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I have been in Europe for two weeks and I am enjoying the good food, the clean air, the organised life and all the outdoor possibilities Europe has on offer. I have been swimming in lakes and rivers and have been hiking in the Alps.

Last week I went up the 3,768m-high Wildspitze, Austria’s second highest mountain, with my brother-in-law Edi. We had quite an interesting trip as we only started hiking to the Breslauer Hut, where we spent the night, at 10pm. The reason for this delay was a huge rock that had fallen onto the main road to Vent, the village where we started the climb from. The Austrian police had closed the road for about 30 hours and it only opened at 8pm. We rang the hut and asked the owners whether it would be ok to arrive as late as midnight. They were very friendly saying that they would wait for us and when we got there after a very steep and sweaty 1hrs45min walking in the moonshine, they even gave us some soup and an apple strudel!

After having had a miserable summer in Europe, Edi and I just had the best day on the Wildspitze, which made me realise that crampons and ice axes are also useful in the Alps and not only in the Himalaya.

Since our trip to the Alps, I have utterly enjoyed Europe and I am really starting to appreciate the life here. However, I am looking forward to going back to Nepal at the end of August and first help Miss Hawley and then go back to Manaslu with Himalayan Experience, to compile Russell’s newsletter and, if time allows, climb the eighth highest peak in the world again.

But until then, I will gain some strength here in Europe and enjoy the time with my friends and family.