The luggage has been emptied and put away. The clothes are washed, folded and back in the cupboards. Karthi's floors have stopped undulating and threaten to pitch me over only when I bend down to clean them. My sunburnt arms have finally stopped itching. The skin on top of Ani's ears have started peeling off. Everyone at Karthi is sporting a tan that is several shades deeper than their normal complexions. And there are absolutely satisfied grins on every face that no amount of summer heat can erase.
For we are just back from a glorious five-day cruise to one hundred thousand islands! Otherwise known as...
Almost half of the time I've known DH, I've heard this refrain, "I want to travel on a ship. I want to travel on a ship." Well, I am the kind of person who has boat sickness for two days if I travel on one for more than half an hour. So you can guess why I was not very enthusiastic about the idea. But ever since we watched the movie "Mosayile Kuthirameenukal" and recently, "Anarkali", DH put his vague murmurings into overdrive and finally unearthed a way to fulfill his dream. My help was mainly confined to reluctantly supportive nodding and trying not to think how my seaworthiness would be tested!
Thus on the 9th of this month, here we were at near the Lakshadweep wharf on Willingdon Island, Kochi.
After baggage screening, we were whisked off to the Mattanchery wharf where this beautiful lady was waiting for us!
That is MV Kavaratti, named after the head quarters of Lakshadweep. She is the biggest passenger vessel in India with a capacity of 700 passengers + 100 crew. She has five decks and we happily settled ourselves in a four-berth cabin.
After stowing away our luggage and checking out our berths for comfort, we set out to explore the ship. Of course, first we had to find out where our meals were coming from!!!
Kavaratti is not a cruise ship, so the entertainment facilities are very limited. But since our package did not entail spending whole days on the ship, that was not a problem. The boys had a whole ship to explore and I had my pick of books in my bag!
We got as near the bow as we could get when the ship set sail from Kochi...
In the evening, after a good lunch and lots of climbing steps to explore the whole ship, we ended up on the top deck to enjoy the sunset. We all took advantage of the proffered tour of the bridge and learned a lot of maritime facts. But to tell you the truth, I liked the view the best!
By dusk, I had increasing nausea and happily, my homeo doctor had prescribed me a number of medications to take according to the intensity of my discomfort. I took the medications as did Kunjunni who began feeling unwell by dinner time. We both hit our bunks right after dinner. Ani and DH proved themselves the better sailors in our family!
By the next morning, we were feeling pretty good. Did I get to lie in because it was vacation? No sireee! Breakfast was scheduled for 7 am and the first boats to Kavaratti were scheduled for 730. So I was up at 5 and getting ready as usual! Only Ani needed some persuasion to get going...
Not unusually, we found ourselves to be the first ones to disembark!
Let me leave you at this point for a while, because the islands need a whole post for themselves... :)
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