The First Mile is an immersive travel podcast, bringing you untold stories from the world of adventure. It is presented by Ash Bhardwaj and Pip Stewart — two travel journalists, who are adventurers in their own right — and explores everything from the ethics of cultural tourism, to documenting your journeys and making a living from travel. Ash and Pip navigate this territory with some of the world’s greatest travellers, who reveal how they got their first break in travel writing, planned remote expeditions, or made the switch from a corporate career to a life of adventure. Alongside these in-depth interviews are travel-narrative dispatches: evocative field recordings from Ash and Pip’s adventures, which take the listener along for the ride. New episodes are released weekly, in 10-episode seasons. ****** Season one’s interview guests include: author Monisha Rajesh, explorer Levison Wood, film-maker Reza Pakravan, and travel-writer Leon McCarron. Our dispatches come from Annapurna, Nepal, and Whanganui, New Zealand, where our hosts report back on rites of passage, celestial navigation, the joys of moonshine liquor, and a whole lot more. ****** Ash Bhardwaj is an award-winning broadcaster, film-maker and Telegraph Travel columnist. He regularly reports for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, and his films have appeared on BBC, Channel 4, Discovery and National Geographic. Pip Stewart has cycled halfway around the world and completed a world-first kayak descent of Guyana’s Essequibo River (where she picked up a flesh-eating parasite). She is the former Red Bull adventure editor, and her presenting work has appeared on BBC, Al Jazeera and The Telegraph. ****** We hope you enjoy The First Mile. Please let us know what you think of it in the comments, and give us a rating, too.
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Dispatch from Nepal: The Gurkhas and the British Army
The relationship between the British Army and Nepal’s Gurkhas has been a long standing one, and in our second immersive Dispatch episode, Ash Bhardwaj travels to Nepal to join a photographic journey led by two ex-Gurkha officers.
From digging into the intensity of the Gurkha selection process, to understanding the history and bond between Britain and Nepal, this episode discusses how travel can intersect with history and teach us more about our own society, as well as the country we’re visiting.
This episode that will capture your imagination and transport you to the highest mountains of the world, alongside two people who've made it their life's work to understand the country and its people.
In this episode, discover:
- The history of the Gurkhas.
- How Nepalis become Gurkha soldiers.
- The pull for becoming a Gurkha - and the social implications becoming one.
- The Gurkha welfare pensioners.
- What it’s like being a British Officer in the Gurkhas.
- The ethics of cultural tourism, and choosing companies to travel with.
Links mentioned in this episode:
- The Gurkhas https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/brigade-of-gurkhas/
- Gurkha Welfare Trust https://www.gwt.org.uk
- Photojourney https://photojourney.co.uk/nepal/
JOIN US ON SOCIAL:
We’d love to hear what you think of this week’s The First Mile and if you’ve got any suggestions of topics or people you’d like to hear interviewed. Drop us a line on Instagram @ashbhardwaj and @pipstewart or Twitter @AshBhardwaj and @Stewart_Pip.
*Please consider leaving a review if you enjoyed this episode. Thank you!
Comments (1)
To leave or reply to comments, please download free Podbean or
Perfect listening for the remembrance day, Pip seem to ask all the questions brewing in my mind :) Well done guys.
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
To leave or reply to comments,
please download free Podbean App.