Friday 27. February

We got a wakeup call at 5 am that somebody had ordered. The room was nice and cold, so having a woolen blanket was nice. Almost like home...not! But at least we had a shower before we got down to the reception.

The trip back to Narsapur took about 2 hours, so I had plenty of time to dream about my girlfriend. Along the road, we could often see people relieving themselves openly. And there's a lot of garbage everywhere.

We had breakfast when we arrived, eggs and toast. After breakfast we left for the beach. We went by car for about half an hour through small villages, palm groves and a kind of coniferous forest. In between, there were rice fields, and one place I saw a flock of geese guarded by a shepherd.

Sverre playing in the sand The beach revealed itself as we drove through a palm avenue. There was a smell of old fish, but it disappeared as we approached the shore. There was some wind, and there were a few large surf waves. The water was warm, maybe 25°C. Some would say it was a bit too warm to get cool. But we enjoyed the waves and had a nice time. I played in the sand with Prim and Bernhard, our indian friends.

The sun was rather strong, most of us are a bit burned here and there, even though we put suncream on. Lars Erik and Jaap got themselves turbans and the kind of trouser-skirts the Indians use, and we took a picture of them together with the Indians. We got some spectators also, as time went by, and Rolf Daniel and Christopher saw a huge, dead turtle on the beach. The ride to the beach and back was extremely bumpy, even in India.

When we got back, Benjamin shared with us his vision for the ministry and the bible school. I tried to take some notes, Maybe I'll publish them once, who knows? After he had shared what he had on his heart, we blessed and prayed for him and his wife.

Independently of what Benjamin says, we can say with an entire heart that this man is really a servant of the Lord, with his heart in the right place. The way he and his wife have treated us is simply unbelievable, being the leader of such a ministry and then spends 14 days just to take care of a bunch of "nothings" from little Norway is just fantastic. He and his wife really shows a servant's mind, and they are very god patterns to follow, both for the local pastors, who easily becomes stuck up, and not least to us. Sverre writing a letter

Afterwards, I sat on the stairs outside for a while, writing a letter to my girl friend. Perhaps I should try and call her from Hyderabad tomorrow? Yes, I will. That will be nice. Yippeee!

At the railway station in Narsapur Well, we're ready to leave now, and the first van has left with most of our luggage. Rolf Daniel is changing strings on his guitar and he wonders whether he will make it on time.

We got to the railway station and on board the train. It was pretty tight compared to NSB, the Norwegian railway, but we got inside. There was a kind of compartments, with four bunks in each, and then two bunks on the other side of the isle. They have given us bedsheets, and the coach is air conditioned.

We're eating crispbread We made ourselves comfortable in one of the compartments and had a nice time with something to eat. Crispbread, cheese on tube, chocolate spread and Prim (a Norwegian spread made from cheese) taste well for hungry travellers. Sofia has found a corner for herself, and Tone has taken her place in the upper bunk.

The toilet is the "hole-in-the-floor" kind, but it might be difficult to hit when the train is lurching. But I made it, so I'd better write a manual for visiting Indian train toilets, with advice for proper dressing etc.

Now we're going to sleep. I'm in the upper bunk, Christopher in the lower. We've got to Indians on the other side, a young man going home for vacation, and his uncle. They seem like nice people, so I guess we'll have a good nights sleep.