles, very hot (spicy), made my lips tingle.
We arrived in Cochin at noon. Cochin is in southern India and it is very tropical. Lots of water and palm trees. When taxiing down the runway the view from the window was reminiscent of Mexico or Hawaii. Our buses were waiting when we left the terminal, and would you believe our bus was the twin of our last bus, the little bus that could. We were scheduled to have a tour of Cochin but because we would be required to go thru immigrations again Princess felt there may not be enough time so the city tour of Cochin was scrubbed.
As we drove to the port area our guide, a school teacher and part-time guide, conducted a class room session on the history of Cochin area, the cast system, and arranged marriages, of which his was. More information then most of us wanted to know. He was very clear to say that the area had no beggars and a very high standard of living. RIGHT!
We reached the port area and found the immigration office ( which was stucco one story building left by the British and now looking more like an abandoned shack), and found that we were, as usual the last bus to arrive and the wait would be about an hour. This did not sit well, but some how our wait was shorted to about 30 minutes. The security measures are very tight since the bombing and attack on Taj Mahal hotel and other places in Mumbai.
Prior to getting to the port our guide gave each of a gift from the tour company. The gift was a model of a snake boat, which is like a dragon boat.
We arrived at the ship around 2:30 pm and again had to go thru security.
After we dropped off our bags and washed our faces we went to the buffet for a beer. We found Don and Myrna, who had just finished there tour, and it was nice to be back with friends again.
The tour was well worth the time and effort. We talked to a couple of people who did it on their own without any problems at I'm sure a cheaper price, but we felt more comfortable having Princess responsible for making sure we got back to the ship on time. Whether we would come back to India is a question better left to a later time. I'm sure there are many places that would be nice to visit if the occasion should arise.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
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