Crazy Adventure

(Sung Too the tune of 12 Days of Christmas)

On The Crazy Adventure My Family Did With Me…

1 Jeep Safari

2 Motorbikes 

3 Nepalis Buses 

4 Train Rides

5 Plane Flights

And The Memories Will Live With Me 

On The Crazy Adventure My Family Did With Me…

1 Kidney Infection  

2 Hospital Visits

3 Food poisonings 

4 Chest Infections 

5 Inghams Living 

And The Memories Will Live With Me 

On The Crazy Adventure My Family Did With Me…

1 Camel Safari

2 Elephant Rides

3 Crocodiles

4 Spider Bites

5 Wild Rhino's

And The Memories Will Live With Me 

5 Inghams

5 Inghams

4 Countries

3 Months

2 Marriage Proposals 

1 Crazy Adventure

Why India ?

Why India? I have been asked several times during this trip and from people at home, why we were in India and Nepal.

We have several answers – our primary answer is that God opened the way for us to go. Another answer is that Adrian, Makaia and myself have been to India in the past and while we all loved it, we hadn't been to India together and so to go together with 3 of our 4 children was awesome opportunity that we couldn't pass up.

As a family we are in a stage of transition. We have been in YWAM for 17 years and believed that it is right time for us to step aside from the various roles that we have been engaged in during these years and see what other opportunities, ideas and doors open for us.

So for us, this adventure has been about exploring various parts of India and Nepal and enjoying some of the tourist sights but mostly its been about connecting with others who are working tirelessly in making a difference in the lives of many in India. We have made many new friends that we will be in contact with over the coming months and years – thank you for opening up your lives to us and letting us in.

We are going back home for a time of reflection and a time to catch up with other friends and family and share some of our ideas and thoughts.

Once some ideas become reality, we will keep you all posted so that you also can be part of the process.

In India I read a bill board that I thought was very profound. It said “How brave is your love”. Sometimes we need to be really brave to allow dreams and ideas to become reality.

Many thanks to you all for praying for us, reading our posts and encouraging us on our journey and adventure.

Blessings
Adrian, Juanita, Makaia, Jvarn and Azariah Ingham

13th May

Goodbye Nepal, Hello Malaysia!
Our amazing time has come to an end. When we first arrived we never would have imagined the incredible adventure we would go on – from kidney and chest infections to white water rafting, riding and swimming with elephants, amazing encounters with wild animals – deers, elephants, owls, birds, crocodiles, snakes, leeches and being chased by a wild rhino really just topped off our time here.
We now have a two day stop over in Malaysia before heading back to New Zealand where we will have a chance to reflect on all that has happened during this short while at times very long 13 weeks.

12th May

Kathmandu, Nepal – a city of contrast. We stayed in the older part called Thamel. The buildings look like they were built 100's of years ago and with the huge cracks that they all have, it is a wonder they are still standing. It seems that the smallest of earth quakes would completely ruin this city. Just 2 kms away is the newer Kathmandu with its designer shops, crystal shops and KFC. A complete contrast to Thamel. 
The traffic in India was crazy beyond words but at least they do drive slow there and look out for pedestrians, in Nepal they take it to a whole new level by driving very fast and they have no regard for pedestrians.

12th May

We left Pokhara and headed back towards Kathmandu but not before stopping for a 3 hour white water rafting experience. It was much better than expected with some wild rapids and white knuckle moments.

After the rafting we caught a local bus for the rest of the trip back to Kathmandu. The local bus was a little like a colorful coffin – pink ceiling with a green strip approx 1 foot wide running down the center of the ceiling and orange sides with pink highlights and 3 ceiling lights - one blue, one yellow and one red. We stopped several times letting on and off locals including 2 ladies who had their goats (as one does) and a variety of other random parcels. The spaces between the seats were incredibly small that even Azariah had trouble fitting in her legs.

This part of the trip was meant to be 3 hours but due to who knows what, there was a major traffic jam and so the trip took a very, very long 6.5 hours. At least with the bus crawling along, there was little chance of going off the edge of the road, which was reassuring since this road is one of the most dangerous roads in the world and while rafting we saw a crane pulling a truck out of the river that had crashed a few days earlier, killing 2 people and a week earlier another vehicle had gone off the edge killing all 15 people on board.

Praise God for safe travels.

9th May

Leeches...... Really !!!
For NZD $10 one can hire a boat for the day and row on the lake. We decided to spend the afternoon on the lake and rowed over to the other side. A walk up the bush covered mountains seemed like a brilliant idea until we looked down and Adrian had 6 leeches on his feet all sucking away nicely. Upon inspection the rest of us also had one or two leeches so the walk got abandoned however the sky also decided to open up and while we attempted to stay dry and out of the rain and lightening we also had to avoid more leeches.
Jvarn and Azariah decided to go for a swim in the lake but since we had watched snakes swimming in the same lake the day before, the rest of us decided against this idea.