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Published: January 8th 2006
Quite an adventure on the MV Nicobar. Well, actually not at all. The 88 hours spent on board saw us simply pacing the ship, climbing between 3rd, 5th and 6th deck to see if, from different angles on board, the scenery might change-- it was all still open sea. Conditions in bunk class were what we expected. A bit promising at first, as we were one of the first to board (the boat directors actually partitioned the crowd between foreigners and locals and allowed the foreigners- 26 total- to board first. Felt mildly embarassed as while Indians jostled heavily in line, we got the VIP escort) to see a spacious, mildly clean compartment where you could actually feel a little cool, circulating air. Then the 898 other passengers got on and the air deadened, spilled tea and jelly began to amass on the floor and the pungent smell of bare feet quickly stifled the air. We spent the first night in the trenches and after listening to drunk soldiers playing cards til 4am and seeing what appeared to be the spawn of a cockroach and a rhinoceros (the thing was the size of a lemon!) vying with other Land of the
Lost creatures for the leftover curry dishes let to rot on the floor, we searched for more pleasant surroundings.
We found an open-air spot out on deck and laid out the yoga mat we bought in Calcutta to camp out for the remaining journey. (Disregard LP's "hot" tip of bringing a hammock on board- the FIRST thing they mention over the PA is "you are not allowed to string up hammocks on this ship"-- So I spent a half-hour getting ripped off at the bazaar for nothing?). The nights were cool and breezy, the stars were magnificent and the sound of lapping waves produced by the ship tearing through the waters rivaled any "soothing sounds CD" you could buy at Walmart.
Not much else to report. We're heading out to some of the more remote islands over the next week without the opportunity to "blog"-on so we're forced to actually go out and engage in our foreign surroundings rather than plug in and gripe about how these people do things differently. Little bit a snorkelin', little bit a scuba-in', lotta bit of beer tipping and sand wallowing. Great way to start the new year.
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