Hotel End of the Universe

Family and Friends,

We began our journey to see the famous Himalayan mountains with both curiosity and concern in our minds. We are supposedly in the best hotel in the entire country and though it has its fine points, it is not what we would consider a resort environment. We are certainly thankful for our surroundings being as good as what they are. It does leave to question what kind of environment we were heading for though. We got in the car and were surprised to see both our liaison, Mr. Trilok, and a driver. Normally Mr. Trilok just drives us to where we are going.

We set out from the hotel at about 2pm and wound through the city streets of Kathmandu. Trilok explained that Kathmandu was not really a city per say, but rather the name of the valley and that there were several "districts" that made up Kathmandu. He explained that we had been to two of the districts and would be traveling through the other two on the way to our destination. He said that our destination was 30 kilometers. I thought about this with some concern, because 30 kilometers won't even get you from Springfield to Branson. I began to worry, but didn't tell Staci. I could tell that she was worried too, but wasn't telling me! We crossed a bridge and just like that, the scenery changed as we changed districts. It got a little bit nicer and the architecture of the buildings changed. It must have been a lot like how the texture of the highways change back home when you cross a state line. Most of the time, the road becomes nice when entering a new state because that state wants to give you a good impression. And, when you are leaving a state, why should they care about the last 20 or so miles of road because.....hey, you are leaving the state anyway! Well, just as with the interstates back home, within about 10 miles, the truth begins to emerge. If you are going from Missouri to Oklahoma, give it about 10 miles and the road will change from that smooth first impression into some kind of violent beating stick! Like we were not going to notice if the changes were subtle enough, that our teeth were being jarred out of our faces!!! RIGHT!! They didn't think of everything there though. They should put the toll in the first ten miles where the road is still good and trying to impress. That way people won't realize how they are getting cheated when the toll booth comes up. Anyway, we can discuss all of this at home. Needless to say now, the buildings began to change back to the poverty that was in the other districts, maybe even more pronounced. Lots of the buildings were several stories and made from red brick, but were unfinished - they only had three walls built! The buildings had no fronts. You could see right into them - people, hanging clothes, furniture, whatever. Many places had piles of bricks outside as if they were going to build the fronts eventually, but you could tell that these buildings had been like this for years and were inhabited anyway. There was a lot of road construction going along the road we were on. Trilok explained that one of Japans Ministers came over here and was traveling to the same place that we were going and he got stuck in a 4 hour traffic jam. Through his frustration, he pulled the necessary strings and now Japan is paying for an 8 lane road in the place of the two to three lane road that is there now. In seeing the way that the road was being constructed, I have a confession to make. If you have ever driven through road construction (which all of you have) back home and wondered what on earth they were doing, thinking about all of the tax dollars that you spent for the mess and confusion that seems to exist, I can now assure you that what is going on is quite advanced and organized in comparison. Watching them work on the road was a sight to behold.

Soon, we were leaving all that behind and heading out of the city a little bit into another district, the agriculture district. They were growing wheat, vegetables, and rice. The wheat was being harvested in a manner that we have not used in the US for at least a hundred years. They were cutting it by hand and leaving it lay in rows. Someone else would come along and pick it up and stack it straight up into bundles every 30 feet or so.....however much they could get their arms around. The ground is not flat here, so they farm on a system of terraces to keep the land flat and farmable. They were making the grain and sifting it all by hand. No tractors, no machinery, not even any animals were helping. ALL BY HAND! It was neat to see.

By this time, I am aware that we had traveled at least 30 kilometers and began to worry where we were going to stay at! I still didn't let Staci know that I was concerned. I could see way off in the distance the mountains for the first time and just knew that was the best we were going to get and that we were going to be dropped off in one of these places and that having four walls was going to make it a good place to stay. BUT - we kept driving.....and kept driving until we were completely out of an urban environment and came to the base of the Rockies sized foothills. They were amazing and daunting. We began to climb and the road began to erode away to about the size of a driveway. We were climbing so high and so fast, my seat felt reclined and my ears began to feel the change in altitude. The valley itself is about 48oo feet, so we were going up up and away. The timber began to change to pine as we climbed steadily higher. The valley was becoming farther and farther away, and the terraced farmland looked like ripples in the soil below. Eventually we passed by a shack that was some kind of restaurant. It was open, but no one was there. I am not sure how they could be, as there was no where to park. I jokingly told Staci that was where our breakfast was going to be served. She wasn't ready to joke about it yet. Soon we reached a bus stop sized shack and there was a huge bamboo poll across the road. It was a toll, but for some reason we still felt a long way from Oklahoma. The similarities were few, other than the road continued to deteriorate until we were traveling on mostly rock and gravel. We kept climbing and I could start to tell a difference in the air when I took in deep breaths - we were getting higher, and the air was getting thinner. Much to my surprise, we began to see small school kids along the side of the roads, and climbing up goat trails on the sides of the mountains. These kids must have been in the 2nd through 5th grade range. There were also mountain goats on these trails on the sides of the mountains. In a few minutes, we were in the elevated village of NAGARKOT. There were few vehicles and most of the people seemed to live quite primitively here. There were a couple of dirt swaths that represented streets and some businesses and markets spread along. We passed the school that the children had come from and we kept driving right out of the village and continued upward. The road got really bad and I thought that we probably needed a 4x4 to continue safely. Trilok said that in a few weeks there would be snow all over the place here. The air was much cooler now, probably by 25 to 30 degrees. We passed a hotel, at least I think it was a hotel. There was a sign and a set of stairs that wound and went up probably 200 yards, but we didn't see the actual building. Around a couple of more switchbacks, we caught a glimpse of the mountain range and then had to catch our breath. There they were! Breathtaking! We continued to climb and they disappeared behind what was in front of us again. We had to be nearing the top I though to myself. My gosh!!! We were dragging the muffler, oil pan, or bumper now on every other bump or so. About that time, we came up on another hotel. The sign read: "Hotel End of the Universe"! There was no turning back now! We climbed for another several minutes before coming to the top of the mountain and to our hotel. It was going to be okay. Just like that, the hills opened up and we feasted on the grandeur that was the Himalayas! The 30 kilometers was once we hit the toll road! Tired from our 2 and a half hour journey, we got out of the car and walked into the hotel. We could see out the giant bay windows almost the entirety of the part of the range that was close. It was perfect. Words can not describe what we saw and pictures are not going to do it Justice. It was God's creation at the very utmost height of this tiny planet that He made. It was a moment that I will remember for the rest of time. There they were so big and so close that you feel as though you can reach out and touch the tops of them, though they still were miles and miles away. There we were, so small, and yet so very very blessed. Trilok and our driver left as we sat and had some tea, looking out over the expanse. They would be back tomorrow. Soon our room was ready. Here was the big test. Room 214. He said it was in the next building and the guard took us up to our room. 214, I'm thinking second floor - WRONG! We had the best room in the place. It was on the top floor as we climbed six flights of steep stairs to get to our hall, and it was at the end of the building. There was nothing to block our view of the range. There bay windows on both side of our room and a french door that opened onto our private balcony. Walking out onto the balcony, there was nothing below us, nothing above us, and it was if we were suspended there.......in heaven on earth. I aksed myself in my head, does beauty really get any better than this? (you must understand that I have a love and passion for the mountains and always have) Soon my question would be answered. Staci and I set up for the night in the lodge type setting, lots of wood trim and hand built cabinets and dressers. The vaulted ceiling was wood, yet the room was quite primitive. No heat, no air, no hot water - just a couple of lights, a bed and.....God's glory and splendor right out our windows! AND, it got better! Two more times in fact. The sun began to set behind us, casting a glow on the snowy slopes of the mountain range. The hues changed from goldens, to oranges, to reds, to pinks, to lavenders before the sun finally sank into darkness. Even in the darkness, you could still see the outline of the mountains. They were the space in which the flickers from lamps and candles of the valley subsided, and the vast expanse of the flickering stars began. They were outlined perfect black shadows and my mind could remember their shape in the light. It was a truly awe inspiring moment.

Looking across the flickers of lamps and lights that dotted the valley floor below and then seeing the stars above, one can honestly and really understand why the people inside the walls of the city of Jerusalem were so sad when all of the people left the area after being there for the Festival of Lights. The people came to Jerusalem from far and wide to participate in the three feasts, one being the Feast of the Tabernacles. It was said that at night for as far as the eye could see, the normally rugged and dark landscape, was dotted with flickering lights from the tents and camps of the people who came to the city at that time. It was so beautiful and warm, that the people loved it. It left a void when the lights were gone. I think that we got a glimpse of what that may have been like for them to see all of those lights. Only we were not sad to leave. We know that Jesus is the light of the world and is also our light and that we are, no matter how tiny we may seem, in the palm of his hand, and He is in our hearts and the light of our lives. What a blessing, what a promise, what a reality!

The sunrise the next morning was spectacular and it lit up the outline of Mt Everest in the distance. We were able to see it for a little while before the high lying clouds overtook its outline again. We got so many great pictures and can not wait to share with all of you our tales and trials in person. We hope to come home this Friday and be there on Saturday, but have still not heard from our Embassy here. Please pray that they will conclude their investigation and release us for travel back home on Friday. We love you and miss you all! Thank you for your prayers as you are in ours!