A Gambling Man by David Baldacci (ebook audio reader .txt) 📕

plane schedules and transfers, hotels and transportation to the airport, from the airport, to the hotels and then on to Jiri. So we double the load. What does that actually do to the overall plan? We get two porters or three, a bigger cab, twice as many tickets, two rooms instead of one in Kathmandu, or what have you. It isn’t any big deal and the real effort isn’t ours, but Mr. Pasang’s. All we have to do is tell him that we need the whole deal for four instead of two and he takes care of it. As for plane reservations and what not, when we call for our reservations we ask for four instead of two. When we get to Singapore we get two rooms instead of one. When we leave Kathmandu for Jiri we get the big car instead of the small one. See?”

“Easy for you to say,” he said.

“Well, it is. The real work on this trip will not be in the planning, the organization or getting there. People do these things every day. I guess that means to me that it isn’t any big deal, and even with lost luggage, delays, missed flights or riots in the streets, these things manage to get done. Where the real trial begins is where the road ends and you realize for the first time in your life that everything in your world is being carried with you and that everything in front of you is a mystery and new and different. That is when the light seems brighter and the noise in the trees has a different sound. When the breeze is heavy with scents that you cannot recognize and the colors have a new and vibrant hue. When people walk past and humbly say namaste and you reply with the same and actually mean it.

“Christian, this is the real deal here and it doesn’t matter how many of us go. I am going to tell you why right now. When you are standing in the dojo in the middle of the group of attackers and waiting for me to say “Hajime” (start), you are already engaged with one individual. Who is that?”

“I guess it would be the strongest attacker. Or it would be the person I feel is the most dangerous attacker. I focus on him first and plan my first move to deal with him first.”

“Very good, you’re correct. You deal with one attacker and then what?” I asked.

“Then I deal with one more and then one more and so on until I either run out or you call mate (stop),” he said.

“Okay, and then what?” I asked.

“Well, hopefully, then I get to go sit down and watch someone else do it,” he laughed.

“And when you sit down, how many people do you deal with?” I asked. “Anyone?”

“At the most, two, one on either side of me.”

“So you never have to deal with more than one attacker and never with more than two people while you are waiting for a chance to be uke or take part in randori as a nage again. Right?”

“Right,” he said.

“Okay. That’s Nepal,” I said.

“I’m sure that you will explain,” he said.

“Of course. When you are walking on the trail, you can almost never walk side by side except rarely, so you almost never have a chance to talk to more than one person at a time. That person is either in front of you or behind. When you are traveling commercially you only have one person on one side and one person on the other, so you should feel right at home. With Curtis and Chris along you will never have to be engaged with someone you won’t be familiar with. And at the same time there will always be a group around you to make you feel right at home and comfortable without any encumbrances that will put you into culture shock worse than you will already be. In other words, four is a really good trekking number.” I smiled and continued. “When we stop for a break you could have Curtis sit on your left and me or Chris on your right. Then those pesky French or Italians who will also be trekking along won’t be able to engage you in any arguments about which pasta is better or whose wines have more longevity, or what not. I mean, it is one way to travel while still being culturally isolated. If that’s what you want.”

“Sensei, do you want Curtis and Chris to come along?”

“Of course,” I said.

“Why,” he asked?

“Simple, they are both great travelers. They don’t whine when things go wrong and don’t complain when things are different. They are interested in life as a process and both are wickedly intelligent, funny, affable companions. They are both well educated, clean in their habits, strong, serious and both can hold their liquor. And the French and German babes will be all over them.”

“You’re joking.”

“About which part?” I asked.

“There will be women on this trip?”

“Son, women will be passing you all day long. Women who are five foot tall and about ninety pounds will be walking along and you will be expected to make way for them.”

“Why?” he asked. “Is it a cultural thing where women get the right of way?”

“No.” I answered. “You will get out of their way because they will be carrying about forty or fifty kilos of goods up into the mountains on their backs. A ninety-pound woman will carry her weight in Coca Cola and kerosene and rice and all the other goods that people consume. And when porters come through other slower people get out of the way of the porters. It is about being polite. I guess I should also mention that she will probably be either barefoot or wearing shower shoes. And don’t even imagine for an