Our Vacation Adventures

We’re back from our 6 day adventurous vacation, so here’s a couple pictures and a few stories for you.

Sunday: We took a bus north for six hours to a city neither of us had been to, packing our bikes below the bus. This bus ride was like a crazy rocket ship barreling around the curves so fast, I got so bus sick! I don’t really want to describe this crazy ride further, but I hope we never have to do that again!

When we finally got to the costal city, we rode our bikes to a mission housing unit, where we slept on two twin beds pushed together. This was the way all our beds would be for the rest of the vacation, but it was much better than hammocks outside!

Monday: We biked 95 kilometers (or 55 miles?)!!! This was my longest bike ride ever in one day, and we praise God that the beautiful coastal road was paved and flat. We also praised God that we weren’t allowed to go on the other trip we planned, because that was actually a HUGE mountain that I never would have made it up!

We really stood out as we biked since we are foreigners, but usually the dialogue between us and the locals we passed was like this:

“Hello! Hi, Joe!” (they always call Americans “Joe”).
“Maayong Hapon!” we would reply.
“Oh! Ha ha! Maayong Hapon Pud!” they laughed in joyful response because we surprised them with words from their own language.
The only other part of the monologue with the locals was when the males would call out to me how beautiful I was and how “guapa” I was. I finally found out what it felt like to be a movie star (not that fun), but the reason for this attention was because women are never found riding bikes here and white women are not seen often in those parts. So put a white woman on a bike and you can see where we got all the attention from (I was sweaty and sunburnt, so I am sure I was not as gorgeous as they all told me I was).

Monday Afternoon: We took a ferry boat to a little island off the north coast. We biked around the coast looking for a place to stay for a couple nights. My prayer was that it would have air-con, would be between x & y amount, and would be by the beach. All prayers were answered! Of course our room was like a dorm room with five single beds in it, but we had the place to ourselves and the air con and beach! Praise the Lord!

Tuesday: THE REAL VACATION! This was one of the best days we have ever shared. It was like a second honeymoon. We woke up at our leisure, ate breakfast for two, then rode our bikes to a waterfall. The island is made up of seven (?) volcanoes, so any biking from the coast will basically be UP. Nothing could compare to the falls I told you about before in the mountain, but these were lovely nonetheless. They were thin, but tall; graceful and serene. There was a cool pool below with inner tubes to float in, and this was free. We compared it to our honeymoon in Hawaii where we had to pay $$ to get in, and when we got there it was so commercialized and with little kids swimming around. Here we had the falls basically to ourselves, and we appreciated the realization that we were in the middle of many people’s dream!

After enjoying a swim at the falls we coasted down the volcano at record speeds to take a nap at our beach house. Then we prayed again for a place to have lunch: my requests were that it would have mango shakes, be by the sea and be a place we both liked. God was so gracious in giving us such wonderful gifts! Nate’s back tire blew right by this little sign that said “Jasmin’s by the sea”. We rode down to the lovely private open restaurant right by the sea! They had mango shakes, mashed potatoes, cordon bleu (very rare menu item for us here), and healthy water to drink. We enjoyed every minute, then went down to relax in the hammock they had swinging between the trees. While Nate later got his tire fixed, I just stayed in the hammock and read from John.

After enjoying the sunset on the ocean, we biked 2.5 kilometers up the volcano to a natural hot springs, where we soaked our weary bodies and relaxed our muscles. What a great day that we will not soon forget!

Wednesday: Another wonderful day of resting, relaxing and exploring! We decided to find some local fishermen to rent a boat from so we could experience the ocean by ourselves. The neighbors by the place we were staying rented us their boat for only $1/hr!!! This is a wonderful place! They even let us use their fisher hats. I was having such thrills out on the ocean with my Captain Becker!

Later we biked around the volcano that erupted in 1951 to see a sunken cemetery with a huge cross in the ocean. We again asked some guys to row us in their boat across to the cross, where we climbed up the rusty interior to get a view from the top. We ended the day at another hot springs, this one very natural running right into the ocean. We sat on the rocks at sunset as Nate read to me from a missionary biography. Thank you, Lord!

Thursday: We woke up at 4:15 a.m., biked quickly at sunrise around the island back to the ferry port with not a minute to spare! We biked about 135 kilometers that day (80 miles?), even more than on Monday! This time it was not as flat, but the coastal scenery was just as beautiful. We passed rice fields, coconut groves, all lined with the beautiful green mountains and peaceful ocean. We stopped along the way to buy fried bananas, fresh pineapple, and plenty of cold beverages. When we had about 40 kilometers to go before our goal city, my knees basically started totally fading out (not to mention my gluteus maximus!). I didn’t think I would ever make it, but I kept singing “You are my strength when I am weak…Lord, to give up, I’d be a fool…”. I ended up biking the last 30 kilometers by standing up and keeping my legs straight. We were so relieved to finally reach our twin beds in the “Luxury hotel”. Nate arranged for dinner to be brought to me while I took a shower and rested my weary legs. What adventures together! I’m so thankful that Nate was patient as my leader, waiting for me even when he could have raced ahead. I’m thankful God protected us the whole way!

Friday: We went to a museum with our language tutor’s brother in another northern city. Then we had the most crazy bus experience again as we regretfully boarded the unlimited stop bus. That means that what is about the distance from my home town of Omaha to Grand Island, Nebraska took us NINE HOURS on this unlimited stop bus! I could have gone to Europe on a plane in nine hours or less. I have very few complaints about our vacation, except this one thing. I really wanted to get home! Finally, we made it home in the dark safe and sound.

We praise the Lord for giving us these adventures together with him and with each other. We praise the Lord that today is our 11 month anniversary!! We praise the Lord for these wonderful experiences getting to know the local culture and being able to experience God’s beautiful creation. Thank you, Lord!