Forbes/Lowe: Travel Blog

Best New Year Ever!

2010-12-31T22:23:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas

2010-12-26T04:55:00.000-08:00

The contents of our wonderful stocking....courtesy of L Forbes and all of our friends and family. Thank you everyone

China

2010-12-22T17:42:00.001-08:00

Yangshou

BBQ'd Pig's faces anyone? . . . no?

Warrior

Giraffe in Beijing

The Mrs, walking the Great Wall

Mao

Centre For the Performing Arts
(Which strangely, when you are far away from it, looks MASSIVE and then gets smaller the nearer you get)

A show off, Shanghai

.............and we are back

2010-12-21T04:56:00.000-08:00

So some time has passed, more roads trodden, amazing times (some bad) and we have arrived in our wonderful home from home in Goa, for Christmas. Here is a little of what we have been up to.......firstly Japan.

Filth

Pants

3 Birds

Mmmeow

Dog - Kyoto

Vietnam

2010-10-10T02:27:00.000-07:00

. . . sorry this has taken so long . . .

Bicycle Barbie, Hanoi

Someone who looks as if he could be, but actually isn't, a pilot, Da Lat

Fried crickets, delicious

Greg, a man unable to edit any of the tiny details from his already quite long stories, jumping from the boat in Halong Bay

A wardrobe.

Rice Paddies, Sapa

Local delicacies

Uncle Ho's final resting place

Train passenger sat opposite on the way to Nha Trang

Photos of Tommy #4

2010-09-26T21:22:00.001-07:00

Tommy in mirror: Vietnam

Tommy/dragon: Hue, Vietnam

Tommy with admirer: Vietnam

Photos of Karen #15

2010-09-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Karen mid-squat, New Zealand

Karen just out of a skate tunnel, Quito

Dorothy Lowe: A Photographic Celebration

2010-08-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

#2 Dorothy, arms flung out, celebrates having successfully terrified local wildlife.

Family Time in Perth #2: Black & White Stuff

2010-08-28T04:06:00.001-07:00

Dot, beneath horns + David in Background

Olivia, helmeted & wearing a 50% bulldog face.

Dot, trying to look excited about us going tubing

Family Corker

Walk on the beach (boring caption, sorry)

Graham Lowe

Mary

Photos of Tommy #3

2010-08-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Tommy; Museum of Art, Hong Kong

Tommy; Perth, Australia

Tommy; 'The Farm', Australia

Dorothy Lowe: A Photographic Celebration

2010-08-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

#1: Dorothy, arms flung out, runs across the beach intending to terrify local wildlife.

Photos of Karen #14

2010-08-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Karen eating an apple, New Zealand

Karen trying on my new spectacles, Miami

Family Time in Perth #1: An Introduction to the Australian Relatives

2010-08-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

Uncle David is married to . . .

. . . Auntie Mary, who's the grandmother of . . .

. . . Boston, who's the son of . . .

. . . Olivia and . . .

. . . AN-THON-Y!

Please try to remember their names because you might be sat next to them at the wedding.

Sydney, Australia

2010-08-12T15:39:00.001-07:00

Our glamourous host; Sophie Johnston. (Widgeon)

James Boyes; a grumpy and effective whale deterrent from "The North"

Keisha

A portrait of Keisha done by a local artist.

On a visit here, Sophie became quite abusive to a member of staff and was criticized for having an attitude problem.

Naomi Clements, pre-swing carousel

Bondi

One diamond encrusted turtle ring. Bought but never worn.

The rotting carcass of a flying fox kindly held up by Sophie Johnston.

(James Boyes declined)

4th of July - Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles

2010-08-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is a '4' shaved into the hair of his chest.

A very good day.

p.s. I know it is now the 12th of August, but I've only just had them developed sorry.

New Zealand . . .

2010-08-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Lake Wanaka

West Coast, South Island

Rangitoto Island (just off the coast of Auckland)

Another one of the west coast on the South Island

A man in his pick-up with his dog

New Zealand Lunatics

2010-08-03T05:37:00.000-07:00

New Zealand - country of contrast! On one hand a beautiful and spectacular landscape and on the other home to the two weirdest people we have met on our travels. Here they are . . .

New Zealand Lunatic #1: Diana

Diana hitched a lift with us to a waterfall and quickly explained that she was Tiawanese, a philosopher and a psychologist. Through her broken English she explained that she was currently working on the translation of a very important Chinese text. This text, (I think it was called 'Chi Chai') when read in conjunction with the Bible, would shed light on and explain the up coming end of time. She then went on to explain that in 1999 there was a secret meeting in the Vatican where they all agreed that the end of time would probably be in 2023.

New Zealand Lunatic #2: Gem

Gem runs a small antiques shop in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere on the South Island. He is also totally convinced that he sees UFOs all the time and that, after doing some internet research, he was visited by a starship. When asked what these aliens wanted Gem informed us that the people in the starships were going to paint out the moon, kill all the sheep, and then store the meat in the hills. He illustrated these ideas using the oil paitings he'd done of each stage of the alien attack. He then went on to hypothesise that the star that led the three kings to the baby Jesus was not sent by god but was the devil in a starship, hell bent on destroying the world. Gem also showed us a youtube clip of an alien fire fight in some secret tunnels featuring the image of a naked woman with the head of a dog. He then turned to us said, "How do you explain that!?" He then gave us 3 paintings depicting the visitation he had had with a spirit called John who flew out a golden spinning cloud.

He was AMAZING.

Photos of Karen #13

2010-07-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

Karen pre-cycling, Los Angeles

Karen Shaving Legs, Quito

Photos of Tommy #2

2010-07-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

Car park, Miami. U.S.A.

Hill top, Smokey Mountains. U.S.A.

Alex Rothaus

2010-07-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

. . . prominently featured on our blog.

(. . . for those of you not in the know Alex Rothaus is an American we met on Easter Island and then had lunch with yesterday in San Diego. We will also probably see him in India . . . )

North American Road Trip: Part 2

2010-07-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

. . . this now comes with captions as requested by Dot Lowe

American Flag, Los Angeles

The Burger King, Miami

Luke and Darth mid-battle, Fox Studios, Los Angeles

Redneck lovers, The Smoky Mountains

United States Of America (rug)

The Grand Canyon

Graceland, Tennessee

Taxidermy, Miami

Skater, Venice Beach

Me, Las Vegas

Photos of Karen #12

2010-07-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

Karen ready to go to a Luau, L.A.

Karen in bed scared, Quito

Our American Hosts . . .

2010-07-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Lucas Calhoun

'Ginge' Calhoun

Thank you very much, for everything . . . so far . . .

Photos of Tommy #1

2010-07-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

Tommy: Grand Canyon, Arizona. USA

Tommy: Venice Beach, California. USA

Tommy + new glasses: Miami, Florida. USA

Picking your nose . . .

2010-07-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

. . . yes it's wrong, yes it's illegal, yes it's a VI-O-LATION! . . . but some of us still do it.

North American Road Trip: Part 1

2010-06-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

Part 2 coming soon . . .

Photos of Karen #11

2010-06-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

Karen under examination, Quito

Karen in Pig Mask #2, New Orleans

Thank You: Andy Jones

2010-06-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

. . . you were a legend. (Special thanks to Jessie too, a huge, physically intimidating, massive legend)

Photos of Karen #10

2010-06-22T09:03:00.001-07:00

Karen at desk, La Paz

Karen, asleep near Kicker Rock, Equador

Welcome to the Deep South

2010-06-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

To fight the imminent threat of Glastonbury-based jealousy we have decided to distract ourselves with a little road trip through the American South......left from Miami, met a women in Pensacola who believed Obama is a Muslim terrorist out to destroy the US, jazzed in New Orleans, listened to a guy in Baton Rouge claim that impotence causes atheism and texting leads to murder, kept it weird in Austin with Andy Jones, camped in a sauna at Graceland......to be continued

Smile.......

2010-06-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

...we're in the USofA

American Vernacular #1: "Shenormous"

2010-06-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

She·nor·mous

–adjective

1. A female exceeding the common size, extent, etc.; huge; immense: an enormous woman

5 Months Later . . .

2010-06-06T05:43:00.000-07:00

Mexican Night: Buenos Aires

Thank you very much ladies.

2010-06-05T04:54:00.000-07:00

Jane, Gibboné, Karen, Bogota

Puppet, Salento (this is a present for my Sister)

Cotapaxi, Equador

Blog Apologies . . .

2010-06-05T04:51:00.000-07:00

. . . sorry for having been so shit with the blog over recent months. We are now in Miami about to leave on a two and a half week road trip to LA. Woo. Will try very hard to blog more from now on I promise . . . . (Sorry Dot, I know it is only you that reads this anyway)

Best Wishes

Tommy & Karen

People Who Joined Us On Our Travels #2

2010-06-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

Jane Montgomery

Henri Gibboné

Inca Trail

2010-05-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (incl. walking sticks...semi pro)

Mountain Side (pooped...)

They were put in there for doing a very bad thing

The End

Photos of Karen #9

2010-05-12T04:32:00.001-07:00

Karen with Coffee, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Karen, on Rock, Cafayate, Argentina

Photos

2010-05-12T04:09:00.000-07:00

. . . finally managed to get some photos from months ago developed in Lima . . . here you go

Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia

Geysers, Bolivia

Cusco Market . . .

2010-05-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

. . . sells cow's noses.

People Who Joined Us On Our Travels #1

2010-04-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

#1. Neil McCallum (also known as "Moon")

#2 Lucy Honey

Photos of Karen #8

2010-04-29T04:49:00.000-07:00

Karen, Valley De La Luna, Argentina

Karen, Rio De Janiero, Brazil

. . . guess who?

2010-04-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

Cheetah

2010-04-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

We recently visited a small Zoo in Samaipata, Bolivia, the highlight of which was a 5 year old ginger howler monkey named Cheetah. Cheetah, a girl, was very friendly and spent much of the time sitting on my shoulders as we were taken on our tour. Once back at the zoo-house Karen, jealous of the camaraderie between me and my new simian friend, went on the offensive and treated Cheetah to an intensive rub down. (see above) Now, I am no expert in the sexual tactics of howler monkeys but at this point Cheetah definitely began to act in a very amorous manner. Placing her long hairy arms around Karen´s neck, Cheetah looked into Karen´s eyes and, like a dirty-ginger-simian-lebso, went in for the lunge! A black lip-less mouth headed straight towards Karen´s face with a tiny black monkey-tongue poked out ready for a swift oral probing. Karen, surprisingly not into snogging animals and with little regard for Cheetah´s feelings tried to pull away, but it wasn´t that easy. Cheetah was insistent and, if I am honest, reminded me of the many failed lunges of my youth by just lunging and lunging and lunging until she had to be physically dragged away. Tainted by the experience we left very soon afterwards.

Places we've been . . .

2010-03-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Cafayate, Argentina

Laguna Verde, Bolivia

Photos of Karen #7

2010-03-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Karen, The Amphitheatre, Cafayate, Argentina

Karen, as near to a bird eating spider as she dares, Argentina

2010-03-13T03:05:00.000-08:00

Road

Hitch Hiking Grannies

2010-03-12T04:17:00.001-08:00

Hired a car. Done. A new sense of freedom that doesn’t involve being accompanied by a minibus full of Germans, Aussies or over keen photographers documenting every morsel of their travel experience (we actually saw a non descript European snapping a way, excitedly, at electrical pylons, last week. True.)

Our solo adventure: a three hour drive into the mountains South of Salta, Argentina.

Why? Quite possibly the most incredible drive known to man...or maybe just Tommy and me. Mud roads, overhanging valleys, deteriorating bridges, rocky 30km hillside climb in a Corsa (no 4 wheel drive), rising through the clouds 3000metres to reach the Los Cardones National Park (Cactus National Park). Literally cacti everywhere.....look! above! Stood on an evil, low lying, mini cactus....6 pins inserted into the soul of my foot. Ouch.

Went to hillside Mexican style village and picked up a lonesome hitch hiking granny. Where was she going? We didn’t know. Through some negotiating; her in a local dialect and us in our ‘no understandio your espanol’ she hopped into the passenger seat, and talked constantly en route. To fill the gaps, left for our responses, I recited whatever ‘personal information’ I could...from ‘hi, I am 27 years old’ to ‘i don’t have any children’, for all I know she could have been asking me for a light. Mid desert highway, she suddenly slaps the dashboard which I interpreted as ‘Stop’, which we did. She clambers out, and spends the next 10mins, trying to communicate something that appears to be of great importance. Eventually a passerby translated that she was asking us ‘how much for the ride’. I took a tenner and we went on our way. (This last bit is actually a lie)

Kinky Shorts?

2010-03-12T04:04:00.000-08:00

Monday was a free day. I had my mind set on spending it by the pool. Tommy had a slightly different agenda, and after a little persuasion I was to accompany him to Itaipu; a massive dam and one of the wonders of the industrial world. (yawn)

A 1hour journey and we arrived at the border between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil and asked for our tickets. Without hesitation, our request was declined as the tour operator disapprovingly pointed down at my shorts saying ‘no entry, your clothes are too small’. Don’t get me wrong, I had shorts on, but these were American Apparel- non-sexy shorts, not some cheek clenching numbers. Nothing I did could persuade him to let us in so we were demoted from the special tour of the dam’s operations to the bus ride, panoramic tour. You’d think that would suffice but in reality we were shoved onto a bus full of tourists, did a 30min circle of the dam (with 2 stops of 5mins allowed for photo taking...the best of which above) and returned to base. On completion of the tour, Tommy and I reflected on a bit of a crap day out, Tommy sharing the wise words ‘sometimes on our trip, we need to do things we don’t want to do’. Hmmm

Photos of Karen #6

2010-03-11T02:29:00.000-08:00

Karen, Beaux Artes Gallery, Santiago

Karen, Lazy, Sao Paulo

Places we've been . . .

2010-03-11T02:20:00.001-08:00

Rocinha Favela, Rio de Janeiro

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Bite Review

2010-03-08T01:19:00.000-08:00

Luckily I have been blessed with skin that for some reason is repulsive to Mosquitos. I can count on one hand the amount of bites I have receieved for the 2 months we´ve been away. I don´t wear insect repellent and don´t go to any great lengths to prevent insects from breaking into my room at night. They just don´t like me.

Karen however is not so lucky. Mosquitos LOVE her. Her milky white skin is an irresistible destination for all passing bloodsuckers and she is relentlessly bitten all day and night. Obviously I feel very sorry for her ( . . . secretly relieved for me . . .) and try to be as compassionate as possible, but that is not enough for Karen. Karen wants me to know the exact location of every single bite she has. She will place her limbs or part of her torso as close to my eyes as possible and point out each individual bite saying, "look, look at that one, bas-tuds!" At this point she will look up from pointing and give me a look that indicates I have to give her my opinion. Now, these bite review sessions can happen anywhere, on a bus, waiting at a station, even at meals and as a result there are usually quite a few witnesses who, when Karen looks to me for an opinion all do the same. . . What do you say? Wincing whilst sympathetically saying, "Oooh baby" or "Ouch, nasty one", just gets boring and I think everyone knows this. Maybe they´re hoping I´ll give them a new option for when they´re in a similar situation in the future, but each time I fail, mumbling, "oooh baby" and quickly try change the conversation.

(this post has now been corrected . . . thanks Dot)

Photos of Karen #5

2010-03-04T02:08:00.001-08:00

Karen, in mask, in shared Bathroom, Santiago, Chile

Karen, drinking, Santiago, Chile

Rain

2010-03-04T01:22:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Brazil, famed for it's easy going beach life and hot climate (is it famed for that? I don't know, but go with it) . . . has been washed out by a bastard cold front that has drifted along with us for over a week. What has made this worse is that every location along our way during that week, Buzios, Ilha Grande and Paraty are all beautiful paradises, perfect to relax on the beach for a few days . . . not to sit miserable in your hostel praying for the rain to stop.

Anyway, not to moan too much after two days on the bus we are now in Sao Paolo and are being very well looked after by Karen's friend Fernanda. Our day yesterday was spent wandering through the city, going to galleries and ignoring the rain . . . very nice.

p.s. Please see below some photos of places you haven't seen yet.

View from Sant Christobel, Santiago, Chile

Sexy Lady, next to Moai, Easter Island

Cristo

2010-02-28T03:56:00.000-08:00

Photos of Karen #4

2010-02-27T02:55:00.000-08:00

Karen, Easter Island

Karen, Hotel Room, Santiago

Update. 26th February

2010-02-26T13:55:00.001-08:00

Had a lull in blog writing so the last couple of weeks in short:

- Easter Island: Truly incredible place. 20metre high Moai heads, beaches, bumping into Mafalda from work whilst gazing at the sky, Tommy unknowingly chowing down on fish balls, me sucking fish intestine to respect local tradition (subsequently throwing up)

- Valparaiso: Hilly, brilliant graffiti, stinking 24hour operating port outside my bedroom window

- Mendoza: Cycling from vineyard to vineyard sipping malbec, joining a wine tour of 20 people where the guide spoke only to Tommy throughout, seeing Boca juniors play Mendoza and watching Tommy's indifferent/perplexed expression, Tommy on horseback (comedy gold)

- Buenos Aires: Slept behind airport trolley bay en route to Brazil

- Rio: 24hour sweat box hostel, moved to Ipanema glory apartment, Ipanema beach, thongs, Brazilians, caipirinhas on Sugar Loaf at sunset, Christ the Redeemer knee deep in clouds, torrential rain forecast for the 2 weeks of our Brazil beach tour, biking through Rio's biggest favela

Photos of Karen #3

2010-02-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

Karen: Bariloche, Argentina

Karen: Bariloche Argentina

Scalp Chachi

2010-02-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

13/2/10
Tonight was the finale of the Rapa Nui Tapati festival. Me, K-low and everyone on the Island headed to the centre of town to attend the crowning on the new queen. Starting an hour and a half later than billed the show commenced with loud tribal drums and an impressive light show all leading to a huge crescendo and lighting up one solitary figure on the stage. Dressed in a moomoo (probably picked up on a journey through India to discover his "new sound") stood an old man. His hair looked like he'd travelled back through time, stormed the 'Happy Days' set and scalped Chachi and he stood behind a blue synthesizer holding his guitar. With his intro being so dramatic the crowd were expecting big things and he didn't disappoint. After three of four minutes fumbling and gesturing to someone off stage he eventually plugged in the synthesizer and pressed play. Trying to describe the sound here just seems pointless because it was either so ground breaking our westerns ears couldn't understand, or , it was just the pre-programmed 'bon tempi' setting. This went on for 15 full minutes, occasionally he'd switch to a more experimental beat and then suddenly . . . after an uncomfortable silent gap . . . he'd switch back! Clearly a genius he then changed instruments and did an extended set of Rapa Nui folk hits on his guitar. Soon even the event organisers realised he was losing the crowd and sent out the hosts to try and prevent him from continuing, but, unfazed he ploughed on until he was done. With a dismissive wave of his arm he allowed them to begin. He was AMAZING.

P.S. Easter Island is one of the most magical places we have ever been. Beautiful, fascinating and very hot (Summer Tom is BACK!)

Santiago de Chile

2010-02-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

Admittedly we had been a little optimistic about how great Peurto Montt would be as a stop over, en route to Santiago. All excursions to the volcanoe were cancelled due to bad weather so Mr Forbes and I made the most of getting to know Chile by dining in a hotel equivalent to a Travel Lodge, going to the casino and watching 4 DVDs in 2 days.

Arrived in Santiago yesterday. Staying in a beautiful old building (French townhouse style....Tommy is currently standing on the balcony sipping beer, in a thong pant get up whilst doing some kind of plie), visiting museums, climbing San Cristobal and hanging out with our new Chilean friend Dr. Jorge.

We met Jorge on a boat in the Patagonian mountains. He claims he felt an immediate connection and therefore taken our comfort and happiness, in Santiago (his home town), into his own hands.

Jorge took us to his apartment today, to his favourite neighbourhoods and then into the mountains. He is determined to help us fall in love with the city.....we are.

What's in the bag.......

2010-02-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

........if you'd like to know email me

Photos of Karen #2

2010-02-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

Karen, Room 55, Hotel Palicio, Montevideo, Uruguay

Karen, Elevator, Bariloche, Argentina

Update & Photos

2010-02-06T12:48:00.001-08:00

Hello, we are now in a small city in Chile called Puerto Montt. If there was an equivalent city in the UK it would probably be Dover or Portsmouth as it is considered to be a "travel hub". Contrary to what you might think a Chilean Portsmouth is no more fun than the actual one so today we're headed somewhere we've heard is better called Puerto Varas. Fingers crossed.

Been in Bariloche for the last few days, very beautiful but the weather utterly sucked, causing all the fun stuff to be cancelled due to the wind. Gutted. As a result we went cycling twice, the first time (sunny) was lots of fun, the second (raining) was totally miserable and difficult especially considering the arse-bruises we hadn't noticed from the first time. Not a total loss though as we discovered an amazing hippy colony in the woods, had a good lunch, and then got stared out of a shop dedicated to clocks and dolls by the rude and intimidating owner. We will be in Santiago in the next couple of days and then on to Easter Island, woo.

p.s. Accidentally smashed the window in our room in Bariloche. Bugger.

p.p.s. Got some photos of Torres Del Paine developed & scanned . . . see below . . .

Lago Nahuel Huapi, Bariloche, Argentina

2010-02-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Photos of Karen #1

2010-02-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

I have obviously been taking lots of photos since we've been away. However, unlike at home, where friends and family are always around to do this or wear that infront of my camera here there is only Karen so here are the first of many . . .

Karen, Room 55, Hotel Palicio, Montevideo, Uruguay

Karen, on the sea wall, Montevideo, Uruguay

. . . many more to come . . .

Brief Update (With Reviews)

2010-02-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

Been busy recently, here is a brief update of what we've been up to. . . (with reviews when necessary) After trek across Moreno Glacier (very good see photos below) . . . went to Puerto Natales in Chile. . . (nice town, yet slightly odd, only comes alive for about 45mins everyday, and is otherwise totally dead apart from the packs of wild dogs that roam the streets everywhere (including puppies!) . . . From there took bus and boat to the Torres Del Paine National Park (quite definitely the most beautiful place I have ever been FACT, before you get here everyone warns that the weather is a bastard and that you should pack every piece of waterproof thermal you can get your hands on . . . probably quite good advice but weather was fine and trekked for two days in shorts) . . . weirdly bumped in Jamie Rea's old house master at the base of a glacier . . . (he bought us a cup of tea) . . . Went back to El Calafate (Argentina) . . . stayed our first night in a rank dorm in bunks (not as much fun as I remember & managed to annoy everyone by forgetting to switch my alarm off at 6:15am) . . . that is us up to date . . . we're leaving in an hour headed north to Bariloche for Swiss village inspired Argentinian based lake & forest fun . . . marp.

P.S. Mental note: When in the most beautiful place you have ever been (. . . FACT!) do not, for safe-keeping, place your camera in a tight sock, and then in a waterproof bag. The tight sock will, because it is so tight, push down on the shutter, run down the battery and render your camera utterly useless.

Perito Moreno Glacier

2010-01-31T13:05:00.000-08:00

Trekking on the glacier.

Big Ice.

Wow.

Patagonia's Glaciers; Argentina and Chile

2010-01-31T12:28:00.000-08:00

Facts

2010-01-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

I am not a bad passenger of airlines. I am not concerned by turbulence or the thought that we could at any moment plummet and crash into the sea. Karen however is, and our flights are filled with these concerns and her sometimes panic that we are indeed going down. Obviously I give her all the support she needs, lots of eye contact, an occasional squeeze of the leg and an on-going commentary informing her that everything is OK. However, I am starting to doubt my confidence in flying mainly due to the startling amount of research Karen has done in the field of aeronautical catastrophe. When hit by turbulence or headed for a landing Karen will, between her fear and worry, see it as the perfect moment to bring out some horrible and uncomfortable fact. These have included; "Most crashes happen in the first or last three minutes of a flight!" or "Did you know that Air France plane fell for 3 whole minutes before it hit the water!" I am not sure why these facts have affected me so much, but now, every time we fly they are repeated in my mind, over and over and over. Hopefully I will learn to ignore them or Karen will run out of such facts soon, or both.

P.s. We are in Patagonia, not the desolate wasteland I was expecting, more a kind of South American Aspen. Nice.

Trip to the South

2010-01-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

Having experienced the darker sides of Uruguay and passing most of our time eating crackers, going to the cinema or sitting in 70´s throw back hotel rooms, we returned to Buenos Aires on Friday.

Hostel in Palermo Soho presented us with a slight upgrade from ´sweat box with pooey fishy aroma´ to simply ´sweat box´. Caught up with friends, ate empanadas (with no undesirable gut ramifications) and welcomed our return to Argentina.

Caught a flight to El Calafate, Patagonia. The trip turned out to be a 3 hour hell journey... (albeit entirely worth it in comparison to a 30 hour bus ride) we seemed to ride turbulence equivalent to being smacked in the face by a tornado.

Have attached photo of the glaciars we are visiting tomorrow. WOW

Eurgh-ruguay

2010-01-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we set off from Montevideo to the "beautiful beach resort" of La Paloma. 3 hours later we arrive....apart from the fact the taxi driver struggled to know any of the local street names nothing seemed off kilter and we happily checked into Hotel Tuna.

Since the room was being cleaned we threw in our bags without much attention and headed off to the beach.

We fumbled our way around a rocky coastline, in search of a bottle of water - 30mins later we found ourselves at a beach bar. Lying in the sun we soon realised that Uruguay might be closer to the equator than we had ever been since our skin was beginning to shrivel. We resorted to an umbrella hire and two empanadas and all was fine. You would think that a dip in the ocean would be the answer but unfortunately the coast line was littered with jelly fish, too many to count.

At 5 (as everyone was arriving at the beach...which made us realise that sunbathing during the heat of the day is probably not done here - thank god i am not pale) we headed back. On arrival I realsied my maticulous cream application was not so thorough as I spoted red burn striped appearing on my calves. Attractive. To make things much worse a momentous rumble in my stomach confirmed the fact that the beach empanadas were not a good idea.

At Hotel Tuna we realised that given the lack of mozzie net and my ability to attract any local population of insects we were going to have to sleep with the window closed. For any of you that know Tommy this is pretty much classed as his most uncomfortable environment, combined with rattling blinds, 30+ degree heat, a stence of fishy poo and a noisy bed he soon retired to the balcony with a pillow. Predicatably he returned 15mins later.

Luckily at 7am i was woken by another bout of food poisoining...continuing for 2 more hours we felt it was time to say HASTA LEUGO to Hotel Tuna. Fortunately however, the temperature has calmed slightly because we are currently in the midst of a lovely tropical storm. Hooray.

Montevideo

2010-01-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

Had expected to be on the beach in La Paloma, Uruguay this evening but missed connecting bus and have had to stay the night in Montevideo instead. Currently sweating heavily in Hotel Palicio whilst K-low is upstairs watching TV. It´s been our first real day of travelling after the somewhat easy start to our travels in Buneos Aires (thanks Giles) . Today spent in a mixture of taxis, boats, buses and bus terminals trying to get places but failing. Hopefully tomorrow will be better . . . had fajitas for dinner, they weren´t big enough, there were too few of them and they didn´t have enough chicken inside. Otherwise they were amazing.

p.s. finished first book, ´Bad Times in Buenos Aires´: if you´re going to Argentina read it, it´s good.

Narcolepsy?

2010-01-16T06:25:00.000-08:00

Tuesday: went to see Avatar in 3D . . . a 10pm viewing (a massive worry) . .. stayed awake the entire time . . . woo hoo!

Mausoleums, Moustaches and Thongs

2010-01-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

And so week 1 comes to an end.

Giles has taken us to see the sights in Bueons Aires...most note worthy - the graveyard at Recoleta (where Eva Peron´s body resides) and a night at La Bomba de Tiempo; a night dancing like idiots to bongo drumming music.

However, most importantly our first week has been made all the better by what can only be described as a particular wonderful group of friends that Giles has introduced us to.

We have shared nights out, dinners at Zule´s (serving an extended Tuscan platter- yummmm) hanging out at Sandy´s pool in the baking 32 degrees (failing to match other latin american girls ability to wear a thong bikini with ease - keeping the albino bum under raps for now)and patient attempts to help us better our Spanish; they have been pretty much the best.

Margie and Sheyla held a leaving party for Giles last night - a Mexican theme. Perhaps to honour his current sporadic facial hair growth that vaguely resembles a moustache. On arrival we too were given obligatory taches (stick on versions) for the evening. Its nice to know that although we are hundreds of miles away from home, there are other people across the globe that also find humour in faux taches. Chappers would be proud.

Flight Portfolio

2010-01-11T04:52:00.000-08:00

Got on the plane to find I was sitting next to a cornish model called Isobel. Not that fit, but very long-limb-sy and long-hairy, she kindly gave us a few tips for life in Buenos Aires, before quickly hinting that her porfolio was only in the locker above and we could have a look if we wanted. . . which we did. As we flicked through Isobel told us about her experiences in the Argentinian fashion industry and how she dreads not being able to make a living if anything were to happen to her body . . . which was the exact moment the person infront of Isobel chose to violently slam their seat into the reclining position, slamming into Isobel´s face on the way. . . gold.

A Journey To Argentina

2010-01-11T04:43:00.000-08:00

Mild sense of humour failure at BA check in desk when
a)they didnt have me in the system but did have a ´Rodriguez Manuel Lowe´ and
b)they had me and tommy sitting at opposite ends of the plane
Small tantrum shortly fixed all above problems.

Enjoyable 16hours of turbulence experienced alone whilst Tommy (predictably) slept in a near coma state. One blather with a lanky model and a chicken jalfrezi later we arrive. Woo hoo.

Day 1 - Tommy loses his only credit card. No not from being mugged by a knife wielding Argentine. Just from leaving it in the ATM.

2010-01-07T02:37:00.000-08:00

100 films....a few essentials

Final Countdown

2010-01-07T02:31:00.000-08:00

Immeasurable levels of excitement.....2 days to go