Just returned from a whirlwind Smartour of Greece accompanied by my daughter, Erica, husband, Gerard, and friends Pat and Brian. We started with island hopping and then a land segment. Towards the end I got to talking to several folks about India Journey with Grace. Folks were very interested, and for once no one was totally dismissive of the idea of travel there. I did meet a woman who had been on the Smartours India trip and who had positive feedback about the tour and India.
We had excellent guides, especially for the land segment which included many of the important archeological sites. One thing I found off putting, however, was the frequent reference to the Greek civilization being so far ahead of all others "in the known world". Clearly, there were other known worlds on other continents over two thousand years ago.
Meanwhile, back in India, the voting was completed and Modi won with an impressive majority. He has begun by inviting his counterpart in Pakistan to attend his swearing in ceremony, which seems to me a politically courageous thing to do. He has been invited to visit the US by Obama, the ban on his travel here having been lifted. It will be interesting to see how this new direction for India plays out. What will be the effect of a move towards a more consciously Hindu, as opposed to a secular state?
We had excellent guides, especially for the land segment which included many of the important archeological sites. One thing I found off putting, however, was the frequent reference to the Greek civilization being so far ahead of all others "in the known world". Clearly, there were other known worlds on other continents over two thousand years ago.
Meanwhile, back in India, the voting was completed and Modi won with an impressive majority. He has begun by inviting his counterpart in Pakistan to attend his swearing in ceremony, which seems to me a politically courageous thing to do. He has been invited to visit the US by Obama, the ban on his travel here having been lifted. It will be interesting to see how this new direction for India plays out. What will be the effect of a move towards a more consciously Hindu, as opposed to a secular state?
