Asia Recap 3

The train ride from City #1 to City #2 was eventful to say the least.  The lack of their English speaking abilities was to be expected, so we had an incredibly fun time laughing at one another trying to pronounce the different words for my dinner.  Cauliflower, broccoli, rice, tofu, and pork were just a few of the items they had difficulty pronouncing.  I had trouble with just about everything they said.  I was able to understand a good bit of what they were saying to one another, but I had no intelligent way in which to respond.  It was during these times and others over the course of the next three days that I was incredibly burdened to understand the language.  I so desperately wanted to proclaim the way, the truth, and the life of Christ but was unable.  I was on a train to the middle of the country where there are very few tourists.  Help in English was going to be limited.  My first city was very much in the middle of the economic spectrum.  This would one sunk all the way to the bottom.  In the poorest province, this city was going to be interesting.

I was quite nervous after my splendid compartment partners left.  The train arrived at their stop and they were gone.  I had no idea when to get off the train.  I had no clue what the lady on the speaker was saying whenever she woke me up from my nap.  I knew I was supposed to arrive sometime around 6:30, but that is all the information I possessed.  No map,  no language, just a ticket with characters on it that I did not understand.  I managed to ask the men and women standing in the hallway about their destination.  We established that we were going to the same place and that I was to follow them when we arrived.  Before I knew it, we had arrived at City #2.  I got off the train and followed the familiar hustle and bustle out of the station to the street.  I felt completely defeated as I walked into the night where thousands of people, taxis, and buses all hinged around a single round-a-bout that served as the bottleneck for getting people to their desired locations.  I stood with my forty pound pack and messenger bag asking the Lord for direction.  I saw a blue pop-up tent with the words "Police" on it and decided that was the providence for which I was looking to rescue me from my dire straits.  Equipped with my hotel address in English, some broken language skills, and God's provision for me, I walked to the police tent and asked for help.  We exchanged some words that determined that I was once again out of any sort way to save myself.  In a moment I could have been knocked on the head, dragged into the night, and no one would have batted an eye.  It would be at least two weeks before anyone back home would have noticed.  Seconds after the police men started making fun of my inability to speak to one of their fellow police men on their CB radios, an angel appeared.  She was a native that spoke enough English to help me talk to the police men and get me on a bus that stopped at my hotel.

I got on bus number two and determined that my hotel was five stops away.  I got off at the right stop after repeated confirmation from the bus driver and headed up the street then back down to avoid the steel barriers that run down the middle of the road to prevent jay-walking.  I was staying at the Ramada and the logo on the hotel looked like a big letter "R".  As I got closer, I realized it looked more like a "G" and "P" intertwined...  No dice.  I walked into the lavish hotel fully expecting to just stay there and eat the cost just to get somewhere that I could call home for the next three nights.  I asked the hotel desk attendant in English for some help.  He was more than willing to accommodate me for the next three nights at $25 more than my original reservation.  I asked about my original reservation at the other hotel.  He was willing to call them and arrange a taxi for me to get to the right place.  I got in the taxi and was on my way.  I was greeted by McKenzie.  She helped my get checked into my room and explained how to get help if I needed anything during my stay.  I went upstairs, took a shower, came back down, ate some dinner, went back to my room and got some much needed sleep in a normal bed.  The "one-step-down-from-king-suite" room was incredibly priced at $55 for the night.

I got up that next morning fully intending on seeing the sights and observing the culture.  Priority number one was to get a train ticket to my next city.  If only it was that easy...