We woke up around 6:30. I slept alright considering this is the 5th hotel I've been to in the past 5 nights. I don't remember if I even woke up and wondered where I was in the night, which is something I do even in my apartment.
We weren't sure if we should have a complimentary breakfast at the guest house or venture off and find a restaurant to eat at. We decided to see what food was being served at the guest house first.
We found the dining area and the food was good. I had made to order scrambled eggs and toast, a slice of pound cake, yogurt, some weird cherries, and lots of cheese. We ate nearly all the cheese, it was so good. I didn't take a picture because my phone is at like 10% battery life. We don't have adapters for these British outlets so we can't charge any devices until we get out of the country.
After eating we walked around outside. It was cool outside, perfect sweater and scarf weather. Just down the road were a bunch of little shops. I stopped in a convenience store and got a Kinder Egg!
We went back to the guest house and charged our phones on the battery packs MJ and Sam had brought. When we were done using the chargers we kept them in the backpack I've been carrying. I'm the only one who has room to carry them and it makes me feel in control of the electronics so win win. I downloaded more Netflix until my phone ran out of room. Then I deleted all my social media apps (all 2 of them, Snapchat and Instagram) to make more room to download more Netflix.
The guest house took us to the airport at 10:10. It's a short drive thank god. Sam and Mary Jo got through security fine (although they made Sam check in his bag) but I got flagged for carrying too many electronics and had to have my backpack super searched. The security guy literally opened up my book and flipped through the pages like I could be hiding a bag of coke between chapters.
We were early, our gate wasn't announced for another hour. To kill time we camped out at Starbucks. I didn't have anything but it's nice to be somewhere familiar.
Our gate was announced and we, along with a thousand other British people, had to hang out in another section of the airport while we waited to board. I predicted days ago we would be on a flight with a bunch of Brits going to Disney World and I was not wrong. People were already wearing their mouse ears. There couldn't have been more than a couple other Americans onboard.
I don't know why it is but nothing makes me feel more patriotic than coming home to American after being out of the country. All these wankers going to Disney, why don't you take several seats. I'm going home.
Sam and I made jokes about being Americans and how great we are and why we should get special treatment. It was good fun. But then I was randomly selected for a security check. Coincidence? My detective skills are saying to curb my patriotism.
So I got pulled aside and Sam and Mary Jo were forced to board ahead of me. I got a thorough touching by my female security and I mean thorough. She should have bought this lady a drink first. Then I had to take out everything from my backpack and go through my electronics. One of the things Mary Jo gave me to carry for her was a brown parcel. Security asked me what was inside and I panicked because I didn't know so I just blurted out "A book." Turns out it was paper, which is what a book is but technically not the right answer so we had to go through that.
I was nearly the last person to board. Once I got seated I went right back to my Netflix. I've been watched House of Cards, The Office, and Ru Paul's Drag Race. I boarded around 1 but the flight didn't take off till 2 because of congestion on the runways.
Another 8 hour flight ahead of us. We were served a meal a couple hours in. I had pesto pasta and a salad and cheese and cracker. I was pretty hungry and ate everything and forgot to take a picture but it's airplane food so you can already imagine what it looked like.
We get free booze but I wasn't interested. I did order wine and whisky but passed it off to Mary Jo and Sam.
Around 5:30 when I was typing up the old Callapillar Travels, a flight attendant handed me an iced lolly.
It's like a popsicle with chocolate and sprinkles and some frosting. Was it good? Not particularly. Did I eat the whole thing? Yeah.
Nearing the end of the flight we were giving more food. A cheese sandwich and tomato chutney, a bag of chips-excuse my American tongue I mean crisps-and a piece of chocolate. I wasn't hungry but ate it all out of boredom. It was good. Tomato chutney was weird though.
When I wasn't watching Netflix I was playing Sudoku.
Finally we landed in Gods country around 5. I'm not technically home yet but it feels like I am! I'm so glad to be back in the states, you'd think I was away at war for years and not India for a couple weeks.
They wouldn't let us off the plane for over 30 minutes because of congestion. Maybe they didn't realize they had Americans on the flight. We had to wait forever.
When they let us off we finally started getting some of that special treatment we'd earned this trip. All the UK people had to wait in the longest line I've ever seen in my life while us yanks got to skip to the front to an electronic check in where we scanned our passports and it took our photo. We passed that off to the passport control office and he welcomed us home. No random security searches for this girl, god bless. I'm done being treated like an ISIS sleeper agent.
By now it's like 6:30. We had to get Sam's bag for baggage claim. It took maybe an hour, it was ridiculously crowded. There are so many British people going to Disney. They're all idiots, honestly. It's 4th of July weekend this is a terrible time to go to Disney World.
Michael and Katie (Sam's girlfriend) had drove to Orlando to pick us up. That was very sweet of them! I was happy to see both their faces even if I didn't recognize Katie's.
They really lightened the mood. Things haven't been tense between Mary Jo, Sam, and I, don't get me wrong. They are both two very easy people to travel with and I owe them all the kudos and credit. It's just nice to have fresh faces into the mix and new people to talk to.
Although I didn't do much talking. I was exhausted. Michael had packed a cooler of drinks and snacks for us and I had a glass of juice and a cracker and cheese before falling asleep sitting up. It's a 4 hour drive from Orlando to Tally but it only felt like an hour. It's weird driving on the right side of the road after using the left lane for weeks. I feel uncomfortable about it.
We got to the Peltier home around 11 or midnight. I said hi to Kereyo and everything was kind of a blur. It's midnight Tally time, 5am UK time. My stomach was killing me. All that cheese has caught up to me and I'm paying for it now. As god as my witness I'm never eating dairy again.
I fell asleep with terrible cramps around 12:30.
So to wrap things up and keep this from being a short post, I'm going to continue on with the next day which is the last leg of my journey.
I woke up early around 6. I am ready to come home to Montana.
I had coffee with Mary Jo and Michael and ate an entire bowl of mangos. I freaking love mangos.
My flight left Tally at 10 so we drove to the airport at 9. We chatted in the car. When it was time to leave my big ol eyes started to water up. I want more time with Mary Jo. I didn't get sick of her, not once this entire trip. It really sucked having to say goodbye and my words just got caught in my throat and all I could do was smile and wave goodbye and thank her.
Into the airport I went, back in my natural habit. I waited around for my flight to board then I waited for it to take off then I waited for it to land. The theme of today is waiting.
I landed in Atlanta. It's Sunday. No Chik Fil A. Jesus weeps.
From Atlanta I went to Salt Lake City. I haven't been to this airport in a long time. I talked to my mom and dad on the phone, both are happy I'm back in the States. In Salt Lake I had to wait 4 hours to go to Helena. I was falling asleep in my chair waiting to board. I fell asleep on the plane.
I landed in Helena around 10. Dad and Ian picked me up at the airport. It sounds cheesey but seeing their faces made me realize I was truly home. That was when the trip officially ended, on the happiest of notes.
REFLECTION!
Here's a fun fact: this trip marked the furthest I've ever been from home. From Orchha to Helena is 7,416 miles. In Nepal I was the furthest timezone way from home, ahead by 11 hours and 45 minutes.
I didn't think this was going to be a vacation. I went to India and Nepal for the experience. I thought I would enjoy things like the food and history and learning about religion and I was wrong. I found these topics hard to embrace.
On the contrary, things I thought would scare me I ended up loving, like the people and the chaos. I really did like the chaos. There was endless traffic and blaring horns and crowded streets and people approaching you and the bright colors and it was exciting. You just go with the flow. And the people? I know I've mentioned how annoying it was with the picture taking, but that wasn't the case for most people I encountered. Most of the people I met, especially in more rural areas, were so hospitable and kind. The women of Sasane and Sheros are so beautiful and strong and brave. The children were sweet and so precocious and cute. I was honestly touched by the locals.
But the people I can't say enough about are the ones I spent so much time with in our little travel group, particularly Mary Jo. She seriously made this trip fabulous. MJ showed me a beauty to India and Nepal that I wouldn't have seen on my own. She is a very special person and I am so thankful I got to go on this trip with her. I don't know if I will be back to India or Nepal. If I do, my only requirement is that Mary Jo goes too. Maybe we will go to southern India or Tibet.
We weren't sure if we should have a complimentary breakfast at the guest house or venture off and find a restaurant to eat at. We decided to see what food was being served at the guest house first.
We found the dining area and the food was good. I had made to order scrambled eggs and toast, a slice of pound cake, yogurt, some weird cherries, and lots of cheese. We ate nearly all the cheese, it was so good. I didn't take a picture because my phone is at like 10% battery life. We don't have adapters for these British outlets so we can't charge any devices until we get out of the country.
After eating we walked around outside. It was cool outside, perfect sweater and scarf weather. Just down the road were a bunch of little shops. I stopped in a convenience store and got a Kinder Egg!
We went back to the guest house and charged our phones on the battery packs MJ and Sam had brought. When we were done using the chargers we kept them in the backpack I've been carrying. I'm the only one who has room to carry them and it makes me feel in control of the electronics so win win. I downloaded more Netflix until my phone ran out of room. Then I deleted all my social media apps (all 2 of them, Snapchat and Instagram) to make more room to download more Netflix.
The guest house took us to the airport at 10:10. It's a short drive thank god. Sam and Mary Jo got through security fine (although they made Sam check in his bag) but I got flagged for carrying too many electronics and had to have my backpack super searched. The security guy literally opened up my book and flipped through the pages like I could be hiding a bag of coke between chapters.
We were early, our gate wasn't announced for another hour. To kill time we camped out at Starbucks. I didn't have anything but it's nice to be somewhere familiar.
Our gate was announced and we, along with a thousand other British people, had to hang out in another section of the airport while we waited to board. I predicted days ago we would be on a flight with a bunch of Brits going to Disney World and I was not wrong. People were already wearing their mouse ears. There couldn't have been more than a couple other Americans onboard.
I don't know why it is but nothing makes me feel more patriotic than coming home to American after being out of the country. All these wankers going to Disney, why don't you take several seats. I'm going home.
Sam and I made jokes about being Americans and how great we are and why we should get special treatment. It was good fun. But then I was randomly selected for a security check. Coincidence? My detective skills are saying to curb my patriotism.
So I got pulled aside and Sam and Mary Jo were forced to board ahead of me. I got a thorough touching by my female security and I mean thorough. She should have bought this lady a drink first. Then I had to take out everything from my backpack and go through my electronics. One of the things Mary Jo gave me to carry for her was a brown parcel. Security asked me what was inside and I panicked because I didn't know so I just blurted out "A book." Turns out it was paper, which is what a book is but technically not the right answer so we had to go through that.
I was nearly the last person to board. Once I got seated I went right back to my Netflix. I've been watched House of Cards, The Office, and Ru Paul's Drag Race. I boarded around 1 but the flight didn't take off till 2 because of congestion on the runways.
Another 8 hour flight ahead of us. We were served a meal a couple hours in. I had pesto pasta and a salad and cheese and cracker. I was pretty hungry and ate everything and forgot to take a picture but it's airplane food so you can already imagine what it looked like.
We get free booze but I wasn't interested. I did order wine and whisky but passed it off to Mary Jo and Sam.
Around 5:30 when I was typing up the old Callapillar Travels, a flight attendant handed me an iced lolly.
It's like a popsicle with chocolate and sprinkles and some frosting. Was it good? Not particularly. Did I eat the whole thing? Yeah.
Nearing the end of the flight we were giving more food. A cheese sandwich and tomato chutney, a bag of chips-excuse my American tongue I mean crisps-and a piece of chocolate. I wasn't hungry but ate it all out of boredom. It was good. Tomato chutney was weird though.
When I wasn't watching Netflix I was playing Sudoku.
I AM THE CHAMPION
Finally we landed in Gods country around 5. I'm not technically home yet but it feels like I am! I'm so glad to be back in the states, you'd think I was away at war for years and not India for a couple weeks.
They wouldn't let us off the plane for over 30 minutes because of congestion. Maybe they didn't realize they had Americans on the flight. We had to wait forever.
When they let us off we finally started getting some of that special treatment we'd earned this trip. All the UK people had to wait in the longest line I've ever seen in my life while us yanks got to skip to the front to an electronic check in where we scanned our passports and it took our photo. We passed that off to the passport control office and he welcomed us home. No random security searches for this girl, god bless. I'm done being treated like an ISIS sleeper agent.
By now it's like 6:30. We had to get Sam's bag for baggage claim. It took maybe an hour, it was ridiculously crowded. There are so many British people going to Disney. They're all idiots, honestly. It's 4th of July weekend this is a terrible time to go to Disney World.
Michael and Katie (Sam's girlfriend) had drove to Orlando to pick us up. That was very sweet of them! I was happy to see both their faces even if I didn't recognize Katie's.
They really lightened the mood. Things haven't been tense between Mary Jo, Sam, and I, don't get me wrong. They are both two very easy people to travel with and I owe them all the kudos and credit. It's just nice to have fresh faces into the mix and new people to talk to.
Although I didn't do much talking. I was exhausted. Michael had packed a cooler of drinks and snacks for us and I had a glass of juice and a cracker and cheese before falling asleep sitting up. It's a 4 hour drive from Orlando to Tally but it only felt like an hour. It's weird driving on the right side of the road after using the left lane for weeks. I feel uncomfortable about it.
We're all gonna die
I fell asleep with terrible cramps around 12:30.
So to wrap things up and keep this from being a short post, I'm going to continue on with the next day which is the last leg of my journey.
I woke up early around 6. I am ready to come home to Montana.
I had coffee with Mary Jo and Michael and ate an entire bowl of mangos. I freaking love mangos.
My flight left Tally at 10 so we drove to the airport at 9. We chatted in the car. When it was time to leave my big ol eyes started to water up. I want more time with Mary Jo. I didn't get sick of her, not once this entire trip. It really sucked having to say goodbye and my words just got caught in my throat and all I could do was smile and wave goodbye and thank her.
Into the airport I went, back in my natural habit. I waited around for my flight to board then I waited for it to take off then I waited for it to land. The theme of today is waiting.
I landed in Atlanta. It's Sunday. No Chik Fil A. Jesus weeps.
From Atlanta I went to Salt Lake City. I haven't been to this airport in a long time. I talked to my mom and dad on the phone, both are happy I'm back in the States. In Salt Lake I had to wait 4 hours to go to Helena. I was falling asleep in my chair waiting to board. I fell asleep on the plane.
I landed in Helena around 10. Dad and Ian picked me up at the airport. It sounds cheesey but seeing their faces made me realize I was truly home. That was when the trip officially ended, on the happiest of notes.
REFLECTION!
Here's a fun fact: this trip marked the furthest I've ever been from home. From Orchha to Helena is 7,416 miles. In Nepal I was the furthest timezone way from home, ahead by 11 hours and 45 minutes.
I didn't think this was going to be a vacation. I went to India and Nepal for the experience. I thought I would enjoy things like the food and history and learning about religion and I was wrong. I found these topics hard to embrace.
On the contrary, things I thought would scare me I ended up loving, like the people and the chaos. I really did like the chaos. There was endless traffic and blaring horns and crowded streets and people approaching you and the bright colors and it was exciting. You just go with the flow. And the people? I know I've mentioned how annoying it was with the picture taking, but that wasn't the case for most people I encountered. Most of the people I met, especially in more rural areas, were so hospitable and kind. The women of Sasane and Sheros are so beautiful and strong and brave. The children were sweet and so precocious and cute. I was honestly touched by the locals.
But the people I can't say enough about are the ones I spent so much time with in our little travel group, particularly Mary Jo. She seriously made this trip fabulous. MJ showed me a beauty to India and Nepal that I wouldn't have seen on my own. She is a very special person and I am so thankful I got to go on this trip with her. I don't know if I will be back to India or Nepal. If I do, my only requirement is that Mary Jo goes too. Maybe we will go to southern India or Tibet.
Peltier and Nelson family
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