latest report from leh

Just heard from the expedition leader- everyone has been visiting a local school in leh today and it has been an excellent day and a rewarding experience for everyone. I m writing this blog rather than the Explorers themselves as there has been a powercut and therefore no Internet access in Leh before they depart for the trekking . Needless to say, the Explorers tell the story much better than I do sat at work several  thousand miles away!! Its just fantastic to hear what they are up to and  that everything is fine.
Please remember on the trekking there is no phone or internet access so reports will be few and far between for the next few days, but I will pass on anything I hear.

Neil

Day 4 – Seeing his Holiness the Dalai Lama

Today has been extremely busy! We set out (quite) early this morning to walk into town to join the hundreds of locals who had gathered to witness the arrival of the Dalai Lama into Leh. We had hoped to present him with the contingent necker as it is customary to give scarves, but unfortunately he drove past with his window up. A local policeman recommended that we go to the SPP station, where we might be able to find someone to pass it on for us. We decided to go after lunch, and made our way back to the hostel for a bit of a rest after all the excitement of the morning.

When we returned to the SPP we spoke to another policeman. He suggested the best thing to do would be to deliver the necker ourselves, to his house in Leh. We were really surprised and very excited at the prospect of visiting the Dalai Lamas house, so we wrote a letter and put together a gift including our continent necker and badge, and a box of Yorkshire Tea. We also included a postcard in a stamped addressed envelope for him to return to us! We’ll let you know how successful we are in delivering the gift later.

This afternoon we had the chance to have a look around Leh and visit a few shops (what else?), where we discovered that James W is a keen shopper and barterer. Dave C however needs some practice! After a short stop back at the hostel, we set out for our first walk of the trip, up to the Stupa: a shrine at the top of a hill with gorgeous views out over Leh and surrounded by mountains.

We made it back for dinner and our Lake Louise test. We’ve had a few more poorlies but we suspect it might be due to the sun rather than altitude or the food. Hats and suncream religiously from now on! We do seem to be acclimatising quite well in general though, hopefully we’ll all be fit and ready for the trek on Thursday.

Time for bed now,

Lots of love,

Sarah and Emily xxx

p.s. Sarah says “Hi everyone at home, having lots of fun and staying safe. Missing you. Couldn’t find a simcard hence why I haven’t contacted but you should have been looking at the blog anyway so that doesn’t  matter! See you all soon. Lots of love xxx”

p.p.s Emily says “Hello! I am having such a good time and love India so much! Thinking of you all, hope you’re all well. Love xx”

Day 3!

Day 3

We’re in Leh! J

Its colder which is a definite plus, it’s also less humid which means we can actually breath!

We got up ridiculously early, like REALLY early as in 2 o’clock… which went well for us all. When we were at the airport we decided ,wisely, to get some McDonalds which was very smart and delicious and not spicy like the KFC turned out to be! The flight was pretty bumpy but the view was amazing.

Leh’s really pretty although we haven’t seen most of it from our bed since we’ve all slept most of the day to catch up and acclimatize only waking up to eat and go for a little walk around Leh and see what we can buy tomorrow. So far all we’ve (Lily and Ellie by the wayJ) suffered from is tiredness which made us a little grumpy and feeling a little bit sick up until today around 5 when we went walking and got back and ate some amazing custard and bananas.

Josh is casually taking pictures of us two and the others having conversations , so it’s safe to say his mum will have some weird photos to look at when he gets home, James is still being extremely energetic and happy and the other James got his Taylor Swift fix today and definitely cheered up:L

Erm.. so that’s about all we did today J it was a good day just getting to relax!

Lily and Ellie

ps

From Lily to her mum: hi! I miss you and please look after mr. Tiddles and I can’t wait to see you , please remember to look out for 1D related stuff to fill me in! :*

From Ellie to her Mum : hiJ  I miss you all and thanks for persuading me to take two nutella’s per day. Life saver. Also , please bring my Sherbet Pips and Kerrangs too ! :) I can’t wait to see you all! Bye! :*

Day 2: A day in dehli

First we woke up and had toast and other food for breakfast, After this we went to old dehli and met up with The Salaam Balaak trust, The tour guide took us through the slums, Where we saw alot of interesting people. He took us to the shelter where we met the children, We interacted with them and learnt a new handshake. After this we went to Macdonallds for lunch which was very nice. After this we encountered a storm. Once the storm died down we traveled over to a school, Where we played games and had a lot of fun with the kids, they were very friendly and we had a great time.
By sam corrigan, Sam cameron and tom lee.

Hot and sweaty and sticky DAY 1

As soon as we stepped outside the airport we realised that it wasnt what we expected in India as it was outrageously humid and hot. As we got onto the bus this weird man approached us 'like a hungry wolf stalking an injured deer'....!!!. The man only wanted to help us with our bags and maybe try steal one of them too - we soon had him shoed away .

As we where driven through the vast sprawling urban expanse known as Dehli, all the men were wearing shirts and I could not see a woman on her own in the streets. We went to a sikh temple for morning prayer which was interesting because we had to walk through a densely populated kitchen where we had to walk through a puddle of grease which wasnt good because we didnt have any shoes on or socks !!!!!!!

The next temple we came across was a Hindu one. In this temple there were many german war signs or what we thought they were however the guide explained that they had been there since 8000 years ago and were adopted by Hitler but the sign was a mirror image of that used by the Germans ....the Hindu meaning was actually very peaceful....

When we got back from our daily excursions to the temples we had two hours to relax and try to get over our jet-lag, everyone went   in the  pool who wanted to have a frolock in the pool and cool off.

Anyway, today has been a long hard strenous sometimes painful day but we managed as a team to overcome the odds and beat the Gods at their own game !!


Josh Pullan, Christian Wood and Elliot H-Gilbert

And we are off!!!!

Its 2.17pm UK time and 4.17pm Finland time.... leaders are sat in Starbucks having a fix before we run out of good coffee and the guys are having a shopping fix.. not sure how long we can keep ourselves entertained in Helsinki Airport as there aint a lot here!!! Simon has been despatched to purchase some reindeer salami... dont ask but hes found a farm shop... random yes we know!! So... today so far has involved successfully navigating Manchester Airport and flight number one (pictures attached).. 5 hours to kill here until our onward flight to Delhi... next time we blog we will actually be in India! Excitement is all around us.... great atmosphere. In other news..... Gaz fell over in Manchester Airport, Sam fell over in Helsinki aiport and Roger has just had his first "frappuchino"... we promise that these blogs WILL get more exciting!

Keep smiling!

Gaz and the gang

Getting Ready

Hi everyone
not blogged for a while, as I have been getting ready and sorting out work stuff so sorry.



So Namaste
we had a great training weekend in Wales, where we slept under that star, ate lots of curry and got bitten a lot by bugs.

we also were given our kit bags that have been kindly sponsored by Mitsubishi and Cotswolds. Some of the participants where so impressed the got in the bags to show the size.

But then on kit check were surprised how the spare seemed to disappear. fab day a kit check with lots of work done, lovely food and we launched our balloons for the race.

Gaz has been keeping us all updates with to tips and info here is one of the messages from him.

I started this morning by asking you all how you felt.. I will sum it up in a few words tonight to close the comments.....

Proud... to be leading a great bunch of people on a trip of a lifetime

Excited... to experience this with you all

Curious... about how everyone will adapt to different cultures, tastes, smells, sights and sounds

Intrigued... to see how you will all work as a team and depend on each other... 4230 miles away from home

Lets do this!

Now with just one sleep left I hope everyone is packed and ready to go....early bed please

शुभ रात्रि

śubha rātri

"good night" in Hindi

 Katie x

Anxious and enthusiasm

Roger says

Feeling anxious and wondering whether its all too much trouble? 
Just follow this link and take a look at the actual spot we will beon Sat 3 August.
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0094009/photos/m-j-rousell/8127915787/

That should renew your enthusiasm!

Saving lives, shopping and the weather

Simon is busy saving lives while Katie and Andrew moan about running out for time to go shopping...

Training weekend this weekend and the weather looks ok :-)