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He Walked 6,500km Along the Yangtze River — Ash Dykes
Description
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Somewhere in the Gobi Desert, Ash Dykes had stopped moving. His urine had turned black, his satellite phone told him rescue was six days away. He didn't believe he could survive six. The only option was to walk out — 100 metres at a time.
That moment came midway through Mission Mongolia — a solo, unsupported 1,500-mile traverse, the first time it had ever been done. Trained for in a back garden in Wales with a tractor tyre and £200 to his name. Mongolia was only the beginning.
What followed was 155 days in Madagascar — falciparum malaria one degree from a coma, held up at gunpoint, crocodile rivers, jungle. Then Mission Yangtze: 6,500km along the full length of the river, source to sea, filmed for National Geographic, 352 days. Three world firsts. From a fish and chip shop in Wales to parliament with Annie Lennox.
What You'll Learn:
• The visualisation method Ash used in a back garden in Wales to prepare for grey wolves and Gobi Desert heat stroke
• What falciparum malaria actually does to your body — and why Ash kept trekking while still on the medication
• How a reckless press conference in Canary Wharf forced Mission Yangtze off the starting line
• What it takes to get Chinese government permission to access the Yangtze source — including being made a doctor to do it
• What Ash whispered to his mum at the Shanghai finish line
GUEST
Ash Dykes — Extreme Adventurer, Guinness World Record Holder, UK Adventurer of the Year, UK Ambassador for Tourism to Madagascar, Author
Website: ashdykes.com
Instagram: @ashdykes_
Book: Mission Possible
Show: Great Wall of China (in post-production — 6-part TV series)
Charity: Malaria No More UK — malarianomoreuk.org
Conservation: Lemur Conservation Network — lemurconservationnetwork.org
00:00 Why three world firsts started in a fish and chip shop in Wales
02:23 Growing up in Old Colwyn — sport, wanderlust, and no money
09:29 The $10 bikes in Vietnam that started everything
11:50 Fighting Muay Thai in Thailand — and what it had to do with Mongolia
14:10 Surviving with the Burmese hill tribes illegally in Myanmar
21:03 Planning Mission Mongolia solo and unsupported
23:24 Building a world record trailer with a tractor tyre
28:06 Visualisation — preparing for wolves and Gobi Desert heat stroke
32:53 Nearly dying of dehydration in the Gobi Desert
44:00 Why Madagascar — and the world first via the interior
52:47 Contracting falciparum malaria — one degree from a coma
01:01:00 Mission Yangtze — planning a 6,500km world first through Tibet
01:05:40 The press conference that forced Mission Yangtze off the line
01:12:42 Bears, wolves, and losing five team members before day one
01:21:09 The Shanghai finish line — what Ash whispered to his mum
01:27:14 Pay It Forward: Malaria No More UK
Thanks For Listening.
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