I have an odd thing with heights. Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower etc., all no problem. I can wander on the top and look down with no ill-effect. A couple of weeks back I went up the CN Tower in Toronto. No problem on the observation deck. But then I went to the ‘glass floor’ on which you can stand and look straight down to the streets below – a sheer drop! And that freaked me

A few years ago I trekked the Inca trail in Peru with my wife. We ended up after four day’s walking and camping in a frontier town Aguas Calientes, near Macchu Pichu. I remember standing with a well deserved beer in my hand, in the main square on the night of our arrival. We’d already had a relaxing bath in the thermal mud pool higher up the town and we were both feeling elated if a bit tired. All of a sudden a huge winged beetle landed on my shoulder. It was so big that I could feel it land.

To be all Welsh about it, I nearly shat myself.