Page 160 - Exile-ebook

160 AN EXILE OF THE MIND THE HIPPIE TRAIL 161

Nicole waking up on the rooftop of a New Delhi hotel. Bicycle power in Varanasi, India.

resting between rails in the passing with long sticks along lantern-lit
black night. Their generosity was tracks into the night. Within an
very touching from people impover- hour they jabbered in excitement
ished. I had taken such good care to and pointed skywards in blessing,
conceal our wealth beneath a shirt handing me the wallet intact and
from shifty eyes and nimble fingers. unsoiled. They refused a reward,
And now it had been devoured by an saying it was an honour to witness
Indian toilet. this miracle.
Nicole continued eastwards on Rejoining Nicole in Varanasi we
the train to Varanasi and I went shared a bus with more chickens up
westwards on a military train after a narrow incline to Kathmandu. A
I explained my dilemma. Calculat- view breathlessly admired of verdant
ing the speed and the time when mountains and deep gullies. Fre-
the wallet would have hit the tracks quent rock falls over the road were
gave some indication of its position. cleared willingly by the passengers
From a dimly lit station, the clos- on the bus.
est to where it could have fallen, I After a breakfast of stale corn-
Finding a seat on an Indian train was a challenge. walked between two guards armed flakes we eagerly looked for the