50 Brst: 33.15, 100 Brst: 1:13.08, 200 Brst: 2:40.83, 50 Fly: 29.26, 100 Fly: 1:07.69, 200 IM: 2:31.89

100 Brst: 1:15.74, 100 fly: 1:12.06, 200 IM: 2:36.35

 

 

 

This was thebest trip I have ever been on! As part of our grade 9academic programme students are given a list of options as to outdoor education trips to go on. I chose Paddle Nepal. A group of 14 of us from Dover campus and East campus united to overcome the treacherous Nepalese white water rivers. Our first day consisted of 12 hours of travelling. From waking up at 6 to a 5 hours plane ride to Kathmandu followed by a domestic 2 hour flight to Pokhara it was an exhausting day. This was my first time in Nepal and it was drastically different to how I would have imagined it. Nepal is commonly seen as a third world country however its beauty is clearly neglected. The Himalayan mountain range that we saw only from a far was one of the most spectacular sights I had ever seen. The magnitude of the size of the mountains as well as the delicate touch of white snow visible on their peaks create an unforgettable image. We arrived at the hotel and it was that from a dream. By school trip standards, this was the epitome of accommodation. It was fully equipped with a delicious buffet with local delicacies, soft beds and showers! That night we all slept like babies. The second day was a training day. We underwent training in the beautiful Phewa lake. We learnt basic kayaking skills as well as more advanced ones such as the roll. The roll proved to be one of the most influential parts of my trip as I will describe later. On this day we also met our guides. They were some of the coolest people I have ever met. The way they undertake their work as well as they’re confidence in the water was top notch. After a long day we paddled back with the view of the 1641m high Mt Fishtail looming over us. Once again back in our hotel we rejoiced our last night in comfort before hitting the river. The third day was our first river day. After a long, bumpy bus ride to our initial river we sat down and had our first camping type meal. It was no buffet, however it was just a small taste as to what was to come. We spent the rest of the day being educated as to how to manoeuvre our kayaks in the river. The techniques were completely different to that on flat water. We had to take into consideration many different effects of the current, rocks and the river bed as they form kayaking nightmares or daydreams such as holes, seives and eddies. In pairs with our guide (Adi, Raju and I) learnt how to conduct ourselves when in many different difficult situations which could potentially end up badly in the white water. One of the most important things I learnt was, most of the time you have to just let the river do the work for you. You must always have a paddle in the water to guide yourself and to quickly move in sticky situations but the current is where you want to be moving. We set up camp that night near to where we embarked our journey however this time under a bridge. We dug out cylindrical shapes in the ground as our toilets covered by a mere 1.3m tall tarp held up by paddles, we lit the camp up with torches in sand bags, slept right in the open with bevies our only coverage and set up a tent to change in. Our first campsite was by far the most scenic. We had once again the beautiful view of the mountains. This was counteracted by the weird feeling of being under an industrial bridge which in a way made me question how much of our beautiful earth we have destroyed unnecessarily. Is it worth it? We spent that night gossiping by torches, playing volleyball with the guides, playing frisbee with MB and them all as well as staring at the star lit sky. Stars are in my opinion the thing that industrialised places with light polluted skies miss the most. Nepal was the best camping sight I have been to before. The weather and temperature was completely perfect and we could sleep outside which was compounded by the fact there were no damn bugs to deal with. We started our real river kayaking on the forth day. We stepped out of the comfort of our initial river and entered the Lower Seti River. Within the first 20 mins of kayaking I already had my first capsize. My first of 5 throughout the trip. Luckily for my sake I managed to perform a role. Going underwater as a swimmer is still surprisingly one of the most scary things that can happen and the fact I managed to role and be greeted by the congratulating faces of Adi and Raju was a real confidence booster. The rest of the day gave us a real chance to gain confidence in the river setting. It was also great fun talking with Adi and Raju, sharing stories and jokes. The only large rapid occurred in the middle of the day. It was roughly a grade 3- and so we got out of our kayaks to give it a scout. No words can describe how suddenly afraid I was of the white water. The roaring of gushing water made me reconsider how confident I was in a kayak. We were given the opportunity to bail of which only one of us took. We hopped back into our kayaks and set of on what was the most adrenaline pumping choice I had ever made. As the white water wrapped around me like a blanket I began to love the trill. The rapid lasted a mere 10 seconds but it felt like a minute. It was the best fun I had, had in a while. We exited the rapid feeling as full of ourselves as a baby being congratulated by a parent. However this did not last as long as we expected. Closing into the end of the river session we approached the final rapid of the day. It was barely a rapid and would have been more classified as a rock in the stream. However Adi and I were too full of ourselves to notice. We crave challenge and did not believe it was worth missing so we ignored Rajus instructions to go to the right of the fast flowing stream. 2 meters away from the rock it suddenly appeared. Giving it all my strength I pulled a sweep stroke bringing me to the left of the rock successfully dodging it edge. More unfortunate than I, Adi attempted the same manoeuvre however he edged slightly too far to the right and a wave of water forced him to “talk to the fish” although not for long as he was ripped out of his spray skirt and sent swimming. Attempting to be a hero I rush back towards the other side and try to check if he is alright. He is left with just a couple scrapes from the swim. Being the hero I am I then try to ferry glide myself back to the campsite side and as I am crossing I twist my edge a split second too early and am also sent tumbling underwater. I try to role only to fall back under. I try to role again only to fall under again. After a third try I was out of breathe and rip off my spray skirt. I am left swimming in the water humiliated and frustrated with my kayaking skills. It took a massive blow on my confidence. I hung onto the back of a guides boat and was dragged to the campsite watched by everyone. It was rather embarrassing. We once again set up camp surrounded by mountains in probably the most remote place I have been to. We played a game of frisbee, moved a scorpion, saw several humongous spiders and eventually after skipping stones for days and owing MB 3 ice teas (she owed me 2) we hit the snooze.

To Be Continued….

Fly Me to the Moon ft Adil (drum kit), Richelle (voice), Amol (Piano) and me on the sax

 

 

50 Free: 29.07, 100 Free: 1:03.13, 200 Free: 2:21.05, 400 Free: 5:12.88, 50 Back: 33.84, 100 Back: 1:14.13, 200 Back: 2:44.37, 50 Breast: 34.71, 100 Breast: 1:18.96, 200 Breast: 2:49.24, 50 Fly: 29.42, 100 Fly: 1:08.47, 200 Fly: 2:47.48, 200 IM: 2:33.21, 400 IM: 5:44.08

Is there a greater plan that is beyond our comprehension?

There are multiple theories surrounding this topic. Some to many seem absurd and the same to other people seem completely feasible.  Some of these may concern higher powers like gods or matrix like figures. I believe that we live in a simulation. The odds through just simply observing the current world that we live in make it seem as if inevitable. Take for example a typical Sims and GTA game. As a character in the game although to us they are seemingly inanimate and “controlled” the item inside the game would have no idea that they are being controlled. A game is not made so that the characters inside the game interact with those playing the game but with the other characters or universe in the game. Communications to those in the game would go unnoticed. Some may argue that it would be impossible to create such a sophisticated game as to create the world that we live in today yet it is highly possible that a quantum computer which we are fingertips away from creating would be capable of achieving such a feat. Simulations would become indistinguishable from real life. Although for this, for our universe to be a simulation we may not even have to be indistinguishable from real life as we would not know of the “real life”.

Creating a simulation could simply be achieved through knowledge of physics. Nowadays many people are often oblivious (not in a bad way) towards knowledge of further physics. They believe it would be impossible to create a new “life” as “life” is a mythical, magical thing. Although the really is we are just a machine with the engine being our brain with the fuel of electrical impulses similar to all other machines in our world.

With this said another reason why I believe in this theory is that there are so many billions upon trillions and maybe even quadrillion simulations in our world. Every single character in every single one of them may see their game as a life of their own. There are even more characters in simulations whether inanimate or animate than humans on the planet. By many many times. This would increase the likelihood of us being part of a simulation. I have forgotten the name of the scientific theory but there is theory which states that we are most likely part of the largest example possible. And since there would be so many goggles times more people in simulations than in real life the chance is we are part of a simulation. To picture this let’s take the example that Crystal Palace is the most supported team in the whole world. The chance of picking any person out and them being a Palace supporter is the highest of all teams. Now, if there are more simulation lives than real life lives the chance of picking any person in the universe or beyond such as humans like ourselves and then being part of a simulation is the highest probability.

I could ramble on about this topic forever but this is just a brief introduction to my thoughts on this topic. I do believe that it is extremely possible we could be part of a simulation and that, that simulation may be part of a higher simulation below another. It’s really a fascinating theory that is worth though despite how absurd it may seem to the majority of the population.

 

 

Hi! I am Benjamin Lim, a student at the United World College South East Asia East campus. This portfolio will be filled with my swimming, academics, MUN, outdoor education and much more.