Yeah: back one more hour tonight

I have muscles I had forgotten

There is something about heat and humidity that just wears us out. And we drank several bottles of water yesterday too.

Cochin lecture

We’ve been here twice before and so it was a reminder of many of the sights. It gave me a better idea of what to choose for a tour.

Except for the hop on hop off busses, we are really better off on tours. We get to see more, without hassle, and in comfort.

Piracy drill

We’ve had piracy drills before but nothing like this one.

You close all the windows and sit on the hallway to be checked. You can’t go back into your room until told to do so. In deference to those of us who have difficulty sitting on the floor (I do it but it’s getting more challenging it seems), we were told to close all the windows, turn off all the lights and stay away from windows and doors. Sit on your bed in the farthest part of the cabin.

In case of a real attack, you will be told to go into your cabin, lock the door, stay away from windows and doors, and do not turn on lights.

I guess all of this has been standardized by the British and has become an international process by convention.

Someone said they wouldn’t put it in their blog because their family would worry too much. I resisted the impulse to laugh hysterically. Mine would say what a great experience.

Pretty cool.

How could I have forgotten!!

The stop I forgot to tell about in my blog of yesterday was the TEMPLE stop! We had been to this Wat before. It is a large complex with many gold and red ornate buildings. There are lots temple dogs (and I saw one cat). These animals were so relaxed and were sleeping so soundly with throngs of people passing around them.

We went to the 3^rd floor of a large pagoda where there is a relic of the collar bone of Buddha (well that’s what they believe anyway). There are dragons everywhere fiercely guarding….well fiercely guarding something. I learned that Buddha only lays on his right side so his heart isn’t squished.

One thing I had never seen or heard of before: If you ask for something at this temple and it is granted, you must come back and set off firecrackers in thanks. Thank Goodness they told us this in advance or we would have taken cover when they exploded. There is a conical building of perhaps two stories made of brick and with an opening at the top and a smallish door where the firecrackers are thrown in. It creates even more noise than usual in this echo chamber and the smoke comes out the top and that little side door. The dogs slept right through it.

Flotsam and other detritus:

Occasionally on this trip we have seen cartons and other debris floating around the ship in the water while at sea. We have no idea of the origins of this trash but are all curious.

Sea life

The bridge made an announcement that there was a pod of dolphins on the starboard side and so everyone rushed to the right side and the ship listed 30 degrees (no not really) but I didn’t hear anyone say they saw them. Probably frightened them away.

Truth

We watched this movie on DVD about Dan Rather and the fall out from a story his team reported on during the second Presidential election. Very well acted and presented. Brought up a lot of old memories and puzzlements about how people in power get away with things when they shouldn’t.

Trivia

If it was like this every time, we’d stop going. Couldn’t hear the questions and what you could hear was unintelligible because of the pronunciation. Furthermore, we were so far away we couldn’t see the screen AND the questions were all multiple choice which you would think is easier but not necessarily so.

Dinner

We are teasing the waiters from India because tomorrow’s Sunday buffet is supposed to be Indian and when we had the Chinese buffet there wasn’t one Chinese dish on there. So Francis brought out the menu to show us what to get. But further he told us to latch onto an Indian waiter and they’d guide us to the right dishes. Ha.

Tonight’s production show

These kids do such a fine job on these shows. The two main vocalists are superb and the male and female dancers are just amazing. We so enjoy these productions.