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
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