Asia Recap 5

I got up early and visited the concierge to have him write new instructions for my train ticket that was purchased for a hard plastic seat instead of a soft bed.  Having spent 24 hours on a train just a few days before, I was really not looking forward to another 24 in an uncomfortable seat.  Tony wrote new instructions, and I tried my hand at the buses again.  Bus number 63 had it's number plotted on the map near my hotel and at the train station.  I got on and tried my best to follow the street names the bus was following.  I knew we weren't headed toward the train station, but I had high hopes that we would be turning around and getting there eventually.  In a matter of minutes our bus was in a pretty sketch part of town.  I was the only passenger, the bus driver pulled into the bus barn, and started to get off for his break.  I asked him why we weren't going to the train station, and he simply pointed to another bus number 63 going in the opposite direction.  I was a bit agitated, but the Lord was directing my steps.  I spent another 45 minutes on the bus before standing in the wrong line at the train station two times to have my ticket exchanged.  Success.

I spent most of the day walking around town, checking out the local WalMart, and handing out small amounts of money to beggars.  It was a heart-breaking day.  I believe I spoke about 100 words that day: well below the average.  I couldn't speak.  It seemed as though my entire purpose for going was crippled.  I prayed several times for the entire language to supernaturally downloaded into my brain, but the Lord had different plans.  Frustrated, alone, and tired, I walked back to my hotel and asked the concierge where a good lunch venue might be.  His stellar training was evident as he recommended the hotel restaurant at least three times before expanding his repertoire to restaurants outside of the hotel.  I walked down the street until I had a good feeling about one particular place where some other men were eating.  After a brief exchange of words, I had a big bowl of beef noodle soup and $0.75 less in my wallet.

I ventured back to the hotel for a nap and some coffee.  I sat downstairs for awhile listening to my iPod and sipping a latte.  I observed a bride and groom preparing for their reception in the lobby of the hotel.  The Ramada was a great venue for such an event.  Between reading, listening, and journaling, I caught the bride at one point with her cell phone.  She was texting.  Friends and family wanted pictures with the newly weds, but she was distracted by her phone.  It struck me as odd that she would be doing this on her wedding day.  I don't want to know that my phone exists on my wedding day.  The weight of this picture settled on my soul pretty quickly.  In Biblical imagery, the church is the bride of Christ.  Not a day goes by when Jesus does not long to take a picture with His bride and finds her distracted by the trivial things of this world.

I wrapped up the day with some dinner and some time in my room reading.  I got up the next day ready to face another day at the park and a train ride to City #3.  I took trusty bus number two down to the park with which I was now pretty familiar.  I hiked up the opposite side of the mountains and spent some time reflecting on my time during the previous two days.  I was surprised to see the variety of hiking companions along the way.  They ranged from young to old, men to women.  This particular day looked like several buses full of retired men and women were dropped off at the park entrance as this was the primary demographic.  I sat just inside the park entrance trading phrases with a chatty older gentleman before getting ready to head out for the day.  Somehow, amidst the thousands of elderly people present, he spotted a few of his friends and invited them over to chat.  In our brief conversation, I discovered that they were both English teachers.  Because of my lack of common words, we established that I was very smart, brave, rich, businessman.  I liked this description and could not come up with better words to describe myself, so I let it stick.

I walked back to the hotel and grabbed my bags, crawled into a taxi, and departed to the train station for another epic trip.  Once again, my compartment partner spoke next to zero English.  It was an enjoyable evening with him.  He paid for dinner and a couple of beers.  We exchanged a few words before hitting the sack.  At some point during the middle of the night, another guy arrived, the first guy left, and I woke up staring at the new guy on the bottom bunk where the first guy used to be.  I was a bit confused and groggy from the previous night's lack of sleep.  I decided everything was going to fine after observing that there were no signs of struggle in the room.  The first guy had simply left during the middle of the night.

It was a long day of reading and listening to music while we trekked across the countryside to the penultimate destination.  I was seeing brothers later today.  My soul was longing for release and unwinding of the previous three days.  I hadn't had a decent conversation in close to a week.  It would be good to talk about the Lord with those who understood the weight of glory.