Nai Harn

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33 Feet Good Holding
New dinghy dock to help get ashore

Nice Beach + Resort

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No Hay Peanut Butter

When I was in France, I was trying to find Peanut Butter in the grocery store. When I asked my flatmates boyfriend to help me because he spoke English, he did not even know what I was talking about. I tried to explain the concept of ground up peanuts and the fact that we put it on bread and he thought I was crazy. Well, the same thing goes for the Argentines. They do not have peanut butter. Our plan for our hike was to eat a lot of PB and Js, but it was not meant to be. We are eating a lot of Js though...

We just got back from one two day hike and one long one day hike in the Fitz Roy Range of the Andes in the Argentina side of Patagonia. They were all quite long and grueling hikes, but totally worth it once we got to the end. The first day we hiked into a valley and ended up at a glacier fed lake (Laguna Toro). The trail was hard - the first hour and a half way all uphill, then there was some flat ground, but much of it was marshy and so then we all had wet feet. Next was a loooooong downhill, which sounds like relief, but really is harder on me than the uphill. When we got to the bottom of the downhill, it began to rain really hard and the wind picked up. We hiked the last hour in the wind driven rain (haha, sounds like I am writing a PW) and finally arrived to camp about 6 hours after we had set out. Then we have to deal with starting the stove in the wind and rain and setting up the tent....but to me the challenge is what is part of the fun. The next day we hiked back, again, it was up, then flat, then down. CK hurt his knee on the downhill section and has been gimping around for the last couple of days.

Yesterday I (without the gimp) hiked up to the Laguna de los Tres, which is a path that affords beautiful views of Cerro (Mt) Fitz Roy, which is a huge craggy peak, and the tallest (at 3500 M) around. There is still snow on the top and the moutain shines kind of a bluish grey color. It really was a sight to behold. I have photos, but somehow they just do not do it justice...

Today we bussed back to El Calafate and tomorrow we will go to the Perito Moreno glacier, which is supposed to be quite a sight. Then Grant leaves us tomorrow afternoon and the rest of us (S, CK and I) go on to Puerto Natales, which is the Chilean side of Patagonia. From there we will tackle the "W" (S) and the "Curcuit" (me and CK) trails (5 and 8 days respectively). This will be the true test of our hiking and camping skills.

We are all so happy to be back in "civilization" where we can get a hot shower and some laundry done (it has been a while, I wont say how long..it is kind of gross - let me just say, I wouldnt touch any of us with a ten foot pole) and get ourselves ready for our next big hike...

I hope to get some photos and videos online soon, but with the internet the way it is here (Calafate is a really small town) I dont see that happening for a while. The next time I will be in a largish town will probably be in a couple of weeks.

P.S. Funny...as I was talking about smelling bad, a guy sat down at the next computer...and he smells worse than I do! I didnt think it was possible! Ciao!

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Excavations: Kynosarges

One of the earliest excavations of the BSA in mainland Greece was at Kynosarges (1895/6, 1896/97). The work was directed by Cecil Harcourt-Smith and seen as a training exercise for the major project at Phylakopi. The intention was to locate and excavate the remains of the ancient gymnasium, though the team also uncovered remains of a later Roman bath-house. There was much promised for the work, though no satisfactory report was published.

The Times (March 26, 1896) reported:

The British School are to be congratulated on having secured a piece of work which promises to be of such importance for the study of ancient Athenian topography; and if it should prove at length to be the site of Kynosarges, it will be a source of special satisfaction to Englishmen that the site, which was eagerly sought by two English excavators at the beginning of this century, and for whose discovery Lord Byron once planned excavations, should have been brought to light by the British School at Athens.

References
Anderson, J. G. C. 1896/7. "An epigraphic miscellany." Annual of the British School at Athens 3: 106-20.
Droop, J. P. 1905/06. "Dipylon vases from the Kynosarges site." Annual of the British School at Athens 12: 80-92.
Edgar, C. C. 1897. "Two stelae from Kynosarges." Journal of Hellenic Studies 17: 174-75.
Rodeck, P. 1896/7. "The Ionic capital of the gymnasium of Kynosarges." Annual of the British School at Athens 3: 89-105.
Smith, C. 1902. "A Proto-Attic Vase." Journal of Hellenic Studies 22: 29-45.

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Yıldırım Gibi...

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BSA Deaths in the First World War: the Western Front

All but two of the deaths of former BSA students during the First World War were on the western front. Following the death of Guy Dickins on the Somme a letter ('Waste of Material') was sent to The Times (July 26, 1916) noting the deaths of three Oxford Fellows.

All three lives were lost leading infantry attacks in France. They would be less grudged if it was absolutely necessary to use the best brains of the country for this purpose: but is it really impossible to find no more suitable military work for them to do?

The fact that so many former students of the BSA were used in military intelligence (e.g. Harry Pirie-Gordon) perhaps indicates that such expertise was recongised.

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Health And Home Fitness Can Begin At Home

Here are some tips on getting healthy without a gym membership

Better health and losing weight are almost always top the New Year resolution list for most people. If this sounds like your new year goal, this article is for you. You don't need a gym membership to improve your health and lose weight in the process.

Purchasing the correct home exercise equipment, creating a discipline and motivation to work out at and around the house are all you need to help you reach your goals.

Here are some tips to help you get started with better health and fitness this year:

* First, check with your doctor to see if your current health can take a new fitness routine. Let your doctor know that you want to start a fitness exercise routine at home.

* Buy a home exercise equipment. You don't need to buy an expensive equipment to start with, if you're on a budget, check out Bodylastics Home Gym. You can get a complete set of home gym equipment under $50 and they also provide complete video tutorials for you to follow instructions. You can also buy hand weights to build tone and strength. Other more expensive equipment is a treadmill, this will help with heart health and endurance.

* If you're on a budget, not to worry! There are many low-cost home fitness programs available nowadays. For example, home exercise videos, many of the home video fitness programs focus on using your own body to provide resistance.

* If exercise at home doesn't appeal to you, then go outside. Many outdoor activities, jogging, fast-walking, skiing, cycling and playing with children are some examples and they are great ways to increase physical activity.

* If weight loss is your ultimate goal, be realistic about your goal. Losing 1 or 2 pounds a week is reasonable, but it might take a while to see the effects.

* Get support from friends and family. Having a small team for working out is a great way to get you motivated and focus on your goals.

Note that you should get at least 20 to 30 minutes of cardio exercise 5 or 6 days a week, strength training is also very important for staying fit and healthy. For more ideas on health and home fitness, check out: "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle".

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A Day at the Grocery Store

Current Location: Nai Han Beach, Phuket Island, Thailand
Current Position: 07 46.57 N 98 18.05 E
Next Location: Passage to Maldives (potential start: Jan 17, 2007)

Everyone thinks we've got it easy. That life aboard Billabong is one big vacation. Non-cruisers laugh or give us "the look" when we mention that we had a tough day, or that we have too much "work" to do. Okay, I'll agree that we've got it pretty good, but it's not all strawberries and pink champagne.

We don't write much about our day-to-day chores or mundane tasks. We figure that complaining about how tough life is will only lead to a rolling of the eyes or bore the few dedicated visitors that we have. But on this occasion we bring to you a day at the grocery store, just to give you a taste of the other side of our life!

First imagine YOUR day at the grocery store. Nobody loves going, but it's not that bad; hop in the car, drive to the nice, big, air conditioned, one-stop grocery store, buy everything you need, roll it out to the car, drive it home, and carry it the few steps from the garage to the kitchen, where there is ample cupboard space awaiting. Fairly simple, definitely straight forward, and no big dramas. Alright then, let's see how our day went.

We were lucky enough to score a rental car. This being the high-season, most cars were rented out, but prices were high (for Thailand anyway). We arranged a truck with a covered back (as we needed to drop of our settee cushions for repair) to be delivered to Nai Han Beach between 8:30 and 9:00am. While I waited with the heaps of stuff we had brought in Chris went to meet the guy bringing the car. We couldn't believe our luck. Most of the rentals we had been in or seen in Thailand were barely running pieces of crap. The truck we ended up with was in premium condition, had a terrific air conditioner, and a working radio to boot. On top of that, the guy was actually on time and had arranged his own ride back so we didn't have to drop him off anywhere. Our day was off to a good start.

We were happy to have a truck for the extra protection and safety for driving around Phuket. We have driven is some crazy places, but nowhere has been as bad as Thailand. There are no rules. Cars and scooters will drive in any lane they want, change lanes without looking, and even drive against the traffic on the wrong side of the road. You have to be aggressive and confident, otherwise you'll find yourself stuck at a turn for hours waiting for a chance to enter the flow of traffic. Road signs and traffic lights are only suggestions, not requirements. Red light? No worries, just zoom on through if you can make it without getting creamed! We almost took out one scooter when he passed us on the right while Chris was making a right hand turn … Chris had done everything right; slowly braked, moved to the right edge of the lane (leaving room for cars and scooters to go around us on the left), turned on his right blinker and then began making the right turn, and still this guy tries to zoom by us on the right! Luckily Chris saw the scooter out of the corner of his eye and braked just in time.

The first thing you have to know when provisioning in smaller foreign countries is that there is no such thing as running to 'the' store. Not if you want the majority of items on your list. On average we visit at least three stores when doing a major provision. Our fist stop was Super Cheap. A huge warehouse-like store where all the locals shop. Super Cheap is great because since it's a "local" store the prices haven't been marked up. On the downside, it's not as clean as Farang (white-person/tourist) stores, has no air-conditioning, and is contaminated with a ripe fishy smell from the meat section. The most difficult thing though is that there is no English to be seen or heard. Most the time it's not a big deal, I can recognize the brand, or figure out the contents by looking at the picture on the can. But it does take longer, and many times it's hard to be 100% sure that you really are buying what you think you're buying. The one item I finally gave up on was dark soy sauce. The soy sauce isle was huge. At least 20-30 different brands with about 10 different types per brand, and here's a product that truly doesn't have any pictures or English to help out. I found the white soy and the normal soy, but couldn't figure out which one might be dark soy. One of the workers kept smiling at me as I went from bottle to bottle, but in the end the best he could do to help was to tell me "Soy-a-sauce" … yeah I got that. Finally I figured it wasn't worth saving 50 Baht for … I'd just buy it at a Farang store where there would be some English. The one upside about shopping in foreign countries is that you get really excited when you find the EXACT thing you are looking for. When Chris came back to the cart he had 15 packages of the coffee we like with him - I gave him a huge smile and shouted out "You Scored!". I never recall getting so excited when grocery shopping in America.

We checked out, loaded up the car (it was nice to have rented a car and not have to lug everything onto a bus), and then were off to the next store. Our next stop was Macro. Another warehouse type store (where everything is individually packaged, but then sold in large quantities). Macro is a much more pleasant experience than Super Cheap in that it doesn't smell, is cleaner, and has a wee bit of air-con. While a lot of locals shop at Macro it also caters to Farangs, so there is some written English and a few of the workers speak a bit of English. They didn't have as much as we'd thought they'd have, so we realized that we would be adding a fourth stop to our plan.

Tops was third our list. A real Farang shop, in a high-end Farang Mall – with horrible parking. It took us about 30 minutes to find a spot - round and round the lot we drove, avoiding people and cars who didn't bother to look. Luckily it was Monday, we'd heard that the weekends are even worse. Double parking is allowed - there are signs in Thai and English that even give the rules for double parking; leave the wheels straight, the parking brake off, and the car in neutral. Then when a person needs to get out, they just push your car forward or backwards so that they can back out! Because the Central Mall and Tops cater mostly to Farangs it is fully air conditioned and quite clean. In Tops all the tags are in both Thai and English. The mall itself contains common American stores (like Gap, Bebe, Warner Brothers, etc). The huge downside is that everything is marked up. Even identical products cost more here than they do at Super Cheap or Macro … but hey, at least you know that you are indeed buying tuna and not mackerel or some other meat concoction!

Finally, after running a few other errands, we were ready to tackle our fourth market … Testco. Testco is in another mall and caters to a mix of Thais and Farangs, so most things are tagged in both languages, and prices aren't marked up as much as Tops (but still higher then 'local' markets). We loaded up on the final items that we couldn't find elsewhere, and were finally ready to call it a day. It can be a little depressing when you look at your shopping list and notice that about 25% of the items still aren't marked off. This, however, is normal. When I make the list I put down everything I WISH we could buy (within some realms of reason), of course it's all a pipe dream as there isn't a country we've been to where I've managed to find everything. And now that I have favorite food items from a variety of countries I have a feeling that even back home there will be items I won't be finding!

We've now spent a whole day grocery shopping, moving from one crowded store to the next, attempting to decipher foreign labeled foods, and dealing with crazy Thai driving in between. We are both exhausted and I can think of nothing better than sitting back with a cold drink. But we still aren't even close to being finished. I long for a garage where I could leave the groceries in the car till the next morning … or maybe even on the kitchen floor. Instead we return to Nai Han Beach, where at least we are lucky enough to have been able to tie the dinghy up to a floating dock (much easier then launching a full dinghy through the surf from the beach). First we unload the zillions of bags worth of food from the car to the top of the steps leading down to the dock. Next we go back and forth, back and forth, lugging bag after bag from the steps down the dock. Then Chris gets in the dinghy and I hand the bags over to him. With every transfer we try to remember which bags have the heavy squash-able items and which backs contain the bread, eggs, and other items you wish to get to the boat in a somewhat familiar shape. We are impressed that we've managed to fit everything into the dinghy for one trip (we thought for sure that this would be a two or three dinghy trip grocery run) – mind you, the dinghy is nearly sinking and bags are stacked quite high. I climb over everything and off we go. With all the weight every little ripple in the bay sends some spray into the dinghy and we can only hope that nothing is getting wet that can't handle it. Finally we are back to Billabong. I hop off and stand at the stern while Chris hands up the bags and I place them in the cockpit (what, are we on transfer #5 now?). Then, almost done, it's me down below, with Chris handing bags down from the cockpit. At long last everything is aboard. Unfortunately because we are at anchor, and especially because this anchorage has been known to get rolly, I can not just leave the bags and boxes for tomorrow. But there are no roomy cupboards awaiting -- just small spaces that have to manipulated and pieced together like a puzzle in order for everything to fit (and not break underway). I spend a few hours unpacking and packing, moving, shifting, storing, cleaning and organizing, before I'm just too beat to finish. I figure I've put away all the breakable items and have placed the other stuff in canvas bags under the table, so even if a swell comes in or there is some emergency where we have to move the boat, things are stored well enough and out of the way. At last I can enjoy that cold drink!!! Of course it is also well past dinner time and we are both starving, but one of the additional errands we ran was filling the propane tanks, so the bottle is not currently hooked up, and anyway, I'm to beat to cook. Croissants and Nutella it is!!!

It takes me another almost full day to get everything stored. The most amazing thing is that everything actually fit. Chris always comments that he can't believe how much stuff I can squeeze in!

So now you know that it's not an endless vacation out here, but I'll tell you what we do have – a terrific trade-off. It might take us two full days to grocery shop, and sure we don't get everything we'd love to have, but there is no question that in return we get one hell of a good time!!!

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Exercise Regularly To Reverse Heart Failure

Studies upon studies had shown that daily exercise can help to reverse the effects of heart failure. Exercise increases the growth of new muscle cells and blood vessels that are often damaged in patients with heart disease.

Heart disease such as congestive heart failure is a chronic condition and it can be caused by a number of things such as high blood pressure and clogged arteries.

Regular exercise not only can reverse the patterns of muscle and blood vessels damage but it's also very effective to lower high blood pressure.

Researchers at the University of Leipzig in Germany reported that regular exercise increases the progenitor cells (which is a type of cells that repair damage muscle cells and blood vessels) by 166 percentage in both men and women. They also found a six-fold increase in the formation of muscle-repairing cells for active individuals. Replacement of muscle cells is exactly what patients with heart disease need. No increase of progenitor cells were found in people who are inactive most of the time.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5 million people in the U.S. have heart failure. It's an alarming statistics due to unhealthy lifestyle and lack of exercise.

I hope this short post can motivate you to live healthy and exercise regularly.

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20 Minutes High Intensity Interval Training Routine

Do you know that high intensity interval training is very effective for fat loss? In one of the studies, researchers at Laval University in Quebec compared slow, steady aerobic training with interval training in a fat loss study. The researchers were shocked to find that the interval training group lost more fat than the cardio group.

Here is a 20 minutes high intensity interval training routine you can follow...

It consists of 5 minutes warm up, 4 minutes fast-pace + 6 minutes slow-pace, and then 5 minutes cool down.

For example, if you're going to run, follow the routine below...

- Warm up with light running for 5 minutes.

- Then run with hard or fast pace for 1 minute.

- Then slow down with light running again for 2 minutes.

- Repeat for a total of 4 intervals (for 10 minutes).

- Then finish with 5 minutes of low intensity (or light running) for a cool-down.

The table of your interval training routine should look something like the following....


For more information on high intensity interval training, check out "Turbulence Training for Fat Loss".

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Bella Vista

We arrived in Ushuaia safely yesterday and set right to it. We hopped on a boat and got a tour of the Beagle Channel. Ushuaia is the ¨southernmost point¨in the world. Except for Antarctica. Oh and a few small ports which are south of here...but whatever! It is cold here. After being in Buenos Aires where it was in the high nineties and hundreds, it is strange to be back in 40 degree weather. I guess this is what I have been carrying around all those heavy winter clothes for.

Today we hiked to the top of a mountain and from the top there were the most beautiful views! I have a video, it is on the bottom of the page. Hopefully it works, I haven´t tried to upload videos before. We are all going to be tired pups tomorrow. You can also see some photos on Chris´flickr site: check here. You can also see our Buenos Aires photos at Chris site: here. I will be putting mine online soon, hopefully....

So we are at the end of the world, where it doesn´t get dark until about midnight and it gets light again in the morning around 5ish...It is crazy. I was so tired last night around 11, but it felt like it was about 6, so I felt like I should be wide awake. Then the sun streaming in the window made me think it was about noon, but it was only 6 a.m. It is hard to go to bed when it is light!

Tomorrow we will do some more hiking and then we will hop on a bus for El Calafate, which is the gateway to the Puerto Morena glacier and the Fitz Roy Moutains, which is the Argentine part of Patagonia.

PS I tried to upload the video but the internet is just tooooo slooowww!!! I will have to do it some other time. Until then, ciao!

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