After a quick flight across the channel we were met in Geneva by a very tanned Paul (Nick's cousin) - obviously he had been hard at work being a ski bum. We got to Argentiere, 15 mins beyond Chamonix, and made ourselves feel very welcome in Paul's new apartment by delving into the sauscisson, I resisted the chocolate cookies even though secretly I wanted one but I thought it polite and girly not to scoff all of Paul's food on the first day. We had a couple of beers and then rested our weary heads on the newly washed sheets - Paul had been hard at work all day using the traditional method of washing, using his feet to tramp out the dirty sheets in his wash tub, think he may have also taken a bath ... read more

Having been back at home for all of 5 weeks it was certainly time for another holiday. We had the perfect excuse, tagging on to Gillie and Gary's wedding in Troon - a week in Scotland. An easyjet flight and rental car got us to our holiday cabin which would be home for the week along with Debbie, Amanda, Dave, Mish, Josh, Jimma, Claire and Huxley. It could have been plucked out of Scandanavia and put down in Ayrshire - complete with sauna too! The setting was perfect and the weather stunning (on arrival) and the holiday spirit easy to get back into with a few beers and good company. The following day was spent in Ayr and with the weather deteriorating our fingers were crossed for the following day - the wedding. That evening with ... read more

After much persuasion I finally convinced Nick that is was a much better decision to hike for 16 days through the Himalayas, experience altitude sickness and trek to the Everest Base Camp rather than going for the easy trekking option of flying to Jomsom, trekking 5 days downhill and having no problems of getting back to Kathmandu! We joined a group of 5 other trekkers and our Everest Base Camp trek started in a very civilised manner with a traditional Nepalese meal and dancing which included a Nepali version of Emu, a dressed up Peacock, and some mad dancer dressed up as the infamous Yeti. The next morning was an early start to catch a flight to Lukla where we were to commence our trek. We should not have bothered getting up so early as ... read more

We stepped off the plane in Udaipur, Rajastan and into what seemed like an oven. With the daily average temperature around 43 degrees this is the hottest place I had ever been to. We were tempted with the aircon in the taxi but as it was going to cost us 2 quid we wound down our windows and enjoyed the boiling breeze. We checked into Dream Heaven hotel and got an air con room that overlooked the infamous lake. Udaipur (known as the City of the Lakes) was breathtaking and sums up what India is all about: beautiful palaces, windy old streets and fantastic old architecture. On our first night we watched kids fly their kites in the warm air currents from the rooftops of the buildings - magic! We thought our first day was going ... read more

After the peace and quiet of the backwaters it was straight back into the thick of things with a relatively short bus journey North to Cochin. The buses were strangely not on time and we had to wait a while in the intense heat - then 3 came at once and typically everyone tried to get on the first one - there are just too many people in India! We made it to Fort Cochin via a brief rickshaw ride and then our cheapest trip to date - 5 rupees for a ferry across to the peninsula. Fort Cochin is a nice place with some real colonial history. The Portuguese started there then the Dutch came then the British took over and stayed until independence. Therefore Cochin has a distinct flavour and the architecture is as ... read more