Well, THAT never happened...

Sunday was another travel day.  When we were talking about this trip and planning details, I hadn’t really paid much attention to the amount of travel we would have to be doing.  We have a lot of ground to cover in country! 

Let me break it down for you:

• 13 hour flight from US to Delhi, arrived on Friday night
• 6 hour round trip drive to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal on Saturday
• Lots of standing in lines and security, leaving Delhi to travel to Kathmandu on Sunday – while the flight was only about an hour or so, that entire experience through security, etc., was about 6 hours

With all of this sitting, my ankles and calves have been so swollen.  This sort of thing has happened to me in the past, but this time has been affecting me more than usual.  Once we arrived to our hotel in Kathmandu, I put on my warm socks, covered in a blanket and propped my feet on the wall, hoping some blood would drain!

I have to say, I’m not too excited to get back on another plane yet again today, but this is our last major leg of travel for a few days.  We fly from Kathmandu to Biratnagar today. 

After arriving in Nepal, we had to go through the process of applying for our visa to stay in the country.  Once we were finally through all of that and exited the airport, we were greeted by our friend, Shemlal.  It is good to see him again.  We will be with him for the next several days.

In 2015 there was an earthquake in Nepal that damaged the city of Kathmandu which they are still recovering from. On our ride from the airport to our hotel the road would change from paved to stone and dust then back again to paved because of the earthquake. They are working on repairing the city, but it has been a slow reconstruction.

Once we arrived at our hotel, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we would be staying in the same hotel where I was during my last trip here 5 years ago…and, staying in the same room!  That was a fun surprise!  It is cold here, and no heat in the rooms, just a heater.  So, we piled on layers of clothing and sat down by the “fire” to have some tea.

As we were preparing to leave to shop and get dinner, I realized my checked bag had been ziptied shut, apparently having been searched at the airport.  Well, imagine my surprise, when I opened it, right on the top of the bag were several things that were NOT mine!  THIS had never happened to me before. 

black shirt, turquoise pants and a snack -- that were NOT mine

We enjoyed the “free” snack from my bag at dinner.  I think I’ll be leaving the sweatpants and shirt here when I go.  Thankfully, it doesn’t appear that any of my things are missing, but someone else is missing stuff!

I bundled up to head to town to shop.  To give you a chuckle, just know, it was not about fashion, it was about warmth! 

Ken started our shopping at a jeweler that he had known before.  Just a note to anyone reading this or who ever gets to travel with Ken…he is dangerous to shop with!  Just sayin…  I don’t know how long we spent in that tiny shop.  I think almost everyone left with something.

From there we visited another shop before deciding that food was more important than shopping. We went to a place recommended to us as 'the best Nepali food in town' .  I don't know if it was the best or not, but it was good.  Having to adjust to the different hours of eating is always interesting.  We have been having breakfast early or at least by 8:30, lunch has been around 2 and dinner around 9.  Now do you understand why I packed snacks for days!?

   

All in all, everyone is doing really well.  We are all adjusting well.  I think we're all ready to be "settled in one place" soon.  After our flight today, we will be in Biratnagar for a few days.  Pray for us as we begin to get into the real work for this trip.  Pray for good connections with our friends and leaders here.

Our team is also keeping a blog, so you can also read that to get a different perspective of our trip if you're interested.  That address is spicelt2017.blogspot.com