Hello from Camp Khandahar in Afghanistan! Before you start thinking ‘that’s an unusual holiday destination’, the reason we’re here is to broadcast our breakfast show on JACKfm back to Oxfordshire each morning this week. And what a trip it’s already been!

It’ s been a year in the organisation, but just like everyone else out here we’ve discovered sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to.

After a five hour flight delay, and a missed connection, we got to Khandahar at about 4am on Monday, and were then taken to some transit tent accommodation. After getting into bed at about 5.00am, we were up and about again just after 10am.

Apologies to the other women in our tent – I am not well rehearsed at packing up in complete darkness. Outside though, a gorgeous day of blue skies and sunshine awaited us, giving us the chance to check out Khandahar...

So what is Khandahar like? Imagine everything around you is covered in a slightly greyish pale brown powder. Then open up another twenty boxes of powder and throw it everywhere....

Safe to say it’s a little dusty out here. In the far distance I can see mountains, and barely five minutes go by without the thud.. thud.. thud of helicopter rotor blades or a plane or three flying overhead.

It’s also a little strange to hear announcements warning you a “controlled blast is about to occur”, but I guess that’s a lot more comforting than hearing one without having had a warning. But in among all of this is the completely surreal hour we just spent in an area called ‘The Boardwalk’.

First stop was the ‘Niagara Restaurant – or if you like, the American Mess’ – the most amazing dining facility where hundreds of troops from all over the world can load their plate up with whatever food and desserts they like.

Apparently there’s even a section with burgers, not surprising I guess. After lunch we headed to The Boardwalk. An area I can only describe as being a large square of portable shops and takeaways (including KFC) which surround a large dusty recreation area. This is where troops can escape to when they are off shift, and we noticed forces from many countries just chilling out with a pizza, cold drink, or like us, wandering in and out of the shops, many with weapons slung over their shoulder.

Souvenir shopping in Afghanistan, surely the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done. Currency is US dollars, and we all walked away with a variety of locally made trinkets, tacky souvenirs and pashminas after a particularly embarrassing attempt at haggling.

No amount of amusing comments or banter seemed to work... So I pulled out the biggie... that annoying female whiny voice of ‘pleeeese.....pleeeeeeese.....pleeeeeeeeeeeeeese!’ It worked! The guy in the shop got a lot of grief from his colleague for giving in, but nonetheless I got my big one dollar discount.

I said it was embarrassing....