"Man Up"

        

H ello

E cho

L ima

L ima

O scar              

Any keen readers will have noticed an unusual quietness on the blog front from field base. Our absence is explained by trek training and we all return smarter, stronger and far too familiar with the phrase “man up”!

Let me introduce the trekking team.

This is Benn

Benn has achieved everything you can achieve on the Duke of Edinburgh and completed his gold award in the Alps. He was president of the university mountaineering club and led the group to an impressive climb in Andorra. He is now a mountain leader and spends his spare time returning to help train the students at the university. For all his experience I still managed to track him down and make him answer the three questions :-

1. He considers his luxury item to be 5 pairs of boxers when he thinks he only needed 2. That obviously is a debatable point but one I will not continue with! If he had more room he would have bought an Ipod and some earl gray tea. How very civilized!

2. He would most like to trek with Nelson or Churchill as he is interested in leadership styles.

3. He wants 5 mozzie bites to the face which no doubt will be delivered at some point as he is likely to trek for three consecutive phases – although this is Raleigh so expect the unexpected.

This is Clive

Like Benn, Clive also got into trekking at university and he has since inspiringly climbed to Everest base camp, trekked in New Zealand and made light work of the Inca Trail. He continues to trek in the UK and has completed the coast to coast challenge.

1. Again like most of the men here his luxury item is an MP3 player but his favourite track motivationally is the “I can walk five hundred miles” song. Annoyingly that little gem will be going round and round in my head now for the forseeable future. Bahhhhh da da da! Bahhhhh da da da! Grrr.

2. He would like to trek with Sir Edmond Hilary

3. He chose leeches as he has had experience of them before and he says "they are like little friends that attach themselves to you." The way Clive describes them almost makes me think I might want one.

And Sammy..........

Sammy  has been a GP for 5 years and is a medic on this expedition. She has been part of the Territorial Army for 11 years and has spent part of last year working in a field hospital in Afghanistan in Helmand’s Province.

1.Her luxury item is her laptop because she writes a blog and is a self confessed internet addict. It is going to be cold turkey for Sammie during the 19 day trek.

2. She would most like to trek with Bruce Parry

3. Sammie chooses the mosquito bites as they are a known entity to her and she hasn’t had leeches on her before. Plenty of time Sammie plenty of time!

Helen I have introduced to you before but I didn't tell you she is medic and has also trekked in Namibia and has notching up a successful 19 day trek before. She has the t-shirt and she is after another!

And finally on this phase for the trekking team we have Rosie

Rosie loves to trek and she informs me that there are 283 munro's in Scotland (put crudely, peaks over 3000 foot). She has climbed 200 and it is her ambition to get to the top of the lot!

1. Her luxury item is her nail polish or the books that she has bought with her.

2. She would most like to trek with David Tennant better known as Dr Who because she likes him.

3. She chooses leeches as she has had the other two before. Better the unknown? We will see.
So back to the trek training………..

It's black and dark, the stars are still out but there is urgency and purpose amongst the bodies milling around field base. Headtorches flash around the many tents to reveal people busy gathering kit, cooking porridge and pulling various cords to adjust their full heavy and cumbersome ruck sacks to ensure they rest comfortably on their owners in preparation for the 14k trek in the blistering heat to near Daddaahalli.

The first group sets off shortly after the light arrives at 7 and is followed shortly by the second group at a quick eager pace to embark on our first adventure as a team.

We reach the top of the driveway a mere 100 metres from field base and our newly appointed day leader Dave (the idea of the day leader is that we all take turns to navigate with the aid of the map and under the watchful eye of our trek leaders) appears confused and studies the map with a look of intense concentration before decisively commanding the group to turn left towards Jaypura. Anxious glances are exchanged by the rest of the group who having been to Jaypura only yesterday are all certain that it is actually right at the top of the road. An unconvincing start is ignored as we all proceed happily to our destination as the usual chatter that accompanies such a long walk begins and the sun makes itself known to us without making us uncomfortable.

After some time we reach the village of Sindhuhalli and take the opportunity to fill our water bottles from the local pump. We also manage to persuade some local villagers to wash some of our kit along the way.

We pass field after field, as the sun burns down on us, t-shirts are no longer moist but drenched in sweat, water bottles are drained as boots rhythmically pound the dusty paths and the only breeze is the sudden but welcome gust as vehicles hurry past. Kevin and James notice the blast of air that is created by the vehicles and try to emulate a vehicle by running past each other, although they don’t manage to achieve cool air they do achieve hysterical laughter from the rest of the group as they mess about reminding us of dogs chasing their tails. The mood is light despite what is starting to be unbearable heat under the weight of the rucksacks.

Out come the maps again. Dave our learned leader who has been lagging behind a bit comes up with the unique idea of taking a longer and more scenic route. This idea is met with complete derision by the rest of the group. It is hot. It is really hot. It is not the time for sightseeing and we put the idea to a public vote. He is outnumbered by everyone and we plough on.

We reach the next village and we generate the same curiosity and interest that we are now becoming accustomed to. Kripa one of our group is fluent in Hindi which although isn’t the local language is understood in part. As she explains our presence we are offered kindness which is also accompanied by chai and laughter.

There is talk of going to the well to fill bottles and two of the men set off for their task. After a ten minute period Dave has gone missing. At first we are anxious and then as we see him saunter back to the group and our emotions are replaced by anger. Valuable time has been lost by looking for Dave and we are irritable. Finally though we reach our destination and much needed shade is taken before we set up camp for the night.

For some of us a whole new vocabulary is learnt, long drops, slosh pits are all dug and tents are erected.
 
 

 
Home for the night at least has been made and we watch the amazing sunset and chill.
 
 

 
A fire is lit and we talk about what we have learnt from the trek and Dave’s uncharacteristic and erratic behavior is discussed. It turns out that Dave has in fact been planted as a mole in the group. Horror, recognition, understanding and smiles pass across the groups faces, someone shouts "I knew there was something up with you today."  His mission was to get things wrong and isolate himself. Suddenly we analyse our behaviour and no one is that proud of the way we treated Dave. Lessons are learnt about how we can accommodate someone who is perhaps struggling and we all reflect on the way we operate as a group before we laugh heartily at Dave’s amateur dramatics and how convincing he was!

Day 2
 
We are adament that we are going to be a sleeker operation and there will be no loo breaks every 5 minutes and we will continue at pace to early to avoid the heat. Five minutes out of our camp base Helen annoyingly announces she needs to go. The group wait loitering at a respectful distance and then panic Helen shouts she has been bitten by a snake. Right emergency. The training spins in our head, casevac, panic, no don't panic; what do we need; communicate to field base, stretcher, runner, delogate, control, someone needs to make tea, make the rest of the group safe, bandage her leg. In less than a minute we are organised, we have a plan and communications are made with field base. It transpires that we have to carry Helen by stretcher. Four of us take turns to carry her and her back pack to the nearest village where help and field base will meet us. After two minutes we switch, she is heavy and we are sweating, the bamboo is slipping in our hands, we swap with each other to lighten the load, we carry on for thirty minutes. It is so hard but time is short so we continue sweating working as a team to save our team member. She is heavy.
 

 
 
We get to the village and find that Helen is also a mole and she is fine. Cynically we should have guessed looking at her smiling face in the picture above!