Sahara in the Himalayas

Sept 13 (Thurs)

We set our alarms for 4:30am. Before anything today, a group of us (maybe 11-12) headed back to the airport to take a small sightseeing flight on Yeti Airlines along the Himalayas over to get a glimpse of Mt Everest. We were all a little nervous since the forecast called for rain, but everything held off. It was a little foggy on the ground but after getting to our cruising altitude it was totally clear. Pictures will never do justice to the majesty of the mountains. I was reminded a lot of our time in the Alps in Switzerland, but seeing the highest peak on Earth with my own eyes was truly something special.

Kathmandu from the Yeti

Everest from the cockpit

We had breakfast at the Shaligram hotel restaurant (called Manny’s) and met the architect missionary living here, Michael. Loading up the tools and miscellaneous materials, we headed to the first jobsite of our trip, Sahara church. They had begun construction efforts but had not properly poured concrete for supports. Project 1 was digging below each of the 4 corners and 3 other places along front and back walls (spread evenly to support the roof trusses). We mixed a TON of cement --by hand-- to fill these holes, and cut and bent rebar --by hand-- to strengthen what will become support columns. Lunch was made by the Pastor’s wife Sara and other local women - rice, lentil (dal?) and curry chicken. We finished around 6pm I think.

I had a decent headache all day, from what I imagine was getting a little dehydrated early, and never fully catching up with it. But we headed back to the Shaligram, showered, and went to have dinner at a local cafe (can’t remember the name). We all pretty much had beef burgers and fries, I also had a chocolate shake, haha. We also were all falling asleep in our chairs by the time we were finishing, so after a short ride back to the hotel we headed up and crashed into bed. And so ends the first day of labor.  It was hard but it was for a good cause.