India: Jaipur to Mumbai to Cochin/Kochi

Our wake up call was at 0400 and we had to be ready to leave at 0515. I got up and showered and headed downstairs to check out. It always amazes me that I’m able to get up at these absurd hours on such little sleep. We took the bus about an hour to the airport. Our flight was a little delayed. We were taking it to Mumbai for our connecting flight to Cochin/Kochi. I’m not sure why it’s referred to as both Cochin and Kochi. My guess is that Cochin is the American/Western/English version of the word and Kochi is the Indian way. But who knows. I’d google it if I had access to google….

It was about a two hour flight to Mumbai, and I slept the entire time. We felt pretty badass being in Mumbai with all the terrorist threats and stuff. They had just caught the people though, so it was safer. But still, security was heightened.

In Mumbai we had to get off the plane while they cleaned it up, but it was the same one. Good thing, because we got there later than our next flight was scheduled to take off and we would have missed it and been stuck in Mumbai. Our flight to Cochin was about an hour and a half. I slept some more. By the time we got in and gathered all the luggage it was already 1230. Luckily we got food on the flight.

We took a bus an hour to get to the Customs and Immigrations office right outside the port. We had to get our shore cards to get access to the ship and then get off it to explore. Cochin looked nicer than Chennai from the bus. Although it was less city than Chennai, it was more of a port city or town. It took forever to get through Indian security and then security on the ship. There’s always a sign outside the ship that says the level of security in place on the ship and it’s always said 1. Today it said 2 with the increased terrorist threats in Cochin.

Cochin was even hotter than Chennai and more tropical with palm trees. It was gorgeous, but not a conventional beauty. I didn’t think it was possible to get any hotter or more humid than in Chennai, but I was wrong.

We got back on the ship and dropped out stuff off. I found the girls and said hi, they were lying out tanning waiting for the boys to get back. I went out with Victor, Bea, and Vanessa to explore the area.

We walked off and got through all of the security again. All the rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers jumped at us to take us around. We ignored them all. We walked a ways down the road trying to figure out what to do. We decided to pick a rickshaw driver and see if he could take us to get some food. There was one just hanging out and not bugging us, so we asked him. He told us he’d take us around for $1 USD. Perfect.

We squeezed in and he took us into town for some samosas. He took us to this very local restaurant. It was just a little room that was completely open to the street with a few tiny tables and benches. The man gave us a few samosas and this other coconut-rice sweet dessert-like food. We ended up having a bunch of both. At the end we asked how much, expecting them to drive up the price crazy high since we’re Americans, but it was only 44 rupees or about $1 USD for everything. We were so full. It was the best food I had the entire trip. We were advised not to be eating street food, but I remind you, that’s the best part.

Our driver took us to the Spice Market next. We saw huge piles of ginger and warehouse rooms of it. There were boxes of it piled up ready to be shipped out and exported all over. Upstairs a few women worked in a hot room with all sorts of spices and soaps. They had us test a few different teas. We all ended up getting something. I bought some all natural, delicious smelling soap and masala tea. I can’t wait to have some of it.

We told our driver we wanted to go shopping, so he took us around. He took us to a few of the government stores while sell nice stuff, but it’s more expensive than we really wanted to buy stuff for. We went to about 5 of them. He told us up front that if he took us there and we looked around for a few minutes he got points. If he got 5 points he could get a new uniform from the government and he really wanted one. We agreed to do him this favor. I liked how upfront he was. In Chennai, the drivers had been out to screw you. He was so genuine and nice. But after awhile we told him to take us to a cheap place on the street. It was getting late and most places were closing down anyways.

He took us down to the water to see the Chinese fishing nets. It was right around sunset and they were so incredible in that light. I was glad we made it down there. There were a bunch of vendors there, too. I finally found my M.C. Hammer parachute pants and a bag. My shopping was now complete. After this we made one final stop at a store to get a sari for Bea’s mom. She got the price down really low on a nice silk one. Then we headed back to the ship. We figured we’d shower and meet up later on the ship to hang out. We asked our driver how much, expecting him to name some absurd price. He simply looked at us and said, “Up to you, I said $1 earlier.” We looked at each other and agreed on each giving him about 100 rupees, about $11 USD total. He was thrilled by this. See what happens when they’re not pushy and rude? They get way more. He was so grateful and told us he’d be here the next day if we needed a ride anywhere.

When I got back I saw Brandon coming back from his trip. We all got back and had a family dinner to retell our stories as everyone had just gotten in today. Dinner was good since we were in port. Some girl on the ship was having her 21^st birthday party in port that night at some hotel. We decided we’d get ready and go to that. I have a hard time wanting to stay on the ship for more than meals and sleeping when we’re in port. It seems like a waste of time.

We got ready and tried to figure out where to go. It was going to cost about $20 USD to get into the party and it was about an hour away from the ship. We decided we’d try and find a restaurant and get a few drinks there. Most things close at 2300 anyways. This party was going until 0100, which still wasn’t too late. Especially after some of the other countries we’ve been out in.

It ended up being me, Nic, Tania, Brandon, Mason, and Emily. Becca didn’t want to get off the ship, and I don’t think she got off all day. Nolan had dock time and wasn’t allowed off the ship at all in Cochin.

It took forever but we finally managed to find a reasonably priced rickshaw that the 6 of us could cram into. We tried to find a useable ATM, but that didn’t happen. Our driver drove us around in search of a bar. There were no bars. We found a restaurant and told him to drop us there. We found out that they don’t serve drinks at most restaurants. We saw a hotel and they told us to go to XL down the road. It was a restaurant with alcohol.

We got there and there were some other SASers and other foreigners. We got a few King Fishers and split some fries. We couldn’t order anything past 2230 and we were kicked out by 2330. We used the bathroom before we left, it was super sketchy. It had a lock on the outside…? I made Nic stand outside to make sure I wasn’t locked in and kidnapped.

We made friends with an Australian and went back to his hotel right down the street to hang out for awhile since it was still so early out. The hotel was named Good Karma. It was more of a house with bedrooms rented out. But we could chill out on the roof and it was a gorgeous night out. We all got a kick out of his accent and he seemed to enjoy ours. We hung out there until almost 0200.

We figured we needed to find out way back. Our rickshaw driver had said he would be waiting outside the restaurant when we were done, but he had been nowhere to be seen when we had finished up earlier. We wandered down the street trying to find a cab. Cabs don’t exist at this hour in Cochin. At least not back in the obscure streets. There were no lights and everything was closed down. It was so creepy. We were relatively far from the ship. We had no idea how to get back.

There were random stray dogs everywhere. We decided to keep wandering until we came across a hotel or a cab. We found neither. It was like a deserted town. I can’t even explain it enough to do it justice. It was one of the weirdest feelings just walking through this town, the 6 of us, as if we were the only people in existence.

A cab came by and we asked him how much to take us back to the ship. He told us 800 rupees. Someone stupidly said absolutely not and he drove off. Yea, that would be a little more than we would like to pay, but it’s like $3 USD a person. And at that hour, we really should have been open to any price. This pissed me and Nic off. We now had to keep wandering in hopes of seeing another cab. A few minutes later another cab drove past us.

Someone in the cab yelled out “SASers!” and we knew a few of them. They were wasted. The cab driver started to pull over and we yelled to ask him to call another cab for us since we were in desperate need. With that we hear them urgently yelling at him, “Drive away! Go!” And with that they blasted off. What assholes. I will forever look at these people as complete assholes. That is something you do not do to other SASers. You’re supposed to look out for each other, especially in port. We didn’t even ask for a ride, we were asking for the cab driver to call us a cab. We were furious at these people. Sometimes the people on this ship really piss me off. I can’t believe how self-centered they are. I know two of them are from UC Boulder and do nothing but drink themselves into oblivion in every port. Good for you, assholes, you really make the rest of us look good.

We wandered for another 15 minutes and came upon a house with a tv going that was semi lit up. It stood out since everything else was pitch black. We tried yelling in to them to see if they could find us a cab or drive us back. With that a cab appeared. It was the same guy as before, but this time he said 100 rupees a person. This was way more reasonable. So he took us back. I was so happy to see the ship and get on and go to bed.