Anthony advice

- Take your trekking shoes and socks off whenever you stop and dry them in the sun. This will help keep your feet dry and prevent blisters

- Ignore the label and use just a single iodine tablet per litre of water (unless it’s particularly dirty) but leave it longer before you drink it. After 5 minutes loosen the top of your bottle and squeeze some water out to sterilize the area where you put your mouth

- Always collect water in a transparent bottle so that you can see exactly what’s in it and can check that the iodine tablet has gone in

- When packing your back, keep any heavy items as close to your back as possible so that the bag doesn’t pull on your shoulders

- At high altitude (over 3000m) dehydration is a big problem due to the dry air and is a big trigger of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Drink a litre of water with breakfast so you are fully hydrated before your day’s trek

- At high altitude eat protein for lunch and stick to carbs for dinner. Protein takes a lot of energy to break down which requires lots of oxygen. With less oxygen in the air this can cause respiratory problems during sleep

- Do not try to diet. Eat frequently and eat plenty of carbohydrates especially at high altitude where AMS can cause a loss of appetite

- Whenever you cross a bridge or body of water, undo the chest straps of your bag. If for any reason you fall in, you’ll need to be able to free yourself easily from your bag to stop yourself drowning

- Use walking sticks. Not only do they enable you to use less energy when walking but they help you to stand up straight against the weight of your bag, opening your chest up and making it easier to breathe (a big issue at high altitude when even a little exertion can leave you panting for breath). Sticks also act as extra limbs for balance when you’re making your way down steep descents

- When it gets cold, warm your clothes up in your sleeping bag in the morning before putting them on

- At high altitude, chop chocolate bars into bite-sized pieces to prevent them from freezing which renders them inedible

- Always walk to the end of the village in which you are planning to stay to find the room with the best view for your breakfast the following morning

- Start late and finish late. Why get up at 6am only to reach your destination by lunchtime then spend all afternoon sitting around getting cold? What’s more, if you let all the over-zealous trekkers head off at 6am, then you have the trail to yourself a few hours later. Anthony rarely set off before 10am

- When you find good apple pie along the trek order 5 slices…just because it’s apple pie and it’s good!