Leon nears finishing line in 3,000-mile charity trek

AN Ulster man is trekking 3,000 miles through Chinese desert and mountain in six months. Here he tells News Letter reporter Philip Bradfield how and why he has taken on such a mammoth challenge

LEON McCarron from the North Coast is nearing the end of a jaw-dropping 3,000-mile walk through Mongolia and China.

Originating from the village of Articlave near Coleraine, Leon puts his early interest in the outdoor life down to growing up beside Ulster forests and beaches.

The 25-year-old did a three-year degree at the University of Kent where he got a first class degree in film in 2008.

However he felt that route offered few opportunities except academia and decided instead to become “a professional adventurer”.

His first big trek was cycling from New York across the US into Mexico, through New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia, ending in Hong Kong – 14,000 miles on his bike. He shot a documentary en route and has written for many newspapers and magazines, most notably The Sunday Times and The Guardian. He is also a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.

Arriving back in the Province in 2011, the idea for his next trip had already been sown while chatting to another professional adventurer in Hong Kong – British-born Rob Lilwall. Rob is best known for his 48,000 km Cycling Home From Siberia expedition, which took him from north-east Russia back to his home in London.

“His idea was to walk across Mongolia and China,” Leon said. “He was thinking about pitching it to National Geographic as he had done successfully for a cycle trip he did from Siberia to London.”

Now in China, the pair are shooting footage to be produced for broadcast on the National Geographic Channel.

They started their trip together on November 14 in the Gobi desert from a small town called Sainshand, “the last part of civilisation” before they entered the “largest cold desert in the world”.

“We pulled a small trailer with our food and water to do us for a couple of weeks.”

The Gobi is a rock desert with temperatures around -10C during the day and down to -30C at night.

The first section was 250 miles to the Chinese border and then another 400 miles through similar terrain inside China.

At present the duo have around another five weeks on the road to reach their destination of Hong Kong – a total of six months, walking.

After the Gobi desert they saw a gradual change in geography into hills and urban settlements until they intersected with the Great Wall of China.

By mid-February things had begun to warm up. They were heading south and winter was ending.

“Now we are getting lots of sun and rain,” he said.

The Ulsterman is currently nearing the end of the trek, and will arrive at Guilin (marked on map) in around a week.

The pair intended to learn Mandarin before they went, but due to all the other organisational demands, that did not happen. However, following the “total cultural immersion method”, they have now learned the language to a conversational language on most topics.

“Nobody speaks English and you only see westerners in the big cities,” he said.

If they wanted to buy food and ask directions, they had no choice but to learn fast. They compare notes and what they have learned every evening.

The pair downloaded audio lessons in Mandarin and listened to them while they were walking on their mobile phones.

As might be expected, they are viewed with some suspicion by the police in what is still a communist country. He said: “We have no fear of people in general but the police view westerners with a video camera as suspicious.”

They have been “taken” to police stations five times and quizzed “with all the normal questions” also enduring full searches “to make sure we are not international spies”.

In addition, police have also stopped them or visited their guest houses a further 15-20 times to quiz them about their activities. They researched the possibility of getting official authorisation for their trip through China but concluded it would be better to do it on a tourist visa due to Chinese bureaucracy.

Leon says he never appreciates his western lifestyle until after a major trek. He said: “One of my goals on trips is to learn to appreciate my friends, family and home and speaking my own language. This is an incredible world for adventure and I am a big advocate of adventurous living and pushing my boundaries.”

Their journey takes them across the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, through China and finishing in Hong Kong – 3,000 miles in six months.

They are aiming to raise £80,000 for children’s charity Viva, which works in 14 countries helping more than 104,000 children who are at risk.

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