Another drive . . . to Champa

After the last long drive we took to Madhepura, I was eagerly waiting for the next drive. And came the opportunity yesterday to drive to Champa. 

After much research, the following was the route that we took. 

Google maps showed us that the distance was 436 kilometers. Our odometer showed 470 kilometers. We had started off at 5:30 am and was in Champa by 3:00 pm.

The return was by a different route. 

Here, google maps showed 432 kilometers, but our odometer showed 500 kilometers. We took some more time for the return trip as we took more time to rest on the way back. We started at 5:30 am and reached NJH at 4:00 pm. 

Personally, I preferred the road we used for the return trip. However, there was new road construction in the former route which could change things soon. 

And the reason for the trip. To bring the Grace babies heroes to NJH . . . Wendy and Jerry would be at NJH for a week. 

Well, watch out for the next post on the Champa Christian Hospital. 

Before I sign off, a few snaps from the trip . . . 

We left before dawn and witnessed the beautiful sunrise over the Ranka hills

Entering Chattisgarh . . .

The smooth roads were a welcome relief

Something you'll find only in this part of the country

A common sight in most of North India at this point of time.
There has been a bumper harvest this year . .. ...

Guava orchard . . .

We went through dangerous stretches of forest areas. Here is a signboard warning us of elephants.
There was another place where there was a warning about bears. Unfortunately, we never saw any wild animal

A very good restaurant in Ambikapur . . . Recommended . . . 

Madhepura Christian Hospital . . .

Snaps of the Madhepura Christian Hospital where we had our Regional Administrative Council for 2012.  We drove from NJH and had a really great time of driving through Bihar . . . Good food and great sights . . . You can read more about the place and the work going on at Dr. Augustine's blog.

The front of the hospital. A patient's relative has arrived on horseback. 

The morning devotions. The nurses are mostly from the NJH Nursing School . . .

The registration and billing section. . .

The new Intensive Care Unit . . . 

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit . . . Awaiting a pediatrician . . .

For nursing mothers . . . 

Female ward . . . 

Male ward . . .

A working typewriter . . . Something rare nowadays . . .

Owner's pride, neighbour's envy . . .  Read neighbour as NJH . . .

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I had the opportunity to visit Madhepura sometime in October, 2004. I happened to find the snaps taken during that time.

Dr. Dinesh and Sr. Shannon in the Outpatient Department.
They presently serve at Kacchwa Christian Hospital, another unit of Emmanuel Hospital Association

Morning devotions . . . 

Morning devotions  .. .. ..

Dr. Dinesh with one really old autoclave . . . 

Another snap from the OPD . . . 

Grand rounds . . . 

My room. Electricity was sparse. So, the hurricane lamp . . ,

The old incinerator . . . 

A century old X-Ray machine . . .

The pharmacy . .. ...

Another snap of the grand rounds . . . 

Sr. Shannon seeing patients in the outpatient . . . .

The store . . . 

Dr. Dinesh operating . . . 

The old Tuberculosis Wards . . . 

Another view of the grand rounds . . . 

Final say about the place . . . Another of the EHA units with a great potential. Being situated in a district headquarters, there is potential for the place being developed in almost all specialities. Kindly pray for this place that more young men and women in the healthcare field would feel led by the Lord to come and serve. 

The drive back . .. ...

After the drive to Madhepura, we were all quite excited about the drive back. Excited because we were planning to take a different route. However, just before starting, we came to know that we could not drive the new planned route as there was a snag in a bridge on the way. The route we were planning was through Barauni and Bihar Sharif. But, that did not materialise. 

Well, below is the map of our drive to Madhepura from NJH. It was 544 kilometers and took us a total of 16 hours including rest hours. 

NJH to Madhepura Map

The drive back to NJH took us only 14 hours but we took a different route from Patna to Gaya. It totalled 602 kilometers. According to google maps it should have taken us 9 hours and 25 minutes. It took us 14 hours including time taken for rest and for buying vegetables at Chandwa. 

Madhepura to NJH road map

Below are the snaps from the journey. 

A pile up on the highway to Dharbhanga. There was a car inside the pile up (not seen in the snap). 

Alloo (potato) parathas for breakfast. It was so good and sumptous that we did not stop for lunch. 

The team sans Mr. Tapeswar and me enjoying the food. 

Sweets in the dhabha. There was good cottage cheese (paneer) also available. 

Guinea pigs in the dhabha

For those of you who would like to savour the alu parathas.
It's about 20 kms from Patna on the right side of the highway to Muzaffarpur.

Can you believe the name of this railway station. Can think of quite a lot of stories on how the name came. 

Traditional sweets called Tilkut in Gaya

Of course, we had roads like this, but was much better comparing to the drive to Madhepura

The majority of the roads were like this . . . 

Another interesting name of a village. Jabara . . . means 'jaw' in Hindi.
We also had one place called Masauda which means 'gums' in Hindi. 

Indian highways are not complete without goats, cows or buffaloes on the road.
However, quite dangerous. 

Tomato farm. From the nearby market we got about 10 kilograms of fresh tomato. 

The government's definition of development. The new power plants coming up at Chandwa. 

Well, we're already planning on how to make the most of the next meeting in one of the nearby units. Travelling by road has been a great experience.