The Mountain Road

A Breath of Fresh Air

"The Heavens declare the glory of God: the skies proclaim the work of his hands." -Psalm 19:1

Last week, we took a break from our normal routine to take a much-needed retreat as a team. We had a three-day weekend, so we cleared our schedule of other duties and made a week of it. The northern part of the country is rather mountainous and much more rural than where we live in the city. We were ready for some quiet streets and cool air. So we boarded an overnight bus and an all-day van to crawl our way up to the small hometown of our guide and friend Chad. Before I go any further, I just want to mention that the van we took was amazing. The mountain road we traversed was muddy, filled with ruts, and seemingly impassable at times. But the van muscled its way (slowly) over all obstacles. Approximately thirty hours after leaving our apartment, we arrived at our destination.

And that destination was beautiful! Simple houses on narrow roads with lovely flowers and giggling children staring curiously as we white people ambled past. Friendly puppies bounding over to be patted. Views of rice paddies on the slopes of mountains wreathed in clouds. Stately churches with wide open gates. Over the next few days, we spent many hours just wandering this small town appreciating its charm. There is a quiet strength in mountain towns like this, that are seemingly untouched by the dirty world around them. Life seems more straightforward and peaceful, despite not being easy. As far as we know, there were five white foreigners in town-including the four of us. Many adults would stop us so they could shake our hands. Those who spoke English thanked us for visiting or stopped by our motel to talk. On one of our walks, we were invited into the home of a pastor as we paused to play with some puppies. We sipped on cold homemade limeade and listened as the man told us about his many travels and work with the church. Asian hospitality at its finest.

While in the mountains, we took a day trip to see a large waterfall nearby. We each rode on the back of a moterbike behind Chad or one of his friends. They navigated a mountain road up and around lovely farmland to the waterfall an hour and a half away. After a short hike through the jungle, we arrived at the third level of a seven-level waterfall rising far up in the cliffs. We spent several hours clambering around the the rocks, taking pictures, slipping on the impossibly slippery ground, and getting drenched from the spray of the falling water. There were giant honey bee nests hanging from the cliff wall rippling in the wind. There were legends of ghosts who pulled unwary visitors over the falls, and a dragon who lives in the highest level where no one can climb. Because the water was so strong and the rocks so treacherously slick, it was not a good time of year to climb up to a higher level. So instead, we enjoyed a picnic lunch before clambering up behind our moterbike drivers to speed back toward town.

Besides the waterfall, some highlights from our trip include tossing a disc around on a mountaintop golf course overlooking the town, several moterbike rides, playing euchre and eating “cake” to celebrate my birthday, meeting Chad's family, and enjoying so much time out in God's creation breathing fresh, crisp mountain air.

The ride home was more spread out and relaxing, and we had some time to rest after our vacation-something that always seems to be needed! We are now getting back into our routines of lesson planning and teaching. I am certainly thankful for the time to get away and reflect and breathe clean air and take a break to look at our trip from a slightly removed perspective. God is good.