HOLIDAY FROM HELL Ten years ago, I was trekking in Papua New Guinea when I was abducted. I was taken at gunpoint from a trail, which is now very popular but was closed at the time due to tribal warfare. I was alone but I was well organised; I had a satellite phone and all the right gear and I'd hired local porters and guides. However, they were the ones who set me up. I was in captivity for five days in a hut in a village we had walked to overnight and I had my kit taken off me, so I had no idea where we were.
I managed to escape with the help of two women, one of whom I'd befriended. She and her cousin were being abused by my captors so I promised to help them if they helped me escape. Luckily, a friend had missed my regular call home and called the British High Commission in Papua New Guinea. They investigated whether a white man had gone on the trail and they found a body, which they thought was mine.
With the help of the women we got back on the trail. We had to keep moving for days, knowing we were being pursued. Then the police arranged for a helicopter to pick us up but I refused to get on because it couldn't take the women, and I'd made a promise. It upset a lot of people but they agreed to send a second helicopter two days later and we all got out. I was brought to the High Commission but there was nothing they could do for the women.
Later, when I was in the hotel, I got a call saying there was a package in reception for me. It turned out it was one of the girls waiting to shoot me. But I know it wasn't her behind it. Unfortunately both girls were later found dead.
GOING BACK I carried on travelling after that, still alone. I hiked in New Zealand then went to Argentina to try and write about my experience. I decided the best way to deal with it was to go back to Papua New Guinea and meet my captors and find out why they did it. It was simply for money. Many people are very poor and a life is worth less than a shirt. There was never going to be an answer to why they wanted to kill me, I just wanted to have a better understanding of their lives. I was extremely well looked after when I was abducted and I took the attitude that I can get stressed about it or I can take it in my stride. I chose to do the latter. My inquisitiveness and desire to try and deal with situations I don't understand led me back.
When I returned a lot of friends and family said to me, 'Are you mad? Haven't you learnt your lesson?' I said, 'Actually, I have, and it is from a different perspective.'