Avoiding Christmas....

Whilst I'm not one of those people who hate Christmas, sometimes I like to take advantage of the long Christmas break from work whilst my office is closed to go travelling.

Ashgabat in December

Precisely because I like Christmas - I love making mince pies, wrapping presents and all the rest of it -  Christmas away from home just isn't the same. So if I do go away I try to make sure that this is somewhere that Christmas isn't celebrated.  This is harder than you might think.  I have so far failed to avoid reminders of Christmas in Egypt, Morocco, and most spectacularly, Turkmenistan.

This year, I think I may have cracked it. I'm pretty sure that my destination is one where there will be nothing Christmassy whatsoever. My tickets arrived this morning, and I'm busy planning my packing list instead of my Christmas menu.* 

Item one: thick-soled boots.  

Item two: a torch.

Item three: sachets of instant coffee.
Item four: a towel.

Can you guess where I'm going yet?

*I might just make some mince pies anyway.  I like mince pies.