I wasn't going to write another blog here, for a few reasons. Mainly that I felt that I'd just kept ranting how good things were at every stop and I'd seen most of you to tell you about my final leg and wasn't sure how many of you had been arsed to keep reading my long passages.
It was a definite shame not to finish off my stories of Nepal as it was the place which changed my life and made me see things differently. I'd met and had had some of the best times ever in my adventure playground. The challenge, and I mean challenge of the Annapurna circuit deserves a passage as does the Chitwan Jungle, but these will have to wait as I get down here what has happened in the past few months ending in last week touring the UK with Brett, Liisa and Kaisa. Liisa was the girl that I'd done my Everest trekking with.
Liisa and Hans were the best people I met the whole time whilst travelling and when Liisa and I said we'd meet again in the future, like many promises you make when travelling, I thought it would never happen. I find that quite sad, because the people that I say I want to keep in touch with and see again are people I genuinely, really want to keep in touch with and see again - I will always keep my promise and Liisa kept hers and it was amazing to spend more time with this special person who just always seems to be happy and willing to give anything a go.
Before I go onto last week - which has opened my eyes to something very important to me, something I've been blinkered to for years and was struggling to understand for the last few months, I am going to describe some of the events that built up to my return to reality....
When I returned home earlier than planned I was determined to keep busy and the travelling ethos alive. I hope to keep this alive as I return back to the daily routine of work by filling my spare time with events that keep reminding me why I'm alive. I've done that this summer and I hope the people I've shared my time with see that I've changed and that they keep reminding me of that, if I start to slip back into a place that they know I don't really want to be.
Last summer was pretty difficult for me with the break up but with my friends help, I kept afloat and I even started to live a life that I had ditched years ago in search of a life I wanted back then - its taken a full year to realise what I really want in life and it hit me last week travelling around with three fantastic guys having a time that ticked almost every box for what I wanted.
When me and Brett returned from Ibiza and having had the time we'd had we were on a high for months - once my impending travels came nearer we were both a bit sad as we knew we would never in our lives have another summer like it, with so many memorable events. Well I have to say that we have totally eclipsed last years memories and as I write this I cannot help but think that our sadness that this summer is drawing to a close and that we will never ever be able to have another summer like it. Its particularly difficult for me who has to return to a structured job after hundreds of days of fun and adventure - every single day since November 17th 2007 (when Rob and I boarded that Boeing 747) has been a new adventure, bringing thousands of happy memories and teaching me just as many lessons in life.
Like I said I was wanting to keep busy for the time I was home, hoping to enjoy my own country as much as the others that I'd visited to open my eyes to what is achievable nearer to home - and I think I've done just that.
Obviously I've had many fantastic times with other people, been away with my sister and her kids in the middle of Wales, enjoying baby Sam and catching up with Rick. I had the most touching moment of my life the other week when I fed Sam then cradled him in my arms until he fell asleep - this was an amazing moment for me. I'd never really wanted to do this with any other babies, even my sisters. Quite frankly it scared the shit out of me and I was pretty immature about the whole thing. My travelling has matured my mind and made me see things differently and I'm' so glad it has, because those moments spent with Sam will forever stay in my mind. Let there be many many more. I'm very close to Rick and hope I can be close to Sam enjoying as many moments with him and Rick as I can without being in their faces.
Its the lead up to the week with Brett, Liisa and Kaisa that I want to illustrate here so these moments won't figure here, but I want you to know they significantly contribute to my thousands of happy memories.
Brett and I had some catching up to do and Brett has been awesome in embracing the give anything a go attitude - something I think is the number one attribute someone should have. Brett booked two days off every week and we took off to discover new adventures, friends and experiences. To list everything we have done would be a bit arsey but speaking from my point of view, I've seen two different guys emerge from this summer. There isn't one thing we haven't thrown ourselves into 100% and not one trip that hasn't lifted the standard of fun from the previous weeks.
The Wednesday before Liisa and Kaisa arrived I was wandering around Leeds in the sun which we hadn't seen for a while and thought it would be good to have a few evening drinks with Brett as a warm up for the week ahead. That night we ended up in a bar where a band from York, Section30 were giving an unplugged session as the headline act with the drum kit hadn't turned up. They were glad to see some Leeds support coming through the door and once Brett and I hit the chaos button, everyone was drinking with us and Brett jumped on stage to give Leeds its first taste of The Deal - and he didn't disappoint. Chants of 'Brett, Brett, Brett' were ringing out across the bar. At the end of the night the band invited us to their next gig in York. That was it - I'd booked a hotel an hour later and the first night with Liisa and Kaisa was going to be in York.
When Friday arrived, it was nice to see Liisa again and was good to meet Kaisa, who Liisa had talked very highly of and missed whilst in Nepal. Before long once we'd fixed the shat nav we were in York and we were all excited for the week ahead. We went for a few cheeky Magners in the center before heading over to see Section30 - Brett and I were wondering if they would even remember us. Remember us - as soon as the cab pulled up we were greeted to a 'Rock God reception', people seemed to emerge from everywhere shouting 'Brett' and 'Pete' hugging us and high fiving us - I honestly couldn't believe it. We saw the band and went crazy on the gold Tequila dancing on the dance floor with the band in the middle of their set - what an amazing time. We then headed back to town to party. See the photo's on my Facebook.
We did the touristy thing in York then headed back to mine for a steady night before our trip upto the Edinburgh festival - what a trip. I totally loved Edinburgh and the Fringe was unreal - the first night we saw a couple of acts which were actually very funny - a good choice girls. I thought that Brett and I were pretty shit at making decisions but we just seem to always go with the flow and have good times - and we did. We had a few drinks before heading back to the hostel and listen to our first nightly chorus of Brett snoring - 3 hours sleep.
After a really really good nights sleep, we headed for breakfast then for a walk around Edinburgh to get a good feeling for the place. We watched a few street acts then walked around the entertainment for a bit. We split up for a while to go see some different sites before meeting to see our first show of the day - it was billed as the funniest most bazaar show you can see on the Fringe - and it was half right - bloody bazaar but shit. It was the longest hour of our lives and I couldn't stop laughing at how shit it was. After this we headed for some food when we all felt tired - it just seemed that we'd peaked too soon and we were all ready for an early night. Then suddenly Kaisa suggested that we all hit the Vodka RedBulls. That we did and that lit the blue touch paper - that night we saw some more acts which were just average but when we hit the E4 underbelly it all went west - we just seemed to turn on the magic - we started playing drinking games and before long our table was the most lively with more and more people joining us to join the fun. That night compares with the pool scene in Ibiza 2007, but we had showers although they were cold! Only me and Brett will know that joke - if only the shower had worked! I was like a mas possessed trying to get everyone to join in with us - total chaos.
When we got back to our 8 bed dorm we suddenly realised that there were 9 bodies in the room - we all managed to keep our beds but it was a funny moment especially as Frergyl ended up sharing a bed with his friend who was hot and called heaven!
The following day we said goodbye to Edinburgh -I will be back to the Fringe one day, to head to Perthshire for a couple of days to do some canyoning and see some more nice scenery. The canyoning was again a brilliant experience and was fun. The visit to Perthshire was short and sweet as we wanted to break up the drive home and stop half way we headed back down after lunch the following day. The blues started to kick in that it was all over and there would be no more partying and suddenly the girls pulled it out of the bag - 'guys lets head straight back to Leeds for another night of chaos'. We didn't need telling twice - we were now in high spirits and singing and playing games all the way back down.
It was on that journey home as I was reflecting on the week - Brett and I had had some good serious conversations - I'd been searching for an answer all summer about that one last piece of the jigsaw that was missing from my life. My life is as good as it gets - totally awesome but a partner to share moments with would be the icing on the cake - I'm not in any rush, but it was playing on my mind what I really wanted in a girl - I had the mold of Emily and wasn't sure how I could fill that, but this week made me realise in a very happy, weight lifted form my shoulders way, that Emily was the wrong girl for me, and I have been given a second chance to find that special person.
For the past couple of weeks its been creeping in to my mind every now and then that as my return to work looms, I'm returning back to my old life with the biggest thing missing - but it hit me this week travelling with such fantastic girls that everything I've been searching for in a partner was wrong and I now know just what I need in life.
Liisa, Kaisa - Keep in touch, you guys can come visit anytime. Hopefully one day we all meet again - maybe see you New Years?
'I just tonight to last forever, but I know it won't.
Let us share something together, memories that I want.
For years I've being waiting for this moment lets hope I don't choke.'
Pete Sutcliffe, Summer 2008 (The Deal, Don't Choke)
Friday, 22 August 2008
Monday, 9 June 2008
Wind of change!
About time! I hear you say - Yes you're right, its been an age since I updated here, but you have to remember that time isn't your enemy its your best friend! I have literally been having the time of my life - I honestly thought things couldn't get any better for me when I returned to Nepal, but how I was wrong - it changed how I was looking at life and I still feel the same.
Keep on reading and see the following blogs to see the path I have taken to get to this liberating feeling - it wasn't easy but the light is finally here!
When I got back to Nepal with Dan I was eager to fulfil my hunger that I had been holding back until Dan got out, so we could experience the adventures together - I have had so much to say about my adventures and sometimes I cannot believe myself what I'm telling people. It sounds like my stories are far fetched, so to once again have someone to share those moments with, to know they did happen, when I reflect on them, was going to be great.
In the first two weeks in Nepal, I was again taken aback by everything this simple country had to offer and we had an amazing time in Chitwan - such a good time that it started to hit me what I was thinking about life. The problem was that I had loved writing my blogs and journal and hearing how some of you guys were enjoying reading it, but I kind of had a writers block. That felt shit for me, knowing how much enjoyment I was getting from writing, but I just couldn't find the words to put together a picture that I was seeing, doing and feeling.
The words didn't come to me until I was sat 2 feet above the Sun Koshi river on a 10 day expedition down one of the top rafting rivers on the planet, with some of the top guys in the world. The words, emotions and learning hit me in the face like the rapids had been doing for the first few days on this amazing experience. This is why the next couple of blogs will be a bit disjointed - I will write about our expedition down the 'River of Gold' from the foot of the Himalayas to the shimmering plains of India first, and follow with my next installment about the Chitwan Jungle!
I was having the most fantastic time since travelling - I had realised that while travelling solo gained me great independence and some of the best friends I have ever met, I realised that I need to travel in the company of someone with the same infectious hunger for adventure that I have, and indeed Dan 're-pack ya bag agen man' Akkermans has that hunger. This leg of the trip was having me question for the first time, my life! I didn't know if it was because I was experiencing such a good place with a guy with the same symmetry for that adventure, or that I'm at the crest of my time out and the thought of returning to normal life is is creeping into my mind - Don't worry - it didn't take anything from my adventure, in fact it probably enhanced it, but I felt that I was moving higher up a scale that I thought ended some time ago.
My thoughts and emotions were coming to the front of my mind and a no holds barred attitude was taking a grip. I have done some reckless things this year that I would never publish here and that the old Pete would have never done, but I have loved doing those things and when I look back I can look back with a smile. I was once asked, why do wrong things always feel so good? Well for starters, do what you're told and you'll soon grow old - I don't want to grow old in spirit - I want to keep living. You have to do things in life that make you feel alive, there is no point in living if you cannot feel alive so remember one thing: Don't live life, Love it!
When we met Liisa and Hans at the airport in Kathmandu on their return from Thailand, it was brilliant to see them - I honestly thought I'd not see these fantastic people again and while writing this up in my journal sat on a golden sandy beach while sat under the canopy of the raft on day 1 of our 10 day rafting trip, Hans is sat to my right sharing another adventure of proportions of 'serious shit'! Unfortunately Liisa had to return to Finland, so couldn't share this trip and like Hans and I said that evening something was missing.
Before we embarked on our rafting trip in our chartered raft with crew, we had a send off for Liisa in Thamel that will stand out at the best night I've had while been on the road. We were a bunch of fun loving laid back guys and that night of us all been together for the last time was done justice. I'm hoping to see Liisa and Hans again and fortunately, Liisa is coming to the UK in August for some more great times, so roll on the good times of summer 2008.
I have a real hunger for more travel now I've spent time with such like minded people and I want to keep the search for fun times and adventure alive whilst back in the UK. I maybe back in the UK but my sabbatical is not over and I want to keep surpassing the objectives that I set myself on my departure. I've experienced that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and have learnt that when your dead, you live no longer. So that's it, I'm telling you all to get out there and feel alive, break those shackles. I keep saying this and I'm hoping it not getting boring, but I have realised that I didn't and a lot of people I knew didn't always see how good things can be if we make the effort - good times won't find us, we must go in search of them and the searching is what becomes the good times whilst stumbling upon those great times.
For the rafting, and like we did with the rest of this trip, we decided that we wanted to do things differently, so we chartered the raft and crew for ourselves. We invited Hans, who is up for everything and paid for Ram, our mountain guide to come along to form 'Team Koshi' for 10 days of pure fun and an adventure that none of us had ever experienced before in our lives. If I had to recommend anything from Nepal, the rafting expedition would be it.
The description for the Sun Koshi apart form being one of the worlds best exhibition river (Sorry expedition river - I know someone who that will make smile), is a river which rapids grow on the way down, with the first couple of days easing the crew into the challenge of the grade-5 rapids to be encountered!
The first day involved a drive into remote central eastern Nepal to the foot of the Himalayas before lunch then after packing our raft with all the food and equipment that 7 guys could possibly need, stuffed into barrels and strapped to the spine of the raft we set off on our 10 day jaunt to our takeout point 290km away staring down the Indian plains in the South! Travelling through villages and mountains only assessable by foot, raft or helicopter! We were remote, very remote and all we had was what we carried aboard Noris our faithful raft. Noris was named after his manufacturer NRS.
The first afternoon was a nice introduction and there were whoops of joy from the group and a Shaka-laka-boom as we took on some small rapids as looseners for things to come. The standing waves in these small unclassified rapids were already head high! This was going to be mega. Amrit our river guide allowed us to swim in the water in deeper sections as we drifted on our backs past rice paddy fields and fields being ploughed by water Buffalo. The only thing to challenge us that day was the baking sun that gave us all a reminder of who was the boss - the elements, which we were going to learn the ultimate lesson time after time as it was us verses nature.
That night we set up camp on the whitest beach I've ever seen and once we'd set up our tents we helped the our crew; guide, support guide and cook, set up their sleeping arrangements. They were under the upturned raft - immediately we said we all like to spend a night under the raft as it was totally basic. Little did we know that the night we decided to do this later in the trip would be one that will stick in my memory for ever.
The following day we travelled farther into remote Nepal and passed villages where all the children would run to the river banks to enthusiastically yell hello and wave to us like crazy - it was very touching especially to see their little smiling faces as they tried to climb into the raft after swimming out across this raging river to greet us.
The kids were like little otters. They could swim against the current and in the rapids with no fear - they truly were river people who lived on the river. It provided their food and income and the only way to cross it to get to a neighbouring village was to swim across this mass of water or take a dug out canoe. All the way down the river we had fun with the children who were fascinated by us westerners and Noris. These people living so simply yet were seemingly so happy. This cemented the feelings which I were having for the hunt for true happiness in my life.
Like I said in my last blog, Great Britain is great and it is such a great place to be, but our lives in GB have weights that can bring us down and I am determined to fight against this happening on my return to reality - and that's just it, its reality to us, how we know it and how we have created it. We just need to unshackle from that burden and keep it real.
Not for the first time in Nepal I was having pangs of Fraser Island. It was again a totally basic experience, sharing an adventure of these proportions with a group of like minded people with my passion for a good time and adventure was superb. Team Koshi had taken the first couple of days to bond seamlessly, but we were now one and were all having such a great time - the crew even said that we were so different to any group they'd ever had. Other groups just get drunk on a night and suffer in the day - we, well we were off the alcohol, but having a time that even surprised the crew - they'd never had a group as infectiously enthuastic as us. The crew were joining in our antics and we just threw caution to the wind and did what we choose to do to have the best time.
This feeling I was getting reinforced my feelings of the importance of my friends and family. You are all great and it probably is why I'm friends with you, but you all add to what I need, to have a good time with everything I do.
That night, once we had set up camp, we decided to head back into the water with just our life jackets on and swim across the river. The river was fast and it was great fun. Getting out about 100m down river as the strength of the current had taken us well away from our entry point. Dan and I had promised his wife that we'd look after each other, so for everything we did on the trip we were not far behind each other, which included been in on the rapids....
For the following couple of days the rapids and scenery got more and more awesome, there were photo opportunities at every corner. We spent a lot of time in the water and at one point Amrit was joking when he said yes to us swimming one particular rapid which looked large. I just took off over the edge before he could say I'm joking and that was it, I heard an 'oh shit' from Dan as he said that he'd promised Kate that we'd be together on everything as he jumped over. Amrit saw the need to be there with us as the rapid was quite large so he was with us as we were getting smashed by the rapids. That was another experience that will stay with me forever - an element of my craziness coming out - I live for moments like that.
By the time we reached the rapid we had all been waiting for, the grade-5 rapid, we were a unit working well in the raft and we had had no outs at that point. Our river guide told us that we had to get the rapid spot on or we would get pulled down into a big hole on the right that would flip the raft. And we don't want to do that with all our gear in the raft.
He'd had an experience the previous season where the raft had flipped when the rapid was running at grade 6 (commercially un runnable - but his clients convinced him to run it). All 8 of those on board didn't climb out of the river until 4km down river!
I thought he was bigging the danger of the hole up, but as we hit the rapid called Harkapur and broke through the 6 foot+ wall of water at the start of the rapid, we shook off the water from our helmets just in time to see us getting pulled towards the hole and hear Amrit shout a 'hard back'. Dan and I were paddling like crazy as we, being at the front could see the hole. The team did well and managed to paddle safely through the rapid and avoid the hole and any losses of personnel. We then had about 30m to prepare for the second section with a huge wave train and bend to ride out. The jubilation on our success of both sections was immense - however, this feeling of emotion was to be eclipsed by our achievement on Thorung La.
Have a look at these to see the Harkapur and Sun Koshi;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZcFcsiZTX0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGUpI-bDXBk
You will see from the videos, which aren't ours, how big some of the rapids were - Its such a great feeling as we were riding the rapid train staring up at these walls of water and literally carving through some of them - Dan and I both had a superb time at the front - the front work harder, get wetter but get to stare into the face of these waves and look back at them with a crazy grin that says what ever you can do wave, it ain't gonna be enough because we are one team and here we come - on the trip none of us went in involuntarily, but I'm sure that if we did then either myself or Dan would have been there for the other one.
The following day we spent a lot of time working hard and playing hard - some of the winds that were coming north from India were strong and at some points on some of the lakes we were going backwards as we were trying to paddle them, but in-between we spent a lot of time in the water generally having a riot. Once we got to the camp for the night we all went to find some shade from the baking sun and all fell asleep on the rocks in the shade of a lonesome tree. When I woke and saw everyone spread out on the rocks it hit me how basic this trip was. We'd all managed to find comfort on rocks and shade for us to all sleep for a while.
We decided that this night was the one which we were going to sleep under the raft with the crew and so set up our sleeping arrangements for the night. Well this was going to be a night to remember. As the food was cooking and the light had gone, we were watching a storm some distance away in the distant mountains. As we were settling down the wind suddenly started roaring and as I gave Hans a look of what the hell, the raft took off. I managed to grab the webbing to try to stop the raft but there was no stopping the gale force wind - a shoulder season monsoon had hit us with no warning! The raft was picked up like a piece of litter and with me still having a hold was thrown across the beach - When I recovered to look for everyone else I couldn't see, the sandstorm that was whipping us made it impossible to see anything. Just then another gust flipped the raft again and that was it I was off. Ram came running under the raft with me and suddenly Hans appeared and Ram thought I was injured because of the tears running down my face and the fact that the boulders that we'd tied to the raft that had taken three of us to move had being flying through the air still attached to the raft - I was fine, it was just the funniest thing that had ever happened to me. When the wind stopped as fast as it came we ventured out to see that Dan had had the same idea to preserve our equipment and he'd jumped on our gear - he was totally covered by an inch of sand! We had to search in the driving rain for our sleeping mats and life jackets but all we managed to loose was one sleeping mat - not bad to say the whole camp had been destroyed!
The memory of those events will stay with me for as long as I have my memory and so many times on this trip, I've experienced things that will stay with me for ever. Needless to say that soaking wet and covered in sand we didn't get much sleep that night.
Even though we were tired the next day we had a lot of rapids to run. As far as the number of quality rapids go, this day was the best and that was probably just as well to keep the adrenaline up to keep us all awake. For lunch we stopped at a beautiful beach with an amazing waterfall which we climbed up to to refresh in. After lunch we passed a local village where the crew decided to stop to talk to a local girl who offered herself to us westerners for 1000Rs - Quite expensive I thought especially as she kept yakking up flem and spitting it on the rocks in front of us. I'm not sure if it was a local thing to show she was cool or something but we were eager to get paddling fast and disappear from sight, but the crew were getting satisfaction out of watching me squirm as they told her I was game but would only pay 800!
After nearly been thrown to the local woman we reached the jungle corridor, where the mountains gave way to dense jungle with some pretty large grade 4 rapids. I could just see the Green Barrets gliding this section of river on a jungle training exercises. The scenery was amazing and the rapids threw up some good sections.
The next day Amrit let me guide the raft down some rapids - this was hard work but was fun. I had explained how fancy becoming a river guide and he said I was pretty good and handled the raft well and with 6 weeks training with them I could have my ticket.
Later in the day and with Amrit knowing how mad we were for being in the water, he said we could jump from the cliff side into the river. This was again a brilliant thing and looking back on the video it was quite high. Again both Dan and I weren't far appart and we both were asking Amrit for bigger jumps - I'm sure that he thought we were a little mad.
For the remainder of the trip it was much of the same with the scenery changing again towards the end as we concluded our 290 km journey and approached India's dusty plains. The trip was one long lads holiday - no alcohol but just the best time ever. Adrenaline, adventure, friendship and lots of fun. I will be repeating an expedition trip again, but it would have to be pretty special to come close to the trip we had on the 'River of Gold' in summer 2008.
When I was planning to embark on this trip, in my research I read that you should never give people a timescale as to your return as its too fixed - you never know when you are ready to return and should never fix yourself by time - when travelling, time doesn't matter - your only governed by light and dark. All the time that I have being travelling I've had so many thoughts about my return home, when it would be and what I would do on my return. Well I am now feeling better than I ever have in my life, yea, I have deep scars from my past but I feel so ready for everything, ready to be a different person who achieves much more than I did before but with less of the effort, hassle and stress. I've learned to notch back and when the pressure is stacked, don't look back! I see that being home is time to fold the hand that I've been playing with and be dealt the next one. I'm back, in more ways than one, I am capable of a lot and now is my time to deliver.
In my next blog I will cover Chitwan and my feelings and experiences whilst in the middle of the wild Jungle of Nepal - Did they see the elusive tiger..... till next time.
Keep on reading and see the following blogs to see the path I have taken to get to this liberating feeling - it wasn't easy but the light is finally here!
When I got back to Nepal with Dan I was eager to fulfil my hunger that I had been holding back until Dan got out, so we could experience the adventures together - I have had so much to say about my adventures and sometimes I cannot believe myself what I'm telling people. It sounds like my stories are far fetched, so to once again have someone to share those moments with, to know they did happen, when I reflect on them, was going to be great.
In the first two weeks in Nepal, I was again taken aback by everything this simple country had to offer and we had an amazing time in Chitwan - such a good time that it started to hit me what I was thinking about life. The problem was that I had loved writing my blogs and journal and hearing how some of you guys were enjoying reading it, but I kind of had a writers block. That felt shit for me, knowing how much enjoyment I was getting from writing, but I just couldn't find the words to put together a picture that I was seeing, doing and feeling.
The words didn't come to me until I was sat 2 feet above the Sun Koshi river on a 10 day expedition down one of the top rafting rivers on the planet, with some of the top guys in the world. The words, emotions and learning hit me in the face like the rapids had been doing for the first few days on this amazing experience. This is why the next couple of blogs will be a bit disjointed - I will write about our expedition down the 'River of Gold' from the foot of the Himalayas to the shimmering plains of India first, and follow with my next installment about the Chitwan Jungle!
I was having the most fantastic time since travelling - I had realised that while travelling solo gained me great independence and some of the best friends I have ever met, I realised that I need to travel in the company of someone with the same infectious hunger for adventure that I have, and indeed Dan 're-pack ya bag agen man' Akkermans has that hunger. This leg of the trip was having me question for the first time, my life! I didn't know if it was because I was experiencing such a good place with a guy with the same symmetry for that adventure, or that I'm at the crest of my time out and the thought of returning to normal life is is creeping into my mind - Don't worry - it didn't take anything from my adventure, in fact it probably enhanced it, but I felt that I was moving higher up a scale that I thought ended some time ago.
My thoughts and emotions were coming to the front of my mind and a no holds barred attitude was taking a grip. I have done some reckless things this year that I would never publish here and that the old Pete would have never done, but I have loved doing those things and when I look back I can look back with a smile. I was once asked, why do wrong things always feel so good? Well for starters, do what you're told and you'll soon grow old - I don't want to grow old in spirit - I want to keep living. You have to do things in life that make you feel alive, there is no point in living if you cannot feel alive so remember one thing: Don't live life, Love it!
When we met Liisa and Hans at the airport in Kathmandu on their return from Thailand, it was brilliant to see them - I honestly thought I'd not see these fantastic people again and while writing this up in my journal sat on a golden sandy beach while sat under the canopy of the raft on day 1 of our 10 day rafting trip, Hans is sat to my right sharing another adventure of proportions of 'serious shit'! Unfortunately Liisa had to return to Finland, so couldn't share this trip and like Hans and I said that evening something was missing.
Before we embarked on our rafting trip in our chartered raft with crew, we had a send off for Liisa in Thamel that will stand out at the best night I've had while been on the road. We were a bunch of fun loving laid back guys and that night of us all been together for the last time was done justice. I'm hoping to see Liisa and Hans again and fortunately, Liisa is coming to the UK in August for some more great times, so roll on the good times of summer 2008.
I have a real hunger for more travel now I've spent time with such like minded people and I want to keep the search for fun times and adventure alive whilst back in the UK. I maybe back in the UK but my sabbatical is not over and I want to keep surpassing the objectives that I set myself on my departure. I've experienced that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and have learnt that when your dead, you live no longer. So that's it, I'm telling you all to get out there and feel alive, break those shackles. I keep saying this and I'm hoping it not getting boring, but I have realised that I didn't and a lot of people I knew didn't always see how good things can be if we make the effort - good times won't find us, we must go in search of them and the searching is what becomes the good times whilst stumbling upon those great times.
For the rafting, and like we did with the rest of this trip, we decided that we wanted to do things differently, so we chartered the raft and crew for ourselves. We invited Hans, who is up for everything and paid for Ram, our mountain guide to come along to form 'Team Koshi' for 10 days of pure fun and an adventure that none of us had ever experienced before in our lives. If I had to recommend anything from Nepal, the rafting expedition would be it.
The description for the Sun Koshi apart form being one of the worlds best exhibition river (Sorry expedition river - I know someone who that will make smile), is a river which rapids grow on the way down, with the first couple of days easing the crew into the challenge of the grade-5 rapids to be encountered!
The first day involved a drive into remote central eastern Nepal to the foot of the Himalayas before lunch then after packing our raft with all the food and equipment that 7 guys could possibly need, stuffed into barrels and strapped to the spine of the raft we set off on our 10 day jaunt to our takeout point 290km away staring down the Indian plains in the South! Travelling through villages and mountains only assessable by foot, raft or helicopter! We were remote, very remote and all we had was what we carried aboard Noris our faithful raft. Noris was named after his manufacturer NRS.
The first afternoon was a nice introduction and there were whoops of joy from the group and a Shaka-laka-boom as we took on some small rapids as looseners for things to come. The standing waves in these small unclassified rapids were already head high! This was going to be mega. Amrit our river guide allowed us to swim in the water in deeper sections as we drifted on our backs past rice paddy fields and fields being ploughed by water Buffalo. The only thing to challenge us that day was the baking sun that gave us all a reminder of who was the boss - the elements, which we were going to learn the ultimate lesson time after time as it was us verses nature.
That night we set up camp on the whitest beach I've ever seen and once we'd set up our tents we helped the our crew; guide, support guide and cook, set up their sleeping arrangements. They were under the upturned raft - immediately we said we all like to spend a night under the raft as it was totally basic. Little did we know that the night we decided to do this later in the trip would be one that will stick in my memory for ever.
The following day we travelled farther into remote Nepal and passed villages where all the children would run to the river banks to enthusiastically yell hello and wave to us like crazy - it was very touching especially to see their little smiling faces as they tried to climb into the raft after swimming out across this raging river to greet us.
The kids were like little otters. They could swim against the current and in the rapids with no fear - they truly were river people who lived on the river. It provided their food and income and the only way to cross it to get to a neighbouring village was to swim across this mass of water or take a dug out canoe. All the way down the river we had fun with the children who were fascinated by us westerners and Noris. These people living so simply yet were seemingly so happy. This cemented the feelings which I were having for the hunt for true happiness in my life.
Like I said in my last blog, Great Britain is great and it is such a great place to be, but our lives in GB have weights that can bring us down and I am determined to fight against this happening on my return to reality - and that's just it, its reality to us, how we know it and how we have created it. We just need to unshackle from that burden and keep it real.
Not for the first time in Nepal I was having pangs of Fraser Island. It was again a totally basic experience, sharing an adventure of these proportions with a group of like minded people with my passion for a good time and adventure was superb. Team Koshi had taken the first couple of days to bond seamlessly, but we were now one and were all having such a great time - the crew even said that we were so different to any group they'd ever had. Other groups just get drunk on a night and suffer in the day - we, well we were off the alcohol, but having a time that even surprised the crew - they'd never had a group as infectiously enthuastic as us. The crew were joining in our antics and we just threw caution to the wind and did what we choose to do to have the best time.
This feeling I was getting reinforced my feelings of the importance of my friends and family. You are all great and it probably is why I'm friends with you, but you all add to what I need, to have a good time with everything I do.
That night, once we had set up camp, we decided to head back into the water with just our life jackets on and swim across the river. The river was fast and it was great fun. Getting out about 100m down river as the strength of the current had taken us well away from our entry point. Dan and I had promised his wife that we'd look after each other, so for everything we did on the trip we were not far behind each other, which included been in on the rapids....
For the following couple of days the rapids and scenery got more and more awesome, there were photo opportunities at every corner. We spent a lot of time in the water and at one point Amrit was joking when he said yes to us swimming one particular rapid which looked large. I just took off over the edge before he could say I'm joking and that was it, I heard an 'oh shit' from Dan as he said that he'd promised Kate that we'd be together on everything as he jumped over. Amrit saw the need to be there with us as the rapid was quite large so he was with us as we were getting smashed by the rapids. That was another experience that will stay with me forever - an element of my craziness coming out - I live for moments like that.
By the time we reached the rapid we had all been waiting for, the grade-5 rapid, we were a unit working well in the raft and we had had no outs at that point. Our river guide told us that we had to get the rapid spot on or we would get pulled down into a big hole on the right that would flip the raft. And we don't want to do that with all our gear in the raft.
He'd had an experience the previous season where the raft had flipped when the rapid was running at grade 6 (commercially un runnable - but his clients convinced him to run it). All 8 of those on board didn't climb out of the river until 4km down river!
I thought he was bigging the danger of the hole up, but as we hit the rapid called Harkapur and broke through the 6 foot+ wall of water at the start of the rapid, we shook off the water from our helmets just in time to see us getting pulled towards the hole and hear Amrit shout a 'hard back'. Dan and I were paddling like crazy as we, being at the front could see the hole. The team did well and managed to paddle safely through the rapid and avoid the hole and any losses of personnel. We then had about 30m to prepare for the second section with a huge wave train and bend to ride out. The jubilation on our success of both sections was immense - however, this feeling of emotion was to be eclipsed by our achievement on Thorung La.
Have a look at these to see the Harkapur and Sun Koshi;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZcFcsiZTX0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGUpI-bDXBk
You will see from the videos, which aren't ours, how big some of the rapids were - Its such a great feeling as we were riding the rapid train staring up at these walls of water and literally carving through some of them - Dan and I both had a superb time at the front - the front work harder, get wetter but get to stare into the face of these waves and look back at them with a crazy grin that says what ever you can do wave, it ain't gonna be enough because we are one team and here we come - on the trip none of us went in involuntarily, but I'm sure that if we did then either myself or Dan would have been there for the other one.
The following day we spent a lot of time working hard and playing hard - some of the winds that were coming north from India were strong and at some points on some of the lakes we were going backwards as we were trying to paddle them, but in-between we spent a lot of time in the water generally having a riot. Once we got to the camp for the night we all went to find some shade from the baking sun and all fell asleep on the rocks in the shade of a lonesome tree. When I woke and saw everyone spread out on the rocks it hit me how basic this trip was. We'd all managed to find comfort on rocks and shade for us to all sleep for a while.
We decided that this night was the one which we were going to sleep under the raft with the crew and so set up our sleeping arrangements for the night. Well this was going to be a night to remember. As the food was cooking and the light had gone, we were watching a storm some distance away in the distant mountains. As we were settling down the wind suddenly started roaring and as I gave Hans a look of what the hell, the raft took off. I managed to grab the webbing to try to stop the raft but there was no stopping the gale force wind - a shoulder season monsoon had hit us with no warning! The raft was picked up like a piece of litter and with me still having a hold was thrown across the beach - When I recovered to look for everyone else I couldn't see, the sandstorm that was whipping us made it impossible to see anything. Just then another gust flipped the raft again and that was it I was off. Ram came running under the raft with me and suddenly Hans appeared and Ram thought I was injured because of the tears running down my face and the fact that the boulders that we'd tied to the raft that had taken three of us to move had being flying through the air still attached to the raft - I was fine, it was just the funniest thing that had ever happened to me. When the wind stopped as fast as it came we ventured out to see that Dan had had the same idea to preserve our equipment and he'd jumped on our gear - he was totally covered by an inch of sand! We had to search in the driving rain for our sleeping mats and life jackets but all we managed to loose was one sleeping mat - not bad to say the whole camp had been destroyed!
The memory of those events will stay with me for as long as I have my memory and so many times on this trip, I've experienced things that will stay with me for ever. Needless to say that soaking wet and covered in sand we didn't get much sleep that night.
Even though we were tired the next day we had a lot of rapids to run. As far as the number of quality rapids go, this day was the best and that was probably just as well to keep the adrenaline up to keep us all awake. For lunch we stopped at a beautiful beach with an amazing waterfall which we climbed up to to refresh in. After lunch we passed a local village where the crew decided to stop to talk to a local girl who offered herself to us westerners for 1000Rs - Quite expensive I thought especially as she kept yakking up flem and spitting it on the rocks in front of us. I'm not sure if it was a local thing to show she was cool or something but we were eager to get paddling fast and disappear from sight, but the crew were getting satisfaction out of watching me squirm as they told her I was game but would only pay 800!
After nearly been thrown to the local woman we reached the jungle corridor, where the mountains gave way to dense jungle with some pretty large grade 4 rapids. I could just see the Green Barrets gliding this section of river on a jungle training exercises. The scenery was amazing and the rapids threw up some good sections.
The next day Amrit let me guide the raft down some rapids - this was hard work but was fun. I had explained how fancy becoming a river guide and he said I was pretty good and handled the raft well and with 6 weeks training with them I could have my ticket.
Later in the day and with Amrit knowing how mad we were for being in the water, he said we could jump from the cliff side into the river. This was again a brilliant thing and looking back on the video it was quite high. Again both Dan and I weren't far appart and we both were asking Amrit for bigger jumps - I'm sure that he thought we were a little mad.
For the remainder of the trip it was much of the same with the scenery changing again towards the end as we concluded our 290 km journey and approached India's dusty plains. The trip was one long lads holiday - no alcohol but just the best time ever. Adrenaline, adventure, friendship and lots of fun. I will be repeating an expedition trip again, but it would have to be pretty special to come close to the trip we had on the 'River of Gold' in summer 2008.
When I was planning to embark on this trip, in my research I read that you should never give people a timescale as to your return as its too fixed - you never know when you are ready to return and should never fix yourself by time - when travelling, time doesn't matter - your only governed by light and dark. All the time that I have being travelling I've had so many thoughts about my return home, when it would be and what I would do on my return. Well I am now feeling better than I ever have in my life, yea, I have deep scars from my past but I feel so ready for everything, ready to be a different person who achieves much more than I did before but with less of the effort, hassle and stress. I've learned to notch back and when the pressure is stacked, don't look back! I see that being home is time to fold the hand that I've been playing with and be dealt the next one. I'm back, in more ways than one, I am capable of a lot and now is my time to deliver.
In my next blog I will cover Chitwan and my feelings and experiences whilst in the middle of the wild Jungle of Nepal - Did they see the elusive tiger..... till next time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
