Welcome to the second Instalment of Trevor Gibbs’s diary of his time in Rajasthan with celebrated Essex girls Lydia Rose Bright and Denise Van Outen. This time he’s remicning about the team’s colourful experiences in the Holi Festival. All images courtesy of Gareth Gatrell, (www.garethgatrell.com)

“Even in a country renowned for its colourful exuberance, the festival of Holi takes some beating. A celebration to mark the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil, the annual Holi festivities explode across India in an all-encompassing cascade of water and colourful dyes. No one is spared, not even well dressed tourists…or celebrities.

As we made our way from Agra’s bustling train station, the early morning streets were alive with colour. Everywhere we looked people, dogs and cows were covered in brightly coloured paint and, given the events of the previous day amongst the meandering back streets of old Delhi, we were somewhat apprehensive as to what today might hold in store for us. We did manage to make it to the hotel unscathed, but this was to prove to be as far as we would get, before the inevitable mayhem overtook us. In the time it took to drop bags in rooms and change for our visit to the Taj Mahal, we had been joined by a travelling band of musicians and an enthusiastic collection of brightly coloured locals (including two dogs and a passing cow).

By the time we left for the site we were all covered from head to foot in fetching multicoloured ensembles. The only bits of white that still seemed to be showing through were everyone’s grins! All of which made our visit to the Taj Mahal a memorable encounter, and not just for us. We became a source of amusement to the locals, as every step we took enveloped us in clouds of coloured dye. The security on the gate were somewhat unsure how to deal with us. And, once inside the complex, we seemed to be vying with one of India’s most iconic monuments for celebrity rights, as locals and tourists alike snapped away at us with cameras and mobile phones.

As the afternoon wore on and the celebrations ran their course, life began to return to a semblance of normality in Agra and we began the serious preparations for the bike ride ahead. It is said that one of the ultimate joys of travel is to be able to experience a little something of the true essence of a country and, on a journey of incredible contrasts, this brief encounter with one of India’s most colourful celebrations was to have a long-lasting and uplifting affect on us all…”

To find out more about Trevor, and his various adventures, please visit his website at www.agamaconsultants.co.uk.

To learn more about our Rajasthan Tiger Challenge, and all the treks that we offer, please visit our website at www.charitychallenge.com . To keep up to date on all our challenge news, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list.

We’re pleased to announce that the final numbers are in from our epic office challenge!! We pushed ourselves to cross-train, between us, the equivalent of the 60 nautical miles to the North Pole, which in actual fact translates to a whopping 111.12km. The cross-trainer was going from 9 – 5.30 yesterday, and despite a minor setback caused by a totally unexpected fire alarm drill, we still managed to cross the finish line at around 17.10pm and hit a final distance of 113.2km!!

A big mention to our soon-to-depart Operations Manager, Emma, who did the most work on the day with 65 minutes on the machine, and 15.1km travelled. Great performances by the rest of the team as well, giving us an average of 13.31 km travelling time an hour. But more importantly than our humble efforts, is the astounding £820 raised by our friends, colleagues, families and well wishes,  all of which is being donated to Sport Relief. These donations will touch the lives of so many, and we are so proud and humbled by the generosity of those we know… so THANK YOU!!! Also, if you were moved by our efforts, ITS NOT TOO LATE to donate, please visit our justgiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/charitychallengeskitonorthpole, every little makes a massive difference!

But don’t let our small attempt let you underestimate the severity and challenging nature of our North Pole Challenge. While we were sweltering under a surprisingly hot sunny day, our North Pole explorers are camping out in -30° temperatures, under pressure from the harsh winds and pulling tons of equipment and food along behind them, all strapped around their waists. While we were working to a timetable and distance target, the moving ice packs in the North Pole can mean that our challengers can wake in the morning and find themselves with a few hours walking just to get to where they were before. This is not for the faint-hearted! If you fancy having a go at the real deal North Pole Challenge, Click here to find out more!

So, we are pleased to have made it… and I think we were all glad to get home to a hot bath last night. We would like to thank again Fitness Hire for their donation of our sporting equipment. It has proved an amazing way to not only get into shape but raise hundreds of pounds for a good cause. Here’s to many more office challenges in the future!

To learn more about all our charity challenges please visit our website at www.charitychallenge.com, and to keep up to date on all our challenge news and office shenanigans, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list.