We've watched Extreme Dreams this week, (BBC2). Ben Fogle leads a team of ordinary folks to one of the most inaccessible places on Earth, some sacred lakes high up in the Himalayas, a ten-day trek from civilisation.They were ordinary people but it's amazing just what ordinary people can achieve. One of the team, Yonna was a lupus sufferer and yet made it through the trek to the end goal. Not without a great deal of pain and suffering but that made her achievement all the more sweet.
Another of the team was a 51-year-old hairdresser called Paul. A bit younger than me but maybe there's hope yet! Ha ha! Where's the nearest mountain...?
They suffered exposure, landslides, tummy bugs, pulled muscles, sleep deprivation and altitude sickness. Watching the final programme where they reached the lakes, it all looked to have been worth it.
Extreme Dreams is such an entertaining watch because everything has to be so 'extreme' in naration. Somebody slipping a bit on a mud trail is suddenly - "plummeting down a 100ft sheer cliff and could be shattered on the rocks below unless we rush to grab her in time".
ReplyDeleteA small shallow river crossing suddenly becomes a - "death defying leap into the unknown through a raging torrent that could sweep us away and leave the team broken up, leading to absolute disaster". Yes some of the participants really do achieve much, but Ben himself really boosts up the heroic language.
Nevertheless,I've watched every one of them, because I've done a lot of world travel and love seeing these places again. But I know that Ben knows that things were likely a lot less eventfull than made the final cut for TV :)
Yep! That's the one! I noticed last week, he slipped off a ledge on a "sheer drop" himself but managed to hang on until the nervouse member of the team came to "rescue him, saving his life"! He wasn't even breathing heavily when he came up but even slapped her on the back to congratulate her before he'd got both feet back up on the trail! By 'eck, when I were a lad they used to write stories in comics about heroes like our Ben...
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