A holiday with His Holiness – part 1

The snow lion flag of Free Tibet and the barred flag for united Tibetan Buddhism hang together, showing how
intertwined are the country, the people and the faith.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

Behind me on the dawn-quiet street in the middle of McLeod Ganj, two mules, no mule driver, dodge the ever-present shaggy street dogs and trot past intent on their own business.

I am intent on my pre-dawn business too:  if I can get down the steep hill to the reception of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s office near the main temple before seven am, and deposit the small bag of malas (rosaries) and little statues from me and my Buddhist friends, there’s a chance HHDL will bless these items if he has an audience scheduled.

Tibetan grandma, mother and grandson
wear their finest to see the Dalai Lama

And later this morning, eighty-five-year-old HHDL will open the newly renovated hall at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts back up the hill, so if I want to go to that event, and then onto work (two kilometres further down the hill – it’s a mountain town after all), I’m going to have to get a wriggle on.

Medical benefits - the traditional Tibetan way

My beautiful friend in the Men-Tsee-Khang waiting room

“You’ve got sore knees,” says the Tibetan traditional doctor.

“How did you know that?” I ask amazed.

I had literally taken just one confident step into the consulting room – how could he diagnose that I’ve had newly and unusually swollen and sore knees starting 10 days ago, just the week before I left for India?

Mountains! Mountains! (And moochers)

The Mont Blanc Moochers have been excited by the thought of walking in the Mont Blanc (referred to from here as “MB”) region since late last year when we planned it a the top of the Kangaroo Point cliffs, though we are not over-optimistic about the level of fitness of we four mature ladies. Hence the Facebook Messenger group name. 

How many ways do I like the Cinqueterre?

Off to have a swim at Manarola

This 30 km stretch of north-west Italian coast - a world-heritage listed tourist magnet - is notorious for piazzas packed to the gills with global day trippers, overpriced beer and heaving masses of Chinese tourists. But.....

Great days in Grasmere

At Thorney How: ready for those hills

There are so many dreadful ways of spending the May Bank Holiday in this tourist mecca village in the Lake District: trying to get a car park within 4 km of the town; standing in a long long line at the Famous Gingerbread Shop; standing in another line to visit Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage only to find that it is being renovated within an inch of its life in time for the 2020 bicentary and all you can see are container offices, scaffolding and hoardings; being charged $8 for a dreadful English coffee....

Offa-long the Dyke #5: Kington to Knighton

The last day of the hike. I wake up feeling a bit tired (nothing to do with the red wine, of course) and trip down the precipitous stairs to Adam’s excellent breakfast, eaten amid the trays and drawers and crates of coloured threads and yarns and dyes, next to the sewing machine. The electronic spinning wheel is somewhere in the corner.

We walk away from the ODP down into cloudy Kington because the Friday market is on. The market ladies organise to fill our water bottles from the corner bakery where for the first time we meet a lot of other hikers, probably because the sandwiches are home made and the coffee is actually good! 

Offa-long the Dyke #3: Pandy to Hay-on-Wye

Judy Moreland of Ty Clwdd turns out to be a major benfactress of hikers. By the time we leave her comfy B&B, she has organised a local taxi to take our bags to Hay, fed us an enormous breakfast, provided massive cheese and pickle and tuna mayonnaise sandwiches for lunch, and given us advice on a handy short cut to get to the top of Hatterall Ridge.

Offa-long the Dyke #4: Hay-on-Wye to Kington

We almost have to be dragged kicking and screaming back on to the ODP; we love Hay so much we don’t want to leave. From the fresh berries and yogurt at La Fosse, to turmeric-flavoured sheep’s milk ice cream at Shepherds, to trawling the Thursday market for second-hand scarves and fresh welsh cakes - how can we leave this behind?

Eventually, we peel off our reluctance and get back on our path because this sunny day is leading us across green hills and rolling valleys and fields once we have come out on to the open after following the high path above the Wye under the trees.

Offa-long the Dyke #2: Monmouth to Pandy

Up at 6 am and we work round each other well in the tiny twin room at the back of the Mayhill. There’s a lovely view out of the breakfast room window past Lidl and over the bridge into Monmouth’s old grey stones. The view from this table must make it the most popular because the seats are far more worn and saggy than any of the other five tables in the little room where we eat a massive hot breakfast and chat to the breakfast cook.

Offa-long the Dyke #1: getting there

“I reckon this is going to be the next big thing in multi-day hiking.”

“It’s a great way to see a part of the country we don’t know.”

“It will be pretty easy walking every day.”

“You’ll love it.”

This was the quadruple mantra I kept repeating to my sister before we hit the Offa’s Dyke Path (aka ODP) this August - while keeping my fingers crossed that it would all work out.

As my marriage unravelled, my limited remaining energy went on stitching together four days of hiking along the Marches of the Welsh/English border with my dear sister novice-hiker Caro. I planned how we would get in and out of the hike, our accommodation each night, getting our big bags from place to place while we walked, and where we would walk. I was also in charge of map reading and navigation - a big challenge for someone who struggles to find North/South, left/right (and even up/down on a bad day).

Coast to Coasting #5: Crossing over

Up. Down. Cross. Re-cross. 
That’s the thing about the Coast to Coast. Because you are walking across the country you cross different landscapes and rock types - limestone, millstone grit, red sandstone, pale sandstone; you cross boundaries and features - stiles, becks, roads, railway lines, national parks, moorland and bogs.

Topography

The views from valley to top, from top to top were breathtaking. When we hiked up Hartley Fell to reach Nine Standards Rigg we could feel that these mysterious stone structures truly marked the watershed of the spine of England. Our hearts and spirits lifted. 

Coast to Coasting #6: The wrap and what we learned

With the whole width of England behind me, my C2C adventure is over now. 
I learned a lot during the planning and execution - you might find some of these tips and hints helpful when you organise your first C2C or any other UK multi-day long distance walk.

Staying

You can use one of the many walking package companies such as Sherpavan who will book the whole trip for you including all your accommodation (as well as transporting your big bag, giving you track notes and looking after you). 

Coast to Coasting #4: the people you meet

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but can I ask what you are doing?”
Or,
“So tell me about what’s going on here, if you don’t mind?”
A (hopefully) polite enquiry has been my opening for several conversations along the Coast to Coast path.
One of the attractions of walking from one side of England to the other is you meet local interesting people. British reserve might normally drive me past, but I’m only going to be walking this way once, so I figure I might as well risk being nosy to satisfy my curiosity.
A few examples….