October 19, 2014
We waited in the lobby at 7:30 AM for our ride to the border
of Tibet. We were happy to have had a full night’s sleep because we knew
it would be a long day. They arrived about 7:45 and we began our trip,
picking up our site monitor for the upcoming project along the way who also
happens to be the current Branch President and is the brother of Bishnu as of
Meet the Mormons fame. You would never believe they are brothers as they
look so entirely different. There is another brother that also does not
look like either brother—from the same mother and father. We also picked
up the man heading up the project for TRUST named Hari but he was in a
different car. Our driver had a nice Jeep, and he was meticulous about
his vehicle. He was also a good driver, always a big plus in the amazing
traffic, maneuvering on bad, narrow and steep roads, dodging lorries and
buses and bikers, weaving in and out and around others.
We knew it would be a long drive and a long day, but things
went rather smoothly and we were on time to arrive at another hotel for the
night before checking out the project. As we drove, it became increasingly
steep as we climbed higher and higher up the mountain. The road narrowed
to a car and a half width, but the tarmac was pretty decent. Then it
turned to dirt, still okay, but then to rubble from recent rock slides, which
made for a violent rocking back and forth at times as we drove over large rocks
embedded in just enough soil to not pop our tires. We kept climbing and
as we looked at the valley below, we knew it was how many thousands of feet
down there? The road was too narrow in most places by then for cars and
buses and lorries to pass. Often one of us would have to back up to get
to a spot where we could pass, all the while looking down the vast
valley. To make matters worse, it also became muddy, which caused us to
slip here and there, hoping not to slip over the edge.
And then we saw this
jam ahead of us. What was the problem now? We parked behind the
lined up vehicles and walked up to see that a backhoe was trying to remove a
recent slide across the road. We don’t know how long it had been working
on this but it became increasingly clear that it was going to take a while, and
then we would have to wait our turn to go through as there were cars lined up
on both sides of the slide—those coming down and those going up like we were.
After about an hour all of a sudden Jim and Mike Wasuita decided that we would
turn back and come home. Betty Wasuita and I then walked back the other
way so that we could make sure no other vehicle got in our way as the guys
brought the car back down. That took a lot of doing to get turned around
and to find others to move out of
the way as most people had left their vehicles.
Waiting at the edge
of the road for the jam to clear. We are on top of the world here, or
nearly, as we were to climb even higher.
People waiting on
both sides of the slide, hoping the backhoe can get it done. He was
having trouble with a very large boulder.
Eventually they got back to us and we went on our way.
Hours later we heard from Hari that he had gotten through and was at the hotel,
and this before we got back to Kathmandu. Since Hari has not always come
through for us and because he minimizes challenges, we were not even sure if we
believed him. But I suppose the real reason we turned back is because we don’t
want to do a project so far away from Kathmandu that our site monitor would
have to take a bus ride for 14 plus hours to get there (and this, without
problems), and this is the better time of year. What happens when the
weather is bad and he needs to go—it sounded like a dangerous proposition and a
project we just didn’t want to do.
We had a very late dinner and fell into bed exhausted after
10 PM. Tomorrow we go in a different direction back to a place we’d been
before to check on the progress of the project. That also has a bad,
narrow dirt road, but still not as treacherous as the one we were on
today. As Betty Wasuita and I were walking back down the road to stop
buses, I commented to Betty that I was glad that we were getting paid the big
bucks to do this…last week she had to take a hike that was to last 1 ½ hours,
according to Hari, which turned out to be 4 ½ hours, treading streams, falling
down in the mud, in the rain, etc.
All through these high mountains people are living on these
cliffs on the edge and sides of the steep mountain. Their young children
are standing near the edge and it doesn’t bother any of them. It really
is quite incredible, and the brave people driving and riding these big buses on
these roads must not be afraid of heights either. In the jam I listened
to people talking and it was like being at the Tower of Babel—about half looked
to be locals, but the other half were either site seeing or trekking and riding
in old, large buses, all looking for places in the bushes to relieve
themselves—they had already been there a long awhile.
Cliff dwellers. Most do not have roads to the
houses and they grow rice and other things on their steps. This time of
year after recent rains, is such a lovely time in Nepal opposed to a year ago
last spring when we came here in the dry season with dust in the air and dried
grasses and fields.
Love, From Nepal
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