Trekking in the Dolpo - Kageni

It rained in the night and the prospects for a Nepalgunj escape didn't look good but here we are in our tent and at last the trek has started. It's been a stressful day though and despite doing nothing but read, play cards and eat for three days, I feel exhausted.

The stress started at 5 o'clock this morning when a scramble alert sent us rushing to the airport. There was a rumour that despite rain in Nepalgunj the skies were clear in mountains and today planes would fly. The airport, however, was shut and although besieged by pilgrims and trekkers showed no sign of activity. After an hour it opened and a disorderly crowd was someone filtered through a whole series of bureaucratic obstacles into the departure lounge. It took forever and as the day got hotter and the cloud over the mountains got thicker the chances of flying out of Nepalgunj declined.

We've been at the airport for 4 hours when a Twin Otter landed and made ready for take-off, it was going to Juphal. We had been promised the first plane but somehow so had a French party and despite Anglo-Russian protests (we've boosted our numbers by befriending three hard-drinking Russians), the French got the plane. Christine went apoplectic and what was left of the entente cordial was now shredded.

As the blood pressure hit a dangerous level a second Twin Otter bounced towards the terminal and this one definitely had our name on it. Within minutes we were airborne.

Airbourne

Trekking in the Dolpo - Nepalgunj

We're stuck in Nepalgunj, a horrible place on the Nepal-Indian border. We're supposed to be trekking in the Dolpo but for three days, so far, bad weather in the mountains to the north have grounded flights. With no end in sight, we're starting to get just a little desperate.

We booked this trip over 18 months ago. Christine then managed to break two metatarsals just before departure and we postponed the trip by a year. This is now starting to look like a mistake and what could be a final trip to Nepal is feeling jinxed.

In Nepal unreliable weather and a primitive transport infrastructure combine to make travel a lottery. The peak autumn hiking season is sandwiched between the summer monsoon and winter and although this year's monsoon has not been particularly severe, turbulent weather has continued well into September. Apart from walking, there is only one way into Dolpo and that involves flying in tiny 12 seater planes to Jophal airport. These planes don't come with a lot of sophisticated navigation equipment and if the pilots can't see where they are going they don't fly. So we, along with a growing backlog of other trekker's, are stuck in Nepalgunj.

No flights to Jophal

The Karnischer Höhenweg

I'm writing a guide for the Karnischer Höhenweg for Cicerone. Although I've walked it twice before there were still some gaps in my knowledge so in August 2016 I went back to Austria to walk it for the third time. It's a great walk. It's very popular with Germans and Austrians although without an English language guide, yet to be discovered by the Anglo-Saxon world. The walk, which takes about 9 days, follows the Italian/Austrian border through the Carnic Alps from Sillian in the west through to Arnoldstein, and the border with Slovenia, in the east.

Day 1 Karnischer Höhenweg

GR1 - the Sendero Histórico, early feedback

The GR1 guide (Spain's Sendero Historico: The GR1: Northern Spain - Picos to the Mediterranean (Trekking) has been out there over 6 months and hikers from all over the world have been using it to find their way across northern Spain.  A number of them have been kind enough to get in touch with me describing their experience.  Reading the emails and comments is just great.  Not only do they bring back wonderful memories of my time in Spain (I walked most of the GR1 twice) they add new insights, often spotting things that I just didn't appreciate myself.

My first trip on the GR1 - snow in March

GR 1 - Updates to the route description

As far as I can tell everyone who has set off along the GR1 armed with a little blue book containing my description of the route has somehow survived the experience.  Feedback suggests that, generally speaking, the sequence of events on the ground follows that described in the guide.  The route, however, is 1250kms long, things do change and occasionally my description of the route has left hikers scratching their heads.  Most hikers, following the recommendation in the guide, have used the GPS route (many using GPS for the first time) and the only real problems reported are from those attempting the route with just the guide.

The good news is that in a number of places the route has been improved.   For much of its length, the GR1 passes through wild countryside and although populated in the recent past, the people who originally used the footpaths and maintained the tracks that make up the route have long departed. Keeping it open and preventing it from becoming overgrown relies on the efforts of local volunteers and the occasional smidgen of public money.

Cycling from Montpellier to Brighton - reflections on a journey

After cycling 1600 kms across France in 19 days the bikes have been cleaned, oiled and hidden. For a few days at least we've seen enough of them.

Maps, and routes on maps, are very attractive things. Earlier in the year when the days were short and the central heating was on full blast, the prospect of cycling on French vélo routes from the Mediterranean to the English Channel seemed like a brilliant idea. Having sampled the vélo routes on previous trips Christine and I felt ready for such an epic journey.

Day 19 Montpellier to Brighton - Brighton

67km - the mad dash to the coast

So we're home in Brighton - our Montpellier to Brighton epic cycle ride has ended a little earlier than planned.

My original intention involved catching the overnight ferry and then cycling from Portsmouth to Brighton in the morning. On Wednesday's there are two ferries from Ouistreham to Portsmouth, one at 2 in the afternoon and the other at 11 in the evening. Getting the 11 o'clock meant a lot of hanging about at Ouistreham which is a really dull place.

Recently Christine has objected to anything that resembles a target, even getting up at a certain time, so it was already well past 9 and we were on the road when I suggested that we might try for the 2 o'clock ferry. Surprisingly despite this being a target she thought it was a great idea. She particularly liked idea of getting to Portsmouth, catching the train back to Brighton and sleeping in our own bed for the first time in nearly 3 weeks - we had a plan and a target.