Whatever you do, make sure you tube in northern Laos - Vang Vieng - and do not leave it to the South like Mel and I did!
Tubing in Vang Vieng looked amazing - we kayaked through the maze of bars and they were fab, each with a rickety swing or flying fox outside - I rather comically managed to get whiplash from one!
However, don't be fooled by the guide books or the adverts, tubing in Don Det (10,000 Islands) is little more than sunbathing in a rubber ring! 10,000 Islands seem to be the place to smoke weed, and not much else unfortunately. If that's your idea of a challenge, then go for it! Mel and I definitely weren't impressed!
On a side note - for those travelling in Laos - stick to the North - the South really isn't worth it, the temples and waterfalls lauded in the Lonely Planet were unspectacular to say the least, and we were pretty bored on the whole.
If you do travel south, ignore the guide books, visas are as easy to get as drugs! (and that appeared to be pretty easy - one hostel offered a free bag of weed per night!)
Charly xxx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixXSly5pDy4&feature=channel_page
Friday, 13 March 2009
Challenge Catch Up .... Three Peaks Challenge
God this seems forever ago!
Ok ... at the start of August, I set out with six challengers - Dave, Dan, David, Chris, Dummy and Andy - in an attempt to do the Three Peaks Challenge in 24 hours.
23 hours and 59 minutes later, we completed it!
It is a really good challenge, and definitely one I would recommend trying if you enjoy trekking. It was such a nice experience to do as a group, and we made a real weekend of it.
We completed it about 3 or 4 weeks after the summer solstice, when you can actually do all the walking in daylight (we walked for 2 hours up Scafell Pike in the dark), but I would say it's still easy enough, and if you do have to do some walking in the dark, make it Ben Nevis is the path down is really clearly laid out.
We got extremely lost on Scafell Pike, and ended up having to hike up a really scary scree run, something I would definitely not advise! And we weren't the only team to get lost on that hill that morning!
My advice - make a weekend of it, go up to Fort William on the Friday, start around 5 or even later on the Saturday night, then do Ben Nevis, bomb it down to Scafell Pike, get the beast over and done with, and then negotiate the tourists on Snowdon!
Whatever you do, don't forget to fill the car with petrol like the boys did!!! Ooh and get yourself at least one driver - Laura was invaluable :)
Charly xxx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkerWMISdG4&feature=channel_page
Ok ... at the start of August, I set out with six challengers - Dave, Dan, David, Chris, Dummy and Andy - in an attempt to do the Three Peaks Challenge in 24 hours.
23 hours and 59 minutes later, we completed it!
It is a really good challenge, and definitely one I would recommend trying if you enjoy trekking. It was such a nice experience to do as a group, and we made a real weekend of it.
We completed it about 3 or 4 weeks after the summer solstice, when you can actually do all the walking in daylight (we walked for 2 hours up Scafell Pike in the dark), but I would say it's still easy enough, and if you do have to do some walking in the dark, make it Ben Nevis is the path down is really clearly laid out.
We got extremely lost on Scafell Pike, and ended up having to hike up a really scary scree run, something I would definitely not advise! And we weren't the only team to get lost on that hill that morning!
My advice - make a weekend of it, go up to Fort William on the Friday, start around 5 or even later on the Saturday night, then do Ben Nevis, bomb it down to Scafell Pike, get the beast over and done with, and then negotiate the tourists on Snowdon!
Whatever you do, don't forget to fill the car with petrol like the boys did!!! Ooh and get yourself at least one driver - Laura was invaluable :)
Charly xxx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkerWMISdG4&feature=channel_page
Challenge Charly Round the World
I am extremely embarrassed to realise it's been over 6 months since I last blogged.
Challenge Charly is still very much alive and kicking, however it completely slipped my mind to keep up the written blog as well at the YouTube channel, and for that I can only apologise.
Over the next couple of weeks I will try and do some write-ups of all the challenges I've done since The Philippines, there have been quite a few!
However, looking to the future ... I am currently in Argentina, 3 months in to my trip around the world with Challenge Charly!
So far I've been to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, and am currently in Patagonia, so have been heading backwards and forwards over the Chilean/Argentine border for the last week and a half.
The plan is to head to Torres del Paine, but transport here is a complete nightmare, and it definitely sounds way easier to get here when you read about it in the Lonely Planet. My plan is to walk the W, though this will depend on kit, a tent and a team, all of which I am currently lacking!
I'm off to Punto Arenas tomorrow, from Rio Gallegos - the bus stop where I'm staying tonight. From there I'll head to Puerto Natales, and finally, almost 2 weeks after leaving Santiago, I should get to Torres del Paine.
I'll keep you posted on how successful the challenge is!
Charly xxx
Challenge Charly is still very much alive and kicking, however it completely slipped my mind to keep up the written blog as well at the YouTube channel, and for that I can only apologise.
Over the next couple of weeks I will try and do some write-ups of all the challenges I've done since The Philippines, there have been quite a few!
However, looking to the future ... I am currently in Argentina, 3 months in to my trip around the world with Challenge Charly!
So far I've been to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, and am currently in Patagonia, so have been heading backwards and forwards over the Chilean/Argentine border for the last week and a half.
The plan is to head to Torres del Paine, but transport here is a complete nightmare, and it definitely sounds way easier to get here when you read about it in the Lonely Planet. My plan is to walk the W, though this will depend on kit, a tent and a team, all of which I am currently lacking!
I'm off to Punto Arenas tomorrow, from Rio Gallegos - the bus stop where I'm staying tonight. From there I'll head to Puerto Natales, and finally, almost 2 weeks after leaving Santiago, I should get to Torres del Paine.
I'll keep you posted on how successful the challenge is!
Charly xxx
Thursday, 17 July 2008
CC in the Philippines
From Sipadan it was back to Manila and on to Cebu - an island in the middle of the Philippine cluster. While I'm here I'd decided to dive at both Malapascua and Apo Island - both sites recommended to me by two guys who I did Mount Kinabalu with - Maia and Caspar.
So far I've been up to Malapascua .... and what an adventure!
From Cebu City it was 4 and a half hours by local bus, crammed full of locals and their chickens, up to the coastal town of Maya. I then had to get one of the rickettiest boats I have ever seen across the sea to the island.
It was brilliant! The response of locals who caught my eye through the paneless bus window suggested they dont see many single female white travelers, and I loved feeling like I was seeing the real country, and the way that locals travel through it.
Malapascua has been pretty badly hit by the recent typhoon, however the island was still gorgeous.
I did a night dive last night - which was fantastic! I felt like James Bond!!! scuba-diving by torch light!- and then on just 4 hrs sleep I was up at 4 to go diving with thresher sharks, Malapascua's speciality. I had just about enough time for another morning dive before taking a boat back across to Maia and repeating my journey in reverse.
It's a shame I didnt get to stay longer, however I want to squeeze Apo Island and Dumuguete in before my flight home next week, and so far I'm doing pretty well at optimising my time - on Tuesday I flew from Tawau to KK to Manila to Cebu, then it was straight up to Malapascua and back, and tomorrow I'm heading off down south to Apo Island :)
If you're looking for off the beaten track adventure, and a spot of diving on remote islands, then the Philippines is definitely the place :)
Charly xxx
So far I've been up to Malapascua .... and what an adventure!
From Cebu City it was 4 and a half hours by local bus, crammed full of locals and their chickens, up to the coastal town of Maya. I then had to get one of the rickettiest boats I have ever seen across the sea to the island.
It was brilliant! The response of locals who caught my eye through the paneless bus window suggested they dont see many single female white travelers, and I loved feeling like I was seeing the real country, and the way that locals travel through it.
Malapascua has been pretty badly hit by the recent typhoon, however the island was still gorgeous.
I did a night dive last night - which was fantastic! I felt like James Bond!!! scuba-diving by torch light!- and then on just 4 hrs sleep I was up at 4 to go diving with thresher sharks, Malapascua's speciality. I had just about enough time for another morning dive before taking a boat back across to Maia and repeating my journey in reverse.
It's a shame I didnt get to stay longer, however I want to squeeze Apo Island and Dumuguete in before my flight home next week, and so far I'm doing pretty well at optimising my time - on Tuesday I flew from Tawau to KK to Manila to Cebu, then it was straight up to Malapascua and back, and tomorrow I'm heading off down south to Apo Island :)
If you're looking for off the beaten track adventure, and a spot of diving on remote islands, then the Philippines is definitely the place :)
Charly xxx
CC goes scuba!
A few months ago when I was in Borneo I happened to get chatting to the girl next to me on my flight from KK to KL (Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu).
Her name was Jen, she was English, and she lived in Borneo with her Scottish fiance, who ran a dive company in Semporna.
During the course of the flight I told her about Challenge Charly, and she suggested I dive at Sipadan as one of my challenges.
And that is exactly what I've just done!!
Sipadan is famed as Borneo's best dive site, and the 3rd best dive site in the world according some Malaysian water bottles!!
It was fantastic. I'm technically in the Philippines this trip, making my final Masters documentary on free press and the murder of journalists in the Philippines ( a topic which unfortunately didnt lend itself to video making, so that didnt turn out to be a challenge in itself). However, it is 'relatively' easy to fly across from Manila to KK.
I saw relatively because it turns out that Clark 'Manila' airport, where all the cheap flights to Borneo fly from, is actually nowhere near Manila! I spent more money on my two 3 hour taxi journeys to and from the airport than I did on the flights themselves.
However, despite this aggravation, and some interesting time keeping as a result of the 3 hr journey, I managed to get to Semporna, the nearest town to Sipadan, fairly seemlessly.
Over the course of my 3 days diving there I completed my PADI advanced open water, dived on the islands of Mabul and Sibuan, and then did 3 awesome dives at Sipadan, seeking heaps and heaps of white tip sharks and turtles.
I would definitely recommend Sipadan for diving enthusiasts, and Scuba Junkie, the company Jen had recommended, were brilliant.
Her name was Jen, she was English, and she lived in Borneo with her Scottish fiance, who ran a dive company in Semporna.
During the course of the flight I told her about Challenge Charly, and she suggested I dive at Sipadan as one of my challenges.
And that is exactly what I've just done!!
Sipadan is famed as Borneo's best dive site, and the 3rd best dive site in the world according some Malaysian water bottles!!
It was fantastic. I'm technically in the Philippines this trip, making my final Masters documentary on free press and the murder of journalists in the Philippines ( a topic which unfortunately didnt lend itself to video making, so that didnt turn out to be a challenge in itself). However, it is 'relatively' easy to fly across from Manila to KK.
I saw relatively because it turns out that Clark 'Manila' airport, where all the cheap flights to Borneo fly from, is actually nowhere near Manila! I spent more money on my two 3 hour taxi journeys to and from the airport than I did on the flights themselves.
However, despite this aggravation, and some interesting time keeping as a result of the 3 hr journey, I managed to get to Semporna, the nearest town to Sipadan, fairly seemlessly.
Over the course of my 3 days diving there I completed my PADI advanced open water, dived on the islands of Mabul and Sibuan, and then did 3 awesome dives at Sipadan, seeking heaps and heaps of white tip sharks and turtles.
I would definitely recommend Sipadan for diving enthusiasts, and Scuba Junkie, the company Jen had recommended, were brilliant.
Friday, 27 June 2008
Bushed but Inspired!
So it's been a pretty busy week! Just back from the Lake District, and I'm knackered! I think I've driven about 1500 miles in the last 5 days!
The Bushcraft course was pretty good fun, though I'd have preferred to focus a bit more on the survival side of things than the crafty side of things. My hand is all blistered and cut from whittling! Don't think wielding a knife is quite my forte, though I did really enjoy learning all about fire, water, shelters, and gathering and preparing food.
I have taken something really positive from the course, and from Saturday's beginner adventure race though ... I think I may have found my future calling! Adventure Racing looks amazing and combines all my loves - travel, the outdoors, fitness and thrill seeking! One of the guys on the bushcraft course was amazing - he had done 6 Iron Man triathlons and was now doing Adventure Races and Triathlons around the world - he's just come back from an Escape from Alcatraz triathlon - how amazing is that??!!
SO inspired :)
As soon as I get back from all my travels, I definitely want to start properly training for adventure racing!! Hopefully by then CC will have been commissioned, and I could do the adventure races around the world as part of the series!!
Big plans, but then I guess that's what Challenge Charly is all about - thinking big, and not worrying about physical constraints, you can do anything you put your mind to!
Charly xxx
The Bushcraft course was pretty good fun, though I'd have preferred to focus a bit more on the survival side of things than the crafty side of things. My hand is all blistered and cut from whittling! Don't think wielding a knife is quite my forte, though I did really enjoy learning all about fire, water, shelters, and gathering and preparing food.
I have taken something really positive from the course, and from Saturday's beginner adventure race though ... I think I may have found my future calling! Adventure Racing looks amazing and combines all my loves - travel, the outdoors, fitness and thrill seeking! One of the guys on the bushcraft course was amazing - he had done 6 Iron Man triathlons and was now doing Adventure Races and Triathlons around the world - he's just come back from an Escape from Alcatraz triathlon - how amazing is that??!!
SO inspired :)
As soon as I get back from all my travels, I definitely want to start properly training for adventure racing!! Hopefully by then CC will have been commissioned, and I could do the adventure races around the world as part of the series!!
Big plans, but then I guess that's what Challenge Charly is all about - thinking big, and not worrying about physical constraints, you can do anything you put your mind to!
Charly xxx
Sunday, 22 June 2008
2 down, 1 to go!
So ... my manic weekend is almost over!
It took just over 4 hrs to drive down to Salcombe yesterday (and then another 4 back at 11pm last night, in the fog!) but it was more than worth it.
The Pirate Rampage - an adventure race run by the company Endurance Life was absolutely brilliant.
We had to wade into the estuary to get to checkpoints, climb up steep hills, negotiate balance beams, and kayak across the harbour. The big finale was swimming 50 of the longest metres of my life across the freezing windy estuary and clambering up nets onto an authentic pirate ship moored in the centre!
Brilliant fun! I haven't felt like such a big kid in ages!
Then on just four hours sleep it was off to Kempton Park, another hour's drive, to run 10k chasing men in banana outfits. I have to admit I took it a tad easy! but me and Amy had a great time, and we got to keep out fluro yellow t-shirts - trust me you can't wait for that video!!
Anyway, best get off - 5 hrs of driving up to the Lake District ahead of me this evening! I'm doing a Bushcraft Course all week.
Videos from ice climbing and flying have just been uploaded, and I shall sort out the videos from this weekend as soon as I get back from the Lakes
Charly xxx
It took just over 4 hrs to drive down to Salcombe yesterday (and then another 4 back at 11pm last night, in the fog!) but it was more than worth it.
The Pirate Rampage - an adventure race run by the company Endurance Life was absolutely brilliant.
We had to wade into the estuary to get to checkpoints, climb up steep hills, negotiate balance beams, and kayak across the harbour. The big finale was swimming 50 of the longest metres of my life across the freezing windy estuary and clambering up nets onto an authentic pirate ship moored in the centre!
Brilliant fun! I haven't felt like such a big kid in ages!
Then on just four hours sleep it was off to Kempton Park, another hour's drive, to run 10k chasing men in banana outfits. I have to admit I took it a tad easy! but me and Amy had a great time, and we got to keep out fluro yellow t-shirts - trust me you can't wait for that video!!
Anyway, best get off - 5 hrs of driving up to the Lake District ahead of me this evening! I'm doing a Bushcraft Course all week.
Videos from ice climbing and flying have just been uploaded, and I shall sort out the videos from this weekend as soon as I get back from the Lakes
Charly xxx
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