Up the poll
Hamish and I were running into a village and something caught my eye, there was a guy about 25m up a 40m poplar tree. But the strange thing was that he was chopping the top of the tree off. There was a rope attached to the tree 10m above his head. The rope was being held by 4 guys who were pulling on the tree top to try and angle it not to fall on the home below. The tree chopper was dangling there trying to fell it. We could see that this was going to end in tears, so we decided to hang around and se what was going to unfold.
That night
It was only the second day of running, I was really tired, had a few niggles that were bugging me, as well as just trying to mentally adjust to what I was going to be up against every day. Fighting my own internal battles, I decided best to climb into my tent and see what the morning has to offer. Suddenly I awoke in a daze, voices everywhere my tent drenched in a bright light shining into it as if it were daylight. I didn’t really know what was going on, I heard Andy saying something, then Nick. I was still half asleep when I heard someone pulling at my tent saying "Get out! Get out!". I unzipped my tent and stuck my head out zap, straight into a spotlight, once I had focused the next thing I saw was the barrel of an automatic weapon and then I focused on the camouflaged uniforms of a group of soldiers all shouting something. I was still totally confused as I stood up in amongst the soldiers, dust lights and mayhem that was unfolding.
Road Hazards
It’s been bad enough trapped on this road, the spine running through Kashmir, every one and everything has to use it. There is just no other route to travel. On either side of the road, there are massive mountains that just rise up and up into the clouds, steep and unforgiving with the main feature being thousand meter high shale landslides that are active everywhere. There are ranges in every direction, that’s the choice one has. The road itself is in bad condition, treacherous, the smoke pollution is unbearable, as for the litter, its astonishing to see the extent of it. But it’s the only route at the moment I have to just stick to this road and admire the scenery and take what happens as it come, and it come in many forms. If you are lucky there is only an apple that’s thrown at you. Then there is the odd blob of the favourite pastime that might float out of a vehicle and smack into you – known as “Gobbing” big lumps from deep in the lungs that spat out of windows, one every now and then tends to find as you pass.
Hell run
There is a single valley that runs up into northern Kashmir and only road one road heading this way was built called the 1A. This is it, this is where it all happens. I have had the odd day that I have been able to veer off this, into a bit of peace and quiet of a mountain valley, but the rest of the time it’s been this dam stretch of abused asphalt that I have had to deal with as well as every conceivable vehicle that travels it. I think that 40% of the traffic that travels this road is the military and the rest is whatever can be pieced together and made to move forward on its own, it's then classified as a vehicle and it is here, and oh yes, it also has to have enough power to be able to sustain an air horn at full blast all the time.
Driver in the dwang
It’s been a mad day, the start of the run, all the emotion that goes with it. Now it’s out into the mountains for the next 280km as I head down to Jammu. It’s also our last chance to get supplies as we will all be camping along the roads, tracks and wherever we land up at the end of the day. Nick was desperately trying to get the internet setups on our Nokias sorted, but having massive problems as there was a Military block on all devices in this area. The morning run was over and we headed for the market, it was pots, pans. Gas cooking rings, food, plus all the cooking utensils etc. We then went looking for a shop to get some fold up chairs and tables for the evening when we would all meat up and the daily crew set up. I left Andy and the driver to tie all the boxes on the roof and headed of on my search. Twenty minutes later I get a frantic call from Andy. “David they have arrested the driver”
Shankaracharya Temple, the Beginning
For the past few days I have been staring up at the mountain behind the town at a distinct shape in the mist, the ancient temple of Shankarchaya, and the start of my journey. I had decided before the journey that I was going to wait with the start of the run until I got news from home about the birth of my first grandchild. Tamlin, my daughter and her husband Vaughn have been expecting the birth of their first child any day now. I have now received the news that my grandson has been born. Let the journey begin. “I dedicate this journey to little Loki” The journey can begin.
Dhal market
It was a 5:30 start, pitch dark and really cold as we border our shikara or water taxi. A large portion of the population of Srinagar in Cashmere, live in massive floating homes on Dal Lake so this is the most common form of transport in this area. The previous day I had met a local guy called Dean who had told us about a unique food market, but it was half an hour paddle to get to it. Sounded confusing, but we agreed to go. It was dead quiet as we slowly glided across the lake, steam oozing out of the glass like water surface, in the distance all that we could here was the sound of the chanting rolling over the water surface from the mosque, calling people to prayer. The shikara effortlessly twisting up the narrow channels between the homes, hardly a light on we were paddled into something I think that very few people have experience, a day in the life of a community that we never knew existed, an ancient vibrant culture that has been quietly living in Himalayan foothills for hundreds of years.
Leaving for India
Flying out of Cape Town in the early hours of Saturday morning, there was a lot of excitement between the four of us. No one has any idea of how the adventure is to unfold. But as with any long travel schedule, there are bound to be issues, and they were on the way.
Packing
Sitting here writing this blog, little Jade is fast asleep. I have just told her a bedtime story about mystical China. Sharing with her my trip to China last week , all that I had seen , my reunion with the wall and what it meant .
Back to the wall
I remember the farewell dinner we had after completing the Run of the Great wall of China. A group of individuals plucked from every walk of life, but now a cohesive team was there, we had been together for 5 months and we had been through a journey of a lifetime. Each person was given a chance to stand up and relate what the journey had meant to them. As each person stood up, silence fell on the room, we knew that this was going to be a massive revelation in each person’s life to date. There were such personal recollections of the journey, what it had meant to that individual left us all fighting back the tears. Every story was life changing and heart wrenching. William Lindsay (who had travelled most of the wall some 23 years prior) was responsible in putting the Chinese logistics side of the run together for us, stood up and shared his feelings on his journey along the wall and how it had changed his life, ending with a statement as he looked over to me and smiled.
