Hereford Cathedral School

Pupils from Hereford Cathedral School spent two weeks over their October half-term trekking in Nepal and visiting Shree Sharada School in the small village of Ghachok, which is found near the Annapurna region.

HCS has had a link with this village school since 1998 and each year a group of Lower 6^th pupils have travelled out to Nepal and combined trekking with a visit to the school. This year the group consisted of 16 pupils and a group of 10 parents and staff, (including a trek doctor). With all the porters and kitchen staff employed for the camping trek, a procession of somewhere around 60 bodies made their way on the 100 mile plus journey, along with 8 mules and a muleteer! At times it seemed to resemble how one might picture the retreat from Moscow!

The journey took them around the mountain of Manaslu, which is just east of Annapurna, and is the 8^th highest mountain in the world, standing at 8163m, it is close to the Chinese Tibetan border and the trekkers found themselves less than half a day from the frontier. The village of Samdo, where the party camped for a night, was established in the 1950’s by Tibetans fleeing over the border from the Chinese invasion. It is cold in the village, it lies at just under 4000m and there is little vegetation. There was a medieval atmosphere to the place, as wispy columns of smoke spiralled up from the dishevelled cluster of stone buildings and yaks blundered about, roaming freely between tents and houses.  Grubby children in traditional Tibetan attire ran about laughing and smiling, entertained by the pupils from HCS who played musical bumps and other games with them. Given the climate you could see why washing wasn’t a priority – keeping warm and having something to eat definitely were!

The next day the Larkya La pass at 5100m was the high point of the trek which was reached on day nine.

The first four days trekking up the gorge of the Budhi Gandaki were marred by wet weather which made conditions quite slippery, and more than one trekker was heard to murmur that it was just like north Wales! The monsoon rains were still lingering, traditionally these have completely dissipated by October when the main trekking season starts. However, fortunately, the skies cleared and the sun broke through, and the party were provided with fantastic views and a safe passage over the high remote section of the trek.

The visit to Ghachok School at the end of the trek is a happy occasion with the visitors being treated to Nepali hospitality – a tikka blessing on each visiting forehead, a garland of orange marigold flower-heads placed round the neck, and a display of traditional dancing given by the school pupils. The students from Hereford presented the pupils of Shree Sharada School with a selection of books, games, sports equipment and stationery, and a pledge was made to continue funding the salaries of two of the school’s teachers.

Mike Moffatt who initiated the link with Nepal and Ghachok School was taking part in his last trek with HCS and many thanks go to him for all that he has done over the years to forge this link. He is wished well in his new appointment. Thanks also to all the parents and pupils who have supported the Ghachok Link Project, and to all trekkers - past and present who have made the treks such a fantastic experience.

Plans are already in the pipeline for next years trek along with fund-raising for the ongoing support that HCS gives to Shree Sharada School.

Alexandra Campbell IML

Our annual visit in 2009, took us to a remote region close to Machhapuchre (Fish Tail) Holy Mountain of Nepal. I am delighted also to report that 13 trekkers managed to summit Mardi Himal which stands at over 5580 metres. From the summit of Mardi Himal the view of Machhapuchre is breathtaking and no camera lens can do this mountain real justice. The summit of Mardi Himal is connected to the Machhapuchre ridge line, therefore when one stands opposite looking at this magnificent mountain from Mardi Himal it is literally in ones face….all 6998 metres of it rock, ice and snow.

Our visit once again incorporated all the usual trimmings with local visits to places of interest, foot travel through the many remote Gurung farming villages and in to mountainous terrain along the Khomein Ridge which is not heavily trekked by westerners due to the difficulties underfoot and the altitude. We have been fortunate over the years to be able to have Doctors accompany us on our annual visits to Nepal all of them have been a terrific asset over the years and also take much of the burden off the trek leaders shoulders, especially the medical aspect of trekking to high altitudes.

Our treks have been very varied and of course we have managed over the years to see much of Nepal and learn a lot about the Nepalese culture and traditions. Not all of them are attempts to climb mountains or summits, but we will each year generally go above 4000 metres through high Cols or similar to move from one area to another.

They are clearly an experience that our pupils relish and their trekking experience stays with many of them for years. In fact an increasing number of OH’s are now taking the opportunity to spend Gap periods in the village of Ghachok where Shree Sharada School is situated.

In recent years we have seen poverty levels improve and much more of the tourist spent money is now reaching the more remote and impoverished areas. Nepal is endeavouring to lift itself out of poverty and needs western support to do so. Tourism is its major source of income and the more we trek the more we help. The unfortunate Maoist problems a few years back practically crippled tourism and the Maoist movement quickly woke up to the fact that they were ‘shooting themselves in the foot’ every time they caused problems within the country. In recent years they have been given a much larger say in Nepal’s internal politics, which in turn has helped to ease many of the problems that were experienced by trekking groups in the late 1990’s.

The trek in 2010 is scheduled to go in to the Manaslu region, which was once a protected and heavily restricted area. Westerners were not permitted to trek in this region without official sanctioning from the government and in some areas without the local elders permission. Trekking permits can now be obtained for this area, but are still restricted to some degree. Manaslu is the eighth highest mountain in the world and along with the many of the other 8000 metre mountains first climbed in the 1950’s by mountaineers who had no idea what lay ahead of them, or whether they would actually return from their venture, unlike modern mountaineers who now climb them with specialised clothing, technical equipment and satellite route planning assistance.