Buenos Aires Indulgence

I woke up just in time to meet my room mate, a wedding singer from Cordoba. I didn't have the energy to get into the advantages of being a singer performing in front of all those fluffy hearted, tear streaming, single and very available ladies. Now, the following was not a cliche.

My room was on the terrace floor and overlooked hundreds of rooftops in Palermo Soho. The sunset sky and clouds were aglow in crimson in the breezy, calm southern summer. The wedding singer (I forgot his name) told me to look down at the terrace adjacent and below us. There, in the silence of the sunset, were a middle aged couple dancing a gentle Tango completely absorbed in their trance and unaware that somebody was watching them. Not surreal. Not cliched. Real. This was my first impression of B.A.!

I stepped out of the hostel and headed to the heart of Palermo in search for something to nibble i.e. food. In my lack of knowledge of beverage sizes around here I asked for a bottle of beer. I got a 750ml monolith! I asked for a substantial amount of snacks like crisps but I got a full plate of chips! 2 classic language blunders in a row. I was ready for a hat-trick. As I had my refreshments I sat watching the young and beautiful of B.A. passing by and getting ready to get jiggy this Saturday nite. All full and tipsied up, I was ready for my 1st Argentinian steak!

And I found it at a popular Parilla (Steak house) at a major avenue in the area. The waiters were veterans (of waitering, not war!), a mark of knowledge of the cuisine, not necessarily of good service. Nevertheless the service here was good and my waiter prevented me from ordering an enormous plate of Cuban rice (of chow mein proportions!) with my "bife de chorizo"(steak) with mushrooms. Instead a small portion of rice was just enough for the steak and I overdid it by ordering a medium bottle of red wine.

Despite the 'rico' (tasty) experience this was an ill advised thing to do (no idea what possessed me....well its Porteño aka B.A. style!). In the past week I have skipped 4 time zones with a total difference of upto 9 hours and here I was eating steak at 1am. My indigestion the following day was debilitating but it still didn´t stop me from tucking into a triple decker steak sandwich for Sunday lunch for just 10 Argentinian pesos (2 pounds!)! Burp!

K.

The Trans-atlantic Diagonal Epic

The Trans-atlantic Diagonal Epic

No sooner had I adjusted to the London time zone (and a complementary cold) than I had to roll back 4 hours within 24 hours! The transatlantic diagonal epic included a 7 hour transit wait at Madrid Barajas airport courtesy of good old STA Travel making a mistake on the itinerary. My MP3 player kept me awake during the 'stuporpheric' wait at the monolith Terminal 4 (I hate airport....so monotonous and full of stressed people).

Though Iberia were good to me (I got plenty of legroom on both flights!), I was the unlucky one with the unwashed, stinky blanket. I tried to communicate this to the clearly no nonsense, veteran hostess but she made lame excuses about it being a full flight and eventually reason prevailed and I got a fresh crisp one. On long haul flights I´m not much of a talker but the Argentinian dentist who sat next to me kept my pigeon Spanish exercised but he wasn´t the classic bore-u-to-death neighbour which was such a relief. With the exception of Kenya Airways, I think that most national carriers have crap food and Iberia is one example. Comedians have done plenty of airline food gags so I will leave it at that!

At first light we were flying over the vast expanse of Brazil. It was a bit cloudy so there was not much to see at high altitude. As we descended, River Uruguay was prominent. It divides the "Entre Rios" province of Argentina from Uruguay (Entre Rios means "between rivers" being surrounded by the Rivers Parana and Uruguay. To the north are the majestic Iguazu Falls - which by the way makes Niagara Falls look like a small scale model - I will go to Iguazu to see for myself). As we headed towards the Buenos Aires (BA) Ezieza Airport we flew over the River Plata, a vast brown expanse of consolidated rivers flowing towards the Atlantic.



ENTRE RIOS PROVINCE



URUGUAY MAP



ARGENTINA MAP

Note: I´ve been to Mendoza and Cordoba already (my blogs are always 2 weeks late!!)

BA looks nice in full sun from up above. The city, like most South American cities, are symmetrically gridded with wide streets and boulevards and with long diagonals providing fast access between barrios (city districts), villas (towns) and micros (the central business district). Arriving at the airport I had probably one of the smoothest immigration experiences ever. The jolly immigration officer got excited when he realised that I am from Kenya and asked if I had some Kenyan currency (no, readers, it was not a bribe!) to show.

I spent most of the day in bed at the hostel and woke up just before the sunset.

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 8 - Final Day

Day 8

Surprise, surprise this turned out to be the official final trek day. On Day 1 a Korean trekker told me that we were fit enough to do it in 7 days. We were not far off! Today was the longest trekking day, starting at 7:30am and ending at 6pm! The steep descent and the near vertical ascent to Chomrong (the Pizza Place!) was pure agony and last nights muscle rub ointment treatment was no longer in effect. Apart from the joint crunching, the slippery surfaces as a result of last night's rain made things worse.

When we went through Chomrong a couple of days before, a chirpy and chubby lady started talking to us and with a smug grin emphasised how much of a good time she was having just sitting there watching trekkers struggling up and down the hill. I'm glad I didn´t see her again the second time round. After Chomrong, we took the newest course of the trek. Instead of passing round the Chomrong hill, we dropped rapidly into another valley past some hot springs (in our enthusiasm to cover lots of ground we didn´t bother to see them...doh!). On the way we encountered some super overloaded porters lugging mattresses, LPG tanks, beers, u name it, they carry it! Some of them looked like they came out of retirement but very agile and fit nevertheless. There is some story doing rounds there that there is a porter that does the Chomrong - ABC route everyday in a day! It´s possible but 7 days a week?! It must be a myth!

We made our last "agony" vertical descent towards a place called New Bridge and afterwards the terrain was "Nepali flat" (in Amir speak) making things bearable even though fatigue was setting in. Birethanti marked our start and finish point even though we had 20 more minutes to walk to Nayapul for fresh slaughtered and masala-d up chicken and assorted booze plus local moonshine. It´s not complete without a double dose of cheesy Nepali music videos!

Thanks for joining me on this adventure. In the words of our awesome and wise guide, Amir, it´s been "life heaven"! Very nice!

K.

PS: We rode back to Pokhara on the rooftop of a bus, true Nepali style! I got some pics to show you soon and Jason will send me a video he took of the wild and scenic ride.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 7

Day 7

The night at ABC was excruciatingly cold with not only my whole body cocooned in the sleeping bag, I had my woolly hat on and my drinking bottle played the role of the hot water bottle. It was a struggle to get the layers on to go out and view the sunrise. In all the confusion of that wee hour, I ended up walking along the edge of the glacial cliff on my own as Jason wondered off somewhere near Annapurna South and some of the other trekkers chickened out and clung within the base camp grounds. One of the others, Valerie, had just enough courage to go up to the glacial cliff and we got some photo ops with the main peaks as they were struck with bright orange and red colours.

I continued further than during our reconnaissance yesterday. The resident dog accompanied me and seemed to lead the way over the dark rocks and dry grasses. Along this route there are numerous (in fact hundreds) of memorial stone stacks with Buddhist flags. I got closer to the glaciers and the views below were awesome despite my digits and toes feeling indifferent. I didn´t realise that I was the only one outside at 7:15am (though breakfast was for 7:30am so I wanted to get my moneys worth) so Amir and Jason got worried and started to look for me. I joking said that it would have been unfortunate if I fell into the glacier with all my insurance details on me.

After brekkie and packing, I left a contact card and photo on the guest house notice board for posterity and we left ABC. The morning was glorious and the world´s healthiest hound, the ABC dog, trotted with us up to MBC. The streams were still frozen on the surface and some sun soaked frosty grasses were thawing. Today´s descent was surprisingly rapid as we went past Deurali just after 10am and had lunch at Bamboo! We spent the night in Sinuwa (that´s one days descent = 2 days ascent!!). A lot of the trekkers we were with at ABC were having problems with their joints, especially knees and ankles, a notorious effect of rapid descents with shocks to the limbs. So some stayed at guest houses further up.

The weather transformed as we entered the woods below Deurali and it started drizzling. We didn´t need to get our waterproofs on but the evening at Sinuwa was gnashingly cold. Amir sadistically announced that tonights shower will be frozen hot and so it was as there was not enough sunlight to get the panels going and heat the water. I felt so cold that, to everyone´s amazement, I started washing some of my clothes! It was not very wise as they didn't dry fast enough so I turned my backpack into a mobile washing line the following day.

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 6

Day 6

And now, the day of the ABC arrival! It was now time to push the 4000m barrier and it started with a gentle climb through tree-less, dried grass covered terrain. Rocks strewn everywhere, with fluorescent green cacti hanging for dear life underneath, with the ever flowing rapids and the hills snow laden, this scene resembled an abandoned planet. As winter approaches, the snow line drops soon to meet the tree line. The dry and thinner air made the gradual incline feel like a steep climb. In fact I consumed 2 litres of water before our first tea break at Fishtail Base Camp!

The theatre of mountains beckoned us not long after and we saw the first stream of trekkers leaving ABC after viewing the sunrise. Annapurna III glowed in the sunlight, before the rays reached us, and its presence indicated the location of Fishtail Base Camp (MBC). There were quite a few misnomers here. We had tea at the "Gurung Co-operative Guest House" but the guide said that it is not actually a co-operative (I'm getting used to over-the-top naming of guest houses). According to the Hindu customs, Fishtail (Macchapucchare) mountain is holy and climbing it is prohibited. So I didn´t bother to ask why we were in its base camp(!!). So, this was out last stop before ABC. The journey for today took just 4 hours but the last 30 minutes of it was eternal as we were now above 4000m, the air was thinner still and the wind chill eating in. The incline here followed the path of main glacier. Behind us, Fishtail began to glow in the emerging sun and avalanches were stirred higher up in the more distant Annapurna peaks. MBC disappeared behind us and the partially frozen but flowing streams were now on the opposite side of our path with regard to the glacier. Basically it felt like hell froze over with heaven just round the corner.

Dry and slash-n-burned grass were the main vegetation, even the fluorescent cacti shied away, and the landscape became more desert like. ABC's rooftops became visible and closer but the gasps for the meagre oxygen made the destination seem elusive. At last we arrived! Fellow trekkers trickled in as we struggled to sit down on the outside porch of our guesthouse. My main concern was keeping warm with the help of some noodle soup, and it was in style, smiling at the view ahead of us with Fishtail and its sister Annapurna peaks gleaming back at us.

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 5

Day 5

With the altitude practice now complete, the great ascent began. The mission was to reach Deurali, just above 3000m altitude. We were now following the narrow valley, dense with vegetation and rapids. A cluster of monkeys got us going faster with their whooping menacing noises until some porters started doing some really awful monkey imitations. That shut the primates up!

In terms of angle of ascent it was not so bad but the terrain was very rough and unpredictable. Dominating sounds were the trickling mini waterfalls and the gushing rapids. Winter will be arriving soon so most migratory animals had left. The woods were quiet and the sun took ages to emerge as the valley was very deep. At about 10.30am we finally got some sunshine defrost! This was just after our tea break at Bamboo (2400m) where we saw the sun rays radiating the hilltops but never clipping our heads.

Every vein of the range was prominent with water sounds all over. I spotted a cute generator house humming away; it´s a cheap source of electricity for the tea house villages. Walking past Dovan (2600m) the valley opened up a bit and we got closer to the Modikhola, the main river flowing from the range. We lunched at the Himalaya Hotel, a slate roofed establishment (local materials...impressive). Feeling adventurous with the menu, I experimented with a combo of Swiss rosti and Nepali vegetable curry! I call it the "Himalpine Combo". Looking at the hotel's shop, there was no letting up in the stock of western goods (see pictures) which get more expensive the higher up you go.

The final leg of the day was theatrical (in the atmospheric sense, not comical!). Enormous waterfalls gushing over well worn, smooth cliff faces resembled a water park for giants. The extent of the climb was clear from the view of the river against the cascading hills, getting rougher and rougher as we climbed. The tree line approached and we crossed some slippery stream points, at one point skipping stones replaced a rickety run down raised wooden bridge.

On arrival at Deurali Guest House the cloud cover arrived very close to the roof tops. All vegetation here looked dead as if from a ghost story or more realistically, as if from an environmental disaster. There was no view of the mountains from this narrow point (and thus no cheesy titles for the hotels) but the sunset colours of the valley we left behind were as majestic as the unseen peaks. We had been blessed by a full moon at this point which made the night view of the looming hills resemble the protection of a fortress by high walls. The blanket table tonight was ridiculously hot to the point that the table was melting at some sections and one trekkers socks singed and fused!

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 4

Day 4

First off, below is a map of the trek route, to get a rough feel of the distances and altitudes (we finished at Birethanti, not Dhampus):

Today´s journey took us 300m higher but we had to descend then ascend. This no doubt was the toughest day on aggregate. The steep descent was stressful on the knees and on the ascent the sun came out blazin'! At the river crossing we observed the biggest land slide (from the recent heavy monsoon rains) site I´ve ever seen! To make life harder, a landslide further across the ascent hill made us take a mini up and down detour route.

After a while, at mid-morning, we passed over a river confluence and were now headed into the valley that takes one up to the ABC. The hills here, standing like sentries protecting the peaks, were true giants and are unseen from Pokhara because they are crowded together. We had a lunchstop at Chomrong (2050m) were Amir recommended the pizza(the best on the trek!!) which we ordered without hesitation. Chomrong has Fishtail looming in the view closer still and also some rapids rumbling down as snow melt from Annapurna South.

We slept at Sinuwa lodge, also with the magic blanket table and ultralow roofs, to my misfortune. The dining table had some cool arrays of business cards and photos under the glass surface including that of the owners daughter who is now a Nepali movie star!

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 3

Day 3

The pics are now available on:

http://www.flickr.com/gp/15198453@N00/464Ba6

The Poon Hill sunrise view was the first objective of the day. We woke up at 4:45am (!!!) military stylee. I got no bugle in my ear but the layering up felt like a preparation for some sort of battle. It was still dark as we departed and my mind was not yet awake to the task compared to my team. A few steps into it and I realised that I need my headlamp on if I was going to make it will a fully functioning nose. The Poon Hill ascent was consistently steep, 400m worth of ascent!

The agony was worth it. On the way up the horizon was a red band dimming to light blue as you look down to up and as the sun performed its daily ritual of threatening to rise. The viewpoint was jam packed already. The grasslands and bushes (we were above the tree line) gave an atmospheric feel to the anticipation (so did the icy choppy winds...rise, sun already!). The full range was already visible and the tourists were happy snappin'!

The sun finally emerged from a hill to the right of Fishtail and the red glows of the mountains were already appearing to the west. The mountain darkness descended slowly and then everyone was ablaze in the red glow. Tripods, group photo ops, whooing and aaahing galore; it was a special moment even though my frozen feet and hands were indicating otherwise. We descended as soon as it was full day light and enjoyed a breakfast of Tibetan bread (a fried bread - a bit like Spanish Churros or Kenyan Mandazi), honey (lots of it!) and tea.

The trail towards Tadepani (at a lower altitude, this assists aclimatisation to the high altitudes) began just above the b-ball court and led to a gentle incline through some woods. Most of the morning the path was along hill passes with rooty steps and open dirt tracks through grasslands. At one grassland section there was a trekking team singing Nepali melodies (they couldn´t wait to reach their next stop - have a look at a picture I took of a grazing horse and the jaw dropping backdrop - if I had a tent I would pitch it right there for the day!). We swept past the Annapurna and Himchuli range vistas and descended into a river valley with steep gorges and moss covered waterfalls. We had a tea stop at a hotel which had roof that was also a drying rack for washed duvets and pillows of assorted colours.

We descended further and at one point Annapurna South and Fishtail reappeared between the tree crowded hills. Not long after we arrived at Tadapani which was pretty busy: a mixed nationality camping group, some solo trekkers from the US and Singapore (the Singaporean was hopelessly homesick) plus some smaller French and German groups. The mixed group were a very social bunch and as we chatted a really cool heating contraption was unveiled to me. The table where we ate had a gas/wood heater underneath and lined with blankets to keep us warm. Another revelation was the Snickers Roll ( the equivalent to the great Scottish dish, the deep fried Mars Bar....apparently the Isreali trekkers love it and it features on the menus out here). I spent a great deal of time solving a Buddha 3-D puzzle picture to the amusement of the guests some of whom could see the underlying image within seconds!

I will try to find a nice illustration of the trekking route so you can get the feel of the trail.

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 2

Day 2

We took off just after 7pm and didn´t get very far when we encountered a cargo convoy of mules and donkeys. The track was narrow and the trader was adjusting some boxes thus causing the 100% bottleneck. We sped past the dozy convoy across those wobbly steel suspension bridges.

We then began a challenging uphill route to begin our ascent to above 2000m altitude. There are sparse settlements in this area but rice fields still cover a considerable amount of land here. For the first time since our drive we caught a glimpse of one of the peaks, Annapurna South. The trekking experience was getting even more interesting. Mule convoys, grazing goats, cargo and trekking porters galore. Past one wood we saw a flock of green parrots fluttering and chirping away. The donkey cargo contents were very interesting too: LPG tanks, San Miguel beer (vital fuels for day-to-day living).....the whooh!hah! hollering of the traders urging the sleepy mules on and warning trekkers of the approach of the hooved transport!

More of the range emerged as we climbed. The rest stops and restaurants were charming with traditional stone construction (built for the Nepali demographic, below 5ft 9!!!). The high tree covered hills emerged showing their majesty in sharp contracts to the mountains. At "Super View" guest house we got awesome views of the valley. This area, called Ulleri, is at 2050m. I observed a comatose looking dog with the restaurant owner struggling to feed her a bone. The pregnant mutt just stuck the thing in her mouth and continued sleeping. A herd of buffalo aroused her and we left the stop with a bovine-canine standoff going on. It´s amazing how the big stompers can climb these hills. Buffalos are bulky but hardy animals. Th sheep herds streamed through in different sizes, colours and baa sounds. Some of the billy goats sounded like humans doing goat impressions! Some were grazing literally off the cliff edges!

At Hotel Fishtail we started seeing Macchapuchare (the most imposing peak of the range a.k.a. Fishtail). Beyong here we entered the forests and true tranquilitiy began ( apart from the fatigued gasps for air). Rushing streams bumping on rocks foremd crystal clear waterfalls. Crossing stream bridges we were treated to a spectrum of colours of the submerged rocks and moss infested trees.

The monolith " Hungry Eye" restaurant at Nagethanti was our lunchstop. The Korean and German group we left behind at Tikhedunga arrived there as well and so receiving out order was a big hassle. Luckily Jase and I ordered some chop suey which arrived chop!chop! but the traditional dal bhat took a while to feed the masses.

We set off onwards on a more gentle route past some settlements and forests. We reached an "autonomous" region and the Maoist sentries checked our extortion tickets (we had paid a toll the day before). The arrival in Ghorepani was a great relief as it was getting chilly despite the intense sun. Blue roof Ghorepani is the busiest village so far and has the best views of both Dhaulagiri (the highest peak of the range, above 8000m) and Annapurna South. The sunset provided a unique photo treat. The guest house had a cool stove with a clothes line above it. Benches were arranged around it to provide warmth for tired trekkers. Our room view included Annapurna South and a large basketball court! The night was pretty social and a french group celebrated a birthday following by some singing entertainment from the porters. The french group then joined in the dancing. I didn´t venture anywhere away from the warm stove!

K.

Annapurna Diaries - Day 1

The blogging has been on vacation as I spent the best part of 2 weeks in the wilderness! Below is a summary of Day 1 of a 9 day trek in the Annapurna Sanctuary that I took part in last month. Bear with me, there are going to be 8 more coming soon in this series!! Enjoy.

Day 1

And so the long awaited 9-day epic to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) began. We managed to get good sleep despite the dal bhat (lentils and rice) diet rendering me on piss mode twice that night. My trekking pal,Jason, arrived in Pokhara the night before. Our lively guide, Amir, joined us that morning fresh from a 21 day trek around the range on the Jomsom trek (it is the perimeter circuit of the Annapurna ranges and the highest lake in the world can be viewed on this other trek). The trio became a quartet after we decided that we should pay more for an extra porter to make the trip more bearable. Out porter was called Ram, a chirpy but quiet fellow almost half my size but capable of carrying 30 plus kg bags long distance!

We took a cab from Pokhara to Nayapool, our starting point, on a 1 hour journey. The route went past my familiar Sarangkot turn-off point (that leads to the village where I worked) and then past a large Tibetan refugee settlement in the valley. This point is one of my favourite spots to view the mountains. It´s bottom of valley location gives the Annapurna range a truly towering view as they rise from the foothills. As the driver cursed at some locals rolling rice bundles across the road, we saw a crowd surrounding a collapsed donkey. Amir announced that it was dead, literally the classic "drop dead like a donkey" scenario. Tragic, after a life of toil and hardship.

We were now on the north side of the Sarangkot hill and headed west towards Nayapool. The road become more winding as we climbed up a pass, so the common car horn warning honking round corners began. Other modes of transport were warned of our approach; packs of mules carrying produce to the market. I heard that on the return journey they are used for portering services for trekkers. Talk about multi-purpose SUV mules! The line of mules is a nice sight to behold, with multicoloured saddles, various produce and cute little bells. On ascent, the impressively smooth (by Nepali standards by the way) but unmarked road became more and more eroded resulting in single lane sections causing the rickety 1970s Toyota Deluxe to groan as it switched between asphalt and dust surfaces.

I caught a glimpse of the whole Phewa Tal lake looking south from the top of the pass, with the river system feeding it. The sun´s reflection marked the waterways clearly. It was about 9am now and some kids were heading off to school in zig zag playfully kiddish fashion increasing the number of obstacles on the narrow road. The arrival of the Nayapool start off point was quite abrupt and surprising as it was just a series of restaurants and shops dangerously located on a u-bend of the road. We had a quick "dudh chayo" (milk tea), arranged our gear and began the trek.

The track starts as a drop from the u-bend road to a steel chain suspension bridge. Beyond that is a main bazaar for Nayapool where we stopped to buy some shoes for the porter. It was an opportunity to install my superdooper Camel-back (a 2 litre water sack placed in my daypack with a plastic tube for me to sip on whenever I want - for on-demand rehydration!). We walked through a narrow river (rapids more like) valley and up a gentle incline to the sanctuary checkpoint where the guide dealt with the fee payment. The main hillside trail now began. Its not isolated here. We came across many rice paddies huddled around the rapids with the harvesting of rice and millet in full effect. Also, lines of ascending tourists, guides and their porters became common sights.

Today´s walk was short. We had the classic Dal Bhat for lunch with fresh fish from the river and we arrived at out guest house for the night at Tikhedunga at around 2pm. Since we were early arrivals, I had the first stab at the one shower room.

K.

Development and Herbs

Right, I will now get into the nitty gritty. First, the number one topic of developing countries when it comes to the starting point of getting anywhere. You need good roads. Until 10 years ago, you could only get to my village, Pandeli, by ox and cart. The community pooled in some money to widen the tracks and cut new routes on the hillside. It seems to work well with motorcycles, 4wd vehicles and the rickety commuter buses (with really cool horn sounds) but the recent landslides has made some sections impassable during the rainy season. My "host dad", Yam, is secretary of the village community and is overly optimistic that with a good funds drive and donor assistance, the road can be maintained. He is aware that the recent landslides after the monsoon rains have been the worst in 50years. However I had to remind him that there is much more loose earth without any support from trees or structures so any new road developments would need extra planning and extra spending on reinforcements and adequate drainage (I hope not to bore all you non-engineers at this point). It is quite amazing to see the amount of devastation a landslide can do. Whole hillsides are scarred from peak to foot with rubble and the valleys are clogged with loose earth. The river sides have become gulleys (little gorges) in some spots and looking from Sarangkot viewpoint, acres of river fields in the valley look destined to be washed away if the monsoon comes again next year with equal force.

The Pandeli village shares a well. It has been gushing groundwater for centuries but was threatened by the landslides. Luckily, the source was not damaged but the point of collection (concealed rock pools) is now easily contaminated since people wade into the pools to collect water for drinking and also wash themselves and clothes there. Someone told me that an independent consultancy proposed creating an underground tank to collect the groundwater but it would mean sacrificing some community farms so their proposal was rejected by the village committee. Fixing the well is far more important than improving the road as it one abundant life or death source that if compromised would greatly inconvenience villagers who have no alternatives (some areas have piped water) and also mess up irrigation of the fields. For some reason, road projects are more seductive here and improvement of water sources is not well thought out as road projects are an immediate need but the long term needs for well improvement are overlooked by most.

There is a serious issue of continuity of education in this village. Most kids don't get past the secondary school leavers exams. I know of a case of a family that suffered doubly from loss of crop during the monsoon season and also with the dad suffering from cancer. 2 elder children had to stop their college studies and dedicate their time and money to taking care of him and financing his chemotherapy. And as if that was enough, they are in the middle of a land dispute with some guy from the valley. One of the older girls has given up on any other career options and is going to work on becoming a commercial farmer. There is no such thing as a singular career aspiration. What is best when the time is right, and given the circumstances, goes. Some guys beyond college age have become the hustlers of the fields. One guy advertised to me services ranging from paragliding to pimping to herbs (the one that you can roll :-)). Its really weird how tourism can be good and bad for the country at the same time. The viewpoint attracts tourists past the village but the bigger returns of being a middle man tempts the unemployed youth to flog whatever junk the tourists are willing to buy (there are some good curios though).

Speaking of herbs, the Sarangkot hill is the place to buy the illicit ganja. As one local chap told me, as he rolled his own, "no crimes, no police". There is not much crime here so there is no police post on the hill (there is only one army post at the viewpoint but that is strategic: to protect the communications mast and just mooch about). That means the ganja crop can flourish and be harvested without problems. It is obviously cheap because the dealer is the grower. I will show u some photos of a boucay of the skunky stuff I came across at a neighbours house. It is actually not approved of, smoking the stuff, but most who do do so at special occasions so the society is stable enough to not have addiction problems (as far as I know, though I met a few cloudy eyed characters).

ciao!
K.

Rice, the staple

To get you into the scene, some background to the Sarangkot hill is needed. It is a moderately populated series of villages that overlook Phewa Tal, the Pokhara lake and the river that empties into it. Rice paddies extend from the river valley up to the Sarangkot mountain viewpoint. Most of the people here are farmers for subsistence and trade of agricultural products. Extra professions: teaching and shop owning supplement income. I arrived at the time of the rice harvest, which I never knew was so labour intensive. I helped out in a process called "dying rice" at my “host-grandparents” place. This is when the cut rice stalks are removed from a pile and rice grains are extracted by smacking a bunch against a smooth rock and repeating the process until the heap of harvested stalks is no more. Also, to increase the yield, the used up stalks or straw is laid alongside a pole around which a team of oxen are persuaded ( with the gentle prodding of a stick – depending on who is holding the stick) to walk around, to pound the straw and extract more rice. I was not too good at the rice pounding process so I was given straw laying and oxen handling. I also got to chase away the interfering buffaloes who were tempted by the fresh straw. I still can’t believe they are tame here! The African buffalo doesn't stop for anybody!

Going through one pile of rice takes a whole morning and needs 4 people at most. At times, depending on the urgency and timing of the harvest (in the Tihar vacation many school kids took part in the harvest) whole families can turnover 4 piles a day. We gained 3 sacks of rice (about 60 kgs) from one heap. I was rewarded by host-grandmas colossal dhal bhat platter the size of a serving plate! Believe me, the hunger generation from a low calorie diet makes you crave for the next serving of lentils, radish curry and rice, smothered with buffalo milk and washed down with water or buffalo milk curd. It might not sound appealing to some, but once I got into the rhythm I found this unique diet very tasty.

This particular farm is called “Eklakat” which means lonely field. It literally stands on its own midway up the hill surrounded by the hillside forest, or The Jungle as it is known here. Some interesting birds and troops of monkeys live here and rumour has it that 1 or 2 tigers roam the forest too. Each son and daughter owns a pile so they are also responsible for hauling the respective sacks to their homes. I accompanied one relative who is about my age, called Lakhsman, up to his home, which is not far from where I am staying. He carried one 20kg bag up steep rocky paths through the forest with me just walking ahead and looking back in astonishment (my job was to help him up from the crouch position once he had the bag strap over his head). He could negotiate the tricky steep steps and loose stones without the aid of his hands, which is hard enough for me without a heavy load! I suggested to him he could join the super-strong Gurkha army but then again, being a pacifist, I told him not to give up his day job! He is a teacher.

Rice growing is an age old tradition here. Also, other crops such as millet, wheat, potatoes, radishes, maize etc. have their own seasons. The fragility of the main staples: rice and millet to the elements makes this living fragile. 2 Fridays ago a hail storm destroyed a lot of crops a few days away from harvesting which made the lives of some of the poorer families really hard. One fellow volunteer, Greg, lives with a family whose banana and lentil crop was destroyed. A lack of dhal (lentil) meant that the buffalo milk was their only source of protein. Without much disposable income it will take a while for them to have regular balanced meals again. But when I visited them it was admirable how they were still able to cook up a storm with a smile and leave me stuffed and ready for bed!

I was supposed to lean into some development issues but I got carried away again! I didn’t even have time to explain a certain other wealth generator that grows well on the high hills here and essentially gets you high (I think you know where I am going with this). Will do in my next entry!!

Ciao,
K.

Tihar

Its been a rollercoaster past few days. They have the Tihar (like Diwali in India), a festival of lights and so schools have been closed and there has been celebrations and feasting. This was coupled with the birthday of Dhiraj, one my host brothers, last Saturday. He turned 6 and his dad splashed out on a nice chocolate cake. The whole Thapa (that's the family name) clan was there plus other friends who brought lots of presents and cash. A pretty loaded 6yr old at the end of the day! The Thapa extended family have so many kids, its almost impossible to remember who is whose sister or brother. And the fact that there is no concept of calling each other a cousin makes things even more complicated.

The Tihar festivities have been going on since last Wednesday. Each day has a theme. Weds: the Crow, Thu: the Dog, Fri: the Cow, Sat:(can't remember), Sun: Brothers and Sisters. I got it all confused. Wikipedia gives a quirkier explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tihar:

Tihar Day 1 - Kag Tihar - worshiping of crows - feed them and keep them happy for whole 1 year. Day 2 - Kukur Tihar - worshiping of dogs - the protector of our homes Day 3 - Cow Tika - worshiping of cows Day 3 - Laxmi Puja - worshiping of Fortune Goddess Day 3 - Tihar Songs: Bhailini - girls sing an unique song! Day 4 - Various Puja and Tihar Song: Deusi - boys sing Deusi, a popular Tihar song! Day 4 - Tihar Songs : Deusi - Pujas and singing Tihar's special song Day 5 - Tika Day (Final Day) - tika for a long life!

All the creatures/persons connected to the theme get to wear tikkas (coloured dyes) and garlands so it was pretty comical to see dogs and cows walking around with flowers and red dyes on their furs/hides looking regal but going about their business of browsing and grazing.

Another feature is kids going from house to house singing traditional songs and dancing. They get gifts from the households in the form of sweets or money. Some singing/dancing troupes are so well organised that they carry amplifiers, tapes and speakers with them turning it into a mini concert! I got some pics from this holiday period that I hope to put on the website soonish. Some kids do dirty tricks, especially on touristy routes like the path to the World Peace Pagoda (it overlooks Phewa Tal, the Pokhara lake). They hold hands to barricade the path and demand money from tourists. Its all good natured but I had to bulldoze the kid barrier!

On one of the latter days, the brothers and sisters give gifts to each other so I splashed out on my 3 "sisters" and I got some goodies too. It a very feasty day and I had plenty of goat meat and rice rotis that day (burp!).

Just a quick snippet of the Tihar experience. I hope to write more on the science lab project progress and volleyball tournament, the villagers, some village development issues, my day working in the rice fields and the Sarangkot mountain viewpoint.

Also I shall be doing the Annapurna Base Camp Trek with my friend, Jason, instead of Everest because of time and cost constraints.

C u!

K.

Greetings from the lap of the Annapurnas!

Hi all. Its been a week already in a place called Pondeli, halfway up the hill to the Sarangkot view point. From the viewpoint one can see the full glory of the Himalayan ranges of the Annarpurnas and Machhapuchhare. Anyway, the journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara, the last stop before the trip to my residence as a volunteer with my host, was quite eventful. It took an eternity to leave Kathmandu valley. The valley is one of the most enclosed urban sprawls I've ever been to. It's no surprise that back in the 1950's you could only get to Pokhara by mule. The descent into one of the great river gorges of the low areas of Nepal was spectacular. So was the long line of intercity buses and lorries. We went past a section of road that was hit by falling rocks. The bus conductor just had to give me the mortality statistics of the road at that point. Thank you very much, I feel so much better now. The river gorge opens into a wide valley as you go west and at intervals one can see the scary looking steel pedestrian suspension bridges and the occasional cage cable cars that villagers use to cross the river valley. It seems that round here one has to climb stuff to get anywhere. The rivers are so wide and clear, they are great for swimming and just chilling on the river beaches at the bends. Unfortunately I was non-stop with a few refreshment stops.

Let's fast forward to the journey from Pokhara to Sarangkot. (I can talk more about Pokhara later). I was on a "tourist bus" from Kathmandu to Pokhara, but now I was on the real deal. The 25 rupee 'hill winder' (i just baptised it) to Pondeli. It was more than just a hill winding journey. It was the bumpiest freakin' bus journey I have ever been on (beating the famous Kenya potholes hands down). Some of the road literally hangs over the edge. The area suffered from major landslides during this year's monsoon so its a miracle that buses still go up this hill. Just for some background, the hill where my home family lives is mainly soil and slate and so landslides have the added hazard of sharp rocks falling your head. In fact along the bus route some houses were pulled down by landslides and there were fatalities. At the moment it doesn't rain so much so landslides aren't much of a hazard. The scarring is very evident on the landscape. Lots of rice fields were literally wiped out and paths obliterated. Enough of natural disasters.....

I will keep this blog entry short by just introducing my habitat. I live with nice host family with 2 kids - boys. One is 9 yrs old and the other, 6 yrs. My host dad speaks decent English but the low levels of conversational English at my disposal with the other villagers keeps my crappy Nepali in check. Two things are in abundance here: Water and Dhal Bhat (Lentils and Rice)!! Water coz there is a constantly dripping well used by the villagers, and there is so much that the surplus is used for the domestic buffalo bathing pools. Dhal Bhat needs no introduction as that is the staple here to the point that you have to be creative around the dhat bhat. One day with goat meat, the next day a bit of radish curry. Food is basic but tasty once you get used to it. The slow pace and lack of privacy is another thing to get used to. There are so many kids here, every time they say hi, I have to keep asking their names. Don't even ask me the names of the kids I teach! A smart bunch, but I have to write their names down all the time. Im now popular in the primary school as I gave them all sweets. I'm starting a little project in providing some science equipment for a new lab using the money i've raised for the volunteer programme. Also, trying to organise a volleyball tournament. The teachers are very enthusiastic and full of ideas so it will be fun.

That's all folks! Will write more soon.....Hope all is well with you!

K.

Kathmandu - The City

Namaste y'all. In case you don't know what that means: "I bless the divine inside you". A lot of accolades in one word. I can't think of an equivalent. Neither can I about Thamel, the entertainment and tourism hub of Kathmandu (KTH). To my convenience (and constant headaches every time I step out of the door as I avoid getting run over by honking motorbikes), I have been staying at the Kathmandu Peace Guesthouse, which is in the Thamel area, for the past week or so. Thamel the most 3-D place I've ever been to. Choc-a-bloc with tours & travels agencies, souvenir shops, restaurants and bars that have live music. After a few days I noticed that the live acts go from bar to bar in rotation and do the same Bob Marley and Red Hot Chillie Pepper tunes. The place is frequented by the trendy Nepali youth but there is nothing charming about the place. Its a let-your-hair-down, western style kind of place, definitely unforgettable but I dont regret leaving the place ( at least Thamel, the guesthouse environment was really nice though). I'm in Pokhara now.

Actually my stay in KTH has been longer than expected for a number of reasons. In fact, things don't get done on time for a number of reasons round here and where they do occur on time, well, its simply just an anomaly. One volunteer who was supposed to start training with me didn't make it, so the arrangements had to be tweaked. Also, there was a festival going on all week when I arrived, the Dasain, which slowed things down. Schools closed and nobody working for 5 days! My kind of place! You could say it's like Christmas as everybody has family get togethers which tend to be out in the country, so Thamel was relatively quiet. I saw people walking around with big phat red patches on their foreheads called tikas (yep, like the chicken...though I never thought of humans dipped in the stuff whenever I've tucked into one) and straw bits on their heads. I'm probably not the best guy to ask about the religious and cultural significance of this festivity as I am still grappling with the numerous recognised deities here. Anyhow you can have a look at: http://www.info-nepal.com/society/festivals/dashain.html or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasain.

Speaking of religion, I never knew that Buddhism and Hinduism blends so well in general. In fact here the two faiths morph together so many times when you visit the temples. I started my training last Friday, which entailed Nepali language and culture classes, as well as sightseeing, which lasted until Tuesday this week. The first sightseeing was at Swayambunath, a primarily Buddhist site on the nearest hill overlooking the city. See http://www.sacred-destinations.com/nepal/kathmandu-swayabunath-stupa.htm. It is otherwise known as the "Monkey temple" after the colony of monkeys that have lived there for thousands of years and seem to terrorise anybody that brings food. I saw some kids getting pounced on as we walked up the long steps to the temple. They snatched a pack of crisps and a juice packet. It's no use resisting as they are a persistent troop. They are the biggest monkeys I've ever seen and I've no idea why they are not baboons! The main features are a super-chilled looking buddhist stupa with sedate peaceful eyes and a gleaming gold plated top, Hindu shrines and a Budhist monastery. I got some pics of the place incl. a live Buddhist prayer by monks in session (will share pics soon). Apart from those pesky monkeys, typical features are flags with 5 colours of the Buddhist elements (Earth, Wind, Fire....not the band....Water, Ether...s'thing like this, I probably got s'thing wrong). I could go on...

Another place we went to was Pashupatinath. See:http://www.sacred-destinations.com/nepal/kathmandu-pashupatinath.htm. It is a full-on Hindu site, probably one of the most important in the country as it is a major cremation site, with a royal cremation spot ( which was probably pretty busy around the time of the royal massacre a few years back if you remember). I witnessed 2 cremations on the go. The ashes end up in the Bagmati river. This river meets the Ganges in India before emptying in the Bay of Bengal. One cool thing about the place is the caves where Sadhus (holy hermit men in the Hindu religion) stay and pray. The reality was thus: a young "hippy" sadhu in one cave smoking something kinda hazy, with the rest of the orange robed chaps hanging around the hindu shrines posing for pictures with tourists for tips. My guide told me that there are not that many real Sadhus left. It seems that most religions have issues with phonies. Some quirky things about the place: on some steps one can try walking eyes closed with one arm outstretched trying to get it in some holy hole. If it goes in you get good luck ( I cant remember exactly what luck it is...probably the usual most wished for thing in this part of the world, the ideal bride or bridegroom). Also a religious mural painted by an Italian!

My favourite spot in Boudanath. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/nepal/kathmandu-boudhanath-bodnath-stupa.htm. Also on the eastside (....like Pashupatinath), u need to know where to turn in order to find it despite it being one of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world. A lot buildings circle the place, including a monastery and lots of shops selling stuff from Tibetan paintings to statues of Buddhas in his many contemplative posey poses ( not enough fat Buddhas I thought...maybe when obesity becomes a problem here there will be more). The stupas has so many places to sit and reflect on life or just watch the monks circle the place clockwise until you get dizzy. Its probably the only spot in the city where you cannot spit onto the ground. In Kathmandu phlegm clearing and spitting on the street is a common occurrence. I don't blame them as the pollution here is terrible: dust, exhaust fumes and smog in the summer. Not to mention contamination of the rivers with sewage and uncleared rubbish. It didn't really want to go into this here but I just remembered the journey back to the hostel on this particular day. A demonstration was taking place in protest of a hike in fuel prices so we made a detour along one the city rivers (we were on a motorbike) and I've never experienced such funk in the air. More funky smells than the Nairobi river after the Globe cinema roundabout (some of you know what I mean). Nepal is a poor country with shaky politics but a promising future. Tourism is very developed here (more than India I think) and there is a lot of agricultural produce. The politics is forcing a lot of young people to look for opportunities abroad which is disappointing as it won't help the gaps in education, and the less educated tend to be easily exploited. It starts with the caste system, which is slowly becoming outlawed but I will leave that issue for another day.

Let me finish off. Another sightsee spot was Patan. This is the place to go to if you want to see an ancient Newari town. The Newars are the original inhabitants of Kathmandu Valley. I shall let u know how I'm getting on with my command of the Nepali language. Its not that hard but one has to be careful with pronunciations, like with Chinese (Chris Tucker in Rush Hour style....but Nepali is written in a Sanskrit style, so its not close to the Chinese language) as people might get the wrong end of the stick. I start my volunteer work tmrw.

Speak to you soon!
K.

Arrival in Kathmandu

I'm sitting here in a low speed cybercafe in Kathmandu feeling woozy with extraordinary activity going on in my bowels. Apparently these are some of the symptoms of reactions to altitude differences. I was also taking a while adjusting to attitude differences.

I had the dilemma of interpreting to different sources of information. My friends in Delhi tell me that Indian rupees are acceptable currency for paying for the tourist visa on arrival in Kathmandu airport, but my guidebook tells me that 500 Indian rupee notes are not being accepted in Nepal because of forgery fears (good old neighbourly love). I thought I'd go with the flow and see whether my Indian rupees are changeable and if not, just withdraw at the money exchange office with my credit card.

So after a decent flight into a chilled out 20 degree C Kathmandu I encountered the massive "no visa" queue for people purchasing visas on arrival. After squeezing past some tourists filling forms I found some free forms and then a bit of light elbow coercion got me a spot to fill in my disembarkation (arrival for the vocab. challenged) and visa forms. After filling them up and queuing, I noticed a sign saying that certain currencies were acceptable for the visa fee and they did not include neither Indian nor Nepali rupees. I enquired at the money exchange office and the guy there said I need to get dollars or euros. He didn't want my Indian rupees and couldn't extract dollars from my credit card. I had to go to an ATM at the exterior of the airport (What?!).

Essentially I had to go past the immigration, past the luggage claim hall, past the arrivals lounge and towards the car park. And I did. For an hour or so I was in Nepali territory illegally, with the help of immigration officials (who just said, come back quick when u got the money) and security. I found the ATM and stuck my card in. I plugged in the wrong amount so I had to start again. Selected the right amount of money this time but then got timed out! (They say there is no hurry in Nepal...just like in Kenya...but it seems this particular ATM is made in Germany)."OK, maybe its a visa card thing", said the very helpful ATM guard. So I pushed in my Mastercard. Same story after many tries. Guard then asked me to follow him into the departures area (I was by now getting used to these casual security breaches) and explained to his colleagues my situation. I was beginning to wonder how many people he had helped out that day. There was a money exchange place that could actually withdraw cash for me.

So I got the money and exchanged the relevant amount into dollars and like a salmon went upstream through arrivals back into the immigration queue. By this time, other flights were arriving and so the queue never really reduced. I got the visa and then had to sift thru a pile of luggage to find mine since the conveyors were off and most people had taken their baggage.

I had to wait for about 45 minutes for my pickup since my arrival time turned out sketchy. Basically, the voluntary organisation had organised a guest house stay for me for the duration of my training and a rep. had picked me up. See website: http://www.ktmpeaceguesthouse.com/. The wait was not too bad. I was being entertained by tour company reps and drivers who were flashing their signs and passing by asking me whether I'm Mr. Cohen or Mr. Smith, if I got a hotel to stay in, if Im interested in white water rafting etc. The usual sales ploys but on the whole friendly and not too intimidating.

Raz, the friendly guest house manager collaborates with the volunteer programme to host volunteers during training. He explained the week long religious holiday that is going on and how things will a take little longer than the usual. As I was walking down the narrow steps in quick leaps to the guest house he told me to take it slow. He could tell I'm one of those big city types. Slow is the word: slow internet connections, slow trekking to prevent altitude sickness, slow to rise in the morning, slow in the holidays, slow to depose a brutal monarchy (whoops). Let me stop there as politics is a touchy subject here.

I met Rabyn, one of the programme coordinators today. He just gave me brisk tour of the Thamel area of Kathmandu which is crammed with touristy activities, bazaars etc. Will write more about the place and crazy goings on soon.

Cheers,
K.

Tuk tuks!

If there is one thing to be said about the auto rickshaw experience in India, then it's that it’s an art in itself deserving anthropological studies if remote pacific island environments aren't interesting enough.

Ok, let me set the scene. You got the driver and the passenger. They both vary in certain traits. The driver: mood, friendliness, coherency, patience and honesty. The passenger: mood, tolerance, awareness, fatigue and gullibility. (Note the correlations).

And the settings vary too, from my experiences in North (Delhi) and South (Bangalore, Mysore, Ootacamund, Madurai and Pondicherry) India. However, the authorities are aware of these murky aspects of public transport. To contain the volatile pricing nature of the business of auto rickshaw fares, most cities set up pre-pay booths at strategic points in the city, such as shopping centres and train stations. The passenger agrees to pay at a regulated rate, and retains a slip, containing payment and destination information, from the booth. This is meant to be shown to the selected auto rickshaw driver but must be retained by the passenger until the end of the journey. Let me illustrate with an experience Owen, my course mate from uni, and I had.

Now, I had mentioned different conditions for different people. On arrival to Mysore, by train, from Bangalore we went to the train station pre-pay booth. In the case of this location, one pays a small admin. fee and then pays the agreed amount to the driver at the end of the journey. At this point, it is worth mentioning that costs of transport is comparatively cheap in India but variations in quoted prices brings to question the integrity of fair play in this liberal transport market. However, even regulation of cost does not catch dirty tricks.

Back to the Mysore situation, there I was organising my auto rickshaw under the weight of my rucksack and fatigue from a tiring train journey. I specified the hotel of stay and picked up the slip. So far so good. We bundled our stuff into the tuk tuk (i'm tired of saying auto rickshaw!!), and took off. Midway through the journey, as the tuk tuk weaved through the dense traffic of 2, 3 and 4 wheeler vehicles (motorcycles, tuk tuks and cars for the vocab. challenged), the driver ask for the slip to verify the destination (usually halfway through the journey, they ask for your specific destination, if not mentioned before, but this is sometimes to gauge the passenger awareness of the area).

After a while, he returned it to me and we just sat back enjoying the approaching vista of the grand avenues leading to the Maharajas Palace...plop (that’s the sound of the tuk tuk after brakes are applied)...before we could say " that's the wrong stop", we found ourselves in front of a 4 star hotel (remember, we are running on a low budget system, with each rupee like a spec of gold dust), with the doorman ready to take our bags and the rickshaw driver (cool as u like) announcing our arrival. I looked at my slip; the destination printed was the 4 star hotel!!!

We paid up for the journey and walked away as soon as the scam was clear. Later on Owen and I debated 2 theories of this con trick. Owen suggests that slips were switched when the driver reviewed it during the trip, but my theory is that the trap was set at the prepay both. Basically, I think that because of the mad rush to get accom., we didn’t bother to review the slip yet we were aware of tuk tuk drivers posing as hotel booking agents.

Without knowledge of place of stay or average costs of journeys one is vulnerable. The tuk tuk driver / freelance touts might as well plan your holiday. They are not all that bad. Most are relatively friendly and you get the odd one who swears, in Hindi, too much. We were fortunate but I'd love to hear stories of travelers who've been fleeced cold!

I hope this story wasn’t too dull. I’m not used to this blog thing. I will write more about Delhi and South India soon....

K.

The 10 km race was bananas!

Dear all,

It was an exhausting, exhilarating and exhausting again experience running the 10 kilometre race at Regents Park this Saturday morning at 9am. I finished with a time of 58mins 58.7sec. A personal best from my training point of view and also seeing as it’s my first ever 10 km race.

I woke up still stuffed from eating a pot-full of pasta with mascarpone sauce the night before and took the 6:45am “redeye” train to London. By the time of arrival in London I was hungry again and so bought several bananas before ambling my way to the race venue (more on bananas later….).

It was cloudy earlier on but the skies cleared up which made me regret not bringing my sunglasses but that was the least of my worries. The usual irrational thoughts went through my head: looking at the fellow racers and how well kitted and exercised they are (damn I’m gonna finish last!) or from sweating with the relatively high humidity (I’m gonna pass out into the duck pool to cool down on the last lap!) before even racing!

Tick tock bang! And off we ran! We were probably about 100 runners. The circuit is a simple 3 laps within the park making up the 10k (3.33 km per lap). I pretty much maintained myself in the middle of the race but there were lots of over-takers throughout (another irrational thought: don’t look back, you might be the last one!). My pace was pretty good on the first lap and I could have easily done the race in 52 mins at that rate. There were water points at the end of each lap but I spent most of the water just cooling off my face as it was simmering in the humidity! On the 5 km mark I was doing ok, albeit a bit slower but my pace reduced considerably as my leg muscles started protesting and making excuses. My heart and lung units were still chugging along. (Usually it’s the other way around – muscles powering away like dynamos and heart and lung creaking like they need servicing). At 6 km the leader of the race overtook me. He probably finished at 34 mins!

On the final lap there were a few bursts of inspired faster pace but the uphill sections were murder as my thigh muscles were now becoming allergic to inclines, sweating, and short busts and threatening to go on cramp mode. But it was not so bad compared to a few people whose muscles simply went on strike. I recommended one girl to see the physio on standby at the end of race! I couldn’t even sprint on the home straight; it was more of a sprint as seen in slow motion. It was so good to finish and fall on the soft grass. The excellent race organisers handed out water and bananas. Bananas galore to the point that there was so much surplus I bagged 3 bunches. In the end I rewarded myself with a full English breakfast at the Globetrotter pub on Baker Street.

The things we do to raise money, eh! My dad just had to remind me that I did a half Tergat (Paul Tergat is a famous Kenyan long distance runner – who goes to the same barbershop as me in Nairobi believe it or not, £1.50 a cut – with shampoo, bargain!….I digress), an encouraging reality check (the glass is half full)!

My new Hope and Home friends in Nepal will probably be amused and impressed by this effort or probably shrug and compare it with their efforts climbing Everest, Annapurna or K2 making me feel like I took a brisk walk to the London Zoo to feed the monkeys bananas.

Bananatastic! By the way, it’s still not too late to honour pledges and donate. I still have a month to go before I travel. At the moment, I estimate that £200 has been pledged. The £500 target is for real, let’s do it! Many thanks!

Much love,

Kyrea

WRITTEN ON MONDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER

Travel Diary

INDIA LEG
----------
Thursday
04-Oct-07
Departure to Delhi

- Delhi
- Bangalore
- Mysore
- Ootacamund
- Nilgiri Mountains
- Madurai
- Tiruchchipalli
- Pondicherry I'M HERE!
- Chennai
- Delhi


Until....
Sunday
21-Oct-07

NEPAL LEG
-----------
Tuesday
23-Oct-07
Departure to Kathmandu

- Kathmandu
- Pokhara
- The Everest Trek

Until....
Sunday
02-Dec-07

SOUTH AMERICA LEG
-------------------
Friday
07-Dec-07
Departure to Buenos Aires

- Argentina
- Brazil?Chile?Peru?
- Ecuador

Until....
Monday
18-Feb-08