Egypt

It's not a pretty sight. The stark landscape of Egypt's desert burns my retinas, forcing me to squint as I scan the quivering, molten, 40°C scene before me. Besides my two friends, our jeep driver, there's not a soul around, nor is there a signal that life could survive here - even if it wanted to. Instead, ochre sands meet dark smatterings of iron ore from the region's volcanic rock formations. It's a surreal corner of the earth almost entirely untouched by mankind.

All you can hear is the sound of your own slow breathing. Lurid yellow, orange and pink fish flash by, like tiny electric bolts. Your flippers gently brush against the tips of swaying tropical plants and with each metre you swim deeper, there' another underwater scene, each one more mesmerising than the last. Welcome to the world of scuba diving.

"Ever ridden a horse?" my Egyptian kitesurfing instructor Cousha asks. Before I can answer, he continues: "This is the exact opposite of riding a horse. Pull on that line and we will soon be watching you fly away." So, it's with those anxiety-inducing instructions I'm introduced to kitesurfing. The sport is a relatively new one, a complicated combo of wakeboarding, windsurfing and gymnastics. In 1998 it went mainstream.

"Diving is so much fun, you'll love it", my friends said. As I vomited in the water and fought back tears on the first day of my four-day Open Water Diver course in Dahab I began plotting my revenge against these so-called friends.  At first, the course seemed like torture. This was my holiday, after all, and I had paid a substantial sum of money to spend part of it studying a textbook called the PADI Open Water Diver Manual, and the other part subjecting myself to complicated skills work in the ocean, such as learning to pivot on my fins.

North Africa has some of the most exciting and exotic cultures and landscapes in the world. The region has an edgy energy - almost a breathless quality - about it: the intense, relentless heat; surreal, mystical labyrinthine souks and medinas, some of which look so unearthly they have been used in films set in space (some star wars scenes were set in Tunisia); ruins and temples scattered about the land like sweets waiting to be discovered afresh.

The Easter break bank holiday has one purpose, and it’s not stuffing our faces with chocolate.  Nope, after a ling sunless Winter it’s to reacquaint out skin with its old friend – sunshine.  The four-day weekend (with a couple of extra days tacked on either side if you can swing it) is the perfect time to head to sizzling climes, and there are plenty of destination just a few hours away where the temperatures are soaring, this time of year.  Ride a camel on the beaches of Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh, lie on a sunny boat deck as you sail past Croatia’s stunning coastline or head for the cultural

HIKE HE SINGING SAND DUNES OF THE GOBI DESERT, MONGOLIA
When Marco Polo travelled across the Gobi Desert, some 750 years ago he was scared for dear life because he thought the sound of the sands were the sounds of evil spirit.  Well Khongoryn Els sands dunes of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert have this rather odd habit of, singing, which is not normal for sand dunes. It’s a fairly rare phenomenon and just about 30 dunes worldwide are musically inclined — the rest are pretty quiet.   It's more of a constant low rumbling moan, with the occasional booming explosion - but it makes for a slightly odd encounter in the desert. Scientist said it’s something to do with the curve of the sand dunes forming a natural amphitheatre.

Dolomites - Italy
In the Bond movie ‘For Your Eyes Only’ 007 stayed at the five-stared Miramonti Majestic Grand Hotel, in Cortina d’Ampezzo part of the Dolomiti skiing area. Here you can enjoy the luxurious facilities with one exception; you will not get the chase down the slopes by some rifle wielding rogue assassins. The Dolomites is will know for it majestic ski slopes and an ideal winter break destination.

Jamaica