Miika´s birthday on the 16th was fun, occupied to the shopping district of bara to the new york shopping centre we were greeted by good old lady liberty herself, after browsing through shops and record stores (have you ever seen a 70+ man headbanging to greenday) it was off for a viewing of topic thunder (strange but gurd) and when we thought it was off back home, the prospect of a free movie in the screen next door was worth a shot. Mamma mia actually wasnt all that bad, even if the brazillian couple insisted on dueting throughout. Home for gone 11pm Miika was in for a shock when we whipped out a huge chocolte cake and chourous´s of happy birthday!
Morning up, the terrible trio plus Faye (birmingham) and the yanks Buck(P-man) and Adam departed for Santa theresa, an area filled with colonial mansions and a rather riaque little tram ride... hanging over an aquaduct has never been so much fun! The night saw quicks trips and drinks around centro nd an encounter with a rather eager street side lady of the night...
Accompanied by Owen (from wales) and two random aussie women on holiday, a yage to Cristo Redento (The giant jesus you see in lots of rio reated business) was undertaken. Blue sky breaking through, it seemed we had finally pleased someone up there. Pictures taken it was a race ginst Miika nd Cherry to the bottom. Another night aroud centro ensued (welcome to the fold Becks and Anna (london) and Carolina (Equdor). A peacful nights sleep was not to follow, not only for miiak and becks´combined poke me till im out of bed teamwork, but also for Unwelcomed disturbnces from a certain person who had drunk just a tad too much that night...
After a 6am wake up call we eventually hit the beaches of rio, Ipanema was the destination, lots of sun, white sand and wavey waters welcome us all, the joys of the first sun in a week had drawn crowds of people, everyone at the hostel descended en mas to the sandy shores for some welcomed sun. Awsome day, challenging wves to games of chicken and burying Becks to head hight in the sand went down a treat.
Waaving bye to Anna and Becks, as well as two of our spanish roomies tody was little weird, waving them off as theyre journeys unfolded whilst our story has come unto its end...
Only one thing to do on our last night of our journey across america sur guess....
PARTY!!!!
Saturday, September 20
Thursday, September 18
What happened to the sun...
Well were still in Rio, and still waiting for sight of the sun, its been non existant since the day we arrived here... looks like im coming home a fantastic shade of white after all...
Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!
Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!
Monday, September 15
Welcome To the River Of January...
Or as its more commonly known, Rio de Janeiro!
Well, since were now in the final throw of our winter exploits, yes winter, believe it or not the last three and a bit months have actually been the South Americna winter, but anyway back to the blog... Finally managing to make it into paraguay for the day on the 10th, we managed to get through the brazillian border without getting stamped in and with a quick hop of the bus arrived in Punta este, the Paraguiayan border town that existed solely for cheap electronics, socks and pirated goods... Spending a few hours, and a couple of thousand Guarana (the local currency) we we struggled to actually get a bus back to argentina to stop for us, so rather than stand around like a bunch of lost gringos, walked to thge brazillian border point in hopes of catching a bus back to iguazu in Argentina... No such luck, and even un-luckyer still was being clocked by the border police. After only a minor ticking off we stamped in and out of Brazil and hopped a bus through the border point to the brazilian bus station. Alot of walking later and we finally made it to the Argentine border and the home stretch, Argentina, Iguazu and a rather raunchy Brazilian themed night of entertainment awaited our return to the hostal.
Checking out the next morning a 25 and a 1/2 hour bus ride awaited us, destination Rio De Janerio... well it did await until i had realised my ticket was burried mid way down my immensley rammed backpack, so, unwilling to repack after a 2hour solid effort the night before the only option i had for avoiding paying full wack for a new one was simple... My ticket was stolen the day before. My story rehersed, the company was willing to provide a free replacement... But only with a copy of the accompanying police report... Damn! What followed was a 20minuite dash across town to the police station, faining theft, and a mad run back to the office with only minuites to go before the 2pm bus... Moral of the story, dont pack your bus ticket half way down your pack!
Anyway, after stoppingg off briefly the next morning at a bus cafe for breakfast (they have the weirdest payment methods in Brazil, youve got to get a ticket from one person, served your goods by another, and then pay for it all at a third, tis very confusing and a tad confusing). Come 3:45 on the 12, we finally arrived in our final destination, Rio, and the first thing you noticed was the heat, it was like being back in cuba, so humid and in escapeable!
Dumping the machillas at our hostal in Lapa, when we finally arrived we set out for food and not alot else, it really wasnt going to be long before i got my first taste of the Brazilian party scene as me and about 8 other people from our hostal descended onto the street party literally just around the corner... Dancing to the sound of the samba beat, sipping the overwhelmingly strong Caipariskas (sorry cant spell them) the night passed in a musical blur before i finally got my head down onto my pillow by 5am. A definate night to remember!
After merely a cup of tea for breakfast, i opted to avoid the beach for the day, and instead opted to explore the local area with Rafa (Madrid), a chap also from the hostal who had spent the last year working in Bolivia. So within the day managed to explore a massivley huge comne shaped cathedral with the most amazin stained glass, explore the local historical sights, barter my way through the local markets (yes i was even shopping for prezzies) and even fit in time for a trip to botafogo and explore the immensely green region and its Jardin Botanical (botanical garden). Not bad for one day with only two hours sleep the night before.
Next day was a little less thrilling, travelling to the markets of Ipanima to pick up some goods proved to be a tad depressing, everyhitng at the infamous hippy market was drasticaly overpriced, only able to afford a cob of corn, i headed off with Rafa once more to see the areas surrounding the beach, truly amazing, its justa pitty that it was all very cloudy. With little else other than a game of footvolei to hold passing crowds attention along the beach (think volleyball but played with any part of your body except your hands) we made our way back to the hostal for a jumper, well not before being scared to death by a skateboarder wearing nothing but y-fronts zipping around the place. Heading out for beer and pizza, and even a visit to the flicks to watch hellboy (Awsome film), it was eventually time for bed.
Again as with yesterday today (15th) has been nothing special, wandering the centre, shopping for odss and a trip to the oldest coffe joint in rio has been just about it really... Oh did i mention its been raining all day??? I thought this was supposed to be Rio...
Lol, well anyway, im off, got some birthday planning to do... Miikas 22nd tomorrow... wonder whats going to happen...
Ciao pr Ahora amigos!
Well, since were now in the final throw of our winter exploits, yes winter, believe it or not the last three and a bit months have actually been the South Americna winter, but anyway back to the blog... Finally managing to make it into paraguay for the day on the 10th, we managed to get through the brazillian border without getting stamped in and with a quick hop of the bus arrived in Punta este, the Paraguiayan border town that existed solely for cheap electronics, socks and pirated goods... Spending a few hours, and a couple of thousand Guarana (the local currency) we we struggled to actually get a bus back to argentina to stop for us, so rather than stand around like a bunch of lost gringos, walked to thge brazillian border point in hopes of catching a bus back to iguazu in Argentina... No such luck, and even un-luckyer still was being clocked by the border police. After only a minor ticking off we stamped in and out of Brazil and hopped a bus through the border point to the brazilian bus station. Alot of walking later and we finally made it to the Argentine border and the home stretch, Argentina, Iguazu and a rather raunchy Brazilian themed night of entertainment awaited our return to the hostal.
Checking out the next morning a 25 and a 1/2 hour bus ride awaited us, destination Rio De Janerio... well it did await until i had realised my ticket was burried mid way down my immensley rammed backpack, so, unwilling to repack after a 2hour solid effort the night before the only option i had for avoiding paying full wack for a new one was simple... My ticket was stolen the day before. My story rehersed, the company was willing to provide a free replacement... But only with a copy of the accompanying police report... Damn! What followed was a 20minuite dash across town to the police station, faining theft, and a mad run back to the office with only minuites to go before the 2pm bus... Moral of the story, dont pack your bus ticket half way down your pack!
Anyway, after stoppingg off briefly the next morning at a bus cafe for breakfast (they have the weirdest payment methods in Brazil, youve got to get a ticket from one person, served your goods by another, and then pay for it all at a third, tis very confusing and a tad confusing). Come 3:45 on the 12, we finally arrived in our final destination, Rio, and the first thing you noticed was the heat, it was like being back in cuba, so humid and in escapeable!
Dumping the machillas at our hostal in Lapa, when we finally arrived we set out for food and not alot else, it really wasnt going to be long before i got my first taste of the Brazilian party scene as me and about 8 other people from our hostal descended onto the street party literally just around the corner... Dancing to the sound of the samba beat, sipping the overwhelmingly strong Caipariskas (sorry cant spell them) the night passed in a musical blur before i finally got my head down onto my pillow by 5am. A definate night to remember!
After merely a cup of tea for breakfast, i opted to avoid the beach for the day, and instead opted to explore the local area with Rafa (Madrid), a chap also from the hostal who had spent the last year working in Bolivia. So within the day managed to explore a massivley huge comne shaped cathedral with the most amazin stained glass, explore the local historical sights, barter my way through the local markets (yes i was even shopping for prezzies) and even fit in time for a trip to botafogo and explore the immensely green region and its Jardin Botanical (botanical garden). Not bad for one day with only two hours sleep the night before.
Next day was a little less thrilling, travelling to the markets of Ipanima to pick up some goods proved to be a tad depressing, everyhitng at the infamous hippy market was drasticaly overpriced, only able to afford a cob of corn, i headed off with Rafa once more to see the areas surrounding the beach, truly amazing, its justa pitty that it was all very cloudy. With little else other than a game of footvolei to hold passing crowds attention along the beach (think volleyball but played with any part of your body except your hands) we made our way back to the hostal for a jumper, well not before being scared to death by a skateboarder wearing nothing but y-fronts zipping around the place. Heading out for beer and pizza, and even a visit to the flicks to watch hellboy (Awsome film), it was eventually time for bed.
Again as with yesterday today (15th) has been nothing special, wandering the centre, shopping for odss and a trip to the oldest coffe joint in rio has been just about it really... Oh did i mention its been raining all day??? I thought this was supposed to be Rio...
Lol, well anyway, im off, got some birthday planning to do... Miikas 22nd tomorrow... wonder whats going to happen...
Ciao pr Ahora amigos!
Tuesday, September 9
and where are we now...
Actually were back in Argentina once more, we just cant seem to get enough of this country!
Whose been visiting... Suddenly the number of visitors have shot up?
Since leaving you last in Montevideo on the 3rd, we moved on further through Uruguay onto yet another small town, this time Mercedes, yet again another fantasticly small little place filled with people more than eager to get to know that little bit about you, and just for the sake of being friendly. Spending the night at a youth sports centre, and after catching yet another amazing sunset we went to bed in a room with about 30million beds, and all for just the three of us, while Miika and Cherry updated their diaries (something i still need to do) down in the main foyer i was challenged to a hybrid game of pool, a sort of cross between that and skittles played on a tabel without any pockets, with only three balls and five miniature skittles... Heading into the land of nod to the sounds eminating from the basketball court joined onto the other side of our wall late into the night, we again awoke to the sounds of a basketball match mid game in the morning... Had these people not slept?
Initially intending to return into Argentina, are plans were scuppered as when we arrived in the land of Fray Bentos we found the bridge between uruguay and Argentina was out of action, so heading further north after whiling away our time waiting for an evening bus to salto we arrived at about 10pm, too late to make the border point to Argentina. Spending the night at the 1star hotel Danilay we set off the next morning for our return to Argentina.
Spending some time floating round the Argentinian town of Concordia killing time we caught our first overnight CAMA bus to Iguazu... Now for the benifit of you guys back home where ever that may be almost all of the bussed wed travelled overnight on since arriving in south america have been semi-cama that only partially recline and with some amount of padding to make the journey more bareable (and if you were really lucky you got food to), this journey being in Cama is the bus equivilent of flying first class, and being in cama meant we were in for a treat, Massivley comfy leather bucket seats, pillows, blankets, a huuuuuge hot meal, and not only did we get drinks served we even had the option for a bit of the old Vino to all you had to decide was if it was tinto or blanco. The best bit, just when you think it couldnt get any better and before you head to bed, the loverly stewardess tending to our needs appears and serves us a rather enjoyable glass of champaigne... GET IN!!!!
Back to the main feature anywho, arriving in the town of Puerto Iguazu, we hopped on a little yellow bus that swiftly whisked us off to the Hostal inn iguazu (yup thats also the name), dumping the bags and grabbing a quick round of breakfast and showers we soon found ourselves wandering round iguazus main call as a tourist stop off, the Iguazu Falls. Viewable from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay we opted to explore the Argentinian side, and what a sight it was, wandering over meandering rusted walkways we couldnt help but be amazed at the sheer sight of the falls. Spending the day walking the many routes and experiencing the falls from as many vantage points as possible, the day eventually drew to a close (after finally catching the Coaties raiding the organic trash) and we headed back to Iguazu town for foodstuffs. Served by the Argentinian equivilent of Amy Winehhouse, and only managing half of my mamoth mango and pineapple pizza we departed back to the hostal via a rather interesting bus that took a rather drawn out route through all the local litttle residences.
Yesterday (sept 8th) saw a quick trip through the Argentinian border into Brasil, The first thing we noticed after getting thorugh immigration without either a visa or passport stamp (were we illegal immigrants, who knew) was the already drastic rise in temperature, it was HOT! Eventually finding a cash machine, the reality sank in of how little ooney we have left to sustain our last two weeks in South America, and after following a helpful Brazillian lass clad in purple to a shopping centre it was time for a rethink of plans... Looks like a return visit to Bolivia was no longer an option... Amigo, no mas mixto por tu!!!
Dining at Giraffes, on what quite possibly could have been giraffe (sorry Gerry) we set back off for argentina to book tickets direct ro Rio De Janerio and the on to our hostal and the bbq that awaited us. It seemed the whole hostal had jumped on the bbq bandwagon and as the food began to flow first from the salad bar, stomaches began to fill... then came the arrival of the mean feature, the bbq`d meat. Now, in Argentina they dont really have a nacional dish, for them an Asado (or to you and me a BBQ) is how they prefer to cook when theyre not feasting on steak, and tonight was no exception, mound after mound, wave after wave of cooked to perfection Chorizo (sausages) Bife (steak) and even Pollo (chicken but said like poh-jo) was shared out amongst the residents... No matter how much you ate, more was soon to follow. A carnevours paradise! "This is the best sausage ive ever had" (Cherry). Needless to say the Huge bucket loads of free alcholic Comparinas (?) kept the mood on a constant high, and yet there was still more to come.
After most were saturated with more meat than could possibly be imagined a tango show performed by two couples (one of whom looked like a proffesional pirate) legs and bodies flying everywhere faster than could be followed, it truly was quite a performance, but still there was more, being privelaged to dance floor seats, Miika was the first to be plucked form his seat by one of the short Tangoing ladies for a lesson, needless to say it was quite funny for us to watch, a rather intoxicated Miika trying to concentrate on the steps being tought to him, he did however do well considering his inhebriated state. Chuckling away at his return, it was then my turn on the floor as the short tangoing Argentinian then plucked me from my perch and began teaching me thje Argentinian art of the tango, and what a pair we made... Legs flying everywhere to the beat, stepping in time and even managing to throw a few twirls in, she was more than impressed with my ability to keep up. Not bad for someone who has never dance before, let alone danced the tango. Bowing out with dignity, it wasnt long before Cherry was plundered by the tango dancing pirate for her lesson.
Tango dancing frivolity over, we managed to claim a right to the ping pong table for slightly drunken ping pong before eventually realising that we were far to weary to keep up the fast paced miniature tabel tennis action.
Feeling nice and rosy after a once more large breakfast (cereal, fruit, tea and lots of dulce de leche smothered bread) were just having a bit of a chilled out day at the hostal, ping pong, diary writing and even sipping mate along the poolside are all activities that are on the agenda today.
Hey the weathers nice enough, why not!
feel free to comment.
(¨p)
Whose been visiting... Suddenly the number of visitors have shot up?
Since leaving you last in Montevideo on the 3rd, we moved on further through Uruguay onto yet another small town, this time Mercedes, yet again another fantasticly small little place filled with people more than eager to get to know that little bit about you, and just for the sake of being friendly. Spending the night at a youth sports centre, and after catching yet another amazing sunset we went to bed in a room with about 30million beds, and all for just the three of us, while Miika and Cherry updated their diaries (something i still need to do) down in the main foyer i was challenged to a hybrid game of pool, a sort of cross between that and skittles played on a tabel without any pockets, with only three balls and five miniature skittles... Heading into the land of nod to the sounds eminating from the basketball court joined onto the other side of our wall late into the night, we again awoke to the sounds of a basketball match mid game in the morning... Had these people not slept?
Initially intending to return into Argentina, are plans were scuppered as when we arrived in the land of Fray Bentos we found the bridge between uruguay and Argentina was out of action, so heading further north after whiling away our time waiting for an evening bus to salto we arrived at about 10pm, too late to make the border point to Argentina. Spending the night at the 1star hotel Danilay we set off the next morning for our return to Argentina.
Spending some time floating round the Argentinian town of Concordia killing time we caught our first overnight CAMA bus to Iguazu... Now for the benifit of you guys back home where ever that may be almost all of the bussed wed travelled overnight on since arriving in south america have been semi-cama that only partially recline and with some amount of padding to make the journey more bareable (and if you were really lucky you got food to), this journey being in Cama is the bus equivilent of flying first class, and being in cama meant we were in for a treat, Massivley comfy leather bucket seats, pillows, blankets, a huuuuuge hot meal, and not only did we get drinks served we even had the option for a bit of the old Vino to all you had to decide was if it was tinto or blanco. The best bit, just when you think it couldnt get any better and before you head to bed, the loverly stewardess tending to our needs appears and serves us a rather enjoyable glass of champaigne... GET IN!!!!
Back to the main feature anywho, arriving in the town of Puerto Iguazu, we hopped on a little yellow bus that swiftly whisked us off to the Hostal inn iguazu (yup thats also the name), dumping the bags and grabbing a quick round of breakfast and showers we soon found ourselves wandering round iguazus main call as a tourist stop off, the Iguazu Falls. Viewable from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay we opted to explore the Argentinian side, and what a sight it was, wandering over meandering rusted walkways we couldnt help but be amazed at the sheer sight of the falls. Spending the day walking the many routes and experiencing the falls from as many vantage points as possible, the day eventually drew to a close (after finally catching the Coaties raiding the organic trash) and we headed back to Iguazu town for foodstuffs. Served by the Argentinian equivilent of Amy Winehhouse, and only managing half of my mamoth mango and pineapple pizza we departed back to the hostal via a rather interesting bus that took a rather drawn out route through all the local litttle residences.
Yesterday (sept 8th) saw a quick trip through the Argentinian border into Brasil, The first thing we noticed after getting thorugh immigration without either a visa or passport stamp (were we illegal immigrants, who knew) was the already drastic rise in temperature, it was HOT! Eventually finding a cash machine, the reality sank in of how little ooney we have left to sustain our last two weeks in South America, and after following a helpful Brazillian lass clad in purple to a shopping centre it was time for a rethink of plans... Looks like a return visit to Bolivia was no longer an option... Amigo, no mas mixto por tu!!!
Dining at Giraffes, on what quite possibly could have been giraffe (sorry Gerry) we set back off for argentina to book tickets direct ro Rio De Janerio and the on to our hostal and the bbq that awaited us. It seemed the whole hostal had jumped on the bbq bandwagon and as the food began to flow first from the salad bar, stomaches began to fill... then came the arrival of the mean feature, the bbq`d meat. Now, in Argentina they dont really have a nacional dish, for them an Asado (or to you and me a BBQ) is how they prefer to cook when theyre not feasting on steak, and tonight was no exception, mound after mound, wave after wave of cooked to perfection Chorizo (sausages) Bife (steak) and even Pollo (chicken but said like poh-jo) was shared out amongst the residents... No matter how much you ate, more was soon to follow. A carnevours paradise! "This is the best sausage ive ever had" (Cherry). Needless to say the Huge bucket loads of free alcholic Comparinas (?) kept the mood on a constant high, and yet there was still more to come.
After most were saturated with more meat than could possibly be imagined a tango show performed by two couples (one of whom looked like a proffesional pirate) legs and bodies flying everywhere faster than could be followed, it truly was quite a performance, but still there was more, being privelaged to dance floor seats, Miika was the first to be plucked form his seat by one of the short Tangoing ladies for a lesson, needless to say it was quite funny for us to watch, a rather intoxicated Miika trying to concentrate on the steps being tought to him, he did however do well considering his inhebriated state. Chuckling away at his return, it was then my turn on the floor as the short tangoing Argentinian then plucked me from my perch and began teaching me thje Argentinian art of the tango, and what a pair we made... Legs flying everywhere to the beat, stepping in time and even managing to throw a few twirls in, she was more than impressed with my ability to keep up. Not bad for someone who has never dance before, let alone danced the tango. Bowing out with dignity, it wasnt long before Cherry was plundered by the tango dancing pirate for her lesson.
Tango dancing frivolity over, we managed to claim a right to the ping pong table for slightly drunken ping pong before eventually realising that we were far to weary to keep up the fast paced miniature tabel tennis action.
Feeling nice and rosy after a once more large breakfast (cereal, fruit, tea and lots of dulce de leche smothered bread) were just having a bit of a chilled out day at the hostal, ping pong, diary writing and even sipping mate along the poolside are all activities that are on the agenda today.
Hey the weathers nice enough, why not!
feel free to comment.
(¨p)
Wednesday, September 3
Uruguay...no really, its a country!!!
Buenos Aires, a citythat never sleeps, and an interesting one at that. Our last night in the city was spent dining in a chinese resteraut for Mio´s leaving meal and escaing the blaring musiof the hostel pre pyjama party, twhich when we did return a rather scary man from recption was prancing round in his tightie whities, others in nighties, and one particular individual who had somehow managed to wind up sporting a toilet seat around his head???
Fondly leaving the joys, memories and and unfortuneatly Mio (he was flying home) all back in Buenos Aires we departed via a three hour ferry to the more relaxed and even more mate obsessed country of Uruguay, setting up home for the night and exploring the old smugglers port town of Colonia.
Morning up, it was off to our next stop Montevido, another ocean side city, noticeably bigger than Colonia, but still nothing to big. There really is not much to the city, some fairly grand buidings but not much more than that to be truthful.
Being honest, there isnt alot going on here in Uruguay, its a bit like wales in essence, filled with nothing (and without the sheep), but it is so laid back, and im not suprised really... Uruguay only really became known to the world about 6 or 7 years ago, theres really no tourists here at all that can dilute the feeling here.
Fondly leaving the joys, memories and and unfortuneatly Mio (he was flying home) all back in Buenos Aires we departed via a three hour ferry to the more relaxed and even more mate obsessed country of Uruguay, setting up home for the night and exploring the old smugglers port town of Colonia.
It truly did feel like all that was mising was the odd pirate or two roaming the town. After wathing one of the most unbelieveable sunsets ever miika and Cherry departed for a fourth aniversary meal whilst to my horror, i discovered first hand that in the people of Uruguay really are nothing like the Argentine people... At 9pm i discoveredthat almost every bar in town was closed... ths definatley isnt BA!
Morning up, it was off to our next stop Montevido, another ocean side city, noticeably bigger than Colonia, but still nothing to big. There really is not much to the city, some fairly grand buidings but not much more than that to be truthful.Being honest, there isnt alot going on here in Uruguay, its a bit like wales in essence, filled with nothing (and without the sheep), but it is so laid back, and im not suprised really... Uruguay only really became known to the world about 6 or 7 years ago, theres really no tourists here at all that can dilute the feeling here.
Sunday, August 31
Vivir la vida loca en Argentina
Well the last time i attempted to try and write this blog im guessing maybe the extremeness of my loation and the mass of snow had an affect on causing a lack of internet connectivity, but fear not, i have returned to finnish what was started!
Life in the southernmost city of the world provided lots of fun, from skiing (im pretty sure i now hold the record for he worlds most southern pong wiffy) and sledging down perilous slopes (ok maybe not that bad), to the oppertunity to create from scratch our own two story castle of snow that was temporarily called home, to learning that in Argentine, a night out doesnt begin till at lest 2am, and can last straight through to ridiculously early hours of the morning... Ushuaia could offer it all and more, not bad for a town that initially consisted of a population solely of convicts.
Ushuaia had it all, and we even began to explore the joys of homecooking in our hostels kitchen ranging from stir fry like dishes to making several pizzas all from scratch, not to mention explore the bars, but not before 2am at the earliest, and talk about the english artists whom are kown so well for theyre musical inputs into the country, the journey home proved to be the most entertaining (Otra posta!!!!). The joys of singing karaoke to a bunch of people who no not wht you sing, or at least attempt to are also not to be missed, but interesting still are the results of gathering an englishman with the french Maire-Lou, and Wendy (from hong kong)... Perculiar indeed!
Leaving the land of Ushuaia after calling it home for four days we spent a lovely 12 hours plus bussing back up north, not a simple matter as to leave Ushuia we hd to go back into Chile and its customs, only to then have to go back across a ferry boat and through Argentinian customs once more to return to Argentine... no easy matter that was for sure. Heading into Punto Madryn, a town famous for its whale population, and noticeably hotter climates we made home for the night at our hostal and decided that the morning to follow we would set out to explore on bikes.
Morning broken, and a group of four weary travellers later with bikes under foot we set off for a 24km round trip to punta loma to find a seal reserve and a rather interesting journey...within the space of five minutes not only had we spotted our first whale, but also a rather large flock of flamingos sunbathing along the beach... well i guess even they need a holiday from time to time. The reserve was not quite what we hoped for, the entrance fee had risen drastically, so when we decided to covertly sneak into the area on foot, a ranger with a raher oversized pair of binoculers spotted us fairly early on... Needless to say our plot and despite great character acting our pretending to be armadillos was not quite up to scratch for this people spotter.
Back in Madryn it was back with the bikes and off to the harbour for a good few solid hours of whale watching, it was pretty unbelievable really we had been lucky enough to witness the odd whale fling itslef from the waters only to come crashing back down whilst we had been cycling, but it seemed that now we were within an arms reach the whales just wernt up for frolicing around. Theyre pretty amazing to watch, and quite a surprise when they sneak up on you when your not ssuspectng and attempt to spout you with water, but who can truly blame them when they somewhat had a face onloy a mother could love.
Before the watching ran dry we were treated to a rather payful whale whom had taken to swimming about upside down, a sea lion who was lucky there were no orcas about, and a rather strange little penguin who seemed to be able to scare off the mamoth whales... What more wildlife could you ask for in a day?
Bussing it to Esquel with the use of yet another overnight bus we arrived the next morning, Miika and Mio setting off on a steam train journey whilst in the mean time Cherrelle and i set of to the little welsh settlement village of Trevlin in search of a welsh tea-house. Arriving and finding what we sought, it wasnt long before the tea and cakes began to flow, from rum laced fruitcake to pink strangeberry cake, to dulce de leche and chocolate... a cake for every occasion.
Back in Esquel we caught a bus to Bariloche, famous for its amssivley immense ski slopes and resorts, arriving in the pouring rain (the third shower wed had since being in ecuador) we found accomidation and settled down for some much craved sleep.
The slopes proved to be a challenge, not least for the fresh mounds of snow that laced every run, but also for the fact that when you hit a slope that suddenly becomes flat, snowboards suddenly become alot of work. The day however was truly fun, continuing from what i had learnt in Chillian my confidence on a snowboard soon increased and sooner than i knew it i was blasting down the snowy slopes faster than greased li9ghtning!!!
A side note to potential snowboarders, the security strap is very handy for when you want to use your board as a sledge... It stops your board from running away and taking a bath in freezing cold rivers, you have been warned!
Two days passed in Bariloche before a 20hour bus ride came to call destined to take us to the capital and party town of Argentina, Buenos Aires. The bus ride for some reason passed in a blur of amazing scenery ranging from odd mountainsides to lush green fields lined with cows (well Argentina is known for its love of Beef and its leather produce, if not just its Tango).
Arriving in BA for about 2pm we dumped bags and hit the movies for a showing of Se Busca (wanted) before heading to bed... ¨But Danny its a friday, you should go out¨It took just these words fro Miika, and a hot shower to convince me that gettig out of bed would be a good idea, It was a friday and im in BA, the party hadnt started yet so i had plenty of time to rummage through my wetaherd clothes crammed into my backpack and find a decent t-shirt for the night. Follwing the crowds of trendy teens and early twenty somethings i eventually stumbled into a club eminating electreo and house music, and somehow entered a time warp for it wasnt until the music ended that i realised it had almost reached 8am!!!!! It really does seem like in Argentina once you start a night on the town, your in for the long haul!
With 2 hours kip, it was up and out again switching hostels and eventually moving out to explore BA, Plans intercepted however by a group of three Aussie girls From Sydney i soon found myself wrapped up into conversations over coffe ranging from travel, to film and ontoto one of their friends puppy stories... Followed up by exploring a hippies market surrounded by people performing all manner of circus skills from juggling, tightrope walking and even dangling from a tree on cloth. Before heading off to some shops and eventually home, it was a chance encounter with a mime that proved to be the highlight of the day.
I can assure you being immitated by someone who looks like they should be locked up is quite odd, but also entertaining not to mention entertaining and yet still disturbing for all those with the fortune of witnessing the specticle, but the real joy comes from outsmarting the mime and causing him to leap over a fence whilst your stil on the other side Danny 1, Mime Nil! The night that followed was rounded off with a trip to a salsa club with many enthusiastic young dancers eager to strt there stuff to the sounds of shakira and other latin beats.
Onto today and its been a slow yet eventful day, sleeping until the cleaner came nocking at the room it was off and out to explore BA, Running into David an argentinian from Mendoza it was off for a now to be informative tour of the city, miniture spansh lessons (Finnaly sussed you out Cherry, hah) an talks about dear old Maggie Thatcher and the likes of Evita.
As of yet what the night holds is to be seen, with an invite out to some local discoteca, i could be in for a long night, we shall see!
Life in the southernmost city of the world provided lots of fun, from skiing (im pretty sure i now hold the record for he worlds most southern pong wiffy) and sledging down perilous slopes (ok maybe not that bad), to the oppertunity to create from scratch our own two story castle of snow that was temporarily called home, to learning that in Argentine, a night out doesnt begin till at lest 2am, and can last straight through to ridiculously early hours of the morning... Ushuaia could offer it all and more, not bad for a town that initially consisted of a population solely of convicts.
Ushuaia had it all, and we even began to explore the joys of homecooking in our hostels kitchen ranging from stir fry like dishes to making several pizzas all from scratch, not to mention explore the bars, but not before 2am at the earliest, and talk about the english artists whom are kown so well for theyre musical inputs into the country, the journey home proved to be the most entertaining (Otra posta!!!!). The joys of singing karaoke to a bunch of people who no not wht you sing, or at least attempt to are also not to be missed, but interesting still are the results of gathering an englishman with the french Maire-Lou, and Wendy (from hong kong)... Perculiar indeed!
Leaving the land of Ushuaia after calling it home for four days we spent a lovely 12 hours plus bussing back up north, not a simple matter as to leave Ushuia we hd to go back into Chile and its customs, only to then have to go back across a ferry boat and through Argentinian customs once more to return to Argentine... no easy matter that was for sure. Heading into Punto Madryn, a town famous for its whale population, and noticeably hotter climates we made home for the night at our hostal and decided that the morning to follow we would set out to explore on bikes.
Morning broken, and a group of four weary travellers later with bikes under foot we set off for a 24km round trip to punta loma to find a seal reserve and a rather interesting journey...within the space of five minutes not only had we spotted our first whale, but also a rather large flock of flamingos sunbathing along the beach... well i guess even they need a holiday from time to time. The reserve was not quite what we hoped for, the entrance fee had risen drastically, so when we decided to covertly sneak into the area on foot, a ranger with a raher oversized pair of binoculers spotted us fairly early on... Needless to say our plot and despite great character acting our pretending to be armadillos was not quite up to scratch for this people spotter.
Back in Madryn it was back with the bikes and off to the harbour for a good few solid hours of whale watching, it was pretty unbelievable really we had been lucky enough to witness the odd whale fling itslef from the waters only to come crashing back down whilst we had been cycling, but it seemed that now we were within an arms reach the whales just wernt up for frolicing around. Theyre pretty amazing to watch, and quite a surprise when they sneak up on you when your not ssuspectng and attempt to spout you with water, but who can truly blame them when they somewhat had a face onloy a mother could love.
Before the watching ran dry we were treated to a rather payful whale whom had taken to swimming about upside down, a sea lion who was lucky there were no orcas about, and a rather strange little penguin who seemed to be able to scare off the mamoth whales... What more wildlife could you ask for in a day?
Bussing it to Esquel with the use of yet another overnight bus we arrived the next morning, Miika and Mio setting off on a steam train journey whilst in the mean time Cherrelle and i set of to the little welsh settlement village of Trevlin in search of a welsh tea-house. Arriving and finding what we sought, it wasnt long before the tea and cakes began to flow, from rum laced fruitcake to pink strangeberry cake, to dulce de leche and chocolate... a cake for every occasion.
Back in Esquel we caught a bus to Bariloche, famous for its amssivley immense ski slopes and resorts, arriving in the pouring rain (the third shower wed had since being in ecuador) we found accomidation and settled down for some much craved sleep.
The slopes proved to be a challenge, not least for the fresh mounds of snow that laced every run, but also for the fact that when you hit a slope that suddenly becomes flat, snowboards suddenly become alot of work. The day however was truly fun, continuing from what i had learnt in Chillian my confidence on a snowboard soon increased and sooner than i knew it i was blasting down the snowy slopes faster than greased li9ghtning!!!
A side note to potential snowboarders, the security strap is very handy for when you want to use your board as a sledge... It stops your board from running away and taking a bath in freezing cold rivers, you have been warned!
Two days passed in Bariloche before a 20hour bus ride came to call destined to take us to the capital and party town of Argentina, Buenos Aires. The bus ride for some reason passed in a blur of amazing scenery ranging from odd mountainsides to lush green fields lined with cows (well Argentina is known for its love of Beef and its leather produce, if not just its Tango).
Arriving in BA for about 2pm we dumped bags and hit the movies for a showing of Se Busca (wanted) before heading to bed... ¨But Danny its a friday, you should go out¨It took just these words fro Miika, and a hot shower to convince me that gettig out of bed would be a good idea, It was a friday and im in BA, the party hadnt started yet so i had plenty of time to rummage through my wetaherd clothes crammed into my backpack and find a decent t-shirt for the night. Follwing the crowds of trendy teens and early twenty somethings i eventually stumbled into a club eminating electreo and house music, and somehow entered a time warp for it wasnt until the music ended that i realised it had almost reached 8am!!!!! It really does seem like in Argentina once you start a night on the town, your in for the long haul!
With 2 hours kip, it was up and out again switching hostels and eventually moving out to explore BA, Plans intercepted however by a group of three Aussie girls From Sydney i soon found myself wrapped up into conversations over coffe ranging from travel, to film and ontoto one of their friends puppy stories... Followed up by exploring a hippies market surrounded by people performing all manner of circus skills from juggling, tightrope walking and even dangling from a tree on cloth. Before heading off to some shops and eventually home, it was a chance encounter with a mime that proved to be the highlight of the day.
I can assure you being immitated by someone who looks like they should be locked up is quite odd, but also entertaining not to mention entertaining and yet still disturbing for all those with the fortune of witnessing the specticle, but the real joy comes from outsmarting the mime and causing him to leap over a fence whilst your stil on the other side Danny 1, Mime Nil! The night that followed was rounded off with a trip to a salsa club with many enthusiastic young dancers eager to strt there stuff to the sounds of shakira and other latin beats.
Onto today and its been a slow yet eventful day, sleeping until the cleaner came nocking at the room it was off and out to explore BA, Running into David an argentinian from Mendoza it was off for a now to be informative tour of the city, miniture spansh lessons (Finnaly sussed you out Cherry, hah) an talks about dear old Maggie Thatcher and the likes of Evita.
As of yet what the night holds is to be seen, with an invite out to some local discoteca, i could be in for a long night, we shall see!
Friday, August 22
Vamos El Fin Del Mundo! (To the End of The World)
So, now the possibly somewhat potentialy lacking in sanity group of travellers that we are have now arrived at the worlds most southern town, Ushuaia, and what can i tell you about this exotic and far flung destination, well i can safely tell you that there are plentiful amounts of snow, nestled a mere 600 miles from the land of Antartica, i guess its hardly suprising!
Hell hound at the hostal... Balacon!!!
Antartica, Thada way!!!
Saturday, August 16
Heading South... Hopefully!
Heading off from Santiago we found refuge for the night in a cold correogated metal shack in a small town nearby to Chillian for the night before mving on the next day towards chillian and what we were hoping was a snow covered little wooden hostel at the base of yet more snow capped mountains... Unfortuneatly this wasnt to be the case...
We found our little wooden lodge in the form of a hi hostel, so wooden lodge, Check. Snow on the otherhand was nowhere to be seen, apperantly the winter had yielded little of the much sort after snow in the area. So feeling slightly cheated we ate breakfast catching the opening of the Beijing olympic games before being accompanied by sam the alsation con pup as we took to treckking up the mountain road to the ski slopes at its summit.
Some time later after pausing occasionally to play in patches of snow we somehow managed to hitch a ride up the steepest section of road to the top of the snowy mountain in the back of a pickup truck atop alot of firewood and somebodies snowboard, thanking the driver at the top and with no intention of actually going to do anyform of snowrelated activities we wandered over to the snowy slopes... The temptation was just too much.
We hadnt anticipated on actually making it up the mountain so now that we had arrived at is summit n the doorstep of the slopes the thought of getting on the slopes was all too much... We just had to, after all, wed made it to the top, so scrounging what money we had on us we managed to pool together enough to get everything we needed forthe day... Including Snowboards, Board in hand, we were off with nothing to stop us. Literally!
After a good 5 hours of boarding and mastering the seeminglessley endless slopes (and the fine art of boarding a ski lift) we called it a day as the slopes began to close and made way back down the muntain on foot until with my words of "amigo por favor" a kindly old man in yet another pickup allowed us too ride in the back, so perched atop two rather large gas canisters the size oof water tanks, we rode back down to our hostal/lodge for an expected dinner that tuned out to come with a gratituatry three course waiter service. Rather bizzare in all honesty.
Leaving Chillian the next morning we returned to the small town hoping for a train to Puerto Mont, yet however the trains were still on strile so that meant hanging round a dead town until close to midnight for an overnight bus, oh the joys, this then roughly translated meant numerous hours sitting out in the train station watching episodes of painkiller janeuntil our bus was ready to go, not the best way to cure mind numbing monotomy butit was something.
Next morning in Puerto Mont we arrived a day in advance of our four day ferry taking us further south down Chile to Puerto Natales, stocking up on food and feeling a new addiction to manajar (a toffee like substance) forming and a trip to the huge ripleys shopping centre we made it through to the next day in which we discovered upon arriving at the harbour that the ferry was a day late. So with little option but to sit out another day in Puerto Mont we returned to the shopping centre for trip to the cinema to watch wall-e and la momia tres! Thus now re-affirming never before hatered towards Brendan Fraiser and wishing his end could come rather swiftly.
Next morning we arrived at the harbour and after sitting round for a few hours, borded at 2 via a huge wagon lift that took all the ferys passengers up to the top deck in one go before the ferry left three hours late of its initial departure at 7... Four days away from land, what lay in store the next foiur days was anyones guess.
The first two nights were incredibly rough, and i can say fairly surely that all aboard were suffering the effects of the rough night time seas, at least we had three meals a day to tide us over, almost all of which were more than welcomed by us, somewhat the best we had eaten for a while. With the occasional sighting of Dolphins on and off through the day our last night was by far the calmest and the one in which we all got the most kip.
A snowy way to start the day.
Waking to a blizzrad of snow in the morning we prepared to leave our cabiny home of the last four days to swap pur newly aquired sea legs for those of a land lover, so rather shakily we departed the ferry before being jumped by a rather over enthusiasctic mad chillian woman offering accomodation in the unfamiliar town of Puerto Natales, narrowly avoiiding all out warfare and a slanging match between representatives for each house, hostel and god knows what else we tumpled upon our current lodging.
Theres not much to say about the town of Puerto Natales, its small, everything is closed, and there is no ne to be found anywhere, but saying that if you wander to the supermarket, you will no doubt find the towns entire population bustling like ants around its isles... Saying that, tomorrow (Sunday) were hopefully heading further south, and if its like this already who knows what life will be like at the end of the world!
We found our little wooden lodge in the form of a hi hostel, so wooden lodge, Check. Snow on the otherhand was nowhere to be seen, apperantly the winter had yielded little of the much sort after snow in the area. So feeling slightly cheated we ate breakfast catching the opening of the Beijing olympic games before being accompanied by sam the alsation con pup as we took to treckking up the mountain road to the ski slopes at its summit.
Some time later after pausing occasionally to play in patches of snow we somehow managed to hitch a ride up the steepest section of road to the top of the snowy mountain in the back of a pickup truck atop alot of firewood and somebodies snowboard, thanking the driver at the top and with no intention of actually going to do anyform of snowrelated activities we wandered over to the snowy slopes... The temptation was just too much.
We hadnt anticipated on actually making it up the mountain so now that we had arrived at is summit n the doorstep of the slopes the thought of getting on the slopes was all too much... We just had to, after all, wed made it to the top, so scrounging what money we had on us we managed to pool together enough to get everything we needed forthe day... Including Snowboards, Board in hand, we were off with nothing to stop us. Literally!
Atop the mighty steed!
After a good 5 hours of boarding and mastering the seeminglessley endless slopes (and the fine art of boarding a ski lift) we called it a day as the slopes began to close and made way back down the muntain on foot until with my words of "amigo por favor" a kindly old man in yet another pickup allowed us too ride in the back, so perched atop two rather large gas canisters the size oof water tanks, we rode back down to our hostal/lodge for an expected dinner that tuned out to come with a gratituatry three course waiter service. Rather bizzare in all honesty.
Leaving Chillian the next morning we returned to the small town hoping for a train to Puerto Mont, yet however the trains were still on strile so that meant hanging round a dead town until close to midnight for an overnight bus, oh the joys, this then roughly translated meant numerous hours sitting out in the train station watching episodes of painkiller janeuntil our bus was ready to go, not the best way to cure mind numbing monotomy butit was something.
Next morning in Puerto Mont we arrived a day in advance of our four day ferry taking us further south down Chile to Puerto Natales, stocking up on food and feeling a new addiction to manajar (a toffee like substance) forming and a trip to the huge ripleys shopping centre we made it through to the next day in which we discovered upon arriving at the harbour that the ferry was a day late. So with little option but to sit out another day in Puerto Mont we returned to the shopping centre for trip to the cinema to watch wall-e and la momia tres! Thus now re-affirming never before hatered towards Brendan Fraiser and wishing his end could come rather swiftly.
Next morning we arrived at the harbour and after sitting round for a few hours, borded at 2 via a huge wagon lift that took all the ferys passengers up to the top deck in one go before the ferry left three hours late of its initial departure at 7... Four days away from land, what lay in store the next foiur days was anyones guess.
The first two nights were incredibly rough, and i can say fairly surely that all aboard were suffering the effects of the rough night time seas, at least we had three meals a day to tide us over, almost all of which were more than welcomed by us, somewhat the best we had eaten for a while. With the occasional sighting of Dolphins on and off through the day our last night was by far the calmest and the one in which we all got the most kip.
A snowy way to start the day.
Theres not much to say about the town of Puerto Natales, its small, everything is closed, and there is no ne to be found anywhere, but saying that if you wander to the supermarket, you will no doubt find the towns entire population bustling like ants around its isles... Saying that, tomorrow (Sunday) were hopefully heading further south, and if its like this already who knows what life will be like at the end of the world!
Wednesday, August 6
Climates Chilian!
Believe it or not since my last post weve now arrived in our newest country, the land of Chile, however heres a bit f a round-up of our antics following my last blog...
25th: Departed La Paz on an overnight bus to Potosi.
26th: Potosi, small town infamous for its silver mines (no mines mind, the workers dont do weekends)
27th: Bus ride to Sucre, Bolivias capital... how its a capital compared to La Paz i will never know, its small tiny, and no where near the city la Paz is but hey, this is Bolivia!
28th: Returned to Potosi, weekend gone it was off to explore the silver mines where we discovered numerous toiling miners, zinc, fool´s gold and the joys of playing with explosive substances!
29th: Left Potosi for Uyuni, after our bus broke down three times along the journey we arrived into a cold and dark post-apocolyptic town of nothingness ahead of our journey unto the Bolivian salt flats.
30th: Wandered Uyuni, stocked up on warm clothing ahead of the freezing nights and played amongst the corpses of decomposing trains at the out of town train cemetary.
31st: Uyunian Salt flats day 1- Salt museum? Salt hotel?? Salt flats, a vast expanse of white nothingness... Great fun for taking comical photographs, but not so much fun for the eyes. Spent the night in San juan, the smallest town known to man.
August 1st: Bolivian Salt flats day 2 - Alien landscapes, visits to volcanoes, flocks of Flamingos, rocks that look like trees, red lakes and the coldest night imaginable.
2nd: 5am start, gushing guisers, and a fantastic morning dip in a hot spring was alost worth the agro from our childish driver... Lucky we parted ways at the Chilean border point.
Since arriving in Chile however there has been a drastic and heavily noticeable difference Bolivian and Chillian cultures... Most of all being the paved and smooth roads that welcomed us into the country followed by the extremely polite and friendly Chillean people themselves.
After arriving in the quaint little typical S.American esque town of San Pedro we spent the day before departing on a gruelling 24hour plus bus ride to Santiago at 7.30pm, not arriving at our destination until gone 8pm the next day, smooth going thanks to impecable roads, but hell due to its duration. santaigo on the other hand is a perculiar city, we arrived a little tired but have found, so far that it is a city full of prospect and is rather like something you would expect to find travelling around Europe, not south america. (Its kind of like singapore mixed with switzerland with its modern and crisp architecture and its mountainous backdrop).
Yesterday being the 5th was a bit of a break from the norm as the four of us took a trip up and off to the Andean mountain range to the resort of valley Nevada for a day full of skiing and snow, and yet despite my distinct lack f expertise atop a set of skii´s still managed to hold my own against the other proffesionals darting about... Even when attemoting a jump as i reached its peak my skii´s took flight and i rolled back to its base of soft thigh high snow!
now however it is with my sunburnt face that i must say farewell for now as shorly wee off to go explore the remains of santaigo and decide what to do for the rest of the day!
Adios mi amigos!
Danny!
(¨p)
25th: Departed La Paz on an overnight bus to Potosi.
26th: Potosi, small town infamous for its silver mines (no mines mind, the workers dont do weekends)
27th: Bus ride to Sucre, Bolivias capital... how its a capital compared to La Paz i will never know, its small tiny, and no where near the city la Paz is but hey, this is Bolivia!
28th: Returned to Potosi, weekend gone it was off to explore the silver mines where we discovered numerous toiling miners, zinc, fool´s gold and the joys of playing with explosive substances!
29th: Left Potosi for Uyuni, after our bus broke down three times along the journey we arrived into a cold and dark post-apocolyptic town of nothingness ahead of our journey unto the Bolivian salt flats.
30th: Wandered Uyuni, stocked up on warm clothing ahead of the freezing nights and played amongst the corpses of decomposing trains at the out of town train cemetary.
31st: Uyunian Salt flats day 1- Salt museum? Salt hotel?? Salt flats, a vast expanse of white nothingness... Great fun for taking comical photographs, but not so much fun for the eyes. Spent the night in San juan, the smallest town known to man.
August 1st: Bolivian Salt flats day 2 - Alien landscapes, visits to volcanoes, flocks of Flamingos, rocks that look like trees, red lakes and the coldest night imaginable.
2nd: 5am start, gushing guisers, and a fantastic morning dip in a hot spring was alost worth the agro from our childish driver... Lucky we parted ways at the Chilean border point.
Since arriving in Chile however there has been a drastic and heavily noticeable difference Bolivian and Chillian cultures... Most of all being the paved and smooth roads that welcomed us into the country followed by the extremely polite and friendly Chillean people themselves.
After arriving in the quaint little typical S.American esque town of San Pedro we spent the day before departing on a gruelling 24hour plus bus ride to Santiago at 7.30pm, not arriving at our destination until gone 8pm the next day, smooth going thanks to impecable roads, but hell due to its duration. santaigo on the other hand is a perculiar city, we arrived a little tired but have found, so far that it is a city full of prospect and is rather like something you would expect to find travelling around Europe, not south america. (Its kind of like singapore mixed with switzerland with its modern and crisp architecture and its mountainous backdrop).
Yesterday being the 5th was a bit of a break from the norm as the four of us took a trip up and off to the Andean mountain range to the resort of valley Nevada for a day full of skiing and snow, and yet despite my distinct lack f expertise atop a set of skii´s still managed to hold my own against the other proffesionals darting about... Even when attemoting a jump as i reached its peak my skii´s took flight and i rolled back to its base of soft thigh high snow!
now however it is with my sunburnt face that i must say farewell for now as shorly wee off to go explore the remains of santaigo and decide what to do for the rest of the day!
Adios mi amigos!
Danny!
(¨p)
Wednesday, July 30
It{s a small world...
The mystery of our sightings of the Zebra crossinbg Zebra finally revealed...
http://innocentdrinks.typepad.com/innocent_drinks/2008/07/gavs-got-far.html?cid=124615934#comment-124615934
It all makes sense, but only in Bolivia!
http://innocentdrinks.typepad.com/innocent_drinks/2008/07/gavs-got-far.html?cid=124615934#comment-124615934
It all makes sense, but only in Bolivia!
Friday, July 25
Machu Picchu and the beyond... To Bolivia!!!
Well what can i tell you about today, well i supose i can start in the very charming city of Cusco back in the days of Peru, fantastci city with cobbled streets... and floods of westerners, but that was to be expected as it was pretty much the port of call to get yourselves upto Machu Picchu, and to no exeption to that, we found ourselves on the third of four days there making our way up the steep climb from Aguas Caliente, (the small town at the foor of the mountain to Machu Picchu). Making the hour and a half treck in a record breaking 50minutes we arrived to the legendary ruins and begun to explore on foot.
Seeing as over the years as a group weve developed a taste for doing things the hard way, Machu Picchu was no different... Swimming against the flow of streaming tourists we wandered, stumbled and meinadered our way through the maze of ruins. No matter how often we hit a dead end you couldnt help but laugh at yourself for hitting yet one more. The defining point mind was the reward at the end, by taking the route in reverse we arrived at the watchmans hut, that postcard view over the vast ruins, and the view was more than worth the effort... Standing atop a mountain with a view so indescribable is something money cant buy... Well amybe if you have a mastercard!
Time is short so pending our departure from Cusco, we found ourselves making a dash for the Peruvian Bolivian border, and luckily despite numerous warnings of the border closing at 4pm, 6.15 and 7pm, we arrived with Mirta (a german lass working in peru) at the peruvian border at 7.30, stamped out... walked a few hudred yards and then getting locked into the Bolivian passport control and told we would have to come back in the morning.... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO IN NO-MAN'S LAND???
After some ten minuites of talk, we eventually got through the control (no bribe required), and made our way for a night in Copacabana departing the next morning for a stay on the tranquil isle del sol, a quiet island with one or two streetlamps and the most amazing night sky ive ever seen. After a morning dip in the waters of the worlds highest navigable lake, lake Titticaca, it was back to Copacabana for our bus to the city of peace, La Paz.
La paz has been one of the most bustling cities to date, it never seems to sleep, is always alive with people and taxis darting about constantly, and a rather risky business when it comes to crossing the overly congested roads (Unless there happens to be a Zebra on hand that is, nmot quite sure why mind).
The highlight however of my time here in La Paz has to be our cycling excursion along all 64kilometers of the worlds most dangerous road, a truly daring trip along the winding and trecherous road with a constant drop to your immediate left hand side, the side you must take. Not to worry mind, i only flew off my bike once, landing mere inches from a perilous 400 meter plumit to the bottom!
So, two movies and a bike ride later were now counting down our last hour in the bustling city of la Paz before we catch our bus to Potosi, home of the notorious sliver mines in which im intending to explore, not least for the experience, but also for the simple fact we get to play with some quantaties of explosive Dynamite!!!
Have fun one and all,
Danny!
(¨p)
Seeing as over the years as a group weve developed a taste for doing things the hard way, Machu Picchu was no different... Swimming against the flow of streaming tourists we wandered, stumbled and meinadered our way through the maze of ruins. No matter how often we hit a dead end you couldnt help but laugh at yourself for hitting yet one more. The defining point mind was the reward at the end, by taking the route in reverse we arrived at the watchmans hut, that postcard view over the vast ruins, and the view was more than worth the effort... Standing atop a mountain with a view so indescribable is something money cant buy... Well amybe if you have a mastercard!
Time is short so pending our departure from Cusco, we found ourselves making a dash for the Peruvian Bolivian border, and luckily despite numerous warnings of the border closing at 4pm, 6.15 and 7pm, we arrived with Mirta (a german lass working in peru) at the peruvian border at 7.30, stamped out... walked a few hudred yards and then getting locked into the Bolivian passport control and told we would have to come back in the morning.... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO IN NO-MAN'S LAND???
After some ten minuites of talk, we eventually got through the control (no bribe required), and made our way for a night in Copacabana departing the next morning for a stay on the tranquil isle del sol, a quiet island with one or two streetlamps and the most amazing night sky ive ever seen. After a morning dip in the waters of the worlds highest navigable lake, lake Titticaca, it was back to Copacabana for our bus to the city of peace, La Paz.
La paz has been one of the most bustling cities to date, it never seems to sleep, is always alive with people and taxis darting about constantly, and a rather risky business when it comes to crossing the overly congested roads (Unless there happens to be a Zebra on hand that is, nmot quite sure why mind).
The highlight however of my time here in La Paz has to be our cycling excursion along all 64kilometers of the worlds most dangerous road, a truly daring trip along the winding and trecherous road with a constant drop to your immediate left hand side, the side you must take. Not to worry mind, i only flew off my bike once, landing mere inches from a perilous 400 meter plumit to the bottom!
So, two movies and a bike ride later were now counting down our last hour in the bustling city of la Paz before we catch our bus to Potosi, home of the notorious sliver mines in which im intending to explore, not least for the experience, but also for the simple fact we get to play with some quantaties of explosive Dynamite!!!
Have fun one and all,
Danny!
(¨p)
Tuesday, July 15
Peruvian update!
Lima was a so-so stop of for us, collectivley deciding to reside for one night after a rather long trawl of the up-beat miraflores area looking for a roof, we eventually found a room at the stop and drop backpacker hostel... in reality what we should have done was stop, and turn back around for the door after we had been offered a rather dingy 3bed high dorm room at 7am... luckily we managed to talk our way ito a four person room for only a little bit more moolah.
Our day consisted of wandering the black and slight shade of grey markets of lima, to the purchase of a new camera for cherry, (after the unfortunate trading of it for a sock) a bit of a mooch, miika getting his bank card eaten by a machine (he got it back the next morning, thankyou veronica) shared beers with a canadian just out of the air force and a somewhat under influence french economics teacher... We also managed to fit in a trip to the new shopping center and arcades built into the side of a cliff. We had time for a rather unconventional game of table hocky before we settled in for a late night showing of kung fu panda, needless to say it lifted all out moods somewhat from the gutter theyd been in since cameragate!
Next morning, after chatting to quite to quite possibly the most polite drug dealer ever, we were off out of lima destined for a brief pit stop in Ica, to catch some means of transport to Huachachina for a spot of desert dunes, sandboarding and buggy riding! Huachachina itself is situated in ther middle of a mass surrounding of ominous sand dunes with only one way in, and one way out, and is also quite possibly the smallest town ive ever seen, set around a small lagoon it is truly a backpackers town. Arriving from Lima/Ica into Huanchachina at 8pm, we were destined to stay the next three nights with no seats available on any bus to cusco forthe next three days (meaning we were stranded in this small sandy town until the 14th).
Time spent between climbing immensley large piles of snad, attempting to ´surf´back down on precarious pieces of wood (just like a snow board, but on sand), eating BBQ´s till we exploded and for me, taking a sandboard & buggy trip that was for more intesnse than anything alton towers could ever throw at you, Curtosy of a driver whose sanity could somewhat be put to question.
Leaving Huanchchina we departed for Nasca, and the infamous lines... (a little on the dissapointing side) and then the demon 15 hour bus journey from nasca to Cusco... needless to say me and the contents of my stomach parted ways curtosey of the snakey, mountainous roads of the andes!
More to follow!
Danny
xx
Our day consisted of wandering the black and slight shade of grey markets of lima, to the purchase of a new camera for cherry, (after the unfortunate trading of it for a sock) a bit of a mooch, miika getting his bank card eaten by a machine (he got it back the next morning, thankyou veronica) shared beers with a canadian just out of the air force and a somewhat under influence french economics teacher... We also managed to fit in a trip to the new shopping center and arcades built into the side of a cliff. We had time for a rather unconventional game of table hocky before we settled in for a late night showing of kung fu panda, needless to say it lifted all out moods somewhat from the gutter theyd been in since cameragate!
Next morning, after chatting to quite to quite possibly the most polite drug dealer ever, we were off out of lima destined for a brief pit stop in Ica, to catch some means of transport to Huachachina for a spot of desert dunes, sandboarding and buggy riding! Huachachina itself is situated in ther middle of a mass surrounding of ominous sand dunes with only one way in, and one way out, and is also quite possibly the smallest town ive ever seen, set around a small lagoon it is truly a backpackers town. Arriving from Lima/Ica into Huanchachina at 8pm, we were destined to stay the next three nights with no seats available on any bus to cusco forthe next three days (meaning we were stranded in this small sandy town until the 14th).
Time spent between climbing immensley large piles of snad, attempting to ´surf´back down on precarious pieces of wood (just like a snow board, but on sand), eating BBQ´s till we exploded and for me, taking a sandboard & buggy trip that was for more intesnse than anything alton towers could ever throw at you, Curtosy of a driver whose sanity could somewhat be put to question.
Leaving Huanchchina we departed for Nasca, and the infamous lines... (a little on the dissapointing side) and then the demon 15 hour bus journey from nasca to Cusco... needless to say me and the contents of my stomach parted ways curtosey of the snakey, mountainous roads of the andes!
More to follow!
Danny
xx
Wednesday, July 9
Peru... An interesting begining!
Well the trip along the Devil´s nose was an interesting one best viewed from the roof of the bus/train hybrid that carried us alongf its worn tracks, the scenery really was spectacular, and the dogs were rather homicidal deciding to play chikcken with a train but anyway the train ride was a nice round ending to our time spent in Ecuador, after hitching a lift by bus to Cuenca, we spent our penuñtimate night in Ecuador eating lñarge portions of spaghetti and over indulging on oreeo flavoured ice cream. (not to mention a night in a muredrous looking room with three floors, but alas, all was good.
Our transition however across the Ecudorian/Peruvian border was rather unusual, shifted off a bus, hassled almost to the verge of madness by over eager taxi drivers we stamped out of Ecuador, (rather effortlessley) and made the journey across the no-mans land into Peruvian territories. We´d done well considering this was a rather notorious border crossing.
Once in Peru we found ourselves dumped from the bus, now 10 gringo´s strong in number (Claire, James from Southampton, Hannah and Lydia from Germany all joining the fray) and began the haggle of getting a cheap enough bus out of Tomes to Mancora our next, and rather surfery destination. By the cover of darkness we arrived into Mancora after a rather interesting bus ride, also involving a stop search throughn a designated checkpoint (no miss Peruvian lady were not going to carry half your shoe store for you thjrough the checkpoint). Settling into our home for the next four days at the Sol Y Mar, it was off to the steak house for a feast of steak bigger than any ive ever seen in my life.. Round one went to Daisy, the poor old cow beat me down this time with her humungous portions... Id have top return and reclaim my dignity another night for now i was defeated.
The next four days in Mancora consisted of lots of swimming, sand, sunbathing and a whole lot of surf... Not to mention alot of digging holes and making sofas in the sand... Not to mention the odd fish fight. Eating in the morning at the ´Green eggs and ham´ resteraunt, usually on large stacks of pancakes we energised ourselves for the days ahead, or until i defeated Daisy at the steak house. Surfuing was actually pretty fun, it wasnt really until the last day that id managed to secure my own board, and when i did i was oout for the waves faster than you could say greased lightning. But hey, not blowing my own trumpet but self teaching myself worked, and it really is quite a feeliong when you manage to catch that wave and ride it into the shore... All whilst maintainiong your balance. And just when you think life on a surfers beach cant get any cooler, a surfing Golden retreiver shows up and puts everyone else to shame... He did look very cool though, and despite my best attempts to steal the demon surfing dog away, his true love was the surf... after all whats the life of a backpacker to a surfing dog!!!!
Leaving Mancora on the 7th of July we boarded our overnight bus destined for Trujillo at 10pm and settled off into sleep, all except Charlie who was destined to be kept awake by the lack of ´recline´in her reclining chair, and the chair infront that was resting on her knees. It was at some un-natural hour in the morning that id semi-woke to find the rather sketchy Peruvian in the yellow football shirt and green baseball cap no longer occupying the seat opposite me, and also at this moment that i noticed Cherry´s bag was no longer nestelled between her legs, but rather it was behind her own seat... It wasnt unitll about 7am with an hour left to go before we arrived in Trujillo that we realised someone had forced theyre way into her bagand switched her camera for a white sock. Needless to say, the non-existance of a nights sleep coupled with the deviousness of a one socked peruvian was enough to put our group ihn a considerable air of unease. We swiftly moved up the coast for another surf destination of Huanchaco.
In fairness we havent done much since arriving in Huanchaco, despite the presence of great waves, we´ve not braved the chilly waters to surf, weve dined out, Swigged beer on our balcony and arranged our bus tickets to Lima, (to which were leaving tonight at 10:30 tonight). We´ve also been fortunate to re-bump into a New torker named Andre who was in our rafting tour back in Banos who accompanied us today and taken a trip to some rather overly restored inca ruins, and then in passing two of the girls (Hannah and Lydia) as we ate out earlier today. However today has revealed no sightings of Grandpa, an overly helpful sixty something year old peruvian surfer with an overly mellow ameican accent... But hey theres still some time to go!
As of right now though were all just whiling away the hours until the bus ride to Lima (10 hours journey time) Charlie and Cherry have gone for a manicure round the corner while the guys are surfing the net and plotting more of our trip. Hopefuly tonights bus ride will prove to be alot more relaxing than the previous one, we can only hope, after all its not fair to let the actions of one taint your perspectives on a country yet to be explored...
Our transition however across the Ecudorian/Peruvian border was rather unusual, shifted off a bus, hassled almost to the verge of madness by over eager taxi drivers we stamped out of Ecuador, (rather effortlessley) and made the journey across the no-mans land into Peruvian territories. We´d done well considering this was a rather notorious border crossing.
Once in Peru we found ourselves dumped from the bus, now 10 gringo´s strong in number (Claire, James from Southampton, Hannah and Lydia from Germany all joining the fray) and began the haggle of getting a cheap enough bus out of Tomes to Mancora our next, and rather surfery destination. By the cover of darkness we arrived into Mancora after a rather interesting bus ride, also involving a stop search throughn a designated checkpoint (no miss Peruvian lady were not going to carry half your shoe store for you thjrough the checkpoint). Settling into our home for the next four days at the Sol Y Mar, it was off to the steak house for a feast of steak bigger than any ive ever seen in my life.. Round one went to Daisy, the poor old cow beat me down this time with her humungous portions... Id have top return and reclaim my dignity another night for now i was defeated.
The food in Peru does carzy things...
The next four days in Mancora consisted of lots of swimming, sand, sunbathing and a whole lot of surf... Not to mention alot of digging holes and making sofas in the sand... Not to mention the odd fish fight. Eating in the morning at the ´Green eggs and ham´ resteraunt, usually on large stacks of pancakes we energised ourselves for the days ahead, or until i defeated Daisy at the steak house. Surfuing was actually pretty fun, it wasnt really until the last day that id managed to secure my own board, and when i did i was oout for the waves faster than you could say greased lightning. But hey, not blowing my own trumpet but self teaching myself worked, and it really is quite a feeliong when you manage to catch that wave and ride it into the shore... All whilst maintainiong your balance. And just when you think life on a surfers beach cant get any cooler, a surfing Golden retreiver shows up and puts everyone else to shame... He did look very cool though, and despite my best attempts to steal the demon surfing dog away, his true love was the surf... after all whats the life of a backpacker to a surfing dog!!!!
Leaving Mancora on the 7th of July we boarded our overnight bus destined for Trujillo at 10pm and settled off into sleep, all except Charlie who was destined to be kept awake by the lack of ´recline´in her reclining chair, and the chair infront that was resting on her knees. It was at some un-natural hour in the morning that id semi-woke to find the rather sketchy Peruvian in the yellow football shirt and green baseball cap no longer occupying the seat opposite me, and also at this moment that i noticed Cherry´s bag was no longer nestelled between her legs, but rather it was behind her own seat... It wasnt unitll about 7am with an hour left to go before we arrived in Trujillo that we realised someone had forced theyre way into her bagand switched her camera for a white sock. Needless to say, the non-existance of a nights sleep coupled with the deviousness of a one socked peruvian was enough to put our group ihn a considerable air of unease. We swiftly moved up the coast for another surf destination of Huanchaco.
In fairness we havent done much since arriving in Huanchaco, despite the presence of great waves, we´ve not braved the chilly waters to surf, weve dined out, Swigged beer on our balcony and arranged our bus tickets to Lima, (to which were leaving tonight at 10:30 tonight). We´ve also been fortunate to re-bump into a New torker named Andre who was in our rafting tour back in Banos who accompanied us today and taken a trip to some rather overly restored inca ruins, and then in passing two of the girls (Hannah and Lydia) as we ate out earlier today. However today has revealed no sightings of Grandpa, an overly helpful sixty something year old peruvian surfer with an overly mellow ameican accent... But hey theres still some time to go!
Chanchan ruins or crazy Gringos?
As of right now though were all just whiling away the hours until the bus ride to Lima (10 hours journey time) Charlie and Cherry have gone for a manicure round the corner while the guys are surfing the net and plotting more of our trip. Hopefuly tonights bus ride will prove to be alot more relaxing than the previous one, we can only hope, after all its not fair to let the actions of one taint your perspectives on a country yet to be explored...
Tuesday, July 1
Welcome to Riobamba...
A town where you can officially do bugger all. Id love to have something pleasent to say about the place but i cant. Aside from just trying to help the ecuadorian sat next to me understand his rebate refusal form there hasnt really been alot to today... Maybe tomorrows trip along the devils nose will prove more fruitfull!
Monday, June 30
Mustardings, Punctures, and a whole lot of adventure!
Well helu once again Since last time we mwt in Quito ive witnessed the anihalation of Kyle on his 21st birthday (our last rum and coke night), Mio and cherry getting a good dose of mustard in the fabled mustard trick of quito (luckily we were wise to the scam), However since departing Quito weve comcoured the volcanic trails of Cotopaxi, played in its snowy summit, gained a spell of comcussion, the cycled (at a rather rapid pace) back down to its base.
Re-grouping with Matt and Charlie we then made way to the small party town of Banos (and despite having the same name as a toilet its not to bad), and without much of a reason not to also indulged ourselves in a spot of advetureous activity.
Our second day in Banos took our six strong group decied to take a canyoning trip, so repelling along a series of waterfalls we worked up quite an appitite, so back at the hostal and two chickens later needless to say we were all feeling a tad stuffed. The night didnt bring much, full belies kept us back at the hostel until boredom struck amd i wandered along to the thermal hot baths down the road meeting an interesting Korean/american chap before heading out for a beer and bottle of Zhumier (the Equadorian equivelant to vodka) But actually alot nicer. Luckily i managed to maintain the comtents of my stomach whea rather intoxicated local decided we were the right people to show his freddie Mercury tatoo too...
But alas, today has brought Mios birthday, amd some what of a treat we decided to make waves as we took to the white waters surrounding Banos for a bit of, well white water rafting, needless to say despite the fact we got rather wet, we all felt pretty darn accomplished when over two ours and god only knows how much river later we had all managed to stay securely in the boat, and yes Jesus truly was proud of his six newest deciples of the waters white!
Tonight there isnt much of a plan, a couple of drinks in the leprechaun bar to celebrate the birth of Mio, and maybe an interesting meal of choichoi...
Who knows, in Ecuador, anything seems to go!
xx
Re-grouping with Matt and Charlie we then made way to the small party town of Banos (and despite having the same name as a toilet its not to bad), and without much of a reason not to also indulged ourselves in a spot of advetureous activity.
Our second day in Banos took our six strong group decied to take a canyoning trip, so repelling along a series of waterfalls we worked up quite an appitite, so back at the hostal and two chickens later needless to say we were all feeling a tad stuffed. The night didnt bring much, full belies kept us back at the hostel until boredom struck amd i wandered along to the thermal hot baths down the road meeting an interesting Korean/american chap before heading out for a beer and bottle of Zhumier (the Equadorian equivelant to vodka) But actually alot nicer. Luckily i managed to maintain the comtents of my stomach whea rather intoxicated local decided we were the right people to show his freddie Mercury tatoo too...
But alas, today has brought Mios birthday, amd some what of a treat we decided to make waves as we took to the white waters surrounding Banos for a bit of, well white water rafting, needless to say despite the fact we got rather wet, we all felt pretty darn accomplished when over two ours and god only knows how much river later we had all managed to stay securely in the boat, and yes Jesus truly was proud of his six newest deciples of the waters white!
Tonight there isnt much of a plan, a couple of drinks in the leprechaun bar to celebrate the birth of Mio, and maybe an interesting meal of choichoi...
Who knows, in Ecuador, anything seems to go!
xx
Wednesday, June 25
Rum, Gerrard Butler and a whole lot of height!
This trip gets crazier by the day, after leaving the home we had made for ourselves in cuba wasting lazy nights along the malacon before eventually heading via costa rica and onwards to the land of chocolate, (or rather lack of it) so far we have found no such substance to replace my previous fixation with mango´s... Lifes a cruel mistress, especially when the cuban sat trapping you against the window decides to empty the contents of his stomach all over the place as your coming in to land!!
Back to the here and nows of Ecuador, or more specificly its capital city of Quito, we´ve all finally managed to aclimatise to the altitude, and so far have yet to feel the effects of the infamous alc-titude sickness... maybe tonights 12litre rum and coke night might just show us otherwise. But alas, needless to say since arriving in the city that spans forever, we´ve been having a fantastic time. We lost our long standing travel buddy Mirko, and in his absence have now gained a fresh out of the box, Mio, who so far has taken to things like a duck to water. Only slightly detered by 18hours in atlanta airport hes good to go, and like the rest of us, now pretty much gotten to grips with our new found level of altitude.
Our first night was pretty relaxed upon our return from the airport, mio in tow, and soon lead to a fated encounter with two fellow travelers from the UK, Gerrard Butler (Ok his name is matt but he reminded everyone of the infamous spartan king) and Charlie, needless to say the next day we departed as a six for our first activity in the form of a trip full day had been spent taking a trip towards the centre of the earth, the Mitad del Mundo, the line of the equator... well the famous one, also now some 230 plus meters from the mark, but close enough considering it was calculated in the 1700´s. Required photos in hand, it was then off up the road to the actual line of the equator to balance an egg on a nail, watch water flow the wrong way and marvel at the mysteries behind a real shrunken human head, what more could we do with day eeh?
Me, Mio Charlie and Gerrard!
Heads above the rest!
Well needless to say after an interesting time at the equatorial line, still with energy to burn, the gang plus 2 made way up through clouds and beyond to the vast crater of Pullaluha (i think) where unfortuneatly upon reaching its summit, were greeted by nothing other than cloud, that and a shear drop, luckily a nearby waiter came to our aid and gave us a picture or two of the views that could be seen. Back through the cloud we went and returned to our hostel, just in time for rum and coke night...
Back at the hostel aching joints were soon swapped for ladels of rum as we began tucking into the 12litres of the stuff, needless to say after this the whole hostel came to life, Gerrard, charlie, myself, Mio and Cherry upon consumig many a portion of rum inevitably were a tad off the mark when it came to the pool, so as a result quickly swapped our cues for cups, and carried on. That was until Cherrys challenged a group of Israeli travelers to a round of pool to defend the english honour... No more need be said of this matter!
The night was not only fueled with rum, but also the buzz of meeting new faces, Kyle from Virginia, Eric who is cycling from Alaska to the southern most point of south america, and that crazy danish girl whom no-one understood. A great night filled with great memories and wise cracking spartan promise!
Gerrard, Charlie, Kyle and moi (Must be the altitude)
Our second day consisted of a treck through Quito´s vast old town and a 4 hour rund trip by bus to some pretty funky natural hotsprings, definately the best way of curing altitude induced pressures to the cranium! Not to mention let your imagination run wild with the prospect of a large pyschopathic bovine lunging out at you at any given moment!
Anywho todays been an interesting one, the gang sprouted three extra members for the day so, Me, Cherry, miika, Mio, Leonitas, Charlie (no not the unicorn), Kyle and now Frankie and louise, also from england set forth to concour the cable car of Quito, so some substantial queing and a climb to over 4, 800 feet we found ourselves atop one of Quitos many summits, watching as many a plane flew by... Below our feet! Parting ways with Charlie and Matt, they headed back down the cars of cable to get cracking with to theyre next destination while the remaining 7 of our party played in the clouds. The seven soon became six, Kyle (who incidently has just appeared behind me) departed for a solitary treck along to the next summit, tradgically cut short by the weather.
Cable Car crew!
Anyway, returning to the now im going to have to skidaddle, have to go pick up some laundry and prepare myself physically and mentally for tonight... ey we have to party, its Kyles 21st, we cant not celebrate with rum now can we!
We came, we saw...
Smile guys!
The view atop Quito´s summit!
Right guys and girls, until next time im going to have to dart, theres rum to be drinking, as always, until next time!
Danny signing out!
x
Ps. Ive also just been informed that Matt and Charlie on departing Quito were involved in a bus crash, in which then ensued a chase to catch the culprit down... I Love this country!
Friday, June 20
Addictions, and no, not in a bad way!
Hola amigos! ¿como esta?
Well i really dont have much to inform about this time round other than we´ve now lost our good pal mirko, who sadly has become the victim of a return flight to englland (Mirky you will be missed) and that on sunday were due to fly from the isle of cuba and truly begin out south american tour, starting with Ecuador!
My addiction to frsh mango has somewhat become almost uncontrolable, and im finding myself needing a daily dose to keep me at peace. Anyway, since leaving you in matanzas last weve further all topped up our tans at many tranquil beaches that have been so amazingly picturesque
that i still cant believe weve been to them, even the uber touristy Varaderro beach too.
The wether is still hot, and the sun just never seems to stop shining. And rather like the cubans, nothing is really phasing us as we lazily stroll from one day to the next. Its going to be a damn shame to leave though, Cuba truly is a colourful island with, well actually other than beaches, museums and horse ride... not much else to do... Heck weve even taken to swimming along the Malacon with the locals here in Havana.
The next two days ahould fly by, and before we know it we should be in ecuador welcoming mio to the traveller fold, but until then our last few days here arent going to be to productive. Althoughi must admit i will be reluctant to leave, ive gotten sooooo used to the copious amounts of fresh fruit here that im sure im going to have mango related withdrawl symptoms... Ah well, guess ill just have to replace it with ecuadorian chocolate!
Adios,
Danny!
xx
Ps. sorry about the lack of photos guys, the Cuban computers dont like my usb stick...
Mebe next time!
Well i really dont have much to inform about this time round other than we´ve now lost our good pal mirko, who sadly has become the victim of a return flight to englland (Mirky you will be missed) and that on sunday were due to fly from the isle of cuba and truly begin out south american tour, starting with Ecuador!
My addiction to frsh mango has somewhat become almost uncontrolable, and im finding myself needing a daily dose to keep me at peace. Anyway, since leaving you in matanzas last weve further all topped up our tans at many tranquil beaches that have been so amazingly picturesque
that i still cant believe weve been to them, even the uber touristy Varaderro beach too.
The wether is still hot, and the sun just never seems to stop shining. And rather like the cubans, nothing is really phasing us as we lazily stroll from one day to the next. Its going to be a damn shame to leave though, Cuba truly is a colourful island with, well actually other than beaches, museums and horse ride... not much else to do... Heck weve even taken to swimming along the Malacon with the locals here in Havana.
The next two days ahould fly by, and before we know it we should be in ecuador welcoming mio to the traveller fold, but until then our last few days here arent going to be to productive. Althoughi must admit i will be reluctant to leave, ive gotten sooooo used to the copious amounts of fresh fruit here that im sure im going to have mango related withdrawl symptoms... Ah well, guess ill just have to replace it with ecuadorian chocolate!
Adios,
Danny!
xx
Ps. sorry about the lack of photos guys, the Cuban computers dont like my usb stick...
Mebe next time!
Saturday, June 14
Site's Sand and Sadle Sores!
Well, after over a week here in Cuba and my first official report under way im not entirly sure where to start, perhaps at the begining... or somewhere inbetween.
Arriving in Havana on the 5th, after a rather long and slightly tiring journey we settled into the heat pretty quick, arriving at our cassa run by Dr.Porro we were welcomed with mojitos all round then departed for a meal in china town, great little chinease eatery that seemed to specialise in itallian food's a plenty. After two days of exploring it was off to our next location, the somewhat laxidasical (scuse the spelling) town of Vinales.
Vinales was pretty interesting, we travelled to a rather remote little beach that was suposedley crowded... all of 15 people hardly seems that much of a crowd. Anywho, our time in Vinales was also filled with our first horse treck, pretty interseting actually, stopped off at a tobacco farm and cave and even learnt how to roll proper jobby cuban cigar's (Dad theres one winging its way to you soon). The streets of Vinales are filled with a certain unique charm, and one thing we had learnt by now was that it seems everyone in these little towns, really does know everyone.
Have i mentioned that the food here in cuba is fantastic, huge ginormous sized portions of everything, a rather chillie con carne flavoured bean soup (very tasty) sooooooooooo much fresh fruit and juice, im actually addicted to mango's now, ive started requiring a daioly fix of my new favourite fruit!
Slightly sidetracked there, but leaving the comfort of our friendly host Neryda in Vinales again we departed for a four day stop over in Trinidad (taking an 11hr 45min taxi ride by the way). Trinidad a town which holds a history in the production of sugar, and in which no matter what street you turn down, your pretty much going to bump into someone youve already bumped into just before. Not only that but the city of Trinidad is amazingly colourful, (like the rest of cuba so far), and really does live upto its clasification as a world heritage site.
Bring on two more trips to the most amazing beach ive ever seen so far(and some more sunborn for danny) and a rather cool horse treck along a rather close your eyes and dont look down cliffs edge trails... Well worth it though for a swim in an amazingly cool waterfall pool at the end.
But to round up our time in trinidad was a rather relaxing one filled wioth fun experiences, people and places such as a dog named "Corned Beef", some pretty funky Israeli's whom I spent numerous hours pondering the mysteries of the 'Cuban box' and dancing the night away inside a disco cave! (even though the music taste was attrocious).
Alas, now we are residing in Matanzas for the coming days, and its a bit of a shock again going from the quaint country relaxed life to the bustle of the city once again.
Cuba so far has been an vast assault on the senses, full of colour, life, amzingly cool cars, it has so far been one hell of a country, heck ive even started to pick up the lingo!
Hope all is well, catch you soon,
Danny!
ps. internet access so far here is rather scarce, so the updates will probably come once every week or so!
Arriving in Havana on the 5th, after a rather long and slightly tiring journey we settled into the heat pretty quick, arriving at our cassa run by Dr.Porro we were welcomed with mojitos all round then departed for a meal in china town, great little chinease eatery that seemed to specialise in itallian food's a plenty. After two days of exploring it was off to our next location, the somewhat laxidasical (scuse the spelling) town of Vinales.
Vinales was pretty interesting, we travelled to a rather remote little beach that was suposedley crowded... all of 15 people hardly seems that much of a crowd. Anywho, our time in Vinales was also filled with our first horse treck, pretty interseting actually, stopped off at a tobacco farm and cave and even learnt how to roll proper jobby cuban cigar's (Dad theres one winging its way to you soon). The streets of Vinales are filled with a certain unique charm, and one thing we had learnt by now was that it seems everyone in these little towns, really does know everyone.
Have i mentioned that the food here in cuba is fantastic, huge ginormous sized portions of everything, a rather chillie con carne flavoured bean soup (very tasty) sooooooooooo much fresh fruit and juice, im actually addicted to mango's now, ive started requiring a daioly fix of my new favourite fruit!
Slightly sidetracked there, but leaving the comfort of our friendly host Neryda in Vinales again we departed for a four day stop over in Trinidad (taking an 11hr 45min taxi ride by the way). Trinidad a town which holds a history in the production of sugar, and in which no matter what street you turn down, your pretty much going to bump into someone youve already bumped into just before. Not only that but the city of Trinidad is amazingly colourful, (like the rest of cuba so far), and really does live upto its clasification as a world heritage site.
Bring on two more trips to the most amazing beach ive ever seen so far(and some more sunborn for danny) and a rather cool horse treck along a rather close your eyes and dont look down cliffs edge trails... Well worth it though for a swim in an amazingly cool waterfall pool at the end.
But to round up our time in trinidad was a rather relaxing one filled wioth fun experiences, people and places such as a dog named "Corned Beef", some pretty funky Israeli's whom I spent numerous hours pondering the mysteries of the 'Cuban box' and dancing the night away inside a disco cave! (even though the music taste was attrocious).
Alas, now we are residing in Matanzas for the coming days, and its a bit of a shock again going from the quaint country relaxed life to the bustle of the city once again.
Cuba so far has been an vast assault on the senses, full of colour, life, amzingly cool cars, it has so far been one hell of a country, heck ive even started to pick up the lingo!
Hope all is well, catch you soon,
Danny!
ps. internet access so far here is rather scarce, so the updates will probably come once every week or so!
Wednesday, June 4
Well guys and girls, ladies and gentlemen friends and Daryl...
It is once again that time of tear when myself and a bunch of like minded individuals jet off to some far flung destination somewhere aroound the globe, and it seems that this time round the pin has landed on the land of the south americas.... Sounds fun!
Join me and take a journey through the wilderness as i document the mishaps and happenings of the next four months as immerse myself once again in a foreign land and try hoplessly to understand what the hell is going on around me.
Complete with updated whereabouts, pictures and the occasional mild rant feel free to join in and leave a comment, you never know it might actually give me some direction! (oh and you dont need to register to leave a comment, see below)
But for now guys and girls, i will say adios, and ill be writing soon!
Danny!
xx
To leave a comment :-
Join me and take a journey through the wilderness as i document the mishaps and happenings of the next four months as immerse myself once again in a foreign land and try hoplessly to understand what the hell is going on around me.
Complete with updated whereabouts, pictures and the occasional mild rant feel free to join in and leave a comment, you never know it might actually give me some direction! (oh and you dont need to register to leave a comment, see below)
But for now guys and girls, i will say adios, and ill be writing soon!
Danny!
xx
To leave a comment :-
- click the comments tab under the relevant post, this will open a new pop-up window
- Write your message in the comment space
- Under choose identity, choose either anonymous (i wont know who posts unless you include your identity in the message) or the name/url tab (this one will let you leave your name so i know who you are)
- Once your done, simply click on the publish comment tab to post your message within the comment section.
- Voila! You have now left a comment on the blog... Give yourself a pat on the back!
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