Last leg

Jun 08 2008

The journey has been an amazing experience and one we’ll both never forget. There are so many people to thank for helping us to make this epic trip from Kathamandu to Kendal in the UK.

I’d like to thank Mr Puspa Nepaune and his wife Samjhana for ensuring we had a great send off from Kathmandu. They organised a press conference for us which took place at their Shangrila Gardens Restuaraunt in Lazimpat, Kathmandu. We were able to inform the press about the reasons why we were undertaking this journey. If you are in Kathmandu please pay them a visit and enjoy a meal in fantastic surroundings overlooking the city.

The press both in Nepal and UK were a huge help to us. Thankyou to the Kathmandu Post and the Westmorland Gazette in the UK who both wrote some great articles regarding the Sarimilla Trust and the trip.

Our coordinator in the UK was Mr Luckshan Abeysuriya who organised a number of talks and presentations on our arrival there. As a result of this we were able to raise much needed funds for our Trust. A huge thanks goes to Luckshan who put in a great deal of time and effort in his spare time and without him it would have been impossible to organise all the events in the short space of time we had in the UK.

Thankyou also to the Lady Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Kendal for the great reception they gave us on our arrival in the UK.

As always we’d like to say thanks to our sponsors and donors becuase with you none of what we’ve been able to achieve in Nepal would have happened. Everyone who has helped us along the way is part of the Sarimilla Trust. I wonder what Sarimilla would think of all this if she knew so many people are willing to help young kids like her find a way out of the poverty trap.

All along our way as we rode Tara from Nepal to the UK people wanted to help.To all those people, and there were many, we both want to say thankyou for helping this journey be a memorable one. We hope you enjoy the following passages and last but not least thanks to Simon for putting all this together for us good on ya mate.

After a much needed rest in Prague for a couple of days we headed north up through the Czech republic and through Germany towards Amsterdam for the ferry over to Newcastle upon Tyne. The North Sea for once was like a millpond for the 16 hr journey and we arrived 09:30 am and headed across country to Kendal, The weather was fine and sunny and it was great to be riding over the moors through some beautiful countryside.
Arrived in Kendal at 13:30 at the Town Hall where we had our first mechanical breakdown,,,,,,the clutch cable snapped !!! Amazing to think we came all this way to hit our first problem crossing the finishing line. Fortunately we had a spare cable and managed to get Tara up and running for the 14 mile journey back to Arnside to meet up with friends and relatives.
It’s been a fantastic experience and one that hasn’t fully sunk in yet. Both of us are feeling tired and happy that everything has gone well for the 12,000 kms we’ve travelled over these past 6 weeks. Thanks to everyone that’s helped us along the way. The trip has taken us through some amazing places.
One place that sticks in my mind is Bam in southern Iran. As I said in one of our earlier blurbs the city was destroyed by a huge earthquake on Christmas eve in 2003. Half of it’s inhabitants died as a result of a quake that lasted 7 seconds. We stayed at Mr Akhbar’s guesthouse in Bam. He’s slowly rebuilding his hotel after it was levelled in the Quake, Mr Akhbar is a retired English teacher. On the morning of the quake Mr Akbhar had to dig by hand through the rubble for hours to rescue his son Mohammed who had been buried in their house. Mohammed said he could feel his life slipping away as his father reached him. Mr Akhbar has kept an old Royal Enfield that belonged to a young English traveller that unfortunately was killed in the quake staying at the guesthouse. We left early in the morning from Mr Akbhar’s place and he waved us goodbye, it made me realise that he has never given up on his guest house and still offers a place that travellers can feel at home there despite the ruins that surround him. We had a long way to go and it reminded me that it’s important not to give up on things if you believe you can make it happen …..
I hope this trip can make it happen for the kids in Nepal
Thanks it’s been great
Steve & Dawn