Gurkha Reiver - Neil Griffiths

When Neil Griffiths, a 43 year old press officer, recruited four serving Gurkhas to trek the route as a fundraiser for the Gurkha Welfare Trust, he had no idea that the guidebooks had declared it not 'really charity walk terrain'. It was too long, and too tough. Neither was he aware that young Gurkhas from the high Himalayas would provide such merry company, although the premonition that their startling fitness would lead to total humiliation was hilariously vindicated as they left him gasping on every false horizon between Wigtownshire and Berwickshire. Three of the men came from the Everest area and the fourth from Annapurna. These are not the type of men to whom you say 'there's a big hill ahead' without meeting wry smiles. Their 140 per minute pace was so bone shaking that Neil couldn't feel his feet for a full month afterwards. This is an entertaining account of a group that get to know Scotland the hard way, on foot, but also highlights the ways of the wee men from Nepal. Despite his humorous tenor, Neil has the deepest respect for what he calls 'our oldest and best allies'. This book explains why.