Before the Nottingham camp and before our departure to India, "Cuddles" spent some time in Edinburgh. There was the Exhibition (rather a grand title) on Bruntsfield Links to publicise and fundraise. Then there was the trip to DC's father's workshop in Leven, Fife to have extra shelving fitted inside the skirts on the door side to give us more storage space - the fuel tank took up all of the opposite side.

Getting ready, consensus by Liz Y

Our first tent, the hired marquee on Bruntsfield Links, was rather grand. It was a sizeable tent with a heavy duty, white canvas cover, the sort of tent which might grace a summer fair. As far as I remember, none of us actually slept in the tent, probably not allowed on the Links, but we did all, or just about all, participate in running the exhibition. I think the contingent was almost up to strength by that time.

As well as the map of our planned route for the expedition and the invitation for punters to bet in a guessing game as described on an earlier page, there was a refreshment table and a display of photos/mugshots of each of us. The photos were taken courtesy of Bob D and his links with the local press. It isn't easy to gauge the impact of our efforts to raise public awareness about the aims of Comex, but certainly people in the Bruntsfield neighbourhood would have noticed a marquee on the Links and having 2 journalists in the group definitely helped to get some press coverage before we set off for India.

The exhibition was a sort of milestone. By mid-June, we were learning to work effectively as a team. The contingent had drawn recruits from across the faculties and year groups of the university. Al B and Bob D worked for different newspapers. A few people already knew one another, but the group as a whole had to get to know each other. Al S, Johan and Ricky lived in the same student house as Suresh, a PhD student who was due to return to India that summer. It was this connection with Suresh, which became our link with Jaipur University.

There was a lot to do before we were ready to take to the road for three months. We weren't of course working blindly on this. The Comex Secretariat in London had provided information and lists of what we needed to take on the journey, as well as guidance on what equipment and provisions would be supplied centrally to collect at the training camp in Nottingham. Our contribution to the Comex cultural programme required some creative planning, drawing on whatever talents we could muster, in particular those of Brian, Gordon, Pru and others. Musical, dance and thespian potential of all members was cultivated during June.

Three months is a long time for 25 people to live inter-dependently on a small bus and June was an important month for us to get to know one another. We were all quite easy-going and willing to muck in with whatever needed to be done. There wasn't much abstract discussion about the objectives of the expedition. It seemed obvious to us as young people in the sixties that friendship and peace could/should be the way of the world.

By the time the expedition was underway, we had a reasonably efficient system in place, bolstered by a lot of high spirits and enthusiasm. We agreed a few pragmatic rules as we went along. This kind of thing:

1. Thou shalt wash thine own eating utensils, because no one relishes washing 25 mess tins, 25 mugs and 50/75 pieces of cutlery. (reason: obvious)

2. Thou shalt not straggle, lest thou be left behind. (reasons: long journey ahead, frayed forbearance of others waiting to get going, boiling temperatures on board stationary bus)

3. Thou shalt be around at mealtimes, lest thou forfeit thy dinner (reasons: cooks can't easily preserve cooked food, consideration for the cooks)

4. Thou shalt not raid the communal larder, lest thou deplete our precious stocks. (reason: need to eke out supplies for the journey)

5. Thou shalt not purchase unto thee more than one Afghan coat, lest thou clutter up the bus. (reasons: bus already stuffed with other stuff, comfort of fellow Comexers)

That was about it really. Consensus was to be the order of the day. It worked most of the time, even if there was a bit of a barney occasionally.