Back in the USA

Howdy all, we made it back to the States, we are currently in San Diego.  We'll be home in a week.  We had a long journey home that went a little like this...  16 hour sleeper bus ride from Manali to Delhi, 4 hours sleep in Delhi, then a 2 am wake up call to the airport to catch a 6 hour plane ride to Jordan. An unexpected 10 hour delay in Jordan where the airline put us up in a hotel which wasn't so bad cause it meant we bagged another country and got to sleep a few more hours and get away from the travelling.  Then we hopped another 13 hour flight across the Atlantic to New York where me met up with Heather and saw the city for 2 days.  After another 6 hour flight we are now in our own time zone on the west coast and only a few miles from Mexico.  Tempting as it is to take Ritter to Mexico to bag him country #7, we decided to just relax here with friends Cat and Rick for a few days.  We are finally over all the jet lag and things are going great. We are eating red meat again which is really, really nice.  Soon we'll head north to LA to visit Grampy and Aunt Paula and then onto Santa Barbara for a wedding. Our last flight will take us to Bend on June 9th, which will complete our Round the World adventure of 2008.  I don't know if we'll post anymore blogs under this heading, so don't be dissapointed when you find nothing more posted.  Thanks for reading. DylanCheriRitter

Wrapping things up

Ritter and the sound of music

At camp with friends after peak bagging

Ritter sacked out

The view from our campsite

Sadhus collecting offerings and making music

Ritter in the backpack

Goat

Hiking through a meadow before the hail storm

After the hail, there was rain... and a lot of it, so we took refuge under a boulder with our umbrella sheltering us as best as possible. Needless to say, it was a bit cozy!

Today we are headed to Delhi on a sleeper bus that we have heard is a nightmare. Super bumpy, very hot, short bed stalls and a very long ride. We shall see if the rumors are true, but I hope they are not.
The past few weeks have been spent doing day hikes in the Himachal Pradesh valley to see waterfalls, mountain peaks and getting to know the nearby villages. One day we distributed hundreds of Hindi gospel tracts in several villages that may not have ever heard the gospel. We didn't have a translator with us, so we had to rely on the tracts alone to share the Good News- in some ways that's better than opening our mouths.
A friend from Bend, Oregon (Ethan Burns) was in the neighborhood and stopped in Manali for a while which was great for us to see a familiar face. Together we collected the needed gear and hiked up to a gorgeous meadow at the base of a massive peak named Lamdung. The hike up was super steep and we got caught in a hailstorm and a lot of rain, but we had a good umbrella so Ritter was warm, dry and cozy in his backpack. We set up camp in the wildflower-packed meadow with breathtaking views. The next day, Dylan and Ethan slogged towards the summit, but were denied summitting due to a big cornice 100 yards below the top. Once they got back to camp, I left to summit a smaller peak "Lamdung Jr." and scrambled back to camp for dinner.
It was a great way to wrap up our time here in Manali. We have really enjoyed our time here and are sad to go. We've made lots of good friends, both locals and travelers that we are sad to leave behind. We have a lot of traveling ahead of us which is never easy with a child, but we'll be back in Bend soon enough.

Playing a game of chess and New York coffee compliments of Heather Dunton
Snack break on a long hike to a nearby summit
Cheri sharing the gospel with a gal from Holland while Ritter naps
Dylan's 31st birthday complete with breakfast, climbing magazines and a coupon for a free day of climbing with wife as belay slave

Intense evangelism

These past few days have been intense. We are purposefully going out daily to engage in conversation to see where people are at spiritually. So many travelers are here in India seeking "spirituality" and looking into all kinds of religions. I'd say the number one group of travelers in India are Israelies. They are fresh out of the army (usually) and are experiencing new found freedom. The last few days we have gotten to know a couple from Israel that have been very open in sharing their beliefs (or lack thereof) and about their Jewish history. We have learned a lot from them and our conversations have been very interesting. In some ways, it's easy to talk about God and the Bible because we believe in the same God and the Old Testament. The challenging part is (obviously) the issue of Jesus. We believe He is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel to the Jews and Gentiles alike. They are still waiting for their messiah and are not sure what he will look like when he does come. We were able to share our testimony with them and the gospel. Most Jews will tell you that they have not been taught who Jesus is, so they have no opinions of him. That was also the case of three Isralies that we had lunch with today. They wanted to hear who Jesus is and how He has changed our lives. They heard the full gospel and were confronted with the issue of salvation. They told us they were challenged by what they heard and that they wanted to read the New Testament in Hebrew. Dylan is off to a friend's coffee house that has free copies in order to give the gospel to them before they head out of town.
All that to say, we are challenged by those around us. Those that come from a background very foreign to us (Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, New Age, etc) have brought great conversations and opportunities for us to share God's Word with them. If they do not want to continue in the conversation, then the subject is changed. Our desire is to obey God's word by scattering seeds and share the Good News and hope that we have in Jesus. Some people are open, some are not, but the results are up to the Lord. Please continue to pray for us. Pray for the heart of those that we speak with will be open, that the seeds will fall on fertile ground and that they would seek to know Jesus in a personal way.

Video of Ritter doing stuff

Lots of Mountain Pictures from our trek

We're back from 2 nights and 3 days of some really fun camping and hiking in the Himalaya mountains. Basically we rented a 4 person/ 20 pound tent and got some food and a stove and hopped in a taxi and went north 15 miles to a campground where we set up shop. Then we lazed around a lot while Ritter napped and drank tea and coffee from New York and played chess. Somewhere in there we managed to do a couple of hikes, one of which was up Turmundo Peak. It was seriously out of this world beautiful the entire time. The views of the surrounding peaks and valleys were absolutely stunning. The pictures below don't do it justice. On the way down we skied on our feet when we found patches of snow. Needless to say it was really fun. Heather had to fly home to New York today. Well actually in typical Indian fashion the flight was cancelled and in order to make her New York flight on time she is currently taking a 12 hour taxi ride south to the airport in Delhi. We already miss her. Ritter even wandered into her hotel room a few times this afternoon to look for her. So we have 3 more weeks left here in Manali. We are excited to do some more hikes and camping in the surrounding areas. More to come...

Newlywed woman with Henna art on her hands and feet

Crazy little boy

Playing chess at camp

Climbing team
Hanuman Tibba
Campsite Unbeknownst to us Ritter actually opened the camera case, turned on the camera and somehow took this self portrait while he was supposed to be napping in the tent!
Then he fell asleep

Hanuman Tibba 19,400 ft.
Cheri and Heather celebrating on the summit
Our campground is in the valley beneath Hanuman Tibba
Manali is in the valley in the distance
Dylan walking a grassy ridge

Turmundo Peak 13,123 ft,

Cheri having fun on the descent
Heather and Cheri slogging in the Himalaya

Zorbing

Valley up to waterfall
More sweet Himalayan peaks
Dylan and Cheri
Hanging out in a meadow

Hiking up hill with the Zorb
It was raining a little
Temple Pundit
What would an update be without a picture of Ritter?
Yesterday we went up to a ski resort village called Solang 10 miles north of Manali to hike and do some evangelism. Cheri and Heather jumped into a large rubber ball called a Zorb and were pushed down the hill like hampsters. See the video for a better idea of what I mean. I opted not to go, instead saving his money for a nice Tandoori chicken dinner. They said it was really fun and would just eat some of my chicken anyways! We then trekked up to a Hindu temple beneath a waterfall and got into a few really amazing conversations with some Indian men. They all took gospel literature and went away with some serious questions to ask themselves about where they will be spending eternity. We've got about a month left in India before we head home and it seems to be flying by to quickly. As always, things are great here! Dylan