We had a good yesterday in Kathmandu after recovering from the shock of the Yedi Airlines plane crash that ocurred Wed. morning. Our local travel guide, Bishwa, over here said it was the same flight that we were originally supposed to take before being bumped. Thank you for praying to calm our nerves, because we hope to catch a flight ASAP to Lukla when able and see the great mountains and Sherpa culture up close.
Meanwhile, I've been learning as much about the Hindu and Buddhist religion of the Nepalese people in the region with my time.
Nepal has 25 million people and 80% live in rural areas (mountains) and only about 20% live in cities/suburbs. Although I've never been there to India, Kathmandu reminds me of Calcutta, India with many poor people as you would expect to find in a third world country. Beggars are plentiful whenever we go into the city. Yesterday we ventured out to a temple area that actually held sacrifices of live animals that morning. There's a big festival going on this week and all kinds of strange goings on. David Kiern of our group is shooting a video of our expedition and got some great footage and recordings from the locals on why they sacrifice and how many gods they have (2 million he said) to serve. On a positive note, we've learned about the spread of Christianity in Nepal from our 'travel guide' who is also a pastor and church planter. He shared his story with us this morning after breakfast and it was fascinating testimonial to his faith and vision for the people in the region. He and his wife's ministry is called New Life Nepal. In only two years, he and his wife , Rimela, have been instrumental in planting 56 Churches in people's homes.
In closing, we are scheduled to either catch a plane to Lukla at 6:30am in the morning, and if that fails again, we have a helicopter reservation, so surely by this time tomorrow, I'll be in the mountains trekking.
Warmest Regards,
Mike
Meanwhile, I've been learning as much about the Hindu and Buddhist religion of the Nepalese people in the region with my time.
Nepal has 25 million people and 80% live in rural areas (mountains) and only about 20% live in cities/suburbs. Although I've never been there to India, Kathmandu reminds me of Calcutta, India with many poor people as you would expect to find in a third world country. Beggars are plentiful whenever we go into the city. Yesterday we ventured out to a temple area that actually held sacrifices of live animals that morning. There's a big festival going on this week and all kinds of strange goings on. David Kiern of our group is shooting a video of our expedition and got some great footage and recordings from the locals on why they sacrifice and how many gods they have (2 million he said) to serve. On a positive note, we've learned about the spread of Christianity in Nepal from our 'travel guide' who is also a pastor and church planter. He shared his story with us this morning after breakfast and it was fascinating testimonial to his faith and vision for the people in the region. He and his wife's ministry is called New Life Nepal. In only two years, he and his wife , Rimela, have been instrumental in planting 56 Churches in people's homes.
In closing, we are scheduled to either catch a plane to Lukla at 6:30am in the morning, and if that fails again, we have a helicopter reservation, so surely by this time tomorrow, I'll be in the mountains trekking.
Warmest Regards,
Mike
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