On our bed this morning were no less than 6 Indian forms requiring our signatures and a speedy return to Reception. Those of us who toiled long and hard over our Indian visas had reason to assume that the worst was over, but we will now all have to appear for a face to face with immigration officials on our arrival in Cochin in a few days, then each time we proceed ashore (5 times...) we must take a shore pass leave card and a photocopy of our passport with us. And then we have to have yet another face to face when we arrive in Mumbai and repeat the shore pass thing there too, finally relinquishing that to the port agent when we disembark. How the Indians love their forms and beurocracy!

Today's lecture by Sandra was all about the Taj Mahal, and done in a storytelling mode rather than as a lecture. The theater was packed and everyone was enraptured by her tales.

While many have been busy playing cards and competing at trivia, for the past two afternoons Ihave been immersing myself in the cinematic wonders of India in the Constellation theater. While those seats are OK for a 45 minute show, it is quite a challenge to remain in them for a long movie. yesterday was Passage to India, clocking in at 2 hrs 45 minutes, and today was Gandhi, a whopping 3 hours and 10 minutes in duration. Both great and have held up well over time.

Looking forward to getting back on land and hope to be able to post up some pix via smugmug over the coming days.