So it's my last night on holiday! Which is all a bit sad. I have been pretty lethargic during my last few days in Santiago, bar perhaps today when I went snowboarding. My first day in the capital I did some of the obligatory sight seeing, the cathedral, the main square etc but I seemed to run out of steam pretty quickly and I ended up going to the Cinema, I saw Public Enemies. Which turned out to be a)pretty good b)the first film where i actually liked Jonny Depp's character and c) another stellar performance from Marion Cotillard. Saturday which had been scheduled in as my snowboarding day, somehow mutated into my lazy rainydayin day. The forecast had been lots of snow which meant actually being on the mountain wouldn't be much fun, whereas sunday was meant to be sunny.
Well turns out it was! I had a great day today, fresh powder, brilliant blue skies and it wasn't too busy at all.
The only bad part about today was arriving back at the hostel. I had been fantasising about a long steaming hot shower for my poor aching, cold body. As any skier/snowboarder will know, this is the most essential part of your apres-ski schedule. Now as the description of my hostel in my guidebook had actually mentioned a jacuzzi, and from the hot showers i had already had there, i never questioned the fact that I'd get one. 20 minutes after I get back, and I'm standing next to the shower getting more and more irate with the temperature. IT SHOULD BE HOT BY NOW! After about 5 minutes of cold water, the temperature finally moved to lukewarm, sick of waiting i stood under the water patiently waiting to reach the hot steamy stage that i so desperately needed. As I waited, and I waited, I became more and more irate, lukewarm is the worst of all temperatures. If it had stayed cold i wouldn't have got in, but don't give me this pathetic half-way house, it pleases nobody. ALL I WANTED WAS SOME HOT WATER! YOU GAVE IT TO ME THIS MORNING FINE, WHY CAN'T I HAVE IT NOW! I started praying, please just make it a little bit warmer, come on ... I started pounding on the wall in anger and slamming the tap... I then tried each of the 5 showers there, the same problem with each, only that i also got even colder waiting for each to reach it's lukewarm state. Nothing worked, i was pretty distraught by this stage. I began to shout slightly insane angry outbursts. Then I decided I would write to lonely planet and all the other guidebooks and complain about what an awful place this was. Even that idea didn't cheer me up. I had passed through frustration into anger, onto desperation and had finally reached despair. Eventually admitting the most devastating of defeats I got out and dried off, which turned out to be the most satisfying part of the whole thing. What a disaster, oh well I have warmed up now.
So my flight is tomorrow at midday, and after a brief stop in Madrid, I will be home in london. Hopefully Iberia won't let any dogs into the cabin this time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an upgrade, but I know I'm fooling noone, not even myself.
Will let you all know how it goes in a few days,
Harry
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Friday, 14 August 2009
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Having a bit of an Argy Bargy
So I write this on my last overnight long distance bus journey on my way from Buenos Aires to Mendoza (well that's what i was doing when i first wrote this, I'm typing it up about a day later). Even though I still have a good 5 or 6 days left things definatly feel like they are winding down and after nearly 2 months this trip is starting to come to a close. On a trip like this I always think the countries or places that given this slot near the end of the trip get a bit of a raw deal as you can't help but think about going home etc.
With a prime front row seat on the top level of the bus I only have to glance out at my panoramic view of the andes and our approach to it to be taken right back into the moment. Even though they are roughly on the same latitude, from what it looks like outside Mendoza is alot colder than buenos aires, where we had a few days of 18-19 degrees. I've just finished a pretty good 5 day run in BA, I was meant to be reunited with my friends but I couldn't get out of Brazil in time, so by the time I got here they were already in London. But my timing did turn out pretty good as one of my good friends (really good friends if she bothers to read this!) who was moving to BA to study for a year abroad, pitched up the day after me. With a great pair of personalised guides, one from Alex, one from Brendon, thank-you both much appreciated, we set out to explore the city.
For the few days/weeks before i got to Argentina whenever i mentioned it to travellers they always said, ooooh watch out for the swine! Arg had infact been hit pretty hard by the swine as far as i know (ironically when i was staying there I met a rather gormless couple from aberdeen who had cancelled a holiday in mexico only to come here instead!). Anyway needless to say I'd been in argentina all of a few hours when i started sneezing and my nose started running. The swine the Swiiiiinee! I felt as though I had been baptised formally into Argentina. I was also pretty sure that i just had a bit of a cold and it was not the swine. Regardless i threw around the word with wanton abandon, well rather selective wanton abandon I didn't mention it to authorities or Hostel staff. Revelling in my first few days of swine didn't actually live up to all the fun that the hype had made out, I just felt a bit generally rubbish and unenergetic. The first day I just slept most of the day, which it turned out is what everyone in my room did anyway, mainly cause they were ultra trendy and cool though and got back so late from clubbing all night! woohoo (i.e. gormless scottish couple, and other assorted twats). You may have gathered i hadn't fallen completely in love with my roommates.** (I did later meet a japanese guy from my room who seemed to be a pretty nice guy) I didn't get round to actually speaking to the gormless couple for the first few days, in the hope that I had just made a bad first judgement of them and they weren't gormless idiots. Unfortunatly a few days later I did, and it turned out they were.
Anyway after getting a good bit of sleep out of the way Catherine (or Catheter as i fondly call her) arrived and we promptly decided to go and check out what was going on in town. We tubed it to Palermo, the trendy part of town, caught a bit of the saturday market, wandered through a few trendy shops although Catherine found some of them a bit too trendy for her. On the hunt for lunch we found ourselves stalking this man we walked past who looked like he had the best steak in Argentina. We ended up walking past him about 4 times, walking off down the street, then coming back about 20 mins later, walking past him another 5 times, standing in front of him, staring at his plate, then sitting down where we had a partial view of him. The problem was that he was the whole reason we were there, but we couldn't work out what he had ordered from the menu. We thought if we tried to approach him now he might perform a citizens arrest and put a restraining order on us. In the end we ambushed him as he was going to the loo (who knows why we thought this was a better idea). Then after all this build up, and a long wait (the service there wasn't great) the steak turned up and it wasn't thaat amazing! Never judge a book huh. Nevermind it was by no means bad. We spent the next few days checking out the different must-see areas of BA, and eating in all the delicious cafes and restaurants our friends had recommended.
I can't think of any other particular events from BA at the moment, I never quite made it over my case of the sniffles, but at the same time they haven't been too catastrophic. The only one other observation I had about BA was the fact that nobody seems to a) bother to pick up their dog shit (poop'n'scoop) or b) even care that nobody is doing it. Which means it is necessary to walk pretty much staring at the pavement directly in front of you if you want to avoid pooey foot syndrome.
Anyhow that is all I have to report so far. Today was my only day in Mendoza, I leave tomorrow morning on a 7 hour bus trip to Santiago, a bus ride that is meant to be pretty spectacular, although also prone to being cancelled if it snows, so fingers crossed. I went wine-tasting today, which was actually pretty fun, and infomative. I never really use to have much of a clue about the real process, and some of the tastings were very tasty! We ended up at a olive oil tasting place, where i had my own guide as every other person in our 25 strong group spoke spanish, which gave me the advantage of getting to the tasting part a bit before everyone else. I tried to stuff down as much oil soaked bread with sundried tomatoes as i could before they arrived, and got a few dirty looks when they finally rounded the corner. They brought out some new plates for everyone else so i don't know what they were complaining about!
Right I better get off to bed, have to be up early for breakfast and bus. Lots of love to you all,
Harry
With a prime front row seat on the top level of the bus I only have to glance out at my panoramic view of the andes and our approach to it to be taken right back into the moment. Even though they are roughly on the same latitude, from what it looks like outside Mendoza is alot colder than buenos aires, where we had a few days of 18-19 degrees. I've just finished a pretty good 5 day run in BA, I was meant to be reunited with my friends but I couldn't get out of Brazil in time, so by the time I got here they were already in London. But my timing did turn out pretty good as one of my good friends (really good friends if she bothers to read this!) who was moving to BA to study for a year abroad, pitched up the day after me. With a great pair of personalised guides, one from Alex, one from Brendon, thank-you both much appreciated, we set out to explore the city.
For the few days/weeks before i got to Argentina whenever i mentioned it to travellers they always said, ooooh watch out for the swine! Arg had infact been hit pretty hard by the swine as far as i know (ironically when i was staying there I met a rather gormless couple from aberdeen who had cancelled a holiday in mexico only to come here instead!). Anyway needless to say I'd been in argentina all of a few hours when i started sneezing and my nose started running. The swine the Swiiiiinee! I felt as though I had been baptised formally into Argentina. I was also pretty sure that i just had a bit of a cold and it was not the swine. Regardless i threw around the word with wanton abandon, well rather selective wanton abandon I didn't mention it to authorities or Hostel staff. Revelling in my first few days of swine didn't actually live up to all the fun that the hype had made out, I just felt a bit generally rubbish and unenergetic. The first day I just slept most of the day, which it turned out is what everyone in my room did anyway, mainly cause they were ultra trendy and cool though and got back so late from clubbing all night! woohoo (i.e. gormless scottish couple, and other assorted twats). You may have gathered i hadn't fallen completely in love with my roommates.** (I did later meet a japanese guy from my room who seemed to be a pretty nice guy) I didn't get round to actually speaking to the gormless couple for the first few days, in the hope that I had just made a bad first judgement of them and they weren't gormless idiots. Unfortunatly a few days later I did, and it turned out they were.
Anyway after getting a good bit of sleep out of the way Catherine (or Catheter as i fondly call her) arrived and we promptly decided to go and check out what was going on in town. We tubed it to Palermo, the trendy part of town, caught a bit of the saturday market, wandered through a few trendy shops although Catherine found some of them a bit too trendy for her. On the hunt for lunch we found ourselves stalking this man we walked past who looked like he had the best steak in Argentina. We ended up walking past him about 4 times, walking off down the street, then coming back about 20 mins later, walking past him another 5 times, standing in front of him, staring at his plate, then sitting down where we had a partial view of him. The problem was that he was the whole reason we were there, but we couldn't work out what he had ordered from the menu. We thought if we tried to approach him now he might perform a citizens arrest and put a restraining order on us. In the end we ambushed him as he was going to the loo (who knows why we thought this was a better idea). Then after all this build up, and a long wait (the service there wasn't great) the steak turned up and it wasn't thaat amazing! Never judge a book huh. Nevermind it was by no means bad. We spent the next few days checking out the different must-see areas of BA, and eating in all the delicious cafes and restaurants our friends had recommended.
I can't think of any other particular events from BA at the moment, I never quite made it over my case of the sniffles, but at the same time they haven't been too catastrophic. The only one other observation I had about BA was the fact that nobody seems to a) bother to pick up their dog shit (poop'n'scoop) or b) even care that nobody is doing it. Which means it is necessary to walk pretty much staring at the pavement directly in front of you if you want to avoid pooey foot syndrome.
Anyhow that is all I have to report so far. Today was my only day in Mendoza, I leave tomorrow morning on a 7 hour bus trip to Santiago, a bus ride that is meant to be pretty spectacular, although also prone to being cancelled if it snows, so fingers crossed. I went wine-tasting today, which was actually pretty fun, and infomative. I never really use to have much of a clue about the real process, and some of the tastings were very tasty! We ended up at a olive oil tasting place, where i had my own guide as every other person in our 25 strong group spoke spanish, which gave me the advantage of getting to the tasting part a bit before everyone else. I tried to stuff down as much oil soaked bread with sundried tomatoes as i could before they arrived, and got a few dirty looks when they finally rounded the corner. They brought out some new plates for everyone else so i don't know what they were complaining about!
Right I better get off to bed, have to be up early for breakfast and bus. Lots of love to you all,
Harry
Thursday, 6 August 2009
As much as I enjoy writing this blog, when Im having a really good time I do find it difficult to sit myself infront of a computer and try and remember what I've been up to. Which I guess is my main excuse for writing so little during the last week or so in Brazil. Make what you will about my more frequently updated times in Bolivia and Peru. To get around this I have with me a funny little disney style notebook which I brought in the rainforest in bolivia (I know, I know, globalisation, McDonalds etc etc). As I currently write this I am sat on a 35 hour bus journey from Sao Paolo to Buenos Aires, with the whole day and a second night stretched before me. I'm wondering why I took buses which cost over $165 from rio-BA when the flight cost $200, with scenery that so far today has been about as unremarkable as driving through surrey.
Anyway I have finally left Brazil, or I will have by around 2pm. I leave a little behind schedule (not drastically so) and a little over budget (slightly more drastically so) **Note to Mum and Dad, this was through no fault of my own, every effort was made for conservative spending, but market forces, shifts in international economics and fluctuations in currency have all conspired to push me into my own little credit crunch.As Gordon Brown says "It's a global phenomenon" "don't blame me" and "the only way out is to spend lots more money" - thank god I've been paying attention to the news. With Gordon's wise words I think I'll be able to pull myself through.
As draining in both money and time as Brazil has been, I feel it has more than rewarded me. I know I mentioned this previously but the people I've met here have made a big difference. Both Bernardo and Renata, friends of my cousins, who I stayed with in Sao Paolo, and Fernando a friend of one of my great friends in london, made a huge difference to my trip and showed me round some great local spots. Ok so lets see what I managed to get up to while in Brazil, highlights were:
All you can eat sushi in Sao Paolo, attempting to climb sugar loaf in rio but picking the wrong trail and getting stuck halfway, going out to a live samba night with free caipirinas till 12 in rio, cycling around Sao Paolo's equivalent of hyde park with Mariana my colombian friend who I met in Paraty, hanging out on the sofa with a brazilian friend at their friends flat, watching a football match for free in Maracana the largest stadium in south america with some brazilian friends who had some inside contacts for us, going to a houseparty with Mariana where i was the only person who wasn't an artist.
lowlights included:
going to the cinema to try and watch Bruno, it not being on and making the incredibly bad mistake of watching Harry Potter which was without doubt the worst film I have seen in the last 5 years. Waiting to meet my friend next to the laziest busker i have ever seen, who "played" the triangle, or rather repeatedly hit it in a pretty unrythmic fashion, which is really the only skill you could ask of a triangle player. It did cheer me up to notice in the 20 painful minutes i had to sit next to him, nobody gave him any money. During the same period of time watching a crazy man (who I can only hope for Brazil's sake was crazy and not somehow employed by them) who stood next to perfectly functioning traffic lights blowing his wistle and flailing his arms around when the lights were green and then doing the same for the cars in the other direction. The only rationale I could come up with behind this is that it was to help out drivers who were colour-blind or had particularly bad eyesight but perfectly good hearing abilities. I'm not going to bother mentioning the thousands of flaws with the theory. I sat there silently praying that he would blow slightly too hard on his whistle one time and it would go flying out of his mouth and get runover by a large truck, leaving me only to have to deal with his manical arm movements (for more manageable).
Back to the present. I was greeted on the bus by a weathered 40 something year old man, who had decided that my seat was the one that had taken his fancy. After a few taps on the shoulder he turned around and promptly pointed to the seat infront. My portugese not quite being up to scratch enough to tell him to get his scrawny butt out of my seat I decided to take up his offer of said seat. We seemed to be getting along reasonably well until the next morning. With the sun shining through the window, and feeling a little toasty and cooped-up I thought it would be a good idea to open the little window next to me. Cool fresh air poured into our stuffy cabin, yet as I sat down my old friend behind me started muttering and pointing telling me he'd rather not have a change from this stale air. Resisting the urge to tell him I'd rather not have to turn around and look at his face, I made a token jesture and half-shut the window. With a pleasant supply of fresh air still seeping in, I leaned back, Victory!
Which brings us all up to date with the present. I arrived here in Buenos Aires this morning, and have checked into a great little hostel in the centre of town. I had my first of many steaks for lunch and had a little wander around the main square, where i proceeded to fall asleep on the grass. The plan for the timebeing is around 5 days in BA before 1 night in mendoza to sample a few wines, finished up with around 3 or 4 days in santiago, hopefully with time for a days snowboarding and a visit to valparaiso.
Anyway I have finally left Brazil, or I will have by around 2pm. I leave a little behind schedule (not drastically so) and a little over budget (slightly more drastically so) **Note to Mum and Dad, this was through no fault of my own, every effort was made for conservative spending, but market forces, shifts in international economics and fluctuations in currency have all conspired to push me into my own little credit crunch.As Gordon Brown says "It's a global phenomenon" "don't blame me" and "the only way out is to spend lots more money" - thank god I've been paying attention to the news. With Gordon's wise words I think I'll be able to pull myself through.
As draining in both money and time as Brazil has been, I feel it has more than rewarded me. I know I mentioned this previously but the people I've met here have made a big difference. Both Bernardo and Renata, friends of my cousins, who I stayed with in Sao Paolo, and Fernando a friend of one of my great friends in london, made a huge difference to my trip and showed me round some great local spots. Ok so lets see what I managed to get up to while in Brazil, highlights were:
All you can eat sushi in Sao Paolo, attempting to climb sugar loaf in rio but picking the wrong trail and getting stuck halfway, going out to a live samba night with free caipirinas till 12 in rio, cycling around Sao Paolo's equivalent of hyde park with Mariana my colombian friend who I met in Paraty, hanging out on the sofa with a brazilian friend at their friends flat, watching a football match for free in Maracana the largest stadium in south america with some brazilian friends who had some inside contacts for us, going to a houseparty with Mariana where i was the only person who wasn't an artist.
lowlights included:
going to the cinema to try and watch Bruno, it not being on and making the incredibly bad mistake of watching Harry Potter which was without doubt the worst film I have seen in the last 5 years. Waiting to meet my friend next to the laziest busker i have ever seen, who "played" the triangle, or rather repeatedly hit it in a pretty unrythmic fashion, which is really the only skill you could ask of a triangle player. It did cheer me up to notice in the 20 painful minutes i had to sit next to him, nobody gave him any money. During the same period of time watching a crazy man (who I can only hope for Brazil's sake was crazy and not somehow employed by them) who stood next to perfectly functioning traffic lights blowing his wistle and flailing his arms around when the lights were green and then doing the same for the cars in the other direction. The only rationale I could come up with behind this is that it was to help out drivers who were colour-blind or had particularly bad eyesight but perfectly good hearing abilities. I'm not going to bother mentioning the thousands of flaws with the theory. I sat there silently praying that he would blow slightly too hard on his whistle one time and it would go flying out of his mouth and get runover by a large truck, leaving me only to have to deal with his manical arm movements (for more manageable).
Back to the present. I was greeted on the bus by a weathered 40 something year old man, who had decided that my seat was the one that had taken his fancy. After a few taps on the shoulder he turned around and promptly pointed to the seat infront. My portugese not quite being up to scratch enough to tell him to get his scrawny butt out of my seat I decided to take up his offer of said seat. We seemed to be getting along reasonably well until the next morning. With the sun shining through the window, and feeling a little toasty and cooped-up I thought it would be a good idea to open the little window next to me. Cool fresh air poured into our stuffy cabin, yet as I sat down my old friend behind me started muttering and pointing telling me he'd rather not have a change from this stale air. Resisting the urge to tell him I'd rather not have to turn around and look at his face, I made a token jesture and half-shut the window. With a pleasant supply of fresh air still seeping in, I leaned back, Victory!
Which brings us all up to date with the present. I arrived here in Buenos Aires this morning, and have checked into a great little hostel in the centre of town. I had my first of many steaks for lunch and had a little wander around the main square, where i proceeded to fall asleep on the grass. The plan for the timebeing is around 5 days in BA before 1 night in mendoza to sample a few wines, finished up with around 3 or 4 days in santiago, hopefully with time for a days snowboarding and a visit to valparaiso.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
So last night as i was about to fall asleep, a brilliant idea for a blog post came to me ... unfortunatly i´ve forgotten it. All i can remember is it was some form of social commentary that was both profound and gut wrenchingly hilarious. Delving into the deepest psyche of the human mind. (I know I know, next I´ll be dreaming about this blog, get a grip). Instead I´ll just write a bit about the people I´ve met.
While I´ve been travelling on my own, meeting other people has been a very significant part of my trip, almost on a similar level to the actual places i have visited. Nowhere more so has this been reflected than in rio. Arguably the most energetic, lively city in brazil, with world renound attractions, i´ve had some great days here but I´ve also had a few off days.
There seem to be two types of travellers who backpack around hostels, the genuine/interesting/down to earth types (we shall call these the dudes) and then there are the slightly less interesting/a whole lot more bullshit/a reluctance to talk about anything other than themselves type (we shall call these the dicks). Unfortunatly while I have met plenty of dudes, I seem to have encountered my fair share of dicks as well. Only after experience have I realised the best solution when you come across a dick is to run away, and fast. Otherwise you get dragged into tedious monotonous chat about how they haven´t been to bed before 6am every single night for the last month, and how they got so drunk last night they can´t remember a thing... etc etc.
In Rio, for the first few days i stuck gold with a great set of dudes. My room had a couple brazilian guys from the south, and a welsh girl who at first i mistakenly put in the dude catagory. She was a professional welsh subtitler ... at the begining it was quite interesting getting to know exactly on what frame the words are meant to pop up and when they should disappear. After a while, not so much.
Anyway i had a great few days with the brazilian guys, a spanish girl, an italian guy and a swede. The brazilians ended up getting us all free tickets to a football match at Maracana a huge stadium in rio, and we had plenty of great nights out in ipanema and around. With the fluidity of travel though within a few days almost all of them had gone, and i was stuck with a large american group and a bunch of brits which didn´t quite have the same feel. Then came a couple of slightly quiter days, before a large group of swedish teenagers turned up fresh out of some large peace gathering that had been happening near sao paolo. They turned out to be very entertaining, and we had a great night out at a local samba club with free caipirinas and a live band, followed by a sneaky night time swim.
I´m not sure what the next few days will hold, but I think I will stay in Rio until saturday morning so that i can experience the friday night street parties in Lapa. Then I either go direct to Buenos Aires, or I might stop for 1 or 2 days in Sao Paolo again. I´ve seen most of the sights in rio now, the christ, sugarloaf mountain (which i had attempted to climb, but after getting halfway was faced with a sheer rockface) ipanema beach, leblon and copacabana. Im off to santa teresa tomorrow, which is the artsy part of town, before maybe another afternoon at the beach.
Check in with you all later
While I´ve been travelling on my own, meeting other people has been a very significant part of my trip, almost on a similar level to the actual places i have visited. Nowhere more so has this been reflected than in rio. Arguably the most energetic, lively city in brazil, with world renound attractions, i´ve had some great days here but I´ve also had a few off days.
There seem to be two types of travellers who backpack around hostels, the genuine/interesting/down to earth types (we shall call these the dudes) and then there are the slightly less interesting/a whole lot more bullshit/a reluctance to talk about anything other than themselves type (we shall call these the dicks). Unfortunatly while I have met plenty of dudes, I seem to have encountered my fair share of dicks as well. Only after experience have I realised the best solution when you come across a dick is to run away, and fast. Otherwise you get dragged into tedious monotonous chat about how they haven´t been to bed before 6am every single night for the last month, and how they got so drunk last night they can´t remember a thing... etc etc.
In Rio, for the first few days i stuck gold with a great set of dudes. My room had a couple brazilian guys from the south, and a welsh girl who at first i mistakenly put in the dude catagory. She was a professional welsh subtitler ... at the begining it was quite interesting getting to know exactly on what frame the words are meant to pop up and when they should disappear. After a while, not so much.
Anyway i had a great few days with the brazilian guys, a spanish girl, an italian guy and a swede. The brazilians ended up getting us all free tickets to a football match at Maracana a huge stadium in rio, and we had plenty of great nights out in ipanema and around. With the fluidity of travel though within a few days almost all of them had gone, and i was stuck with a large american group and a bunch of brits which didn´t quite have the same feel. Then came a couple of slightly quiter days, before a large group of swedish teenagers turned up fresh out of some large peace gathering that had been happening near sao paolo. They turned out to be very entertaining, and we had a great night out at a local samba club with free caipirinas and a live band, followed by a sneaky night time swim.
I´m not sure what the next few days will hold, but I think I will stay in Rio until saturday morning so that i can experience the friday night street parties in Lapa. Then I either go direct to Buenos Aires, or I might stop for 1 or 2 days in Sao Paolo again. I´ve seen most of the sights in rio now, the christ, sugarloaf mountain (which i had attempted to climb, but after getting halfway was faced with a sheer rockface) ipanema beach, leblon and copacabana. Im off to santa teresa tomorrow, which is the artsy part of town, before maybe another afternoon at the beach.
Check in with you all later
Monday, 27 July 2009
Saturday, 25 July 2009
So i realise alot of my blogging seems to have involved my bus journeys. As hilarious as they are, I know they aren´t the main reason that people visit south america. So with this in mind and with some feedback i´ve recieved, that the mutterings in my videos about 1 way streets in santa cruz are not sufficiently gripping, I will try and get you up to date on life in Brazil.
I arrived in Rio yesterday, and even though i can hear your cries of protest, I came ... on a bus. I´ll leave out my detailed description of that journey except to mention that i was sat next to a rather large (mildly obese) brazilian lady, who (although very sweet) either farted almost continuously throughout the journey, or had a very pungent body odour. Im told with fat people it´s usually the latter. (i apologise for any offence this may cause to any fat followers i have)
However, the journey was a mere 5 and a half hours, the south american equivalent of popping down the road to tescos. Before getting to Rio, I had spent the last 3 nights in Paraty. A small, old town on the coast around halfway between Sao Paolo and Rio. I got there pretty late at night with no map or any real clue as to where the hell anything was. Luckily the town was still very much awake and I managed to find a nice hostel. The next morning over a breakfast of cake and melon I bonded with a couple from new zealand (although not an actual couple), a brazilian girl and finally a canadian girl who i mistakenly took as good company. This inaccurate assumption did not stand the test of time.
With the sun out, if not blazing, we all planned a day out to the beach. We headed off to a `of the beaten track´ beach and after a 40 minute local bus, and a 40 minute walk down through the rainforest we got there. It turned out to be well worth the journey, with a backdrop of mountains covered in rainforest and a wide long golden beach, fringed with trees that hid 1 or 2 wooden shacks where we got a beer. The water was pretty warm and there were a few surfers out. There was even a vollyball pitch and ball, so we had a few `poms´ vs kiwi battles.
As we went back into town the canadian started grating heavily on all concerned (except the brazilian who seemed oblivious to her insessant self absorbed chatter). In town we went to eat at a local per kg restaurant, which are quite common over here, and then went for a few caipiranas. The poor canadian ended up drinking quite alot, getting to know a few locals rather intimately and then lost her wallet. It made for an entertaining evening though.
The next day, feeling a little under the weather we all had a bit of a quiet day, going down to the local beach for a few hours and then just relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. Then early the next morning i caught the bus here to Rio.
I think thats enough writing for now, will fill you in on sao paolo and rio in a few days.
I arrived in Rio yesterday, and even though i can hear your cries of protest, I came ... on a bus. I´ll leave out my detailed description of that journey except to mention that i was sat next to a rather large (mildly obese) brazilian lady, who (although very sweet) either farted almost continuously throughout the journey, or had a very pungent body odour. Im told with fat people it´s usually the latter. (i apologise for any offence this may cause to any fat followers i have)
However, the journey was a mere 5 and a half hours, the south american equivalent of popping down the road to tescos. Before getting to Rio, I had spent the last 3 nights in Paraty. A small, old town on the coast around halfway between Sao Paolo and Rio. I got there pretty late at night with no map or any real clue as to where the hell anything was. Luckily the town was still very much awake and I managed to find a nice hostel. The next morning over a breakfast of cake and melon I bonded with a couple from new zealand (although not an actual couple), a brazilian girl and finally a canadian girl who i mistakenly took as good company. This inaccurate assumption did not stand the test of time.
With the sun out, if not blazing, we all planned a day out to the beach. We headed off to a `of the beaten track´ beach and after a 40 minute local bus, and a 40 minute walk down through the rainforest we got there. It turned out to be well worth the journey, with a backdrop of mountains covered in rainforest and a wide long golden beach, fringed with trees that hid 1 or 2 wooden shacks where we got a beer. The water was pretty warm and there were a few surfers out. There was even a vollyball pitch and ball, so we had a few `poms´ vs kiwi battles.
As we went back into town the canadian started grating heavily on all concerned (except the brazilian who seemed oblivious to her insessant self absorbed chatter). In town we went to eat at a local per kg restaurant, which are quite common over here, and then went for a few caipiranas. The poor canadian ended up drinking quite alot, getting to know a few locals rather intimately and then lost her wallet. It made for an entertaining evening though.
The next day, feeling a little under the weather we all had a bit of a quiet day, going down to the local beach for a few hours and then just relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. Then early the next morning i caught the bus here to Rio.
I think thats enough writing for now, will fill you in on sao paolo and rio in a few days.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Monday, 20 July 2009
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Friday, 17 July 2009
Brazil!
I´ve arrived in this wonderful country, and i´ve fallen in love!
(also just read my last post, and seemed a little downbeat for someone who´s lucky enough to be travelling around south america for a few months)
But seriously, been in Brazil all of one day, and without doubt it is my favourite country so far. Have seen the amazing iguazu falls thundering all around me, and have just had a brilliant meal at a Churrascaria. A big buffet with beans, potatoes and lots and lots of delicious barbequed meat. After the wafer thin, jaw numbingly chewy bolivian and peruvian steaks, this meat literally blew me away. As much as we could eat, all for $3.
Im about to get onto an overnight bus to Sao Paolo in an hour or so, and looking forward to seeing a bit of a different side to Brazil from the small town of foz de iguazu.
(also just read my last post, and seemed a little downbeat for someone who´s lucky enough to be travelling around south america for a few months)
But seriously, been in Brazil all of one day, and without doubt it is my favourite country so far. Have seen the amazing iguazu falls thundering all around me, and have just had a brilliant meal at a Churrascaria. A big buffet with beans, potatoes and lots and lots of delicious barbequed meat. After the wafer thin, jaw numbingly chewy bolivian and peruvian steaks, this meat literally blew me away. As much as we could eat, all for $3.
Im about to get onto an overnight bus to Sao Paolo in an hour or so, and looking forward to seeing a bit of a different side to Brazil from the small town of foz de iguazu.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Plodding through Paraguay
Hola from Paraguay. Unfortunatly by now i was meant to be well past the brazilian border and in iguazu. However, as is becoming all to frequently the case, i was infact royaly screwed over by yet another south american fradulent bus/travel agent. The bus i booked was meant to have me in brazil by now, i should be relaxing and chillaxing by the waterfalls. But NO, some greedy fat little travel man in bolivia decided he couldnt be arsed actually putting me on a bus going to the destination i payed for, when he could just as easily shove me onto any old bus and see what happens.
I was on a very comfortable bus, driving through paraguay in relativly blissfull ignorance for over 23 hours. They were even showing a film with english subtitles. It took me a while to work out if the subtitles where about 20 minutes out of sync or if they were just abitary words from any american gangster film. The accuracy of the dialogue they were translating to me was unquestionably thrown into doubt when in the middle of a furious shoot out between two angry chinese triad gangsters, the subtitle "i love you" popped up. Being the only person on the bus who was reading the subtitles i was left to giggle to myself.
Following on from the popular gangster flic, i was then decided we should have a Bruce Willis marathon. Bruce Willis kills the baddies in the jungle and saves the africans was the first one. Bruce Willis is an important business man who has no time for his kids but then realises he is missing their childhood and becomes a great dad was the second ... etc etc. Whilst not completely absorbing, the climactic orchestra score during the african shoot out did manage to drown out the screaming baby in the back of the bus so that did help in some way.
One can´t complain though, they served us food twice. A supper of chicken and rice, and a breakfast of steak and rice. And the seats were as close to flat as i could realistically hope for. Although when i did recline it fully a fat stubby little old woman behind me kept complaining to her neighbour in what i assume she thought were mutterings i wouldnt understand, using the word touristica frequently did give the game away slightly though.
Anyway enough complaining, i turned out to be very lucky as a very sweet couple from ecuador who were on the same bus, and both spoke perfect english, also happened to have been screwed over by the busses. So when instead of arriving at iguazu we arrived at the capital of paraguay some 5 or 6 hours away, they had a very heated debate with the bus companies on what the hell we were doing here. Eventually, after alot of spanish, and me continually tagging along, but having no clue what was really going on, the got the company to buy us some new tickets to our actual destination.
Our new bus leaves in a couple of hours, so while we will arrive one day later, i guess i end up saving money on having to stay in a hostel/hotel. Something which is becoming rather a rare occasion!
Anyway tomorrow i get to see the huge iguazu falls, and from there on to Sao Paolo! exciting times!
I was on a very comfortable bus, driving through paraguay in relativly blissfull ignorance for over 23 hours. They were even showing a film with english subtitles. It took me a while to work out if the subtitles where about 20 minutes out of sync or if they were just abitary words from any american gangster film. The accuracy of the dialogue they were translating to me was unquestionably thrown into doubt when in the middle of a furious shoot out between two angry chinese triad gangsters, the subtitle "i love you" popped up. Being the only person on the bus who was reading the subtitles i was left to giggle to myself.
Following on from the popular gangster flic, i was then decided we should have a Bruce Willis marathon. Bruce Willis kills the baddies in the jungle and saves the africans was the first one. Bruce Willis is an important business man who has no time for his kids but then realises he is missing their childhood and becomes a great dad was the second ... etc etc. Whilst not completely absorbing, the climactic orchestra score during the african shoot out did manage to drown out the screaming baby in the back of the bus so that did help in some way.
One can´t complain though, they served us food twice. A supper of chicken and rice, and a breakfast of steak and rice. And the seats were as close to flat as i could realistically hope for. Although when i did recline it fully a fat stubby little old woman behind me kept complaining to her neighbour in what i assume she thought were mutterings i wouldnt understand, using the word touristica frequently did give the game away slightly though.
Anyway enough complaining, i turned out to be very lucky as a very sweet couple from ecuador who were on the same bus, and both spoke perfect english, also happened to have been screwed over by the busses. So when instead of arriving at iguazu we arrived at the capital of paraguay some 5 or 6 hours away, they had a very heated debate with the bus companies on what the hell we were doing here. Eventually, after alot of spanish, and me continually tagging along, but having no clue what was really going on, the got the company to buy us some new tickets to our actual destination.
Our new bus leaves in a couple of hours, so while we will arrive one day later, i guess i end up saving money on having to stay in a hostel/hotel. Something which is becoming rather a rare occasion!
Anyway tomorrow i get to see the huge iguazu falls, and from there on to Sao Paolo! exciting times!
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Solo in Santa Cruz
Im back from the rainforest, albeit about 3 days late. The trip was really great, we got to see pretty much everything we went to look for, saw turtles, dophins, snakes (although no anaconda sadly) plenty of monkeys, capybara (the largest rodent) went fishing for piranas and saw literally around 100 crocs and caimans, i even chased one down the river bank (unfortunatly no video evidence so believe what you will).
Our flight back ended up getting cancelled and there were no flights out for a few days as it was too cloudy apparently, only place i´ve ever been where you cant fly if there are clouds. Then again its runway was just a dirt track in a field. So after being stranded for a few days we decided to get a 20 hour overnight bus instead. The flight was 40 mins long, so that should give some indication to the quality of the road, or lack there of.
Anyway we made it back to La Paz for a day there, before i split from my 8 other friends who headed down south to chile, while i went off to eastern bolivia in the hunt for brazil. A few minutes after i left them, in my taxi which was late and stuck in terrible traffic, and about to miss my bus i questioned what a great idea it was leaving all my friends to do things myself. My timekeeping, memory, and general travel competency are not world renound. However i managed to sprint onto the bus with seconds to spair. It then left 20 minutes late. Things did start to look up when i saw the huge leg room, almost completely reclinable seats, and the film was Casino Royale! After a second overnight bus journey in a row i made it here to Santa Cruz, which i can honestly say is my favourite city in bolivia so far. Much warmer than La Paz, there seem to be no other tourists, friendly locals, and an abundance of ice cream and cake shops.
I had planed to take a train from here to the border with brazil, but reading it described as the train of death, for being so deadly dull, I ended up booking a bus ticket through parguay to their border with brazil near iguazu, its meant to take around the same time as to the bolivian border, and looks much closer to rio, so should save me a day or two.
Im now off to try and track down either Carlinhos or Los Patos for my first meal of the day at 4:30. And then soak up some more of Santa Cruz.
quick shout-out to Lucy for giving me her guide to rio, much appreciated!
Our flight back ended up getting cancelled and there were no flights out for a few days as it was too cloudy apparently, only place i´ve ever been where you cant fly if there are clouds. Then again its runway was just a dirt track in a field. So after being stranded for a few days we decided to get a 20 hour overnight bus instead. The flight was 40 mins long, so that should give some indication to the quality of the road, or lack there of.
Anyway we made it back to La Paz for a day there, before i split from my 8 other friends who headed down south to chile, while i went off to eastern bolivia in the hunt for brazil. A few minutes after i left them, in my taxi which was late and stuck in terrible traffic, and about to miss my bus i questioned what a great idea it was leaving all my friends to do things myself. My timekeeping, memory, and general travel competency are not world renound. However i managed to sprint onto the bus with seconds to spair. It then left 20 minutes late. Things did start to look up when i saw the huge leg room, almost completely reclinable seats, and the film was Casino Royale! After a second overnight bus journey in a row i made it here to Santa Cruz, which i can honestly say is my favourite city in bolivia so far. Much warmer than La Paz, there seem to be no other tourists, friendly locals, and an abundance of ice cream and cake shops.
I had planed to take a train from here to the border with brazil, but reading it described as the train of death, for being so deadly dull, I ended up booking a bus ticket through parguay to their border with brazil near iguazu, its meant to take around the same time as to the bolivian border, and looks much closer to rio, so should save me a day or two.
Im now off to try and track down either Carlinhos or Los Patos for my first meal of the day at 4:30. And then soak up some more of Santa Cruz.
quick shout-out to Lucy for giving me her guide to rio, much appreciated!
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
La Paz
Ok I've just spent half the afternoon updating this blog and putting some videos up so this is going to be a quick one.
Am currently in la paz, bolivia, the highest capital in the world. Although having spent a while in cusco and machu pichu the altitude doesnt seem to be much of an issue. we've been here for a few days now, sampled some of the night life last night, with some very impressive salsa dancing from the locals.
We're flying off to the amazon jungle tomorrow morning, for a 3 day exploration to see the anacondas, pink river dolphins and the odd caiman. Our travel agent has said their may be a few issues with the flight and bad weather etc being cancelled, so fingers crossed it doesnt get cancelled.
Better get going, finally here's a video from copacabana a few posts before.
Am currently in la paz, bolivia, the highest capital in the world. Although having spent a while in cusco and machu pichu the altitude doesnt seem to be much of an issue. we've been here for a few days now, sampled some of the night life last night, with some very impressive salsa dancing from the locals.
We're flying off to the amazon jungle tomorrow morning, for a 3 day exploration to see the anacondas, pink river dolphins and the odd caiman. Our travel agent has said their may be a few issues with the flight and bad weather etc being cancelled, so fingers crossed it doesnt get cancelled.
Better get going, finally here's a video from copacabana a few posts before.
The Return of Machu Pichu
After a slightly sub-par end to Day 2 of our trek, we woke up to Day 3 and a large array of bites and scratches thanks to a thriving population of bed bugs in our accomodation. Things could only get better ... surely.
Well turns out they did, in part thanks to spending half of the morning on a little mini-bus rather than yet more walking. Halfway through our journey we arrived at a small dam and there awaiting us, possibly one of the most thrilling, adrenaline pumping activites of the trip so far. It was sold to us as a "cable car" across the river to give a great view of all the water gushing out of the dam. What it infact was, was a couple of 1cm thick planks of wood, strapped to a cable, all held together by rope that looked like the remains of amy winehouse´s floss (i.e. very frayed). Our guide was adamant it had passed all of the relevant health and saftey checks, so we waited to see who out of the 9 of us would be the first to willingly throw themselves across the river with little hope of return. It turned out it was 2 of the girls, Ibi and Shamim, so mad props to them. Thankfully they made it back alive, if with slightly soiled underwear (not strictly accurate). After that we all (except Aaron) got to experience the thrilling, if massively overhyped, views and promptly hopped back on our bus.
(I'll try and get a video of this on here at somepoint)
We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon, marching along an old railway line, through jungles and over rivers. Eventually reaching our destination of Aguas Caliente, the stop off town for Machu Pichu. An hours respite or so and we set off to conquer a nearby peak that overlooks Machu Pichu. With almost a sheer 900m climb, it mainly involved very long wooden ladders that had been strapped to the face of the rock. It was around a 1-2 hours climb, that rewarded us with spectacular views off the whole mountain range as well as Machu Pichu. With another standard peruvian meal to finish the day off, we had an early night in preperation for our early morning attack the next day.
Day 4
Our alarms went off at around 3:45am, and we immediatly set off on the long dark trek to the site of MP. As we walked along we were soon surrounded by overzelouse manic trekkers, who seemed desperate to get to the top in about 10 minutes even if they had a cardiac arrest in doing so. Managing to avoid the histeria reasonably well inpart due to our groups almost total lack of fitness, we made it to the site's opening gates by 5 something, or maybe closer to 6. Anyway it still hadn't opened, so we managed to have a little laugh at the nutters who had run.
It opened pretty quickly just as all the fat/older tourists starting getting off their buses, having sat on their arse the whole way instead of walking. As soon as the gates opened the same nutters, in the same manic pusheveryoneouttheway fashion ran through machu pichu to get to the famous mountain at the other end of the ruins so they could get their best view. By this point it was pretty light and the "magical sunrise" seemed to have passed us by, thanks in large to a multitude of clouds. Everyone insisted that it had been worth getting up at 3 though, as the clouds made it even more magical then the sun would have. I wasn't completely convinced.
We had the whole day at the ruins and our guide Christian, who had been with us throughout the 4 days, took us round the site to explain all the history behind it. As Christian was about 22, and didn't seem to have been the most industrious student guide when at school, his explinations peppered with illustrations from disney cartoons of "the ancient incas" were not 100% convincing. While some of our group decided to climb up yet another nearby mountain, me and some others wisely stayed in MP and spent the afternoon sunbathing on the grass. After some good old relaxation, we meandered our way down back to our hostel and then took the train back to cusco for the night.
And thus ended our MP trek! definatly the highlight of Peru.
Well turns out they did, in part thanks to spending half of the morning on a little mini-bus rather than yet more walking. Halfway through our journey we arrived at a small dam and there awaiting us, possibly one of the most thrilling, adrenaline pumping activites of the trip so far. It was sold to us as a "cable car" across the river to give a great view of all the water gushing out of the dam. What it infact was, was a couple of 1cm thick planks of wood, strapped to a cable, all held together by rope that looked like the remains of amy winehouse´s floss (i.e. very frayed). Our guide was adamant it had passed all of the relevant health and saftey checks, so we waited to see who out of the 9 of us would be the first to willingly throw themselves across the river with little hope of return. It turned out it was 2 of the girls, Ibi and Shamim, so mad props to them. Thankfully they made it back alive, if with slightly soiled underwear (not strictly accurate). After that we all (except Aaron) got to experience the thrilling, if massively overhyped, views and promptly hopped back on our bus.
(I'll try and get a video of this on here at somepoint)
We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon, marching along an old railway line, through jungles and over rivers. Eventually reaching our destination of Aguas Caliente, the stop off town for Machu Pichu. An hours respite or so and we set off to conquer a nearby peak that overlooks Machu Pichu. With almost a sheer 900m climb, it mainly involved very long wooden ladders that had been strapped to the face of the rock. It was around a 1-2 hours climb, that rewarded us with spectacular views off the whole mountain range as well as Machu Pichu. With another standard peruvian meal to finish the day off, we had an early night in preperation for our early morning attack the next day.
Day 4
Our alarms went off at around 3:45am, and we immediatly set off on the long dark trek to the site of MP. As we walked along we were soon surrounded by overzelouse manic trekkers, who seemed desperate to get to the top in about 10 minutes even if they had a cardiac arrest in doing so. Managing to avoid the histeria reasonably well inpart due to our groups almost total lack of fitness, we made it to the site's opening gates by 5 something, or maybe closer to 6. Anyway it still hadn't opened, so we managed to have a little laugh at the nutters who had run.
It opened pretty quickly just as all the fat/older tourists starting getting off their buses, having sat on their arse the whole way instead of walking. As soon as the gates opened the same nutters, in the same manic pusheveryoneouttheway fashion ran through machu pichu to get to the famous mountain at the other end of the ruins so they could get their best view. By this point it was pretty light and the "magical sunrise" seemed to have passed us by, thanks in large to a multitude of clouds. Everyone insisted that it had been worth getting up at 3 though, as the clouds made it even more magical then the sun would have. I wasn't completely convinced.
We had the whole day at the ruins and our guide Christian, who had been with us throughout the 4 days, took us round the site to explain all the history behind it. As Christian was about 22, and didn't seem to have been the most industrious student guide when at school, his explinations peppered with illustrations from disney cartoons of "the ancient incas" were not 100% convincing. While some of our group decided to climb up yet another nearby mountain, me and some others wisely stayed in MP and spent the afternoon sunbathing on the grass. After some good old relaxation, we meandered our way down back to our hostel and then took the train back to cusco for the night.
And thus ended our MP trek! definatly the highlight of Peru.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Bonjour from Bolivia
So i realise i finished my Machu Pichu post half-way through, but i can´t really remember what happened now, and i fear i might end a dreadful cycle of catch up if i write about that now, so hopefully will revisit it in a few days.
Im currently in a little internet cafe in copacabana (not THE copacabana but infact the original one, in bolivia) just by the amusingly named lake titicaca. I have some bolivian "music" blaring out of the radio next to me, which frequently decends into 30 second bouts of machine gun fire, not sure why but they seem to love it over here.
Only been in bolivia one night so far, but seeing as we are just near the border it doesn´t seem too much of a contrast from peru yet. Had some controversy with our overnight bus, as promised fully reclining beds, turned out was just some crappy local bus, not very happy, but then we all ended up sleeping amazingly well, so not too bad.
Of to La Paz this afternoon, for a few days. So should get a better idea of bolivia from there. About to run out of time in internet so will write more tomorrow.
Im currently in a little internet cafe in copacabana (not THE copacabana but infact the original one, in bolivia) just by the amusingly named lake titicaca. I have some bolivian "music" blaring out of the radio next to me, which frequently decends into 30 second bouts of machine gun fire, not sure why but they seem to love it over here.
Only been in bolivia one night so far, but seeing as we are just near the border it doesn´t seem too much of a contrast from peru yet. Had some controversy with our overnight bus, as promised fully reclining beds, turned out was just some crappy local bus, not very happy, but then we all ended up sleeping amazingly well, so not too bad.
Of to La Paz this afternoon, for a few days. So should get a better idea of bolivia from there. About to run out of time in internet so will write more tomorrow.
Friday, 3 July 2009
I´m back from Machu Pichu. Trying to upload a scintilating video, but it seems to be taking hours, so might not work. In which case i will have to paint the delicate picture using only my limited vocabulary.
So our trek was 4 days. Day 1, we took a little red minibus up to some crazy height, maybe around 4000, 4500m? We spent the day cycling downhill through this amazing valley, although cycling is a bit of a stretch as all we had to do was turn the handlebars and occasionally brake. We then did a little off-road biking although one of us with a little too much ambition and not quite enough skill proceeded to hit a rock, throw his bike into the guy behind him, and got knocked unconscious. A bit of blood later and we were speeding to the nearest medical centre. Everyone got cleaned up and we went out to supper.
Unfortunatly in Peru, every single cook seems only capable of producing 4 different dishes, each replicated throughout the country with alarming precision, "lomo saltado" which is chunks of beef with tomato and vegetables, "chicken milanese" chicken in batter with rice and chips, and then fried chicken (rice and chips) or steak which is about half a centimetre thick, with ... you guessed it, rice and chips. While they seem to be incapable of using any flavours such as garlic or spices they do make up for that by providing about 10 years worth of your salt intake with every meal.
Day 2, came with the start of our walking. The situation was again stunning, closer to the floor of the valley we climbed up and down alongside the river, passing cocao and banana plantations as well as papayas and avocados. The walking was pretty exhausting, with lots of sheer drops to one side of the trail. We ended the day perfectly in some hot springs, arriving just as the sun set. A few hours later and after my 6th chicken milanese, we decided to head out and sample the local nightlife. We were taken to one of the most tragic nightclubs i have ever visited, with about 4 fourtysomething ladies in tight white jeans, attempting to dance but in reality wobbling from one leg to the other, whilst the odd pervy peruvian barman made a vague attempt to talk to them. The music was provided by an 11 year old local, who´s knowledge of music that wasn´t andean rock, was to be honest non-existent.
Sadly my internet time in this cafe has come to an end, so you´ll all have to wait for day 3 and 4, in a later update.
I have an 18 hour overnight bus journey to bolivia this evening, so fingers crossed that goes well!
So our trek was 4 days. Day 1, we took a little red minibus up to some crazy height, maybe around 4000, 4500m? We spent the day cycling downhill through this amazing valley, although cycling is a bit of a stretch as all we had to do was turn the handlebars and occasionally brake. We then did a little off-road biking although one of us with a little too much ambition and not quite enough skill proceeded to hit a rock, throw his bike into the guy behind him, and got knocked unconscious. A bit of blood later and we were speeding to the nearest medical centre. Everyone got cleaned up and we went out to supper.
Unfortunatly in Peru, every single cook seems only capable of producing 4 different dishes, each replicated throughout the country with alarming precision, "lomo saltado" which is chunks of beef with tomato and vegetables, "chicken milanese" chicken in batter with rice and chips, and then fried chicken (rice and chips) or steak which is about half a centimetre thick, with ... you guessed it, rice and chips. While they seem to be incapable of using any flavours such as garlic or spices they do make up for that by providing about 10 years worth of your salt intake with every meal.
Day 2, came with the start of our walking. The situation was again stunning, closer to the floor of the valley we climbed up and down alongside the river, passing cocao and banana plantations as well as papayas and avocados. The walking was pretty exhausting, with lots of sheer drops to one side of the trail. We ended the day perfectly in some hot springs, arriving just as the sun set. A few hours later and after my 6th chicken milanese, we decided to head out and sample the local nightlife. We were taken to one of the most tragic nightclubs i have ever visited, with about 4 fourtysomething ladies in tight white jeans, attempting to dance but in reality wobbling from one leg to the other, whilst the odd pervy peruvian barman made a vague attempt to talk to them. The music was provided by an 11 year old local, who´s knowledge of music that wasn´t andean rock, was to be honest non-existent.
Sadly my internet time in this cafe has come to an end, so you´ll all have to wait for day 3 and 4, in a later update.
I have an 18 hour overnight bus journey to bolivia this evening, so fingers crossed that goes well!
Monday, 29 June 2009
Catastrophe!
So the much awaited string of disasters has at long last happened, and not a moment to soon to brighten up this blog. Things started going downhill during our 15 (more like 17) hour so called luxury coach journey to Cusco. The main problem being that as seems to be the case in all buses temperature control was schizophrenic to say the least, plunging us into icicle inducing sub zero temperatures during the night, only to awaken us into a sweaty sauna and dripping wet windows and seats. Things were not helped by a dominatrix style attendant who insisted on blaring peuvian "music" into our ears from around 7am without letup.
However eventually we got into Cusco and it was by far the most attractive place i´ve seen in peru so far. Both Lima and Pisco were in my humble opinion a bit of a hole, so the old architecture and little cobbled streets of cusco made a welcome change.
Now for the disaster, upon arriving I left the hostel to withdraw money at an ATM, long story short, after 2 incorrect tries and contacting home to check exactly what the pin for my new card was, i was left with two possible correct answers, turns out i choose the wrong one and the ATM dutifully swallowed my card. I then returned to the hostel, to find all my friends had left, taking with them the key to our room. 2-3 desolate hours later, after discovering my phone was as useful to me as a dog turd, and begining to freeze in my t-shirt i was left sitting in the courtyard of the hostel with the owner telling me there was no way to get back into my room without the key. Eventually Aaron arrived back, and i made it into the warm comfort of a room!
Since then things have been on the up, and the hostel owner has been slightly less moody towards me. We are headed off on a 4 day trek to Machu Pichu tomorrow morning, with the first day on mountain bikes. So that should be a bit of an adventure.
I´ll try and get a few pictures or possibly a video up sometime soon, hope everyone is enjoying the blog, the hostel owner keeps trying to throw me off the computer so i better get going.
lots of love to everyone,
Harry
However eventually we got into Cusco and it was by far the most attractive place i´ve seen in peru so far. Both Lima and Pisco were in my humble opinion a bit of a hole, so the old architecture and little cobbled streets of cusco made a welcome change.
Now for the disaster, upon arriving I left the hostel to withdraw money at an ATM, long story short, after 2 incorrect tries and contacting home to check exactly what the pin for my new card was, i was left with two possible correct answers, turns out i choose the wrong one and the ATM dutifully swallowed my card. I then returned to the hostel, to find all my friends had left, taking with them the key to our room. 2-3 desolate hours later, after discovering my phone was as useful to me as a dog turd, and begining to freeze in my t-shirt i was left sitting in the courtyard of the hostel with the owner telling me there was no way to get back into my room without the key. Eventually Aaron arrived back, and i made it into the warm comfort of a room!
Since then things have been on the up, and the hostel owner has been slightly less moody towards me. We are headed off on a 4 day trek to Machu Pichu tomorrow morning, with the first day on mountain bikes. So that should be a bit of an adventure.
I´ll try and get a few pictures or possibly a video up sometime soon, hope everyone is enjoying the blog, the hostel owner keeps trying to throw me off the computer so i better get going.
lots of love to everyone,
Harry
Friday, 26 June 2009
Hello followers!
Im in the sunny oasis of Huacachina at the moment. We´ve spent the last few days meandering down south from Lima, although tonight we have a gruelling 16 hour overnight coach ride to cusco, from which we start our attack on the one and only Machu Pichu.
Last night we stayed in pisco which had been hit by an earthquake a few years ago and really doesn´t seem to have recovered yet, plenty of half-built, half fallen down brick buildings. We did however get to see some penguins and sea lions on local islands "a poor-man´s galapagos"
Sorry there hasn´t been that much to write about, although im sure our bus trip this evening will be suitably horrific. We did have a minibus we were in yesterday nearly catch fire, when steam started bellowing out of it in the middle of a highway.
I think we will probably be in cusco/machu pichu for about 5 days, before we head off to Lake Titicaca.
Hope london is suitably muggy,
lots of love to everyone
Harry
Im in the sunny oasis of Huacachina at the moment. We´ve spent the last few days meandering down south from Lima, although tonight we have a gruelling 16 hour overnight coach ride to cusco, from which we start our attack on the one and only Machu Pichu.
Last night we stayed in pisco which had been hit by an earthquake a few years ago and really doesn´t seem to have recovered yet, plenty of half-built, half fallen down brick buildings. We did however get to see some penguins and sea lions on local islands "a poor-man´s galapagos"
Sorry there hasn´t been that much to write about, although im sure our bus trip this evening will be suitably horrific. We did have a minibus we were in yesterday nearly catch fire, when steam started bellowing out of it in the middle of a highway.
I think we will probably be in cusco/machu pichu for about 5 days, before we head off to Lake Titicaca.
Hope london is suitably muggy,
lots of love to everyone
Harry
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
So its 6am, feeling a bit jet-lagged.. blog time.
The 11 hour flight over was pretty unventful, neither Iberia´s very questionable decision to classify a film with zac efron in it as entertainment, or the man across the isle sitting with a dog on his lap, helped to make the hours fly by.
An early lucky break for two of our travellers (Hanbin and Mo) who were given an upgrade to business at check in, threw the rest of the group into chaos, with an insistant demand that if they had that, so should we. A demoralising 4 hour campaign later, and we boarded the flight in madrid, our understanding of the spanish of no "non" vastly improved and our dignity in tatters.
Anyway, we are now in Lima, Peru, the sun is just about to rise, and we havent been mugged yet so things are looking up. We´re heading off down south to pisco today, then wending our way to cusco to see macho pichu, with a few 15 hour bus journeys inbetween.
will check in later, and prehaps give a video upload a go.
The 11 hour flight over was pretty unventful, neither Iberia´s very questionable decision to classify a film with zac efron in it as entertainment, or the man across the isle sitting with a dog on his lap, helped to make the hours fly by.
An early lucky break for two of our travellers (Hanbin and Mo) who were given an upgrade to business at check in, threw the rest of the group into chaos, with an insistant demand that if they had that, so should we. A demoralising 4 hour campaign later, and we boarded the flight in madrid, our understanding of the spanish of no "non" vastly improved and our dignity in tatters.
Anyway, we are now in Lima, Peru, the sun is just about to rise, and we havent been mugged yet so things are looking up. We´re heading off down south to pisco today, then wending our way to cusco to see macho pichu, with a few 15 hour bus journeys inbetween.
will check in later, and prehaps give a video upload a go.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Monday, 22 June 2009
Pre-trip build up
So while the night before a 4am start, and a transatlantic flight is probably not the best time to begin a blog, i feel in the mood to write to you all, sitting with baited breath to read about my every move.
I had planned on doing a video blog, or vlog as everyone loves to call it, but after trying to upload a 30 second video clip today and finding it took me about 30 mins to load, im a bit dubious. Hopefully my written word will suffice for the timebeing (although i already know my spelling won't).
So where am i going? The grand idea behind this trip is to fly to lima Peru, spend 8 weeks meandering through peru, bolivia, possibly brazil, and argentina before flying back from santiago chile.
I'll try to steer my blog out of the mundane and keep my posts short, sweet and hilarious, so to that end i shall sign off now. I hope someone out there reads this at somepoint, and if you do any comments or emails will be greatly appreciated.
Much love to you all, and fingers crossed something goes disastrously wrong tomorrow so that i have some good material for my next post
I had planned on doing a video blog, or vlog as everyone loves to call it, but after trying to upload a 30 second video clip today and finding it took me about 30 mins to load, im a bit dubious. Hopefully my written word will suffice for the timebeing (although i already know my spelling won't).
So where am i going? The grand idea behind this trip is to fly to lima Peru, spend 8 weeks meandering through peru, bolivia, possibly brazil, and argentina before flying back from santiago chile.
I'll try to steer my blog out of the mundane and keep my posts short, sweet and hilarious, so to that end i shall sign off now. I hope someone out there reads this at somepoint, and if you do any comments or emails will be greatly appreciated.
Much love to you all, and fingers crossed something goes disastrously wrong tomorrow so that i have some good material for my next post
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