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The Team:
-----Original Message----- Marathon Report by Martin Bray By pure coincidence, myself and Himalaya 22 found ourselves at Everest base camp three days before the Tenzing Hilllary Everest Base camp Marathon was due to start. One of our porters had decide he wanted to enter it having run it last year and I casually asked if I could do it too, not really expecting anything to come of it. Of course these things do rollercoaster and next day I found myself in the organisers' office signing up. Now I've never actually run a marathon before, in fact I've never run more than 5 km before, let alone at altitude, but it seemed like a cool thing to do. And when you've got a group of Venturer's to impress, that's good enough reason in itself! We had got the team up Kal Pattar and to Base Camp and with them about to descend, it was perfect timing for me to stay on for two days and run. 250 US dollars was a lot of money to enter, but then I would get to spend a night at base camp and I did get a free T-shirt. The t-shirt actually had the date of another marathon in Llasa on it, but this is Nepal. Besides I figured I could just about walk the distance in 12 hours if I had too. So I said goodbye to Himalaya 22 on the Friday as they headed for Namche. It would take them three days to get to Namche via a much shorter route. Spend a rather boring weekend at Gorak Shep and set the world record for the number of games of scrabble played above 5000 m. I also had to walk to base camp on the Saturday for a medical and then return. Rather tedious. The view was very good from Kala Pattar, so I popped half way up for another couple of photos of Everest. On the Sunday I walked half way up Kala again and at three, myself and Jangbu, my porter who was also running the race, did our final walk up to base camp. There was a good atmosphere at base camp, but I tried to keep a low profile amongst the company of lots of other marathon runners and tri-athletes with specialist kit. I had a crummy old pair of trainers that cost about 25 quid and had just about worn out during the previous four months in India and Nepal. "What's your best marathon time?", was an obvious question asked of me. "Um..., well,..I haven't actually done one before." was the reply. I'm sure many thought I was suffering from serious insanity caused by altitude. Anyway, one final meal of Dhal Bhat and an early night. Initially it was very cold sleeping in tents at base camp, but we got to sleep OK. I woke up at 6 am and it was not as cold as I thought it might be. Breakfast for me consisted of four slices of white bread, half frozen and a Twix! I packed my bag, cut the bottoms off my thermal trousers to make some running shorts and I was ready to go. The start was crazy. We all (160 odd) piled into the flattest area we could find at base camp and they fired the gun. I had enough time to take a quick photo of most of the Nepalese disappearing into the distance, before the thought occurred to me that perhaps I should start running too. I didn't see any of the other foreigners on the way out of base camp. Fortunately I knew the route out having walked it on two previous occasions. It's glacier terrain all the way, but I seemed to be pretty nimble on my feet. As was coming into Gorak Shep at at the 5 km mark, I was greeted with cries of "second foreigner." Since the first foreigner was now only twenty metres ahead at this point, I began to get deluded with thoughts that I could actually win the foreigners race. Another 5 km until Lobuche and where I thought it would be flatter on the path. Of course it wasn't! But I just seemed to keep running. Running is perhaps the wrong description as if one were to actually run properly, you could do yourself some serious mischief, but I managed to hop, skip and jump my way through the boulder fields. I held second foreign place until just before Dingboche, the half way point, when I was passed by Rory one of two Scots running in Kilts, but fortunately immediately I regained it when first place Tom (army stock), from the UK had a rather long toilet stop. Tom the eventual winner passed me again at Tengboche. At this point the trainers were starting to pinch, but I still felt reasonably good. How ever, after Tengboche the course descends to about 3200, well below Namche and the there is a 600 metre ascent up to Khumjung. Who ever thought of sticking a 600 metre climb at the twenty mile stage of a marathon needs a serious talking to. I walked up as quickly as I could, (you just can't even think of running it,) but it wasn't fast enough, and I was gutted to be passed by another army chap from the UK, Tristan. But the time was good, only just over five hours and a finishing time of just over 6 hours was in sight. Finally I reached Khumjung, where, to my surprise, I passed Rory, who was not looking to good. The last steep climb passed the Hillary school. If I can just reach the crest, it's downhill all the way and I can hold third. Alas, I was doubly gutted when, Ryan, a medical student from the US suddenly appeared behind me about 50 metres from the top looking as fresh as a daisy. He roared passed me, blowing my ambitions of a medal. But there was still a decent time to be had. There was no better sight than the delight of seeing Namche Bazaar as I came over the final hill crest. "Head for the yellow roof monastery", the race organisers had said. "It's really obvious". It blatantly wasn't as I wound my way down the numerous paths to Namche. But I did find the last check point and did my final dash through the streets of Namche, trying to find the actual finish point. Not as straight forward as you might think and I had to shout for directions from the locals. Four mars bars and about 8 litres of water since I left base camp, I finally crossed the line in a time of 6 hours, 19 minutes and 32 seconds, as the fourth placed foreigner, which the night before would have been beyond my wildest dreams, but in reality I was rather disappointed to have missed out on a medal. I was still feeling great at the end. Unfortunately Himalaya 22 group, who were awaiting me with banners and had all dressed up in their thermals to welcome me, had gone to lunch and so missed my arrival. They hadn't expected me for some time to come, but to be honest I hadn't expected to be there at that point either! I was about 15 minutes behind Tom and probably came in behind about 100 Nepali runners. The winning Nepali time was just over 3 and a half hours. Absolutely awesome. Myself and Jangbu got a nice big chocolate cake with our times on, though it didn't last very long. Would I do it again, absolutely. It was an amazing experience to take part in an event like that through such awesome mountainous scenery. Thanks to Bridget and my team of venturers who gave me the encouragement to take part and gave me a great welcome back in Namche and also to the guides at Himalayan Encounters without whom we wouldn't have got to Base camp in the first place.
From: Hannah May Himalaya 22 have finally got to India! We arrived at Delhi airport at 7am and after settling into the hotel we found the energy to go on an adventure in an autorickshaw to the tourist office to get a map. Not that exciting I hear you say... you clearly have not been driving in India. It was an experience. The only two rules of the road here seem to be:
On our first full day in Delhi we went to see a few famous landmarks- India Gate, Gandhi's tomb, the Mosque in Old Delhi and then onto biggest Hindu temple in the new part of the city. Some of us then grabbed some cycle rickshaws and were taken on a tour of the backstreets and market's of Old Delhi. The man taking Lucy and I was very small and at the end of our trip said, 'Tip please, I work very hard...' He had a point! After the hustle and bustle of the city it was lovely to escape on the first train out to Rishikesh on Monday morning. Rishikesh is a sacred city for Hindu's which sits alongside the Ganges in the foothills of the Himalaya's. It is tiny but very busy and yet again full of cows! The first day we went white water rafting and jumped off a big rock. Not strictly in the spirit of the place but fun anyway! However, our dip in the river did have a strange effect on Him 22 and we have all gone a bit hippy. We arose serenely at 6.30am everyday to do an hour and a half of yoga and developed a liking for floaty and interesting clothes! We also got some sitar and tabla (Indian drum) lessons from two very talented brothers as well as seeing the most amazing Hindu ceremony by the side of the Ganges. However, the peace and calm was shattered on Wednesday when we started "The Day of Death". To cut a long story short we did a seven hour hike up a bloody big hill to an ashram. It hurt, we moaned, but the sense of achievement was considerable, especially when Martin told us (with the help of his space age watch) that we had in fact climbed the equivalent of Ben Nevis! We felt it was only fair that after this we were able to indulge ourselves a little by going up to a local restaurant to have cooking lessons and a very big slice of banoffie pie, apple pie and chocolate cake. This momentous day has since been christened "Pudding Day". With a hint of sadness we left Rishikesh to go back to Delhi on the Monday. When we arrived back Bridget and Martin let us plan the next couple of days. We did some serious shopping and the few of us who had not yet been claimed by 'Delhi Belly' then had a mini adventure round the old city bazaars (I think we were the only girls we saw!) On Tuesday we went to Huyunaman's tomb which is pretty amazing. It was built for one of the old Mughal emperors and I think it is just about the quietest place in the city. However, the highlight of my day (and quite possibly the whole trip) was our trip to the Regal cinema. We went to see Aksar, the Bollywood epic containing "Seduction, Suspense, Scandal". Nicole and I can now quite safely say it is our favourite film. We didn't get the finer nuances of the script but rather handily the important lines like "You dirty rotten scoundrel" were said in English. The plot was the most outrageous thing ever committed to celluloid and ended with a covered up murder with a ceremonial sword which was uncovered with the clever use of a secret camera, a bouncy ball and a glass of wine. All this in Hindi with several song and dance numbers. Brilliant! Yesterday, we ventured off to Agra at 4am to see the Taj Mahal. Again, absolutely amazing. Not really how I expected it but brilliant none the less. We sat on the lawn and watched the sun set on it before nearly missing our train due to an impromptu parade by the locals complete with marching brass band. We are now in Diu, a little beach resort in Gujarat relaxing with a few Kingfisher's and a BBQ.Life couldn't get much better! Soon we are off to our development project where we will be helping to renovate a village school, so we need all the relaxation we can get! We'll write again soon! Hannah, Himalaya Venture 22. xxx
From: Lucy Child Well our stop at Diu was definitely worth it; we all needed some time by the beach and a few beers, thanks to Bridget who put it on the intinerary, a must for future groups. It's a very small place but some great places to eat, and you can hire bikes to cycle around the island, then stop off at the shell museum; very interesting with over 200,000 shells collected by a sea captain whom you can get your picture taken with at the end! We are now on the project in Jodhpur and all is going really well. The guesthouse is great and the people are so nice. Our village welcome was incredible; camel rides, dancing with the locals (Martin donned a very attractive turban for this!), watching the opium ceremony, and the cycle there wasn't as bad as we thought! Holi festival was last week and some of us are still trying to get the paint off. Nicole and I (being the only blondes) are rapidly loosing our cool with the pink hair look! Warning for others: cover your hair and vaseline your whole body! The day was good fun, we didn't venture out of the guesthouse Though as we were told it would be a bit dangerous, but we still had a laugh with Sanjay and Lovely. We made a weekend trip to Pushkar and did lots of shopping, ate lots of western food (its greatly missed at the moment!) and watched the sunset and sunrise, which was beautiful. Pushkar was nice but we were glad to leave and get back to Mandore. Thats all for now, more soon Lucy
-----Original Message-----
From: Billie Coverly
Hope this is all ok- enjoy! Billie
Goodbye lovely Guest house, Hello hot stuffy train! We were all up incredibly early the morning, we sadly left Mandor Guest house and were off to catch a train to Jaiselmer. After a long journey we were all pleased to arrive at our hotel which was named 'Hotel Paradise'. Several people even said 'welcome to paradise' as we walked in, so it must have been true! It was in a spectacular location, within the walls of the old fort and high up, so we could see out over the desert where we would be trekking in the following days! Saturday morning, we all crammed into a jeep and set off for the desert to meet our camels. So, we clambered aboard our camels in a most inelegant way and set off for the horizon... Camel riding is fantastic fun for about the first 20 minutes and after that it's quite fun but very painful. 5hrs 40mins to go! Having said this life could be worse; kicking back on a camel while watching the desert landscape drift by and listening to my music, I can cope with that. Post lunch camel trekking, for me, could have been better. After a combination of eating too much (my fault I know but the food was good!) and a little motion sickness, I felt quite ill but, thought I could still cope with sitting on a camel... Turns out I was wrong! On the plus side I can now claim I have been sick off the side of a camel- more than once! I would also like to report that everyone else was still having a great time and on arrival at camp all went off diving down sand dunes. Sounds cool! After an amazing night spent camping under the stars, all alone, except perhaps, the wild dogs and dung beetles, we set off for our second but last day of trekking. We were aching slightly by now, but bumped along on top of the camels which were actually running today because they were carrying a lot less! I think I would describe this as one of the most painful but hilarious things I have ever done. There are no stirrups to speak of so you just cling on to the reigns, grip with your thighs and hope for the best! We arrived back at our hotel early that afternoon and after a bit of relaxing went off to explore the fort and do some serious shopping. This is a must whilst in Jaiselmer, the textiles are beautiful. The following day we left Jaiselmer on another train. This time bound for Bandhavgarh...
From: "Will Morgan" After a quick stopover in Delhi, at our old friend the 'Armpit Palace' hotel, Himalaya 22 set off again for Bandhavgarh National park, by yet another epic overnight train journey. Most of us seem to enjoy the experience of Indian trains almost as much as the destinations they lead to. We always seem to end up getting to know some of the Indian passengers, mainly because it's the best way to find out when the stop is - announcements and station signposts are unheard of, of course. We consider ourselves now fairly experienced users of the Indian rail... Some of us are now even capable of getting a decent night's sleep on the overnight trains, despite the 24 hour shouts from the salesmen of "Garam Chai!" (tea) or"Breakfast!" (at 4am. Not the best breakfast time.) So we arrived at the beautiful "Mogli" jungle resort just outside the park, and had a day to relax (what a luxury!) before beginning our 3-day safari, co-ordinated by the man with the most disturbing laugh on the planet, Mr Vijay. He also didn't seem to sleep - he was always there when we woke up at 4.30am for the morning safari, and was still up long after we'd given up for the evening. Despite this, his knowledge of the park seemed to surpass that of many of the compulsory park guides who we picked up each morning at the park gates, and he was often instructing them where to take us. Whatever it was, it seemed to work, as we had several spectacular tiger sightings, including one when a mother and her 2 cubs crossed the road in front of us! The open-topped jeeps gave us just the right amount of insecurity to keep it constantly exciting. One of the jeeps (we were split up between two) caught the very rare sight of a sloth bear. Not the one I was in. The jealousy. We also took an elephant ride with one of the "scouts" who locate the tigers in the places the jeeps can't reach... The tiger had moved on, it seemed, and we missed her on that occasion, but it was a great ride through the jungle. It's amazing how high a level of control the elephant guides have on their elephants - on command, the elephant would use her trunk to pull branches out of the way so they didn't hit us! As well as the tigers, the atmosphere of the park was what made it great. And the other wildlife was amazing too, including jackals, snakes, vultures, and the bird of everyone's favourite Indian beer, the Kingfisher. Again we find ourselves sad to leave a place - it seems to happen every time we go anywhere (except Agra. The Taj is spectacular, but *no-one* likes the town it's stuck in...) Anyway, we were then off to Allahabad, to begin our boat trip into Varanasi, India's most sacred city (and all that jazz). At Allahabad we stayed in an 'uninspiring' hotel, but met Nazir, who would be helping organise our next phase, and who seemed to know everything and everyone, everywhere. Our stay in Allahabad was made less inspiring by the realisation that our plans for Nepal later were looking unlikely (because of the political situation flaring up quite spectacularly there). So that was not the best night of the trip so far. Even if it were the worst night ever, the boat trip the following day made any worries pale into insignificance. It was simply the most relaxing experience anyone could ever have. We spent 2 days floating down the Ganges, in a couple of nice little old sailing boats, and whole extra boat as a kitchen (yes, they got the priorities right). The night in between was spent on an island, with sandy beaches, and a starry sky to almost rival the night we spent in the desert. We had an evening of stupid games on the island, aided slightly by the Kingfishers that the cooks very helpfully buried in the sand to keep cold(ish). We left the boats the following day,feeling incredibly well looked-after, and ready to tackle the fascinating but "difficult" experience of Varanasi head on... To be continued. Himalaya 22 (WM) [Having a brilliant, and spectacularly unpredictable time.]
-----Original Message----- The hotel in Varinasi was fantastic! It was a true palace; the swimming pool provided the cool down we all needed after the sweaty coach journey to Varinasi. The evening proved to be entertaining, there was a truely pumping party in our palace playing all the classic Hindi and English hits. This combined with free drinks aided our indian man dancing! Varinasi it self was not as dirty as many make it out to be. The ghats were a site to behold seen from a small fishing boat in the early hours of the morning. We had a facinating time wandering round the back streets trying 'Paan' along the way, not to everyone's taste but great to try. The day trip to Sarnath was also worth the trip. It was our first time seeing a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery which made a change from the gordy Hindu Temples. The train journey to Kolkata is one that shall stay with us all for a long time. It was hot hot hot and very sweaty! Miss Buck proved her self to be worthy of the projectial vomiting queen award! During the two hour wait for our train, half the group were passed out in various glamorous poses on Varinasi train station while the others wasted away time purchasing Bhawany singing rabbits to keep the group moral semi concious. After more waiting and sweating at the other end for a cab to our hotel, Camac Palza, our spirits were lifted with a great oxford book shop, India's answer to starbucks and eating some chocolate easter eggs. On the more cultural side we did some extreme site seeing. It felt like home being at the hotel in the evening as we watched Mission Impossible and had room service. The AC train journey to Darjeeling was most pleasent, for a change I think we all slept well. Maple lodge gave us a very quaint welcome to Darjeeling. We were all so excited to feel cold for a change and all rushed to buy hats and gloves. We just had enough time to sample some tea and momos and sort out permits before we had to travel to Yuksum for our treck. 7 hours of fantastic views from our bus to Yuksum; rolling hills and dramaic dark hills. After crossing the border to Sikkim we approched the bridge of death. A strut had bent out of shape and was being replaced before we crossed. We did however manage to reach the other side without putting our escape plan into action. Our Lodge for the night was a charecterful hut; a room with a view indeed. We all popped down the road for chi and tibetan bread and honey and tomba the local beer - served in great big bamboo mugs and toped up with hot water. We all went to bed very excited and nervous about the adventure and leeches to come! Georgia Himalaya 22
-----Original Message-----
Bethan
So we left Yuksum at eight the next morning after comparing the weights of our bags - we were all apprehensive about having to carry all of our stuff which was really tough for the first few days but we got used to it quickly. The first day was a hard 6 hour up-hill haul through early monsoon rain to a little shack where we spent the night. To make the day easier we gave each other parts from lord of the rings, when you have a lot of time to think without any distractions apart from a landscape with a strange likening to Lord of the rings - that is what happens.
The second day was really short but very steep, after only a few hours walking we got to a small mountain village. We were camping in the garden of an old couple's house and that afternoon with time to kill we ended up sitting out of the rain in the kitchen of the tiny house. We taught our guide and a few of the porters to play Cheat (Gullatoua in Hindi) and in return they taught us the Hindi/Nepali numbers as we played. Then we literally spent hours with the porters teaching each other magic tricks, card tricks and drinking the Tomba, it was really good fun. We soon retired to bed falling asleep to the various farmyard sounds around us.
The third day started very amusingly with Nicole falling head first and rolling all the way down the hill by the toilet. After that it was another long day, half way through which we got to snow...our imaginations took a new turn and we were now in Narnia - and it really did feel like it - it got snowier and snowier until we reached a point where it was 4 foot deep snow on an empty plain - we did snow angels - made a snow man and had the biggest snow ball fight ever. It was awesome but very very cold and we soon carried on trudging through the thick snow. It seemed to go on forever, but eventually we got to where we were camping (yes, that's right - camping in the snow). It was the coldest most uncomfortable night ever, we tried to amuse ourselves by helping the cook make Momo's and reading to each other from Roald Dahl's short stories. Unsuccessful though, we had very little sleep that night. The only highlight for me being Hannah and my 'squattie' wash with a bowl of hot water in our tent. We spent the whole time sitting frozen cold in our underwear in collapsed hysterics, its strange what you find funny when you are in that situation.
Early the next morning we were woken to climb a peak a few hundred feet higher than our camp to see the view. It was really stunning but the walk was hard work and a few of us were getting the first signs of acute altitude sickness. Anyway - after a fairly romantic breakfast on the side of a mountain in the falling snow we got ahead of the yaks and started our walk through the thick and fast setting snow. We carried on for hours and then started a really big downhill fall right down to cross the river which was stunning. Incredible raging rapids that ran the whole way through the mountains. We then had a big climb to get to the next camp site - on a snowy field in the middle of the most breath taking mountains - we were right near the peaks and just above us rose the top of a mountain over 6000 foot high. We spent the evening chatting and generally laughing in the tent, wearing spandex and doing French plaits in Will's hair which is now way longer then Hannah's.
The next morning we slowly made our way to our final destination, our base camp if you will. It wasn't so snowy here as the sun had been shining and it hadn't snowed since the morning. Although as soon as the tents had been put up a crazy blizzard began and after spending an hour and a half in the tent we came out to see a complete winter wonderland - everything was covered with feet of snow and the river which ran by our camp looked amazing. As the snow clouds cleared our peak was revealed to us - 4600 feet high it touched the sky and was really really beautiful.
The next morning we were up leaving camp at 4 to climb the mountain in time for sunrise. We set of in the dark - as it gradually got light we struggled our way up the tough snow thick peak. The climb was definitely worth it and we got there just in time to see the sun hit the peaks surrounding us. We did what we had to do - stood absolutely frozenly staring in awe at the view then we messed around in the snow until our tummy's started rumbling and we could no longer feel our toes, and we headed back down.
That day was a really nice walk the path was fairly flat and despite the clumsier of us stacking it a few times we made good progress. It was a long day back down to the river crossing where we stayed in a hut. We spent the afternoon singing and dancing with the porters outside by the river. Billie was teaching me some new Poi moves and before long we had an audience of all of the cooks and porters etc - We started teaching them all the moves, to the cat calls and shouts of their on looking friends - it was very funny and only got better when Nazir stepped up and did Poi whilst singing and dancing in a very camp manner to the tune - 'its the time to disco'. Hours of fun and
amusement before we all got down into bed for our bed time story and sleep.
The next day was a long hard walk through jungle terrain again though up-hill this time, then a very long and steep down hill. By the evening we had reached where we had stayed at the old couple's garden - this time we got places in a little youth hostel type place. By the evening we were tired - in our thermals and layers on ready for bed we were brushing our teeth on the balcony when from within the dining room we heard the guys start to sing, we peeped round the corner and they were beginning to dance. We watched from the dark doorway when all of a sudden we were dragged into the room and danced and sang for hours. They sung us Nepali songs and we sang them Queen. The evening was great, the dancing was so much fun and the mountain drinks were out in force again! It was now time for our last day of trekking - a very full day, we started earlier then usual and walked till dusk, it was really good fun, up and down hill - through the remaining mountains. We stopped for lunch at a waterfall where we had a dip and washed our hair in the icy cold water. Back in Yuksum we were taught a card game by the non-English speaking yak men. It was very amusing and the night soon began. Pema and Nazir returned from the village with yet more mountain drinks and a lot of singing and dancing later, most of the guys went to bed leaving all of us, Pemma, Pratik and the cooks helper singing our hearts and lungs out - eventually getting to bed late and sleeping soundly in happy warm contentment.
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The day I stared death in the face.
So, I made it into Nepal! After several bumpy Jeep rides and a night at the border, we found ourselves in Chitwan National Park. It was very hot, very beautiful and very empty. We were practically the only tourists we saw while we were there as many people are still fearful of coming back in. That suited us fine as we didn't have to queue for anything and had the whole place to ourselves. The night we arrived started with a quick talk of the animals of the park, a.k.a a simple guide to the vast array of things that want to kill or mane you. Only last week the guide who spoke to us had been chased up a tree by a rhino and attacked by a bear.
We went to bed full of confidence and awoke early the next morning feeling even better when we realised our guides were armed against the marauding wildlife, with a big stick. Not ones to run from danger we started the day in the stupidest way possible with a walking safari. We took a canoe down the river, with our guide telling us how crocodiles aren't generally seen at this time of year. Then we paddled past a 5 foot Gahrial croc, eyeing us up from the reeds. Not to worry he said, they only eat fish, it's the evil marsh muggers you have to worry about. From there we wandered into the park, surrounded on each side by six feet of elephant grass and way too many rustling noises. Just as we were starting to relax, we heard a splash, a snap and a kind of growl. We pushed through the grass just in time to see a MARSH MUGGGER slip from the bank (where it had made a half hearted attempt to eat our guide) back into the water. This was all quite exciting until we realised we actually had to walk a cross the river on a precarious log. Whilst I was walking across I could see bubbles coming up from the bottom of the water. We all survived without seeing the marsh mugger, or the 'Man Eating Marsh Wiggler' as Nicole affectionately called it, and continued into the forest just in time to see a Rhino disappear into the grass! Bethan missed this as she was with our other guide who was throwing pebbles at the previously mentioned crocodile. It resurfaced and snapped at them before swimming away, allowing us all to have a minor nervous beak down.
The rest of the walk passed without event or death and we got back to the hotel just in time to get changed and bathe an elephant!!!! We rode it down to the river (no mean feat, when there isn't a saddle) where it got in, sat down and we all fell off. Not content with getting us wet that way it also squirted it-self, and us in the process, before settling down for a wash. We got to scrub the beast (not everyday you can say you have exfoliated an elephant) before walking back home again. I can safely say that it was just about the most fun I have ever had and we enjoyed it so much we went back the next day. In the afternoon we did a safari... by elephant! We trogged around in the grassland and saw two rhino's chilling in a pond, and we got about two or three metres away from them. They are really funny looking, all big, fat, armoured and scary with two hairy little ears sticking directly out of the top of their heads. To be honest, before I saw one I don't think I actually appreciated that they looked that odd. When you see a photo of them they look a bit made up! Next day we got to go to the elephant breeding centre and fed them biscuits. They are really funny, one had an itchy eye so scratched it with her trunk! They are kept locked away at night but get to roam the forest in the day because they need to get the huge amount of grass and 200 litres of water they need to drink a day from somewhere. However, in order to make them come back at night they basically make them addicted to salt! They can't resist it so come back every night for their fix.
In the evening we found our way to the local bar where they extended happy hour for us, and we all got drunk on "Monkey Gland's" and "Jungle Smile's". The barman rang all of his friends who turned up and we yet again started a disco, like we do everywhere else. We didn't go to bed until 2am, a decision we all regretted when we were up at 5.30 the next morning to watch birds. I don't even like birds, but still we all (sort of) enjoyed it and managed to have a quick nap before visiting the crocodile breeding centre (which also oddly housed a man eating tiger) and having a bit of a Jeep safari. We again spotted two rhino's, but our guide seemed more intent on pointing out the spotted pigeon in the tree above it, not cool. In between all this we managed to squeeze in a spot of shopping, as usual. I bought more souvenir's than was strictly necessary and learnt to play Bagh Chal (a Nepalese board game) from a bored local. All in all I had a brilliant time and was very sad to leave for Kathmandu, where we are now. Having said that, it's pretty cool here and it means we are leaving for a trek soon!
-----Original Message-----
Day 10. Dzongla
The following morning enjoyed a leisurely morning of views and photo shoots. The weather was clear and crisp, as we enjoyed an easy walk to our next destination, Labuche, we heard a mighty thunder and turned to see an awe-inspiring avalanche cascading down the nearby mountainside.
During a small break Hannah nicole and Bethan campaigned for martin to pay us each 1000/rupees to consume a large yak poo. There was much discussion but in the end he refused fearing for our health. On arrival at Labuche after ten days of filth Bethan, Lucy, Nicole and Hannah cracked and washed their hair in the bone chillingly cold stream under the concerned supervision of Gopi. That afternoon in preparation for base camp we crafted a banner from Hannah's travel towel and Bethan's spare scarf. Four hours of slaving later and we had the marvel before us.
After Jangbu, our porter, decided to run the Everest marathon an idea was hatched that perhaps Martin too could run the marathon him being the fit specimen that he is. There was much excitement for the marathon and base camp as we prepared to move on to Gorak Shep in the wee hours of May 25th 2006.
Day 11 - Labuche-Gorakshep
Slowly we made our way up the sloping black rock, calves burning, hearts beating we fought the altitude, morale was low as we had to leave Lucy at the half way point due to injury. As we gained height the view of Everest seemed to be drawing us to the top.
At the 5600meters the top of the world, as far as our expedition was concerned, the view was magical. We could se the ice fall stretching out below us and the summit of Everest stared dauntingly down upon our awestruck selves. In the distance below we could see the tiny colourful dots of base camp and we knew that tomorrow we ourselves would be standing in that very place that so many couragous men and women have embarked on the ultimate challenge that is Everest. Not that we would be doing the same...but at least we could see their tents.
Martin decides to do marathon possibly due to peer pressure from us but he looks happy enough and we give him chocolate.
Day 12. Base Camp
From base camp we can see the enormous serac and jagged crevasses that have claimed so many. After about an hour's photo shoot Martin and Bridget manage to surprise us with a champagne shower and we realise that Himalaya 22 has come quite a long way.
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Having had a very successful trek to Base Camp we all arrived back in Kathmandu tired after a great last night in Lukla with very little sleep and headed straight to bed. After a couple of hours kip everyone put on their team shirts and we had pre dinner champagne in the Kathmandu Guest House garden to celebrate making it to Base Camp and back again in one piece. Dinner was at the famous Rum Doodles 40,000 1/2 foot bar (a must for anyone trekking around Nepal especially if you've done Everest as you get to eat for free). There is also a very amusing novel about the mountain which is highly recommend. Included with the meal is a free cardboard foot which you can deface in any way you feel appropriate so we thought that seeing as Martin is probably the least artistic of the group he should draw portraits of us they were spectacular and I hope future Venturers check the foot out to see Martin's talent.
The next few days were spent preparing for the Last Resort and the highest commercial bungee jump in the world......166m! Finally the day had come, 6am we left the guest house donning the team shirt and took the 4 hour bus ride to the resort. Seeing the bridge for first time was stomach churning, the realisation that we would be jumping off a 200m bridge had suddenly kicked in. We were met by the bungee master (a big Nepalese man who looked way too chilled out for my liking!) who weighed us, the heaviest jumps first, and told us it was easy, just jump. Nicole was the first to jump and she sure did it in style and made it look oh so easy. The order after her was as follows; Will, the most scared, Martin, who screamed like a girl, Bethan, looked terrified, Lucy, wasn't sure why she was doing it, Hannah, loving it, Billie, way too chilled and Georgia, annoyed she had to go last.
After the jump came the Gorge swing, which is jumping off the bridge freefalling for 8 seconds then swinging through the gorge. Only Martin, Nicole, Hannah Bethan and Georgia did it but it looked amazing. The next day was canyoning, abseiling down 7 waterfalls one being 40m high, a lot of fun but not when the wetsuits came off and the leeches came out! The evening was a dance party which we seem to start everywhere we go. Tuesday was a free day, Bethan, Martin, Will and Georgia mountain biked to the Tibetan border while the rest of us sunbathed by the plunge pool and had saunas in the evening with Martin's famous German sauna trick. Wednesday was our last day and we all started the day with a bungee and a gorge swing, Billie and I decided we had to do the swing while Martin, Bethan, Georgia and Nicole did another swing and bungee. Hannah, who had slight gardia, decided to only do the swing and not the bungee, hanging upside down was not on her to do list that day! White Water Rafting was though, which was great. The river is one of the hardest white water rivers in the world so it was amazing when it started raining which made it harder to see what we were doing. We only had two minor slip ups, Billie and I falling out the raft on a rapid but Hannah and Bethan saved our lives by yanking us out of the water.
Now back in Kathmandu we are all preparing to travel on or go home, scared about both! It has been the most amazing experience of my life
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