Visit to Cochin (now Kochi)

We had a restful day at sea after our visit with Momo in Goa. I wanted to swim and tried the solarium pool, but it was far too warm. Fortunately, there is a deep (5.5-6 feet) lap pool outside on the pool deck that is a bit cooler. If I go late in the afternoon, there usually aren't more than two or three other people there. 

On Saturday we stopped in Cochin. This is another port that the Europeans colonized -- first the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and then the British. It was a princely state that became part of modern India in 1956. This has been an interesting trip, with visits to three former colonial areas prior to British rule -- Pondicherry (French) on the east coast, Goa (Portuguese), and now Cochin, both on the west coast. Goa is the only one we have visited before, back in 1980 and again in 2008.

I signed up for a small group tour of the city through a company not affiliated with the cruise line (Dan went out on his own to find a barber and got a haircut). There were only five of us (couples from Maryland and Scotland), with a very good guide named Rajesh. He knew the history well, and had a special interest in trees, of which we saw many. After a walk by some vegetable vendors, we visited the dhobi khana. Laundrymen (dhobis) still do washing and ironing in a central place. We then drove to Fort Kochi, where the Portuguese first started a settlement with a fort and a church. The fort is long gone, as the Dutch tore it down and built structures called bastions. The fort area has a walkway along the edge of the Arabian Sea. This tour turned out to have a lot more walking than I was expecting and I struggled a bit, but made it through. 

Ironing room in dhobi khana; they have electricity, but a few still use coal-fired irons.

One of the three remaining bastions. One is a museum, one the bishop's residence, and one is privately owned.

We visited the St. Francis Church, built by the Portuguese in 1503. It was Catholic, but when the Dutch came, it became Protestant. And when the English took over, it became Anglican. It still has two services every Sunday, one in Malayalam and one in English. Vasco da Gama's tomb is there, although his bones were removed to Lisbon in 1539.

Front of St. Francis church with war monument.

Inside the church. Upper right is one of the six punkahs, manually-operated fans (done by punkah-wallahs sitting outside and pulling ropes).

One of the many large old trees.

Chinese fishing nets are lowered into the water, then raised to catch fish, active in the morning.

We also visited the palace of the maharajah. He was friendly to the Jewish people who were being mistreated by others, so he invited them to settle close by him. You can see the temple from the palace.

Do I dare enter the maharajah's palace? Steep steps! I did it.

Ceiling inside

One room had all the walls covered with paintings of the Ramayana.

The Jewish synagogue; we had to walk through an area selling handicrafts to see it.

Now it is Sunday afternoon and we have just docked at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tomorrow we have a tuk-tuk tour of the city.

On to Mumbai

Our last two days in Bangalore were relaxing. We did our laundry and visited a lot. Tuesday morning we had an Uber to the airport. Although our flight was delayed a bit, all went well. We checked into our Hyatt hotel in Mumbai and lounged in our room. The taxi ride Wednesday morning from the hotel to the cruiseport took about an hour and we had the usual Indian traffic. The checkin procedure involved standing in the hot sun for longer than I liked, but once we got inside it went smoothly. One major hitch is that I somehow got the wrong type of visa for Sri Lanka. We filled out some paperwork and have to reapply on the ship. And I thought I was so careful about all the complicated paperwork for this Asian cruise!! Our first port of call was Goa on US Thanksgiving day. We had been in touch with our former student and friend Tenzing (Momo) Nima, who lives there now. He met us at the port and took us on a driving tour around Panaji (old Panjim), the capital of this former Portuguese colony. We found a parking spot (amazing, given the number of cars around the narrow streets) and walked around admiring the old architecture. After a stop in a coffee shop, we headed back to the ship. It was so great to see him and the visiting was nonstop!

Travel to Bangalore and Pondicherry

Our taxi showed up on time at the hotel on Tuesday morning (always a good sign!). Brij and Deepa came by to wish us farewell (and provided some PB&J and oranges for breakfast in the car, yum). Our flight from Delhi to Bangalore went off without a hitch. Mahesh and Nina were waiting as we came out the exit. We came back to their flat in a very large apartment block, where we  spent two nights in a nearby guest room.

Dhruv showing off his new hand-knit socks; I think he's worn them all weekend.

On Thursday morning we left very early for our drive to Pondicherry. After a few hours on the road, we stopped at a nice restaurant for breakfast (nice means usable washrooms as well as good and safe food). We arrived at the Club Mahindra resort by 2:00 and spent the afternoon enjoying the property.

My breakfast dosa -- you can't even see the ends, it was so big!

Tea and coffee served the Tamil Nadu way -- pour some into the larger cup to cool it off

A visit to the beach at dark. Not a swimming beach.

The resident peacock who loved getting food from visitors

Friday we drove a half-hour or so into the formerly French town of Pondicherry. The architecture was very distinctive and we enjoyed driving around looking at buildings. Our first stop was the showroom of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, famous for their handmade paper. They had everything from notebooks to earrings to wrapping paper and it was all beautiful.

One of several walls of wrapping paper

The oldest European-style hotel in Pondicherry. Typical architecture and a great lunch.

I had chicken kabobs on a small naan.

Dan's was very unusual: a good chunk of paneer topped with masala and wrapped in a banana leaf.

After lunch we found a French patisserie and indulged.

View of the beach at Pondicherry

We had a long drive back to Bangalore with lots of traffic near and in the city. At our first rest stop the rain poured down while we were there, and miraculously stopped just as we were ready to leave. Lunch was at a Burger King along the highway. We moved into a nearby AirBnB for our last nights here. Today (Sunday) and tomorrow we are relaxing and visiting. Tuesday morning we fly to Mumbai, where we will board our cruise on Wednesday.

Meerut Photos

When I posted a few days ago, I couldn't get any photos to load on the slow internet at our hotel. Now that we are in Bangalore, it is a lot better.

Anju, Neelu and Brij looking through a photo book of the Lind-Lal friendship of 56 years.

Shopping at a fruit stall

Hibiscus blooms on the table

Brij, master tailor, hemming Dan's new pants

Traffic in Meerut after shopping trip

Viola and me (looking a little weird)

Brij and Dan the morning we left Meerut

A Visit to Meerut

Our old friends Brij and Viola Lal, have lived in Meerut since retirement. This is a smaller city than Delhi, but has grown enormously since we first visited here back in 1996. Their daughter Deepa and her son Jason live with them. We are staying in a hotel not far from their home, and are kindly picked up by car in the morning to spend the day with the family. 

Our trip from Delhi by car on Friday went smoothly, although it took a long time to get from one side of Delhi to another. Once we crossed the River Yamuna, we got on an expressway that moved us quickly to Meerut. After settling into the hotel, we went over to the house for greetings and tea with samosas.

The cricket test match between India and South Africa was on the TV. We anticipated being able to watch it for the usual five days. However, the scoring was low and the wicket-falling was high, and the whole thing was over before the end of the third day. If you don't know anything about cricket, that won't mean much, but it was disappointing. And India lost.

On Saturday we did our laundry in their automatic washer. I hung it out on the rooftop terrace and it was all dry within just a few hours. Anju and Sandeep came from Delhi and we all had a good day visiting.

Saturday night we had an unfortunate incident; about midnight a large group of noisy people came into the room next to ours. They were smoking, talking, and laughing loudly. Dan went down to the desk but the overnight attendant had no authority to do anything. They finally quieted down about 4:00 AM. We were not happy!!

On Sunday Neelu and Sanjay came from Delhi. What a treat to spend time with three of the Lal daughters and their parents. In the afternoon I went shopping with Anju and Neelu; I was interested in the yarn shop Anju had been at the day before. I did find some very decent yarn for a project I have in mind, and the total price for a total of eight 100-gram balls was less than $10! After the yarn shop, the sisters had some more shopping to do. They are professionals 😉

When we returned, Deepa had lunch ready -- Tibetan noodles and momos. She is an amazing cook, just like her mother. I was happy to spend some time visiting with Neelu, whom we see very rarely.

Today (Monday) is our last day here. It will be quieter, as the Delhi folks have returned home to work today. We'll be leaving for the airport at 7:30 in the morning for our flight to Bangalore and our next visiting adventure.

I did take some pictures but the internet here in our hotel is extremely slow. I can't get anything to load. I will try to add some when we are in Bangalore, where we should have better connectivity.

A Few Days in Delhi

Today (Thursday) is our fifth and last day in Delhi. We have been very fortunate to spend time with several friends. On our first day, Sunday, we took the Metro to Mayur Vihar, where Anju (Lal) and Sandeep live. We had a good visit and some tea, then headed back to the hotel. 

On Monday we were able to meet up with Darab and Naz, long-time Woodstock friends. Darab was our student back in the 1970s and lived with us in Goshen for a year and a half while he completed a teaching degree. They were on their way home from Mussoorie to Pune and were able to stop at our hotel. We went to lunch and talked and talked. In fact, we were so busy talking, we neglected to take the obligatory photo.

Tuesday morning we were happy to run into Dar (Seaman) and Tom at breakfast. We had been in touch, as I knew they were attending a class reunion in Mussoorie around this time. Again, lots of talking, and this time we did remember a photo!

Wednesday we were back with Anju and Sandeep, and very grateful for Sandeep's help with some problems with our upcoming domestic flights. All is well now!

We had lunch several days at a nearby restaurant, The Beer Cafe. This dish of chicken meatballs was very good (as were the other dishes we tried).

This hotel, the Hyatt Centric Janakpuri West, is very comfortable. The peacock below decorates a wall looking down from the 8th floor to the 4th.

The breakfast buffet is excellent, with both Indian and western dishes. Eggs are made to order, there is a variety of fresh fruit, multiple pastries and toast, and North and South Indian breakfast foods.

Fresh poories, with potato bhaji

Two kinds of wadas, a South Indian staple

We took a shopping trip to Khan Market on Tuesday, hoping to find some things at FabIndia. We took the Metro again, which stops very close to the market. But by the time walked around and climbed the stairs to the store, I was quite breathless from the heat and pollution. (It isn't really all that hot, but I don't adapt very well above the upper 70s F.) A kind clerk gave me a bottle of water, which helped. Dan climbed another flight to the menswear department and found a few things. I tried on some tops, but nothing was quite right. Today Dan has gone into Janpath and Cottage Industries but I decided to stay back and rest up.

Tomorrow we head to Meerut to visit our old friends Brij and Viola Lal. I'll post some photos, as many of my readers remember them.

Back in India

When we left India after our last visit in 2022, we thought we might not return. But here we are again! We are in Delhi for a few days to get over jet lag, do some shopping, and visit with some friends.

We were a bit worried about our flight from O'Hare on Air India. Our original reservation was for November 6, but that flight was cancelled and we were moved to November 7. Then the AI October 31 flight was cancelled (no reason given). With the US government shutdown, it was announced that flights would be cut back beginning November 7, due to the air traffic controllers not being paid. Fortunately for us, the cutbacks started with domestic flights and ours left on time.

We arrived four hours early at the airport and there were already long lines at the check-in desk. Since we were in business class, ours was shorter. When we got to the desk we were told that one of our seats had a problem; it might not recline or lie flat; we would have to check at the gate. This did not sound good! After a couple of hours in the lounge, we went to the gate. It was confirmed that one seat was not working and we had to fill out a form to agree to fly anyway. That took a good half-hour. We are assured that we will get a partial refund. In the end, Dan took the seat and let me lie down. It wasn't as comfortable as some of the flights we've taken, but it went well and we were fine in the end (although Dan's hips weren't very happy; he's been having difficulty for the past year).

We both got wheelchairs when we exited the plane; it was a very long walk to immigration and baggage claim. Our electronic visas and arrival cards passed inspection and we went on to collect our bags. The two men who pushed us were wonderful; they took care of the baggage and saw us to the prepaid taxi booth and into the taxi. They enjoyed having a westerner who could understand and speak Hindi with them. It was a relief to get to the hotel, shower, and get into a comfortable bed.

Sunday morning we were up early and enjoyed the hotel buffet breakfast. Dan went out to the Metro station to get our travel cards, and around 10:00 we headed out to get our phones connected here. An Airtel store was a short distance from the hotel. That took over an hour, with lots of paperwork, photos, etc. (Yes, I still had to put my father's name on the form; that hasn't changed since we first came here 57 years ago.) Eventually everything was working and my home SIM safely stowed. We were told there was a bank just around the corner with an ATM. Well, it was quite a bit further than just around the corner, and the ATM wasn't working. We walked back past the hotel and to another mall, where we looked into a shop and had lunch.

Finally back to the hotel to rest for an hour, then take the Metro to Mayur Vihar to visit Sandeep and Anju. It was good to see them and have some tea. Our hotel is right next to a blue line Metro station, which goes right to their stop. We got back around 8:00 and had a decent night's sleep.

Inside the Metro station; there are usually many more waiting for the next train.

This shows how close everyone stands; Thums Up is a local Indian cola brand. It came up in the 1970s when Coca Cola was banned. I was fortunate to get a seat on both rides.

Dan drinking chai and chatting with a hotel employee at breakfast.