Now both our camels, Sam and Reika, have major nose problems. To alleviate Sam's pain, Dan and I had to hold down all 1200 lbs. and remove one nose peg. Dan has become a master at getting his fingers into a camels nose to put in or remove pegs. This means you have to ignore the roaring of an enraged camel, dodge a battering ram neck, and keep your hands away from teeth as big as your fingers. My job is to grab Sam's lower lip and try to hold her head down. We use a trick we learned from a local farmer. First you tie the front two legs of the camel so that it cannot thrash. Then you take a BIG THICK piece of bamboo and weave it into the camels halter. Finally, you hold down the head by hanging on for dear life to the bamboo and the lip. In these encounters the camel may regurgitate on you. It is definitely messy. Successful completion of this operation means I have to control Sam with a single peg. Reika has problems as well, but we decide against removal of her peg. She is difficult to control, even with two pegs. She has pushed Dan into oncoming traffic. She herself has narrowly missed being hit by trucks and buses when she swings in front of approaching vehicles. Controlling her with one peg could get Reika or Dan killed when she goes out of control on the road way. We will have to deal with this if we go for Nepal.

There are also other concerns on making it to Nepal. We have a time constraint. My return flight to America is set so that I will be home in time for my son's birthday. We only have a week left. To make it to the Western Nepal border near the town of Barielly, we have to cover 50 km per day. Previously, a good day has been 20 km. Added to that, the US State Department has issued a warning to Americans entering Nepal. Maoist rebels have stated that they will target Americans. We also have to heed the cautions of police, military, and Indian friends that the area we are traveling through could be dangerous. We see men on motorcycles with shotguns cruising the road. We are at a loss to tell if they are good guys or the local bandits we've heard about. To make it to Nepal would be a first for two foreigners on camels. But it is a long shot. We have come an incredible distance and had amazing experiences already. At night we talk back and forth between our tents trying to figure out ways we can make it. Both of us are goal-setters and we devise a plan.

We will only eat one meal a day. This is to save time. A meal may consist of some bananas, or tomatoes and onions bought  from a local stand, or what Dan calls potatoes in a bag, potato chips. I've also grown fond of Indian tea and we get one or two liters made up at the little stands that cover India. We've already lost a lot of weight, but we tighten our belts even more. But, we don't skimp on the camels. People told us we would not find food for them in this area far from the desert. But we have found that Sam is a banana addict and can go through 20 pounds of bananas fast enough to make you count your fingers after feeding her. They are also fond of peanuts, a super rich food and they get up to seven pounds at a sitting. Before going to bed at night, we climb into Neem trees and cut down branches for a camel midnight snack.

In the mornings we get up early in heavy mist, a big change from months ago in the desert. We pack our wet tents and gear. At night we sleep in wet gear rather than take the time during the day to dry it. We also enlist the help of cart drivers whenever possible: donkey carts, horse carts, and oxen carts. We sit on the back and the camel gear is carried for awhile in the cart, giving the camels a break. As night approaches we set a furious pace, just short of jogging, to squeeze in the last kilometer. A number of adventures occur on this mad dash-- paying bribes, press interviews on the run, broken saddles, a close encounter in an ambush between Maoist rebels and the Indian army, and talks with a holy man at his altar of death.

As the border approaches Dan decides to stay behind due to a visa concern. A true mountaineer, he says it is only important that one of the team makes it. I make the final dash. Only hours are left on our cut off time. Then I have problems at the border with corrupt immigration officials on the Indian side, a balky camel, and whether or not a camel will be allowed to even cross the border. Time is running out. After some bribes, some fast talking, and some running, I walk into Nepal on November 28 at 4:30 PM.  

We have shared a small part of our adventure with you on this Internet site. Dan and I have collected over 2000 images of our adventure in photos. The epilogue to this story is still being written. If you would like to share this great adventure in a lecture slide presentation, have your school or corporate group contact Jim Wiltens at jim@jimwiltens.com to make arrangements for North America. Dan will conduct programs in Europe. You can still help us. The humanitarian side of the adventure continues. Donations sent to our site can help light up villages that we have contacted in the course of our expedition. We are also donating the money from the sale of our camels to a school being set up in Bikaner. You can send funds to help start the school. Bubbles Singh, owner of the Harasar Havelii Hotel in Bikaner is creating this school for poor children. As a friend we were gladdened to hear that Bubbles had run for mayor of Bikaner during our expedition and had received a landslide vote in his favor. Our joy was dampened by hearing that the complexities of Inidan politics allowed the party he was associated with to use his votes to support another candidate. We only hope he will try again. In India we met a several individuals like Bubbles who are following the words of, Mahatma Gandhi--"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."