20250508 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Cruise Bangkok to Dubai, Day 17 - Cochin, India to Delhi

Regent Seven Seas Voyager Bangkok to Dubai Day 17 - Cochin, India, and the start to our overland excursion to the Taj Mahal

We were shaking all night long as the seas were rough. Nothing major, but there was certainly more motion than what we've had. This morning, the captain came on the P.A. and announced we were behind schedule. Winds and sea conditions slowed our progress overnight, so our arrival into Cochin would be perhaps 45 minutes late. 

Sailing into Cochin, India

I've talked about the service on this ship being a little lacking. Today, we experienced it again. Arlona took a phone call from Guest Services about the letter we received last night. Letter? What letter? When we went through Indian immigration the other day, some of the biometrics devices had issues, and my biometrics weren't recorded. The letter said that I needed to report at 11:00 this morning to redo it, but because of the delay, that would happen at 11:45.

To be clear, we never received the letter. A different letter on something totally unrelated was on our door when we went to breakfast this morning. Nothing was on our door when we returned from breakfast. But, when we left our room for a putting challenge, the letter was suddenly there. The communication on this ship is terrible.

Speaking of putting, we had one last opportunity to rack up points before our overland journey, so we took part in the putting challenge. Between us, we scored nine more points toward Regent swag. Woo!

Our bags are packed and we're ready to start this overland adventure. Here's the initial plan.

Getting ready for the road trip

• Today (Thursday), fly from Cochin to Delhi and spend the night.
• Friday, drive to Agra and visit Agra Fort in the afternoon, and a dance show before dinner
• Saturday, Sunrise at the Taj Mahal, optional excursions in the morning and afternoon, and sunset at the Taj Mahal
• Sunday, drive back to Delhi, then fly to Mumbai and rejoin Voyager

At 11:25, the phone rang, and they asked if we were coming to the Voyager Lounge. I said that they asked us to be there at 11:45, and it was only 11:25. They said people were gathering. Uh, OK. If you wanted us there at 11:25, why didn't you tell us to be there at 11:25? We packed up and went down to Deck #4. Then, we proceeded to sit there and wait until noon before we were told it was time to go clear immigration.

When I went to Indian immigration, I expected to be photographed and fingerprinted, since I was told they didn't capture my biometrics the first time. Nope. I waltzed right through. Nothing has made sense with Indian immigration.

We boarded our bus and were whisked to the airport. Of course, "whisked" is a generous term because nothing happens quickly in India. There is no direct highway, or a highway at all, to get from the port to the airport. That meant we bobbed and weaved down narrow, winding roads all the way to the airport. Still, we arrived with plenty of time to get to the gate. 

Interesting trucks

We've been to the Parthenon, and it didn't look like this

Arriving at the airport

Cochin's airport is powered by solar, and solar farms were scattered all over

The guide on our bus bid us farewell and set us loose in the airport to fend for ourselves. The other two buses (there are 61 of us on this tour) had guides who were escorting us.

If you follow the news, you already know that India and Pakistan are having words right now, and by "words", I mean shooting missiles at each other. Because of that, security is heightened at the airport. And by "heightened", I mean stupid.

I carry a backpack. In that backpack, I carry all my tech - laptop, Kindle, 360-degree camera, spare batteries, selfie stick, chargers, charging cables, and so on. Guess what India requires to be removed from all carry-on luggage before security screening? Laptop, Kindle, 360-degree camera, spare batteries, selfie stick, chargers, charging cables, and so on. I had to dump essentially everything out of my backpack. I also had to open my suitcase and take out my camera. Seriously. But, the juicebox and 500ml of water that the tour company gave us? No problem at all. It made no sense. I get security, but wow. 

After cramming everything in a huge, jumbled mess back into my backpack, we found our way to the gate. We boarded on time into a packed Airbus A320NEO. It was an uncomfortable three-hour flight from Cochin to Delhi. We arrived, folks gathered their bags, and we loaded into the buses we will use for the next three days. The 10km (6.2 miles) drive from the airport took nearly 45 minutes, because 8:00 at night is rush hour in Delhi. The road was packed with cars, buses, trucks, scooters, motorcycles, and tuk-tuks. Lane markings are more suggestions than actual guidance, and horns are constant. Our guide called lane markings "decorations".

We passed this large statue of the Hindu God, Shiva

We arrived at our hotel, The Oberoi Gurgaon. It is a very nice property. They had a lovely buffet dinner waiting for us. I didn't take photos at the hotel since it is already 10:00 as I write this, and we're tired. Plus, we have to be up early tomorrow to get breakfast, check out, and make the four-hour bus ride to Agra.