India and Singapore

My India experience in a nutshell:

The drivers are crazy. They don’t pay any attention to lanes… There might as well be 5 lanes instead of 3. The auto-rickshaws are tiny and you feel like they could break down any second. But I got to drive one for a minute or two (not by choice—my driver told me to drive, and when I politely declined he took his hands off the wheel... I learned fast). The rickshaws (bicycles pulling a 2 seater cart that can fit 4 Indians) are exactly that—rickety. I felt like I might fall out too many times for my liking.

The food wasn’t as bad as expected. I would even go as far to say that it was pleasant at times (though we did get Chinese food one day, and McDonalds another).

The smells were not too bad either. There was this one bridge that we had to cross every time we left and got back to our port that smelled like it might be above a sewage plant, but other than that, I smelled more incense and spices than anything bad.

I got to see the Taj Mahal, and it was absolutely breathtaking. And I went on a boat on the Ganges River and saw cremation ceremonies and people bathing in the river that they consider to be holy and sin cleansing. I even dipped my hand in the water and trickled some onto my head—not the full effect, but I wasn’t trying to get some disease. They throw all of the cremated bodies’ ashes into the river. And some bodies (children under 12, pregnant women, and people that died of a snakebite) that don’t get cremated get thrown in whole…

Shopping was intense. I got so much for so little! There are about 45 rupees to a dollar, so it was great for us.


The day after we left India was called Neptune day.  There are these three steps to transform us from “pollywogs” into “shellbacks” which were a little ridiculous and I didn’t participate in them, but everything was a lot of fun to watch. Step 1: get doused in “fish guts” (slimy goo) and jump into the pool. Step 2: kiss a fish (it was a dead fish). Step 3: Option to shave your head. We also didn’t have class this day, so I quite enjoyed it.


Singapore was a complete 180 from India. It was clean and civilized and so modern. You will get fined if you spit, chew gum, jay walk, litter, and don’t flush the toilet. But my roommates and I spent our day shopping and eating and eating some more and then we went to a karaoke bar, which was hilarious!


With everything that’s been happening in Japan, we changed our itinerary. We’re now going to Taiwan… So if anyone knows of anything fun to do there, PLEASE let me know. I’m sure whatever we do will be fun there, so I’m trying not to be a Debbie Downer like a lot of people on the ship are. They think it’s going to be too similar to China, but whatever.  I do feel bad for the 20 something Chinese students on the ship that are going to have a hell of a time trying to get into Taiwan.


Ok, that’s all for now; we’re about to dock in Vietnam now! So I’m off to do some more shopping!! (Just wanted to give Susie something to read in class :P)