Kilimanjaro Training Weekend II. Borrowdale

19 & 20 December 2015

This is how Derwent Water presented itself on my arrival in Borrowdale.


The Glaramara Hotel - a good place to stay, boasting excellent food and hospitable staff.


I kid you not, this photo was taken in 'broad' daylight.


Saturday morning and it's looking good to climb Scafell Pike. Unfortunately the wind was gusting up to 50mph and so we had to limit ourselves to the area around High Scawdell.




It rained all night on Saturday but Sunday morning was dry. However, the wind was still persistently strong so we climbed above the village of Braithwaite to Barrow and Stile End.

Return to Oman

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt once again and thoroughly enjoyed it - sun, sea and sand, great food and friendly, helpful staff. Below is the view from our room. We did not use the pool but chose to swim in the sea, which was at a cooler temperature.




We drove to Nizwa, which is just over 100 miles from Muscat, and visited the souk. Here are some of the spices - lovely aromas. We bought some frankincense and an Omani coffee pot.


Nizwa was once the capital of Oman and its fort was built in the C17th. The enormous tower took 30 years to complete. The walls of the fort are thick enough to withstand the effects of incoming cannon fire. We had superb views of Ziwa town and the surrounding valley from the top of the tower.






Beyond Nizwa is the striking Jabrin Castle. It was built as a home in 1670. Its builder, the Imam Bil'arub Bin Sultan was killed in the palace in 1692 following a siege by his brother. Jabrin has been beautifully restored and its painted ceiling are particularly impressive.




Not far from Jabrin Castle is the town of Bahla, which was the capital of Oman before Nizwa. The town has a 13km wall around it, reputedly built around 600 years ago. There is evidence of a fort being built in Bahla in 1000BC. The current incarnation is massive and preserved as a World Heritage Site.









Al Hamra's mud brick houses are now largely deserted and the people have moved into new properties in the town.








Birkat Al-Mawz (The pool of bananas) has a great example of Oman's complex irrigation system, known as the falaj system. The channels were made to take water from underground springs to the fields but as you can see, they also make great swimming places.






We went dolphin watching but did not see any. However, Captain Khalid found us a great place to go snorkelling.

Salisbury Cathedral

The cathedral, its cloisters and extensive grounds are beautiful but sorry citizens of Salisbury, I was not impressed with your 'city' - lots of drunks making a noise in the market square.

The cathedral has tallest church spire in England (123m). Inside, the Magna Carta exhibition was very impressive and the cathedral guides were well informed and very helpful.

The oldest known working clock. There is no face so you cannot tell what time it is. It was designed to cause a bell to chime to indicate the time for each cathedral service.

The Salisbury font was designed by the renowned British water sculptor William Pye.  Cruciform in shape, the font has a 3-metre span to allow total immersion baptism.  

After Salisbury we took a trip to Shaftsbury to try to find a boy and a bike in a Hovis advert. He was long gone but Golden Hill is the place. It was wet and windy and so we could not enjoy a view of the beautiful valley. However, Golden Hill looked good in the mist.

Kilimanjaro Training Weekend

Libanus Youth Hostel, Brecon Beacons

Action Challenge provide well organised and very useful training weekends. I arrived at the Youth Hostel early Friday evening in time for dinner and a couple of the local Brecon beers. Group leaders Ian & Bron then gave us a detailed briefing on what to expect during the weekend and on 'Kili' as it came to be called - 'Kili' makes it sound nice and friendly at 19 000 feet! We had a tiny room for four blokes but fortunately for us, one did not turn up. However, due to very loud snoring I took my duvet down to the Common Room and had a very comfortable kip on  a long settee.

We are on the march at 0900hrs the next morning. March should not be the word, as Ian stresses the 'Alpine plod'. Nice & slow, never out of breath. The day before was sunny and warm but today there is thick cloud. You can see it coming up behind us as we climb Pen y Fan, the highest of the Brecon Beacons at 886m and we are in the cloud at the top.

After Pen y Fan we traverse to Corn Du and then down to Llyn Cwm Llwch (below) for lunch.

After lunch it is downhill virtually all the way back to the Hostel through the gorgeous Powys countryside. After a clean up, Ian provides us with a slide show about life on a 'Kili' climb, with a strong focus on acclimatisation and how to prepare for and deal with it. He then shows us all his gear. I got some Christmas present ideas!

Kipped in the Common Room again and after breakfast we walked the Cerrig crags - in thick cloud - down to the Storey Arms and back to the Llywyn y Celin hostel for lunch.
Twelve in the group and really good company.

Kilimanjaro prep continues

24 September was a bright, sunny day but quite cool as a result of a strong northerly breeze. I walked north from the house for two hours and therefore straight into it. There was an abundance of pheasant and partridge - hundreds of them and I hoped that as many as possible would escape the Autumn shoot. Once again I saw a roe deer and also a pair of buzzards with their two young. It was very muddy underfoot after the recent and persistent rain. Managed 11 miles without ill effect.

1 October and the landscape has changed. Lovely and sunny and the air is clear but the wind is cool. Most of the fields have been ploughed and harrowed (obliterating some of the rights of way) and there is much more brown to be seen than gold. I travelled south, skirting Drinkstone Green and Rattlesden and then passed Gedding Hall - one of Bill Wyman's homes, or should I say his Suffolk home. What a beautiful place and good to see the cross of St George flying! Sadly, nobody rushed to the gate to invite me in for tea - maybe next time. Flattish open country heading back northwards enabled me to make good time on the way back north. Four and a half hours in total - easy!

Destination Kilimanjaro

I have signed up to climb Kilimanjaro in January 2016 and have started some preparation.

I am running 4 - 5+ miles every other day in the beautiful rolling Suffolk countryside and this is enabling me to to increase my mileage, my miles per hour and fitness. I am not fast yet and never will be back down to the 6 minute miling of the 1980s but I am heading in the right direction.

I have decided to do a long walk each week and today (Friday 18 September) was the first one. I covered 16 miles in just over 5 hours and almost all of it was cross country. Said hello to two horse riders and waved at a tractor driver but apart from that, not a human ion sight for hours. It was dry and sunny for most of the way and there was an abundance of wildlife - including partridge, pheasant, green woodpeckers, larks and one  buzzard. During the morning a lovely roe deer ran in front of me and I got close to a hare before it took off across a field at a rate of knots.

At 12 miles the heavens opened. I got very wet but after about 20 minutes the rain stopped and a stiff breeze dried my clothes. Home: sore toes but no blisters!

Tuddenham Mill, Suffolk

A great place to stay, lots of good walks from the village and only a few miles from the very attractive medieval town of Bury St Edmunds.

 Where's the soap?

 The North Loft, a lovely room.

Muscat Christmas & New Year 2014-2015

Every afternoon, lateon, scores of locals appear to play football on the beach. Some teams are 5 a side, others 11 or more. Skill levels vary but most are pretty good and very enthusiastic. Friday and Saturday games are followed by picnics with the extended families getting involved. They clear up after themselves as well - we could learn from that in the UK.

25 December 2014.

After a superb Christmas Day lunch and Santa had given out the presents, it was time for a stroll on the deserted beach.

How's this for starters?

We had an enjoyable 2 hour drive out of Muscat to visit Oman's 'Grand Canyon'. En route we stopped at Al Hamra, which  lies at the foot of the Hajar Mountains. Al Hamra is one of Oman's oldest villages. People are building new houses there and thus many of the old mud brick houses on the upper slopes are abandoned and left empty. It has an eerie ghost town feel.

Wadi Ghul in Nakhar Canyon - otherwise known as Oman's Grand Canyon.
It isn't a mile deep or a mile wide but it is impressive nonetheless. It was marvellously quiet and  as we walked up the canyon. Although the temperature is high, the walking is not demanding and the 100oft cliffs provide plenty of shade. The wadi can be a torrent after the rains but today it is just a peaceful trickle. The shallow pools are teeming with small fish and birds flit about amongst the flowering shrubs. It is lovely and peaceful.

This near the top of Oman's highest mountain (the top is controlled by the military ) and one of the local recycling merchants at work.

Getting ready for the New Year's Eve bash.

Below: One of the less dramatic photos of the hotel - you can find the professional ones on the net. Grand Hyatt, Muscat? We loved it.

A New Year's Eve welcome before the champagne reception, dinner and great entertainment.

Wonderful food.