There can't be many places where you can be blessed by an elephant and buy a beautiful new handbag in the same afternoon. But this is Chennai in India, land of extraordinary contrasts, ancient and modern.

Stretching from The Black Sea to the Caucasus Mountains and lying on the cusp of Christian Europe and Islamic Asia, Georgia is an enchanting mix of old and new, with a pretty landscape that combines mountains and a pretty coastline.

In the space of just a few days you can ski in the mountains, swim in the Black Sea and embrace an amazing culture in the churches, castles and cave-towns, enjoying

I was enjoying lunch on top of a volcano. In the distance were the Bálsamo mountains, the Pacific Ocean and the city of San Salvador, glistening in the sun.

There are 23 volcanoes in San Salvador. Santa Ana, which last erupted in 2005, is the highest in the Pacific volcanic chain. Happily, my volcano is no longer active.

Israel's president, Shimon Peres, who can turn a phrase or two, turned to his hosts with a huge smile.

"This," he declared, "is the Taj Mahal of the Negev."

Since the Taj Mahal is famously Shah Jehan's architectural declaration of love to his wife, the president might have exaggerated slightly.

My Sunday mornings aren't usually cliffhangers, unless I'm trying to remember the night before.

I'm more at home drinking strong coffee in my local greasy spoon.

But this particular day, with the wind whipping my hair, swaying above the deep azure sea, I am actually cliff-hanging. On the edge of a cliff in northern Jersey.

With its skyscrapers and coastal setting, Panama City, the capital of the Republic of Panama, looks a little like Miami.

But, look a little closer and you discover that Panama is still a Third World country in the throes of reinventing itself as a hot spot for tourists and a financial hub.

Rain stopped play - three words to dampen the spirits of any cricket aficionado.

The telephone rang in my bedroom at the Bon Sol hotel. It was my travel companion. "I've just been to the gym" he informed me. "Now I am having breakfast at the beachside restaurant. Come quickly its gorgeous out here"

I don't ski. For many reasons, among them a dislike of sustained periods of cold, a general lack of coordination and an irrational fear of breaking every bone in my body. So how exactly have I got to the point where I am soaring at high speed round a glacier in the Swiss Alps? Without any skis?

It started with a train ride.

Doc Martin, has done for Port Isaac what Rick Stein has done for Padstow, well almost. Certainly, locals have seen more visitors on its steep winding streets since the cult TV series began. And what was once a harbour town too inaccessible for many has become a must-see on any visit to the area.

But is what they see on the small screen anything like the reality that is life in North Cornwall?