And they're off and... trekking

(above: the Raleigh India 09C cohort learns building skills from resident PM and qualified builder Joey)

As dawn cracked this morning, the 53 Venturers who now call the Raleigh India Feildbase home were already up and packing their rucksacks in preparation for today's trek training.

(left: Tom M and Mubarak during communications training) The group has been split into preliminary Alpha groups to undergo communications training, gear training, cultural awareness training and of course the ever-popular get-to-know you games. They will be allocated their official Alpha groups, with whom they will spend the first 19-day phase on project with, tomorrow.

(left: Jo D, Hannah, Tilly, Holly and Rebecca M during communications training)

Last night Alpha 1 emerged victorious from Jules and Neil's Thursday Night Quiz, which saw all the Alpha groups using a myriad of musical instruments as "buzzers."

Emma W impressed everyone by knowing the hometown of Brian from Monty Python and Chris A finally found a use for all his Star Wars general knowledge by reeling off the names of the six films without hesitation.

Our host country venturers Akhil, Parthi, Samith, Sreejith, Mukesh, Mani, Guna and Mubarak proved popular by helping out with the India section, particular when it came to cricket details. They were also stars on the vollyball court when an impromptu game started up during a break between rucksack packing and phonetic alphabet training. (picture: the HCVs arrived a day ahead of the main cohort and were greeted by their PMs and Fieldbase staff.)

For everyone else, the past two days have been a little overwhelming as they get to know each other whilst undergoing everything from building instruction to swimming tests.

(Right: Ricardo D with Raleigh driver Girish - back - and good friend of Raleigh India, Ravi.)

Tonight the Venturers will camp at the base of Chamundi Hill, just like the staff group did last week, and tomorrow will summit the hill before coming down the other side and practising a casualty evacuation. Some of the group will be building bashas to sleep in and talk about the best construction methods is already underway.

(picture: Mountain leaders Peter and Ivan detail what is - and is not - essential to take when trekking.)


The Fieldbase staff have a few tricks up their sleeve for Valentine's Day tomorrow before everyone is deployed on Monday, and the Raleigh India 09C programme starts in earnest.



To everyone who has commented on the previous blog: THANKYOU! All the comments have been posted, printed off and pinned to the Venturer notice board so have been seen by everyone. We have a blog reponse book as well so expect some notes back before deployment. It's been a big relief for the Venturers to know that everyone at home knows they have arrived safe and sound.

Standby for more news from the sub-continent!