The last three to four days I've had a demon in my stomach. Getting sick on an adventure is a drag. We try to prevent illness by drinking only purified water, cleaning food like tomatoes in a chlorine solution, washing hands before meals, and even brushing our teeth in purified water. Tummy critters have a variety of ways to slip around our defenses. Our camels drink from troughs open to all animals and often drip water all over us after a good slurp. If we forget to clean our hands before eating something like a candy we've been exposed. Places we've eaten probably us unpurified water to clean plates and eating utensils. Even peeling an onion, our hands may pick up bacteria on the outside skin and contaminate the inner portion. Fortunately we were at the Sariska Tiger Reserve when my stomach erupted. We stabled the camels with a local farmer, checked into the hotel, and while Dan was out visiting the reserve looking for tigers, I was visiting the bathroom. This is where Jim writes about Dan, and Dan writes about Jim. If they made a Rubic's Cube (puzzle) out of rope, Dan could figure it out. As a professional climber, Dan is a knot master. This has helped with packing the camels and other rope related skills. For example, there is a rope that goes from the camel's nose peg to the main rein, the bali dori. It is a complex series of knots. While watching a village elder tie the knot, Dan figured it out. Not to be out done, Dan demonstrated a complex knot known as a monkey's fist. It looks like a woven ball of rope. This left the villagers scratching their heads.

Dan is not shy. Especially when it comes to the saying, "Ask and ye shall receive." We had been walking for days under a scorching sun. Our clothing was soaked in sweat. Spying a large house with a walled courtyard and fancy wrought iron fence, Dan walked up to the front door calling out the greeting, "Namaste." The owner came to the door to find a very dirty Dan. Over Dan's shoulder, the home owner could see me at the gate with four camels. Dan asked if we could use their well to wash clothing. It ended up that one of their servants washed our clothes, while we were served lunch. Then they unhooked a four inch pipe from their irrigation system and we bathed under a fire hose flow of water.

One thing Dan does, occasionally, jangles my nerves. He is a dangerous singer. He belts out everything from opera, "Finniculu, finnicula....," to folk songs, "Trailer for sale or rent...," to improvised rap, "This is my camel and I call her G.B. ..." What jangles is the volume, remember I said Dan is not shy. Dan is so loud it is hard to hear approaching buses and trucks which freak out the camels. Fortunately, Dan stops when I consider his singing too dangerous.

One of Dan's strange quirks fascinates local villagers. It is also the reason that Dan wakes up surrounded by gawking crowds. We can only guess at what they are talking about in Hindi, but it must be about his bear. Dan has a Teddy Bear that travels with him everywhere. When we were cutting down on weight and dumping gear, I suggested ditching the bear. Dan said, "You send home your cameras, I'll send home the bear." The bear stayed. Every morning I wake up to two big smiles, one a sleeping Dan, the other a battered but smiling bear, which also greets our early morning crowds.

Dan's attachment to his Teddy Bear is in line with his youthful enthusiasm. A cobra slithering across our path, putting in a camel's nose peg, cooking over a dung fire, seeing a deserted fortress in the distance, meeting a 100 year old guru who hasn't left his temple in the last 50 years--all trigger Dan's bubbling excitement. One final quirk before Dan gets his shot at me. I discovered this one before the expedition. While staying with my family server years ago, Dan took a day trip to San Francisco. When he returned to the house in the evening, he asked if he could come up to our room where my wife and I were reading in bed. He had something to show us. When he came in, he was wearing a full Chinese outfit complete with Samurai sword. Dan loves costumes. In India he immediately went local. He wears a turban and had a tailor make hime a traditional long shirt and trousers. One of his great pleasures is being mistaken for a local. Now it is Dan's turn to comment on Jim.

Jim cuts the dashing figure astride his camel, riding reins in one hand, pack reins in the other as he steers his camel down the road trying not to be rodeoed off. Dressed in dull safari kakhi shirt and trousers, one item stands out-his turban. Disatisfied with local turban material, he had two women's shawls sewn together to get the right length. Purple, gold thread, and tassels, this turban makes him look like a pirate or magician in Harry Potter film. He's quite proud of it.

Another of his clothing concerns are his shoes. He wears a size 13 4E. A big shoe. Also a shoe difficult to replace in a country where many of the people come up to our chests. The concern is due to Reika our most skittish camel. When spooked she steam rolls Jim, often stepping on his heels. This has caused the soles to be peeled off the back of the boot. So Jim constantly searches for glue and old bicycle inner tubes to make repairs. He's often up late at night in glue fumes rebuilding the soles.

One useful tool that Jim has is his memory. He is our portable Hindi- English dictionary. Prior to the trip he used skills mentioned in his book, Memory Smart, to memorize 300 Hindi words. While his memory is good, sometimes he has trouble learning a new word from a Hindi speaker. Years of commercial diving have affected his hearing, making it hard for him to catch subtilities in the spoken language. This doesn't stop him from trying variations on pronunciation until he gets it right. Often to the amusement of locals.

Jim is usually calm and peaceful. But one day some kids were following us, taunting and throwing stones. Jim lost it and suddenly turned and sprinted towards them. The kids scattered. Fortunately he didn't catch anyone.

These kids were probably surprised to see a guy twice my age move so fast. He's been into physical training most of his life. He is not hesistant to climb on a camel for a rodeo ride. He will walk mile after mile dragging a balky camel. Sometimes he has resorted to demonstrating head high martial art kicks to make pushy crowds back off.

The one things that bugs me about Jim is that he takes a long time to do some things. He can be obessive-complusive about putting on and adjusting his riding saddle. He takes forever to tie knots in his reins to get the right length. And putting up his tent, he's so cautious in choosing a site and set up that I'm ready to fall asleep. But, let's face it. Better to make sure your saddle is on solid, your reins are the right length, and that your tent isn't damaged in the set up, because there isn't a lot of room for errors out here. Note to self-slow down.

In our next entry, find out how a dangerous encounter in the Sariska Tiger Reserve almost ends the trip for Dan.