Cycling is SE China (Olivia Merrick)

I have completed the MS Challenge, returning from the bike ride in China last week. This is just a final letter to let you know how it went.

 

We rode through a region in South Eastern China (Guangxi). The riding itself was magnificent. We were in a group of 7 and also had a local guide and the tour leader. Each day varied between 50-85km and included both on and off-road surfaces. The most challenging day included a slow climb for the first 38km off-road, including a 10km mountain pass (as classified by the former geography professor in our group: I’ll happily take it). While it wasn’t too tough, I did draw on your support and well wishes to get me over some of the hills. I’m no daredevil and will admit to being a bit of a wuss on the down-hills.

 

We really did go the back way. I would say 98% of the land was cultivated and we rarely went more than 1km without seeing someone in the field, walking along the road or being passed by a motorbike (the sheer volume of people compared to Aust). In some places we were a real novelty as ‘westerners’ and literally stopped traffic for people to have a good old stare at us (a once in a lifetime experience!!). The people were very friendly and I can’t count the amount of times I responded to ‘hello’ and received many laughs when I finished with a ‘bye bye’. My attempts at manadrin caused even more laughter. Ofcourse, we were highly amusing to the children (with the exception of the poor little girl about Cass’s age I tied to play with and ended up scaring the life out of her  – cue screaming and Grandma for protection).

 

The complexities of the contrasts in China are difficult to articulate and even more difficult to comprehend. The timeless nature of rural farming: a man walking to the fields with one simple tool or a woman pushing a cart of oranges to market compared to the opulence and fast paced nature of Hong Kong or Guilin. The sheer magnitude of the airports and the near perfect quality of the major highways compared to the seemingly complete lack of infrastructure in some of the villages (with the exception of the t.v satellites). The scernery of the limstones peaks, was truly spectacular. It’s a fascinating place.

 

Life is all about shared experiences and it has been my absolute pleasure to share this challenge with you. Thankyou again for your exceptional generosity with the fundraising component and your best wishes for the ride. We have certainly shown the people with MS we are doing all we can to help. Special thanks to Ann (mother in law) who came to give Pete a hand with the kids  – a challenge in itself, given they are  unaccustomed to me being away. Finally, I was extremely fortunate share this adventure with Lynelle, whose company and laughter made the trip infinitely more enjoyable that it would have been otherwise.

Walking the Wall for MS

In April this year I decided to embark on a personal challenge to raise money for the MS Australia – and participate in a 10 day hiking challenge on the Great Wall of China.  Throughout April to July I held several events and with the support of many people we raised a total of $5800 for the MS Australia.

 

Finally in September I headed off to China to begin my adventure.  After 14 hours I arrived in Beijing. Our first day in Beijing was a free day to explore the city before meeting our tour group and having our first dinner together.

Our 2^nd day in Beijing was spent sight seeing around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  During the afternoon we boarded the bus to travel 2 hours to our accommodation which was at the foot of the Wall.  We finally caught our first views of the Great Wall of China.  What a sight, this is what I had been waiting for since embarking on this journey. 

For the next four days we would walk on a different section of the Wall each day.  All the preparations I had undertaken leading up to the trip had not prepared me for how steep the terrain was and the amount of steps that we would encounter! 

The first day we hiked up to Tiger Mountain, this part of the Wall is untouched by modern tourists.  This day was quite tough even though we didn’t walk as many kilometres as the following days.  The walk up to the wall was quite steep but once we reached the top the scenery was spectacular, we could see for miles.   On the hike back down to the village we walked along side the Wall as it is very old and is crumbling away in spots.

On the second day we hiked on the Gubeikou/Jinshanling section of the Wall.  It was during this section that we had to scramble off the Wall to avoid the local military.  We had to negotiate overgrown tracks and walk through corn fields until we could get back on the Wall at one of the Watchtowers.   This part of the Wall was overgrown in places and in its natural un-repaired state. It wasn’t until the end of the 2^nd day that we encountered other tourists.  It was an amazing feeling to be the only people on this part of the Wall. 

Our walk today started back on the Wall where we had finished the day before.  This part of the Wall is Jinshanling/Simatai section.  It was on this part of the wall that we had beautiful clear skies for the first time in China.  This part of the Wall has lots of steps that are both steep and of various sizes.  The views were again amazing and we could see the wall for miles in both directions. 

On the 4^th and last section of the Wall we hiked up to one of the highest watchtowers called Wangjinglou.  This means the tower from which you can see Beijing which is 150 kilometres away.  We started the hike at 4am so we could reach the watchtower for sunrise.  It was a beautiful time of the day to be on the Wall and well worth getting up so early for.  It was only on the way back down that you could truly appreciate how high we had walked.  This section of the Wall was very steep with no walls to hang onto if you happened to slip!

After walking on the Wall for 4 days we then travelled back to Beijing where we boarded the overnight train for Xian. The next day we were to conquer Mt Huashan!  After arriving in Xian we had a shower and something to eat before traveling 2 hours to the foot of the mountain.  Mt Huashan is one of China’s five sacred Taoist mountains and has an elevation of 2160 metres. 

This was the toughest walk we had encountered as it was uphill all of the way with lots of steps.  We started around 1pm and didn’t reach the peak where we were staying until around 6.30pm.  As we got higher up the mountain the path got steeper and there were sections where the steps were cut into granite slopes.  At these sections there are chains to steady yourself and to help pull yourself up.  I would hate to imagine what would happen if you lost your footing in these sections.

 

After spending the night on Mt Huashan we headed back down the mountain on the cable car.  We were all happy to take the easy way down after the previous day’s walk up the mountain.

Our next stop was the Terracotta Warriors.  It is believed that that the emperor that reigned from 221 – 210 BC had the life sized warriors created to serve as bodyguards to protect him in death.  The warriors were re-discovered in 1974 by a local farmer who was digging a well.  The 1000’s of warriors all standing to attention was quite a sight, with amazing attention to detail. 

Before heading back to Beijing on the overnight train we spent some time in Xian.  One of the highlights in Xian was riding the 14 km perimeter on the top of the city wall.  The wall is 40 ft high and was built centuries ago to keep any intruders out of the city.  The view from the top of the wall shows very different sides of the city.

After arriving back in Beijing it was time for some shopping before heading home.  The markets in Beijing are full of bargains but you need to be wary as the initial price is hugely over inflated so you need to bargain hard.  It’s all a bit of a game.

Overall the trip was a fantastic experience, the highlight being the 4 days hiking on the Wall.  It still amazes me that a structure that was built 100’s of years ago is still standing today. The views are spectacular and certainly well worth visiting.

 

 

 

 

Challenge for change – a riders tale by Caroline Wagner

It’s 8am – rush hour in Phnom Penh and all the locals are out on the streets preparing to enjoy the Independence Day celebrations and boat races on the Tonle Sap river. After breakfast at the hotel we are allocated our bicycles, stow our luggage in our accompanying bus, gather up our helmets, gloves and water bottles, and prepare to ride through Cambodia. We’ve met Lucky – the strikingly handsome young Cambodian Cycle Champion who is to be our Leader, and our Group Guides – Eric, Adam and Rithie. And we’ve mentally noted the existence of “the truck” driven by two young Cambodians. The Truck would become our security as it would arrive shortly behind us at the end of each leg of the journey – always with drinking water tanks for bottle refills, fruit and biscuits.

In early November in Cambodia and coming in to winter but Phnom Penh is only 10º north of the Equator so even this early in the morning it is already 28 degrees and the humidity doesn’t get much below 90% at any time. Our first stop is the Killing Fields Memorial 15kms out of the city.

Standing with my bike in a group of about 25 Australians of assorted age, shape and fitness level, I can hardly breathe from sheer terror as I realise that the weekend training bike rides I’ve undertaken over 6 months on my old bone-shaker along Brisbane’s gentle bikeways has been less than adequate preparation for riding through this exciting, multi-faceted Asian city in traffic – which includes motos (mopeds), buses, trucks, cars, tuk-tuks, and local cyclists all of whom make it clear that they own the road – and drive on the right!

Lucky gives us the signal to start and suddenly I am riding in the pack – each of us wearing our distinctive white, blue and purple IWDA Challenge for Change cycling shirts. Gradually I start to breathe normally again and the terror subsides a little as I begin to enjoy my holiday cycling in Cambodia. Later in the day, and over the next ten days as we ride through the lush green countryside, around rice paddy-fields surrounded by all kinds of palms, on stony, pot-holed, dirt roads as well as narrow sealed roads, past groups of smiling children calling out ‘hello’ or raising a little hand for a ‘high-5’ – I have to pinch myself to realise that it is happening to me and it is all real!

We rode the bikes on six of the eleven days of the tour. Once out of the city we were very much in rural Cambodia. We rode around silent, ancient temples and past shrines and intricately carved stupas; through tiny villages of a few palm-thatched huts where children would call out and laugh as we rode by; and through bigger villages with health centres, and political signs, and Toyota Camrys and Land Cruisers hurtling along with horns blaring. The Highway Code in Cambodia is interesting! Basically there are two rules: if it’s bigger than you, you give way; and if your path is clear – just go!

Although strictly speaking the law requires that you drive on the right hand side of the road, this turns out to be somewhat flexible. So, when a moto with two enormous, laden, side panniers was coming towards me – on “my” side of the road – my only recourse was to quickly take to the road shoulder (wobble, wobble); deeply potholed and stony as it was it was preferable to being knocked off the road altogether! Can you imagine my thrill in staying on the bike, and just keeping going? A miniature success all of its own! Rickety wooden bridges with alternate directions of planking were another challenge – a quick learning curve to keep on the planks that were at 90º to my wheels to avoid a slip down into a groove.

Rithie, our Cambodian tour guide was a great help at all the significant historical sites – here he is telling us about the history of the Killing fields – and his family’s own dreadful experiences of that time.

Late in the evening of Day 8 we arrived in Siem Reap and spent the following two days exploring the comparatively sophisticated tourist city and riding around temples of Angkor Wat – again with Rithie who patiently answered all our questions. All the temples are very ancient, and much damaged but they are altogether remarkable.

There is no dominant religion in Cambodia but a reverence for Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma produce a blend of Hindu with Brahmin and a hint of Buddhism. It is all very un-obsessive and peaceable. Being largely a secular society (like the French who colonised them so successfully two centuries ago) means they avoid religious internal divisions but it also has meant less societal structure. There is no municipal infrastructure outside of the towns. There is plenty of water but it is not well managed, and all drinking water comes in plastic bottles. An enormous quantity of plastic bottles and bags forms a dreadful pollution problem in the countryside where rubbish lies around in heaps in the villages. There is just too much corruption and not enough money to spend where it is needed in municipal infrastructure. I dread to think how many people have been further impoverished because their only beasts have been killed by eating plastic – or by walking into landmines.

 This holiday was my first experience of an “organised  tour” and it was an entirely enjoyable  experience. However  strange things become important: At  the end of a day of  riding a pushbike, my top criteria  for a first class hotel are: a pedestal toilet, running water –  preferably warm – and a towel, closely followed by air  conditioning – the outside temperature is still 32º and who cares about fresh air we’ve had that all day! The beds  are wide, firm, and totally irresistible by 9pm. All the hotels we stayed in met these criteria – some better than others, but all were very acceptable.

 

I think credit for the success of the tour must be given primarily to our guides – Eric, Adam and Rithie, and secondarily to the people who happened to be in this group, together with our Cambodian support team – Lucky and the boys who managed the bikes and drove the bus and the truck.

Amazingly, we would all be more or less ready at the bikes at about 6.30am, all bags and extraneous gear on the bus, then helmeted and gloved and sun screened, water bottles full, still talking, talking, still taking photographs, we would be corralled by Eric and Adam to wait for Lucky’s signal to be off. Once on the road Lucky and the young guys would be ahead, with the rest of us strung out behind according to our respective capabilities, and/or desire to stop and take the odd photograph, or just stop for a breather! Adam and Eric monitored the ride and one or other would act as Sweeper (which is how I got to hear some of their good stories) – making sure no-one ever got lost or left too far behind.

In the breaks, the truck would materialise, mats were put down to sit on, and deliciously cold fruit, biscuits and water would be available to resuscitate us all. If anyone needed a break from riding, all we had to do was ask one of the boys to load our bike onto the truck, and then get on the bus! The Cambodian boys were unfailingly helpful. I’m full of admiration for Eric and Adam who managed the whole thing without ever losing their cool. Full marks!

For more information on the International Woman’s Development Agency (IWDA) please go to:

http://www.iwda.org.au/au/2008/01/14/holiday-of-a-lifetime/#more-612

National Geographic Geotourism Challenge

We are very excited that The Intrepid Foundation is an entrant in the National Geographic Ashoka’s Changemakers Geotourism Challenge: Celebrating Places, Changing Lives. This is a global competition to surface and recognize innovators in geotourism, defined as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of the place being visited – its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. By being part of this competition, we have a great opportunity to get the word out about The Intrepid Foundation to leaders in the geotourism field, investors, the media, potential partners, potential donors and other supporters.

The competition winners will be decided by online voting, so the more people we can inspire, the better!

Please help us rally support for our work:

1. Visit our project entry -   http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/7457
2. Leave us feedback about our entry. Here’s how:
   1. If you do not have a Changemakers account, please click here to register on the site. It only takes a couple of minutes.
   2. Login at the Changemakers website.
   3. Go to the competition page.
   4. Visit our entry, read about what we do and leave feedback! http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/7457
   5. Update your profile and be part of a growing online community of support
3. Spread the word to your colleagues and friends through your emails, blogs, or websites.

 This contest can give our work a great boost. Thank you very much for your help!

Join us in May as a volunteer in Ladakh

If you ask many people where Ladakh is they probably wouldn’t have a clue! This small enclave of the mighty Indian Himalayas is one of the most unique places on earth and the landscape of Ladakh is like an arid moonscape in places as it lies in the Himalayan rain shadow. But what injects considerable colour into this remote region are its inhabitants who still live a traditional life and the many spectacular Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. In many ways Ladakh feels more Tibetan than Tibet itself nowadays, hence it’s moniker of ‘Little Tibet’! Once you’ve visited it becomes one of those places you feel you have to go back to again, Ladakh’s culture and mystical allure has won over the hearts of many an intrepid traveller.  

We first ran a trip to Ladakh in 2001 and since then it’s become one of our favourite destinations and we’ve returned to run some trekking trips each year. This year will be doing something different, as we’re aiming to build a community shelter for local residents in a village called Phyang that has been our base in previous years. The Ladakh volunteer project was born out of the desire to alleviate some of the effects of global warming for our friends in Ladakh, in a small but significant way. This high altitude realm of stark mountain scenery so long cut off from the outside world is truly a unique place, and survives on a delicate environmental balance. In August 2006 this normally arid, high altitude desert suffered from heavy monsoon rains that devastated local villages, wiping out houses, crops and livestock in the form of flash floods from the surrounding mountains.  The village where our trekking groups normally stay was particularly badly hit with up to 20 families houses being completely destroyed or badly damaged and fields washed away from a river that expanded it’s banks from 10 metres to 300 in places. It was estimated that the erosion that occurred in those few days would normally take around 3,000 years! This came on the back of unseasonably heavy rains the previous year as well. What we are witnessing in Ladakh is being repeated all over the world as communities living in remote and marginal areas suffering the effects of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns with sometimes devastating results.  Currently the snow fall upon which Ladkahi’s depend for water during the summer months has been unseasonably light. These occurrences impact heavily on the lives of these people but are rarely reported let alone calculated amongst the costs of global warming in the developed world. So we see this as an opportunity for us to rectify some of that problem by lending awareness and a hand to rebuild to our friends in Ladakh. We have an online video there is a great introduction to this region. We’re inviting past travelers to come and be a part of a unique experience staying in a Himalayan village and undertaking the project work as part of a team.   

Our local leader Tashi Chotak explains the importance of this project to the local community; “What we are going to build is for unseen eventualities and for natural calamities. Like during flood and earthquake. Our community building or hall will be available for any family or individual who is in need due to such calamities till he or she finds his own house or shelter.”. “Therefore, our hall will become a public building in many ways. The scope of using such building, first of all that the local will use it during natural disaster as a shelter, for social activities like meetings, teachings from head monks, archery and other local festivals, if we provide double window panes and solarized it will be a great asset for the aged people during harsh winter months of Ladakh. We can also use it as part time school for the students during 3 months winter holidays for that village. It is also possible to keep there a first aid kit for minor health and physical problems. Also as a small library for that village. we can make this building a multipurpose. Very important that once it finished the people of that village will look after that building as their property”

The Ladakh project departs May 21-23 and costs $2240 AUD

The Kokoda track rite of passage!

Despite recent press the Kokoda track is still open! The Kokoda Trail is justly famous in Australia as a tough trekking challenge, tracing wartime route through the heart of Papua New Guinea’s jungles. Despite recent rumours that the trail may be permanently closed this is not the case and the PNG and Australian Governments are negotiating with local landowners to keep the track open for future trekkers. The Kokoda Track was the scene of bitter fighting in 1942 as the Japanese advanced towards Port Moresby. Many Japanese and Australian soldiers died along the Track, both in battle and from malaria. As interest in Australia’s cultural identity and recent history grows, walking the Kokoda Track has become a rite of passage for a new generation of Australians. 

Walking the Kokoda Track involves 50 hours of hiking over 90km of steep climbs and descents. Vantage points along the Track reveal magnificent mountain landscapes, and a wide variety of flora and fauna is encountered. Trekkers pass through local villages where descendents of the wartime “fuzzy wuzzy angels” continue to live simple traditional lifestyles while providing a warm welcome to passing trekkers. Although hiking the trail has become popular with Australians as a patriotic thing to do the numbers of people are hiking recorder are still relatively small at around 7000 a year. Compare this to the Inca Trail in Peru, which attracts nearly 160,000 people a year – and that’s after a daily quota was introduced! The reality is that the Kokoda Trail is not very well known outside of Australia so most of the people you will meet there are Aussies and many of the groups tend to visit around Anzac Day and other significant times.  

Aside from the obvious wartime interest the Kokoda Trail offers many other attractions as you walk through traditional villages, spend time with local people and experience walking through lush rainforest each day with many river crossings en route. The best time of the year to walk the Track is the dry season, from April to October. Walking during the wet season is also possible but is much more challenging because the Track is muddy and slippery, and river crossings may even be impassable after rain. We take a slightly different approach from some other trek operators who camp out every night of the trek and fly all food and drink in for the occasion, thus almost needing a camel train to carry all their supplies! We engage village guest houses along the Track to supply accommodation and some meals for our trekkers and porters, thus not only reducing the amount of food and equipment carried by the trekking party, but also injecting greater economic benefits into the microeconomies of the village communities along the Track. If you want to challenge yourself to do something exceptional this year and have a real adventure then the Kokoda track is for you. We have departures in July and August but book fast as these are filling up quickly! $2290 for 10 days ex- Port Moresby also available for private departures with groups of 8 + people.

Fly naked on first nudist holiday flight

German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from an eastern German travel firm.Travel agency OssiUrlaub.de said it would start taking bookings from Friday for a trial nudist day trip from the eastern German town of Erfurt to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Usedom, planned for July 5 and costing 499 euros (370 pounds).

“It’s expensive, I know,” managing director Enrico Hess told Reuters by phone. “It’s because the plane’s very small. There’s no real reason why a flight in which one flies naked should be more expensive than any other.”

The 55 passengers will have to remain clothed until they board, and dress before disembarking, said Hess. The crew will remain clothed throughout the flight for safety reasons.

“I wish I could say we thought of it ourselves but the idea came from a customer,” Hess told Reuters by phone. “It’s an unusual gap in the market.”

The world’s most amazing bike ride

Check out my ‘Youtube’ video from a journey I made with 2 friends and my now wife from Lhasa to Kathmandu back in 2003. Breathtaking (literally), surreal, real adventure travel. Cycle 5 passes over 5000m, camp at Everest base camp and experience the longest downhill in the world; all 160km of it over 3 days.

Email: mike@intrepidchallenges.com to be inspired

Could Facebook change the way we work? (invite comment)

Facebook has been spreading like a virus since its launch in 2006. Is it just a socialising tool bringing networks together or could it be used as a marketing tool for keeping our network informed of new challenges? If you have an opinion on this please could you add your comment. We are thinking of establishing a Challenge facebook which incorporates our work with the non for profit sector in terms of stories as written on this blog as well as featuring new trips, events and community projects. We could also invite people to post up pictures & videos after trips.

Social networking is here to stay but is it the right forum? Write comments here or email Mike directly at:

mike@intrepidchallenges.com

My concern is that the blog would get lost amongst lots of entries and so the stories become lost and lose their focus? What experience have you had with this?

The Intrepid Foundation

It has been a big year for The Intrepid Foundation. It reached the milestone of disbursing over 1 million Australian dollars, welcomed 7 new projects in Africa, Asia, The Middle East and Australia and now have a brand new website!

www.theintrepidfoundation.org makes it easier to keep up-to-date with how your donations are making a difference, find out about special events, see which projects have joined The Intrepid Foundation and make online donations.