A WIDOWER has completed a 12,000km cycle mission across the Himalayas to help raise money for a local hospice.
Peter Davies, of Pine Close, Rishton, said it was a 'once in a lifetime experience' and has so far collected £1,200 for East Lancashire Hospice.
He completed the challenge in memory of his late wife Barbara who passed away last year after being diagnosed with liver cancer.
The 52-year-old, who worked as a teaching assistant at St Peter and St Paul's school and nursery in Rishton, spent time in the hospice shortly before her death.
He said: “The first three days were horrendous as I was really short of breath. We were three-and-a-half times higher than Ben Nevis and struggled to even carry our bags into our rooms.
“There was some amazing scenery. It's quite a barren landscape up there as there's not trees and it looks like a desert.
“The view you have at night is spectacular with all the stars. We were very much out in the wild with little villages and people living in stones. I can't imagine how they do it.
“We lived on rice and vegetables for the whole two weeks and I lost about 5kg.”
Peter, who has worked in the travel industry, started in Kathmandu, then on to Lhasa to start the ride to the Everest base camp.
The 56-year-old said he had hoped to raise £8,000 for the hospice which would pay for their costs for a whole day.
He said: “I've raised about £1,200 from donations and gift aid which is still a lot of money that can go towards the hospice.
“I'm not too disappointed but it would have been nice to have raised enough to support it for the full day.
“It was a once in a life-time experience and something I have been wanting to do for a long time.”
To still sponsor Peter visit www.justgiving.com/peter-davies12. None of the money donated will go towards the cost of the trip.
