Backpacks, Blisters and Banter

It was an early start for all of us here on Friday. At 4:30am we jumped out of bed full of enthusiasm and raring to go for the 25K hike ahead of us that day, did I fool anyone there? No? Ok well maybe if I’m honest we were all a little bleary eyed at that time of the morning.  However luckily for us Jen, our deputy project manager, with her wealth of Raleigh expedition knowledge had made us a breakfast of ‘energy bombs’. For those of you who don’t know what energy bombs are pay attention, they are a delightful mixture of oats, chocolate power and condensed milk (If you’re feeling fruity you can always add sultanas) and after a bowl full of energy bombs you feel invincible.

Team VM ready for the off

Team VM struck off for their 25K hike from field base, for many of the VMs it was their first chance to explore the local area and get a feel for what the trekking phase on Raleigh is all about. With us we had our expert guide Johanson, from Muddy Boots our trekking partners, Johanson will also be one of the guides out with our groups on trekking phase.

 

Striking out from field base

Johanson, our guide from Muddy Boots

John and Rachel were the map readers of the day and expertly led the way, Johanson was on hand to give advice if needed, however they did and an excellent job steering the team in the right direction and letting us know where we were.

John making sure we are on the right track

After walking for a couple of hours we had the chance to stop for Chai in a small village called, Ahalya. The locals were very bemused as to why a group of fifteen people had turned up in their village with big rucksacks and hiking boots on. We soon made friends though, especially with the local children who loved having their pictures taken and Sarah, our day leader, took the opportunity to call into field base to give the operations room our SITREP, for those of you, like me, who are new to this terminology a SITREP is short for a Situation Report.  

The trekkers 

Susan making friends

Sarah, checking in with field base. 

It was soon time to wave goodbye to Ahalya and strike off once more heading towards Hullahalli a larger town which would be our next stop. On the way we had the opportunity to take in our stunning surroundings, my personal favourite however was the giant snail who made me feel better as he was shuffling along more slowly than me. Once in Hullahalli we had the opportunity to stock up on water for the night ahead and again we drew friendly curiosity from Hullahalli’s locals, with one man even videoing our arrival.

The giant snail! 

After 16K trekking it was certainly time for lunch and gave us the chance for another comms check with field base, some rice and for people to compare how their feet were faring. Hiking 25K gave us all a great chance to get to know each other better, there were deep conversations on really important life stuff like, how bad your tan lines were (I personally now look like I have pink leggings on underneath my shorts) and of course one of the most frequent topics of conversation on expedition, your toilet experiences so far. 

Lunch trek style 

 

Nearly there!

At 4pm we arrived at our final destination, the relief of arriving at our camp site for the night was overwhelming, mainly due to the fact we could all have a good cup of tea. Due to the looming rain clouds tents were assembled very quickly against a beautiful backdrop. By 9pm we were all tucked up in bed to the soothing sound of rain battering against our tents, this did mean however that nobody wanted to leave their tents to visit the short drop which led to a long queue in the morning. 

Tents assembled 

Our view, not to shabby

John digging our short drop toilet

On Saturday we were all woken up by Lou’s cheerful voice announcing that a breakfast of energy bombs was ready and waiting for us. Camp was quickly broken down and packed away but before we started off to get to our swim assessment it was time for some group photos. 

Breaking camp

Andrew and Lou are way ahead of the rest of us

Team VM still having a great time. 

Donks wins at who can jump the highest (far left)

I thought it would be a good idea to get the VMs to do a morning run

It was only a 3K trek to the swim assessment site (a reprieve for some of the blister that had developed the day before) and it was a great relief to get in the water even if it did reveal some of the tans we thought we had developed were in fact dirt. 

Great photo by Julia our Logs legend

Rachel is out first

All of our VMs passed their swim assessment with no problems, again the ladies washing their clothes at the edge of the river were very amused by our swimming performances and we also had one surprise guest emerging from the river with us. A local cow had decided to get Julia’s approval on his swimming style as well.

Lindsay doing well in the water despite a broken toe

Sally and Sarah 

Our surprise swimmer

Julia decided to give Mr Cow a pass

All dried off and back at field base it was all hands on deck to get our equipment clean and packed away. Dinner on Saturday night was a very welcome treat of pizza and nobody had to feel guilty about tucking into that extra slice after walking 28K over the past two days.   

Since the trek we've had some very exciting news with the VMs having been informed who they will be partnered up with on Phase 1 and which expedition they will be going on. Stay tuned as we will be revealing the looks on our VMs faces when they heard the news which was delivered in rather a magical way. 

The Training Trojans of Mysore

Hello again, I am sorry this is going to be a very short post as we are all flying round field base getting ready for our trek training tomorrow (Friday). We will be heading out of field base at first light which will be around 5:30am to explore the surrounding area and gain some expert training on trekking and camp craft. 

Just to tell you a little bit about what your volunteer managers (VMs) have been up to since they arrived, on Wednesday the training started in full swing, with Julia and Jen getting us up to speed with the phonetic alphabet along with some exceptional role playing on what VMs may come across during their time on expedition.  On another note, if Julia and Jen ever want to pursue new careers acting maybe a good place to start.

Jen and Julia role playing for the PMs

But it’s not all hard work and we’ve had a lot of fun while getting to grips with how to organise an expedition. The VMs split into two groups, with Jen and Andrew captaining the teams, below are some photos to give you some visuals of the games and more importantly who won. 

Some action shots

The winning pose

I don't think this picture needs explanation!

Today has been very exciting as the VMs have been learning about all the expeditions that we will be working on over the next three months from Mark. I will have lots more detail for you about these over the next couple of posts, but believe me there are some exciting times ahead!

We also had a birthday celebration today, it is actually John’s birthday tomorrow, but we wanted to get him lots of delicious chocolate cake to celebrate it and more importantly we wanted to eat some too! 

John has a chocolate surprise

The girls eyeing up the cake

It really was as tasty as it looked

Happy Birthday John


Field base will be back on Saturday!

Field base welcomes the new project managers!

The volunteer project managers (VMs)have touched down in India. Yesterday morning Clare, Donks and Little Manju successfully picked up the volunteer managers from Bangalore airport after their 10 hour flight from London, happily all the bags made it too!

All our PMs at Bangalore airport

Smiley Sally

Lindsay through the gates with all her bags

Big smiles from Jon and Rachel even after a 10 hour flight

To help the VMs stay awake on the four hour bus ride to field base in Mysore, Clare and Donks treated them to a stop off for a traditional Indian breakfast. The restaurant also has a coffee shop next door which does some of the best coffee India has to offer (they also do the best chocolate cake in the world, but that’s another story). 

Indian Breakfast

Meanwhile back at field base, Andrew and I (Fletch) tried to put up the big Raleigh ‘Welcome’ sign for the arriving VMs. Andrew’s scout skills in knot tying came in handy as we tried to secure the massive sign against the wind, which had chosen that precise moment to pick up. Shakrapa, our onsite security guard, put us all to shame in the clear up of field base by the amount he could move on his head, all the time maintaining his ear-to-ear grin which he is constantly sporting.

Andrew showing off his scout skills

Shakrapa, effortlessly clearing up around field base

The bus arrived around twelve and everyone piled off to a big welcome from all here at field base. Julia gave out big hugs to all the sleepy new arrivals while the bags were unloaded from the bus. 

The bus arrives

Clare and Louise arriving in the Bravo 3

Sarah and Susan relieved to be off the bus

Welcome hugs from Julia

Andrew missed Donks even though she was only away over night. 

Sally one of our 5 week PMs

Lindsay and Susan getting to know our Logs man Tim

After the VMs settled their belongings into the staff dormitory it was time for tea and coffee in the dining room and a warm welcome from Mark, Julia and Jen and a little bit about what to expect from life on expedition. Most importantly it was also time for lunch!

After lunch I had to subject the VMs to a mug shot for their ID cards, I don’t think it was a popular move, but they also got a chance to find out the important things about field base like, where the chocolate is stored, how and when to get hot water and the chance to meet our resident toad Neville – I don’t think he was too sure about the increase in people as he's been keeping a low profile this morning. 

It’s the first full day of training today, but I’ll make sure to give you all another update on Friday to tell you about how everyone is getting on.  

Over and out from all here at field base, we'll be back soon. 

Expedition 11E and 11F - field base team have arrived!

Welcome, welcome to the official blog for Raleigh 11E &  11F. There are loads of exciting expeditions going on over the summer and the advanced team are already here at field base working hard to get the place all sparkly for the arrival of the rest of the volunteer project managers and the venturers. We’ve been up to all sorts, Andrew, one of our medics, has been donning fetching pink marigolds to make the medical bathroom a shining beacon of cleanliness. Jen, our deputy project manager has been wading through list after list to ensure the expeditions run like a well oiled auto-rickshaw, our logistics team Julia and Tim are on an ordering frenzy, making sure there is a variety of goodies to eat, the Raleigh equipment is in tip top condition and finally Winston the cow is chewing hard to make sure all the grass is cut before everyone arrives.

Winston our speedy lawn mower 

Before I tell you more about what we’ve all been up to this first week and introduce the field base team, here are a few pointers about how the blog works. The blog is not only for you guys who are coming out here but for your family and friends to keep in touch with you and track the trials and tribulations of expedition life so make sure they know about it before you come out.

The blog will be updated 2-3 times a week with news and photos of what everyone is up to. From the blog you’ll be able to find out who’s in which group, where they are, what they’re working on, along with all the gossip from the expedition sites. We’ll also make sure we get lots of pictures up so you can see how the expeditions are progressing, laugh at the embarrassing tans which develop on expedition and see the luxury accommodation available on project site.

This blog is also how you can send messages to people out here on expedition to let them know you’re thinking about them and reading about what they’re up to. The venturers and volunteer managers have no access to any form of communication whilst out on the expedition sites for a few weeks at a time, so coming back to field base to messages from friends and family really does create some huge smiles and possibly a few tears, but good tears. All messages for individuals are printed, cut out and handed to them when they return back to field base between phases so it’s like getting their own letters through the post from you guys back home, just without having to wait a few weeks for the post! 

While they’re out on project sites, venturers and their volunteer managers will also have a blog book that they can write messages in for friends and family and we’ll post these on the blog so you can see their responses to your comments. So use this blog to keep us posted on all the gossip from wherever you are and we’ll be doing the same in return.

Right back to the field base team and who is here doing what, the permanent field base team here at Raleigh India are Mark (Country Director) and Julia (Country Expedition Manager).

Mark - Country Director

Julia - Country Expedition Manager

Are volunteer managers here at field base are: 

Jen our Deputy Programme Manager 

1. Donks our administrator

Andrew and Clare - Team Medics

Julia and Tim - Team Logistics 

The advanced team was picked up from Bangalore airport by Raleigh’s lovely drivers Prashanth and Little Manju, we also have another driver called Big Manju but if you have a look at the photo below you can see who’s in charge! On arriving at field base the team was welcomed with a curry lunch which went down a treat and we all got up to speed with our roles, while fighting jet lag.

Big Manju hard at work and Little Manju keeping an eye on his work. 

Over the last couple of days we have been to Mysore to stock up, but we also had the chance to do a bit of shopping.  On Saturday morning it was time for the swim test and we made our way to one of the local rivers. A local woman was very amused by the four volunteer managers treading water in the middle of the river while she calmly went about her washing. We all passed though, but I don’t think all the shoes made it back!

First field base team looking good in the water

Getting ready to tread water for the swim test.

The new volunteer managers are arriving tomorrow and Donks and Clare are getting ready to set off to Bangalore. We’ll be posting tomorrow to let you all know they have arrived safe and sound. If you want to leave them a message I’ll make sure they get it tomorrow when they arrive and it made help them get over their jet lag. For now over and out from field base. 

The field base team are ready for expedition action!