Although normally trekking groups aren’t allowed to have fires, Kumar asked Ram and Rajin to start one so we could dry out our wet clothing. The raging fire spat high into the air as we put our boots, socks and jackets near the fire. Tibetans joined us near the fire and we smiled to each other in this beautiful setting, with memories of our thefts receding from our memories. The leader of the yak herders started to sing a song, and was soon joined in by the rest of the Tibetans. We all applauded wildly as they finished. Rajin sang an Indian pop song with great feeling. Now this is what traveling is all about, I thought, meeting the local people at close distance and seeing glimpses of their lives and culture. Before long we were singing too, ending with a rousing rendition of New York, New York. The fire started to die and we all filed slowly back to our sleeping bags, happy with our multicultural performances. These happy feelings weren’t to last for very long.