Letter from North America 1976

Washington DC

Yes, after a big trip to the East, that is  India, the next big trip had to be towards the West, the mighty North America indeed!!
With my new found freedom came a chance to travel with my new found partner. We bought  our Grey Hound bus pass in England and landed by plane in Montreal ( Canada), stayed few  nights there and went off to the Grey Hound bus depot to catch our first bus to Toronto, a big city with lots of tall buildings. Then off to  Sault St. Marie, followed by Calgary where they had the tallest tower to boast about? then off to Winnipeg, where my partner learnt few words of Punjabi and he taught me few words of French. Vancouver, beautiful cosmopolitan city was our last place in Canada before we moved  to the mighty U.S.A. We rushed through the  west coast of California, through Eureka, San-Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Phoenix, San Antonio, and across to New Orleans, then to Washington D.C., Chicago, New York and finally to Detroit before returning to Montreal for our departure home.

 I found Canada unwelcoming and was glad to have spent less time. I loved everything U.S.A. had to offer. The vast empty roads once we left the city life, travelling through the mountain areas , massive forests and lakes were all very new and fresh experience. I loved the big cities where food was served in huge portions and we shared one plate of our meal all the time. I loved the real life dramas played on the streets of big cities like New York and in bars of New Orleans. The police siren which went on all night while we were trying to get some sleep in crummy hotel in New York; lifts full of drug addicts and the friendliness of the Californian people, were all sketches from the American movies, coming alive for me in USA.

We spent most nights sleeping in the buses and most of the day time exploring the sights on foot. Yes, walking, in the land where they have no foot paths. It was exciting for me but also tiring as well;   spending too much time together had put a strain on our relationship. We fell out of love and fell in love through out our journey. The experts say that the best way to find if your relationship is going to work for the rest of your life is to go on a holiday together and examine the result on your return. We did just that!!