It is good to be back home in Regina and to reacquaint ourselves with our home and our family and friends. After about seven weeks of traveling in our longest and most adventurous vacation ever, we are both tired and exhilarated and full of rich and lasting memories.
We could say we missed our family, friends and colleagues, but somehow we felt you were there with us. We were pleased to hear from some of you. We asked for your thoughts and prayers for safe travels, and we are confident that you did your part.
We anticipated that we will have experiences that would be so many and varied and exciting that it would be hard to recall all of them later and share them with the accuracy and detail as they deserve. So we felt that given the time and the opportunity we would bring you along with us through a frequent journal.
This is something we could not have conceived of just a few years ago. Even with the availability of the internet, we could not have imagined finding WiFi in some remote locations in South Asia. And to make use of social media to share in words and images, the highs and lows of an Asian vacation.
We thank you, our family and friends, for taking the time to read our blog, for sharing it with others, and for giving us your feedback. If you haven't had a chance to do so, we will still love to hear from you.
In the coming days, weeks, months and years we will see many of you and we will be happy to share our stories and impressions in person. We have no shortage of photos and videos and we will be glad to share some of them if the opportunity presents itself.
In addition to the blogs and photo collection, I am putting down some notes about some of the things I have learned from this experience and will be happy to share them also.
When we first thought of visiting India, we had no idea how it would turn out in reality. We had an urge to visit the land of our ancestors, even if it were just to better understand our roots. We did not know what we would see or how much we would see.
As time got closer, we decided to add Sri Lanka to our itinerary. This turned out to be almost doubling the anticipation and excitement. We felt we would be meeting an old dear friend of Cintra and seeing a country we have heard about it such glowing terms.
So we chatted with our friends, Mathias and Sujatha Ross, from McCord, SK, and natives of India. We agreed we would time our visit to coincide with when they make their annual trip to their Indian home.
It did not occur to to me at least that it was the hottest, most uncomfortable time of the year for touring. Our children worried that I might not survive the heat.
Then we started researching travel options. We hooked up with a Regina travel agent who provided less than stellar advice and support. First lesson learned.
We talked to our friends in India and who had Indian contacts and developed a possible schedule. We checked with our contacts in different locations in the Indian subcontinent to confirm how reasonable and practical it was. They agreed it would work but again reminded us about the heat and other possible obstacles.
Finally we confirmed our itinerary, except for two extended trips out of Delhi. We arranged those separately closer to our departure. We started our preparations, including ensuring we had the appropriate clothing and supplies we would need.
When we made our final booking, we realized we had all international flights except for one domestic flight between Cochin and Delhi. That meant we needed to travel lightly for the domestic flight. So we decided to fly lightly for the entire vacation, which created some packing challenges. However, it worked to our advantage and made our baggage handling much easier.
We are pleased to report that our entire trip went relatively smoothly. We experienced some of the minor irritants that come with any complex plans. In all, we had many pleasant surprises that came as extra bonuses for us. So we believe our vacation was way more than we expected and hoped for.
We thank God for looking over us and we thank you for praying for us and joining us through this blog. We are also eternally grateful for our friends in India and Sri Lanka who extended amazing hospitality.
This is the most ambitious blogging I have done and we are happy and a bit sad to end it now.
Blessings and Peace, Ayubowan, Namaste, Shalom
Moses and Cintra
