May 2001

May 2001

We are probably stranded in the middle of nowhere and cant get near a computer to give you an update. Either that or we are having too good a time and we could not be arsed. Later!

27rd May 2001. Fordie get back to Dublin, Neil arrives for a whitewater rafting holiday and I have no idea where Kevin is(if anyone knows please let me know.

Neil arrived on Friday. We have been blockaded into Katmandu due to a nationwide strike. There were riots on the streets and we just managed to avoid one in front of our hotel. We went out for an hour or two and came back to find our street covered in bricks and the railings ripped off the front of our hotel. The whole country has closed down and there are no cars buses motorbikes allowed on the streets. I think some of the pubs might open up later so we should be able to survive. Also here are the details of Fordies arrival back in the Big Smoke(26th May). Folks, Brian arrived in Dublin last night, and was admitted to the Mater public hospital. He is currently in St. Agnes ward (its the spinal unit). Visiting hours are between 2~4 and 6:30~8:00. His mum didn't think there was any problems with visitors. So get buying those grapes! Simon

23rd May 2001. One last big afting trip before head for home(Shane)

Hola Amicos, Just a quick update from me here in Nepal. Good news on the Fordie front is that the Nurses in Dehli have been tickling away at his feet and he is laughing away. He arrives back in Dublin on Friday the 25th. Well here a few words from me:- I was thinking of finding myself a Nepalese wife and setting up shop here. Well actually no luck on that front and I plan to leave on either the 9th or 10th of June. I already overstayed one visa by 5 days and was lucky to get away with that. I think it would take more than a 200 rupee bribe(2 squids) to get away with it if I do it again. Leaving it till the 10th of June to leave should ensure that the temperatures in India, Pakistan and Iran are at their max and that I will be hitting the first of the monsoon rain. I think temperature in Dehli have already hit the 50's(yee haaa). I have really left it way too late but hey it just makes it that little bit more interesting. Its good to hear that Fordies on his way home and that things are not quite as bad as they could have been. Its going to be a real dash to make the August weekend but I reckon its just about do-able. It would be a shame to disappoint all the young ladies who will be there to greet me!. The Kayaking has been really great out here and the guys I have been working with are class. It was a we bit hard to fit in at times due to my complete lack of Nepalese. A few of them were really cool and really looked after me. I have Neil bringing out a few presents for them. Neil arrives on Friday and hopefully he will have that crate of Guinness and the bottle of Irish whiky. I finally got around to getting my ear peirced today. Yip and I'm smoking the local ciggies as well. Shur its all part of the experience. I think the tatoo is coming next week. I'm working my last trip as a safety kayaker!!! on the Sunkosi starting on the 30th. I have booked Neil into one of the rafts so it should be a great trip. The problem at the moment is that not enough people have booked in yet so it may be cancelled. The trip is 10 days and we camp by the river each night. All the gear comes in the gear raft so the trips are totally self sufficient. hopefully a big group of lovely ladies will book in any day now. The bike is running well and I really have grown attached to it at this stage. The sun tan is coming alomg well. The 10 days on the Sunkosi should sort it out and if not I'm sure the 2 months of 40/50 degree heat on the bike should top it up. Make sure to reserve me a good camping spot in Achill. I plan to spend 2 months living in my tent and learning to kite-surf. I'm thinking about my next trips! already but money is going to be the big problem. I think I have almost broke even during my time in Nepal due to working so much. I've got a fair few of the rivers done but a few have still eluded me so I will definately have to come back at some point. Its been good to have a few days off. I'm really looking forward to meeting up with everyone in Achill. I'm going to give Lourdie a big hug and a kiss when I see her. I suppose we should warn her that we are on the way. We have met allot of people who said that they will be there for the party. I'm still contemplating going up to Kardung Lah near Kashmir to do the highest road pass in the world. I would hate to miss it seeing as I'm I'll be just next door to it!. I'm off now to try track down a pretty blonde Scottish girl off one of the trips. Go loves a tryher!. I tyhink that as good an update as I can give. Well actually last week in Pokara there was a festival on with a big tug of war competion. I was hanging around with a few Kiwis and two English blokes. Our hotel owner persuaded us to enter. It was class. The whole town was out to watch. We were the only western team and in the end we bet the local reigning chapions of the last 5 years. The whole crowd was going complete wild by the end of it. We were treated like heros and evryone in the town was congradulating us. I dont think the local heavies were too impressed but we managed to avoid them that night and make it out alive. Right thats it for now. Almost on the road for home, A bit a this and a bit a dat, Namaste, Shane.

22nd May 2001 Brian involed in serious Paragliding crash in Manali (Simon/Kevin)

Folks, Some of you may have heard this already, Brian Forde was involved in a serious paragliding accident while travelling in India, near New Delhi. Kevin sent me the email below explaining what happened, and asked me to forward it on. At present Brian is in hospital in New Delhi, and is due to be flown home midweek. Simon --- Kevin Fortune wrote: > Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 00:39:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Kevin Fortune Subject: The big one To: simonbarry2000@yahoo.com So Brian and I were sitting in Dehli bored out of our minds waiting for our large 22l tanks to arrive. Everything was in order to begin or trip home, all visas were sorted, Carnets were on there way, so we decided we would go up to Manali, in the indian Himayala and do some paragliding there. We stopped off in Chandigrah on the way up as it is a long ride. That town was a complete suprise. It was built like european city except with more space. Lots of people there owned cars, there were no cows on the streets, there were few beggars and none of the usual touts. Really nice town. Next day we arrived in Manali, and immeadiatly booked in to do a 5 day course in paragliding for beginners. Manali is a nice laid back town, with hundreds of honeymooning indian couples and very few single women of any description there! Also Manali is at +2000m and with my new larger carb jet, my bike was not liking the thin air, at all. We started our course the next day. Spent the day running up and down the hill just ground handling, with some intermittent flight. The morning of day 2 was the same. In the afternoon we went up the hill a little and fordie got a very nice flight all the way to the bottom. Unfortunatley I had opened my mouth and shown I knew a little about gliding so they gave me an intermediate glider that was a little too responsive for me, so I spent most of the time when flying, Bingo Balling left and right down the hill, ensuring all my flights were short lived. On day 3 the instructor said he was giving me a different canopy, that would be a little big for me. So we hiked up to the top of the hill. I rolled out my canopy to discover it was a tandem! I flew down anyway and landed. As I was folding my canopy I looked up and saw Fordie hit the side of the hill hard. Apparently he had launched and the canopy had not fully inflated, it then collapsed completly on one side and he fell around 60 feet, with a half inflated canopy swinging him into the hill. The harness offered zero protection. Wind conditions when I took off were good, the instructor said that the wind was good for take off when Brian took off 5 mins later, but the valley and area we were flying in, was what I would call unstable and the wind could easily have changed in 5 mins. I waited, he didn't move. I ran up the hill to find him motionless and groaning unable to hear or respond. He may have been unconcious but do unconcious people groan. After a little water was put on his face he came around. I was quiet relieved to hear him say "Fuuuccckkk" in a very low voice. So next a stretcher was brought up the hill and we carried him down, put him into this tiny car and brought him to the local hospital, where he was x-rayed and told to go to Dehli straight away. A 15 hr ambulance ride followed and this down indian mountian roads was very unpleasant. We got to the hospital where Forde spent the day under intense examination, MRI, x-ray, ct scan, you name the test; he got it there. They operated on his spine that night to remove a blood clot and his other injuries include right pelvis broken in 3 places, 1 vertabrae compressed, 1 vertabrae fracture, numerous ribs broken. He is comfortable in hospital at present and you should hopefully see him in Dublin by the middle of next week. More News as it happens Kevin.

7th May 2001 "Fordie goes tar surfing"(Brian)

We're in Delhi at the moment. It's bloody hot here. To quote "Being told, arriving in Delhi is like walking into an oven, doesn't prepare you for the fact that arriving in Delhi IS like walking into an oven!"

It's just Kevin and myself travelling at the moment. We abandoned Shane in Nepal. He got a job doing safety boater with one of the raft companies, so he will probably stay a few weeks and then belm home to try to catch up with us.

After leaving Kathmandu, we headed to Pokhara, about 200km to the west, stayed there two days, then headed south out of Nepal. At the border we found that we had over stayed our Bike customs certificate, and had to shell out a big penalty. Hope Shane got our message, and sorts his customs documentation out soon, otherwise he's going to have a bit of a headache!

The journey to Delhi from Nepal was uneventful apart from the heat, the trucks and the idiots who jump out in front of the bikes at every opportunity. I had forgotten what driving in India was like.

After staying in Delhi for a few days, we headed down to Agra, where we saw the Taj. Fabulous building. I'm going to build one just like it in my back garden when I get home! Had my first spill off the bike going down to Agra. Some fucker on a motorbike pulled out in front of me, and I hit him at about 50mph! Just a bit of gravel rash on my part, but the front of his bike was a mess.

We're back in Delhi now, waiting around. We're planning on leaving India again in about 2 weeks, to head across Pakistan and Iran. We're waiting for the Iranian visa, and the customs documentation for the bikes before we head on. We'll probably visit Shimla and Manali before we leave India.