It was very foggy again this morning. And rather cool. After eating breakfast we were told to be ready at 10 a.m. to go out again for today. But 10 a.m. came and went and no van. S. called to find out the driver hadn’t shown up. Guess we wore him out yesterday! So S got busy trying to find another van and driver. About 10:20 the original van showed up. Thankfully S. had not had time to book another one. Now, apparently this van is considered a good one. It has all it’s windows but one…so when it rains water pours through that one open window. But, the seals on some of the other windows are not tight so rain drips through in other areas also. The van also doesn’t have any shocks or if it does they are completely worn out and on these roads – especially the dirt ones which are full of rocks and ruts – you feel every bump. The paved roads also have speed bumps occasionally that are hard to see until you have gone over them! There were a couple of different Nepali who joined us today. As we drove through town the markets and stores were already open. We stopped again today for some bananas and oranges.
Traveling north out of town we again reached the little town where the east-west road intersects. I am guessing it’s about 20 miles from Dhangadhi (pronounced Dungaree) when we pulled up alongside some market stalls. S. jumped out and told us he had left the JF backpack in his room at the hotel. Oh No! So he took off to go back and get it. We are assuming he caught one of the little taxis or a motorcycle taxi. We don’t know for sure. But, we might as well peruse the shops while we wait. There really wasn’t much there as far as anything we’d buy except for packaged snacks as it really is an area where shopping is for household items. Gordon and Davina did buy knock-off? Northface vests for 700 Ru. (83Ru to $1). It didn’t take S. long to return with the backpack. The van drove down the street to where we were waiting and about 10 Nepalis jumped out. Not only did he pick up the backpack he picked up additional JF team members and family members. We we all crowded back into the van there were 20 of us in the 12 passenger vehicle! We are on our way to the far west of Nepal.
On the way we see more wedding festivities. Apparently February is the month for weddings in Nepal. They are quite festive and include parades through the streets, dancing in the streets, drums, decorating the houses and cars, etc. Apparently there is no law for blocking the traffic with a street party either.
Passing through the same town we were in on Wednesday we stopped about 1:30 for lunch. This time at a little tiny “hotel” restaurant. We were escorted to a small private room where a curtain was pulled across the door. I think this must be their private party room as it had colored flashing lights strung around the room. They were very eager to serve us and keep constant watch on us! I really don’t think they had ever served Americans actually. The food was very good and after we had all taken a turn in the restaurant squat room we loaded back onto the van for the rest of our trip.
Driving through the town we took off on the same road that led to the animal park we had missed on Wednesday. Our team was all excited because we had been told we wouldn’t be able to go back there. Just as we arrived to where the gate was we turned a different direction. Ah….no park again today. We continue down a bumpy dirt road for probably 10 miles and stop. We can go no further via road. But, in front of us is another bridge. This one is the longest one in Nepal. It is also a suspension bridge and it is basically a foot bridge shared with motorcycles and bicycles. I have no idea how long it was but at least a mile as the crow flies….but we don’t walk straight across. We walk up and down as the bridge gives room for boats to go underneath it. There really isn’t much water in this river. According to S the water is blocked by India except during the monsoon time…which even though we’ve had lots of rain this is considered the dry season. When we got to the far side of the bridge we took a little break sitting on some walls while S. got us registered with the local authorities. I believe we are still in Nepal but don’t know for sure. The security is not like it was at the first bridge we were at. We found out that the reason there were so many Nepali with us today was because of where we were going. This is an area of unreached peoples. People who have never heard of Jesus. We have also been told to be aware and cautious because it is a very strong Hindu area. After eating some snacks we brought with us M and S led us down the river bank a couple hundred feet before turning off onto a path leading to several small houses and farms. Of course we are attracting lots of attention as we walk along. Very soon we arrive at our destination and are led to the yard of the house. They have been expecting us as there are already chairs and mats out for us to sit on. It’s only 4 p.m. and still quite a bit of daylight left. We have quite an audience now as people have gathered in just to stare at us. I believe this is an area in which nobody has ever seen people with such fair skin nor have they heard English. In all the other areas we have been in most of the children can speak some English but not here. Someone pulled out the JF soccer ball and aired it up. That got the kids excited and several games were played. One of the JF team members used the color on the ball to teach the kids about the plan of salvation. Meanwhile S had asked Darrell if he wanted to walk into the village with him so they took off taking Mike and Gordon along. We stayed at the farm with the JF team with the responsibility of being the keepers of the backpacks. We watched the lady of the house as she cleaned up around the house and barn for the evening. She pumped her water, swept off the packed ground, led the water buffaloes that were tethered outside close to the house into the barn, and then cleaned up their excrement by mixing a little straw with it and picking it up in her hands and throwing it out into the nearby field. Then she washed her hands and feet without soap. While we sat there we also watched some young women chopping up what looked like long green stalks of some type of plant into small pieces. They used a hand wheel with a sharp blade on it. They fed the plants into a small box and turned the wheel chopping the plant. Then they gathered it all up into a large wicket basket and carried it off. I am assuming it is used for feed for the animals because our hostess did the same thing and took her filled basket into the barn.
Meanwhile, it started getting dark. The guys still were not back from their village trek. We were beginning to wonder where they were. The other members of the JF team got the screen set up and started with some singing and then the film. We could see people walking up the lane to come sit and watch the film. Finally, just before dark the guys showed up. It seems they were told to follow a little lady carrying a big basket. They thought they were just going to go a short distance but she led them in and around houses, along rice patties, over some fences and finally to her house where they were introduced to her family by S. They think they had gone where no white man had gone before! And, they think they walked at least 3 miles to her house before returning to where we were.
Tonight was a perfectly clear night. The multitude of stars were bright and beautiful. The crowd of about 70-80 were very quiet and attentive to the video. And, then the video failed again about 2/3 way through. And, we could not get it restarted. M & S had a back-up plan though. They had another video to show. This was a very Bollywood production about heaven and hell. It lasted about an hour. S assured us that this is very effective in that culture and apparently so as even more people showed up and nobody left until it was over.
Then we had to walk back to the bridge and over it in the dark by the light of just our little flashlights. Once in the car we started home about 9:30 p.m. Our van driver was very eager to get back as we arrived back to the hotel just 1-1/2 hours later. The hotel was very nice to have arranged to have the restaurant stay open later just to be able to serve us a light meal when we came in. Then to bed by midnight.
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