DAVID and Wendy Handcock were guest speakers at the November meeting of Cheriton Fitzpaine Ladies’ Evening Organisation in the Parish Hall.

David and Wendy are very much involved with the Community Shop in Cheriton Fitzpaine, and well-known to the audience.

This was an “Open” meeting, and we had a good audience.

The subject was “Trekking the Annapurna Circuit”, and was lavishly illustrated by pictures of the amazing mountains and treacherous paths.

David had read a great deal about Nepal, and had always wanted to go there.

As it was a “special” birthday for Wendy this year, they decided to go in a small party, with an experienced leader and Nepalese porters.

Wendy had some concerns: they would be walking at an altitude of 17,800 ft, for 10 days, with no rest days, and staying at teahouses, with rather primitive “facilities”. Both were worried about altitude sickness.

Their initial impression of the country was of organised chaos, mountainous countryside, intensively cultivated and, where there was electricity, disorganised bundles of wires.

However, their leader was very experienced, and the porters helpful, friendly - and always happy!

There were frequent landslips from the 2015 earthquake, and the paths were often treacherous. The mountaineering season is in May, so they met mules taking goods up to base camps.

The teahouses were very colourful, and warm, dried yak dung or wood being used for heating.

As they climbed, they gradually acclimatised to the thinner oxygen content, but still, on the final leg, were pretty breathless. In some areas, rhododendron forests covered the slopes.

David and Wendy were thanked by our Chairman, Julia Sanders, and stayed to answer questions over coffee. Our next meeting will be our Christmas one, and we will be enjoying a meal at the “Ring of Bells”.

Mary Nunn