Updates from India 64

Welcome to this months blog.

Our story

Part 6

We had travelled to places we never knew existed, stayed in people’s homes and been treated as honoured guests by the families we had met for the first time in Albania.

We returned to the UK and went on with our lives, now somewhat confused by Gods message to go to Albania. We had arrived back home tired and bruised from a fall in the mountains on gravel slopes in my case, and in Kris’s case whilst taking a shower, Albanian style, hold the nozzle over your head and wash with the other hand while standing in a slippery bathtub. Our home church sends regular ‘missions’ to Albania to help support the churches there but we felt no desire to become part of that work.

We had really enjoyed our honeymoon in Albania but were both left wondering why God had sent us. Why send us then leave us wondering why?

We were happy to be home again after three weeks away.

Albania is a country that in a few years will be gone as the developers throw up their ‘budget’ hotels, restaurants and bars to part the tourists from their money. Gone will be the simple beauty and the trusting friendliness of the people, the warmth of genuine smiles of welcome, replaced by greed and pre packed Albanian souvenirs. Gone also will be the lack of clean water, education and health care will be developed, and there will be jobs for the young people, a general rise in the standard of living. They will join the European Community, become part of a conglomerate of European cultures, taking their place in a giant social experiment that in the authors opinion is doomed to failure for reasons too numerous to discuss here.

They will gain so much but something inside me warns of what they will also lose. I hope in twenty years’ time Fatos is still proud of his Tirana and his country, and can still make an honest living there.

Later that year we asked God for help and guidance, all we felt was that we were being sent “where you will do the most good”. For months we wondered and searched for an explanation but none came.

During this time Kris was healed by God of a degenerative illness and because she now could prove to the doctors that her illness was healing they agreed to give her titanium knees so she could walk with less pain. This was something she had been refused previously as they full expected her to be in a wheel chair soon as there is no cure for degenerative progressive spondylosis of the spine or osteo arthritis of the joints.

X- Rays showed the damage, the determination of her spine from the very first diagnosis that caused her medical retirement as a senior nurse up to her last examination that showed the steadily increasing damage.

There is NO doubt in our minds that this is God’s work and we were witnessing a true miracle.

The UK was the same for us, work we could do that no doubt would help others, but no word from God. Again our church does work in the community that we could have become involved with, evangelism, helping people in need through a ‘food bank’ scheme, and many other very worthwhile projects. There was plenty we could have done but nothing that truly called us.

We are both ‘people’ persons, we have lived lives that give us both skills that we can use to help people and perhaps encourage them to come to the lord. But there wasn’t that compulsion that we both believed God would give us when we found what he wanted us to do. We just had to have faith in Him and let His plan for us reveal itself to us in His time.

Faith; What can I say, if you take everything that has happened to Kris and I as coincidence then it would be a list as long as a toilet roll.

It has nothing to do with our faith really that list; it is just a list, so where do you stop calling it coincidence and admit that there must be a guiding hand? When Jesus saved me, for the first time in my life my eyes were opened and I could really see, I can’t explain it, you have to experience it for yourself.

We had prayed together asking for His guidance many times. As a young Christian I felt God having sent us to Albania and having been so clear in His message could have done a little better than ‘go where you will do the most good’. Perhaps a small hint? No, God was leading us but we had to follow in faith without any idea of His plan, perhaps it was meant to show us just that, we had to follow in faith.

We often tell people that we are in a small boat, we paddle Jesus steers, where we are going we don’t know but as long as we allow Jesus to steer we have nothing to fear. The problems occur when we stray from this, when we try to steer, then, confusion and misdirection rule our lives, this is when the dark one tries to stop us, give us doubts and fears we can’t handle. We argue we lose sight of where we are and who we are, we are alone. It is only when we come again through this storm that we cannot navigate and give control again to Jesus that we are safe, the bible says:

(Ephesians 6:16-24 English Standard Version (ESV))

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Take up the Shield of faith, put our lives in His hands and no storm of man or the dark one can threaten us. This has not been an easy lesson to learn especially for me as I by upbringing and nature want to keep control and not trust anyone, in that I am wrong, I know it, but sometimes it can be so hard to just “step back” and take up that shield. Kris and I are never alone; we walk with Christ, where we are going I don’t know but some things have been revealed to us only in the last few days.

Nearly three years ago while living in the UK Kris and I made the decision to completely give our lives to God. To live by faith in His guidance and to follow where He led.

It wasn’t a “snap” decision, in fact months passed until the moment we knelt holding hands and prayed and really committed ourselves body and soul to him we had come to where there was doubt and fear holding us back. From then on our path was clear to us. This is not to say we understood what or where our work lay, we didn’t, or that we didn’t suffer doubts and fear anymore, we did, but we held onto our faith and allowed Jesus to make our way straight, trust me, at times that wasn’t easy for either of us.

We have wondered many times why when we wanted to come to India for our honeymoon God clearly spoke to us independently that we should not, but that we should go to Albania. Why? That mystery would be answered, but not to us at that time.

I (Kris) was offered my operation before we got married but wanted to wait so I had surgery after we returned from honeymoon. I knew the surgery would be painful with lots of physiotherapy to get function in my knee post operatively. But I was prepared to do the work to be able to walk again.

The day of the surgery Chris walked with me to the operating theatre and reluctantly left me in their capable hands. They wouldn’t let me watch the operation, worried I may make a sudden move so I had lots of sedation and a spinal anaesthetic, I was totally unaware of proceedings and woke up in the ward with Chris waiting for me. Yes the pain was immense and the physio gruelling but with ice packs I was determined to do all I could to make the surgery a success. Chris told me he had booked a holiday as a treat to help me recover. Off to India in 6 wks time, the other patients and staff said no way would I make it but Helen my senior physio knew better and said not a problem.  The other patients thought they had misheard and that Chris was taking me somewhere in the UK, but I knew differently, India here we come. I continued with physio after discharge from hospital my aim to make that holiday a reality and although still using walking aids I achieved my goal with the support of Chris and Helen.

I had arranged a holiday in the sun for us, to help her get through what was a painful recovery, so of course we came to India.

The decision is made.

We were on Holiday having arrived in Mumbai in the early hours of the morning so we stayed at a hotel near the airport before arriving at our hotel in the centre of Mumbai.  It was a small Muslim hotel near Crawford market  on a very busy road. The taxi driver offered to take us to a different hotel but we said no this is where we were staying. Chris had booked it and checked the reviews not telling me the night before we left the UK he had seen a really bad review from an American saying it was a hovel within a hovel and that the staff were surly and unhelpful. I’m pleased I had no preconceptions and we were warmly welcomed and looked after. It was a basic room but had everything we needed aircon, fan, bathroom, fridge and even a TV. We received English papers daily and I would return for a further stay. The staff were actually shy, it was a family run hotel and we were made to feel very welcome. I was in my element as we were close to the art galleries and museums so lots to see and do. Crawford market was an experience as we were escorted around by the market walla, it was his job to see we got the best deals and were treated fairly. Chris had an amazing conversation with a Muslim guest as we sat on the balcony discussing our faith. We even went to see a movie whilst there and joined in with the boos and cheers just like the locals definitely an experience we will always remember. Our plan was to spend a few days in Mumbai before going to Udaipur to visit and stay with friends then off to Delhi for a few days before leaving India for Paris.

We arrived late in the evening at the airport in Udaipur to be met by Janet and taken to the campus at Filadelfia. We spent 8 days in Udaipur doing the tourist visits to the sights and look at the magnificent lakes. Our friends Andrew and Mark were also in Udaipur for a holiday at this time so we caught up with them and all Janet was doing since she came to Udaipur to live and work. It was during these few days that I bought my first sari and Chris fell in love with Udaipur. I knew it had cast its spell on him but for me I never make quick decisions so continued to seek God’s guidance and enjoy my holiday. We went to a local park with Andrew and it was here we prayed for God’s guidance on what and where we should do. Before we left Udaipur I knew Chris would happily return here to live. It would take me a little longer. The night before we left Udaipur for Delhi I ate a meat pastry out of politeness which I knew I should avoid, Chris had more sense and avoided it. I suffered terrible Delhi belly and regretted my decision. The flight to Delhi was difficult as I spent most of the time in the bathroom but we made it in one piece and eventually got to our hotel. I then spent two or three days recovering so we saw very little of Delhi itself. We did however go on a tour to the Taj Mahal and although feeling better I was still unwell so I saw less of the place than Chris as I slept on a bench whilst Chris went inside the Taj Mahal. I still have fond memories of the Taj but hope in the future for a further visit so I can see all I missed.

After leaving India we spent a few days in Paris. Ahh so good to have a bath after all the showers in India. Having a bath really helped ease the pain in my knees. We stayed in a lovely hotel four stars, Chris had treated me to some luxury. He had also booked me tickets to the Louvre where I had wanted to go since childhood and booked us a romantic meal on the Eiffel Tower one evening. The Louvre was mind blowing and Chris joined me for an hour before heading off to see Napoleons museum, he thoroughly enjoyed it and we met up again at the hotel. The meal at the Eiffel Tower was very romantic and special, food was excellent and we had window seats so got to see a beautiful view of the city all lit up at night. Chris got mega brownie points for that and the tickets to the Louvre. Then we had to come home to the cold wet weather of England and the North East in November.

We had visited Albania on our honeymoon and seen where there could be work for us but there but there wasn't the compulsion we both felt we would feel when we found where we were He wanted us to go.

We had also looked at working in the UK but nothing ‘fitted’, we prayed but no word other than ‘go where you will do the most good’ came to us until that day in Udaipur. Then we were truly answered.

if I was to begin where this journey started for us it would be November 2011 in a park in India with Andrew (a friend and mentor) praying for guidance from God.

I came home knowing that Udaipur for me was now where I had to be, it took Kris about three days to admit it ‘I want some time to think’ for three days she was subjected to India wherever she looked. On TV ‘Top Gear from India’ then ‘Truckers’ yes, from India. So it went on until a bus passed her ‘Visit amazing India’ emblazoned along its side. She held my hand looked up and said ‘Ok God I give in, I get it’! We were going to India.

To list all the times the path we have walked to get here was smoothed flat by God would take more than I could write but let me put it this way. In December of 2011 Kris and I knelt and prayed, we said the words, we gave our lives to Jesus to do with as he chose, and we would follow where he led no matter what the cost to us as individuals. There was no doubt in our hearts, no limits set, only a deep desire to serve Him as He commanded. We have told many people who have asked that this relocation isn’t our idea or plan but God’s, some understand and bless us for our faith others think we have gone mad.

I clearly remember a neighbour remarking when he heard we were selling all of our possessions to give to the poor of India that ‘charity begins at home’ and we really must have cracked. I did my best to explain why, and maybe he understood a little better after that there is a higher purpose to this life than just getting all the money and possessions possible from it no matter the cost to your soul.

When Jesus chose his disciples he didn't say ‘Go home and sort out your affairs so you will be secure in the future, put your possessions in store and fill up your bank account’ He simply said ‘Come, follow me’, and in complete faith they did.

I tried to explain that to him, maybe I planted a seed there, and to this day I don’t know if he understood, I pray so.

In time we sold or gave away all we owned and the money raised from that, my book sales and the many many generous donations we received from individuals and churches raised the total far above our original target.

It all went to Panawar Boys Hostel in India, and make a real lasting difference to their lives and to the lives of other boys who will pass through that hostel in future years. To all who gave we cannot say how much your gift has meant to us, and to the boys at Panawar.

When we began selling our possessions prior to coming here we had never visited Panawar, there is no doubt in our minds that this is where the money will do the most good, those who know us have heard us say many times 'It was not our choice to donate to Panawar we were told to'.

We had never even seen the hostel but knew that God had told us to do it, just the same as he now leads us day by day and overcomes all in our path. That really is the story of our coming here to India, God spoke and we listened.

Friends have asked 'How did you know' what can I say, have you ever experienced a compulsion, a need so great that it dominates all your thinking, you can’t make plans or even go day to day without feeling it in your heart, it was like that for us it never let up.

Every obstacle to our coming here was removed, everything that we needed was provided, and it was a year that always amazes us even to this day

Waiting

Finally the day of our departure from England came; it had not come without pain and stress, even doubt, but throughout God guided our way and stayed at our side.

At one point we were living in an empty house with no possessions other than a few basics, even the bed we were sleeping in had been sold.

We had applied for work visa’s but as the weeks passed and our possessions were being sold worry and doubt came and went, and still no visa’s.

A young couple we knew were thinking about God so one wet weekend we travelled 70 miles to take them to church where they lived and help them onto the path to salvation.

We wondered if this was why we had not yet received our Visa’s. Perhaps this had been why His timing wasn’t yet ours.

We had complete faith that God was guiding us so He was in charge.

There was no ‘plan B’ we were then and are now in God’s hands.

Even our own pastor was beginning to worry, what if?

Sadly while we were waiting a very fine woman and mother of a great friend in the UK who had been suffering passed into God’s hands.

She had known the ‘old’ me and had seen the change in me. She had also read my book and on one occasion when I had visited her we had talked about Jesus in my life. She was an atheist and had been for as long as I had known her.

On the day of her funeral our Visa’s came.

Something that surprised many people was that she had requested a minister perform the funeral ceremony, perhaps at the end she accepted and was forgiven into His arms. We both pray so.

Within a few days we were booked on a flight to India.

Some tearful farewells, saying goodbye to friends of many years is not easy.

We will miss you all but the joy we both feel now and on that day overcomes all.

We haven’t left; we have come at last to where we should be.

2nd year students taking a short break from Humanities class at our home

 At last, after five years!

We decided this year not to buy presents for each other and buy 
something for our home which will make our life easier.
Our early Christmas present to us both after 5 yrs without a cooker.
Roast turkey here we come, yippee. We can now have a traditional  
Christmas dinner and make lots of yummy food. It has a grill too so
lots of healthy food grilled instead of the usual fry up.

Super fast burner bottom left

Our old four ring burner which will find
a new home, nothing is wasted

Papya growing well

Below lots of pictures of our cactus collection, we plan to increase the number and variety of plants

Our centre bed with flowering cacti

Its getting bigger will it flower

Demolishing the old chicken coup and
turning it into a kitchen  garden  

Below our Kitchen garden starting to transform with seeds sown in bowls and direct planting into the ground. This year we will have capsicum, carrots, cabbage, turnip, tomatoes to name a few.

As we now have an RO water dispenser we wanted to conserve the waste water as for every litre used you waste seven litres. So Chris has put the waste water pipe to an outside barrel where we will use the waste water in the garden, no waste.

Hanging in the water we have a bag
 of chicken poo, it gives us a super
liquid fertilizer.

Our melons in our version of grow bags oh
yummy yummy. Last year we didn't have
any......fingers crossed for a good crop.

Chickens in their new home, they are so much happier and have put on lots of weight and being very productive in egg laying. We have planted bushes in there for shade as well as logs to rot
and attract insects. We water the grass in there to keep it growing.

Our girls only seven hens at the moment, so happy with
the freedom and space in their new home

Bleu' and Chilli

Rest time after a mad dash running around
the house and garden after each other, they play
for hours.

Its treat time with a bone

Chilli so cute and mischievous

Bleu' just taking it all in, she is still shy but
starting to come out of her shell around people
all thanks to Chilly

Friend's bike when they stayed overnight with us on their
way to Delhi

Zafar and his bike just before setting off to Delhi

Lee and his bike, we met him at Bulletiapa Hyderabad 

Its that time of year again.

It has begun, we will be out again Christmas Eve delivering
blankets to those sleeping rough on the streets. We accept cash
and give a receipt no matter what the amount. With it we buy blankets
. Last year was crazy, 11pm until 4am on Christmas Eve.

The clothing has started to arrive, so much for
getting my studio back soon. But it is worth it to
help those less fortunate than ourselves

URCreator our partner in
distributing clothing in the
rural areas. This has been
continuing throughout the
year to help mainly women
and children. Well done

 Comments from Kris

At the beginning of October when we went to Hyderabad for our annual motorcycle meet Bulletiapa which we mentioned last month, it was monsoon still and we both got very wet several times so I got a cold and chest infection before staying a few days in the city. What we didn’t realise was that the pollution levels would be pretty high and they triggered my asthma. On returning to Udaipur I was still taking antibiotics but it was not improving, to cut a long story short after five lots of antibiotics, nebulisers, oral steroids and medication for my breathing we had been to the hospital numerous times but I was still wheezy, tired and unwell with chest infections. I then got a urine infection because I was so run down. Chris was naturally worried about me and urged me to seek a second opinion. So off to another hospital where the doctor said I would need admission for Intravenous medications over three days. Luckily they allowed me to come home in the evening. I had three days of intensive intravenous medication to help me breathing and get rid of the infection, because of the number of drugs given IV it had to be slowly infused over six hours. Chris stayed with me the whole time, I don’t remember much as I slept a lot of the time. Still feeling weak I was discharged home on further medication for my breathing with an emergency contact number if needed and for review in ten days if no serious problems. It has been very debilitating going to the kitchen or bathroom exhausts me so going into work was impossible as lots of stairs to climb.

Work kindly agreed that we could hold classes and workshop at our home until the end of the semester when my health should have improved.

I am getting better but still get tired and wheezy on exertion, my sleep is disrupted due to difficulty breathing but I am on the mend so Praise God for that. Thank you to all our friends who have prayed for us at this difficult time. I know Chris was really worried but he has been my rock through this illness. I look forward to getting back to my old self soon.

In view of this we have kept the blog short for this month, Chris needs to recover after looking after me it has been stressful for us both. We have good friends here who were there if we needed them. I think Chris would agree I’m not a good patient, too much knowledge and I don’t like to give in.

Well that is all for this month hope this finds you all well and in good spirits.
We wish you a Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year 
Take care and God Bless
Chris and Kris in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Updates from India 63

Apologies to you all. This month is quite short and missing some of the things we wanted to put in.

We have both been off work ill with chest infections. Walking upstairs has been an effort. Thankfully we are beginning to feel better at last. Full of antibiotics and inhaler.

Comment.

This week we lost a friend and fellow biker, and a lady we didn’t know.

From the Times of India

.

Woman biker and activist from Hyderabad, Sana Iqbal passed away in a car crash Tuesday morning.

Earlier in the day, at approximately 4 am in the morning, Sana met with an accident while traveling with her husband Nadeem. She suffered severe head injuries and succumbed to it while undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital. Her husband, Nadeem, sustained rib injuries and is recuperating. The accident took place at Narsinghi  Gandipet road in Telangana.

A well-known name in the biker community, Sana was famous for her 38,000 kms solo ride to spread awareness on suicide and depression across the country.

Sana, being a motivational speaker as well, addressed many Ted Talks, speaking on various topics from biking to depression to motherhood. Her efforts had brought about a change in many students’ lives, giving them hope that suicide is not the solution to overcome depression. Sana took to biking in order to battle depression caused by the hardships in her life. Sana had been riding bikes since a tender age but did not take it up seriously till late 2015 when she set on her cross-country trip on her white Royal Enfield electra named Arkadash that had a placard reading: “Solo ride across India by a woman on bullet to raise awareness against suicide and depression. Suicide is not the solution”.

We met Sana when she came to Udaipur, lovely girl and committed to what she saw as the tragic waste of young student lives. Her work really makes a difference.

The internet and Facebook went solid with RIP messages from many many people who had met her.

The same day a Dalet woman (used to be called untouchable) was working sorting rubbish at a tip.

She was nine months pregnant.

She made the mistake of touching one of the rubbish bins used by high caste individuals; they claim her contaminating it made it unusable.

She and her unborn child were beaten to death by those involved in the dispute.

When the loss of one life is more important than the loss of another life we are in trouble as a society.

In India a great deal of effort is going to education about the caste system and the injustices it causes. One day that poor Dalit women’s life may be worth more than two lines in the paper.

RIP to both of these ladies.

Part 5 of our story.

We arrived in Albania with open minds, a sense of mission and excitement still however puzzled by why we had been sent here.

We were ‘fortunate’ enough to meet some really wonderful people from the very first day. Fatos, on day one at the airport, a cab owner in his fifties who genuinely  befriended us and showed us parts of Tirana that we would never have seen had we not met him (without any extra charges, we were his guest) he is a remarkable man, genuinely warm and friendly.

Descended from an old and respected Albanian family he hated the communists who stole all his family had worked for over the generations and left them penniless when they took over. He is now rebuilding, he owns several taxies and employs the drivers, his hours are as required, and long. He is determined to regain his family’s financial independence. We both believe he will succeed, he is a determined man. While we were there he showed us ‘his’ city. He took us up a cable car to look out over the city and to show us the many ‘pill boxes that are planted throughout the area, one of the communist defence measures from those sad times in their past. 

We sat and drank thick dark coffee together in a park next to a manmade lake under red umbrellas, there we learned about Albanian pride and his faith in their country.

We learned something of their past and the belief they have in their heritage. I talked to him about my own faith in Jesus and he politely listened. Then explained to me that his friends say he is a Muslim, although he does not attend the mosque as often as he should, but his real faith and the faith of most of his countrymen is Albanian. They have been invaded so often with each conqueror bringing their own faith with them that they have learned that as long as they believe in Albania, and all it stands for then that is more than enough. He can trace his native language back to the times of the Old Testament; they are an old people with much to be proud of.

We talked, he a Muslim and me a Christian, my Bible teaches peace and love to all including my enemies, the Koran also teaches love but then goes on to say destroy the infidel (non believer) so in the end it teaches not to be tolerant of other faiths but to bring them to the truth, to destroy their false faith. We talked for a good while about this, about both radical Muslims and radical Christians who use violence to try and force others to change their beliefs, his view is that it means destroy the others faith to bring them to the ‘one true faith’ We discussed it for a while, both committed to his point of view until we decided that these were matters for wiser men, and went back to our coffee, if only the whole world could sit, drink coffee and talk as we did then perhaps we would have a little more understanding of each other than we now do.

We left Fatos the next day to continue our travels in his country; we will never forget his kindness and warmth or his fierce pride in his country. We were made wiser for meeting him.

Later that first week we travelled north to meet a fellow Christian, Rob working to ‘plant’ a church and help bring Christianity to Albania. He is doing fine work with the youth and the children but the older parents are apathetic in the most part and even hostile to his efforts at times. We ate with him and his wife and listened to his stories of the children and his prayer to bring many to Christ.

Part of me wanted to stay and help develop the church there, but although it was tempting there was no word from God, no compulsion. No doubt had we stayed God would have blessed our efforts but we felt He wanted more from us that that, He had other plans for us. It may sound odd here and now but then, there, we didn’t ‘fit’.

Rob and his wife live in a town so they have many of the amenities that we in the west take so much for granted. Water, however it comes and goes depending on demand, a flush toilet assuming any water is available, electricity, again it comes and goes but compared to most this is luxury indeed. We had been given their contact details by our church in Durham with a promise that we would look them up while we were there. I (Kris) had known Rob many years before as he was a member of Emmanuel Church, but did not know him well and had lost touch with him, although aware of the work he was doing in Albania.

They made us so welcome in their home and although we had never met before we felt like they were our friends when we left after only two days. Their town is a mass of overhead wires and plastic bottle tips, dusty roads and seemingly no traffic control although the Albanian Police are always in evidence at any event or visit by a VIP.  

We had decided to hire a car from the airport, it was the best place to get one but the amount of paperwork we had to fill in and leave a large deposit on our credit card before we were given a car made it seem a long process as well as the long wait for the owner of the car hire company to arrive to authorise the loan and we think to vet us before agreeing. But at last Chris was given the keys to our hire car.                               

I (Chris) was driving the hire car we had collected from the airport in Tirana so we wouldn’t be dependent on public transport; anyway, I parked it intending to visit a shop, as I stopped a local Police officer started across the road towards me obviously displeased with my manoeuvre, he looked at the registration, (the car was registered in Tirana) and he scowled at me as he approached my window. I knew I had done something wrong by the look on his face, our friend Rob who was in his car following us got out and spoke to the police officer in broken Albanian explaining we were English and had come to see his country, at this his whole attitude changed, he beamed at us and welcomed us to ‘his’ area, ‘park where you like but be quick.’ Again and again we were to meet such pride in their country from the Albanian people. We said goodbye to Rob and his wife the following day and headed north into a wild Albania of rivers and desolate mountain roads. Rob had suggested one of the places we visit was up in the mountains a place called Puke’, his wife advised us not to go. Wish we had listened to her. We set off for Puke’ and it was a winding twisting and turning road up into the mountains, Chris did a great job driving and encouraging our hire car to make the long climbs. We had hired a brand new Chrysler Spark in bright red, I think the manufacturers got the description wrong because I definitely don’t think it lived up to its name “spark”, more like splutter at times but it did get us there safely if slowly. We ascended the mountain roads and saw, just outside the town a huge building on the left set well back in the forest which looked like a prison camp complete with 3 phase electric and high double wired boundaries which were electrified, definitely spooky looking place. Four storey concrete block with small barred slotted windows, maybe a hundred we could see. When we asked the locals they appeared jittery, changed the subject but when pushed said it was a warehouse, yeah right as if we believed that one. When we got into the town we were immediately met by a young local man who looked like he worked for the kgb who had been elected to befriend us and suss us out, he was pleasant but tried to control what we were doing. He directed us to the only hotel at the top of the town (very small town) and we booked in. It was basic, there was a shower over the bath but the bath tub had many holes in it so not really useable. I had one shower, having slipped and badly bruised myself including getting a black eye I decided once was enough. We stayed one night had a meal and left the next day for lake skodra.

 We had stopped at a small lake deep in the mountains. There was a scree slope of about 10 meters down to the water and the inevitable dump of bricks plastic and general waste. I managed to slide then fall down it, not I hasten to mention, rolentarily. Nothing injured just a few scrapes and the odd bruise. I looked back up at Kris to assure her I was ok, and there resting in the rubble was a ladies shoe, it stood out because in Albania nothing useful is thrown away. Black and in apparently good condition but from it protruded a bone, not yet whitened by the Sun.  Shocked at what I had seen and having drawn the obvious conclusion that the rest of her was buried under that scree and rubble slope I started back up. Trying not to look at it I climbed back to the top. Trying to remain casual in case we were being watched I walked over to Kris who was looking out over the lake from the road, I remember saying ‘Kris, get in the car we are leaving’ she knew from my tone it was serious; as we drove away I told her what I had seen.

We left that place in a very sombre mood. There was nothing we could do and to mention seeing it could quite literally have got us killed. Northern Albania can still be a dangerous place. We prayed for her but could do no more.

What a relief to be out of this atmosphere where everyone treated us suspiciously.

Lake Skodra ah what a small place but so different, welcoming, friendly and some of the most fantastic lake trout and Talapia we have ever eaten. We decided to stay and were directed from the restaurant to a little house down the street who also worked as a hotel. Hotel might be stretching it, we were given one of the family rooms in their home and made to feel like welcome guests. There was a small restaurant attached which we decided was where we’d have our evening meal, Lake trout Albanian style gorgeous. We were introduced to the “cooker” (chef) who happened to be the mother of our waiter; she was so touched by our kind words about the food she promised to make us a special breakfast before we left next day. Luckily we managed to find out that the special breakfast was goats head stew, we politely declined but not until Chris had half a pint of fresh buttermilk and nearly half a pound of cheese with his jam and toast. They were very warm welcoming people who opened their home to us to make ends meet.

When Chris returned the hire car there were several hundreds of miles on the clock and the owner was shocked to find out where we’d been, he said he thought we were just going to drive around the city. Wish I’d had a photo of his expression when reality hit.

Albania is a truly beautiful country; the mountains still have bears and wolves roaming them, lakes and rivers with deep green pastures. The people are warm and friendly, always willing to help a stranger in their land, they are also fiercely proud of their heritage, rightly so tracing their lineage and their native language back to a time before the Roman Empire.

We met so many people there we will never forget. One person I must mention is Dori (Dorita) she was working on reception at the hotel we first stayed at before we ‘broke out’ into the county after arriving. A very pleasant young lady engaged to an Italian. Our first morning at the hotel in Tarana we went into the restaurant and Dori asked Chris if she could “service him” taken aback but polite Chris said we would order breakfast (he was trying not to be too flattered). We then decided it would be best if I explained to her what she’d said as Dori wished to improve her spoken English. Once she understood the difference between ‘to serve’ and ‘to service’ and stopped laughing she said she now understood why some of the young business men had given her funny looks. She told her fiancée who thought it was hilarious. She was working to pay for her education and took every opportunity to practice her English, a habit that has remained the source of an on-going joke between us. That was the start of our friendship with Dori, she and her fiancée are now happily married with children. Although we were invited to the wedding it was too far to travel back from India to attend. Since that time we have stayed in touch and it remains a joke we often share.

While we were at the hotel we were lucky enough to witness an Albanian wedding taking place. The bride was beautiful in her traditional bridal gown; the groom in his suit looking proud and handsome.

We were invited to join them in the celebration after I had asked the groom’s brother if it was alright for me to take photographs of the guests and bridesmaids in the national costumes. Some of the guests were Italian so conversation went something along the lines of, a bit of English, a bit of Albanian, a bit of Italian and a lot of mime! It was a very happy occasion, they were amazed when they learned that Kris and I had also only just married and were on our honeymoon. In the end we were all wishing each other well and kissing brides and grinning bridesmaids, to this day we never got their names but they will always be part of ‘our Albania’.

As is traditional we gave them a wedding present of money to help them start their married lives and they took our photograph to remember the two ‘just married’ westerners they had met at their wedding.

We walked that evening across to a bar/restaurant across a foot bridge over the main highway outside our hotel we met three young men and talked to them as they had some English, it seems two of them had just got back from being deported from the UK for having no papers; they were not bitter about it and intended trying again, to be so desperate must be so hard, all they want is a decent life with enough money to live on. In Albania unemployment is very high. However there is hope, the tourist trade is picking up as this country is discovered by travellers. Foreign currency is beginning to get in for building projects and development. Crimes rates are low, but beware of insulting people; this is taken seriously and may result in four other brothers turning up in short order to defend family honour. As I said, a proud people, we liked them a lot.

If you have the opportunity then please visit Albania before it becomes another Mediterranean resort country for rich westerners. It is truly magical in places, and yes it must be said, horrendous in others, but if you are prepared to respect their pride and their fierce independence and accept that they are struggling to get out from under the poverty and lack of investment left by the old communist regime then you will be welcomed and have a wonderful time.

We travelled deep into the northern mountains on roads that were little better than tracks, huge drops with no barriers on the bends and missing tarmac every few hundred yards. Fantastic scenery, wonderfully warm friendly people but no road sense!

Then to the North West lakes, beautiful but polluted with a thick shoreline layer of plastic water bottles and general waste, as was every lake and ‘dump’ we saw. It was also here that we ate some of the best ‘lake trout’ I have ever tasted. Simply cooked in a steel tray drenched with herbs, garlic and vegetables it was beyond doubt as good as any fine hotel fare. 

Albania is struggling to join the 21^st century, but has very little in the way of an

infra-structure with many seemingly random electricity cables strung through trees and across roofs. The same can be said for the intermittent water supply.

Buildings shooting up next to dilapidated road systems with little or no drainage travelled by donkey carts and seemingly mad car drivers. The whole scene can appear chaotic but somehow it works.

A note here, your most useful car accessory is without doubt ‘the horn’. Used to indicate all manner of manoeuvres such as ‘I am turning across you, look I am waving my arm at you’ or ‘I am over taking you’ (a long continues blast) but my favourite has to be without doubt, ‘Look out, coming through’ sometimes accompanied by flashing lights; you ignore the latter at your peril! This is a favourite tactic at junctions by the local taxis.

We travelled on an example of an Albanian major road as we were going North, we were driving on the main highway, two lanes of traffic doing about fifty mph when we saw coming towards us IN the breakdown lane a local car with its lights on using it as a short cut, this I stress is not unusual as we were to discover as we continued our travels.

Traffic officially travels on the right, or perhaps I should say traffic should travel on the right, it can rarely be counted on to do that so beware of blind corners, who knows what you might meet coming the other way with seemingly no regard for the rules of the road.

Some miles further on as we drove the tarmac stopped and the road became dirt for several miles then reverted to a tarmacked dual carriageway again, all without a single sign, nobody but me seemed bothered and just pressed on. I maintained an iron grip on the steering wheel and a fixed stare through the windscreen at the cloud of dust from the car in front.

I was told later that the road had been paid for by a grant by the EEC and that the money had run out at this point. By coincidence, the road contractor has built a fine looking hotel not far from the road, intended no doubt to take advantage of the increased traffic.

Driving in Albania is an education in automotive survival skills, for anybody who has driven in Italy or France, trust me, Albania especially Tirana has to take the first prize for sheer madness. In the two weeks Kris and I were there I honestly think I can count on one hand the number of times I saw traffic lights obeyed. ’’Beep beep beep…..Coming through!”

We both knew that although we could serve God there, it wasn’t where He wanted us. So why did He send us? Kris and I both felt strongly that God was directing our footsteps but we couldn’t understand why we had felt we had to see Albania if it wasn’t here that God wanted us to work. We returned to the original hotel we had stayed at when we arrived after our travels about the country.

All too soon our time in Albania was over, we had enjoyed our time there and experienced a country we will never forget, we had met people that we still keep in contact with seen sights that inspired us and that three storey warehouse on the outskirts of Puke’ that sent shivers down our spines.

In Puke Kris had fallen in the shower (at this time she was still severely disabled and unable to walk far) and then smack into the edge of a door in the night when we changed rooms, I had fallen down a scree slope and ended up bruised and soar, we must have looked a strange site that day as we checked in again to our original “base” hotel, dirty, battered and bruised but both grinning and happy having had a truly eye opening adventure in mountains where strangers don’t go and Bears and wolves are still common.

We have fond memories of Albania and still keep in touch with friends we made there, but for us it was not where we felt we were meant to be. In a way this was a disappointment for us as we both thought God was sending us there for a purpose, he was, only it wasn’t the one we thought it was; as we would discover later.

One day we may go back but if we do it will be as holiday makers. 

Comments from Kris

Well the beginning of the month we went to Hyderabad for our annual IBRMC party Bulletiapa, it was great to catch up with old friends and make many more new ones. We stayed at a place called the Hidden Castle about 150 kms from the city so a long journey by flight and then over an hour to the venue. The flights were turbulent due to monsoon storms so we were pleased to land. I found it difficult with my ears the pain at times was immense but thankfully once we landed it eased. We had an enjoyable couple of days eating, laughing, chatting with old friends and of course drinking. This year Hyderabad outdid everyone by offering free beer on the last night.

I particularly enjoyed watching Chris and the guys in the tug of war, they made a valiant effort but alas the wet grass and slippery conditions meant they lost.

 

Breast Cancer Awareness Seminar

During the weekend I had the honour of being able to offer a seminar to the ladies on Breast Cancer Awareness. I had about 25 ladies attend my presentation a good turnout and they asked many questions. On the whole the feedback I received was very positive and 25 more ladies now know about the Self Breast Examination Technique that could save their lives, well worth it.

Thanks to the organisers who facilitated the seminar and made sure it was well advertised and attended. These guys gave me tremendous support and encouragement as did Chris.

We had decided to spend a few days in Hyderabad after the party to sample the food and sights. We found a Chilli’s American Bar and Grill and we went there two nights running. Food was excellent I had burgers and Chris had steak which looked amazing. Our first night we were tucking in and we saw a friend had arrived outside, it was Lee, his wife and her friend, we never expected to see them so soon we thought they’d travelled back to Delhi after Bulletiapa. They joined us and we had a fun evening amazing who you meet in Chilli’s. 

Well Hyderabad was still in the middle of monsoon so we had periods of torrential rain and alas it took its toll on me. I got a chest infection but it did not dampen my enjoyment. Due to the monsoon storms and the high pollution in Hyderabad my chest infection did not ease and I decided to share it with Chris well that’s what love is. After several courses of antibiotics, nebulisers, oral steroids and other medication my chest is slowly starting to recover after three weeks. It’s sad when your on first name terms with the doctor at the hospital.

Chickens

I’ve been really worried about my chickens this monsoon, the water did not drain adequately, they’re bored and frustrated. Chris and I both feel putting them at the back of the house was a mistake and not a good environment for them so we have decided to make a new chicken compound at the front of the house. We’ve given them much more space, planted some shrubs for interest for them. Were in the process of wiring the structure, this has been delayed due to my ill health, but we need to move them as soon as humanly possible. The plan is to get them in and then get some new chicks to increase the flock. Once completed they will still have their chicken coup to lay eggs, lots of tree logs for interest and they enjoy watching the wildlife in the garden so they should settle quickly. We will then turn the area at the back into a kitchen garden which is a win win situation.

Well guys that all from us this month, the weather is changing and the nights getting colder but nothing like the cold in the UK so for that we remain grateful. Hope you’ve enjoyed the blog.

God Bless from Chris and Kris in Udaipur, Rajasthan