Sightseeing in Agra

This morning we left the hotel at 5am to get to the train station. Train left promptly at 6 and after 2 hours we arrived in Agra. After securing a car and driver for the day we were off to do some sight seeing. First stop was the Red Fort, then on to the "Baby Taj" and finally to the Taj Mahal. It was quite impressive, much larger than I imagined. Another train ride, 3 hours this time, a 30 min. taxi ride with all 5 of us stuffed into another "Scooby Doo" van and we were back at the hotel around 10pm. The train station was quite the experience, not sure I need/want to repeat it.

Red Fort

Baby Taj

Taj Mahal

 

First leg of the trip home

On Sunday afternoon we traveled safely down the mountian from Kalimpong to Siliguri, we made it in under two hours. Pretty sure I will not miss those mountian roads! We spent Sunday night in Siliguri and on Monday afternoon we flew into Delhi. Tomorrow we will take a train ride to see the Taj Mahal, the train leaves at 6 am! We will return to Delhi late in the evening. Our flight to the US doesn't leave until late on Wed. night so we may do some sight seeing in Delhi during the day on Wed. to help pass the time, think we are all ready to come home. Pray for health for our team, we seem to be passing a "bug" around. Greg took his turn last night and today.

Just a boy and his Dad

Just a few short years ago Vivek (singing) had no home and no parents.
Sunday I listened to Vivek and his dad, Jordan sing a song during the church service
God Bless these house parents - Home 1 Jordan and Ruth
Home 2 Sunile and Punam

Goodbye To Kalimpong

It's Sunday morning and we will soon be heading to church and one last visit with the children before we start the first leg of our journey home. After church we will say goodbye to all these special children and the amazing staff that we have gotten to know in the time we were here. We will then head back down the mountian to Siliguri where we will spend the night before catching a flight to Delhi on Monday.

Beautiful Girls

Rebecca (I think), Mompta and Mena

When you look at these beautiful smiles it's hard to believe what their lives were like before they came to the Asia's Hope home in India. Looking forward to telling you their stories when we get home.

Watching the Republic Day Parade in downtown Kalimpong on Saturday.

Traffic in India

Traffic in mountain village

Took this picture out the front of our taxi, these trucks are called "goods haulers". This was the first one we saw full of people!

Nail Polish and Orange Pop

Today Tim and I got to visit with the kids. I took along the nail polish and Tim played with the boys. They have very little space to play, not much bigger than a sidewalk. Tim and the boys were playing volleyball right behind the "nail salon". I took a break to take a drink of my orange pop at the same time the volleyball came flying threw the air directly at my head! Orange pop went everywhere, well mostly on me, from my head to my feet! Had a great time though, got to know the girls a little better, although I still have lots of trouble with their names. Tomorrow we are going to a city park to play, more space Anu says.

Arrived in Sikkum safe and sound last night. Took in some of the sights of the city before heading to bed. Caught a glimpse of the Himalayas this morning. Small change in plans for the next couple of days, Tim woke up with an upset stomach so we determined that it might be better if Tim and I head back to Kalimpong today and the rest of the team will continue on, they have a 6 hour trip ahead of them, and  return to Kalimpong on Fri. Pray for safety for all of us as we travel our separate ways for a couple of days. Pray for Tim and I to feel completely healthy again soon.

It's Monday evening in Kalimpong. Today the guys and the kids went to the river to play, down the hill of course. I didn't get to experience this because I got sick last night and was up most of the night throwing up. I decided that another car ride around twists and turns and up and down and an entire day spent with kids probably wasn't the best idea. Feeling much better tonight. Tim says they played in an empty tile swimming pool and in a big open area of sand, rocks, gravel and a small river. The smaller kids just stripped down to their birthday suit and got in the water, I'm sure it was quite a sight. You will have to ask Tim more about this when we get back. The staff cooked lunch for everyone, rice, beef, vegetables, chicken and daal.

Tomorrow is another road trip to Sikkum and Bhutan. We will be back in Kalimpong on Friday, well at least that is the plan for now.

Saturday there will be an Independence Day festival of some sort, the kids are involved in some way, maybe a parade?? We will try and let you know later. Sunday will be spent in Kalimpong with the kids and Monday we will start the journey back home.

Keep praying for health, and safety in travel. If you would see the travel you would understand why prayers for this are needed.

Check the Asia's Hope facebook page for pictures and links to the other team members blogs.

Update

It's Saturday evening in Kalimpong, we all walked to Nandu's home to use his wifi. Here's a quick update on our last couple of days.

Thursday


The day was spent looking at potential plots of land to buy. There is no flat land here at all, its hard to even imagine building a house but somehow they do it. Land is also very expensive so the cost was a little discouraging for us all.

We also made a quick stop at KP1 home to visit with the kids. We were treated to several songs, they sing like angels, a quick tour of their home and some hugs. They are starting to warm up to us, I am getting a few names down but they all sound so different than any of the names we are familiar with.

In a previous conversations with Nandu  about the number of kids in each home he mentioned that there were approximately 10 “extra” orphans. We asked him to explain more about how these children were being taken care off. He explained that they were being cared for by his father’s church in another village. The church there feeds the children by giving a small portion of rice each time they make a meal for their family – basically they are tithing their rice for the children!  Very Cool!

Friday, January 18

Left the hotel around 9, our destination was a village down the mountain close to the Teesta River. Saw monkeys on the way. Had a flat tire along the road, that drew a crowd. The church there was holding some sort of Bible Training and for new believers and they had asked Nandu to speak. Our vehicles stopped in the road, the road is narrow and there is no place to pull off, there was a small sign that said Victory Church so we headed up the stair path to the church. Everything is terraced here because there are no flat spots. We walked up three, four maybe five terraces till we came to the church building. There were 50-100 people there, most of them looked very young. John spoke first then Nandu. They then proceeded to feed us lunch, on a newspaper table cloth. Lunch was excellent. The pastor there asked us to pray for them and all the Christians in India.



Breathtaking drive for the next 2 hours, Hotel in Darjeerling is nice , did a little shopping.

Wishing for wiFi.

Saturday January 19

The plan this morning was to get up early – 6am - and watch the sun rise over the Himalayas, we go to see the sun set on them for a few brief moments last night. That didn’t happen because it is raining and foggy. Since I had a little free time I looked back over the kids bios to try to get more of their names down. In looking at their bios and remembering what I saw and heard yesterday I am overwhelmed with a sense of need for these people. The stories of what these children experienced at such a young age is something we as Americans can hardly even begin to comprehend. I am so humbled and in a sense ashamed of my own lack of understanding and actions when I hear the stories from Nandu about the way he and Anu have taken in these children. Everyday they are doing and living out the word of God.

So sorry that I haven’t posted anything yet. The hotel internet doesn’t seem to be working! You can also check out the Asia’s Hope facebook page and Keith’s blog – One Wong in Kalimpong – he has pictures and a some video posted on his.




Jan . 13/14

Travel went well, arrived right on time in Delhi at approx. 9:30. Thought we were missing a carryon bag for a little but were able to find it, good thing because all of my (Carol’s) clothes were in it. Had a little trouble getting a taxi and then finding the hotel but we finally made.



Tuesday Jan. 15

Made our way to the airport for our 11 flight to the Bagdogra airport in Siliguri. We were at the wrong terminal and had to get a taxi to take us to the correct terminal. Five us and our luggage piled in a “Scooby Do Van”. Made it on time and on to Siliguri. Nandu and Anu picked us up at the airport and we all had lunch before heading up the mountain to Kalimpong. The drive to Kalimpong was about 3 hours, I spent a good portion of drive with my eyes closed because I was very car sick. The road up the mountain was unbelievable, I can’t even begin to describe the twists and turns and steep drop off, not to mention that their driving rules or lack thereof are crazy! I found out later that I missed seeing monkeys on the way up.



Wednesday, Jan. 16

Today we got to visit the children. We walked to Nandu’s home, as we came close to his house we could hear the children singing, it was the most beautiful sound. We spent some time hanging out with the kids. After lunch we all piled into taxi’s and drove up the mountain to park with flat space for the kids to run around and play. The kids were wonderful. After several hours of play we headed back down the mountain. We had race car driver for the trip down the mountain, I really think he was trying to scare us, I have no idea why we didn’t hit something or someone! No car sickness this time, I sat in the front seat which seemed to help a great deal.

Tomorrow we are going to see the kids and also look at some plots of land Asia’s Hope hopes to purchase.

Not being able to connect with home via internet has been a bit discouraging for me

Pray for the team to stay healthy, we spent the day with lots of kids many who appeared to have colds.

We will be doing some road trips over the next several days, pray that I will not get car sick and for safety while we are driving, I can’t even begin to tell you what it’s like being in a car here.

It's Time!

Our bags are packed and ready to go. Plane leaves in less than 7 hours. Tim is making a last minute Wal Mart run and then we will hit the road for Columbus. Lots of mixed emtions today, excited to finally be leaving but it's harder to leave my kids than I thougth it would be, doesn't help that Emily is sick this morning. Pray that she recovers quickly and Aaron stays healthy. Pray that I can completely turn things here at home over the Lord and let go and fully experience what he is doing in India. Next post will be from India!!