Saturday, December 28th - Islamabad
We prepare our last communal meal this morning, clean the dishes and then head for the Indian embassy at 10 am to reclaim our passports with our visitor visas inside. The newly installed visas are beautiful. I kiss mine as soon as I see it.
The others are as relieved as I am about having the visas in their hands. Kate and Stephen return the Boys and Girls Club immediately and complete their last minute packing. Before 11 am they have checked out, said goodbye to the Dutch boys and are on the road back to Lahore, headed for the Indian border. They didn’t say anything to me, but I don’t really care. Good riddance, finally!
Coen and Vincent, now having their Indian visas in hand, head to their travel agency to pick up their airline tickets from Lahore to New Delhi. They also pick up train tickets from Rawalpindi to Lahore for the 31st. They will fly to New Delhi on the third and meet their girlfriends on the 8th. They are very excited about this, but I cannot help wondering how their visit will go. Coen and Vincent have been riding for months and are in shape, as well as being used to the strange attributes and lifestyles of Asian cities. They are also accustomed to the local germs and much less likely to get sick by this point. Their girlfriends will not be as prepared physically or psychologically. But that is their challenge, not mine.
As for me, I am not sure if there will be any major challenges for me in India. Frank seems like an easy person to get along with and there are no mountain ranges we will have to contend with. Still, it is strange after all I have been through in recent months to entertain the idea of not having any serious challenges in the last six weeks of my trip.
Vincent and Coen want to share dinner together at a restaurant, since I am not sure if I will be staying here tomorrow night after Frank’s return. We choose an Indian restaurant and have a great meal. It hasn’t been often that all of our digestive systems have been strong enough to handle spicy foods. I thank them over and over again for all they have done for me since meeting them in Istanbul. I certainly would not have ended up here without their support. I feel much stronger now psychologically too. I could travel on my own but I am happy that I don’t have to. Even if things don’t work out cycling with Frank I will be able to handle the rest of my trip on my own. That is a very reassuring feeling.
While I am in India I want to regain some of the weight I have lost. Tonight’s big meal is the first step.
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