Our first speaker this month was Chris Bradley<\/b>,
\nwhose talk was called “Walking Wadi Hadramat”.
\nChris made a 550 mile solo trek through this barren area of
\nArabia. Yemen is another country that is unfortunately on
\nthe No-go list just now, so this talk was a fascinating
\ninsight. Chris showed us Shibam, also known as “The
\nManhattan of the desert” thanks to its 500 tower
\nhouses, some dating back 500 years. On his travels, Chris
\ntook part in local events including a shooting competition
\nand a wedding. His nights spent under the stars, sometimes
\nliterally when one hotel had no room he slept on the roof
\nand on another occasion he slept on a garage forecourt in
\nthe middle of nowhere, only for his evening meal to be
\ndelivered in shifts by a local family. Chris succeeded in
\nhis attempt to walk the Wadi, ending up on the beach of the
\nArabian Sea.<\/p>\n
Our second speaker was Rupert Attlee<\/b>, The Trail
\nto Titicaca – 7000 mile cycle adventure through South
\nAmerica. Chris and companions decided to do this epic trip
\nfrom the tip of South America following the Andes up to
\nLake Titicaca in aid of Leukaemia Research. The trip
\ndidn’t start well when they were all hospitalised
\nafter eating some shellfish. But once recovered they set
\noff up through Chile to Santiago, though they found it hard
\ngoing, having done very little training before setting out.
\nBefore setting off they had assured their sponsors that
\nthey would ride the whole way. This meant that on one
\noccasion a road tunnel which would have been too dangerous
\nto cycle through with all the fumes, was closed for them so
\nthey could ride through safely, on the other side they were
\nmet with cheers from the drivers who had been kept waiting.
\nRupert’s views of the Andes were superb, culminating
\nin their Bolivian goal at Lake Titicaca.<\/p>\n
£82 was collected after the meeting in aid of Leukaemia
\nresearch, thanks to all those Globies who contributed.<\/p>\n