Dhampus, What a Respite

Squad-mates “Tina, we’re leaving in 5 minutes to go away for the weekend, you should come with us.”

Tina “Where are you going?”

Squad-mates “Pokhara, it’s about 5 hours away by bus. You should come.”

Tina “What are you all doing in Pokhara?”

Squad-mates “We have no plans.  We’ll see what we find when we get there.  You should come with us.”

Tina “Is this going to break the bank?”

Squad-mates “No.”

Tina “Okay!”

This was the exchange that happened on Friday, when we returned from ministry.  I quickly packed a bag and we were off.

 We had an interesting bus ride.  The driver and his friend had a deadline to deliver a bag of tomatoes, from Kathmandu to Pokhara, making me think there were more than just tomatoes in the bag.  Driving on the mountain roads in Nepal are beautiful but harrowing, just ask Kristen, who kept screaming when she thought we were going to crash into another vehicle or fly off the edge of the mountain.

Going from 44 people to 7 made a huge difference.  I love to be around people and interact with people, so I was surprised by the release and comfort that came with being in a smaller group again.  I was so thankful that these squad-mates, who became friends throughout this weekend, invited me along!

No one had an agenda and it worked out well.  We all wanted to go trekking up a mountain, spend the night on the mountain, enjoy the celestial heavens and then marvel in the sunrise the next morning. So that is just what we did.  We set off for Dhampus, about a 3 hour hike to the top, up just 4,000 stone steps.  (I have noticed in Asia, trekking involves a lot of steps.)  We did not know about the steps before starting the trail but we all embraced them.  

    There was a 10 minute break from the stone steps, when you walk through rice patties.

We were able to see some traditional threshing of rice:

These villagers/farmers are strong, hard working people!

We were invited into a family’s courtyard for tea.  It was an elderly couple, who did not speak English.  A neighbor came over and translated for us.  This was such a sweet couple.  The had some animals, they let us pet and feed.  I think they were surprised at the level of joy the animals were bringing to some of our group, just because they are livestock to them and not pets.  Before leaving, Rachel gave the woman a bracelet that she had made and though she couldn’t tell her much because of the language barrier, it was a sweet connection!  This is the lovely woman who served us:

Once we reached the top, had arranged for a place to spend the night (for just $1.50 each) and had an interesting meal, we meet a new friend, Shankar.  He has led a very interesting life.  He has been able to learn English and that has really helped him to provide for his family.  He has 8 children and has been a guide, a sherpa, cook for exploration teams, a masseuse, farmer, inn keeper, etc.  He is very outgoing.  He walked up to us and asked us to read his notebook of references, as he was offering his massage services.  He spent several hours with us, some people had leg or back massages, he had many stories to share and tricks, like this one:

This was a trick with 3 bottles, 3 knives and one ash tray.  He showed us how to balance them all to get the ash tray to stay on top of the knives.  It was a treat to hear his stories, see his tricks and get to share about ourselves with him.

That night, on top of Dhampus, we enjoyed the stars.  It was way better than any planetarium!  Being at an elevation of about 5,500 feet and having a clear sky, no tree limbs blocking your view, it is as if you could pluck the stars right out of the sky.  It was breath taking!

We also enjoyed the sunrise the next morning:

It was such a beautiful morning!  We really enjoyed being in nature, breathing in fresher air with significantly less pollution, spending time together and relishing the paintings in the sky and throughout nature God was making for us, moment by moment.  

Some of us went and played on a bamboo swing for some morning fun:

Then is was time to descend the mountain.  Some of our group went para sailing and others of us explored the lake and the town of Pokhara.  Here is the beautiful lake:

This weekend was a much needed respite, when I did not even realize that I needed one!