A Busy Last Day of the Year

...which I actually spent sitting on a bus for over seven hours.
The past week I have been in Pokhara, a small town about 200 km west of KTM.  It was been a very enjoyable getaway from the dust, pollution, and normal day to day. The air was fresh, the mountain views were spectacular, the lake was calming, and I didn't think about work...much!

Lake Fewa in Pokhara

I went with a group of friends and then meet another friends from about the country while I was there. We did a bit of sightseeing, enjoyed the street festival that was going on the whole time we were there, and eating some good food!

Tea with friends

On Sunday I went to the site of some children's homes and hung out with the people who work there and took lots of photos. It was such a refreshing day. The site where these homes are being built is on a bluff above this river. It was so warm, we were able to wade in it.  The kids ran around the whole acreage exploring and using the newly created soccer field.  It was such a change to everything I do and I came away awed by God's provision and grace.

Macchrepacchre 

But all good holiday breaks come to an end...so today the last day of 2012, I had to board a bus and head back to the valley. The ride was pretty uneventful until we were headed up the hill to the pass into the valley and traffic came to a stand still! ARGH!  Was it a bandha? No, just road construction. Our wait was only about 20 minutes, but as we climbed up to the pass later, I looked back down the valley and the traffic was backed up for a least 10 km.  Glad we only had a 20 minute wait.  The bonus was that we got to drive on the new tarmac! It was smooth sailing for that 50 meters.

down by the riverside.

Annapurna Range in the background

Not sure that I will make it to the big 1-2 tonight, but there is a kalee for a couple hours this evening that might help me work on the kinks in my back from the long bus ride. (A kalee is a called dance- kind of like square dancing.)



So Happy New Year to all!