Thursday December 27

FOB Edinburgh

I wake up freezing and I must have lain on several stones because I am aching all over. I am too old for this camping lark – especially in winter.

I carry out a few more interviews but it a very relaxed day. And I take a few shots of a patrol about to head out into the desert.

I hear wild dogs or jackels howling at night in the distance.

Ever since I arrived there have been warnings over the various critters – such as snakes, scorpions and spiders – which can do you harm.

Apparently the camelback spider likes to hide in toilets and its bite is an anaesthetic so you don’t know you are being eaten by it. Bizarrely the Army’s water backpacks, that they use on patrol, are made by CamelBak.

There are also warnings about suicide bombers in various guises.