Billie is currently on VentureCo’s Himalaya Venture in India and Nepal. The 12 week Venture includes a development project in a village in Rajasthan, as well as an expedition, involving camel treks, tiger safaris, deserted beaches, mountain biking, rafting and the Everest Base Camp trek.

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Diary of a Himalayan adventure: Update Three Billie Coverly writes... "Goodbye lovely guest house, hello hot stuffy train! We were all up incredibly early as we had to sadly leave the Mandor Guest House and to catch a train to Jaiselmer. After a long journey we were all pleased to arrive at our hotel which was named Hotel Paradise' Several people even said 'Welcome to Paradise' as we walked in, so it must have been true! It was in a spectacular location, within the walls of the old fort and high up, so that we could see out over the desert, which was where we would be trekking in the following days. On Saturday morning, we all crammed into a Jeep and set off for the desert to meet our camels. We clambered aboard our camels in a most un-elegant way and set off for the horizon... Camel riding is fantastic fun for about the first 20 minutes and after that it's quite fun but very painful. Having said that, life could be worse; kicking back on a camel while watching the desert landscape drift by and listening to my music, I can cope with that. Post-lunch camel trekking, for me, could have been better. After a combination of eating too much (my fault I know but the food was good!) and a little motion sickness, I felt quite ill but, thought I could still cope with sitting on a camel. It turns out I was wrong! On the plus side I can now claim I have been sick off the side of a camel - more than once! I would also like to report that everyone else was still having a great time and on arrival at camp all went off diving down sand dunes. After an amazing night spent camping under the stars, all alone, except perhaps for the wild dogs and dung beetles, we set off for our second-but-last day of trekking. We were aching slightly by now, but bumped along on top of the camels which were actually running today because they were carrying a lot less! I think I would describe this as one of the most painful but hilarious things I have ever done. There are no stirrups to speak of so you just cling on to the reigns, grip with your thighs and hope for the best! We arrived back at our hotel early that afternoon and after a bit of relaxing went off to explore the fort and to do some serious shopping. This is a must whilst in Jaiselmer, the textiles are beautiful. The following day we left Jaiselmer on another train. This time bound for Bandhavgarh..." Click here >> for arriving in India Click here >> for taking part in Hoil and renovating classrooms Click here >> for camel trekking Click here >> for trekking in the mountains Click here >> for elephant riding in Chitwan National Park Click here >> for Everest Base Camp Click here >> for bungy jumping, white-water rafting and home Name: VentureCo Address: The Ironyard, 64-66 The Market Place, Warwick Click here >> for details of this placement Click here >> to see all of VentureCo's placements Click here >> to email VentureCo Tel: 0845 344 7523