2 weeks of slog

I'm still recovering from a workout last night in which Muha and I carried out a series of exercises prescribed last year by a physiotherapist. These excercises are meant to strengthen leg, ankle, knee and back muscles as well as encourage a more efficient use of oxygen.

Muha has decided to go, but is worried about how he'll fare at sub-zero temperatures.

We're going swimming this evening, then more land training tomorrow night, and hiking around Hulhumale at the weekend. We're certainly short of time, but I reckon we'll be reasonably prepared for the trek if we make use of each of the 18 days we have left before we fly out.

I think the people who are not going to Nepal, especially Shaz and Elvis, should go to the workouts with fruits and drinks for us, and provide moral support.

Sweating it out on Hulhumale

This is Hulhumale (image by Muha), the megalapolis in the making, where I went this afternoon for training. The paved road around it measures 4km, and it probably isn't the ideal place to train for a trek in the Himalaya. But where in the Maldives would you find an ideal training ground for mountaineering?

Nonetheless, carrying a weight of 10kg does result in a modest pounding to the legs and a few more of these circuits will, no doubt, have some benefit. Certainly Hulhumale is a much nicer place to walk than Male, which just doesn't know what to do with its ever increasing traffic and pedestrians who seem to have no idea of how to cross the road. It's always a surprise to realise that the 2 square km island capital has nearly 100,000 people on it, and God knows how many motorcycles, cars, trucks, cranes, and armoured vehicles.

By contrast Hulhumale is a visual treat; most of it is empty space with a few bumps here and there which, curiously, resemble hills. The shrubs and the weeds growing on these hills when backlit, as they were in the dying rays of the setting sun today, can produce a dramatic effect.

Muha accompanied me, and it looks like he's tipping to the side of going to Nepal. But we'll have to wait and see to be sure.

Meanwhile, Elvis is trying to decide which is more important to him: Nepal or a kite!

After a sweating it out for three quarters of an hour, we stopped at a breezy corner to break the fast (it's the fasting month here in the Maldives) on dates, cheese and beef sandwiches, cheesecake, and peach juice.

But I'm a tad worried because I found myself completely knackered after coming back from Hulhumale. If I'm defeated by a short stroll on flat terrain like this, how will I cope on the rugged trails of the Himalaya?

Clearly much more conditioning is needed in the short time that I have before flying out to the subcontinent.

Will Muha join me?

Muha is an exceptional photographer mate of mine, responsible for the amazing photo on the left of Male, the capital of Maldives, where we both live. Like me, Muha likes to travel and see different parts of not only this country but also the rest of the world. He might take time off his work to join me on the Nepal trip, but he says he needs to think about it. I've let him borrow a book on Nepal, which might do the trick as its got some great pictures of mountains and mists and rugged terrain.

It'd be great if he can come; we've already travelled inside this country, so I know we'd get on very well together. But even if he can't make it, I'll push on nonetheless.

I hope Muha doesn't mind me using his photograph which you can find, along with other excellent samples of his photography, here.

I have tried to talk to my friends into joining me on the trip, but most are busy or can't spare the time or the money. We were planning to go to Nepal last year as an expedition, and even trained together for some days. We'd hoped to do a video and a book about the trip in order to finance the adventure, but the unavailability of tickets to India, which we would have had to cross overland, and Maoist trouble in Nepal, prevented us from going.

I still think Muha, Shaz, Saffah, Elvis, Thumma and Narco would make an exellent team to go on a trip like this, and they would have the time of a lifetime up in the mountains. But it looks like this is not to be for the time being.

Sea-level to the foot of Mount Everest

I live and work in the Maldives, filming DV productions on social and developmental issues. This has taken me across the country's far-flung islands, including Nalandhoo in the photo, an uninhabited island in the north, which is easily the most dramatic and beautiful natural settings that I have photographed here.

But I am going away to experience even more dramatic landscapes. In November, I'm revisiting Nepal after 10 years because I simply can't resist the "calling" any more. I've taken this blog to document my thoughts and experiences as I get ready to trek from sea-level to the highest mountain range in the world.

Several questions pop up as I prepare for the arduous journey ahead of me: am I fit enough? when the time comes, can I leave my friends and family to go off on my own? and, am I simply running away because I'm unable to deal with certain things that have been happening in my life here?

In the coming days and weeks, I hope to be able to answer these and other questions and share my experiences with people that are dear to me. I'm dedicating this blog to all my nieces and nephews, but I hope my friends and aquaintances will visit too when they have the time.