Madras

Madras is now named Chennai. Most Indian cities changed their names when they became independent of British rule -- Cochin became Kochi, Bombay bacame Mumbai, etc. Like everywhere else in India it is very dirty, poor, polluted and smelly. The little rivers going through town smell like sewers, which they are, and the water is black.

India's infrastructure is so backwards when you compare it to China that we have no idea how it will ever become a developed country due to the growing, uneducated population.

If you remember, our last world cruise in 2009 was aborted because we ran into fishnets off Malaysia, which damaged one of the propellar pods to the extent that it was inoperable and our cruise was aborted. Believe it or not, we have been dragging a fishnet that we ran into off Malaysia. We could see it from a low deck. In Madras Regent hired a "professional" diving team to untangle the fishnet from under the ship. Mission accomplished, thank heavens, with no known mechanical damage.

Guys in white are ship's officers

Chennai, India