Welcome to the 3rd and final stretch of the India-Nepal Travel Day Extravaganza! … if you’re just now tuning in, please check out Part 1 & Part 2 before going any further…
THEN we boarded for our final leg — which happened to be 9ish hours. I would like to point out that Nepal has the worst roads I have experienced on the World Race. I about lost my dinner several times due to the bumps and the winding mountainous roads. Not much sleep happened. Such is life.
Somewhere around 5am we arrived at a bus station thing. The driver held our packs [that were tied to the top of the bus] hostage for a while. Not sure why that happened. Again, our men fought for us. At one point, Jared was standing on the top of the bus with the driver. I felt like we were in a movie or something. This was too unreal.
After some convincing and maybe a phone call or two, the men retrieved our packs. They are sooo good to us.
Loaded an even more crammed bus. Finally arrived at our home for the day/night around 7am.
Samara & I immediately cuddled up in our comfy bed with a super thick blanket [Nepal is freeeeeezing BTW]. Woke up at 7:30 to a young Nepalese boy telling us breakfast was ready. Cereal & toast on the rooftop. Definitely worth it.
Went back to bed until 12 when that same boy told us it was time for lunch.
Took a freezing cold shower. Not sure it was worth it. Walked around town to an internet place to post a blog. On the way home, it was POURING. 6 of us women put on plastic bags and trudged through ankle-deep water. We looked like waddling penguins. This is my life. I love it.
Went back “home.” Ate dinner. Repacked my stuff. Had my final “concrete slab convo” with Jared. Went back to my room. Had “girl-talk” with about 12 other Q women. Watched “I Love Lucy” with Samara before falling asleep around 1am.
6am. Woke up to eat breakfast.
Hardest morning yet — woke Laura & Amber up to say goodbye. Had to leave quickly to avoid crying too much. Went to Jared’s room to say goodbye to him. Rough.
Went outside with the rest of the teams leaving that morning. Was looking pretty hot around this time due to the fact that a) it was freezing b) my eyes were puffy from lack of sleep + crying goodbyes c) my limited supply of warm clothes was still drenched from the rain. I wore my stirrup pants / a t-shirt / my pink jersey sheet. I looked like a yeti.
Boarded yet another bus. Dropped Nikki’s team off somewhere. Bus continued to where we are living now. Arrived around 9am. Trudged with our packs to the 4th floor where our bedroom is. Home Sweet Home. [PTL I was not on one of the 3 teams that still had 13-15 hour bus rides to their ministry locations]
Mark my words — I will NEVER again complain about travel times, waiting, bathrooms, uncomfortable modes of transportation, etc.
There ya have it. Longest travel day ever. Quite an adventure. Loved it.
