Day 5 Sunday 7th October

The journey to our hotel was to take about three hours and it was eventful. Lots of monkeys, small villages and some weird and wonderful sites. What follows is a pictorial view of that journey.

Into the jeeps.

The main road!!

First sight of the mountains.

Madeleine and I. Maddy is originally from Scotland now in Hull. I have linked Madeleines blog in earlier posts and it was good to meet up with her. Here we had to stop to fix a puncture. We all got out to stretch our legs.

We arrived at our hotel The Asia Health Resort and I was so tired all I wanted to do was get some sleep. We all had to meet up at 14:00 for a trip to Macleod Ganj and the Buddhist temple. I awoke at 13:00 showered, shaved and changed I felt much better.

Here are some of the views from the hotel. At 14:00 we got into taxis and headed off to Macleod Ganj. Macleod Ganj is the adopted home of the exiled Dalai Lama. It is full off Tibetan influence. We were dropped off at the bottom of Macleod Ganj and walked up to the top taking in the sites as we went.

Prayer flags. Very colourful and it is said the wind blows the prayers over the world spreading good will.

These are prayer wheels and the picture with me in is my attempt to impersonate Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child.

A rather large prayer wheel. You are supposed to walk around with it for five times if my memory serves me correct.

As we proceeded to walk up the hill to the temple an old Buddhist monk reached out her hand and pointed up the hill. I wasn't sure what to do but held out my hand. She grabbed it with a firm grasp that didn't fit with her frame, pointed up the hill again and started praying. I had no choice but to help her up the hill.

Once at the top she said something to me and waved goodbye. It was as she was leaving that Ross gave me the nickname of "The Guru" which was to stay with me the rest of the trip. We sat down on a bench to relax and that was when my favourite photo of the trip was taken. Helen took it and I love it. It is four friends who are just relaxed and having fun.

We then visited the temple and learnt more about the Dalai Lama. Why he was exiled, how they follow on etc. All very interesting. Apparently his holiness was in the U.S.A when we were in Macleod Ganj picking up a Nobel Peace Prize.

Leaving the temple we had time for a bit of shopping in Macleod Ganj. It was here that a couple were approached much the same as me in Delhi. Young mothers with young babies asking for help. This time they were asking us to buy milk for their child. A couple did. Later, as people were walking up and down we saw the same women asking again. It was then the scam was discovered. People were buying the milk which the women, once we were out of sight took back to the shop so the owner could sell it again! Now, we don't know why, or what was behind it. There could have been all sorts. Perhaps the women were just dishonest, perhaps they were being threatened or held to ransom to get milk sold. We will never know. All a bit sad though.

As I reached the top I heard my name being called and a few had found a roof top bar. So I joined them for a beer. Well it would have been rude not to. Here are some pictures of Macleod Ganj

Even the Dalai Lama needs a mobile phone!!!

After a couple of beers it was back to The Asia Health Resort for dinner and bed, ready for an early start. For tomorrow the trek starts and after all that's what we were here for.

Day 4 Saturday 6th October

After a good nights sleep I didn't feel too bad at all and after a shower and a shave I was ready for breakfast. We had to wear our blue shirts and there were all the guys that were on the trek in their nice blue shirts. All of course apart from Ross and Karun who had red ones on. Steve thought this was hilarious and I must agree it was funny.

Today was mostly about photo shoots and press meetings. It was important to raise the profile and show everyone what we were hoping to achieve.

After breakfast and before we went for our photo shoot at India Gate I took some photos from the hotel room. Reminded me of a Star Wars landscape.

It was then off to India Gate which is a war memorial. There was a group photo there. Unfortunately as the photo was taken the guy in front of me moved and cut me off! Ahh well, I got one taken on my own.

After the visit to India Gate it was back to the Taj Palace for some press meetings and a briefing on the rest of the day. There was some speeches on how some raised their money including a rather moving one from Mike Day that brought a tear to my eye. Particularly the mention of his family and I thought of mine all those miles away. After all the speeches and press interviews we went to the Red Fort for a visit. Here are some photos including one of Helen taking a picture of the sky.

The Red Fort was very interesting and enjoyable but not as fun as the next bit. We were off to see the biggest Mosque in Delhi and to get there we went by Rickshaw. Twenty five racing through Delhi is a thing to be part of. This was so funny and I think our rider smoked to much because even the offer of extra Rupees had no effect on his speed! When we got there the Mosque was off limits due to Ramadan but I didn't care that Rickshaw ride made up for that.

Mind you, I don't think Seema enjoyed it as much!!

These photos are a bit blurry but we were moving and I couldn't stop laughing. It was just great fun. After the Mosque visit it was off to a nice restaurant for a meal then to the train station for the overnight sleeper. Here are some pictures of people in Delhi, the restaurant and the station just before boarding.

Now, this overnight train was an experience. We were all very cosy. There was no alcohol allowed but Steve, Ross and Karun smuggled in some Vodka and Whiskey and we all had a bit of a party which went on into the early hours. when everyone finally crawled into bed it was about 03:00. I was opposite Ross and boy can that man snore. He could be heard right down the carriage and I never had a wink of sleep. He made my snoring seem very quiet in comparison. No sleep at all and Gideon who had managed to get first class got us all ready a good hour before we were due to disembark.

One thing about the train journey I will not forget (apart from the snoring) was England beat Australia in the Rugby World Cup quarter finals and we had a good old sing song and celebration on the train. Here is a photo of the inside of the train. In it is Jo'el who later became known as number one!!

We disembarked at 05:30 after having no sleep at all transferred to jeeps for the journey to Dharamsala.

Day 3 Friday 5th October

I have had permission to use some photos my friends took on the trip. Thanks as there were so many taken and as you know I'm much better in front of the camera :-)

Two hour flight which was your standard "package holiday" affair landing at Delhi at 07:30. Picked up my luggage and proceeded to the meeting point. When I walked out of the airport there was this large canopy with loads of people holding up boards. Unfortunately not the one I was looking for! The other things that struck me were the heat and the noise of car horns, although I couldn't see the cars. I tried to get back into the airport to see If I had missed something but a security guard with a rifle refused me entry. after some persuading, difficult as we didn't understand each other he let me back in. I couldn't find anyone or anything so I tried my phone to ring a contact number I had been given. Guess what? yep, phone didn't work and all I got was an operator speaking in what I suspect was Hindi.

I walked back outside getting a little concerned at this stage and as I walked past two guys sitting on a fence I noticed a Reckitt Benckiser label. I thought I bet they don't speak English but I introduced myself. To my delight they were from South Africa and did speak English. Little did I know what good friends these two would become. Ross and Karun and here is a picture of our first meeting. Karun on the left, Ross on the right.

Apparently our pick up driver had gone to International and we had arrived at Domestic. Karun had a phone that worked and approximately 20 minutes later our driver arrived to take us to the Taj Hotel.

When we left the airport my first view of Delhi was what appeared absolute chaos! Everyone was blowing their horns and there seemed to be a complete disregard for any "road etiquette" as we would know it in the UK. It was just amazing and over the next couple of weeks every time I was out in traffic I couldn't stop smiling. There was of course Tuk Tuks. Whether or not that is the name I don't care. They are however, the future. Here are some photos of my first views of Delhi.

When we arrived at the hotel I said to Ross "I don't want to go to bed or I wont sleep tonight. Lets check in and get a drink." We all agreed and I checked in and went to my room where I met Steve, who was to be my room mate for the duration of the trip. I said to Steve about going for a drink and he agreed so at the designated time we went downstairs. The bar was closed so Ross suggested we get a tuk tuk and go into Delhi. Steve said he was going to sit by the pool and I was very unsure. Ross said to me "its not every day you get the chance to go around Delhi you really don't want to miss the chance." Well, that sold it for me. We walked to the road Ross shouted a tuk tuk and said "take us to a market." All I had was my phone as I left the camera at the hotel. The next few hours were one of the best times I have ever had.

Tuk tuk man took us to a market as the pubs were not open. It was however a tourist market, expensive and one where our driver got fuel whenever he took someone there!! Karun sussed this and although the market was cool it wasn't the experience we wanted. we said we wanted a drink and our driver took us to a Chinese restaurant where we had our first taste of Kingfisher beer. How many people travel to India, go for a Chinese meal and watch Cricket with the waiters all whom were Indian?? We had such a laugh, just chilling and drinking. We stayed in there for a good few hours. We said our goodbyes and walked out into the sunshine. I couldn't believe it but our tuk tuk man was still waiting!!

We got back in and said we want to go to a "proper" market in downtown Delhi. After a few more "sites" of Delhi including the Horse Racing course, Indian Air Force headquarters, India Gate and some of the more poorer areas we spotted a market and asked tuk tuk man to stop.

Out we got for a wander after taking our lives into our own hands by crossing the main road we started to look around the market. It was here I had my first "experience" of the more upsetting side.

There was a very young woman with a child of about 18 months. The child was naked and she started to follow us. Ross and Karun said just ignore her which I tried. After 20 minutes of her following us touching my feet and placing her child on my feet it was all getting too much. I said to the boys I need to do something. Karun said "don't give her money, just buy them a meal." This was an excellent idea and is what I did. It made me fell a little better and it wasn't much but it was something. It was very sad and upsetting. It was something I had not seen before but would see a lot more of over the next few weeks.

I found Julie a nice top while in the market and we found another bar where we stopped for a few more beers. I kept thinking about the woman and child and we discussed them for a while. Ross and Karun said there is so much in India and its too much for me to be too concerned about. Harsh yes, but true.

We had quite a laugh in this bar and it kept going dark! We experienced about half a dozen power cuts while in there, none more than a couple of minutes but still, quite a lot. After a few more beers we were all pretty drunk by the time we left and once again tuk tuk man was waiting so I took some photos of us all with my phone.

We got back to the hotel and paid tuk tuk man 4 quid!!!!! he was happy with this and we Had been with him for about 8 hours. We went into the bar where we were supposed to meet and we phoned Steve up and got him down for a beer. Steve took one look at us and suggested it maybe wise we all went to bed. Of course we were all fine and disagreed. Steve pointed out we were rather drunk and that I had been up now for about 34 hours. I conceded and went to bed. This was a good move on reflection and Steve was right. I am glad now I listened to his advise. I had after all had just had the most wonderful time and I did need my bed.