£2000 Target for Himalayan Trust nearly Achieved

I have now raised £1766.97 on Justgiving plus £50 given direct to Himalayan Trust plus £262.50 tax credit less 5% (£88.35) taken as commission by Justgiving equals a total of:  £1991.10.  Oh, I need another £9 to reach the £2000 mark.

Finished Walking

Finished walking earlier today and just have a 3 hour jeep journey on a very rocky road to look forward to tomorrow and then 7 or 8 hours in a bus on the following day.  I know that I can survive the bus! 110 miles;  19,000 metres up and down again and 250,000 steps.  An amazing £1,400 raised for the Himalayan Trust.  Very many thanks to those anonymous donors who I haven't thanked personally.  If you would like to join the many, the link is:

https://www.justgiving.com/Richard-Everard

Photographs

My photographs of the trek can be found on:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/136214554@N06/5EA6FE

And those of wildflowers taken on the trek can be found on:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskU8SY7h

Blurb Book on Manaslu Circuit published

I have now published a book of my walk together with 170 or more photographs.  It can be found on:

http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/8005361-manaslu-circuit-nepal-march-april-2017

Nearing the end

I made it over the pass on Tuesday.  A very hard day up at 3:15 am.  Breakfast at 3:45 am and off in the dark at 4:15 am.  Over the top (a 700 metre ascent) as will hopefully be shown in the photo and then down 1800 metres on steep scree and snow to Bimtang where I arrived at 3:15 pm for a very welcome beer.  Now in Dharapanu withheld two days walking to go and then a jeep down a rough track for 3 hours and then catch a bus to Kathmandu the next day.

Walking Day 7 - Samaguan

Now at 3520 metres in Samaguan after 7 days walking.  I think I got the altitude wrong on Facebook!  Weather has been clear skies and bright sunshine in the morning slowly clouding over in the afternoon and sometimes rain like now.  Woke up to sunrise shining on the slopes of Manaslu (8163 metres) whilst staying in Lho at 3180 metres.

Leaving Kathmandu

My idea of heaven .  8 hours in a boneshaker with the constant noise of horns and screeching brakes accompanied by Hindu and bollywood music.  Not enhanced by buses overtaking each other on hairpin bends.  Some conciliation in that the brakes did work.  We did stop for a P brake and lunch before hitting the dirt road, 2 hours plus of stony, dusty singe track  murram road with never ending hairpin bends.

Very many thanks to all of those generous people who have helped me to raise almost £900 in the last week – not all on Justgiving yet and a gentle nudge to those who are still thinking about it.  I was aiming for £500 so I have raised my sights to £1000 and maybe we can raise even more.  Remember it is the country that gave us the Ghurkas.  The link is:

https://www.justgiving.com/Richard-Everard

Hopefully this will make a difference to the schoolchildren of Nepal.

Again many thanks and hopefully I will be back in three weeks’ time without frostbite!  There are reports of very cold nights in some of the lodges/tea-houses - minus 19 degrees C.

Dick

I have never considered trying to raise money on any of my previous long walks mainly because I didn’t think it right if I was walking for my own pleasure but somehow I feel that Nepal is slightly different if not only because unlike long distance walks in the Alps and Pyrenees where one is walking in France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain etc. who aren’t exactly poor whereas Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world.  I have therefore decided to try and raise some money for the Himalayan Trust who are currently  developing Health Post and School services in the Taplejung and Khumbu districts of Nepal with ongoing forthcoming work including the rebuilding a health post that is at severe risk following a landslide and developing the teacher training programme initiated by the Himalayan Trust.  Nepal is still recovering from the earthquakes of 2015.

I will be walking a total of some 150 miles from Arughat on the east of Mount Manaslu to Syange on the west, reaching a height of 5135 metres at Larkya La Pass (a little higher than Pt Lenana on Mount Kenya which I climbed (walked up) almost 40 years ago).  I will be walking for a total of 13 days plus a few rest days to acclimatise for altitude when approaching 5000 metres.  Of course, if I waited a year I could claim that I was walking it at the age of 70 but decided not to take the risk and do it now whilst I can still walk!  I will be using a porter and guide unlike my walks in the Alps and Pyrenees.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the Himalayan Trust can do so at https://www.justgiving.com/Richard-Everard. .  I won’t be offended if you don’t but if you are seeing this on Facebook perhaps you could share it with others.

Off to Nepal in Two Weeks

Countdown to the off and have started packing and finding out all of those things which I have lost or need replacing.  One problem in the final stages of getting fit is that I have strained a calf muscle slightly so now off any walking for a week but have various exercises to do plus the use of ice packs.  I will then be able to start walking again although on the level at first.  Luckily I have done a lot of walking in the past few months but the 2000 foot (600 metres) ascent and descent that I did in Gran Canaria last week must have caused the damage but luckily it isn't too bad and my visit to the Physio this afternoon was probably a good idea.

I arrive in Kathmandu on the evening of the 15th March and after a bus trip to Arughat, start the trek on Friday 18th but only a short day to get acclimatised and stretch the muscles after three idle days.  After that I have another 9 days walking before reaching the Larkya La Pass at 5160 metres (16929 feet) taking a couple of days rest as I approach 4000 metres to acclimatise and hopefully avoid any signs of altitude sickness, I am also going to take Diamox tablets every day once I reach 3000 metres.  Then back down with four more days walking before I catch a bus back to Kathmandu.

I probably won't be able to post very often on the trip because of poor communications although I am told that I will probably get better mobile reception than in many places in the UK.  I intend to write a diary each day which I will both put on this blog and into a Blurb book with photographs on my return.

I also, for the first time, propose to try and raise some money which I am proposing to donate to the Himalayan Trust.  Hopefully my friends will be generous.  My previous treks have been in Europe and I have never felt that there was any need to try and raise money but Nepal is one of the poorest counties in the world and can do with all the help that they can get, especially after the earthquakes in April 2015.  I will post details of how you can donate should you wish in a later post.