Ba From A Bunkbed……. With Only A Smile!!!!!

Iain:

The good news for Naomi and i is that Im up and out of bed!! The little knock i took on the stairs at the last hostel probably needed a little rest as oppose to an 18 hour bus ride and hauling rucksacks through the metro to the hostel but i think its lesson learned.

At this point Im going to have to do something that i probably dont do enough so get your sick bags at the ready. I will try not to release any eye sweat (big men dont cry….its eye sweat) my girlfriend……..AMAZING LADY!!!!! Ive pretty much been as much use as a chocolate fireguard for the last few days (that is unusual actually whowever just muttered no change there then). Even my basic of functions in this relationship/tour have been made impossible by my old mans back. I did wonder if she would keep me around now that my heavy lifting role has been compromised. I dont know if anyone knows but Naomi did actually try and kill/maim me with a coat hanger once. I knew after that incident – where i was left temporarily paralized in the raised armed position of a soldier shot in the back (see front cover of platoon) – I had the ability to push a very soft and sweet young ladys temper to the extreme. The truth……OK I was asking/begging to be coat hangered!!!!! With this incident etched into my memory I was also thinking about the film The Beach, which is apparently an excellent book but I dont really read so watched the film. The friends and couples all living a great life in paradise and tropical heaven until one of them is bitten by a shark!!! Miles from help and not wanting the dream to end or reality to bite (pun), they ship the poor man out of the camp so no one has to hear his screams of pain. Im not saying having a bad back is like a shark bite but anyone who has back pain will know it really is the most painful thing. Anyway, I did on occasion wonder if she would run out of patience with me as I was literally unable to do even the most basic of tasks……would she ship me off to my own island to quiet my mumblings of pain? Quite the opposite in fact. I really had nothing to worry about. Every single need and request was taken care of as I lay in my bunk feeling rather sorry for myself. She went into down town BA countless times on her own and came back with food, painkillers, heat packs, and she helped me up to the roof so that I could at least see some people. She even helped me to the little boys room in the night: no easy task when I was a dead weight somewhere in the region of 6+ stone heavier then she is.

I have always known that i am lucky enough to have an amazing girlfriend but i also have the utmost respect for her. She is brave and very clever and resourceful. Im sure sometime over this journey I will have to show the same traits and if I perform half as well as Naomi I will consider myself to be a better man than I am today.

One good thing about being the hunchback of the hostel is that lots of people were so keen to help and everyone asked if there was anything they could do to help. All different ages and nationalities. The hostel/travelling folk really are just all for one and one for all. It really makes you feel like youre never far from help if you need it. Its quite unique I think!!!!

Leading up to the complete lock up, I was limping around and as Ive said lots of people ask if your ok. It seems their general opinion is that you probably need to get yourself up to the top floor bar and relax. In a way Im sort of glad because Ive not left the hostel I really have met just about everyone staying here, at one time or another.

My favourite roomies have been the three Aussie guys who are simply nuts and have not seen an ounce of day light since they arrived. I think they may have accidentally sobered up long enough to take in the falls but as of last night normal service has been resumed. They are all early 20s and just make me laugh. I think I may be jealous of their amazing ability to just get on it night after night. I do remember having that power but it left me some years ago Im afraid. We have also met a fourth 20 something Aussie called Luke and for some reason I feel the need to take some care of the boy. He has a fantastic habit of leaving his passport laying around with money in it. Ive picked it up around the hostel twice now and given him a little pep talk about being a little more careful…..Im so old. A middle-aged Englishman giving a young Aussie surfer life advice. Ha ha ha!

Wherever you go on your travels you we always run into Canadians and we seem to bump into couples. Casey and Mike are our latest addition to the Canadian couples met on this tour. Just the most lovely people. They are both 23 and been married for four months. We had some long conversations with them when my sphere of mobility was around three metres. I have my own views on marriage – I guess you could say Ive become a bit of a cynic about the whole thing. When I said my old Why ruin a good friendship? line when asked why Naomi and I were not married, they were a little confused. To them getting married was the best thing ever, even at such a young age. Casey said to me that that they would face, fight and work through any problems that the future held together because divorce was just not an option. I felt very naive hearing these words from someone so young. It was very refreshing to hear a young couple with that outlook.

The only thing that we had to disagree on was that Jaguar is not pronounced Jagwar but thats an American thing as well!!!! Also Tuesday is certainly not pronounced 2sday in the Queens English and country music is an acquired taste not a staple of the music diet.

With me up and about and wanting to shed the cabin fever that had set in over the last few days we had a drink on the terrace and everyone was pretty much amazed at the speed of the recovery from unable to walk to up walking in less than 12 hours. It was remarkable but I did email my physio back home and he was straight in with help, support and advice and of course kick arse painkillers and heat packs. It just felt like something was stuck and just came loose, very odd!!!! Anyway, the group decision was that we had a low key celebration not wanting to rush things or end up bed-ridden again. Within 20 minutes of that conversation we were all in taxis off to La Bomba, local percussion band playing an array of drums and bongos in the very danceable Argentinian/ Samba style. Loads of people were there and we ended up in the middle of the crowd, everyone swaying and shaking their Samba booty with gusto!!!! One of the Aussie boys (Boon) found himself encircled by a mob of locals all clapping and shouting so he did what any, and all that weve met on this journey, Aussies would do……he shook his booty and worked the crowd into a frenzy!!! All the locals took a little go in the middle and then clapped the next person in. It was awesome and our girls did us proud in the sexy dancing stakes!!!!!!

We left there on a high but it was still early. Remember these people have dinner at nine or 10 and dont even think about going drinking or clubbing till two or three in the morning. They just love to party and BA is the party capital. We went on to a club but figured it would be silly to push the back so came home and called it a night.

It was my first time to show my new and improved smile. thanks to everyone for their support through the Billy Bob days……NOT!!!!! The good news is that my smile is back and its bigger than ever.

For now I have a working back and dont look like a bumpkin so good times ahead. Were going to stay for another couple of days to make sure Im good to travel but in all seriousness, stuck in bed in BA in the 25 degrees is not the worst place in the world to be so i need to stop moaning and get myself in a place to take on Macchu Picchu in the next few weeks!!!!!

To finish I must again mention what a rock of support Naomi has been and how much I love her and appreciate everything she does for me.

Pete the physio also deserves a medal. I hotmail him my pain and what Ive done and he offers to skype if i need to or to ring him for help over the phone. Anyone else in the world got a physio that would do that for them…..I dont think so!!!!!! If you watch Gerry Maguire with Tom Cruise you will understand the difference between paying someome to do a job and them actually caring about you and your welfare. That line is where Pete lives.

In conclusion Im in good health and both of us are having a great time. Naomi is sunkissed and looks absolutely gorgeous on a daily basis. Im a lucky boy!!!!!

Big love to one and all x x x x x Iain