Yes, the rumors are true, I am back in Australia. I entered the country under shadow of night some few days ago, but as I am yet to sleep longer than four hours a night I haven't been making my presence widely known.
There were a number of reasons why I cut the trip short by a couple of days. Amongst them was a pervading fear of actually setting foot in Prague. This is in fact the third time that I have been booked to go to Prague and haven'd made it (this also occurred after the floods in 2002 and again in 2004 for myriad complex reasons). Suffice it to say that I am very happy to be back and I have left my parents with strict instructions to take many photos.
Those of you who are concerned about my health will be happy to know that I didn't throw up at all on the plane (well four planes), in fact I wasn't nauseous at all. However, as a person with a propensity for sleeping approximately 10 hours a night, insomnia is coming as a shock to me. I put it all down to the elimination of tomatoes and capsicums from my diet (as an aside, we are the only people in the world that call those evil little vegetables 'capsicums').
So, summary and conclusions:
1: Travelling is excellent. Everyone should do it as much as possible (I am now accepting link-up proposals for my next holiday. If you have an idea, I will entertain it).
2: Places I visited that I would most like to return to:
San Cristobal (Mexico)
Panajachel/Lake Atilan (Guatemala)
The Rockies (Canada)
Lake Alta, near Whistler (Canada)
Vancouver (Canada)
York (England)
Isle of Skye (Scotland)
Inis Mor (Ireland)
The European Alps (Germany, Austria, etc)
3: My favourite moments were:
Visiting local school children in their small village on the shores of Lake Atlian, visiting an insane local market on the shores of Lake Atlian, zip lining over the jungle on the edge of Lake Atilan, swimming in the cool volcanic waters of Lake Atilan and then having dinner as the sun set over Lake Atilan (all in one day).
Caving the ATM in Belize and seeing the ancient artifacts (including human sacrifices) still in situ
Swimming with a dugong of the coast of Caye Caulker, Belize (swimming with the sting rays were some of my least favourite moments).
Eating hot cake and drinking cocktails as the sun set over the beach bar at Caye Caulker, Belize.
Seeing the Canadian Rockies rise like looming grey giants out of the praries.
Sitting in the sun by the shores of Lake Alta (near Whistler in Canada) reading Harry Potter and having a dip every time it got a bit hot.
Watching the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in the pouring rain.
Walking to the black fort on Inis Mor with Tony and then lying on the grass in the sun for hours as there were no other tourists around.
Revisiting the Guinness factory and buying half the shop.
Visiting a local berber couple in the red iron hills behind Marakesh.
Seeing the European Alps rising all around me and then realising that I wasn't actually in Germany, but in Austria.
Meeting heaps of great people and learning a thousand new things every day.
I've got a bit of time left before I go back to work, so I'll be printing out my photos and getting my thoughts in order. I'm looking forward to catching up on what's happened to you all over the past three months.
Thanks for listening,
Janet.
