Foreword

India began as a letter. I wanted to share last summer's experiences with my friends and family, but when I thought of writing about India to everyone, I realized that too much had happened - I could never write all those separate letters! I conceived the thought of writing one letter that I could copy many times, to send to all the people who asked, "How was it?" Once I began to write, the "letter" grew and grew; I didn't begin this with the intention of writing a book! And I didn't go into all this detail for you; as you are reading, you will probably wish I had been more succinct. But I realized I was no longer writing primarily for others, but for myself. I experienced a rich month in India, and I did not want my experiences to fade into forgetfulness as time passed. In years to come I can read these pages, and all the sights and happenings will come back to me, as I feel again what it was like to visit this amazing land; India is my real "souvenir". Since I have no intention of writing another, shorter account for other people, if you want to find out what it was like in India, you will have to wade through all my memories. I apologize for my ineptitude at this writing craft. I have never done anything like this before. But perhaps if you use your imagination to fill in the gaps left by my sometimes awkward choice of words, you will catch a dim glimpse of the forests of Kashmir, the flowers of Dal Lake, and the magnificence of Ladakh.

I want to thank a number of people who helped make this story happen. The men who left early; Jim, who wanted a Zanskari adventure, and Fred and Gerry, who wanted drier feet and more fun. The women who saw it through; Nat the bold, Colleen the traveler, Ann and Mary who, like us, got an experience that was different from what they expected - but a memorable experience, nevertheless. Sibra, who did his best with stringy chickens; Indrapol, who brought tea with a smile; Yasim the ebullient; Gani Number One, who never said anything but always carried his weight; and Gani Number Two, the grouch. I owe Ashraf special thanks. His untiring effort and his gentle strength and understanding helped keep us going when things got difficult. And dear Scot, who was the spirit of our trek - I learned so much from him, and I will always be grateful, especially for "short steps"! I hope we meet again, somewhere in the world.

I probably owe an apology to everyone mentioned in this account. Everything that happened has been distorted by time, and filtered through the selective membrane of my memory. Some things in this story were written down, some facts were borrowed (with gratitude) from @i(Kashmir, Ladakh and Zanskar) by Margret and Rolf Schettler (a wonderful, highly recommended book), but most of what is in these pages is straight from my human and fallible memory. I especially apologize for times when I may have misinterpreted motives and feelings, and inadvertently misrepresented my companions. I hope the reader will bear in mind that I can vouch only for what happened to me, and what I felt; any statements about the feelings and views of others are speculation only, and should be taken with a grain of salt.

It is hard to know how to thank the VAXen for always being there when I needed them. Without them, and especially without Inteloc, none of this would have been contemplated, let alone finished.

Thanks are not enough for the person who made this adventure happen, and whose loving support made it possible to turn the thought of this chronicle into a reality. I dedicate this tale to Rob, in the hopes that my words will help recapture the feelings and keep the memories from being lost. Here's to the next adventure!

Figure: India and Neighboring Nations

Acknowledgements

The maps I have included to help clarify the text, I drew by hand. I did, however, use the maps of others as guidelines for my maps, and I would like to give credit where credit is due.

The maps at Figure @Ref(bigmap), page @PageRef(bigmap), Figure @Ref(mtmap), page @PageRef(mtmap), Figure @Ref(flyway), page @PageRef(flyway), and Figure @Ref(NIndia), page @PageRef(NIndia) were adapted from maps in the @i(Rand McNally Goode's World Atlas), 16th Edition, published by Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, 1978, Edward B. Espenshade, Jr. and Joell Morrison, editors.

The maps found at Figure @Ref(wholeroute), page @PageRef(wholeroute) and Figure @Ref(srintoleh), page @PageRef(srintoleh) were adapted from maps in @i(Kashmir, Ladakh & Zanskar), by Margret and Rolf Schettler, published by Lonely Planet Publications, Victoria, Australia, 1981. I am also grateful to @i(Kashmir, Ladakh & Zanskar) for several interesting facts that help flesh out this narrative. I have tried to make a note in the text whenever I borrowed something from the Schettlers, but I was not as rigorous as I should have been, and if I were having this account published, I would have to be much more careful about my references. You can assume that almost all the factual information (history, dates) in the text, unless otherwise referenced, came from Ashraf, Scot or the Schettlers' book.

The map at Figure @Ref(trekroute), page @PageRef(trekroute) was drawn from a French map that was sent to me by Mountain Travel, when I signed up for the trek in India. The map I have appears to be a partial copy of a larger original, and information about the author of the map is missing.

All elevations on my maps are in feet. Distances are expressed in miles. Reported elevations and distances vary from one source to another. The figures in this text are, if not absolutely accurate, at least close.

Caption(Selected Geographical Features of India and Neighboring Nations)

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