Nepal Training Expedition in the Chilterns

By A Daryanani

Last weekend, I was one of fourteen boys in the Fifth, Lower Sixth or Upper Sixth form to travel to the Chilterns for two days of trekking, camping, and cooking for ourselves. Our expedition was in preparation for a two-week venture in the summer holidays to Kathmandu, in Nepal, where we will be trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas as well as teaching at the local school, HVP.

Saturday morning began with an introduction to our leader for the weekend, Alex, from the company who are organising our trip in the summer: True Adventure. After discarding the many kilograms of trekking kit we had brought, we started to set up camp on a relatively flat patch of the hills with two to a tent (admittedly struggling with pitching the tents, but we got there eventually). Then, we made sandwiches for the whole team and packed them into our day sacks for lunch.

Around 10 o’clock, we set off for what was supposed to be a 5 hour trek – using good old-fashioned map and compass to navigate. For the first few hours, morale was cheerful enough; jokes were constantly exchanged in contrast to the existential conversation that we slipped into later in the afternoon. J Rose’s tennis ball and the frequent water breaks that we took helped immensely in keeping our energy and enjoyment levels high. As we took turns using the map, however, we soon discovered that we were in fact…hopelessly lost.

Luckily for us, Google Maps allowed us to find an alternative route. As we continued, we then discovered that we had possibly been led astray by an outdated map which didn’t account for new footpaths established after the map’s creation. By the time the map passed to the steady hands of M Charles and A Latif, we were on a different trail to the two or three we had previously been following – but we were finally sure that we were headed in the right direction back to camp! Squelching mud and seemingly excessive amounts of uphill walking didn’t dampen the lads’ spirits, and we pushed on through to get back to the campsite.

After kicking off our (incredibly dirty) boots, we started to prepare dinner. Words cannot describe my appreciation for the hallucination-inducing chilli flakes that made our undercooked pasta edible, and we were all feeling much more content seated in a circle with full bellies and a (hopefully) warm sleeping bag awaiting us. The evening was passed by discussing our fundraising plans for Nepal, as well as planning how we would get vaccinations, visas, and a code of conduct. By the time we were finished, darkness had fallen. We tucked ourselves away into tent and sleeping bag as the rain began to fall.

Roused by the sound of birdsong at 5 o’clock, we found that although daylight had arrived the rainfall had not ceased. The next day was a mixture of preparing delicious porridge for breakfast, taking down tents, and finally clambering onto the minibus for the short drive back to MTS. All were grateful that Mrs Hale’s driving skills seemed not to be impacted by the sleeping conditions, and we got back to school safely.

We are all thankful for Mr Hilton-Dennis and Mrs Smith too (and Alex). Everyone is looking forward to this Saturday, when we will be doing teacher training in Islington in preparation for the charity work with HVP. Each stage of preparation takes us one step closer to our final target – Nepal!