Downtowners Mike Campbell, Graham Hendry & Greg Moyle were part of a group of 14 Rotarians and 5 friends of members who joined forces on a 28 day tour of Sri Lanka, India, Sikkim and Nepal. Mike & Sheryl extended their trip to 36 days so they could include other regions such as Rajastan & Mumbai. While Mike states the purpose was to enjoy 36 days of curry, the highlights show otherwise. Read more below.
(Report by Mike Campbell)Travelling with a group of likeminded people, we had a very good tour leader and the trip was very well organised by the travel company. (I was the only one to lose my bags – on the first transfer from Hotel 1 on day 1 to Hotel 2 day 2 – but nothing a 6 hour taxi drive couldn’t fix.)Amongst my personal highlights of the trip were:
- appreciating a different culture, seeing their problems first hand and coming to an understand as to why the poverty exists to the extent it does.
- observing Sheryl’s Mother Theresa attitude change over time (I think she realised she couldn’t save all the beggars who approached her).
- seeing and understanding the achievements of past cultures of this part of the world, the buildings and architectural monuments have to be seen to be appreciated.
We attend an evening Rotary Meeting in Kolkata, a smaller club with 40 or so members who were in the main business people aged in the late 30’s to mid 40’s. In Sikkim the Rotary Club of Gangkok entertained us to an afternoon tea – a past President greeting us and I discovered he was the retired Secretary of State for Sikkim.An eventful moment for Greg and I, being ex NZ Police members, was experiencing how the Indian Police gave our Tour Guide and Bus driver a shakedown for bribes on several occasions whilst we were in the Northern Himalayas – we need to utilize some of their skills for our Sergeant’s sessions.Arriving home to Gods Own – no more tooting on the road and some normal plain kiwi food.