Today was a long travel day. We started the day popping dramamine and loading up our van a little before 6:00 this morning to leave Kathmandu to go to Tansen. Professor Sinniah told us the bus ride would be anywhere from 8-16 hours long of windy, bumpy roads through the mountains. Super fun!

We made our first stop to get chyia tea, which is a milk based spice tea. Yum!

The long van ride through Nepal got the best of some of us. The car was very stop and go and the roads were steep, bumpy, and had a lot of sharp turns, leading to some car sickness. Driving throughout the mountains was certainly an experience. For the most part our group faired well, but a few of us had a less fun time with it. We passed the time by singing some classic early 2000’s hits, playing riddle games, and napping. Professor Sinniah also showed off his hand trumpet skills.

Although the drive was long, the views were amazing!

We stopped around 10:30 for a meal. We ate Dal Bhat at a little restaurant. It was delicious!

When we finally arrived in Tansen around 4:00 and were greeted very warmly by the staff here! We got shown to our rooms, had some time to unpack, and then some of us got to meet and talk to Dr. Les Dornon and his wife, Debbie. We ate a dinner of ground buffalo, rice, and veggies at the guest house.

After dinner, we took a walk to a lookout point. There were a ton of stairs to climb up, but the view at the top was very cool. It was pretty foggy, but we are hopeful it will clear up soon so we can see more of the mountains! We also had a furry guide that followed us all the way.

We ended the day with devotions led by Ellie, and everyone headed back to their rooms. Thankful for safe travels and minimal delays today. Tomorrow we will get to tour more of Tansen and the hospital, so we are all very excited!