"HOLY COW" ( literally).. I'm in India!

Today was our first stop in India, in Cochin to be exact. I woke up at 7am this morning for immigration, and after having breakfast on deck, I looked around and was not too impressed by my surroundings in Cochin. Nonetheless, I got off the ship with Tony and Mike...and we were greeted by a friendly Tuk-Tuk driver (very popular mode of transport in Asia...a little car with three wheels that cost like a dollar to take you anywhere..), and we decided, what the hell, we'll go for a ride.

Our driver, Johnny, turned out to be the NICEST driver we have ever had. He stopped at every major site, took pictures for us, guarded us from beggars, helped us find EVERYTHING we were looking for, he was just amazing. He even stopped along the way to get me a necklace made of gardenias!!

In Cochin, there is actually (and quite surprisingly to me) a large Jewish population, and even a part of town called "Jew Town." I love it. There is a synagogue there that was closed today, but it was so cute walking into all these shops on Jew Street and meeting little old Indian ladies trying to sell me menorahs named "Sarah Cohen."

Since it was Easter Sunday, the streets were not nearly as crowded as they usually are, which I thought was great. We did get to go into a bunch of shops and met ALOT of really nice, friendly people. Even cute Indian boys who looked like Aladdin, WHO KNEW?!? I bought some cool jewelry and presents after receiving advice from one of my favorite passngers, Ellie, who said "You never regret what you do buy when you travel, only the things you don't buy." Good advice. Plus, how cool is it to bring home stuff from India.

I must say, it was one of the dirtiest places I have ever been. There was tons of garbage all over the streets, and all the buildings were really run down. There were random cows and goats EVERYWHERE....Whhhhhhattt??? But, our day was made by our driver, Johnny, who actually stopped at his house (don't read this part, mom) to introduce us to his wife and daughters on our way back to the ship. They were so nice!! The house was really tiny, but it was cool to go inside although we felt a little rude for turning down the tea he offered us, as we're not supposed to DRINK/EAT ANYYYTHING in India!

The entire cab ride was FIVE DOLLARS!!! For the whole DAY! So, we put together all of our money and of course gave him a huge tip which he was pretty happy about. Just goes to show that sometimes, even in a crazy place, you can meet friends from anywhere in the world, and just have an authentic and wonderful experience. We are here overnight, and I may get off the ship again tomorrow to try to go into the synagogue, and get a couple more souvenirs!

Anyway, hope everyone had a great day back home ... !

xoxoxoxoxoxo,
ash

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