Back to the "hood"

October 6 

     After waking up from our night in Chhinchu, Janaac and his family, & Nate and I were prepared to take on the three hour Nepalese public bus ride back to Nepalgunj.  I had since recovered from the psychological trauma of being faced with a man eating spider in the shower the previous evening; it planned to bite me, suck my blood, and kill me.  I KNOW it.  As we started our walk from the hotel to the chaotic bus station, a friendly local in an SUV pulled over and said that if we were on our way to Nepalgunj, that we could hitch a ride with him.  We couldn't believe it! We arrived back to our destination in half the time it would have taken in the bus.  God is GOOD.  

     We said goodbye to Janaac, and carried on hour further by bus to arrive back in Gulariya.  

   Typical Gulariya roadside scenes...and this load

   isn't even big!

           

    Back to our old "hood" in Gulariya. Feels 

familiar now :). We took this picture while standing

in iur breakfast joint.

    Subash and Netra were already in our Guest House room, and had had the room totally cleaned. No more crickets!  Our friends are awesome.  Subash, Coolraj, Rajendra, and Netra took us via motorcycles (Nate and I doubled on Kalu Ram's scooter) for a cruise through some villages.  

           Now THAT, looks intimidating ;)

             Laundry day in this village

        Water Buffalo. Always Water Buffalo.

This required some serious team work and tricky maneuvering, as road conditions are INSANE.

Still not sure why Kalu Ram let us take his scooter...

Pictures don't do it justice; it's worse when you're

driving through it!

     Dashain is a fifteen day long celebration in Nepal, and was in full swing.  One aspect (and there are many) of this festival involves strengthening community and family ties.  Many communities pull together and erect a bamboo swing as part of the celebration. We tried it (obviously), and drew a small crowd by doing so.

                    Nate's a pro!

A curious bystander with Rajendra (left) and Netra

     We are grateful beyond words for the time and care that our new friends here are extending to us. We will never forget it.