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11/15/1983 - Homeward Bound by Bryn E. Barnard

INSTITUTE OF CURRENTWORLD AFFAIRS BEB Kampung Pasir Homeward Bound Tampoi Malaysia November Mr Peter Bird Martin Institute Current World Affairs West Wheelock Street Hanover New Hampshire USA Dear Peter The Nepal winter close The inonsoon barely falls passes peaks Annapurna Daulagiri Thorong La Many closed ending trekking season equipped Further south nearer level India seeing vestiges autumn The morning crisp Gangetic plain though still polluted smoke fires factories The Taj Mahal swathed industrial Inist miles distant invisible cloaked Guides drivers tourists alike cough these polluted mornings shawls sweaters warmth But equator ceaseless unchanging weather remains steamy season slightly wetter cooler season slightly hotter dryer It November monsoon northeast monsoon flooding begun Yesterday Kelang River overflowed banks washing roads inundating homes My stalled miles Tamin Permata I walked swiling yellow water residue nearb construction sites earth refuse washing Today I visiting Kampung Pasir bidding goodbye Malay family hosts decade American Friends Service experience Tomorrow I Singapore I hoped newsletter draft ready I reached Kuala Lumpur planning ammer BEB during hiatus between Nepal homeward journey No typewriter available Note ICWA newsletter readers being retyped Hanover PBM could essential photos De processed Long before I Nepal trekking partner Stephen Starbuck offered KL succeeded slides would ready arrival Steve however caught Kathmandu standby crush along members Japanese Daulagiri expedition American Everest expedition Yugoslavian Maccapuchare expedition Br Barnard Institute Fellow studying visual communication Southeast Asia He wrote letter Hanover staff thought might interested seeing BEB Most better placed Steve bribe Thai airlines officials Kathmandu passenger manifest One squeezed fully booked flights Bangkok thence Other special cases boarding passes American woman broke Thai International flight pocket sending served dinner trays ceiling floor British trail between Jamsom Kalopani breaking account emergency helicopter Kathmandu Italian woman Nepali royal family All flight another Steve waits still Hence pitiful pitiable explanation aside I until arrival Laguna Beach finish BEB newsletter billboard traditions Thailand Indonesia BEB BEB begun similarly await USA completion I laggards Hanover possible My Nepal excursion provided I hoped Tourist impact newly opened Thorong La Pass heavily touristed A thing The physically continuous desert Tibetan Plateau Wood scarce already tracts denuded forest ravaged farming scarred This Manang region least populated Nepal Tourists bring strai limited resources Without careful planning incapable supporting either tourists locals Manang moonscape abandoned infertile regions western Tibet The western Thorong La conversely little trouble supporting swelling tourist population Lower Manang western Thorong La blessed plentiful Here Kali Ghandaki gorge between massifs Annapurna Dhaulagiri The hillsides terraced support maize millet potatoes fruit orchards cattle herds The trails choked trains pilgrims porters tourists American European Japanese Australian Indian Nepali Signs English Nepali abundant advertising hotels factories restaurants On Manang advertising signage almost exclusively English Indian Nepali tourists Tourist traffic appeared heavier during first visit Villages grown trekking lodges abundant BEB western style trekking ubiquitous The biggest change however amount tourists During trails freaks ravaged dregs cross Asia caravans styled sadhu remnants hippie movement junkies panhandlers Great Unwashed 1970s drifter tourism Most Nepal plentiful hashish trekking usually Pokhara springs Tatopani sidelight Today market tourists freaks exception Only Kathmandu sizeable alternative community survive Freak Street shops filled Instead Thamel trekking supply distributor Kathmandu become tourist focus Streets choked stores selling parkas sleeping crampons Tibetan jewelry restaurants nsive those Freak Street offer potassium permanganate soaked lettuce salads quiche steak music The clientele while wealthy least healthy Well scrubbed college abound Most vests boots Levis freak attire gaily colored shirts cotton trousers embroidered vests headbands sandals Unlike freaks however these newcolners appear their uniforms frequently knife creases I discuss freaks tourists tourist thoroughly BEB My flight Delhi Kathmandu delayed short I cancel National Institute Design My Indian capital spent researching billboards signage advertising Apparently international copyright little power India I known American trademarks surprising The McDonalds golden arches found their Metro Hotel eChrysler_ pentast transformed Punjab State Milk Board Amtrak double arrow symbol bedecked Delhi Transport Authorit buses course Cola sells bottles shape script Cam rlngers Coke Similar practices prevail Indonesia I write again I reach California Please color sample sheets arrive They mailed Hanover month They arrived December PBM I pleasantly surprised receive Jack Thompson proposal temporary Universities Field Staff International Lectures writing Field Staff would exciting BEB worthwhile project Matari Advertising wants consult months beginning April The would include teaching illustrations Bit Bintang Star Beer calendar I accepted conditionally consultancy begin until after I completed Institute obligations including Salisbury spring should becoe reality I about pieces picked sketches paintings I slides States The sketches chosen represent media I charcoal paint pencil subject matter covered homes people machinery landscape illustration styles employed didactic editorial objective I carrying virtually suitcase oversized paintings When Spring meeting May PBM I expected attend Yes PBM Happy Thanksgiving Cheers Bryn Barnard P S Enclosed information Singapore Maghain Aboth Synagogue requested months newsletter reader Please address available Will reader request Bryn please write PBM