I’m sitting in my kitchen today, looking back on our trip after being at home for a few weeks.
Personally speaking, it took Cheryl and I almost two weeks to get over the jet lag, including sleep and getting our digestive systems back into North American time! We were waking up at early hours that got progressively later to normal time here as the weeks progressed.
All things considered, the traveling portion of the trip was surprising uneventful.
No delayed flights, no lost luggage, lots of upgrade offers, good food and reasonable seats. Over all, I have to say, the international travel machine worked very well for all of us on this trip.
Stopping over in London was a great interlude and was a huge help to get our body and systems adjusted to the time change in Karachi in two discrete steps. We will plan to do that again.
England was cold and Karachi was warm, around 27C. It was very nice to get some sun in our “winter” time back home.
Throughly enjoyed our time in both countries. All our hosts were very friendly and the people we met along the way were always helpful and moe than willing to answer our questions and overlook our lack of knowledge about local customs.
We felt safe in London, felt mostly safe in Pakistan, but admittedly the level of security that we encountered in Karachi was much higher that in London. Even with London a security target, the presence of any security was much less visible in there.
Pre-trip preparation helped us a number of ways. Going to the local travel clinic at home helped us with food related sickness, the first aid kit proved helpful for blisters and stomach problems for others on the trip. Hand Sanitizer, Sun Block and long sleeve shirts proved useful.
Looking at Pakistan, I’ve come to the conclusion our media in the West gives us a very superficial view of that part of the world. Nothing is as simple as we make it out in the west and in our media; Paskistan is a highly complex geopolitical situation and unless you are there on the ground, you are getting only a small part of the story.
Would we go back? I think so, knowing what we know now and with the right local knowledge, I would definitely go and explore Pakistan again.
Campbell Family Travels 