Thingyan Trip Part 1

In September, I took a trip to Thingyan. For some reason this blog was never posted, so here we go.

Wendy and I have been hard at our language and culture study in Kathmandu, but I was so excited when I was able to take my first real trip to rural Nepal on 17th of September since moving here. I traveled in my now infamous Gypsy (jeep) with Ramhari and Prem from Kathmandu. The plan was to meet Pastor Ratna about half way there in a major city called Hetauda. Pastor Ratna was to take a bus which would arrive just before we would and ride out with us in the Gypsy the last 4 hours so I could already begin discussions with him about the Hope Fund, and to learn so much about the success or any problems with the program there.

But, this is Nepal, so we ended up waiting 5 hours in Hetauda. Pastor Ratna did not come by bus, but instead came by motorbike, and to take his place in the Gypsy, we waited for two other passengers I did not know, who needed a ride to the village.

I was told previously that the road was quite nice from Hetauda to Thingyan, much better than the way I had gone on a previous trip last year. Yet, after a heavy rainy season that had just ended, these so-called roads were nonexistent, almost. This road was by far the worst road I have ever tried to pass, at times it was like going straight up the mountain!  I noticed pretty quickly that there were no other vehicles on the road at all, and it was then that I was told that no vehicles were passing at this time to Thingyan because the roads were almost impassable! Great to find out this information 3/4 of the way up the mountain.

During one of the many jarring bumps we began to smell fuel, so I got out and checked the fuel tank for a hole, but found it only had a new large dent in the pan, which also killed the fuel gauge, so it was no longer working and registering at empty. Later, during the last leg of the journey, we found that the gas cap had somehow been lost and this was the reason for the gas smell. My missing gas cap was quickly replaced with a potato and a plastic bag! This was the start of problems once again with the Gypsy.  We knew we  had lost some of the fuel but with the gauge not working, we had no clue how much or if we would make it to Thingyan, much less make it back to the major city of Hetauda.

The Gypsy worked great, it made it up some roads that I did not think were possible to be able to pass. I wish I  had taken the time to take pictures of some of the roads we traversed. Next time! Luckily our potato and plastic bag held strong the rest of the trip!  All of  the passengers had to get out at some points just for the jeep to be able to make it up the incline. Our 7 hour trip turned into about 13 hours, but we finally made it to our destination after some tough work by the Gypsy.

I was anxious to meet the people of Thingyan and find out about their lives. Pastor Ratna also had a great dinner prepared for us. From the church we heard chanting and drums going for hours during our talks. I was told  it was actually Ratna's mother practicing worship to idols, currently Ratna is the only member of his family that has come to Christ. I was asked if I wanted to see how they did this, and I jumped at this opportunity but was shocked when I saw what was taking place, I was told it was a ritual from the first century. Ratna's mother was completely wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the floor. There were two people jumping around with burning  fires in one hand and some kind of alcohol in the other as they were chanting they would throw a hand full of alcohol through the fire onto his mom wrapped in the blanket. Each time someone, would quickly brush the fire off of the sheets which surrounded Ratna's mother.

After this we went next  door to the church building and had the most amazing time of prayer and worship to the only true God, he joined us with his presence and we were all refreshed. After some time we planned  out the next day, I would take  many interviews with the DSLR camera that Adam had left with me on his last trip to Kathmandu. Learning how to be a  much better photographer is also one of my new goals. We went  to sleep that night with the chanting and drums going on in the background,  lasting most of the night.

We actually slept great in a room with about 8 guys sleeping on the floor. The next morning, we set out early to talk with the 5 latest Hope Fund recipients, to see how things were going and to learn more about who them and how the program has effected them. When we started walking, I quickly realized that we were heading down steep mountain rocks that were still wet from the morning dew. Unfortunately, I was wearing the wrong kind of shoes for this type of trail ( my hiking shoes were in the Gypsy,)  I must have slipped and fallen at least 20 times on my rump! They all got such a good laugh and I even had Pastor Ratna helping hold me up until they found something I could use as a walking stick!

Pastor Ratna doing his best to keep me from falling!

The conversations were great and I was able to meet some amazing people. The work being done here through the Hope Fund has truly changed this entire community, raising it out of poverty and empowering them to provide for their families and their children's food and educations. I was able to meet with the chairman of the Hope Fund in Thingyan and his wife. I feel so blessed to have had the priviledge of making this trip, meeting these people and hearing their stories.

Pastor Ratna and I on the trails.

Thingyan is one  of the most amazing places I have found on earth with beautiful mountains every direction you look, and the people were even more amazing. Peoples of all religions in this place are being blessed by the HopeFund and other programs Servlife has brought to this remote location. The Christians now have the respect of the entire village, including the Hindus. Out in the villages, they speak no English and even with a translator I missed so much of what was going on. This has given me a greater drive to really put more effort towards learning the Nepali language.

After a long day we had a nice  meal  and finalized some conversations. I was deeply impacted by the way the Hope Fund has been such a success here. We packed up the Gypsy late in the afternoon to head back to Hetauda. But, did we have enough fuel to even make it, or could we face even greater difficulties on our journey down....
Find out soon in Part 2. It gets very interesting, stayed  tuned!