Gorkha, Take 2: Road Trip!

January 22, 2010
Gorkha, take 2. So my second trip to Gorkha was much more eventful than the first one. Probably because it was 5 days long instead of 1! Or maybe the fact that we were hiking through the jungle to preach the Gospel? Anyway, because I have a lot to sift through from my time there, I’m going to break my trip into 4 parts- On the Road (going and coming), Preaching in the Villages, Preaching in the Jungle, and Celebrating!

So, On the Road. To start, there were several other members of our church who went to Gorkha with us, so, I wasn’t responsible for making sure we were in the right place at the right time! There were 2 older women, 1 girl my age, and 1 young girl who came along. On the boys’ side, there were 7 older men, the youth leader who’s about my age, and 1 boy who came along. With the 8 of us from the children’s home, it made the most sense to charter a Micro-bus for us (basically, a big 15 passenger van, but you always pack way more than 15 people inside!). So, we loaded all our bags and guitars and speakers and boxes of tracts and Bibles (it’s a good thing we chartered a bus!) and we packed in the remaining seats. And off we went!

Now, if you’ve ever been on a youth trip of any sort (school, church, whatever), imagine that. We start out with lots of shouting and singing and kids bouncing all over the van, while the adults in the front try to ignore us in the back. Of course, in a van that’s a lot harder! I happened to bring a big bag of bubble gum with me (thanks so my Grandaddy and Sandra!), and I doled it out with speed and efficiency. Well, if you chew bubble gum, you have to blow (or inhale, the kids are teaching me to make inverted bubbles that pop without ever opening your mouth! cool, huh?!) bubbles. I mean, that’s why it’s called BUBBLE GUM! Well, I guess that after 15 minutes of “pop, Pop Pop, POP POP POP!” even the most patient of grown-ups might get annoyed (I would not consider myself an adult in this instance. well, really in any instance. I usually feel like an overgrown kid. maybe it’s living with 14 of them!). Well, finally one of the men in the front turned around and told us he better not hear any more popping! To which, we all acted appropriately remorseful, but inside, we were laughing because it was pretty funny (remind me to read this before going on roadtrips when I have my own kids; I might rethink the humor in it then!). So, we stopped the gum popping, for the most part ;).

About 2 hours into the seven hour trip, we stopped to take a short break. Well, it was amazing. Vendors flocked to the van, selling oranges, dried coconut, chow-na-chapote (basically, rice krispie things mixed with tomato sauce and vinegar, fresh chopped onion, green chiles, boiled potato pieces, and nuts mixed in. it’s AMAZING! totally unsanitary- I won’t tell you how it’s made and served- but after you get your mind over the germs you’re ingesting, you devour it with a passion! it’s probably my favorite snack food here!) and bagged chips with water. And just like American teenagers, the money flies as they buy up as much food as they can! Only, in this case, it only takes about 50 cents for everyone to have more than enough. To put it in perspective, you can buy a liter bottle of water, 1 “serving” of chow-na-chapote, 1/8 of a dried coconut, and an orange for 50 cents. The best rest stop EVER!

After we’re all fat and happy, the kids sprawl all over each other, and the van quiets as most of us drift in and out of Never-never-land. Of course, there’s the occasional yelp when the bus hits a big pothole and all of us clank heads and knees, but besides that, it’s pretty quiet. A great time to just enjoy the beauty swirling around you! So this goes on for about 2 more hours. Then, we stop again.

At this stop, I realize we’re still a ways from the church in Gorkha, but we’re unloading all our baggage and boxes and instruments and whatever else we could find off the bus, and I’m beginning to grow concerned that we’re about to hike the rest of the way with all this junk! But, to my great joy, a vehicle pulls up, and we begin to pile everything on top of it while kids pile into it. Now, picture the front of a hummer with the bed of a truck, covered like a covered wagon from that Oregon Trail computer game (you know the one where everyone just bought ammunition and nothing else so you could shoot all the little animated birds and deer!) using a thick iron cage-like structure with a thick tarp over it and a huge place for luggage on top. A pretty cool, sturdy looking ride.

Well, most of the people piled in, and I was still helping load some of the luggage with the guys, and we realized that we weren’t all going to fit in the canvassed seat area. So, the youth leader who was on top already loading luggage, leaned over and asked me if I wanted to ride on top. I immediately said yes and vaulted up to the top. Now, we rode on the roof of the actual truck part, not on the canvassed part. There was this iron bed on top of it for other luggage or people if you need it. A minute or two later Laxman came bounding up, grinning like a 3 year old with his favorite lollipop! He had gladly given up his seat to one of the women for the chance to ride on top. So, one other man clambered up, and a few of the older men stayed behind to meet up with us the next morning.

If you ever have the chance to ride on top of a hummer-truck through the jungle and in rivers, you should totally do it, if for no other reason than the awesome photo opportunities! You’re sitting about 6 and a half feet in the air, giving a great view of all the area around you! Be warned though, you will be sore after it! There were a few times when I felt like I was about to fall off due to huge potholes that we might have taken a little too fast! Once Laxman was sure I was going to fall, and he yelled “SISTER!” but I was ok :). Just hold on tight! So, in the gaps of the jungle, we had a fantastic view of the taller Himalayas (it still amazes me that I can say that I am in the Himalayas!) and this river and some waterfalls. Pretty awesome ride!

Well, the trip home was all on one chartered bus, which was a little nicer than the van. Still a long trip, but it was nice to be on the same vehicle the whole way. However, I was as concerned as I’ve ever been in my life on the trip home. It wasn’t the driving or potholes or the fact that we could fall off a cliff at any given moment if two other vans came barreling around a corner blindly. It was the fact that halfway through the trip, suddenly in the road in front of us there appeared a group of 8-10 men holding a Maoist flag, blocking our way. So, we stopped, and they immediately climbed on. They looked around at us, did a double take at me, said something to the bus driver’s helper, and then got off the bus. The entire event probably took all of 15 seconds max (I didn’t even have time to get a good prayer in!), but it felt like an eternity. You could have heard a pin drop in that moment they climbed on. I have no idea what they said, or if we paid them the “donation” (forced donation, if you could even call it that.) they probably wanted, or why they were there. But I do know that my heart rate skyrocketed as if I had just run a mile at a dead sprint. I’ve read so much about them in the papers, and even have seen them in the roads during strikes, but these men weren’t just men sitting in the street because they wanted a day off of work. They meant business. I guess it made a “real” situation a whole lot more real to me. Needless to say, I’m glad I’ll be sticking around Kathmandu for the next few weeks!

Nevertheless, it was a good road trip home, with nothing else to write home about. Tomorrow I should ask the kids what the Maoists said. I was too flustered at the time to say anything after they got off. Know that while I’m sure Satan was intending that for evil, I fully felt the presence of God and His angels watching over us quickly disperse the enemy! I probably won’t ever take another uneventful road trip for granted!