We arrived in London without incident, to find my friend Kathy waiting. She had received the little paper mache box I sent her from Suffering Moses. How strange it was to see the little box so far from its place of creation! My intestinal problems ended the day after I arrived in London, never to return. We had an enjoyable time in Great Britain; London was fun, and Scotland especially was beautiful. We arrived home at 8:40 P.M. on Sunday, August 14. It seemed strange to be back in Ithaca again. Eight weeks full of unfamiliar things is a long vacation! Friends that were renting Rob's house had agreed to meet us, but eight weeks was a long time for their memories too, and they forgot about us. August 14 is my mother's birthday; I tried to call her with Rob's credit card, but the card wouldn't work. So I tried to call her collect, but the operator wouldn't answer. There was a strike at the telephone company! Thank goodness we had a dime. We called our friend John Gilbert. He not only rescued us from the airport and brought us home, he took us to Dos Amigos, a Mexican restaurant where we satisfied the craving for Mexican food that had been driving us wild for weeks. We ate uninhibitedly and talked John's ear off for hours; he was kind enough to allow us to unwind with him.
We never met Colleen in London as we had planned. The day we arrived I was especially sick, and we were both exhausted. Kathy took us to our hotel, then showed us a few of the sights in the neighborhood, and I was completely tuckered out by that little activity; we returned to our room, and fell asleep, not to wake until the next morning when it was too late to call Colleen. She is home in Canada now. Continuing her traveling tradition, she spent last Christmas floating down the Nile River. We had several pictures from our considerable collection of slides duplicated for her. She was kind enough to send me a few catalogues from other companies that, like Mountain Travel, conduct expeditions and treks to remote areas of the world.
On the way from Ithaca to Portland last August, we stopped in Iowa City to visit Mary and Ann. Ann looked good as always; Mary looked good too, completely recovered from her illness in Ladakh. We showed them our slides of India, and they showed us pictures they had taken in Benares before our trek began. Later that Fall we also sent them some pictures of the trek.
Scot sent us each a postcard from India last Fall, wishing us well.
I wrote a letter to Ashraf, thanking him for everything, and we sent him several pictures. We received a lovely letter from him in return.
We have not heard from Nat, Fred or Gerry.
Jim coordinated our efforts to obtain a rebate from Mountain Travel. He wrote a letter which we all signed, that detailed the problems of the trek. Since he had been on at least one Mountain Travel trek before, he could effectively make the case that our trek was not up to Mountain Travel standards. His letter obliquely threatened Mountain Travel with a lawsuit, and they took the hint; all trek participants were refunded part of the cost of the trip, and offered a discount on a future Mountain Travel trip. I wonder if Scot had anything to do with Mountain Travel's decision.
A year has gone by since we left Ithaca on our vacation. Writing this chronicle has brought back a lot of feelings, and thoughts of the trip. I miss India, and I would like to go back. I would love to see Zanskar! I have been sensitized to India. I look for and follow items about India in the newspaper. I know several people from India, and I enjoy talking with them, learning more about their country. I also have a much firmer grasp now of the geography of the East!
Going to India taught me about how different other places in the world really are, from the United States. Reading books is not enough; nothing can replace a visit. I have a better understanding of how incredibly rich and fat Americans are, and how little many other people have. I find myself questioning the way we live in this country; my friend Dennis, who spent three years in Nepal, questions these things too, and we share some of our thoughts. Perhaps with time I will achieve a clearer understanding of where I can morally and comfortably fit, as a privileged American in a world full of people less fortunate. Indians are certainly not all suffering and dying of starvation; I suppose I used to have the impression that most people there looked like the starving Biafran and African children I have seen pictures of. Not so. But we did see a lot of people with a great need for better medical care, better education and better roads! I feel it cannot possibly be right that a few people in the world enjoy such an overabundance of good things, while other people just scrape along, growing old at a young age from hard work, worries and not enough good times.
Scot convinced me that I want to see Nepal. He made Nepal sound like heaven on earth! I'd like to be there at Christmas some day, and spend more time in the Himalayas. The mountains we saw in India whetted my taste for seeing more. I hope to be able to go back, but until then, this trip to India will remain a high point in my life. It pleases me to share this experience with you. I hope the sharing has brought you some pleasure, also.