Nepal Part I

Reuben and I were very excited to see Mt. Everest from the airplane as we touched down in Kathmandu.



What we didn't know was that once we descended below the clouds, we wouldn't see another mountain (or blue sky) for the next 2 weeks. Part of it was the season, part of it was the pollution, and part of it was the dust. Oh, the dust!



See this picture? This is Reuben and our friend Bijay riding on a motorbike with facemasks. Everyone in Kathmandu wears them. Otherwise you could either suffocate or choke in the dust. (Note: when I took this picture I was on the back of a motorbike as well. Hooray for overcoming my fear of 1) riding a motorbike 2) riding a motorbike without hanging on for dear life and 3) riding a motorbike without a helmet (althoughI still am afraid of the latter)



Reuben's water seminar started a few days after we arrived. This is the YWAM base about 30 minutes outside Kathmandu, where the seminar was held and where we stayed.



They learned how to build a water tank, 2 kinds of fuel-efficient stoves, a ram pump, slow sand filters, and probably a couple of other things I can't remember.







I served as official photographer. At least when I wasn't lying in a fetal position.



I'm pretty sure in this picture I was thinking "quick, take the picture, I need to run to the bathroom". I got sick. I got a stomach bug the first day we moved onto the base, and I was stricken almost the whole time (minus a decent day or two) until the day after we left. This was my first experience witht his. When I travel, I do everything my mom tells me NOT to do. I brush my teeth with the tap water. I even drink it sometimes. I eat the questionable sort of vegetables that should be soaked in iodine water first. I eat street food. And until now, I had never gotten sick. Signs of aging, I think.

I lied when I said we never saw the mountains again. They did make an appearance one afternoon, the day after the seminar ended. And it's a good thing they did, because we hired a taxi to drive us 2 hours each way up to Nagarkot, which is a tourist destination known exclusively for its view of the mountains. It would have been a shame to go all that way and back, and spend the night there, and not see them.





To be continued!