John 2 sticks and I are now in a hotel right in the centre of Istanbul. We could have flown on directly to the UK but the connection was tight ( we are not sure Ian, Graham and Graham made it) and we would have arrived at a stupid time of night. So we decided to break the journey with a night in Istanbul, about four hours sight seeing tomorrow and then the onward flights to Gatwick (2 Sticks) and Birmingham (me) at a civilised time. Hopefully our luggage will also make it, it seems to have been "posted" though rather than us having to drag it round Istanbul although we are interested to see how it avoids the immediate connection and is delayed to our flights.

These arrangements seem to be working better than Grahams flight out. The Everest trip was a surprise birthday present so when the rest of us were booking our flights last February he was unaware of the adventure and his son William, in his 20's training to be a doctor, was making his booking. Perhaps it was a trick his son was playing but while everyone else flew to Istanbul's main airport and onto to Kathmandu Grahams flight went to a different Istanbul airport, he had to enter the country, thereby paying $20 for a visa, catch a cab across the city (another £20) to the main airport for the onward flight. What was worse, even though he lives in Scotland the outgoing flight was from Gatwick. Youth of today, can't even arrange a simple travel itinerary.

Yesterday I wrote a day in the life of the trek and posed the question "Was it worth all the cold and discomfort " - Answer - A resounding YES. It was an adventure and as all small children will tell you adventures come at a cost. I will never forget the scenery, the people or the experience of pushing myself outside my comfort zone. It was a little disappointing not to get to Base Camp but at least I walked back rather than in the back of an air ambulance or worse. Adventures have risk, otherwise they would not be adventures.

Would I go back? Not on the Base Camp trek but I would like to go back on one of Kinners other adventures, preferably in summer. He does the standard Annapurna treks but he also does tours into Tibet and Bhutan which could be fun and less strenuous. I won't we climbing above 4800m again though.

Any regrets? Yes we forgot to eat the 10 year old Kendle Mint Cake found in Cleggies rucksack!