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Navtrail
Navtrail
On the 18th of September 2010 Billy MacLeod and Darren ‘Daz’ Hennessy from VIA met up at Heathrow Airport along with the other members of Global Adventure Plus http://globaladventureplus.com for the trip of a lifetime where we would travel to the Himalayas and drive jeeps and motorcycles up to a height of almost 16,000ft.
Billy and Daz were invited to take part on this expedition by Robert Lawrence MC and were both funded by him personally and VIA would like to thank him for doing so.
The expedition was manned by people from all walks of life both civilian and military covering all conflicts over the last 30 years. The mixture of civilians and military some of whom had been injured and were in wheelchairs and some servicemen who were still serving and had been injured in recent conflicts was fantastic and Robert has to be congratulated for putting such a fantastic mix of people together, inspired.
We travelled to Delhi and from there we got on another plane to Chandigarh in the foothills of the Himalayas and then the team got in taxis for a 6 hour white knuckle drive to the town of Shimla.
After a briefing the next morning we were introduced to our vehicles and set off for a practice drive around the local area. This was an experience itself as driving in India is not for the faint hearted as you spend most of the time on your horn and overtaking in places that you would never think of attempting in the UK. Coupled with the amount of people walking along the roads, cows lying on the road and vehicles coming in all directions it was a scary first day but still enjoyable.
The next day we set off for the first day of the expedition heading for Sarahan but due to bad weather and landslides we headed for Kapla instead and it poured with rain for most of the day but the scenery was still great and we passed through many landslides due to the bad weather. Everyone was soaked on this day but spirits were still high at the end of the day.
The next day we were waiting on news of a landslide that was waiting to be cleared so we could head for Sangla but unfortunately we couldn’t go as it was still being cleared so it was a day spent getting passes done and waiting around the hotel but it also gave everyone a chance to dry their kit
The next day we attempted to get through the landslide and again we were stopped insight of the landslide and once more had to return to the hotel. A decision was then made to miss out going to Sangla as we were running behind schedule so plans were made to head for Nako the next day and the team were assured that the road would be cleared by then.
We set off nice and early the next day and Billy was joined by Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Stockting who is the Publishing Director of Hello Magazine as Daz was having a day in the motorbike sidecar.
We got to the location of the landslide and right away you could see the extent of the problem. There were queues of vehicles waiting to get through and we joined the queue and waited to be called through. This got a bit frustrating as we could see some small stones still falling around us as we waited and after a while it was fantastic to be on the move through the landslide.
The drive through the landslide was great fun as it was proper off roading as opposed to off roading on the normal Indian roads. It was also nerve racking as the landslide went on for around 1 km or so with huge boulders next to the road and a huge drop the other side but very exhilarating.
The rest of the day Billy and Charlie split the driving between them and it was a long day’s drive through some of the best scenery with 600m drops on one side of the vehicle and not a lot of room on the other side and with trucks and buses coming the other way.
Charlie had never done any off road driving before this expedition and did a fantastic job handling the vehicle in some extreme conditions.
We reached an area where we were going to head higher and higher towards a mountain village called Nako with the mountains of Tibet not too far away. We climbed and climbed towards Nako and got there late in the day to a tented camp.
We never got a chance to see much of this until the morning where Billy and Charlie took a walk up a hill behind the camp and looked around at the wonderful panorama that appeared with the village of Nako set on its hilltop. What a wonderful view this was and it felt as if we were sitting on top of the world.
We set off for through the Spiti Valley which is unbelievably dramatic and through some of the best scenery we have ever seen. We finished the day by visiting a monastery at Ki Gompa and Robert Lawrence distributed some knitted jumpers to the children of the village that looks after the monastery.
The next day was spent in the Spiti Valley also and this time we headed up to the highest point of close to 16,000ft. This was truly amazing and after a long climb out of the valley to a plateau surrounded by magnificent snow capped peaks reaching 24,000ft, truly amazing. We then started heading down into the next valley and this was done on a winding very narrow dirt road with huge drops but breathtaking views.
On reaching the bottom we stopped at a wonderful Chi Stop in the middle of nowhere. After eating Indian food for a while, we entered through a small door into a fantastic place that reminded us of the bar from Star Wars where we were served Noodles from the Tibetan cook and they were wonderful.
We then drove through a part called the Chandra Valley or Valley of Boulders which is a road through the bottom of the valley where the road is just rough ground where the boulders have been moved aside. It looks like a moonscape and is a wonderful place with glacial water flowing crystal clear in a river through the valley.
Once again we started climbing and it was a never ending climb over some very rough roads to Rothang Pass where a major construction project is going on to widen the road. Unlike the UK, when a new road is being built it is still the main highway and it was like driving through a huge building project with trucks and buses and every form of transport still operating. If you add the fact that there are huge drops as well as the bad conditions it was probably the worst drive of the whole expedition after we left the top and started going downhill towards Manali which was day end.
Our next day was a day off in Manali which is a wonderful place, full of life and Billy spent a great day with a Falklands veteran called Ian Morton where together with a local guide they soaked up the atmosphere and ended the day with a massage and facepack which was really funny for a couple of hairy Glaswegians.
After a great day off we set off for Narkanda and this drive was as if we were in a completely different place as it was green and fertile with pine forests and good roads. This day ended with us at a hotel that was perched on the top of a huge hill with stunning views.
The next morning was the last days driving and started with a hairy drive up a mountain to around 11,000ft so we could look over the whole mountain range we had travelled through. We could see for about 30 miles in all directions and it was great to see the enormity of the Himalayas.
It was then the mad drive back to Shimla on the main highway which was the worst road we had ever driven on for around 70km and the end couldn’t come quick enough.
It was a great end to the expedition with lots of people hugging after a truly amazing experience. The next day we got on a train and headed for Chandigarh and then on to Delhi the next day for the flight home.
Thanks to Robert Lawrence and his wonderful wife Maz for putting this all together and to everyone else who made it possible. This is something that should be used to help veterans who have suffered injuries or mental trauma as the sense of achievement and the people met on something like this is something that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
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