One Week Around Nepal

Christmas break for Elim School was about one month long. During my last week before holiday break was over, I traveled to a few places in Nepal with my good friend Tabea.


Our first stop was Pokhara, a Nepali city nestled in the valley of the Annapurna Mountain range. Our bus ride there was along the mountain ridges that followed a beautiful blue river with huge boulders. On our first day in Pokhara, we hiked up to the Peace Pagoda that sits above Lake Fewa with just an amazing view of the Annapurna’s. We wanted to take the longer route around the lake back to Pokhara, but instead ended up with a surprise adventure. Nepali roads are much different than American roads, in the way that a main road can be a narrow dirt road, and a nothing-road can be a wide stone road. It also can happen that what you think is the right road because it is wide and not-so-bumpy-as-others just all of a sudden turns into a huge dried up riverbed with large boulders. So then you are left taking tiny paths along the steep river bank hoping it eventually leads you around the lake. Instead it led us to the mucky lake bottom (because it is dry season), and I wasn’t going to begin to trust that (bad experience of sinking in the muck when I was younger!)! So this is what happened to us, and we ended up getting “lost”. We found our way back to a boat dock that takes tourists back across the lake to Pokhara. We hopped on a small wood boat and our 12-year-old guide rowed us back across. On our second day in Pokhara, we went up to Sarangkot to watch the sunrise over the mountains and lake. After that, I went paragliding! This was an awesome experience. I was flying alongside the birds in the Annapurna valley. The view all around me was just incredible! On the third day, Tabea and I rented scooter-bikes and took them through the Himalayan mountainside. It was so great to drive a motorized vehicle again, even if it was on the left side of the road! It was so fun seeing all the villages along the way, even as they were laughing at these 2 foreign girls on scooters.



Our 2nd destination was Tansen to visit our friend Anielle. She lives in this small town that is on the mountainside. Our bus ride there was a bit frustrating, as we experienced the travel agencies scamming us and sending us on a local bus (not very safe, and much cheaper). Scams happen time and time again and it is so frustrating not being able to trust anyone. One thing this culture has taught me, that I’m hoping does not become a part of me, is to never trust anyone and their motives behind “helping” you. Anyway, our visit to Tansen and seeing Anielle was enjoyable. It was nice to be in a small town with friends and no pollution!


Our 3rd destination was Sauraha, which is a tiny tourist village that sits on the edge of Royal Chitwan National Park. Chitwan is a popular nature and animal reserve in Nepal and Asia. It is famous for its one-horned rhinos, although there are only a few left because many were poached during the Maoist era. We went on an elephant safari through the jungle that was just amazing! First of all, just riding on an elephant is a cool experience. But then actually seeing other wild animals is incredible! First we just saw lots of deer and birds. Then we saw a crocodile! As our elephant crossed the river I was just hoping that he wouldn’t step on one, freak out, and we’d all end up in the croc-infested water! Then we saw rhinos- which is very rare! We ran side-by-side a mother and baby rhino as they were trying to escape us. After awhile they shot us quite a scary glare, and then we stayed back to avoid being charged! If an elephant is afraid of a mouse, I don’t want to see how he handles a charging rhino!


After one week it was time to come back to Kathmandu. I needed to prepare for my classes and Tabea needed to prepare for leaving Nepal. However, our bus ride back was not a relaxing one like I had anticipated. After a few hours our bus came to a sudden stop as it was the first to arrive on an accident scene that had just happened seconds before. Two buses had collided and one had flipped over the side of the mountain, landing upside-down down below. This was an experience that I didn’t want to have, but was at least thankful that our bus wasn’t part of the accident. Traveling in Nepal isn’t necessarily the safest because it is a mountainous country with hardly any road rules and drivers who just want to get to their destination. So when we made it back to Kathmandu safely, needless to say I was so incredibly relieved.

School has resumed now. This term continues until March/April and then the school year is over. There will then be a 1-2 week break and the next school year starts up again. The schools here are basically year-round, with 2 larger breaks (which I’ve had both of already) and then random days off that are public holidays. I’m excited to dig even deeper with my students this term. As I’m teaching, I’m reminded of Mother Teresa’s wise quote, “It’s not the work you do, but the love you put into it that matters.” Especially as a Christian here, I want to make the biggest impact through Jesus’ teaching, which revolve around love. I can’t preach Christianity, because most of my students are Muslim. But I can cover them with love and acceptance, and show a sincere interest in their lives. I hope that the life I am living is an even bigger testimony than what I am teaching.

I hope you all had a happy new year and are staying warm. It’s VERY cold in Kathmandu right now, particularly while I am writing this! It rained yesterday, which is very rare during dry season, so it is just incredibly freezing today! We also are up to 12 hours of no electricity everyday and heaters are rare! I’ve definitely become fond of lots and lots of blankets! Alright, thanks for all your prayers and support. It means so much to me. Take care!