March 28

3-27am: Yesterday we were in Sri Lanka and neither of us can figure out why anyone would come here on purpose BUT there are many resort hotels at one of which we spent the day. We woke up to a driving rain - it was coming down in buckets - and we were thinking how wonderful that we had picked this spot for a day in the sun at a resort! The drive to the Royal Palms was an hour and a half through some of the most abject poverty we have ever seen. And dirty - trash all over the place. Let me tell you - after seeing Columbo yesterday I take back my comment a few days ago (in the BLOG about Singapore’s cleanliness) about littered America. We are much closer to Singapore thank heavens than Sri Lanka - and our table mates tell us “wait til you see India”!! Anyhow, our drive was very interesting - there are thousands of “took-tooks” which are these little three wheeled cabs that just drive like idiots in and out of traffic! I do wonder what the death rate of took-took drivers is. We passed the sidewalk stalls selling all kinds of fruit - and fish just laid out on a slab of wood on the dirty sidewalk. And people - lots and lots of people. They were dressed every which way - most of the women were in saris and the men were either in pants or in sari-like skirts. And everyone had on sandals - mostly rubber flip flops which came in handy yesterday in the monsoons! The streets were all flooded - nowhere for the water to go - didn’t seem to have any storm sewers. And the living conditions were very poor. We thought perhaps this was the area of the tsunami but it was not - we were on the wrong side of the island. It was amazing. The resort was very nice and the sun did come out. It was hot and humid. They served us a buffet lunch with samples of all the different foods - some of which were very HOT! Then about 4 we headed back to the ship - another interesting drive - I think Ginnie and I enjoyed the drive more than the resort. Not much in the way of pictures - the one of the man on his bike on the dirt road is on the road to the resort - which is behind guarded gates - not my idea of an ideal vacation spot! And the Birmingham kids will be glad to know that we have our own personal Ethel, our room steward - she is from Eastern Europe someplace and she is Ethel in all respects!

3-27pm: We toured Cochin, India today. IT WAS HOT!! First we went on a boat to see the harbor. It was interesting. We went out to see the Chinese fishermen nets - they werefascinating. Huge nets with a system of pulleys etc to catch fish from the shore They were all up when we went by and our guide said they put them down at full tide. Then we got on a bus and went to “Jewtown” and saw a synagogue that had been built in 1568. The first Jews came to India in 175 BC and since the establishment of Israel the Jewish population of Cochin has dwindled to 14. The walk to the synagogue was lined with shops - Ginnie didn’t make the whole walk but enjoyed the small shops along the way. They were very interesting - small and crowded and sold a little of everything. Then we went to a Dutch Palace which was built in 1557 - there was a huge mural on the walls that depicted a mythical history of India and Sri Lanka. After the Dutch Palace, which was actually built by the Portuguese , we went to the Church of St. Francis which was built in the 16th century. Vasco da Gama, who died in Kochi (Cochin) in 1524 was buried in the church for 14 years until his remains were taken back to Portugal. After the church we were taken to the obligatory fancy store stop - only reason we went in was because there was a potty, but, you know, when you sweat for hours you really don’t need to pee as much! The city itself was not as trashy as Columbo, but it was dirty and crowded - open sewers seemed to be flowing along some of the streets. You would pass a fairly decent looking house and behind the wall - in the yard - would be rubble - why not make where you live attractive? Not sure I understand. All in all it was a good enough tour but it was HOT and Cochin, India is not a place I will revisit!