Hellooo,
How are you?
Last week’s attempt to parody a cliche holiday thriller novel provoked more replies than I’ve had in a fair while, most essentially asking, ‘u ok hun?’ Seems I missed the mark on that one… I am in fact in high spirits and loving having a room to myself. I can now position the fan directly on myself throughout the night, and can transition betwixt the washroom and bedchamber without concerning myself with modesty. Best part is the silence. No more snoring yaaay!
The highlight of this week was a flying visit by Josh, who seems to crop up both in life and in these emails more than expected.
Josh and his friend Thom have just completed the Mongol Rally, which is an event where you have to get a shitty little car, drive it to as many checkpoints as possible, and end up at the finish line in Georgia. Pic of the checkpoints:
I’ve chopped up the texts I’ve had from Josh during the event and create an interview with the man behind the wheel.
Josh, a pleasure to have you with us. We join you in the latter stages of the rally, so tell us, how is it going?
Yeah doing well. Spent an insane amount of money. Seen an insane amount of cool stuff already
Tell us a bit about how the event works
Yeah it’s jokes. The competition is for who can go to the most of those checkpoints as possible in three weeks
And are you hoping to win?
We’re not really bothering. There’s some crazy cunts heading to morocco and stuff. Quite amusing to follow.
Where are you sleeping at night?
Oh mate Thom loves his hammock get a look at this
Actually I haven’t got photos of it
Camping has been calm. Did 5 nights in a row and then been the last few nights in hostels
And where are you at the moment?
Just made it to Bulgaria lol. Fucking done some driving in the past 2 days like. Good scenery.
Bulgaria, gosh! What’s it like there?
Erm it’s all not bad. Like pretty much what you’d expect with Eastern Europe sort of thing
You’re nearing the end of the rally now, so what’s next?
Still planning to swing by for at least a night in about 10 days time mate. Gonna be with you in vass Friday.
And come Friday, they did indeed arrive in Vassiliki. Both Thom and Josh were super tired and hungover, as was I, but we managed to have a very civilised meal where some surprisingly high quality conversation went down.
This was followed by a surprise performance from two Greek rappers at the bar directly opposite our house. They went on for a very long time, and played very loudly indeed. It was a proper racket when you were trying to have a conversation, but was actually quite fun to watch if you got involved. I popped a plastic chair in front of the stage and let myself get mesmerised by the performance. I snuck off for an early night and the others went on to experience the classic Club Vass Friday night (imagine a school disco: colourful lights, shit music, a room that clearly isn’t designed to double as a nightclub – tbf it’s usually pretty fun).
Josh and Thom headed onwards the next morning, aiming for France for a month of mountain biking. Seems like they’ve done this gap year thing pretty well.
It’s now Sunday morning and I have almost two full weeks of holiday stretching out in front of me. The past couple of weeks have completely floored me – after my month in the UK I’m not used to the heat or the constant sportiness – so very keen for a breather.
The plan is:
Week 1:
- Stay in Vassiliki (I’m working 2 days this week so kinda tied here)
- Windsurf
- Work out what I’m going to do with my life
Week 2:
- Athens trip
- Maybe a camping trip too, see a bit more of Greece etc
Keen to hear how your week has been.
Love,
James
