Just two weeks now before I head off for a touring holiday in Jordan and Egypt, accompanied by my two best friends – I was going to say my two oldest friends, and whilst that might actually be correct, it doesn’t sound right.

I have an expanding walking pole for the rough terrain we are promised, a pair of hideous and very cheap plastic sandals for the Dead Sea (apparently it has a rocky bottom), a super-light day pack, and a cashmere shawl for cold desert nights when we camp in a tent, and a light scarf to throw over my head whenever it is needed. We are all a bit apprehensive about all those narrow steps down inside the tombs. I have been practising and have managed over 130 steps most days. I think it is the dark rather than the number that will prove the challenge. We have said to each other we will do what we can!

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