Mai ne Mereye...

As I travelled home after Mohit Chauhan’s London concert, the song that kept replaying in my mind was, surprisingly, “Mai Ne Mereye”.  I wondered if it was the magic of folk music or my love for the mountains that stirred up beautiful memories of my journeys through Himachal Pradesh and the Canadian Rockies, listening to Mohit Chauhan’s songs or maybe it was a bit of both.

Once every few decades, a musician emerges who captivates you and ignites a curiosity to follow their journey as they delve into the depths of their talent. In modern times, three such Indian musicians who have inspired me and earned a permanent place in my music collection are A R Rahman since Roja, Mohit Chauhan since his first Silk Route Album “Boondein” and KK since his album “Pyar ke pal”.     

The first time I heard Silk Route “Boondein” album it struck the chord with me instantly; it would be on repeat play perhaps driving others crazy.  I have followed Mohit Chauhan's music journey since 1998, his own albums, and his collaboration with A R Rahman and Pritam are so far my favourites. I have great admiration for anyone who venture out of their comfort zones, as it says a lot about their outlook in life and their inner confidence.  While there is an undeniable beauty in collaboration, often leading to groundbreaking creation, I find solo albums more appealing, as they showcase an artist's creativity and personality in a pure form.  Despite of achieving great success as a musician, effortlessly venturing into different genres/languages, and doing so while preserving the authenticity of his soulful voice and the integrity of the lyrics; Mohit remains a truly respectful and down-to-earth gentleman.  A great quality anyone can possess in my book! So to meet this gentleman for a few minutes was truly a priceless moment.

From late 90’s I have wished to see Mohit Chauhan and KK perform in a solo concert in London, the wish partially stemmed from wanting people to also experience the magic of their soulful voice, and recognise that there is lot more to Indian music then the Hindi film music and Bhangra.  The natural progression and popularity that came when both these artists sang for Hindi films made both known around the world. Whilst I often noted so many Indian musicians come to London for a concert, not the two whose singing I very much wished to experience live.  So first ever concert of Mohit Chauhan in London couldn’t be missed, and what an absolute treat the concert was showcasing Mohit’s magical voice, powerful stage presence and his amazing ability to engage with the audience.  I very much hope we see more of this incredible musician in London and have an opportunity to hear other gems in his soulful voice like Guncha, Humsafar and more.   

B.

ना उमर की सिमा हो ना जन्म का हो बंधन ...

होटो से छुलो तुम मेरा गीत अमर करदो....

The simplicity of his compositions, richness of his lyrics and the soulful voice is why the nation was singing along with this man who created what we call ageless music...I had the privilege of listening to Jagjit Singh live in concert years ago on my birthday and today brought back many wonderful memories from that evening when he sang one after another beautiful Gazals and songs from films.

I would have probably not explored the world of Gazals had it not been for your Gazals which brought out the curiosity in me to discover this whole wonderful genre of rich Urdu and Hindi poetry. Your music never failed to touch my soul. Your music has been a constant companion of mine traveling around the world with me. Your music has been part of my happiness, sadness and loneliness. Thank you for giving us so many beautiful gazals. An experience listening to your albums especially when I am traveling is priceless; and your soothing voice takes away stresses of day to day life....

I am really saddened that you are no more but I know you will live through your music and that is eternal.....RIP Jagjit Singh

A sad day for all us music lovers.

B.

Yeh safar

zindagi bhar yaad rahega, marte dum tak!

These were the words of our rickshaw driver on one of the days when we travelled from Santacruz to Borivali. I was feeling very tired after few hours of shopping and the thought of another hour to go before we get home, slightly rusted my happy spirits. Little I knew that was not going to last long and this ordinary journey home would turn out to be hilarious and a memorable one.

This is an extract from what I remember of this, no doubt I have missed out few comments. Characters short forms : RD = Rickshaw driver. B = me, K = Krazzy K and U = Mrs Patel ;)

Soon after getting into this rickshaw, I realised this was going to be quite a ride, as the riskshaw driver was driving his rickshaw like he was on formula one route, when my impatience got better of me, I asked him "Bhaiya aap ko rickshaw mein seat belt rakhna chahiye, aap aisi masti main chalate ho ki kya pata ek passenger edhar se gaya or ek udhar se" and what followed is this....

RD "Aap dua karo ki ek din meri khudki bhi rickshaw ho aur main jaroor seat belt lagwaunga"
B "Hum dua karte hain aap ki 10 rickshaw ho par seat belt lagwana nahi bhulna"
B " Aap side mirror kya is liye rakhte ho ki bar bar check karlo kahi passenger gir to nahi gaye?" ;)
RD “Nahi aise koi baat nahi, kabhi ese estimal bhi karlete hai, vaise to yaha ka asul hai bas aage ka khyal rakho, phiche ki parwa phiche wale ko karne do, es liye mirror ka hona jaruri nahi”

This is what I call an "organised choas", everyone knows what they are doing but it looks very chaotic and scarry to visitors like me who like some discipline.

K "To yeh kiski rickshaw hai?"
RD "Bhade (rent) ki, hum raat to chalate hai, shaam ke 7 se subh ke 6 tak”
K “Aap kitna bhada dete ho ek raat ka?”
RD “Ek raat ka 150 bhada bharte hai"
K "To aap ka kharcha nikal jata hai esme?"
RD "kharcha bhi nikalta hai aur 200/300 bachat bhi hoti hai"
B "Kya aap ki shaadi ho gayi hai?"
RD "nahi"
B "Tab bhi to paise bachte hai, shaadi karlo paise aur baal dono chale jayenge" ;)
RD "yeh shadi ke chakar mein he hum ghar se rafoo chakkar ho gaye, malum chala tha ki humare ghar wale humri shadi kahi karne wale hai to hum rafoo chakkar ho gaye, ghar walo ko aaj tak pata nahi hum kaha hai"

I thought now that sounds interesting, so I continued further "kyun, aap shaadi se dar gaye ya hone wali biwi se?" ;)
RD smiling "Humne bahoot logo ki buri haalat dekhi hai shadi ke baad. Shadi karke pachtate hai. Hume yeh manjoor nahi to rafoo chakkar ho gaye"
U "aapko ghar ki yaad nahi aati?"
RD "ghar ki yaad to bahoot aati hai par kuch halat hi ese they"

B "Aap kitne saal ke ho?"
RD " 26 saal, ek mahina or ek din"
U "ek ghanta to nahi na?" :)
RD smiling "nahi woh abhi tak to nahi hua"
B "aap ka naam kya hai?"
RD "Duniya ne itne naam diye hai ki hum khudka hi naam bhul gaye" I naively thought he probably has nick names like I have, so asked "really, kaunse naam diye hai aapko?"
RD "Kuta, kamina......... "
Suddenly there was silence in the rickshaw. Then he continued "kabhi kabhi to maar bhi khana padta hai"
B jokingly "To aap rickshaw mein hockey stick rakhlo :)"
RD "us se kaam nahi chalta, Bambu haina" all of us were puzzled thinking he said bomb haina
B "Bhaiya aap kya rakhte ho?!!!?"
RD "Lohe ka bamboo, jo kabhi jaroor padi to nikal dete hai aur estemaal bhi karlete"
B "oh Bamboo stick! phew! hum to dar gaye ki aap rickshaw main bomb rakhte ho. OK lets hope we don’t need it today"

B "aap ka asli naam kya hai?"
RD "humra naam Raju hai"
B "Raju Srivastav? jo TV main aate hai aur sabko hasate hai?"
RD "kaha woh aur kaha hum, humari esi haisiyat kaha ki hum tv main aaye?"
B "aap bolte bhi Raju Srivastav ki jaisehe. aur aap logo ko hasate bhi uski tarah ho. kya aap bhi bihari ho?"
U "par aap Raju Srivastav se jyada aacha kaam karte ho. Itne fast rickshaw chalake, sab ko ghar unke family ke paas safely aur jaldi pochate ho, aur woh bhi hasake".

After brief silence RD continued "aaj pehli baar aise log humri rickshaw mein bethe hain jo khule dimag ke hai, aur humse khulke baat karte hai, nahi to ese muh latkake log aate hai ki lagta hai jaise ghar wali se jagadke aaye ho"
B "humari shaadi nahi hui haina tabhi to hum itna hus rahe hai. Han yeh baat alag hai ki agar kalko, aap ki rickshaw main yaha se ek chota handsome ladka gusse mein bethe to samaj lena woh humara bhai hai jiski abhi abhi shaadi hui hai, aur wo meri yeh pyari si bhabhi se jagad ke aaya hai" ;)
U "hey not fair didi..." :)

Then the driver gets out of the rickshaw to see why there is a traffic jam and if there are any tiny areas where he could get his rickshaw through. He repeated this reviewing of the route few times until we got to Borivali. Numerous times I thought his rickshaw will hit another vehicle or simply roll over with us three in it and that also without the seat belts; but I must admit he was a very good driver and it was me who was not made to travel on Mumbai roads.
Once when he got out to do his regular check of traffic jams, K said "bhaiya aap ese bahar jaate ho, koi gunda yaha aajaye aur aapko dhaka deke, yeh rickshaw main hume utha le jaye to?!!!"
RD "aisa ho hi nahi sakta, aap befikra raho"
B "bhaiya chinta mat karo, yeh meri bahan ko jo le jayega woh ek hi ghante main wapas bhi chodke jayega, upar se pair pakade maafi mange ga aur yeh kahega humse bahoot badi galti ho gaye hume maaf karlo, yeh bahoot dimaag khati hai yeh hume paagal kardegee."

More laughter…..

RD "humare parivar ke paas 3 rickshaw hai"
K "to woh kaun chalata hai?"
RD "ek bhai chalata hai or baki bhade pe dete hai"
B "bhaiya aap ghar ki 3 rickshaw ko chodke, yaha bhade ki rickshaw chalate ho, bhade ki biwi le aate, ghar hi nahi chodna padta"
RD laughing "aise thodi hota hai, thode din chalta yeh natak?"
B "kyun nahi chalta, jaroorat padi to bachaa bhi bhade pe miljata, yaha bhade pe sab kuch milta hai"; remembering K's story about a fake wedding that she told me once, I continued "shaadi main baraati bhi bhade ke milte hai" ;)
RD "yeh baat aapne sahi kahi, aaj kal shadi ke dahej mein bacha saath aata hai :)"
RD continued "Gao mein abhi bhi etna kharab nahi jitna shahro main, bahut kharab waqt hai"
K "yeh saab serials main hota hain na, char char bar shaadi karte hai log, yeh sab dekhenge to thoda influence to aaye ga na?"

B "humne yeh he badi galti ki, serial main kam karna tha, aab tak to humari shaadi ho chuki hoti, atleast ek bar"
RD "Shakal kaha ki koi serial main role de"
K and I wondering with raised eyebrows "huh"
RD continues "kute bhi nahi bhokenge" at which point I had to calmly and jokingly query him "Aap humari baat kar rahe ho ya apni?"
RD "aap ko esa bole humari himat kaha, woh to hum apni baat kar rahe they."
He then continued "Aap to humare customer ho hum aapko esa nahi kah sakte, hume jute nahi khane"
B "to chalo theek hai kyuki humari juti bahar aahee gayi thee" ;)

At this point everyone was in stitches laughing so much as he had not realised I was talking about me and he made those comments thinking we were talking about him.

RD "yeh safar zindagi bhar yaad rahega, marte dum tak."
K "humne etna dimag khaya, etne question kiye phir bhi aap itna acha kahte ho"
B "Aap humari ek baat maanlo, aap ke pas 10 min hai ghar phone karne ke liye, phir humara ghar aajayega aur hum chalejayenge, aap ek bar phone karlo sab kuch thik ho jayega."

RD "na baba woh hume dhoodh lenge kyunki unhe pata chal jayega ki hum Bumbai mein hai.”
U " bhaiya to aap humara phone lelo aur apne family se baat karlo, unhe pata nahi chalega yeh kiska number hai......."

All three of tried to convince him but until we reached our destination he didnt call his home, he said he misses his family but fears if he did they would find him and then he will have to get married and getting married means barbadi................ I sensed there was more to this story then met the eyes……nevertheless it was a laughter filled journey that we throughly enjoyed.

This was the fastest rickshaw ride I have ever been on in my life; and while at times his driving scared the hell out of me, I realised why people in India don’t need fun ride parks, the journeys on Mumbai roads gives enough thrills!!! The Mumbai roads are crazy but there is some logic to it which the drivers looked like they understoood. Indians are big risk takers, whether it be in a business, marriage or while driving. On numerous occassions I felt ignorance was really a bliss especially when it comes to driving in India, some of the safety measures that are considered essential in the West, are really not a necessity and people are happy to take a risk (probably unknown), Or is it that the West has gone too far in some instances when it comes to health and safety? I wonder....

Some journeys gives insight into lot more then we bargain for, like how rickshaw drivers are treated; what was a general aimless yapping for us could make someones day! While I hated the noise and pollution in Mumbai, I absolutely loved the buzz of the city…. The place is vibrant, diverse and highly contrasts, and the best of all is there is something for everyone the rich, middle and poor classes….Infact that applies across whole of India. While I couldnt live in Mumbai, I certainly hope to discover more of Mumbai when I am there again. Its very industrial, people work very hard to earn the living, for millions it is a necessity to fight the poverty and survive the harsh realities. And I think this very necessity to “survive the poverty” coupled with some courageous Mumbaivasi will never let any terrorists or natural calamities defeat the spirit of Mumbai!

Bhumi

Dhauladhar Trek

May 2005

A group of 30 people trekked in the Dhauladhar mountain range, the foothills of Himalaya to raise money for the Childline UK and Childline India. The group efforts resulted in over £60k raised for the Childline UK.

There were lots of highlights through out the trek, this includes people in our group, fairly diverse but a good blend, beautiful snow mountains, colourful fields, visit to the Dalai Lama’s temple and his summer palace, captivating villagers and school visits during the trek.

When I signed up for the Childline India Trek I knew it was going to be challenging for both fund raising target and fitness level required. I thought steep climbs, steep descend, altitudes, heights, strong sun at the top would be kind of issues we would come across but these seemed like nothing compared to the weather that we had to cope with, worst in last 30 years in Himachal. It would generally be warm in the morning, heavy hailstones for few hours during the afternoon (especially at lunchtime everyday), and then freezing cold from early evening. So we found ourselves geared up with various layers to cope with the changing weather, but only after getting completely soaked on day 2. All our belongings, which included clothes, sleeping bags and sleeping mat arrived wet everyday on day 2, 3 and 4.

On day 2 climbing up the steep mountains with hail so heavy that made the narrow path disappear faster then we could walk was not only hard but scary too.

On day 3 when we reached the top of the mountain in Triund, the picture perfect views of Snow mountains on one side, deep valley on the other side at sun set was simply stunning, and it made all the hard work of the day well worth it.

On day 4 sitting in my tent on my own, on top of a mountain with a full blown storm raging was the scariest experience of my life and the low light of the trek.

Our visit to Prayas (Childline India) was the highlight of the trek for me. It was an eye opener for me as until then I hadn't truly appreciated the size and depth of issues that they deal with at Childline India. One inspirational woman that we had the pleasure of meeting is Gargi who works for Prayas. Her strength, passion to help and commitment to the cause is simply admirable. It was really nice to talk to some of the volunteers and children at the centre, and to see the big smiles despite of difficult circumstances they live in.

This was one of most amazing experience of my life, and I met some of the ordinary people making an extra ordinary difference in the lives of those less fortunate in the society. I also met some of the funniest characters on the trek, who provided bundles of laughs during the times when there was very little or nothing to laugh about.  This is a brief summary however on request of some of my esp. sponsors I have also shared my daily diary.

This trek challenge was an opportunity which I am glad I took it on and I will cherish this experience and the memories for the rest of my life.

Lesotho Diary - Days 7-10

DAY 7: PITSENG
Even the mixed sized rocks under my sleeping bag massaging quite happily didn’t prevent me from getting a good night sleep last night. After 10 minutes warm up we headed for a river crossing to start our final 12km trek. Today our route once again took us through more villages and schools as we walked along the track that lead across the Mphosong River to Pitseng. We walked through some "perfect picture" type scenery's through out the day and pictures here say it all.

[Photo: Bhumi ]

On route we stopped by a school that allowed children to come out of class to sing for us. They sang a few beautiful, harmonized pieces about friendship. In return we sang and taught them the Okie Kokie? Don’t ask me more as I had never heard this song before in my life but I did enjoy the song and dance. :) It had arm waving and a wiggle, which the kids enjoyed. Thanks to John Daffern here's a copy of the video of children singing:


We collected some money within our group to replace the broken windows for the school. Another group was due to visit that area the following week to build a school so it all fell into place beautifully. This was our last full day of trekking so after lunch we joined the two groups together to walk the last 6km as one team. Rest of the afternoon was spent walking through more villages and fields, climbing mountains and crossing rivers before we embarked on the last climb of the day to the finish line. We were greeted by our support team, and were served fizzy wine to celebrate our success. This was truly a great night for all of us as it was quite a tough trek and we completed it without any serious injuries, only what few of us had gone in with.

DAY 8: PITSENG—PILANESBERG

It was our last day in Lesotho and quite an emotional one too. Waking up to the views of the beautiful mountains was special. The school children came to see us and performed an impromptu concert, singing few beautiful, harmonized pieces, including items on friendship and AIDS. It was moving to see these talented children full of joy living in communities with highest % of AIDS in the world and where life expectancy is 37 years! I couldn't help but feel sad thinking these young children should be singing about other things and not serious issues like AIDS! This morning was full of mixed feelings; on one hand there was the satisfaction of having completed the challenge successfully despite of various difficulties, and the other hand sadness that it was our last day in Lesotho, where despite of a striking poverty and vacuum of needs, the locals seemed to be so content! Here's a link to my favourite video of the Lesotho trek by John Daffern



After 6km walk we boarded the coach for 6 hrs journey to Pilanesberg National Park. After 8hrs we finally arrived at the park at 8pm where we spent the next two nights. The luxury of a proper bed and pillow, hot water and flushing toilet, big enough space to leave all your bags around without compromising sleeping space injected a lot of excitement in the group. I was quite surprised with myself to have survived 7 days with baby wipes shower and no Indian music!!! South Africa unfortunately is not a vegetarian friendly place, so I had to survive on bit of salad that night and the next!! Breakfast however was delicious! :)

DAY 9: PILANESBERG

Today was our first and only free day to ourselves to enjoy and recover from the last 8 days of travel and trekking. I decided to go for Safari at 6am in the morning, with a hope to catch a glimpse of a baby Elephant. We managed to catch a glimpse of few animals including Lion, Elephant (from far away and I am sure there was a baby elephant but others had a different view :), Zebra, Rhino, a rare view of a lioness with a fresh kill, Antelopes and some distinct beautiful native birds. That night we had the Gala Night to celebrate our success, this kicked off at 8pm with a meal, followed by a number of activities (organized by trekkers during the day) that provided us with few hours of comedy and entertainment.

DAY 10: COTLANDS ORPHANAGE, JOHANNESBURG

In the morning we made our way to Cotlands in Johannesburg where we would be spending the afternoon before our return flight. Founded in 1936, Cotlands continues to meet the needs of children impacted by HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

[Photo: John Daffern, Steve with a child at Cotlands]

This was a very moving experience for a lot of us especially to see the hunger for love and attention that these children had in their eyes when they rushed towards us opened their arms wanting to be picked up. The branch we visited looks after orphans from 0-7yrs, a lot of them are HIV positive. We spent few hours with children, offering them toys, colours, books, etc while learning about Cotlands and admiring their contribution to the society. Anna showed us around sharing stories and answering endless questions from the group.

[Photo: Dick Goodband, Richard sharing photo with a child at Cotlands]

That night we flew back from Johannesburg and arrived in London on Sunday the 22nd April. I slept for 14 hrs straight waking up the next day. I had not quite realised how exhausted I was!!! Despite of few difficulties it was definitely a worth while challenge to have taken on board!!!

Lesotho Diary - Day 6

DAY 6: HA MASHILI TREK

The drums went off at 6am and walk started at 7am with our group to leave first after the warm up exercises. The target today was to achieve an elevation of ~1100m (7.5km steep walk up) by lunchtime. For the past couple of days I had been asked to walk right at the front with our guide to set the pace for rest of the group which was made up of people with varied speed. It was tough going up especially when we started hitting the altitude so Jess and Chris took my jacket and fleece off me to reduce the weight in my daypack. Gillian’s “small steps tip” and Volker’s “runners breathing technique” made a big difference and helped us throughout the day. We walked pass the triple waterfall once again from a different angle, simply beautiful! The path that we used today was under construction by the locals working hard and it completely disappeared as we got closer to the top, when it became just a matter of finding your way up. When we got to the top (3109mts) the views were amazing, and we had a view which I feel truly describes “The kingdom of mountains”! A feeling of jubilation prevailed through out the group to have made it to the top with no serious issues.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

After a quick lunch break we embarked on our next stage walk which was to cross the plateau (7km). This was done mainly in hailstorm which lasted an hour leaving quite an impact. As the walk was tough today, we had to carry extra water, food and extra layers of clothing so I had taken out all the other things from my day pack. Unfortunately, this was also the only day when waterproof trousers, hand gloves and head torch were needed big time! Soon the sun was out and so was the rainbow. We stopped for another short break before heading down on a vehicle track (not in use) for ~ 5km walk.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

Soon we discovered why no vehicles used this route that was full of rocks ranging from a size of green pea to a baby rhino! (well, felt like it :) This route was tough on knees and ankles and as a result my knee pain worsened, and I limped for the next 3/4 hrs going down carefully stepping on rocks, escaping few falls thanks to Dave and Richard (co-trekkers) helping me at numerous tricky points.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

Four of us got left behind because of me and when we finally caught up with the rest of our group, we had a small hurdle to clear. The group had discovered the river (now dry) had washed away our road so needed to drop 8ft down in to the actual river bed to cross to the other side. Last hour or so of the walk was done in the dark and I am grateful to Dave, Richard and Narinder for helping me and ensuring I had enough light to see where I was stepping.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

By now I just wanted to sit down, but we had no choice and had to keep going as it was getting very dark and the second group was behind us another 20 min away. At that point, it was a great relief to see the campsite only minutes away. We were roughly 300yds away of the campsite when we came across a group of madly barking wild dogs. At this point it got very amusing as we had to group together and run, and guess what? I DID! The fear of a wild dog jumping on me was worst then the pain in my knee. That was just too funny and a perfect way to end a very long adventurous day, with a laugh!

Our group seemed to have stayed together, looking after each other, maintaining a positive outlook throughout the day, through some tough and good times. Our guides Gillian and Volker were great, offering tips to make walks easier and managed the team well ensuring we stayed together most of the times. While the whole group discussed today’s events around the fire, I escaped to enjoy some space in my tent and rest my knee. I didn’t really expect any issues with getting a good night sleep tonight as for the last 2 days we had just walked and walked until we simply dropped! There was a massive cheer when we were given one extra hour lie in the next day and the route sounded lot less strenuous.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

On these challenges I always go in with an attitude to “expect the unexpected” within a roughly set parameter and deal with the situation when it arises. Although very hard on my knees and at times pain reaching an unbearable point, I truly enjoyed the day which had all the ingredients of a real adventure – climbing steep mountains requiring us often to use hands and feet at times, steep descend sometimes requiring to slide on our bottoms, jumping a 8ft drop in the river bed, crossing a number of rivers, walking in the dark, crossing a river in the dark with ropes for safety, etc. This day especially tested my physical as well as mental strength (esp. my determination to deal with my fears) but more importantly it left me with an amazing feeling of satisfaction and truly having earned the sponsorship!

Lesotho diary - Days 5

DAY 5: TSEHLANYANE LOOP

The briefing for today stated “a moderate walk finishing at 3pm” as the following day was going to be a tough one. The walk today turned out to be everything but “moderate” in our terms and we eventually finished at around 5pm, having walked 17km taking us around 8/9 hrs. On this sunny day, we did steep mountain climbing achieving an elevation of 900mts (2953 ft) to reach height of 2700m (8858 ft) in the first half of the day. When we reached at the top of the mountain, we decided to name our group “Storm Troopers”.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

I enjoyed the challenge of having to deal with few unexpected events and enjoyed walking on a rocky mountain requiring us to often use our hands as well as feet. After a short break at the top we headed for a steep descend towards our lunch break stop by the spring. I knew this would be little interesting for me as I had struggled going down the mountains during our training walks in the Lakes District. I stayed focused and was very pleased to make it to the lunch not far behind our front guide and only falling once and escaping injuries!

[Photo: Dave Stewart]

After lunch we headed back up a bit and then across the mountain, walking through and experiencing some amazing scenery's. The views were so perfect that it was almost unbelievable, a bit like a film back drop, and no picture can match the feeling of being there. One of the highlights of this trek was a beautiful triple water fall with a very soothing sound. As the rain was heading towards us, we had to carry on and we walked across a river and through the forest until we reached the campsite.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

This was a hard day for few of us in the team and the next day was even tougher, so few of us were rightly given an option to take an alternative route which was less strenuous. Although I did struggle today because of my knee and perhaps not having enough stamina as others in the group to move faster, I decided against the less strenuous option provided I was not hindering the progress of rest of the group. These are the times when real team work comes in play and it was great to see the whole team stuck together to take on the next day. The briefing prepared us for the next day; we knew that we had to expect a very hard day, starting at 6am, longer and steeper walk with a higher elevation target with possible altitude sickness and fewer breaks. That evening I decided to brave it and go for the ice cold shower and yes it felt very refreshing!!! :)

Lesotho diary - Days 1 - 4

1 AND 2: LONDON—HA NTSOAKELE

We left London on the 12th April to embark on the Lesotho trek challenge which we took on to raise funds for Childline UK. Although the actual challenge had began months ago with the work on achieving the fund raising target. We got to Johannesburg at 6am the next morning and headed off to Lesotho via a coach. We arrived in Lesotho after roughly 6hrs coach journey, passing through the Northern Free State, the Maluti Mountains and crossing the Lesotho border. The scenery from there on was stunning, beautiful villages not yet hit by commercialisation with signs of conservation throughout.

[Photo: Bhumi]

With the clouds promising rain, we had a very quick lunch and started our 6km trek on a relatively flat ground, well, as flat as it can get in a place that is well known in the world as “The kingdom of mountains”. Next few hours we walked through some beautiful villages where the villagers welcomed us with illuminating smiles before we arrived to our first campsite. The campsite was on a small plateau just outside a village, over looking beautiful hills and fields. After the evening meal we had the full briefing on the next 5 days. Pretty much whole village children joined us at the campsite, shouting “shoot me, shoot me” :). That night we also had the most amazing galaxy of stars in the sky that I have seen in years! It was just over 36 hrs that I had been up now and it was time for me to hit the bed in the tent which was small, cold and wet.

DAY 3: BOITHATELO

Last nights briefing stated that there will be a wake up call at 6.30am every morning, however what I hadn’t realised was that it will be by a sound of African drumming! I have always been very fond of African drumming so I was pleasantly surprised and that was an uplifting way to wake up and got us going straightaway. After we completed morning chores, and a 15 min warm up, we were split into two groups to make the management of groups easier.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

At 8 am we were the first group to kick off the walk. We walked along the Hlotse River valley at the foot of the majestic Sekameng mountain range, walking past several villages, going up and down the valley, and over looking beautiful corn fields before we reached our lunch destination.

[Photo: Richard Storey]

After lunch we carried on walking through more beautiful villages; until we reached our campsite for that evening. Today we walked for 15km taking us about 8 hrs including breaks. It was quite a warm day which made the day lot more enjoyable however within half hour of finishing the walk it started raining/(hailing) which carried on for the most part of that evening, bringing back memories of Himalaya trek when we had rain/hail everyday!!! The coffee/dinner camps were not covered on the sides so it made it very difficult for all of us to get a proper shelter and it was freezing!!!!

DAY 4: TSEHLANYANE NATIONAL PARK

Today we walked down into the scenic Pela Tsoeu valley and walked past the villages of Mahlabatheng, Ha Malefetsane and Ha Mali. Just before lunch we crossed a small river and had an opportunity to have first dip in the water in 3 days! Few of us got excited like a baby discovering water for the first time. Although excited I only managed to dip my toes in the water as it was freezing cold!!!

[Photo: Richard Storey]

After lunch we continued our celebrity style walk on a long road through more villages and contagious friendly smiles. Until lunchtime today my knee had held up well and then it started all going downhill. It was a long day during which we covered the distance of 19km and walked for about 8-9 hours, before we entered the tiny but beautiful Tsehlanyane National Park. Our treat of the day was to find the washrooms with a flushing toilet in the National park!! Unfortunately the shower turned out to be ice cold! It was a cold night and we spent the night in a tent with a broken zip (on my side), freezing ourselves but worse esp. for me was the fear of insects making their way in the tent!! We camped at the National park for two nights!!

My brief encounter with Lesotho!

[Photo: Bhumi]

Children shouting “Shoot me, shoot me”, beautiful scenery, serene mountains, friendly locals, children with illuminating smiles, Volker’s uplifting drumming and trekkers singing by the bonfire every night, beautiful galaxy of stars in the sky, small wet & cold tents, walking on red soil with beautiful fragrance, crossing numerous rivers, climbing countless mountains and excellent team spirit everyday, are few of many things that reminds me of my brief encounter with Lesotho. It was an overwhelming experience especially the perfectly synchronised impromptu concert by the school children on our last day in Lesotho and the visit to Cotlands Orphanage in Johannesburg. (shoot me = take my picture)

A summary for those who wish to skip my Lesotho diary ;)

[Photo: Richard Storey]

We left London on 12th April and reached Johannesburg on the 13th at 6 in the morning. We straightaway boarded a coach for our next bit of journey to Lesotho which took roughly 6hrs. With clouds promising a heavy rain we had a very quick lunch by a road side before we started our 6km trek. We trekked and camped for the next 6 days. Our day started everyday at 6.30am with exception of the day 6 which started at 6am. We walked a roughly 95km over six and half days, achieving total elevation of 2124mts (6969ft).

[Photo: Daksha Patani]

The longest day we walked (12 hrs) was day 6, covering just under 20km and reaching the height of 3109mts (10200 ft) having achieved an elevation of roughly 1100mts (3600ft). This also was the day when we walked in the sun, hailstorm, rain and just over an hour in dark. Day 5 was not far behind in terms of distance and number of hours walked (17km, 9.5hrs, 900mts elevation).

[Photo:Richard Storey]

We had one free day to ourselves when we were given an accommodation in a national park resort and the feeling of excitement was injected in the group to find a proper bed/pillow, hot shower (after 7 days of baby wipes shower!!!) and a place big enough to put your bag without having to compromise your sleeping space!

As a result of this challenge the group raised over £62k for Childline UK at the time of writing this blog and more donations were pouring in following the success. Cotlands, Johannesburg and a school in Lesotho also benefited from this event. I feel Lesotho gave us lots including, a great adventurous experience, some beautiful scenery's, a location for the trek challenge that raised some serious funds for Childline to answer over 20,000 calls, very friendly and welcoming people. As a group we attempted to return the favour by donating £440 towards replacing a school’s windows and provided toys, books, colours to children at Cotlands. Cotlands in Johannesburg looks after orphans and most of these children are HIV positive. The children are cared for until they are seven and those that survive are either adopted out or moved to another branch of Cotlands.

[Photo: Dick Goodband]

I left South Africa feeling there is lot more that we could have done and can do for the children in Lesotho and Cotlands. This trip has left me with a reminder of the harsh reality of life for many there and an admiration for people who work for the orphanage. I hope to continue to raise awareness of the work that Cotlands does and generate more funds for the charity that offers excellent support to people who live in the most difficult circumstances in which they find themselves helpless.

I have put together a video for the sponsors to show my appreciation for their support and I very much hope that you enjoy it as lot of hard work has gone in creating this.