And the challenge begins......

May 10th - Dublin to Doha

Today is very much a day of planes, trains and automobiles.  With the group coming from all over Ireland and one from Switzerland we start our journey from Dublin to London and then another flight from London to Doha.  At the moment its 6am Irish time and we are waiting in Doha to get on our final flight to Kathmandu.  Even though its been a long day everyones spirits are high and excited about getting to Nepal to start the trek.

May 11th 2008 - Doha to Kathmandu

We arrived into Kathmandu early afternoon local time all excited to meet the local guides and the team from Across the Divide who will be leading us on the trek.  Boarding a bus bound for our hotel we were able to take in the sights and sounds of the bustling city.  After freshening up we headed to a local restaurant for dinner and to chat about the days ahead of us and what they involved.  Its now time for bed as we have a 6am start in the morning......

Sorry for the delay in updates but due to no network where we have been trekking we have been unable to send any entries to keep you posted.  Its great to now let you know how the group is getting on ....

May 12th 2008

On arriving in Nepal and going through the visa area at the airport, we walked out onto the street; it was buzzing with traffic and people with car hooters blowing and guys on motor bikes weaving in and out of the traffic. 

The bus journey from Katmandu was extraordinary.  The landscape is breathtaking in its untouched state, the beautiful greenery against the snow capped mountains - Martina

May 13th 2008

Tuesday started off well with a fantastic breakfast and hot tea to set us up for the day. 

The first half of the day was overwhelming in the amount of sights and scenes to try to take in; from watching the porters carry their immense loads as through they were sacks of cotton, to the breath taking scenery all around; to the faces of the school children in Shivalaya when shown their digital camera image and the delighted giggles that followed. 

The trek itself was grueling but the sense of achievement when arriving at Deurali was worth every bead of seat and aching muscle! - Sorcha

May 14th 2008

Tea was served at 05.15 followed by breakfast.  Guess what we had pancakes for breakfast.  What a surprise!! 

Today started off easy, the first part of the trek was downhill into a valley. We met lots of local people and stopped to take some amazing photos. 

The second half of today trek was challenging with a 6 hour hike up to our final destination for the night, but the scenery was absolutely fantastic. 

Over all this was a great sense of achievement from today’s trek and the food was fantastic.  The sherpas are absolutely amazing people - Therese

May 15th 2008

Woke up this morning with a cup of tea and bowl of water delivered to my tent at 6am, followed by breakfast of rice pudding with nuts, fruit, and scrambled eggs with chili – another egg day!!  The tea house where we ate had cats and a crying child; lucky for us we were in the tents! 

Set off at 8am on a 4 hour trek, 2 hours break to visit Buddhist monastery, fab lunch again with potato chips and sardines another innovative combo!  Guys were washing their feet with sheep wool, what a great idea. 

Set off again on a stroll up to Naayum, 3400 meters arrived early at 3pm to relax for the rest of the day.  Scenery on the way up was woody, lots of flowers but the clouds started to move in and as I watch out now from my tent we are in the sky, having a rest for another tough day tomorrow. 

Early night with 3am start but we are all having a great time! - Mary

May 16th 2008

Really early start 2.30am and off we go with LED headlights in darkness of night to PIKE PEAK (4000+ meters).  Surreal feeling of climbing mountain as dawn breaks and stars in clear sky are the same as we can see back home. 

Tough trek to top – views well worth the effort panoramic vista of Himalayan range – snow topped peaks including Everest.  Great feeling of achievement and literally the high point of our trip!!  Slapped my arse off rock on way down but I split the rock as I was well padded! 

Brunch in family home was excellent improvisation e.g. Russian salad etc.  Very tough descent however, which went on for a long time and some minor injuries but descending through jungle and terraced fields to our final destination – Kinja.  Long day all tired, sore and exhausted.  Tempers frayed some what but all settled with a good cup of tea and a frank exchange of views. 

More rested after shower and very good meal, beef curry and rice.  All retreated early for a good rest and sleep after exhausting day.  Tomorrows walk should be a leisurely day after Fridays! - Matt

17th May 2008

This morning we had a well deserved lie - in!  The chopper arrived for Mary and Zoe.  We trekked on and up.  It was a fabulous stroll up through farming terraces.  The trek in itself was a privilege to participate in.  We landed at the monastery for the night at 5pm and enjoyed our evening meal together.  Great craic :-) - Lesley

18th May 2008 

Today was final leg of trek from Bhandar back to our starting point at Juri.  Woke to the sounds of dogs, chickens and symbols clashing at prayer time of nearby monastery.  Crawled out of tent to amazing views of surrounding valleys and across to PK Peak on other side reminding us how far we’d come in last 2 days. 

Left Bhandar at 7.15 hot already.  Uphill walk all the way to Deurali pass and downhill to Sheralyra for lunch.  On way down saw people taking part in Hindu festival, dancing and singing from house to house.  Weather turned while having lunch and did it pour. 

Final push uphill to Juri.  Mixed feelings on return to the teahouse, sorry to be finishing the trek buy delighted to have gotten the chance to have met such welcoming and hard working people and seen mind blowing scenery - Maire

20th May 2008

An early start for some of us. Myself, Matt, Maire, Mary and Thesese net in lobby @ 5am to head off on our yeti airlines flight to view Everest from 25000 ft.

The flight was approx am hour long and we got to experience breath taking views of the Himalayas. We were able to take photos from the cockpit and i think each one of us thought it was one of the highlights of our trip. 

Back to hotel, breakfast, shower and pack then we all net to head off to the concern office in Kathmandu where Dom have a great presentation of the current projects in Nepal for example Watsan and the progress so far in the districts of Jarakot, Dailekh, Mugu and Jumla.

It is hard to believe in 2008 how some of the worlds population unfortunately still live and fight for survival. After trekking areas of poverty the presentation was so true to life in Nepal and i think the group felt a true sense of exactly why we came here and hopefully our €30000 raised can bring some if only a small ray of happiness to those less fortunate than ourselves.

Afternoon: had a few hours me shopping and relaxing. We met Dawa and ck at hotel at 4.30 pm to head to airport for our flight to Doha. After saying goodbye to our fabulous Nepali guides we all check in and board our flight good with many memories and stories for friends and family - Eva 

Well that’s the end of another amazing adventure.  I would like to say a massive thank you to all the guides, porters and sherpers from Exodus Adventure for all the hard work and fun times that made this journey so memorable.  Thank you also to Nik, Roger and Christina from Across the Divide who kept us well and well amused throughout the journey.  And last but by no means least thank you very much to those who took part for all their amazing fundraising that will help Concerns work in Nepal to continue and also for the laughs – some fantastic memories.  See you at the reunion.