Homer's Travels: Almost Home ...

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Almost Home ...

My body got back from our trip yesterday noon, central standard time.  My mind is still somewhere a hemisphere away.  I don't expect it to get home until the jet lag abates sometime later this week ... I hope.

Our travels took us through China, Nepal, Bhutan, and India as I mentioned last post ... over a month ago ... and it turned out to be an incredible experience.  I had high expectations for the places we were going to see and low expectations about the weather.  To my surprise and, frankly, utter joy, everywhere either met or exceeded my expectations and the weather - it was the middle of monsoon season there - did not interfere with any of our activities ... not a one.

The first half of the trip, the China portion, was with a tour group.  Based on our two previous tours (Peru and Jordan) you either got a good group or you didn't.  It was a 50-50 chance.  Once again luck smiled on us and we ended up with an awesome group of people.

The other half of the trip were private tours - just me, the Wife, a guide, and a driver.  I'd had some apprehension going into this part of our tour.  I like the dynamics of a group.  It turned out that the private tours have their benefits.  We rearranged a few things in Nepal and India that we probably couldn't have done with a group.  So, which is better a group or private?  I think it's a wash ... but I think I prefer groups.

If you've read Homer's Travels for long then you know I can often find the negative in most positive situations.  There were few negatives in this trip.  Three of them stick out in my mind.  The lay over in Chengdu on the way to Kathmandu felt awkward.  Kathmandu, while full of interesting things, came up a little short.  By the time we'd reached India I was starting to run down and I think I didn't tackle the country with the enthusiasm I had in China.

The big surprise for me was how much I liked Bhutan.  I liked it so much I'm hesitant to talk about it as more tourism will eventually spoil the beauty of the place.

I will start posting the details of the trip in a week or so.  I want to go through the over 3,500 pictures I took before I start writing.  Yeah ... That may take me a while.  Patience is a virtue, you know.


2 comments:

  1. Welcome home!I'm sure after your travel fatigue you'll find more positivity :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Autumn, Thanks! The past two weeks since we've been back have been a little crazy but I think I see normal approaching on the horizon.

      Delete