Such Was Their Karma--Chapter Three

Oh my goodness! The trip is really turning into a disaster as our little group is banished from China and cursed with bad karma for generations to come. The situation has come about through the bad luck of having an inept tour guide and because of their own bad behavior.

Any of us who have traveled know the value of a good tour guide. Woe to our group for being led by the aptly named Miss Rong. She speaks only broken English and does not understand the dialect of the area they are visiting. She does correctly explain the Buddhist concept of Karma with the story of the water buffalo, but the group dismisses what she says and what they see as a primitive mistreatment of animals.

But Miss Rong is not the only one at fault. The tourists bring bad fortune upon themselves when they don’t bother to read completely the careful research notes that Bibi had prepared. Then they complain that signs are not in English and ignore them; they wander off from the established paths instead of staying together and generally disregard the fact that they are guests in another country. I am upset that they don't even try to understand the customs and beliefs of the area. If ever there were “ugly Americans,” I think we are meeting them here.

The chapter ends with a curse in which the gods will “give these foreigners…bad karma following them forever [in] this life and next, this country, that country, never can stop.” In spite of their conduct, I have grown fond of some of them. I hope things go better for them in the next chapter, don't you?