Plymouth Half Marathon 2012

My first race in Plymouth. Great day out, 5000 competitors. Thanks for the support, Dad and Liz! Here's the winner, Peter Emese, from Kenya:

Here's me, at the end, giving myself a round of applause:

I came 384th, in 1:38:14. That's a long way off my PB, but not too bad, considering it's my first race since last summer, and I've barely started training again. Time to pull my finger out.

Nepal - Everest Region

I started my eleven day round trek to Everest in Lukla (9,380 ft) shortly after dawn, having flown from Kathmandu, and landed on the most ridiculous runway I've ever seen. More of that later. The weather was perfect.

The trail is scattered with Buddhist temples, and shrines built from, or carved into, rock. You must walk to the left hand side of shrines, and clockwise around temples.

There's not a lot of room on the bridges. It's best to wait if you encounter a yak train coming in the other direction.

You may be waiting some time though.

I arrived in Namche Bazaar (11,290 ft) with the first snow of the season.

There was quite a lot the following morning. Fortunately, it was a scheduled acclimatisation day, so I didn't have to go anywhere.

The next day was clear. The snow had made the views even more beautiful. Again, very lucky with the weather.

It's called a "tea house trek". You stay at basic tea house lodges every night. An American chap I met thought the name, which sounded to him like a stroll through the English countryside, is far too gentle and ought to be changed. It can be tough going. The trail is often steep and there's considerably less oxygen in the air.

The amazing Buddhist monastery at Tengboche (12,690 ft). Tenzing Norgay was once enrolled here.

The trek felt like a geography field trip at times. The glaciation features were prominent. It all came flooding back. Now this is what I call a U-shaped valley, you can just make out the village of Pheriche (14,340 ft) in the trough.

This is where I started to feel the altitude. I got a splitting headache which sent me to bed early. Not much respite there though. I was one of those affected by Cheynes-Stokes respiration which can cause sleep apnoea at high altitude i.e. frequently waking up in a panic, gasping for breath. Also, it's very cold in winter in the Himalayas. Your breath will condense on your sleeping bag hood and freeze. This will wake you up, too.

(You need a very good, duck down sleeping bag. Go for one made by UK company Rab.)

The views started to get more impressive though. Also, being winter, there were very few people about to spoil them.

You still need to queue for the toilet though.

The tiny outpost of Dughla (15,157 ft) with its memorials to climbers that have died trying to summit Everest. Scott Fischer's is here for those that have read Into Thin Air.

A picture of the two Italian chaps I met along the way, Giovanni and Leonardo. Part time trekkers, part time ninja turtles.

Finally, the view from Kala Patthar (18,210 ft). The final thirty minute section is very steep and the air is very thin, you're in the troposphere. I had to stop and rest frequently. No zoom used here, this is as I saw it.

You can see the plume of ice crystals being blown eastwards off the top of Everest (29,030 ft) by the jet stream. The peak on the right is Nupste (25,790 ft) with the Khumbu glacier between the two.

The view of Ama Dablam (22,350 ft) in the distance.

The following day the clouds rolled in, for three days. Yet again, lucky with the weather.

So that was that, I retraced my steps back to Lukla (in half the time). Up at dawn for my flight back to Kathmandu, which was cancelled, up at dawn again the next day. The runway has to be seen to be believed.

Unfortunately, my plane burst a tire when it landed and was put out of action for the return leg.

The engineers in Kathmandu posted us an Airfix model instead.

The Italians, some Germans, and a Korean (with a runny nose).

Immediately appraising me as a man with a cool head in a crisis, the pilot selected me as his co-pilot. Instructions - "hold this (clipboard) and don't touch anything." 

"Roger, wilco. Over."

So, with the spare control column rattling around between my knees, off we went. It was a bumpy ride but an amazing experience. The perfect end to the trip.

The trek was the highlight of my ten weeks in Nepal. I'd recommend it to anyone. Go in winter - it's brass monkeys but you'll have the place to yourself.

Mexico

A month in Mexico. I could talk for hours about it, and I fully intend to, so I'll keep this fairly short. I started in Tulum, then Valladolid, Campeche, Palenque, San Cristobal and Oaxaca.

There's a church in San Juan Chamula (near San Cristobal) which was the most interesting experience of the whole trip. A mixture of indigenous and catholic beliefs has led to some astonishing scenes inside. The floor is carpeted with pine needles - the locals kneel at the altars chanting, burning incense and sacrificing chickens. Absolutely bonkers.

The photo above is a stock photo. Tourists are strictly forbidden from taking photos. A sign warns "those that disrespec (sic) the rules will be punished". That said, they were incredibly welcoming.

The food was the highlight in Mexico. I particularly liked the chapulines (fried crickets).

I preferred the original spicy flavour but they come in several varieties (salt & vinegar, cheese & onion etc.).

Pork scratching anyone?

I spent most of my time in Oaxaca in the west. There's a beautiful nature reserve just outside Oaxaca City with a "frozen" waterfall of mineral deposits and infinity pools filled by natural springs.

I spent some time getting to know a micro credit charity that operates in rural Oaxaca. It's a worldwide movement to provide interest free loans to women to help them start businesses e.g. weaving.

The stories were incredible e.g. one lady's husband died leaving her with a young daughter. The husband's family started to strip the assets from the family home. Apparently she was lucky not to be on the street. She needed a loan to replace the roof (which they dismantled) so she could continue to trade.

I went for a great hike in a non touristy area and met a group of Mexicans half way with shotguns. I asked them what they were hunting. "We're not hunting, we're picking flowers" they said. Later on I saw the clear "no hunting allowed" sign.

That's an agave cactus in the foreground. It's used to make mezcal (Oaxacan tequila).

The culmination of the whole trip was the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations. It's an indigenous tradition that pre dates the Spanish, although they did move the date to coincide with the catholic calendar.

People welcome back the souls of departed loved ones. Altars are decorated with their favourite food and drinks and they are remembered fondly. It's a celebration of life. I visited Xoxo cemetery.

The stock photo above doesn't do justice to the heroic amounts of mezcal being drank there. The people were incredibly welcoming, inviting visitors to share drinks with them. I visited one grave with a Canadian, an Indian, an American, and an Australian. The Mexican family were delighted.

Oaxaca City is taken over by the theme, too.

 So that's Central America over. Back in the UK now. Starting to arrange Nepal...

Belize

One week in Belize. Strange speaking English again.

First stop was a lovely town just over the border from Guatemala called San Ignacio. Then to Caye Caulker, a small island off the Caribbean coast recently split in two by a hurricane.

Caye Caulker has a laid back style. You step over this as you get off the ferry - Caye Caulker, Go Slow. Also, the locals gather to gently remind you.

There were a few travellers on the crossing though so I ignored it all and put a spurt on, securing the last cheap bed at the hostel. Pfft, amateurs.

It's a funny old place, from the "no loitering" sign in the ferry waiting room to this little beauty:

Mexico next...

Guatemala (part 2)

Guatemala's awesome foursome:

Bumped into two Aussie motorcyclists I met earlier and joined them on the road again. Wallace and Gromit II - The Wrong Trousers.

She's a Russian reproduction of a German WWII model. Very comfortable ride, more legroom than on the bus anyway. Must watch out for cows on the road though:

 

Rode from Rio Dulce to Tikal. Stayed in El Remate, on the lake. Beautiful spot. Locals fishing at dusk:

 

Tikal is the site of some of the most impressive Mayan ruins in Guatemala. We set off pre dawn for an eery, misty experience. It's off season so we were the only ones there at first light.

The region is famous for wood carvings made from mahogany. Nice colours:

Decided to go through Belize after all. One week there before a month in Mexico...