Far from being a time to relax and recharge, our three weeks at home were as hectic as any we could remember. No room for jet lag when your Homies get you out clubbing the day after you land. We wouldn't have had it any other way, of course. It was great to see family and friends again and spend time catching up. But even with every lunchtime and evening booked solid, we still didn't get to see everyone that we wanted and left probably more exhausted than when we were travelling!
Many people asked us if we'd changed during our time away. I'm not sure. I think we were starting to change our priorities and outlook on life a while ago but our trip just confirmed that those changes are right for us. Still, old habits die hard and it's very easy to slip back into former patterns so we were desperate to get away again to cement our change in mindset. We definitely noticed how much more chilled out we are; how we actually feel sorry for people rushing around in London, stressed and moody and angry about irrelevant rubbish. I had a driver behind me shout obscenities because I slowed down to stop at a traffic light when it was about to turn red rather than zoom through it. He found me even more irritating when I just grinned at him. Poor guy: hope the extra thirty seconds he'd save by running red lights are worth the carcinogenic stress hormones. One big surprise has been our new-found love for hiking and we're already planning trips to Wales and the Lake District to climb up and down stuff. Well.. you wouldn't really go to Wales for any other reason, would you? (Aisha and all other Welsh friends: that's a JOKE, I promise!)
When we first arrived back in London, it felt like we were surrounded by giants. Why had we not noticed before how tall average Brits are?! It was so much more fun being on a continent with other vertically challenged people. The view is very different from way down here.
Imran's been getting a lot of attention from the ladies with his new hair do. I don't know whether it's the swagger that comes with having an afro or the fact that strange ladies out there like the Bollywood look, but he enjoys being eyed-up enough to keep the hair going for our Asia trip when he was previously adamant he was going to have it cut. Watch it expand in size photo by photo over the next four months!
So what's the summary for South America? The quickest verdict would be: "Bo shank." But I'm a details gal as you know and 'quick' ain't in my blog vocab (no jokes about being slow, please), so here's a run down, my style.
Our favourite places were Patagonia, the Amazon and the Galapagos, in that order. We would go again to all of these in a heartbeat. The nicest locals were in Mexico, closely followed by Chile. The latter served us the best wine and the former was home to the best food overall. Saying that, the ceviche in Peru's Lima and Nasca was perhaps the single best dish we ate. Rio was the best city we visited and Brazil as a whole was perhaps the best country. Peru is certainly the most interesting country both historically and culturally, and the Inca trail was our greatest achievement. I think the Argentinians might've been a bit nicer to us had there not been the matter of a little tussle called the Falklands War. This is a continent defined by easy-going people and dance. The people are so relaxed everywhere you go and this is a wonderful quality; however, make no bones about it, in a couple of places this feels like a poor work ethic bordering on laziness. Whether in England or Peru or anywhere else, teenagers are the same the world over: loud in their big groups, playing music through their mobile phones with silly haircuts and fashions (how OLD does that make me sound?!) Of course, the difference in South America was their genuine respect for adults at the same time as their annoying ways. It's a sincere continent. They live to enjoy themselves and that's why music and dance is such a big part of their lives in every country. Who wouldn't have fun there? Thank you, South America: you're unique, full of personality and character, and as Imran's old work mates would say in their impression of him: "You killed it, yeah."
I write this post at 8am in our hotel room in Singapore. The jet lag really does screw up your head and we've been up for hours, having already had breakfast in bed, been to the gym, meditated and tried to stand on one leg with our eyes closed for more than twenty seconds (if you can't do it, your body is older than it should be at 30!) Our heads are pounding and we feel like we want to puke, thanks to Imran's insistence that a 6am gym session will help with jet lag - it really doesn't! But it's 30 degrees outside already and we have a day of eating black pepper crab at hawker stands and drinking chocolate Martinis/Singapore Slings ahead of us in this great city. Tomorrow we head off to Vietnam and our trip really begins...
Asia, get a-ready 'cause the Lakhas have landed. Let the travels recommence!
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