After four consecutive days visiting different ports of call it was very relaxing having two days at sea. During this time we received much interesting information about the history and the people of the Indian sub-continent and on our upcoming ports of call. For example did you know that St. Thomas went to Cochin and brought Christianity to India before the Europeans? We also had a pirates drill in preparation for our journey across the Arabian Sea , which at first seemed rather frightening, but after learning exactly what precautions were being taken, and what we needed to do if such an incident occurred , we felt quite reassured .

We arrived at Colombo Port, Sri Lanka, but have to say it was very run down, and lots of buildings were due to be demolished. We took a coach tour around the town but were very disappointed. However, the people were very friendly . We would have preferred to travel further afield to discover the ancient city of Kandy, but that would have involved a three hour journey each way in a cramped inefficient air conditioned coach. Never mind we learnt a little bit about the history of Sri Lanka. Now onto Cochin in Southern India.