BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (84)
  1. Chapter one
  2. Chapter two
  3. Chapter three
  4. Chapter four
  5. Chapter five
  6. Chapter six
  7. Chapter seven
  8. Chapter eight
  9. Chapter nine
  10. Chapter ten
  11. Chapter eleven
  12. Chapter twelve
  13. Chapter thirteen
  14. Chapter fourteen
  15. Chapter fifteen
  16. Chapter sixteen
  17. Chapter seventeen
  18. Chapter eighteen
  19. Chapter nineteen
  20. Chapter twenty
  21. Chapter twenty-one
  22. Chapter twenty-two
  23. Chapter twenty-three
  24. Chapter twenty-four
  25. Chapter twenty-five
  26. Chapter twenty-six
  27. Chapter twenty-seven
  28. Chapter twenty-eight
  29. Chapter twenty-nine
  30. Chapter thirty
  31. Chapter thirty-one
  32. Chapter thirty-two
  33. Chapter thirty-three
  34. Chapter thirty-four
  35. Chapter thirty-five
  36. Chapter thirty-six
  37. Chapter thirty-seven
  38. Chapter thirty-eight
  39. Chapter thirty-nine
  40. Chapter forty
  41. Chapter forty-one
  42. Chapter forty-two
  43. Chapter forty-three
  44. Chapter forty-four
  45. Chapter forty-five
  46. Chapter forty-six
  47. Chapter forty-seven
  48. Chapter forty-eight
  49. Chapter forty-nine
  50. Chapter fifty
  51. Chapter fifty-one
  52. Chapter fifty-two
  53. Chapter fifty-three
  54. Chapter fifty-four
  55. Chapter fifty-five
  56. Chapter fifty-six
  57. Chapter fifty-seven
  58. Chapter fifty-eight
  59. Chapter fifty-nine
  60. Chapter sixty
  61. Chapter sixty-one
  62. Chapter sixty-two
  63. Chapter sixty-three
  64. Chapter sixty-four
  65. Chapter sixty-five
  66. Chapter sixty-six
  67. Chapter sixty-seven
  68. Chapter sixty-eight
  69. Chapter sixty-nine
  70. Chapter seventy
  71. Chapter seventy-one
  72. Chapter seventy-two
  73. Chapter seventy-three
  74. Chapter seventy-four
  75. Chapter seventy-five
  76. Chapter seventy-six
  77. Chapter seventy-seven
  78. Chapter seventy-eight
  79. Chapter seventy-nine
  80. Chapter eighty
  81. Chapter eighty-one
  82. Chapter eighty-two
  83. Chapter eighty-three
  84. Chapter eighty-four

I sigh heavily and press the tears back into my eyes. Picking up the last few bits and pieces, I stuff them into my rucksack, which is bulging alarmingly at the seams. It’s no good, I can’t take all this crap. I have never been one for packing light and it’s still slightly worrying that I’m faced with carrying all this lot by myself. Despite the fact that I’ve abandoned my usual paraphernalia of folic acid supplements, hormone injections, sniffer drugs, pregnancy tests, I’ve still got far too much unnecessary kit. Apart from my trusty guidebook, the reading matter has gone—no joyous tales of serial killers to keep me amused in the dead of the night at three thousand metres—I’m just going to have to force myself to be sociable. Even with that lot out, I’m still going to have to leave something else behind. I pull out my hairdryer and put it in the middle of the floor in a reverential way. If I’m going to do without something, it might as well be something symbolic.

Chapter twenty-six

Chapter twenty-six

I’m thirty-four years old and although I’ve been on a plane kerzillions of times, I’ve never actually flown alone. How bizarre is that in this age of supposed emancipation? And it’s quite an ordeal. Jake normally sorts out all the money and tickets and the passports and checks we have the right gate number. My duties were always restricted to plundering the tax-free shop for perfume and booze bargains. Such are my nerves that I develop a pathological fear of losing my boarding card, and until we take off and the pilot announces that we are definitely headed for Kathmandu, I’m convinced I’ve made a complete hash of it and am on the wrong plane and will end up in balmy Benidorm in my Arctic-strength anorak.

I spend the entire time during the flight, not watching Scooby Doo or any of the other movie selections, or catching up on my sleep or reading my Lonely Planet travel guide to see exactly what I’m letting myself in for, but trying to suss out who my fellow travellers might be. Everyone who has a pasty white face and a loud-coloured anorak is a suspect. It’s only when we approach Kathmandu and the majestic sweep of the snow-tipped Himalayan foothills comes into view that my anxiety turns to excitement. There’s something quite exhilarating in feeling the fear and doing it anyway. And in a blinding flash of bravado, I know I can do this. I can do this alone.