I know it sounds corny to say “Come as strangers – leave as friends” but it can be so true. People come here from such far and varied places. Many guests decide to stay here during a world tour! Everyone has wondrous tales to tell and for me it is like being able to see the world from my armchair! Here are some of the wonderful people who have passed this way and who I would hope one day to meet again:-
NEIL
This is Neil Corteen, my very first homestay guest. Neil is English, living in Berlin with his German partner. Neil had a pathological dislike for shopping – a tout’s nightmare – but he loved the countryside and as the second photo shows, he did a fair amount of highland trekking whilst at Mountain Ridge. Neil’s a great guy and I know our paths will cross again.
A FRIENDSHIP TO REMEMBER
One of the best gags we ever played involved three sets of guests. The main players were Judith from Barcelona and her dutch boyfriend Robin. This is how it all came about. We had a particularly pleasant mix of guests for a couple of days – Judith & Robin, Abhinmav & Puja from Baroda and Shabir and his wife from London. Sitting around a common table for breakfast and dinner makes for good social interaction and our various guests quickly developed a liking and friendship for one another. Judith was smart, bright and full of fun whilst her boyfriend Robin was easy-going and laid back. Puja who originally hailed from the mountains was a gorgeous-looking young woman from Baroda. She was warm, charming and sophisticated. Her husband Abhinav was a dashingly handsome and good-natured chap running a plastics factory (we gave him quite a bit of stick about that!). Then there was Shabir – a delightful, intellectual gentleman of Indian origin and his lovely English wife - both teachers in London (good luck to them, HEY!)
