Conquering the HIMALAYAS
My phone rang. It was Pete Doherty who has been a good friend for many years. We worked together for 10 years as instructors on the motorcycle wing at the Metropolitan Police Driving School. We’ve both been IAM RoadSmart examiners for over a decade, and we're full-time IAM employees as Area Service Delivery Managers. So you could say we know each other well.
It’s not uncommon for us to enjoy a little bit of ‘banter’ and the occasional wind-up. We have learnt the signs of when a wind-up is coming: our lips move. The day I heard about our Nepal trip was no different. Pete called and asked me if I was up for a work trip to Nepal. I laughed it off as I was confident this was another one of his pranks. Finally I realised this was actually happening, and he went on to explain that we were to deliver off-road motorcycle training to The Gurkha Welfare Trust on behalf of IAM RoadSmart.
Once it had sunk in that I was finally travelling to a place I’d always wanted to visit, I quickly put together a list of essentials for the trip. Small helmet-mounted camera: check. A large lens to aid my photography habit: check. Sun cream to manage the heat: check. Space in my luggage to bring back gifts for the family: debatable.
On location
We landed at Kathmandu at about 9am, and outside the heat was already stifling. As soon as we arrived at the Bagrati Welfare Centre, Pim (an ex-Gurkha) took
