I had a very comfortable night, if very short, in Camp Bastion. I got off the Hercules at about 3am and was ushered into a heated tent for three hours kip. The facilities in Bastion are better than I expected. There are heaters at night, making if feel much more bearable in temperatures which dip down to -5 degrees C, there are also hot showers and flushing loos in metal blocks called containers. A camp bed also provided a comfortable space to get my head down for a few hours.

I was equally surprised at breakfast. Army chefs miraculously manage to cook up very tasty meals with a combination of ration packs and occasional fresh supplies of fruit and vegetables for thousands of personnel at the enormous camp which has a perimeter of 12km. There was a full cooked breakfast on offer along with cereal, tea, coffee and juice.

Before I had a chance to take in the camp, other than the sand, which irritatingly manages to get everywhere, I was driven to a helicopter landing site to catch a Seaking to the FOB (Forward Operating Base). After a few hours delay, which I’m beginning to realise is to be expected here, the chopper touched down kicking up a cloud of dust.

Wearing full body armour, thank goodness it was only about 20 degrees C, helmets and ear plugs myself and six troops got in and strapped up. As the machine took off I was quite shocked to see the side door was left open.

A Marine stood at the entrance with a General Purpose Machine Gun surveying the ground below in case of a Taliban attack. I learned helicopters are a high priority target for the Taliban. The gunship Apache helicopters apparently usually watch over Seakings to provide cover for the length of their journeys.

Looking out of the window I got my first site of Afghanistan – something I did not expect was the stunning landscape. 

Endless desert stretches up to breathtaking mountains. From my privileged bird’s eye view I saw villages, herds of goats being minded by Afghans and dry river beds flash beneath me.

On touching down in Sangin, troops leapt out and started unloading bags of mail which were a welcome moral boost for personnel at the base to the north east of Camp Bastion, which is occupied by both 1 Rifles and 45 Commando Royal Marines.

The camp at Sangin is very different to Bastion. It is much smaller and far more basic, providing a home to 45 Commando Royal Marines, 1 Rifles and the Afghanistan National Army.

There are a few concrete structures but the majority of the buildings are made out of wood, corrugated iron and hesco (which are cloth-lined cages filled with sand which provide a buffer to bullets and rocket propelled grenades).

The Sangin canal runs through the middle of the base which on warmer days troops use to take a swim and wash. I was shown to my accommodation which was a tent which was open on one side, no heating this time, and a camp bed. The loos consisted of a long drop. With no locks the only way to know there was someone in them was the site of feet poking out of the bottom of the makeshift doors.

I was just having a chat with troops and starting to relax when there was a loud explosion – signalling indirect fire. Wising up this time I reached for my body armour and helmet and dashed into a concrete building with 1 Rifles where we waited for about 10 minutes until the all clear was given.

My initial alarm soon waned as I realised the troops were fairly relaxed – apparently this happens about once every two weeks.

Welcome to Sangin