First, we landed in Kathmandu and took a couple of days to get adjusted to the time zone. It's a sprawling, noisy, dusty, crowded city. If anyone is interested in going trekking in Nepal or even just going for a visit, plan no more than one day in Kathmandu on each end unless you have specific need to be there. We saw lots of sights, but the city wasn't really the reason for our trip.

There were constant reminders that we weren't in the U.S. - almost everything was different.

Next we took a 7-hour bus ride into Pokhara. Much of the route looked pretty dangerous, but we consoled ourselves that these drivers make this trip all the time. Unfortunately, around halfway up the route, a truck that was approaching us from the other direction had a blowout and tragically went over the edge as we watched. It didn't just look dangerous - it was deadly.

Once we started on the trails, we did a great deal of brutal, vertical hiking.

We shared the gospel with lots of people who were all very welcoming and interested.

We met lots of locals on the trails.

We handed out bibles and tracts.

We ate lots of dal bhat - two times a day and as much as we could eat at each meal. This dal bhat also included potato curry (we ate lots of this) and bamboo curry (bamboo shoots were in season). The vegetables change with the season and availability.

We faced our fears (to be fair, the 250m wooden suspension bridge was my fear).

We saw some interesting sights...

...including lots of amazing vistas.

And of course we made some new friends.