Cochin India has been about thirteen times better than Chennai. It reminded me physically much more of Viet Nam which made me happy because Viet Nam has for sure still been my favorite place. I also did some serious shopping here as well [I'm sure you're all surprised] and am almost done with Christmas! I think that's way better than what you could get otherwise, even with as much faith as I have in Amazon.com. On the first day we DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH CUST...

I am not sure I know a good way yet to describe India… I have been to Chennai for two days and I am on the way to Cochin to spend two days there before heading to Mauritius. I am not a huge fan of having to be fully covered when it is five thousand degrees and humid outside. I have been in pants, sneakers, and a sleeved shirt of some form every day because to do otherwise is culturally indecent, and being a young, little blondish person gets me enough attention...

So, remember how I said Hong Kong was my favorite port so far? Well, I lied. Viet Nam is now my favorite port I have been to and probably one of my favorite places in general. Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City was overrun by people on scooters which was ridiculous, and the amount of time I spent trying not to get hit by them was equally intense. I have no idea how people there get their drivers license, but they take a test for it and I am unsure as to if the test test...

So Hong Kong is officially my favorite place we have been so far and I have only been here for a day! Lydia and I woke up around 830AM, didn't have to go through customs [sweet!] and hopped off the ship. The plan, since yesterday, had been to go to Ocean Park because it had, what appeared to be in an outdated Lonely Planet book, an amazing cable car ride over Hong Kong Island. We got on the Central Ferry to Hong Kong Island and then found the bus we needed to be ...

Renae's alarm clock went off at 715AM and I forced myself to get out of bed and make it to breakfast. I called Carson, who fell back asleep the first time, and we went and filled our faces with chocolate croissants and yogurt before the diplomatic briefing that was mandatory at 815. The briefing was kind of interesting and we heard from two consulates who are from the states and work in Shanghai. The first was an older man who has been working as a US consulate f...