Nepal 12th-23rd Apr 2007

So, looks like this time they aren’t so many people wanting to go to Nepal…many factors but this time it is open to the Sangati gang…Yup, we were going to the same place as before plus exploring a few additional places. This time I have Janet, Connor, Evelyn, Audrey and my favourite leader…Kelvin ;-p

It was a challenge to begin with. My passport expired and I had to renew it. Went to Subang…very early to queue but was told “Sistem down la”. Was super frus man, I took leave for this. And I don’t have much with the trip and wanting to attend interviews! Waited a while before I finally decide to try Damansara. Thank God – there was no queue at all…how weird.

As per the previous year…Leave was not easy. I was told I took a week of last year for Cambodia…huh?!! WHATEVER…

Our flight tickets were not confirmed till the very last minute…and this time we were experimenting with new airline….Nepal Air! We were upgraded to the “business class”. But this is not MAS… no TV etc… btw, other than the stewardess; we were the only ladies on board. Many of the Nepalese are taking the flight back home after many years of working in Malaysia. Compared with Thai, this is better in a way it was a direct flight…AND contrary to popular believe that the airline always delays…we were right on time and maybe slightly earlier than schedule. Same thing when we came back.

It was nice to see familiar faces after 2 years. See how much some of the children have grown… some of the youth got married and had babies! Was great to stay with the Palans & Aunty Jutta again. We met up with Maan who was attending Sangati when he was in Malaysia and Lee who visited Malaysia a little while ago.

On the way back, the taxi carrying me, Connor and Janet hit a divider really hard. It was amazing that none of us got hurt. It was pretty late and dark and raining. But the taxi managed to start even after the crash. Another amazing thing was when we got down from the taxi at the airport; I went to the front to check out the damaged. There was only some scratches and a small dent on the number plate. God was really there to protect us.

Fortunately/unfortunately we did not manage to secure a flight back on Sunday. So we were officially the longest mission trip overseas….12 days! Flying back, we even got upgraded right before we board the plane. This time, we were upgraded to 1st class. Still no TV but nice lah.

Barely a day or 2 after we arrived back, it was reported that all 2 of Nepal Air’s plane has been grounded due to engine or mechanical defect. *Whew* God really brought us home safely…we could have crashed or stuck in Nepal longer.