Flip Book Contents

I've mentioned the Saber recorders and the flipbooks that we carried with us on our trek quite a bit in recent posts. I thought I would take the time and dig up what we were actually sharing with people. The company Global Recordings Network (which I mentioned in a post before we left) developed the material to be translated into languages around the world. The series we presented can be seen here: http://globalrecordings.net/en/script/en/395. It's entitled the Good News and summarizes the story of the Bible, pointing the way to Jesus through the whole thing. I'd encourage you to read it; easy to do in one sitting and I think one of the best summaries I've ever read of how the awesome creator of the universe loves us and wants us to be with him.. The text in the left column was the audio people listened to and the pictures on the right made up the pages of the flipbook.

Riding Buses

Our Nepal team didn't have a whole lot of time to rest; we had to keep moving. The day after we arrived we took a bus 6 hours to the next largest city in Nepal, Pokhara. It was intense. Imagine if you will the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National park only with all the vehicles that are allowed on the GSH (trucks, buses, etc) bumper to bumper. At least this was how it was descending out of the big city. The majority of the time of the trip was in the first quarter of the distance because of the slow moving traffic.

Enjoying the views of the countryside out the window of the bus. 

Trucks and buses in Nepal were very funny: they all had custom paint jobs and sported English phrases like "Miss You" or "See You". These were painted on the back presumably referring to "I'll see ya later because I just passed you...". I was surprised that I never saw "Eat Dust", but they might be have a little less road angst than we have in the US. There were also many religious symbols. By the way they drive it is easy to understand why drivers would want to believe in something outside themselves to protect them. Most of the vehicles we saw also had custom horns that had multiple tones as if it were going up and down a chromatic scale. Each was unique and got your attention pretty fast. And they used them a lot too, more as a form of communication than in anger or surprise as we do in the States. I wish this culture of driving we have would change. (I've started to use the horn on my scooter in this fashion: using it proactively to let people know I'm there rather than "yelling" at someone who cuts me off.)

Colorful truck we are following and about to pass. The back says "SPORTS".

And that's the front after we passed it. 

Finally, the drivers also had a system of passing: the faster truck or bus would come up behind the slower one and honk, then the front driver would use the turn signal to indicate whether it was safe to pass or not. When passing you used the horn to let the other driver or motorcycle that they were moving back into the left lane. Oh yeah, did I mention that yet? They drive on the left side of the road in Nepal, from the British colonial influence. That didn't help me sit any more still or comfortably in my seat...

My first official plate of dal-baht. I got better at eating it. Notice the fork: I was still a novice at this point. 

We had two major breaks on the trip: one for a bathroom break and one for lunch. And I say major because we also stopped within the first two hours of driving for a pit stop on the side of the road. Guys just piled out and peed off the side of the road. Sorry ladies, modesty meant you had to wait for the "major" stop. Lunch on this day was our first experience with dal-baht. Baht means rice in Nepali (and Hindi I think) and dal is a lentil stew-thing. It was pretty good, thankfully, because we ate it for 2 days straight at the beginning of our trek. People in Nepal eat dal-baht with their hands too! Pretty fun. You should try it sometime...

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We arrived into Pokhara right after a large rainstorm hit and dropped larger than marble-sized hail. Glad we were in the bus and not on the trail. It was the start of the monsoon season, so we expected a little rain. The unfortunate downside was clouds shrouded what was supposed to be our amazing view of the surrounding mountains: the Annapurna group and Manaslu range. Even when we came back from the trek we never saw the famous view. But I bought a poster to remember what it should have been like.

Colorful boats on the lake in Pokhara. Notice the cloudy skies. Darn.

We walked around the town a bit that evening and did some souvenir scouting. There was a beautiful lake and we walked down to the water front. And we found a place that served Illy coffee, a really famous brand in Italy. Several of us ordered espressos and they were amazing! Maybe the best latte I've ever had. (Sorry Larkin) Then it was dinner and off to bed.

The next day we got on a different bus that took us to our trailhead. We drove for an hour and a half on a road similar to the GSH but with only one paved lane in the middle. Our bus passed oncoming traffic and vehicles going the same direction with two wheels on the gravel shoulder. Scary! We dropped Jeff's trekking team off 30 minutes in, prayed for their success and safety, and then continued over the next ridge to our beginning location, Birethanti.  We went through the village passing out tracts and greeting people as we went. Namaste is hello, and that's about as much Nepali as we knew at that point.

Checking in at the beginning of the trek.

Kids running off to school for the day.

We had to check-in and show our trekking permits and then we were off on the trail. The first bit was a two track road that locals use to get supplies into their villages. Tourists have complained because it took away from the original natural beauty that can be found in a trail, but now the villagers can get their goods to market in Pokhara and get a fair price and they are better able to get quick medical help. Past a certain point though supplies and goods were either packed around by people or teams of mules. I was so amazed by the people here. You could say that the trails and roads and villages were literally built on the backs of the people. They are tough.

The start of the trail (or road). 

Team 2 Legit to Quit: (l to r) Thomas, Dustin, Sean, Colter, Andrew, Shemiah

Mules coming down a flight of steps. The village at the top of the stairs is where we ate lunch. 

 We hiked about 2 or 3 hours and then had lunch (dal-baht). Then we climbed up lots of stairs, close to 2000 feet of them, to where we planned to stay the night in Ulleri. On the way we got caught in a rainstorm complemented with hail. We were forced to take shelter in under the roof of a tea house (Nepali version of hotel/restaurant) and wait it out. Then we were treated with the most beautiful rainbow that I have ever seen: very vibrant colors and a complete bow across the sky. What a reminder of God's mercy for us, a promise that he gives us life and life to the full.

At the bottom of the picture is the village where we ate lunch.

"Wel Come to Ulleri" (they couldn't seem to understand that Welcome is one word.)

We arrived and checked into our tea house. The rooms had beds with mattresses and even blankets if you wanted but I used my sleeping bag since I had carried it all that way. That night we were able to play the Saber device recording for a group of kids at a children's home. They loved it! And it was fun to greet them and ask them simple questions like "what is your name?" and "how old are you?" in Nepali. Out team was also attacked by leeches that night! Nasty buggers! Then it was dinner (dal-baht) and off to bed to get ready for the next day.

Squatty-Potty. Gotta love it. 

First Day in Nepal

Now on the ground in the Nepal airport, our team regrouped at the baggage carousel. It was really nice after a couple days of travel to have entered another country. None of us had trouble gaining our visa into Nepal and we are all set to start our adventure. And once we got our bags, it did.

Getting our bags in the Kathmandu airport. 

Now picture nearly 30 people, each with a carry-on backpack and two additional bags each weighing 50 pounds on carts being pushed through the airport. We were quite the site. Our leader had done this many times before and instructed us to have the ladies be in charge of the carry-on bags and the men push the carts with the larger luggage. Then the ladies walked at the side of the carts between us and the security workers and we all set off together and overwhelmed the customs agents. They basically waved us through as a large group and we gained the fresh air of the parking lot at full speed.

Andy in the back of the truck with our bags. They are piled pretty high, glad they brought the truck they did. 

Once outside in the dazzling sunshine and the sweltering heat and humidity we found our Nepali friends in the parking lot and loaded our bags into the back of a truck. The supplies inside them made their way to a storage area where they will be distributed on an a more individual, needs-based method than we had anticipated. We initially had the thought of carrying those supplies into the mountain villages ourselves while trekking but were later told that this wasn't the best means. Gift giving could be misinterpreted and we want the supplies to go to those who need it rather than those just taking free things.

Then our group headed toward the bus to take us to our hotel. I had been told this before but in my travels it hasn't been that much of a problem: be aware of people wanting to help you with your bags. In this instance they were literally taking them off our backs and loading them into the back of the bus for us. They are very nice and considerate, albeit fairly aggressive about it, but then they will demand money even if they only "touched" your bag on its way into the back of the bus.

If I was in Hawaii I would have thought I had been given a lei! Marigolds in Nepal.

Our friends greeted us on the bus and then "welcomed" us to Nepal by giving each of us garland necklaces of marigold flowers. They were very beautiful! I noticed marigolds strung together decorating other door frames and floating in bowls of water in other places. I never asked but assume marigolds to hold some sort of significance to the people of Nepal.

We took a slight detour on the way to the hotel to visit a Hindu temple built to honor the god Shiva. The idea was to go on our first day into the country to begin to get a feel for the country and its culture, as well as it being conveniently located close to the airport. It is recognized as a World Heritage site by some world-wide organization (UNESCO maybe?) so there is an entrance fee to maintain that status. I don't know what the money would be used for however, it was kind of a dirty place.

A Hindu funeral. Notice the majority of people are in white.

They were in the midst of funeral ceremonies while we were there and the smoke from the burning bodies was almost overwhelming. Burning the bodies is part of the reincarnation process and is a large, family involved affair. If you are mourning as a Hindu, you wear white, as opposed to black in Western culture. Much of the ritual has to do with separating the body from the spirit of the person so that they may be released to start another cycle of life or, if they have gained enlightenment, release from this world. Here's an interesting wikipedia article about it. In this place, once the body is burned the ash and leftover wood are pushed into the sacred water of the river below. The water is considered holy and is used to cleanse people of certain things. People also bathe in it, brush their teeth with it, and attempt to die with their feet in it because they believe it will help them have a better chance of success in the next life.

A Hindu Lingam idol depicting male and female reproductive organs. From my understanding this is a representation of Shiva and his Hindu goddess consort and is worshiped as a fertility idol. 

I am including information about the Hindu and Buddhist religions as I understand it from my trip. I don't agree with the teachings and am merely wanting to share what I learned and try to have you as a reader understand some of things that we experiences. We saw a lot of evil and corruption in these beliefs and practices. Many people we encountered seemed to have lost hope and joy in their lives because of Hinduism and we could see it in their faces and their eyes. I hope that in sharing what we saw and experienced I might be able to share some of the happiness, freedom, life, love, and joy that I have in my relationship with Jesus.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. We got to our hotel (greeted in the lobby with fresh mango juice!) and checked in. We had a training meeting to go over the materials that the teams would be taking into the Himalayas and to discuss scheduling for the week. It was very hard to stay awake in the hot room. Then we all had dinner together before saying our good byes as the four teams would head their separate ways the following morning. Dinner was almost comical: we were all zombies barely able to stay awake to eat. I think I fell asleep a couple of times before our food came, and I don't even remember what we ate other than it was a buffet and it had rice. But I could confidently guess that nearly everyone of our meals had rice in it so that may or may not be an actual memory...