Rule #32 Enjoy the Little Things

These are some of the things we are craving (not in any particular order)

Tim
Fish and chips
A Cornetto
A Quarterpounder
Canadian Maple Syrup
Riding my bike
Driving my car
Relaxing on the beach
Not living out of a backpack
Roast pork knuckles and beer
Canadian club and dry, Captain Morgan's spiced rum with a dash of lemon and coke

Kimjeng
Fresh food - mainly Vietnamese
Cappuccino
Listening to my music
Baileys on icecream
Nice clothes
Cold water readily available
A life that doesn't smell like poo

Colin
Fresh clothes
Juicy fruit eg. grapes
Steak
Milkshake
Summer temperatures

Kimghech
My hairbrush (I forgot mine in Australia and my sister and I were supposed to be sharing so we were both stuck)
Drinkable water that didn't need to be filtered that morning
A wake up routine that didn't involve putting on my boots to brush my teeth
Appropriately sized stairs
Fresh fruit and vegetables 
Drinking water that's not out of a Camelbak
Alone time
Clean toilets
Hot showers

Homeward Bound

The end of our trip was our designated 'fun time'. It turned out to be not so fun for some of us but when you come to Nepal, you have to get close and personal with some mountains.

In suspense

So we began our epic four day trek bright eyed and bushy tailed with a three and a half hour walk to Syabru from Syabrubesi, a climb of 750m. We had a horse named 'bādala' which means 'cloud in Nepali and his handler, Angdawar, a believer who lives in Syabru. The horse carried several packs and the super keen ones carried theirs up the mountain. Kimjeng and Kimghech packed all their stuff into one bag (we all downsized to essential items) into one pack so it went onto the horse straight away.

We all managed the climb well and made it into Syabru by lunchtime.

Follow the leader

We stayed at 'Peace Lodge' which is run by Gyalsang and his wife Nimbuti. Gyalsang and his family were the first believers in Syabru and their testimony is an amazing story of God's goodness and mercy. 

'For you? Good price'

 Unfortunately our early optimism about the trekking was smashed as Colin was up sick that entire night. By morning he was stuck in bed and not able to continue with the climb up into the mountains. A Nepali colleague Suresh stayed with Colin and made sure he was well cared for. Colin was gutted about not being able to go, however knew that his body just wasn't up to it.

The rest of us prepared ourselves for the hardest trek of the four days; a climb of 1400m. Kimghech was feeling unwell by this stage and struggled to get through breakfast. 

We planned to reach Phoprang by lunch and then climb the rest of the way to Cholongpati. 

It was a four hour trek to Phoprang and we were all pretty dead by that time. Kimghech was fairly dead by this point and spent lunchtime sleeping on a bench trying to avoid the thought of food. The others refueled on egg chowmein and fried rice. 

Our faithful horse

The next 3 hours to Cholongpati was some of the hardest hours for all of us. A combination of the altitude, general tiredness, the level of physical exertion required to get up the mountain and illness made the climb incredibly difficult. Even Tim said that the day was his second best physical achievement, after the marathon. We praise God for His faithfulness to us and sustained us as we struggled. The scenery however was some of the most beautiful we've seen in Nepal, it was a shame that Colin missed it as it was Hobbit-esque and he would have loved it.

Enchanted forest

By the time we reached Cholongpati we were at the end of our physical and mental tethers. We were at 3585m and our bodies were struggling to adjust to the altitude. 

We walked all that way...

We were happy to just sit by the fire and try to cope with the cold and the altitude all night. We did take a few moments though to take in the view.

The Langtang mountains all covered in snow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At least we made it before sunset

 

 

 

The plan for the next day was to climb up to Gosainkunda. Kunda means lake in Nepali so we wanted to climb to Gosain Lake. Tim, Kimghech and a few other team members wanted to go up. Kimjeng got sick and was suffering from altitude sickness and was unable to make it. She was quite breathless and had a minor tummy bug from the lodge food. 

We all set off and straight away Kimghech felt the effects of not eating the day before. It was a fairly steep climb over loose rocks. Kimghech only made it up to Lauribinda before deciding that trying to go to Gosinkunda was unwise and not worth the effort.

Tim was then the only one of us who made it to the top. According to him, the frozen lake was the best part of the trip.

Gosainkunda - 4380m

Tim was able to walk on the lake and he came back with stories and videos of how the lake made a booming and cracking noise as they walked on it. They also decided that chucking ice along the top of it was a good idea.

Ice ice baby

The rest of us hung out together at the lodge and sat by the fire all day recuperating in preparation for the hike downhill the next day to Dunche. Dunche was where Colin had been waiting for us. He had slowly walked down the hill from Syabru to Syabrubesi then a bus to Dunche as he was too ill and weak to try the climb to Cholongpati.

The descent down to Dunche was very steep and we dropped over 1600m in a day. There were a couple of lodges on the way where we stopped for tea and lunch.

Tea with a view

Again some of the views and scenery on the walk were amazing - we all tried to soak in our last chance to experience the Nepali countryside.

Not your average staircase

 

 

When we finally made it into Dunche we reunited with Colin who had a fairly boring two days. We all rejoiced in having food choices that weren't just dhal bat, fried rice, eggs and chowmein. 

The next day was a six hour trip into Kathmandu. We had all forgotten how treacherous the roads were and Tim ended up sitting on the cliff side of the vehicle. He took a photo from inside the moving car documenting how close we came to the edge.

Say your prayers

We all made it safely in however and were entertained by all the trucks that advertised the private lives of their drivers on them.

'Don't love' 'Love is painful' 'Mother is God'
Don't you just want to give him a hug?

Our last day in Kathmandu consisted of going to Gongabu church in the morning then running around getting last minute souvenirs and eating all the stuff that we'd missed including salad and chocolate cake. Oh the little things.

We're flying out tomorrow and some of us have a mountain of packing to do. Not a nice thought.

Praise God that we are all safe and well and have made it through Trekabout 2013-2014! 

I'm freezing my royal rastafarian nay nays off!

Hi from Syabrubesi! 

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, we've appreciated the support that all of you have given us.

We had two great rest days in Trisuli.

The main street in Trisuli

We just hung out together on the roof of the home where we were staying, some of us visited a beauty parlour and others judged us for doing so (guess who?) and we all enjoyed just doing nothing and going to bed early. 

Squeaky clean Colin

Graydon gave a story telling seminar at the local Assemblies of God church which most of us attended - the church was packed with mostly young people who hung on his every word.

After our rest period we made our way to the Archale area and stayed at a place called Shanti Bazaar. We stayed there for two nights and 'practiced' climbing up into the higher villages from the valley in preparation for the more difficult uphill hikes next week.

Effortless

Just halfway up the hill - that block of buildings is where we were staying

On the day we arrived one team met a man who was in his late 60s. He told them that he had been praying everyday for 15 years for God to give him a sign that he should follow Jesus. That day he believed that the sign had come and he accepted Jesus Christ. As soon as he prayed he was yelling out at every passerby what had just happened to him and that they needed to come and learn more. 

This was a huge encouragement for everyone as people in that area seemed very closed or affected by community pressures and so on. It was great to see how God had used our team to help this man to come to know Him and it really confirmed God's work in the area before our arrival.

The plan was then to leave on Saturday morning and leave most of our Nepali colleagues behind to go back to Kathmandu. We were all frantically trying to get things organised and that included washing our hair. 

It was easier for some of us than others

For the next leg of the trip we would only be accompanied by Barney, Dipendra and Suresh. This meant leaving Subha who was our amazing cook and overfed us at every single meal. Our Nepali colleagues were incredibly serving, gracious and kind. They woke up earlier and went to bed later than us every day. They always ate after us and made sure that our needs were always met. This includes getting all the hot water for our teas and coffees, face washing in the morning and all our showers. They even scrubbed all of the toilets we used and discarded our bags of used toilet paper. Some of them were also our translators all day and never got time to rest. They never had proper sleeping conditions and mostly slept on the floor in the room that was also used as their kitchen. Amongst all of this they were constantly joyful.

Kumar, Suresh, Barney, Subha, Ramesh, Dipendra, Jonah

We then caught a 'micro bus' which is what they call mini-vans here all the way to Syabrubesi. The trip was just under four hours and it progressively got colder and windier as we travelled upwards. The view was incredible though and changed constantly. 

How's the serenity?

Syabrubesi is where the Tamang people live and is a gateway for trekkers into the Langtang mountains.

The main road in Syabrubesi

 We are currently writing this blog from the freezing cold lobby in the hotel that we are staying (we can see our breath in the air). Today we went up to the Tibetan border and prayed for the area and did some ministry. It is a very strong Buddhist area and we had be very careful about telling people about Jesus as we were warned by the police.

This river runs into the Trisuli river which then runs into the Ganges

We will be hiking for four days from tomorrow uphill. Tomorrow we hike to Syabru, Cholongpati, then towards Gosainkund then trek back to Dunche. From Dunche we will be going back to Kathmandu then we fly home.

Three of us are struggling with colds and it is freezing here and only going to get worse. We are starting to crave foods from home and actual hot showers. Hot showers here means lukewarm water. Pray as we hike, don't shower for five days, carry our packs and deal with the freezing cold weather. 

 

Jaya Masi!

Jaya Masi means 'Victory to the Messiah'. This is how Nepali Christians greet each other instead of 'namaste'. If there is a believer in a village, every villager knows who they are and will identify them if asked. 

The trek here was fairly intense with all our packs. We're all thankful that we were able to survive physically and mentally the four hour trek down the 'hill' and into the valley to our lodge. It was the first time with the full weight of our packs and we were all over it by the end of the trip. Colin got to miss out on this trek because he had to see a doctor, he is fine now.
 

Just some of our amazing view

The amenities here at the 'guest house' are actually better than they were in Matra Guan. Just over two weeks ago, Barney (a Nepali colleague who has been the main organiser of this trip - such a boss) visited this lodge and all the sleeping quarters were full of grain and the toilets and another bedroom had the water buffalo staying right next to the them. The lodge owners have redone the place in preparation for our arrival including building a new shower room and connecting a light bulb to it.

Roll over Tim...

Kimjeng and Kimghech slept on the bed on the left

There are three toilets, however the vents are unfortunately placed at an inappropriate height for privacy (including in the shower).

Eww

We continue to be amazed at how God has provided for us or how He has organised particular interactions with villagers on this trip. 

Our Nepali colleagues (left to right) Ramesh, Jonah, Dependra, Kumar and Suresh

One of our Nepali colleagues Jonah (a translator), was with a team in a village and felt that he was being encouraged by God to go up to the highest house in the village and share the Gospel. When the team were up there they met with an elderly man and his wife. After sharing the Gospel with them and having a discussion about God the elderly man decided that he wanted to follow Jesus. After he said that, his wife was very against it and pleaded that he not make that decision. He decided to believe anyway and prayed with the team. The team came back that night praising God, however they did not have a bible to give to him. Meanwhile, another team was coming back along the road to the lodge. On the way a Nepali villager stopped Graydon and gave him a Gideon bible in Nepali. Graydon was unable to understand what the villager was saying but he received the bible anyway. The next morning Dan (an American team member who was a missionary in Nepal 20 years ago) and Jonah were preparing to leave to visit him again. Over breakfast we were all talking about the situation and mentioned the need for a bible. Graydon spoke up and said that he was just given one last night. It was a great encouragement for the team to trust Him to always provide for our needs.

A few of the kids surrounding the 'foreigners' every night at the lodge

We had another opportunity to visit a Nepali church on Saturday. It was a long walk to get there (just under two hours) over creeks, hills, fields and rickety bridges. We had to walk at a really fast pace; it was fun but fraught with danger and made us appreciate our three minute drive to church every week. 
 

Too bad we can't walk on water...

Every day we've been splitting up into teams and walking up and along the valley for at least an hour to get into villages to tell them about Jesus. It's been a lot of walking which we have coped with well but it's definitely a change from what we're used to.


We're currently writing this from Trishuli which is a major town for a rest period. Today and tomorrow are free and we're all excited for a shower and a washing machine to wash clothes that we had not yet hand washed. From here we're unsure where we will be going - we may be going back to the valley near Thansing as there are still many villages to hear the Gospel or we may be going up to Archale and continuing on. 

Our major treks in the Langtang mountain area is still to come!

Tim playing the Nepali version of snooker with some of the villagers

Suffering for the Gospel

We are currently at Matra Guan where we have spent the last 3 days doing ministry in the villages around the area. This morning we will pack up and trek for a few hours down to the valley floor to the village of Thansing.

While we have struggled with the basic amenities we have really seen God working throughout our visits to the villagers.

The boys' sleeping quarters. They slept on the floor in our host family's multi purpose kitchen, family room and chicken room.

Kimjeng and Kimghech slept on this bed - it was on the upstairs verandah and was open to the elements. The view on the other side was lovely though.

Our toilet. Yes, it was as bad as it looks and this was good in comparison to others in the villages. And that bag in the corner is our used toilet paper.

One team had walked only a few minutes from base and ran into a man harvesting tumeric on the side of the road. He stopped them and began talking to them. A crowd gathered to hear the whole Gospel story - this man later visited base that night and gave his life to Christ. He had many questions when he was listening to the Gospel but after a long discussion he was ready to believe. This encounter just highlighted to the whole team the fact that God was working in this area and was using us to spread his Gospel. 

Only part of our amazing view everyday - it constantly changed as we walked around and there was always something new to see.

Another perspective - the Himalayas were visible and were so beautiful when the light hit them in different ways throughout the day.

We're excited yet apprehensive about the next stage in Thansing. The amenities are even more basic than here. We've all showered (with a bucket in a shower constructed with tarps) here and it is unlikely that we will have the ability to for at least the next four days. We are really excited to see how God is working so please continue to pray for our team, for health, energy and for God to use us mightily for His purpose.