Today is our beautiful eldest daughter’s birthday and we are not very close at all to be able to celebrate together. We went out for a beautiful dinner the week before we left, so the memory of that lovely family night is still very fresh for us. We are sad to be missing out on the day and those special times.

Today has been a quieter day. The group got up at their leisure and following breakfast we all had a lovely time of sharing and devotion before we did our separate things for a few hours. Walking, shopping, bargaining, getting a massage, boating on Lake Fewa, and eating in local cafes were the order of the day. For us, it was pleasing to find that our travel card would actually work in Pokhara as it didn’t in Tansen. We now have some confidence for the rest of our travels!

A boat ride on the Lake was very refreshing. The humidity and sun was proving a little harsh today, so the breeze from the water was very welcome. Then there was a tiny glimpse of mountains from the guesthouse rooftop when we walked back to the guesthouse. What joy!

The highlight of today though was definitely our return visit to the Creative Children’s Development Program [CCDP] Hostel on the outskirts of Nayagaun. Back along the treacherous track and we arrived safely. We saw some of the children at church yesterday, and they rushed up to greet us saying how excited they were that we would come back. And they were. We had more lollies, and some other wonderful craft things for them to do. They again sang for us as a welcome, and we then taught them about being lights for Jesus, and they made little night lights from LED tea lights. Shanka gave us a tour of the hostel and we saw the girls rooms and the boys room. One of the highlights though was to see their art room. Some of the children are very gifted artists, and several of us bought some paintings to remember the children back home. Chandra’s artwork proved very popular. We all got him to sign his works.

We then took them outside to play outdoor cricket, play with bubbles, and frisbee. They had an absolute ball! And so did we! Saying farewell was hard … they all stood at the gate and blew kisses to us as our van drove down the lane.