Fossils at 15,000'

India is incredibly exotic to me. Getting into the hills around the Indo-Gangetic Plain was like entering a rainforest (I say this having never been to an actual rainforest). The monsoons and generally tropical climate here produce lush vegetation. Placid cows wandered the street snacking from various vegetable stands as petite old women shouted at them in Hindi. Monkeys sat on the side of the road picking insects off each others' backs. Hillsides were steep and covered with trees. The rivers were deep and either a rich dark blue or a muddy brown (if they were glacially fed). We crossed over the Rohtang pass (Rohtangla) and the wind was instantly whipping around us and snapping the prayer flags that surrounded the stupa. The clouds came up from the hills and all crossed right through this narrow pass. The clouds parted for a moment and through the mist the sky was startlingly blue (we'd been driving through wet clouds for two hours) and there were snow capped peaks. We started down the road on the other side and we watched in wonder as the clouds moved through the pass almost as sentient beings. They crept down the hillside until they finally evaporated into nothingness. Their ethereal nature was spectacular and it struck me. The hillside below the pass was covered with grasses and small flowers and herds of "sheep y goats" wandered about. The rest of the valley was barren rock and debris with occasional little plants clinging to existence. If that's not exotic, what is?
As for your question about writing, no I don't. I'm a scientist by nature and by training. Something about the beauty of India affected me and changed me in some small way. I can't draw myself away from that landscape and the people and the animals.
As for the snail, I'd never seen fossils at 15,000' before. If I didn't love geology before, how could I not now seeing a bit of ocean floor pushed up into the tallest mountain range on Earth?