AIDA Transfer Cruise 2017 · Page 5

The temple, overrun by tourists (or were they all just AIDA buses?), lay at the end of a rather long passage past the street vendors.

On the temple grounds it was shoes off and on in socks or barefoot. As the temple complex was just as well kept as the entire surroundings, that was a "special" experience. Luckily after 45 minutes we were allowed back on the bus and continued to our next stop – what that was, nobody could really tell us. The bus stopped in a town and we were told this was the old Latin quarter. We walked in single file around a sports ground/schoolyard and looked at old, dilapidated and partly rubbish-strewn houses.

After 30 minutes this highlight was over, and we finally drove to the beach. We had been looking forward to this part the whole time.

After just 45 minutes on the bus again, we reached the hotel with a great beach – but immediately saw the red flags on the beach: swimming strictly prohibited. After a short exchange with a really rude AIDA scout, who kept throwing phrases at us such as "welcome to India, the culture shock is just bigger here" or "all Indians are just dirty and filthy", I gave up the conversation in annoyance. We were then allowed to spend the 3 hours with several AIDA buses at the pool (about 10 x 15 m). When departure finally approached, the bus didn't come, and our guide searched for it for 20 minutes.

On this AIDA excursion we got the impression that AIDA deliberately plans a longer bus ride so that the excursion lasts longer and more money can be charged. We all know that AIDA always uses at least 10 euros per adult per hour as the basis for calculating an excursion. In the evening we and various other AIDA guests rated this excursion as miserable, and gave it a corresponding rating in iFeedback. We felt ripped off by AIDA here, and it only confirms that we'll now organise many more excursions ourselves.

The next day we hadn't booked an AIDA excursion, but we could collect our shore passes between 7.30 and 9 a.m. We left the ship and the four of us actually only wanted to go to a mall to browse and shop. In front of the terminal, taxis and tuk-tuks were waiting for customers. We spoke to a taxi driver, who offered us a little tour, a stop at the mall and the trip back to the ship for just 50 euros. As we only wanted to go to the mall, we just asked about the ride there. That was supposed to cost 20 euros. I should mention that we had asked locals beforehand what such a ride should cost – several told us 7 euros at most. So we offered the taxi driver 10 euros one way. That went back and forth several times, and when the driver then said the mall was 15 kilometres away while Google Maps showed just 8 kilometres, we'd had enough and went back onto the ship. The women didn't really want to leave the ship anyway, and we men had lost interest after repeated attempts to rip us off. Other guests paid 75 dollars plus a 5-dollar tip for a taxi from the mall – with that the drivers earn almost a whole month's wages in one trip. We then had a great day at the pool and enjoyed a wonderful massage. In the evening it was hand in the shore passes and cast off again; the next stop was Cochin.

And how could it be otherwise – here too we had to collect our shore passes in the morning after another face check. We slowly began to wonder which European the Indians think would voluntarily want to emigrate to India. For Cochin we had already booked a tuk-tuk before the trip and agreed the price per person in advance: 10 euros per person per day, so 20 euros for a tuk-tuk for two. A great price and a normal one, not the inflated prices on site. We had also booked another tuk-tuk for two other AIDA guests, so we could do the Cochin excursion together. After we had left the port area, we almost had a fit. We couldn't believe the enormous number of tuk-tuks and the huge number of drivers (all wearing the same clothes).

Of course we were immediately besieged and showered with offers, but after a "no" everything was fine. We found our drivers very quickly, as they came up to us and we recognised them from photos we had been sent in advance. So we got into the tuk-tuks of Shareef and Shihab and off we went into the Indian hustle and bustle.

The streets, the traffic and so on are really impressive, and it's a miracle that everything somehow works here. Totally chaotic for Europeans, completely normal here. Vehicles simply come towards you in your own lane and everyone just swerves; the horn is a vehicle's best friend and is used constantly. After 20 minutes we reached our first destination, the backwaters.

Here we could take a boat along the waterway and watch the wildlife. As the other participant wasn't feeling so well after the tuk-tuk ride, we skipped the tour and went on to our next stop, a laundry. The roads are not up to European standards.