An 8am knock at the door from a very excited Alex signified it was departure time for her 2 week Himalayan adventure.

We met in a cafe in Xining, central China after she answered a travel forum request for a companion to share the costs of our Tibet Tour. She didn't turn out to be the braided hair, smoking, tree hugger we were expecting and we all got on really well from the start. 2 weeks later after spending many hours couped up in a land cruiser travelling across Tibet and an additional week in Nepal we finally parted company this morning.

After substantial effort in sourcing a guide to help her find the way to Annapurna base camp on the 12-14 day trek Alex finally found a suitable choice. The tour company described the guide as 'sweet' so expecting an old man Alex was surprised to meet a young guide who she actually classified as about 12!

After 8-10 attempts at packing and re-packing her gear she finally got down to the 12 kilos the guide had agreed he would carry (her back-pack ended up being a similar size to him). The main concern being that she needed to have at least 4-5 layers as she isn't a big fan of the cold.

So it was with a little sadness we waved goodbye to our new friend as she disappeared down the road with her heavily laden guide. We will miss her bubbly enthusiasm, obsessive need to take 4 variations of every photo, ability to name drop every country she has visited, annoying use of the word 'dude' and ability to save us 25 pence on a cab ride!

Hopefully our paths will meet again one day..a good excuse for a visit to her adopted homeland of Hong Kong on our next trip!

I guess we will also be saying goodbye to one of our avid blog fans- Alex's dad Dr Harrod- We are glad to have been able to keep you entertained and up to date on her whereabouts for the last 2 weeks!

Goodbye Alex, it's been a pleasure sharing some fantastic memories and momo (steamed Dumplings) with you...we wish you well on your trek....and make sure you stay in touch!!