This chapter recounts the chaotic return to Europe after months of wandering around Asia, a brutal culture shock between the anarchy of Eastern roads and Western order. The narrator crosses Iran by train, nostalgic for the Afghan landscapes and disgusted by Iranian consumerism, before boarding the Van Gölü Ekspresi, a train that can be dismantled and transported by ferry across Lake Van.
In Istanbul, the Pudding Shop, once a legendary spot for backpackers, now seems sordid to him, a symbol of a journey coming to an end.
From Munich to Caen, each stage is a disappointment: German police chase him away for looking like a “filthy hippie,” a blackout at the station causes him to miss his stop, and an SNCF ticket inspector extorts his last pennies.
His return to Normandy, despite the warm welcome from his friends, is marked by a persistent disconnect—part of him remains “on the Buddha’s Head.”
The text ends with a melancholic realization: happiness is not found in escape, but in commitment here and now, in Europe, to “change this world.”