recent kodak moments

Bangkok Hua Lamphong train station (everyone had to stand still for the national anthem at 6pm, picture an image like someone pressing a pause button on a tv screen, everyone stopped in their tracks, and as soon as it was finished just continued on again as if nothing had ever happened...so bizarre)

sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai

completely integrated into Thai society...

taking a crack at it before my rafting incident...

perfecting my underwater buoyancy

Thailand Thailand Thailand

Have been over in this part of the world for 2 weeks now, travelling around in the north, trekking in chiang mai, swimming with elephants and bamboo rafting (tried my hand at steering and ended up flowing swiftly down river in the rapids, apparently it's not for everyone...) and eating as much pad thai and noodles as I could fit in my belly. I have spent about 4 days in bangkok, seeing the grand palace, getting ripped off by tuk tuk drivers (although that wont happen anymore...i have learnt the error of my ways and would like to think i am a bit of a hard bargainer now) and playing "spot the ladyboy". After meeting some awesome people and discovering probably the more authentic parts of Thai culture, I headed south to the party islands of Ko Samui, Ko Tao and so on. I spent two nights on Ko Samui to get my bearings, do some laundry, lie on the beach and go over to Ko Phangnan for the infamous full moon party. After some good partying I caught the boat over to Ko Tao where I am now to commence my advanced Padi diving course- it only takes a couple of days, so I stayed on a diving resort called Buddha View- not really a typical thai title- and got stuck into some incredible dives, including one we did at night, with only underwater torches to guide us around- and yes, it had to be me that was separated from the group...the old trusty internal compass triumphs yet again. I had latched onto another group who were diving nearby, and let me just say that it is very hard to recognise people underwater- so that's my justification right there. Anyway, I am now fully qualified and have decided to stay here for a bit before heading back to Bangkok on the 27th for my flight to Vietnam on the 30th. Lots more to come...and only 2 weeks in...

some cheeky snaps...

It's a hard trek life for us

So finally got round to this poor blog, sorry for the delays. Where to start. So we embarked upon our second phase on the 4th of March, a gruelling 270km trek from the south to the west of Costa Rica through a region called Guanacaste. This area is reknowned for being one of the most physically diverse parts of the planet, with about 7 different types of terrain from cloud forest to wetlands to desert-esque landscapes. We left fieldbase with the packs on our backs and nothing else. Because we had to distribute a certain amount of group kit between us (trangias, tents, all the food we needed for 7 days, med kit and comms kit) there was very limited space for personal items. I had to be satisfied with one pair of shorts, 2 t-shirts, one jumper, 3 pairs of underwear and 3 pairs of socks, with a miniscule amount of toiletries. You can, or probably would be better not to, imagine just how deliciously pungent we all became fairly quickly. The first day we were literally thrown off of the bus onto the side of the road, packs and all, into the blazing heat of the midday sun (about 35 d celcius) to begin the first 13k day of our 18 day adventure. The first day was definitely the most challenging, we trundled along our route bewildered, unsure of what to expect or how we were supposed to be feeling, how our packs were supposed to be feeling, trying to grasp the concept of a kilometre and estimate the remaining distance, tackling hills and new terrain, attempting to balance rehydration and blisters and achy muscles all whilst getting to know everyone in our new group. I think it is fair to say that we all shared the same feeling at the end of that first day, reaching an open bodega to set up mosquito nets and roll mats to finally rest before getting up at 3 to trek again the next day:

"Oh.My.God."

The first day was really daunting, but after that you begin to get a grasp on how to adjust your pack to fit more comfortably, when to drink so you're not constantly making toilet stops by the side of the road, your body grows stronger and stops hurting so much, your boots mould to your feet and blisters harden, and you begin to enjoy the walks, the physical challenge of it all and the incredible landscapes. We walked on a mixture of mountain paths, through forest and along main roads for the first 6 days, on day 4 I discovered my peanut allergy after eating a trailmix bar and having to stop in the next town to vomit violently in the toilet of a local pulperia- stuck to biscuits after that episode. By Day 7 we had lost one member of the team to a severe ankle injury for a few days- he was taken to a nearby hostel and given 3 days rest before being driven back to meet us once we made it out of the jungle- yes you heard correctly, our route took us directly through raw cloud forest for 2 days. We had our own personal ranger, Don Luz, a man who, given a machete and a canvas bag on a rope tied craftily around his shoulder to form a sort of primitive backpack, succeeded in leading a team of 15 young venturers through untamed forest, sourcing out water for us to fill our camelbaks and pointing out the steady rocks for us to cross rivers, and pulling a few of us up the sheer muddy hills, demonstrating which vines to grab hold of and where to place your foot to get a healthy grip to push yourself upwards. We camped that night in the midst of the jungle, in a pretty snake-infested area, wet-wipe shower for me, dined on a fine meal of dehydrated mashed tatties, lentils and ranchero sauce- carbs carbs carbs. Most of our meals consisted of tinned or powdered versions of normal food (all milk came in powder form). the standard choices were- mac and cheese (from a powder), mash and lentils, rice and ranchero, noodles and ranchero, sometimes with accompaniments of chickpeas or canned mix veg. After 2 days of trekking through hilly cloud forest terrain (one of the only areas of cloud forest left in the world apparently), we came back onto main roads. From then on it was a countdown to our final 30km day to the beach at the end which we managed to complete in 5 hours- literally we ran about 2 k once we neared the end, but completed it finally, exhausted and satisfied. Job done! More to come about the final phase soon...

more to come

many apologies but as i am very low on time in the internet caff today i will have to update you all on my latest news after my 3rd and final phase. all you need to know is that we completed the trek successfully, with some minor injuries but nothing like the previous groups 10 hour casualty evacuation situation...we swam in hot springs, trekked through wild jungle, desert conditions and cloud forest, carrying a minimum of 20 kilos in our packs every day. my skin tone is quickly adapting to the costa rican climate, and i am about to be shipped off to an environmental project very close to the fieldbase where we are staying in costa rica, i will be living at the top of a volcano and building trails walking up to 20 k carrying gravel and working on the paths every day, and apparently we have to embark upon some kind of altitude training once we get there. A new group once again, very excited and pumped for the final bit of my expedition. sorry for the shoddy lack of detail, but as promised, i will fill in all the gaps properly when i next get the chance.

must dash, hannah banana x

Phase 1 complete...

Back in touch with the outside world once more! It feels like I have been living on another planet for the past 3 1/2 weeks. This update is going to have to be brief as I'm going to try and summarise so much information and I only have so much time before I have to be back at fieldbase to pack for my next phase. So I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in Turrialba which is the town closest to our fieldbase in Costa Rica. We just arrived back yesterday after finishing our first phase- I was allocated to a group of 16 on a water project in Nicaragua. We spent 6 hours every day digging trenches and laying 5km of pipes in total to allow clean water to reach 12 houses in the village. The town where we were living was next to a place called Achuapa which is apparently the second poorest area in Nicaragua, which I have been told is the second poorest country in the continent. That's a pretty staggering statistic, and true to the facts, these people really did live in intense poverty. Myself and another girl from Glasgow were living with a family of 5 in a tiny brick house with a tin roof. They gave up an entire room for us, and the whole family crowded into one other room, even sharing beds to accomodate us. Their generosity was overwhelming. I have to mention that these were ironically some of the happiest people I have ever met in my life. There was hardly a moment when I saw a family dispute or even an unhappy child. The villagers were so eager to welcome us into their community, when we first arrived after a half an hour trek through the dust and heat up to their village which is inaccesible by motor vehicle, they were gathered in a barn to greet us, with the head of the cooperative (an organisation operating with raleigh to provide fair trade sesame seed production and other services for the villages surrounding Achuapa) with a guitar and a good collection of songs. I am willing to admit that after Don Brigido( the head of the co-op) told us that he wanted the community to welcome us into their homes as if we were their own children, I had a pretty emotional moment. Like I said, their generosity is overwhelming. They stuck to that promise. We were always fed before the rest of the family, our clean washing was waiting for us at the end of every day, and they catered as well as they could to our tastes, with the very limited ingredients of rice and beans, and beans and rice. Disaster struck when the majority of our group contracted some very nasty diarrhoea and vomiting, with some people in bed and out of work for up to 10 days, however, as I have the stomach of a LEACH, I was spared the drama. It's one of our many family traits. Mom and Pops, I hope you're proud.

There is so much that I can include in here but I'm just going to present you with a few highlights:

- Meeting all the costa rican and nicaraguan host venturers at fieldbase after arriving for the first time, to a crowd of manic singing and dancing. We all stood there like good little Brits and clapped awkardly. I enjoyed the embarrassment of it all.

- Playing endless games with the ticos (costa ricans) and nicos( nicaraguans) usually involving singing and stupid dances...at 8 pm in the evening after travelling for 48 hours on 4 hours sleep- this has come to be the equivalent of a late night for me here, after rising at 5 am or earlier every morning.

-Having my Nicaraguan "sister" write a poem for me at the farewell gathering in the village and reading it out in front of everyone- another emotional moment for Hannah.

-Sitting outside in the dusty "yard" of my house looking at the millions of stars which are so much more incredibly clear than I have ever seen and suddenly seeing the most beautiful comet fly over my head- the first time in my life I have ever seen one like that.

- Watching the 7 year-old village kids offering to carry our tools for us into the village, and marching off with three times the weight I could ever manage on my own.

- Day trip to a local river on our day off, had to trek for 2 hours in the midday sun to get there but so worth it...it. was. lush.

-Learning how to make tortillas over an open fire from raw maize.

I'm being hurried along by Charlie as we need to go eat and get back to fieldbase pretty soon so I'm afraid that's all I can fit in for now. There is a raleigh blog where you can leave messages and they get delivered to me on my various projects. It would be great to hear from you all. Here's the link: http://www.raleighinternational.org/expedition-blogs

TTFN xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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the beast has been defeated!

finally managed to get everything into one bag- and surprisingly without excessive drama...feeling very excited and the reality of it all is really kicking in now. flying down to london tomorrow to stay with cousins before getting my plane out of heathrow at a very pleasant 10:30 am tuesday morning. have been savouring every meal, and have been very well fed this weekend, stocking up on flavours to pull me through a 10 week spell of refried beans and rice...this is what i have been told anyway- although the possibility of steak tartar and caviar still lingers...

2 days and counting! soop soop! peace out for now. xxx

preparations...

if only i was the proud owner of one of those bottomless mary poppins bags...

10 days and counting...

Greetings all,

Apologies for the gap in between entries, but I figured there was probably only so much you could all bear to read about me packing a bag.

So latest updates: kit list= 95 % fulfilled, starting to pop the old malaria pills pretty soon, prepping to have a trial pack (or trial 'cram' might be more apt...), and have just cleaned boots out of 50% deet insect repellent for at least a good while.

I had a "challenge workshop" a couple of weekends ago in Surrey, at which I met about half of the people going on my expedition. It turns out that there are at least 190 venturers travelling out within one day of each other, so we have been split into two expeditions. I chose the most popular destination apparently. So the weekend was spent playing various introductory games, often involving potatoes and some form of circular sequence- I travelled down with a fellow Raleigh-goer from Edinburgh, by plane then train, and met a large bunch of others at the train station in East Grinstead where we waited for our horse drawn carriage to transport us to the royal castle where we would be residing for the weekend...

pah.

We were driven in a big bus to a nearby scout camp where there was a freeforall scramble for the nearest bunkbed. However, we did get the more luxurious accom out of the two groups- they were sleeping on the hard wooden floor of a big hall next door. Snuggle up! However little did we know that we would soon enough be craving those harsh floors and squeaky beds, upon receiving the information that we would be making our very own 11 man shelters in the woods...and yes...inhabiting them for the night, tarp, string and all. We spent the first day (Saturday, after spending Friday night in the bunks) playing team building exercises to basically get some problem solving going and get to know each other a bit better- the usual practice and whatnot. Each group of 11 or so was allocated two team leaders, essentially sadistic puppet masters who very much relished the exercise of making us jump for "food money"- the fake Costa Rican currency which we needed to buy our food for camping that night. Tasks included such gems as "you have 2 minutes- choreograph a dance"/"get members from the other group to dance for us"/"make a human pyramid...successfully." Bizarrely they all seemed to revolve around some form of performance arts...nonetheless we were good little monkeys and got stuck in. In the end- they did give us all of the food, after some intense bartering...quite deflating our sense of self-achievment once we realised we had been well and truly duped.

All in all, the shelter went up, with a bit of logic, some bonzer knot tying and a whole lot of rocks, and I am even proud to say that I had a pretty good night's sleep in the end. The weekend was a great way of getting a taste for what life on the expedition was going to involve, and how not only to simply get on with the necessary tasks but how to have a great time doing it.

Final notes: must remember- get last rabies shot, label mosquito nets, buy colouring pencils for village kids, trial pack all equipment into ONE bag...oh dear.

One month to go

So I've finally got around to sorting myself out cyberly and have set up this blog to allow all you nosy busybodies out there to follow my progress after I step out solo into the big bad world. I guess this blog will be devoted to the first part of my travels to begin with, on the long road to Costa Rica (and Nicaragua).

Leaving on the 8th February, I will be spending 10 weeks working in both of the aforementioned countries as part of a philanthropic organisation called Raleigh International (which I'm sure will ring a few bells...). I am yet to discover my exact location to be, but the set-up goes a little something like this: the expedition is divided into 3 sections, roughly- 3 weeks environmental work, 3 weeks community work, 3 weeks trekking. I think there is a group of about 60 of us going, and we're divided into smaller posses of about 15 or so. We have all been informed of a list of potential projects, but I have to wait until my introduction weekend at the end of this week to find out exactly which of those I will be working on. This is what I know for certain- I will at some point be staying with local families, communicating in spanish and learning about their (in some regions) indigenous culture, one of the parts of the trip which I am most looking forward to. I will be putting hard graft into various construction projects- indicated rather worryingly by the kit list's requirement for "working gloves"...something which I am however confident I will get stuck into, despite my complete lack of knowledge in said area...and I will be cooking/washing/sleeping/working/surviving out of one measely 65L rucksack, something which I am yet to come to terms with, and plan to tackle as close to the leaving date as possible due to well...sheer fear at the basic quantities of possessions I will in the end be able to take with me- although I'm sure it would be wise to nip it in the bud...still...every time I spy my pack in the corner of the hallway I am filled with what can only be described as an ominous foreboding.

Anyway, enough of my materialistic panicking. I am trying to tick everything off of my "to do before I leave" list, including my final rabies shots...yes that facebook update was a joke and I am in fact, and always have been clear of the disease...getting my malaria pills, buying last minute kit (including one very flattering steve irwin-esque kaki hat to keep the rays off of my noggin), head torches, a bountiful supply of antimalarial products, US visa waivers and the contemplation of packing. A month to go then off into the wilderness.

Bring it on.