Click here > to download Leaving London on Amazon.co.uk

Click here > to download Leaving London on Amazon.com

The sudden break up with girlfriend Emily Willow finds Simon Raven, ex-amateur rock God and bored internet producer, on a Boeing 747 bound for Seattle. Led by his twin brother, Chris, who is more than happy to exchange a career in fashion photography for the open road, they embark on a buttock-clenching journey of paranoia and self-doubt, as they traverse Interstate Highway 15 through backcountry America.

Along the way our hapless heroes bumble through bear infested wilderness, meet the eccentric and plain weird on the American freeway, escape a bullwhip wielding maniac in Montana and survive the evils of Las Vegas. Testing their friendship to the limit as they battle to reach their nirvana, which exists in the form of the bikini beaches of California, the brothers find inspiration on a journey that exposes the stark truth about work and relationships and which asks the question – what do you really want to do with your life?

Poignant, candid and true, Leaving London is honestly written and hilariously funny.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Simon Raven and Chris Raven were born in England in 1974. Best known for their candid overland travel writing, the brothers have spent the past decade searching and documenting new travel destinations across the globe. Their careers as travel writers began when they drove an old Ford Sierra from the UK to Vladivostok in the Far East of Siberia. An account of their journey was published in 2006 by Samosir Books titled Driving the Trans-Siberian. They are also the co-founders and regular contributors to tripsideways.com.

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Ever had the desire to simply jump in the car and keep driving, to wave goodbye to routine and commitment, to drive into the unknown with your arm out of the window hungry for adventure. Well, that is precisely what twin brothers and UK authors, Simon Raven and Chris Raven, decided to do whilst stacking boxes of frozen oven chips in a -30°C freezer. With a squeaky foot pump and an SAS Survival Guide, the brothers fired up their rusty £300 Ford Sierra and headed east. Not being petrol heads and having very little knowledge of the internal combustion engine, with luck they hoped to reach Poland and maybe even the Baltic State of Estonia – where lived, according to legend, the most beautiful girls on the planet.

After driving for six weeks and clocking up over 11,000 miles, quite literally living in the car, they miraculously arrived in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in Siberia on the Sea of Japan. What they had in fact done was to drive the entire length of the amazing new Amur Highway before it was finished, which crosses Russia in a 6,200 mile swath of cracked tarmac and potholes. Along the way our trusty heroes drink vodka with Chechen criminals, escape highway robbery, trade banana flavoured condoms with Russian cops, meet the eccentric and plain weird at truck stops in darkest Siberia, endure torturous road conditions and have a race to the finish with the Germans. Surviving this journey by the skin of their teeth, the brothers are forced to confront their worst fears in this toe-curling comedy that is both gripping and surreal.

Amazon.co.uk

Click here to buy in Kindle format>

Amazon.com

Click here to buy in Kindle format>

From bull’s testicles in Buenos Aires to bums and boobs on the beaches of Brazil, the Raven brothers embark on a new comedy adventure that leads them through the very heart of the Madre de Dios in the Amazon.

Along the way our trusty heroes tango through the Argentinean vineyards, cycle to the Moon in Chile, kiss Egyptians in the Inca City of Cusco, escape bullets in Bahia, panic in the Pantanal and experience one night with The Rolling Stones in Rio. Traveling along the notorious Trans-Oceanic Highway from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast of South America the bizarre and the beautiful cross their dusty path, as the brothers pack their pants and go in search of the real Carnival.

Buy it on Amazon

UK Amazon.co.uk: The Linger Loco!: In Search of the Real Carnival 

USA Amazon.com: The Linger Loco! In Search of the Real Carnival 

]]> http://www.simonraven.co.uk/news/in-search-of-the-real-carnival-journey-south-america/feed/ 0 http://www.simonraven.co.uk/exhibitions/follower/laos/ http://www.simonraven.co.uk/exhibitions/follower/laos/#comments Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:56:19 +0000 admin http://www.simonraven.co.uk/?p=207

iPod Monk, Luang Prabang (Laos) by Simon Raven © tripsideways.com

Sami Man (Tribal European) Finnmark, Norway. Photography © Simon Raven

Pachamama (Mother Earth) is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes. In Inca mythology, Mama Pacha or Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting. Since Pachamama is a “good mother”, people in some regions of South America usually toast her honour by spilling a small amount of alcohol on the floor, before drinking the rest.

Mother of Menghun (Xishuabana, China) >

Tamil Woman (Puducherry, India) >

Heart of Gorkhaland (Darjeeling, India) >

Onkadeli Bond (Orissa, India) >

Pachamama (Cochabamba, Bolivia) >

Africa in Gujarat (India) >

A young kid relaxes at sunset in a rowing boat, Patnem beach Goa (India).
© Simon Raven. All Rights Reserved.

A family cool off in a water fountain in Buenos Aires (Argentina)
© Simon Raven. All Rights Reserved.

One of 275 waterfalls that make up the dramtic Iguazu Falls (Argentina)
Simon Raven © All Rights Reserved.

Prayer Flags of Light, Observatory Hill temple (Darjeeling, India)
© Simon Raven. All Rights Reserved.