17 January 2018
All is going well for our four brave cyclists. Conditions are far from easy. Doc, Arjun M and Arjun S are used to roughing it, sleeping on very hard wooden bases and sometimes even on cold concrete floors. But poor Lenny, used to Irish comforts must be struggling—fair dues to him. See some great photos on Nagarhope’s facebook page. On you-tube , you can watch Doc, with his wife Divya and the two kids, being interviewed before the cycle – it is all in Nepalese!! It has already had 53,000 viewers. People along the route have stopped him, recognising him from the interview. In their stop-over yesterday, the local cycle/motorcycle club were astonished to find out that the “foreigner” Doc was the guide of the group and that he was a fluent Nepali speaker though with a Dublin accent!!
We spoke to Doc today at lunchtime (6pm in Nepal). They were about to sit down to eat. They all sounded upbeat. Asked about hitches so far – a puncture, an iffy chain, both fixable; gammy knees acting up on the uphill stretches; Delhi belly for the newcomer one day; self-inflicted sore heads after staying with relations of relations one night; but overall a very positive outlook.
Today (Wednesday), they have reached the halfway stage. Their motto in the first week was “make or break” time so thankfully, they have gotten over that unscathed.
Weather has been reasonably kind – cold, misty and damp for the first few days when they were off road. It is now sunny and dry and they are on highway at the moment, averaging 15kmph. Yesterday, they had a difficult 8km uphill start and will have the same tomorrow. However, they are all looking forward to a well earned bit of comfort tomorrow night in a very upmarket hotel run by Yeti Airlines. They are being sponsored there by the airline. Doc was very happy to know that it includes a laundry where they will wash their dirty clothes. A relief I would think!
They will have one day off this week when they reach Lumbini, where Buddha was born. They will have time to visit the temples and take in the sights. The local and national press will be involved there.
The fundraising cycle is to build a six classroom Primary block for Nagarhope Basic School. This advancement to our existing preschool building will allow the kids who have been in our preschool to continue their education in their local environment. I use the word “local” loosely as some of these kids walk anything up to 2 hours each way to get there through rough terrain. This education will have a huge influence on their future lives and indeed the future of their families.
Plans for our local event are taking shape. Thanks to Lucan SuperValu for facilitating our “SPINATHON” on February 10th and to Ray Barnes for liaising with them.
If you can help in any way – spinning, collecting, taking a sponsorship card – contact Niamh 087-0666891 or Tadhg 087-9225103.
If you wish to make a donation to this worthy cause , you can do so directly to 191 Beech Park.
Alternatively, you can donate online through the following links: