Chailey students Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award expedition in Nepal

Mrs Rickman writes:

Chailey Students Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Expedition in Nepal

Three former Chailey Students - Rory Galpin, Sam Gedrych and Bethan Greenwood - have just returned from a twelve day visit to Nepal where they completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition, trekking through the Annapurna region. They were part of an ‘Open Award’ and were joined by nine students from two other schools and Lesley Rickman, Chailey School’s DofE Co-ordinator.

After spending two days exploring Kathmandu, visiting some of the Temples and staying in a hotel by the Boudhanath Stupa, the largest Buddhist Stupa in Nepal, there followed a day long drive through the changing countryside to Pokhara, Nepal’s second city, where they completed the final preparations for their trek.

After a short drive to Nayapul village high up in the foothills, they met the rest of their support team consisting of four Sherpas led by Kalsang Sherpa, ten porters, two cooks and a kitchen boy, and began their six day trek in the foothills of the Annapurna Range. Carrying full expedition rucksacks and gradually adjusting to being in high altitude and the heat, they followed the local tracks through villages, crossing steep hillside farmland with breath-taking views of the Annapurna Range. Camping each night by a village, they experienced the local culture and customs and explored the local areas.  Following an initial acclimatisation day of gentle ascent, the second day the group climbed over 4,000 stone steps up to the village of Ghorepani. Up long before dawn the next day, they climbed 1,000 metres up Poonhill to see the sunrise slowly light up the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna mountains. They returned to their campsite for breakfast before a full day’s walk through forests and crossing narrow suspension bridges to Tadopani, a small village high up in the mountains with stunning views of Annapurna South and Machapuchare, (the Fish Tail). The following day they began descending through the Ghurkha region to Chhomrong then onto Shyule Bazar where local villagers entertained the group with Nepalese music and dancing.

Once the trek was completed they returned to Pokhara, spending two days exploring the city, including a visit to the Mountain Museum with its fascinating history of mountaineering in the Himalayas. Then back to the hustle and bustle of Khatmandu for a celebratory meal and final shopping spree before returning home.

Rory, Sam and Bethan all found the experience “.....unbelievable and one we will long remember. It really has been an amazing and life enhancing experience”.

All three have also previously completed their Bronze and Silver DofE at Chailey.

Sam, Bethan and Rory