Did anyone notice that the itinerary in the book is different from the itinerary on page 244 -- the hand written journal. The books has him going thru India and then Nepal and then home. But the journal shows he went India-Nepal-India-home. In my four year backpacking journey (1983-1987) I kept the same handwritten statistics about transportation, money spent, and where slept. So I kinda, sorta, obsessed over his hand written notes.
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I totally agree! I wish that he had acknowledged that directly. He did say there was "Light editing for logistics etc" and the book probably read better with the highlight of Nepal rather than "we had an extra day in Delhi and didn't want any more city so went to a village" which is actually a more realistic way of how they felt after a long trip.
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I understand that you would like it to follow his itinerary I noticed that but when I reached the end ie going home I could totally relate as to why he wrote it that way.
I was on the trail three months after Rick; October/November 1978. I had started my trip in May from England on a Bicycle with a friend. After he went home I continued on selling my bike and hitch hiking instead. By the time I reached Delhi for some reason I suddenly decided it was time to go home. That feeling of finality in the book was the same as my experience.
Going to the Taj etc... wouldn't have the same emotion.
Going home after such an experience hit me very hard emotionally, and that was exactly what I got from the end of the book. It's a story! and a good one. ben.