Back from Pokhara, leaving for Butwal!

You will never appreciate life more than when you are on a Nepali bus on a road that winds around the sides of mountains with the most insane drivers that exist on Earth driving on the same road as you. After the first twenty or thirty near head on collisions I became accustomed to it and rather enjoyed the ride. I can't say the same for the ketchup club. The ketchup club is what we have dubbed the Canadian girls on our team. The name refers to a statement made by our friend Ken, from Minnessota, who lives in Penang. In a discussion about spicy foods he looked at the Canadians and said, "You're from Canada. Of course you don't like spicy food. The spiciest thing you guys eat is ketchup." It should also be noted that at particuar resaurants in Malaysia, Ken has a specially cooked food named after him that he invented.

Pokhara was an incredible city. The guy that was being our "guide"/translator was from Pokhara so we actually stayed for free at his church and visited with his family too. One thing that was reinforced to me while we were in Pokhara, is that Nepal is not a place to come if you are not willing to be physically challenged. We went to the top of a hill to pray over the city and the trail to get there was not easy, but I take pride in the fact that I was second to the top. Second only to our Nepali guide. I tried to hide my gasping for air, but I didn't do a great job. In spite of the clouds/dust in the air, we still couldn't see very many mountains. This seems to be clearing up a little as it is raining a little more. It was a well-spent couple of days in a beautiful city praying.

Thanks for all the prayers to this point. Be praying for team members stomachs. We are watching what we are eating and drinking pretty carefully, but some stomachs, including mine, are being effected in a not-so-nice manner. Pray for this especially because tomorrow we leave for Butwal. It is an eight hour bus ride. On top of the eight hour bus ride, the average temperature in Butwal is over 100 degrees and many places we will be do not have electricty. After the nine days there, we head up to Tatopani. Tatopani will be a welcome change because it is at around 4000 meters above sea level so it will be a bit cooler there. Pray also for the hearts of the people we talk to. Thanks for following!