We found out that there was a passenger ferry liner that plied between Singapore and Calcutta called the Chitundrum. It was very cheap and maybe we would get it for free but we would have to wait 3 weeks for it. This vessel had also caught fire and had been refitted. The passengers who mainly slept on deck in terrible conditions would dangerously cook their meals on little stoves on the wooden deck often with disastrous results like the ferry on lake Nasser and now this one.
The second night we did not push our luck by trying the Mandarin again but settled for the 4 star Phoenix which was also donated to us and we were very thankful.
We continued to look for faster opportunities of crossing the Indian Ocean in reverse so to speak but were not successful. I have to admit that for me the adventure was pretty much over and I wanted to reach India as soon as possible. Maybe I was going to make a big mistake. That last afternoon I dropped into a travel agency that were offering very cheap flights to Colombo and then change flight to Trivanderum in Southern India.
For about 50 $ each we purchased our air tickets to India. As I look back I feel sure that we could have continued and done quite well in Singapore but it was not the objective. India was, on the other hand and let's remember there was those millions of dollars worth of personal possessions rotting away on the quayside at Bombay waiting to be stolen. As you can tell as I try to recapture the moment of 24 years ago, my faith was running out. I was drying up. Irmgard my faithful wife and always willing follower like Sancho Panza too was getting tired. The tension of this actually really good fun and exciting life was beginning to pale. We missed our family of missionaries with whom we had had no contact for three months and so we boarded our plane to Colombo after getting one more free night's stay in the YMCA. So from 5 star, 4 star and then the YMCA was hardly a spiritual progression but more like a retreat.
There is one last little touch of a reward from the spiritual world that I would like mention as a way of finishing up this story.
We arrived in Trivanderum airport terminal in Southern India after spending a night in Colombo with someone we met witnessing and I was feeling a bit lost and looked around shooting up our usual arrow chat prayers to Jesus and spotted someone who turned out to be a Catholic Christian. He took us home and put us up for the night before catching our train to Bombay. He gave us a really nice meal and like I explained we always had wine for meals. That had been the promise in Isaiah chapter 55 verse 1. Do you remember?
Well now that we were in India I was prepared to let the Lord off the hook and I would quite understand if there was no more wine after meals.
We finished our meal and our host suddenly asked if we would like to try out some of his home made wine? Yes we did stay a few days with Vinod's Uncle and Aunt and guess what? That extremely valuable and important heavy luggage did not arrive for another four weeks. We were also able to hand in nearly 3000 US$ to our very grateful Missionary organisation.
I would like to thank you for coming with me on this Incredible Journey but let us all remember we are all on an incredible journey. Whether you choose to travel with or without that powerful DIVINE HAND, that proved Himself time and time again, or not, depends entirely on your own personal choice... The journey will end for all of us sooner or later... Think about it! It is a most important consideration.
THE END or to be continued?
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