gone were the dirty clothes and unwashed backpacker chic , replaced by a sparkling white safari suit - a throwback to an earlier generation of european travellers and a garment purloined from garnets closet - and a chin now bereft of hair , the slightest hint of resistant stubble paired down with a fanatics zeal , leaving only a faint ghost beard where the pale skin previously protected from the suns rays was finally allowed to be exposed .