Before I start it's worth giving you a bit of context to this mine 'tour'. It's in Potosi which is in the highest city in the world. Miners as young as 14 work there if they're deemed 'strong' and from their start date they have a life expectancy of a further 15 years due to the conditions they work in.
This is a dangerous, working mine. A maze of cramped tunnels requiring some agility just to get to around. It's dark, dusty and smelly. There's nowhere else in the world that would have EVER let tourist go into this mine...only in Bolivia!!!
We started the day in a minibus with our guide Chaski, an ex miner aged 28 but looked closer to 40! The tour consisted of 4 English and 2 Brazilians. Chaski took us first to the miners market, an area where the miners go for supplies and we could buy gifts for them.
At the Market the gifts on offer were coca leaves, 98% alcohol, cognac, dynamite and orange squash. We were encouraged to buy a bit of everything which cost about £3. Our guide explained that mother earth 'Pachamama' is really the only God they care about (there's Catholicism from the Spanish too but was enforced). Therefore everything they use or consume in the mine has to be pure I.e pure alcohol, coca leaves, no food equals good quality minerals for them.
So with our plastic bag of goodies (and slight nervousness about carrying dynamite) we got kitted out in overalls, wellies and head lamps and headed to the entrance to the mine.
Walking crouched over along a rail track heading deep into the mountain, the combination of the air thinning, the dust, the air rushing in the overhead pipes (sounded suspiciously like a gas leak) made us all quite nervous and little on edge. We sat down in a small cave where a shrine of the mountain devil (part of Pachamama) resides. We had to give it an offering of coca leaves, alcohol (also having a swig ourselves) and a couple of cigarettes whilst asking it to protect us in the mine.
Armed with a taste of 98% alcohol running through our veins, we continued deeper and all felt much better. Taking on a Krypton Factor style assault course for the next 20 minutes we eventually ended up in a tiny cave with a huge amount of dust and three equally dusty miners.
The miners were boring holes ready for the insertion of dynamite. We stayed briefly in this inhospitable environment and then made our way '1 floor' down where it was less dusty.
Between us we'd bought about 5 bottles of alcohol, cigarettes and coca leaves. The miners shortly followed to join us in our cave. They started mixing the alcohol with orange juice then we were required to take a shot of the very potent liquid, pour a bit on the ground for mother earth and then knock back the rest. As you can imagine we all got pretty merry very quickly and it was only 11am!!
Suddenly out of nowhere there was a huge boom, feeling the force of the explosion right through your body...then another . The dynamite from the dusty upstairs cave was going off. We were all quite jumpy when our guide explained that we were quite safe in our cave - i'm glad he was so confident!!
After the explosions we made our way out of the cave and down the tunnel towards the light, it didn't seem anywhere near as dark and daunting as when we came in. The question is had we grown more confident or had the 98% alcohol given us more Dutch courage than we realised?!?
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Top Gear Special / Road to Mendoza
Top Gear is one constant I've sustained in my life since leaving the UK (thanks Piratebay), and happily learnt they were doing a SA special featuring Bolivia (thanks Dad for the reminder). Anyway we managed to watch it this morning and were amazed by just how similar their route was! It's nice that those of you who caught it got an (overly dramatic) overview of the Death Road and Bolivia as a whole, one thing they couldn't skew was just how desolate the Atacama really is... miles and miles of nothing!
Anyway, we're all packed up now, my iPhone is loaded with some new songs in anticipation of the 17hr journey to Mendoza, which thankfully is on asphalt!
See you on the other side, dazed, confused and hopefully with a glass of wine!
Emily, we'd both like to wish you a very happy belated birthday, it completely slipped me... which seems to be happening a lot lately, speaking of which, does anybody have a pair of North Face shoes lying around?
Speak soon, ciao!!
Anyway, we're all packed up now, my iPhone is loaded with some new songs in anticipation of the 17hr journey to Mendoza, which thankfully is on asphalt!
See you on the other side, dazed, confused and hopefully with a glass of wine!
Emily, we'd both like to wish you a very happy belated birthday, it completely slipped me... which seems to be happening a lot lately, speaking of which, does anybody have a pair of North Face shoes lying around?
Speak soon, ciao!!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Part 2...extreme bike ride and more extreme curry.
So the last proper installment took us to the Death Road, which James briefly mentioned. There's an awful lot of hype about this bike ride; most of the companies have had a very serious injury or a fatality, YouTube has it's fair share of footage to put anyone off and hostel gossip means everyone's heard of 'someone last week who broke their arm/leg/head'.
The day began at 6.30am where Madness (our tour company) fed and watered us and then kitted us head to toe in safety equipment. The eight of us (4 English, 1 Irish, 2 Spanish and 1 German) all piled into a minibus and started the 1hour drive to the start of the biking. Everyone was in good spirits apart from the Spanish girl who seemed a bit quiet but no one thought anything of it.
We got on our bikes and set off downhill in clear conditions with Tarmac beneath our tyres. We were travelling downhill as fast as our bikes would take us (annoyingly James seemed to be able to propel his bike that bit faster than mine, regardless of how many aerodynamic shapes I attempted to make with my torso!!). Great views, wind in our hair, this was a breeze.
After about 30 minutes we came to a tunnel with a gravel track running parallel. It became clear rather quickly that this was the end of the good road, the good weather (mist, zero visibility, light rain) and the easy ride. We set off again this time with me directly behind the guide (the weird body shapes were obviously working) when literally out of nowhere there was an enormous lorry heading straight for us emerging from the mist a couple of metres in front of the bikes. Now I know what you're thinking, if I was that lorry driver with zero visibility, going uphill on the death road on a blind bend, I wouldn't bother to stick my lights on either!!!! Myself and the guide reacted quickly with her forking to the right and me to the left, narrowly missing both of us. Luckily the only injury was to our nerves which were a bit rattled.
The zero visibility made the road itself feel more unsafe however it did mean we couldn't see any of the big drops so actually felt quite tame at the top. As we dropped in altitude the mist cleared and we got our first glimpse of what all the fuss is about...spectacular views experienced on great quality mountain bikes on such a fun road.
The road itself is 64km of mainly downhill with a couple of kms uphill. Everyone tackled the uphill with relative ease apart from the Spanish girl who'd got off her bike and pushed it up the modest hill-odd we thought!
The final stretch involved some fun twists and turns in the gravel track, cycling under a waterfall and generally everyone feeling more confident on their bikes. The Spanish couple had been lagging behind the whole way, when suddenly out of nowhere the Spanish man came storming past everyone (including the guide) at a crazy pace. Reading between the lines one can only assume that she really didn't want to come mountain biking, was riding painfully slowly and probably moaning so for the final few minutes he had a blowout and left her at the back of the pack. See if you can spot her happy face on our photos!
The death road overall felt very safe, the guide said 'you're safe if you stay in your comfort zone. As soon as you go faster than you're comfortable with, it gets dangerous' and she was absolutely right.
It was a fantastic experience which flew by so quickly and most of us would have liked a bit longer on the bikes. We did the ride and we now have the t shirts to say we survived which will be worn with pride back home.
After our achievements of the day we thought it fitting to celebrate with the highest curry in the world. It's not everyday you can have a korma at extreme altitude. The food was lovely but 2/5 of us found the eating experience a bit too extreme and were in the loo within 10 minutes of leaving...good times!
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
The day began at 6.30am where Madness (our tour company) fed and watered us and then kitted us head to toe in safety equipment. The eight of us (4 English, 1 Irish, 2 Spanish and 1 German) all piled into a minibus and started the 1hour drive to the start of the biking. Everyone was in good spirits apart from the Spanish girl who seemed a bit quiet but no one thought anything of it.
We got on our bikes and set off downhill in clear conditions with Tarmac beneath our tyres. We were travelling downhill as fast as our bikes would take us (annoyingly James seemed to be able to propel his bike that bit faster than mine, regardless of how many aerodynamic shapes I attempted to make with my torso!!). Great views, wind in our hair, this was a breeze.
After about 30 minutes we came to a tunnel with a gravel track running parallel. It became clear rather quickly that this was the end of the good road, the good weather (mist, zero visibility, light rain) and the easy ride. We set off again this time with me directly behind the guide (the weird body shapes were obviously working) when literally out of nowhere there was an enormous lorry heading straight for us emerging from the mist a couple of metres in front of the bikes. Now I know what you're thinking, if I was that lorry driver with zero visibility, going uphill on the death road on a blind bend, I wouldn't bother to stick my lights on either!!!! Myself and the guide reacted quickly with her forking to the right and me to the left, narrowly missing both of us. Luckily the only injury was to our nerves which were a bit rattled.
The zero visibility made the road itself feel more unsafe however it did mean we couldn't see any of the big drops so actually felt quite tame at the top. As we dropped in altitude the mist cleared and we got our first glimpse of what all the fuss is about...spectacular views experienced on great quality mountain bikes on such a fun road.
The road itself is 64km of mainly downhill with a couple of kms uphill. Everyone tackled the uphill with relative ease apart from the Spanish girl who'd got off her bike and pushed it up the modest hill-odd we thought!
The final stretch involved some fun twists and turns in the gravel track, cycling under a waterfall and generally everyone feeling more confident on their bikes. The Spanish couple had been lagging behind the whole way, when suddenly out of nowhere the Spanish man came storming past everyone (including the guide) at a crazy pace. Reading between the lines one can only assume that she really didn't want to come mountain biking, was riding painfully slowly and probably moaning so for the final few minutes he had a blowout and left her at the back of the pack. See if you can spot her happy face on our photos!
The death road overall felt very safe, the guide said 'you're safe if you stay in your comfort zone. As soon as you go faster than you're comfortable with, it gets dangerous' and she was absolutely right.
It was a fantastic experience which flew by so quickly and most of us would have liked a bit longer on the bikes. We did the ride and we now have the t shirts to say we survived which will be worn with pride back home.
After our achievements of the day we thought it fitting to celebrate with the highest curry in the world. It's not everyday you can have a korma at extreme altitude. The food was lovely but 2/5 of us found the eating experience a bit too extreme and were in the loo within 10 minutes of leaving...good times!
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas to you all!
We'd like to wish everybody a fantastic Christmas day, and a wonderful festive season. Thanks to those that have already sent their regards, I was hoping to make this post yesterday, but the internet in the Hotel went down - probably due to me downloading Christmas films on their connection :o)
Today we have a real array of things to watch, Home Alone, Elf, Bad Santa, then to add some depth in case we get bored we also have Spirited Away (Miranda hates animation... hoping it will change her mind), and Requiem for a Dream. Other things on the agenda are a Jaccuzi bath, an perhaps a swim... and obviously Skyping everyone that's online!
We're just going to have breakfast, but if you can make yourselves known online, whether it's to talk, or just so we can watch you eat a traditional English Christmas dinner, we really don't care!
Today we have a real array of things to watch, Home Alone, Elf, Bad Santa, then to add some depth in case we get bored we also have Spirited Away (Miranda hates animation... hoping it will change her mind), and Requiem for a Dream. Other things on the agenda are a Jaccuzi bath, an perhaps a swim... and obviously Skyping everyone that's online!
We're just going to have breakfast, but if you can make yourselves known online, whether it's to talk, or just so we can watch you eat a traditional English Christmas dinner, we really don't care!
Happy Christmas!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Pictures
All of our photos are now completely up to date again, you can view them here as always. They include the tour of the mines in Potosi, the Salt plains of Bolivia and other bits & bobs!
Thanks for looking :o)
Thanks for looking :o)
Small site change
It's come to our attention that a number of people (including ourselves) have been at times having difficulties posting comments, instead receiving "Your request could not be processed. Please try again.". Unfortunately after some brief research it seems the problem has no real solution.
The work around is that now when clicking to post a comment, you'll have a seperate box appear in which to type it and post. This will avoid the issue, but presents another for those with pop-up blockers enabled.
For those experiencing difficulty, please visit the following link HERE
Let us know if you're finding it better or worse than before!
The work around is that now when clicking to post a comment, you'll have a seperate box appear in which to type it and post. This will avoid the issue, but presents another for those with pop-up blockers enabled.
For those experiencing difficulty, please visit the following link HERE
Let us know if you're finding it better or worse than before!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
A recap of the last week! Part 1
So in the last week or so we headed from Cusco to Puno, which is a smallish place on the Peruvian shore of Lake Titicaca. I personally was expecting more of the place, for me it lacked any real "let's stay another night" factor, within 20 minutes of arriving at the hostel we'd booked a day trip to two islands on Lake Titicaca (TT), and booked our bus tickets to Copacabana, Bolivia.
The next morning we were up at 6am to eat our pancake breakfast, and be ready for our 6:45 pick-up, after a typically poor shower and a quick feed we were on our way. A short while later we arrived at the dock and clambered aboard our boat, which for now we'll call the world's slowest boat... Apparently at 3,800m combustion engines don't tend to work too well, therefore everything runs at a snails pace.
Our first stop was the Unos islands of TT, which are unique in that they are made of reeds. The theory behind it is that they harvest the reeds from the edges of the lake, and form a base by lashing together the roots of the reeds (they are wooden like), and upon which they lay over the reed itself, which then dries out in the sun creating something similae to hay. Over time they expand these structures which then the locals (people live on them) build their reed houses and furniture. It's a very interesting concept, which originally came about when the Spanish (them again) were invading the native indigenous population, many fled to the lake to hide from the Spanish (it's huge), and their legacy was born. Today they rely on tourism to survive, where previously they were proficient fishermen. Sadly after the intriduction of some Trout into TT, they majority of the smaller fish died a parasite infested death, leaving the fish population dwindling. Now they eat a lot of birds (ducks, moor hens) in addition to any fish they can catch. As an experience it was pretty interesting, but the hard sell of the souvenirs (which the women make themselves) was too obvious, and pressured.
Next up was a 2.5hr boat ride for lunch at Taquile island, which is a normal and much larger island. About this time I left the cramped cabin and headed outside, where I fell asleep in the sun for a while... wonderful. We arrived at Taquile, trekked up its steep geography for 20 minutes to the main town/plaza and had some typical food (fried trout, rice, chips), took a few photos (us with 3 guys chewing Coca) and then a (not so) fantastic 3hr boring boat ride home, on many occasions where I nearly jumped overboard in favour of taking the alternative transport back to Puno, which I estimated would shave an hour off, front-crawl!
Instead I opted for a sleep outside again, which was cheifly responsible for the widespread burning of precisely half of my face and neck... hey, it's the first time I've managed to lose my respect for the sun, especially at altitude! I attribute much of the blame on Miranda for not being caring and waking me up, she has little knowledge of this.
In a rather large nutshell, in which I've tried (probably in vain) to make it sound excting, really it wasn't that great... thankfully it was cheap! Another experience, none the less, but speaking for both of us, TT is just another lake... once which lacks the beauty and landscape of the good ol' Lake District in England.
The following day we took a bus to Copacabana in Bolivia, where we were planning to get a bus to La Paz. What we hadn't considered was that this place didn't even have an ATM. We had about £1 worth of Peruvian Neuvo Soles, which we couldn't even change at the street cambios (scoundrels). Cue some new old friends, Ricky and Claire who we met whilst watching them tuck into Guinea Pig and Llama respectively whilst in a bar in Cusco. Luckily we managed to buy 4 tickets to La Paz, with literally every joint penny we had... Thank our lucky stars!
We arrived in La Paz and located our Hostel/Hotel for our 3 days in La Paz, Cruz de los Andes which was actually a really nice place, aside from the 4 large flights of stairs, which at around 4,000m certainly challenges the old cardio! La Paz itself seemed to be everything we hadn't heard about it, it felt safe, the local population weren't all off their face's on cocaine, and it seemed like a pretty busy, industrious place. Coming to La Paz, we had one true goal... to embark on the Death Road, which we'd read and heard so much about, after literally a day of researching the myriad of companies offering a thrilling ride, we settled on Madness Downhill, who had fantastic bikes, Rocky Mountain RMX downhill bikes.
Much more to follow in part 2, but I'll give my soon to be sunburnt fingers a rest... it's 11am in San Pedro, it's 30 degrees, and it's breakfast time!
Hope you're all OK, it's nice to be in touch with the world again after Bolivia!
The next morning we were up at 6am to eat our pancake breakfast, and be ready for our 6:45 pick-up, after a typically poor shower and a quick feed we were on our way. A short while later we arrived at the dock and clambered aboard our boat, which for now we'll call the world's slowest boat... Apparently at 3,800m combustion engines don't tend to work too well, therefore everything runs at a snails pace.
Our first stop was the Unos islands of TT, which are unique in that they are made of reeds. The theory behind it is that they harvest the reeds from the edges of the lake, and form a base by lashing together the roots of the reeds (they are wooden like), and upon which they lay over the reed itself, which then dries out in the sun creating something similae to hay. Over time they expand these structures which then the locals (people live on them) build their reed houses and furniture. It's a very interesting concept, which originally came about when the Spanish (them again) were invading the native indigenous population, many fled to the lake to hide from the Spanish (it's huge), and their legacy was born. Today they rely on tourism to survive, where previously they were proficient fishermen. Sadly after the intriduction of some Trout into TT, they majority of the smaller fish died a parasite infested death, leaving the fish population dwindling. Now they eat a lot of birds (ducks, moor hens) in addition to any fish they can catch. As an experience it was pretty interesting, but the hard sell of the souvenirs (which the women make themselves) was too obvious, and pressured.
Next up was a 2.5hr boat ride for lunch at Taquile island, which is a normal and much larger island. About this time I left the cramped cabin and headed outside, where I fell asleep in the sun for a while... wonderful. We arrived at Taquile, trekked up its steep geography for 20 minutes to the main town/plaza and had some typical food (fried trout, rice, chips), took a few photos (us with 3 guys chewing Coca) and then a (not so) fantastic 3hr boring boat ride home, on many occasions where I nearly jumped overboard in favour of taking the alternative transport back to Puno, which I estimated would shave an hour off, front-crawl!
Instead I opted for a sleep outside again, which was cheifly responsible for the widespread burning of precisely half of my face and neck... hey, it's the first time I've managed to lose my respect for the sun, especially at altitude! I attribute much of the blame on Miranda for not being caring and waking me up, she has little knowledge of this.
In a rather large nutshell, in which I've tried (probably in vain) to make it sound excting, really it wasn't that great... thankfully it was cheap! Another experience, none the less, but speaking for both of us, TT is just another lake... once which lacks the beauty and landscape of the good ol' Lake District in England.
The following day we took a bus to Copacabana in Bolivia, where we were planning to get a bus to La Paz. What we hadn't considered was that this place didn't even have an ATM. We had about £1 worth of Peruvian Neuvo Soles, which we couldn't even change at the street cambios (scoundrels). Cue some new old friends, Ricky and Claire who we met whilst watching them tuck into Guinea Pig and Llama respectively whilst in a bar in Cusco. Luckily we managed to buy 4 tickets to La Paz, with literally every joint penny we had... Thank our lucky stars!
We arrived in La Paz and located our Hostel/Hotel for our 3 days in La Paz, Cruz de los Andes which was actually a really nice place, aside from the 4 large flights of stairs, which at around 4,000m certainly challenges the old cardio! La Paz itself seemed to be everything we hadn't heard about it, it felt safe, the local population weren't all off their face's on cocaine, and it seemed like a pretty busy, industrious place. Coming to La Paz, we had one true goal... to embark on the Death Road, which we'd read and heard so much about, after literally a day of researching the myriad of companies offering a thrilling ride, we settled on Madness Downhill, who had fantastic bikes, Rocky Mountain RMX downhill bikes.
Much more to follow in part 2, but I'll give my soon to be sunburnt fingers a rest... it's 11am in San Pedro, it's 30 degrees, and it's breakfast time!
Hope you're all OK, it's nice to be in touch with the world again after Bolivia!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Two busy days!
Yesterday we travelled from La Paz to Potosi on a 12 hour bus journey, our destination was to the Silver and Tin mines of Potosi, where over it´s 400 year history, 8 million people (predominantly African slaves from the Spanish era) died... No it wasn´t a typo!
Anyway the mines were excellent, lots of pictures to come, and much more detail but I´m rushing to get this drafted. Last night we got a 6 hour bus from Potosi to Uyuni, and today we´re embarking on a 3 day trip to the Salt plains, finishing in San Pedro, Chile.
Time is running out on the computer, so gotta dash... ciao!!!
Anyway the mines were excellent, lots of pictures to come, and much more detail but I´m rushing to get this drafted. Last night we got a 6 hour bus from Potosi to Uyuni, and today we´re embarking on a 3 day trip to the Salt plains, finishing in San Pedro, Chile.
Time is running out on the computer, so gotta dash... ciao!!!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
La Paz
Just a very very quick post to say that yesterday we arrived in the city of La Paz, Bolivia. Initial impressions are that it seems very buzzy, fun and more developed than I expected.
More information coming tomorrow, but my eyes are struggling to stay open. There's also a few new photo's uploaded!
Speak soon, James
More information coming tomorrow, but my eyes are struggling to stay open. There's also a few new photo's uploaded!
Speak soon, James
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Puno
We've just arrived in Puno, where we plan to visit Lake Titicaca. Tomorrow we'vre thinking of doing a day trip to a couple of the floating islands, then we'll likely visit Copacabana (Boloivian, supposedly the better side) for a day or more, before heading to La Paz.
Unfortunately we had to ditch plans to visit Arequipa in favour of covering more miles in order to get to Salta in time for Xmas, obviously covering everything we want to do in Bolivia first (mountainbiking, mines, salt flats).
Anyway, off for some grub... ciao
P.S Well played Leicester!
Unfortunately we had to ditch plans to visit Arequipa in favour of covering more miles in order to get to Salta in time for Xmas, obviously covering everything we want to do in Bolivia first (mountainbiking, mines, salt flats).
Anyway, off for some grub... ciao
P.S Well played Leicester!
The Jungle Trek
So, with knowledge we got back from our Jungle trek in one piece, you may be wondering what we experienced along the way. It went something like this:
Day 1: We boarded the bus in Cusco and began the long 3 hour journey into the mountains. All started well, the sun was beaming down, the windows open to ventilate the increasing temperatures. Some time later it became clear our guide Geòrge, and the bus driver had been on the beers until 4.30am (the chilli chicken and rice they were consuming for breakfast at stupid o'clock was apparently the perfect hangover cure). Now up to 3,500m the weather was unrecognisable, raining, freezing cold and 50m visibility - awesome! Eventually we arrived at the drop off site; we togged up, grabbed a bicycle, helmet and soggy,smelly gloves and with some expert advice from our guide "watch out for crazy drivers" were on our way!
It sounds hideous but actually was so much fun. When you're soaked, what does a bit more water matter! Our group consisted of a mixed bunch; Swiss guy, Austrian girl, couple of Aussies, couple of French, and an Irish guy ranging from 18-30 yrs. Generally a really nice mix of people who you'd happily have a drink with. After the drenching we arrived at our hostel managed by a six year old boy we dubbed Chuck. We collectively imagined it would be a bit of a flea pit, but actually turned out to be ok. Everyone sat around in a weird array of clothes as most had only 1 pair of (very wet) shoes, which we'd since put by Chuck's fire (£1 of course) hoping our boots and clothes would dry for day two.
Day 2: Prior to embarking on the trip there was a ten minute briefing on the trek and I think it's fair to say no one in the group was prepared for day two; a hard slog in the unbearable heat up an enormous mountain and down the other side! After two hours of ascending and as we climbed to high altitude I made a rather interesting discovery; altitude is not my friend!! To cut a long story short, after a mini asthma attack, the ability to walk no more than 10 paces without having to stop and some serious consideration regarding turning back, I eventually (with some help from my fantastic boyfriend*) made it up and down.
*edited by James and in no way the words of the author!
The treat at the end of the day was finishing at some hot springs. We all pushed on for the last two hours for what we anticipated to be a trench the size of a paddling pool and to everyone's total surprise it looked more like a spa than the former. A number of pools of differing temperatures, sun loungers set on a backdrop of breathtaking mountains... and a large sprinkling of mosquito's, heaven! No, really, it was!
James (et al) had the brilliant idea to release their inner cheerleaders and make a three storey human pyramid. The Inka Pyramid took a lot of discussion about weight and balance. After what seemed like hours of arguing and planning, they eventually had a crack. A number of attempts later and to the huge amusement of the locals, they eventually made it. Photographic evidence to follow!!
Day 3: The third day was 6 hours of 'andean flat' as our guide Geòrge liked to put it, and compared to day two it was a long, dull but easy stretch. The fact it rained (with varying ferocity) for the vast majority of the day didn't help, neither did the fact that three hours of the walk was spend walking along railway sleepers, somewhat brain numbing. I think we were all relieved to make it to Aguas Caliente - a small town at the base Machu Picchu.
Day 4: Involved a 3am wake up then off treking to the summit of Machu Picchu. We dragged our tired bodies out and started in the pitch black. Geòrge warned me that I'd probably find the climb an issue but luckily with plenty of stops I managed to control my breathing and get to the top.
The site itself is extremely well preserved with some interesting views on it's history. The striking thing for me is how much skill and precision went into building this city and the events that led to these people leaving and abandoning the site must have been pretty significant.
The views from the site are breathtaking and we were extremely lucky to get a sunny day in rainy season! We're both really pleased with the photos and would have been gutted if it was in any way reminiscent of the day before. Thankfully that early mist lifted off and exposed the blue skies for a few hours.
James, being brave decided to scale another mountain from the top of Machu Picchu called 'Waynapicchu' 2634m which involved another stint up. He got some great pictures and a quote from the climber "they quote an hour but we made it up in 25 minutes. My lungs felt like they were going to explode but the view from the top made it all worthwhile (see pictures)".
Now, if I couldn't breathe getting up the first mountain, I would have had to be airlifted off the second so quite happy with my decision to stay behind!! I went to the tea shop with Richie, a farmer from Cork and we talked about cows and his total aversion to a girlfriend for the next decade stating he had enough women 'giving out to him' at home without adding another to the list!
The lazy people who don't want to walk up Machu Picchu can get a bus up. Whilst we were practically spitting on them when they arrived up at the top, we all made use of the shuttle bus to get down off the mountain.
All in all a fantastic experience that we'll remember forever.
Tired but happy explorers.
X
Day 1: We boarded the bus in Cusco and began the long 3 hour journey into the mountains. All started well, the sun was beaming down, the windows open to ventilate the increasing temperatures. Some time later it became clear our guide Geòrge, and the bus driver had been on the beers until 4.30am (the chilli chicken and rice they were consuming for breakfast at stupid o'clock was apparently the perfect hangover cure). Now up to 3,500m the weather was unrecognisable, raining, freezing cold and 50m visibility - awesome! Eventually we arrived at the drop off site; we togged up, grabbed a bicycle, helmet and soggy,smelly gloves and with some expert advice from our guide "watch out for crazy drivers" were on our way!
It sounds hideous but actually was so much fun. When you're soaked, what does a bit more water matter! Our group consisted of a mixed bunch; Swiss guy, Austrian girl, couple of Aussies, couple of French, and an Irish guy ranging from 18-30 yrs. Generally a really nice mix of people who you'd happily have a drink with. After the drenching we arrived at our hostel managed by a six year old boy we dubbed Chuck. We collectively imagined it would be a bit of a flea pit, but actually turned out to be ok. Everyone sat around in a weird array of clothes as most had only 1 pair of (very wet) shoes, which we'd since put by Chuck's fire (£1 of course) hoping our boots and clothes would dry for day two.
Day 2: Prior to embarking on the trip there was a ten minute briefing on the trek and I think it's fair to say no one in the group was prepared for day two; a hard slog in the unbearable heat up an enormous mountain and down the other side! After two hours of ascending and as we climbed to high altitude I made a rather interesting discovery; altitude is not my friend!! To cut a long story short, after a mini asthma attack, the ability to walk no more than 10 paces without having to stop and some serious consideration regarding turning back, I eventually (with some help from my fantastic boyfriend*) made it up and down.
*edited by James and in no way the words of the author!
The treat at the end of the day was finishing at some hot springs. We all pushed on for the last two hours for what we anticipated to be a trench the size of a paddling pool and to everyone's total surprise it looked more like a spa than the former. A number of pools of differing temperatures, sun loungers set on a backdrop of breathtaking mountains... and a large sprinkling of mosquito's, heaven! No, really, it was!
James (et al) had the brilliant idea to release their inner cheerleaders and make a three storey human pyramid. The Inka Pyramid took a lot of discussion about weight and balance. After what seemed like hours of arguing and planning, they eventually had a crack. A number of attempts later and to the huge amusement of the locals, they eventually made it. Photographic evidence to follow!!
Day 3: The third day was 6 hours of 'andean flat' as our guide Geòrge liked to put it, and compared to day two it was a long, dull but easy stretch. The fact it rained (with varying ferocity) for the vast majority of the day didn't help, neither did the fact that three hours of the walk was spend walking along railway sleepers, somewhat brain numbing. I think we were all relieved to make it to Aguas Caliente - a small town at the base Machu Picchu.
Day 4: Involved a 3am wake up then off treking to the summit of Machu Picchu. We dragged our tired bodies out and started in the pitch black. Geòrge warned me that I'd probably find the climb an issue but luckily with plenty of stops I managed to control my breathing and get to the top.
The site itself is extremely well preserved with some interesting views on it's history. The striking thing for me is how much skill and precision went into building this city and the events that led to these people leaving and abandoning the site must have been pretty significant.
The views from the site are breathtaking and we were extremely lucky to get a sunny day in rainy season! We're both really pleased with the photos and would have been gutted if it was in any way reminiscent of the day before. Thankfully that early mist lifted off and exposed the blue skies for a few hours.
James, being brave decided to scale another mountain from the top of Machu Picchu called 'Waynapicchu' 2634m which involved another stint up. He got some great pictures and a quote from the climber "they quote an hour but we made it up in 25 minutes. My lungs felt like they were going to explode but the view from the top made it all worthwhile (see pictures)".
Now, if I couldn't breathe getting up the first mountain, I would have had to be airlifted off the second so quite happy with my decision to stay behind!! I went to the tea shop with Richie, a farmer from Cork and we talked about cows and his total aversion to a girlfriend for the next decade stating he had enough women 'giving out to him' at home without adding another to the list!
The lazy people who don't want to walk up Machu Picchu can get a bus up. Whilst we were practically spitting on them when they arrived up at the top, we all made use of the shuttle bus to get down off the mountain.
All in all a fantastic experience that we'll remember forever.
Tired but happy explorers.
X
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Back to civilization, Cusco!
Just a very brief post to let you know we got back from the trek in one piece, and in good health. We'll post our full account tonight and fill you in on the adventure!
Also, I've just discovered an ethernet cable in our room, so the PC will be left to chew through the 400 (2GB) odd picture backlog for the next 24 hours - appreciate it's a lot to look through, but there's some good ones!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, not the day of rest!
So today, we're being collected at 7:30am to begin our 4 day Jungle Trek. It's basically the only real alternative to doing the traditional Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, which is $250 more expensive due to government taxation (ecological reasons they site). Cost to one side, it actually sounds like a hell of a lot more fun than trekking for 4 days up stone paths...
For anybody interesting in the itinerary it can be found by clicking here. We didn't book with this particular company but it's the same route, and we paid $165 each, not $285! I'm sure you'll agree weather permitting that it sounds like a great 4 days. Not sure how long we'll be without the innernets, so it may be Thursday before we can make anymore posts, though hopefully sooner.
In other news, it was great to speak to a few of you today, in particular Yasmin, Lewis and Lily... our ear drums have just about recovered from their morning assault! But seriously, great to finally catch them and introduce them to the world of webcams and microphones, the dancing certainly made us smile, and Lily as composed as ever in complimenting the way I smell, thanks!
John, I was disgusted to see the score this morning... I felt dirty. Unfortunately I could hear your words in my ear 8,000 miles away.
We also sent a parcel today via Llama Mail bound for a Mr Hancock around the 15th December, instructions are enclosed... Unfortunately it cost the same amount to send as the value of the enclosed, so this wave of gifts is limited somewhat!
Oh and a big shout out to Emily's 6th form group, who I'm told are following our progress and indeed the geography department who I hear are making good use of a few pictures. Great to hear it's sparked some interest though, get planning :o)
Right, I suppose I'd better go pack some pants, we're leaving in 8 hours!
For anybody interesting in the itinerary it can be found by clicking here. We didn't book with this particular company but it's the same route, and we paid $165 each, not $285! I'm sure you'll agree weather permitting that it sounds like a great 4 days. Not sure how long we'll be without the innernets, so it may be Thursday before we can make anymore posts, though hopefully sooner.
In other news, it was great to speak to a few of you today, in particular Yasmin, Lewis and Lily... our ear drums have just about recovered from their morning assault! But seriously, great to finally catch them and introduce them to the world of webcams and microphones, the dancing certainly made us smile, and Lily as composed as ever in complimenting the way I smell, thanks!
John, I was disgusted to see the score this morning... I felt dirty. Unfortunately I could hear your words in my ear 8,000 miles away.
We also sent a parcel today via Llama Mail bound for a Mr Hancock around the 15th December, instructions are enclosed... Unfortunately it cost the same amount to send as the value of the enclosed, so this wave of gifts is limited somewhat!
Oh and a big shout out to Emily's 6th form group, who I'm told are following our progress and indeed the geography department who I hear are making good use of a few pictures. Great to hear it's sparked some interest though, get planning :o)
Right, I suppose I'd better go pack some pants, we're leaving in 8 hours!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thursday Bonanza Continues!
We've uploaded a fresh batch of photos today (there's 400 more to come...), which will hopefully be of interest. They predominantly cover our time in Bogota/Cartagena/Lima, and are more easily viewed by going to our Flickr photostream, and then from the top, selecting the various sets (which are now in chronological order).
You'll also hopefully notice the utterly useless "Where are we now?" map, in which you can see, well nothing at all actually...
Oh and don't forget Miranda's post below, that's three new things today, you lucky, lucky people!
Off to take more photos of Cusco now, ciao!
You'll also hopefully notice the utterly useless "Where are we now?" map, in which you can see, well nothing at all actually...
Oh and don't forget Miranda's post below, that's three new things today, you lucky, lucky people!
Off to take more photos of Cusco now, ciao!
The good, the bad and the ugly!!
Following Mark's request for the best place we've been...
We actually jotted our top three foods, top three places and 'the worst...' they were written on napkins privately over a glass of red wine and then we compared lists.
The fruits of our labour are below:
MIRANDA
Food:
1)Argentine beef
2)Dried bananas with salt,Bogota
3)Chicken noodle soup,Paracus
Places:
1)Boat tour to Ballestas Islands,Paracus
2)Cartegena
3)Maracana stadium watching our adopted team Flumenese win,Rio
The Worst...
1)Ace hostel, Rio
2)Pulma bus ride Iguzu to Florip
3)Today's lunch! (restaurant in national park), Paracus
JAMES
Food:
1)Argentine steak in Desnivel restaurant
2)Empanada from the truck stop in Buenos Aires
3)Grilled fish and coconut rice in Cartegena
Places:
1)Iguazu falls, Argentina
2)Sugarloaf, Rio
3)Maracana stadium, Rio
The Worst....
1)Ace hostel, Rio
2)Monserrat, Bogota
3)The retarded motorcycle issue, Florip
It was really interesting to sit and think about it on our own and you can see our lists do have differences. We both found it tough to think of three bad things which I guess is a clear indiction that we're enjoying our trip!
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
We actually jotted our top three foods, top three places and 'the worst...' they were written on napkins privately over a glass of red wine and then we compared lists.
The fruits of our labour are below:
MIRANDA
Food:
1)Argentine beef
2)Dried bananas with salt,Bogota
3)Chicken noodle soup,Paracus
Places:
1)Boat tour to Ballestas Islands,Paracus
2)Cartegena
3)Maracana stadium watching our adopted team Flumenese win,Rio
The Worst...
1)Ace hostel, Rio
2)Pulma bus ride Iguzu to Florip
3)Today's lunch! (restaurant in national park), Paracus
JAMES
Food:
1)Argentine steak in Desnivel restaurant
2)Empanada from the truck stop in Buenos Aires
3)Grilled fish and coconut rice in Cartegena
Places:
1)Iguazu falls, Argentina
2)Sugarloaf, Rio
3)Maracana stadium, Rio
The Worst....
1)Ace hostel, Rio
2)Monserrat, Bogota
3)The retarded motorcycle issue, Florip
It was really interesting to sit and think about it on our own and you can see our lists do have differences. We both found it tough to think of three bad things which I guess is a clear indiction that we're enjoying our trip!
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
We're in Huacachina...
It's a desert oasis which lies near to Ica, Peru. We're on our second day here, and today spent our Monday morning sat behind a Chevvie 5.5L V8 driving at hair raising speeds up and down sand dunes in the surrounding desert. Here in Huacachina it's all about Sandboarding and Buggy rides, unfortunately for me Sandskiing is yet to take of, so to save myself swallowing a mouthful of sand I took the safer bet of lying on the board (the majority do)... the boarding was good, but to be honest it's nothing like as good as doing it on snow, there's just too much friction!
There's very little else to do here though, it wasn't until today (having arrived at night) up on the dunes that we realised just how tiny the place really is, plenty of bars, restuarants and swimming pools to keep you amused for a couple of days though. We're staying at the Huacachini Hotel which is perhaps the highest standard of Hostel/Hotel we've stayed in (with exception of Sao Paulo), and certainly compared to the @#*$#$@ @*%# Ace Hostel in Rio!
So, rolling back two days, we were staying in a little fishing town called Paracus (25km South of Pisco), it has 365 days of sunshine and practically 0 rain all year round. It also has the benefit of feeling very charming, and despite not being the most beautiful place in the world, or having the nicest beach, it does a great job of wanting you to stay just one more day... The reason we headed there was to visit the Islas Ballestas, which are home to myriad of bird species, dolphins, penguins and seals, we both had a fantastic time and depleted our camera battery in fine style - be prepared to be bored senseless by forthcoming pictures of another cute seal! After that, we were booked on another tour of the Paracas Nacional Reserva, in which we drove around for several hours to a few beauty spots, and some restuarants in the middle of nowhere (the food here is great, if 3 of you buy a meal, I eat free... that old chestnut!), overall, pretty disappointing but it cost us like 5 quid!
So, onto tomorrow - yes we're back on a bus. Luckily we'll only be on it for a few hours as we head to Nazca for hopefully a cheap plane ride over the lines (we've quickly learnt never to pay the price listed, or even the asking price), and to take in the ancient Nazca Lines, hopefully they'll be inspiring and not appear like some lines a child has drawn in the sand with his finger... Miranda isn't much fussed I don't think, but I guess it's one of those things we'll regret doing should it ever pop up in a pub quiz!
Other stuff, well we've got like a million photographs to upload, but the internet here in Peru is slower than their fishingnet. Hopefully when we arrive in Cusco we'll be able to catch-up from that point of view. Other stuff, well, one travelling philosopher we've met put it beautifully when he said "you're perpetually in a state of constipation or diarhorrea, and never inbetween", I seem to be faring generally OK up to now, but I seem to be doing better than most. The food generally speaking has been fantastic in all of South America, there's a real feel that your location directly affects the foods available on the menu, therefore in the west of Peru, fish plays a big part of peoples lives. Ceviche is basically raw fish, soaked in lemon juice, and with some chilli added to the mix to give it some kick... I've only had it once so far, but it's pretty good - you'd love it Mum!
Anyway, time is ticking and my stomach is in knots, so I'll clock out and go and feed it!
Hope everybody is OK at home, and that the worst of the recent stormy weather is done with. hopefully speak to you all soon when we reach civilization in Cusco.
See you soon, James!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Lima
Lima is disappointing, it has to be said. It seems to lack any real charm, appeal and history compared to the places we've visited so far. The buildings are square, concrete communist looking things, maybe that's part of the problem?
Yesterday we went for a walk around to see what we could find, and short of a few central Plaza's we couldn't find a lot else of interest.
The San Franisco Monastery was probably one of the few highlights with it's Catacombs where 27,000 (Lonelyplanet states 70,000?) people were buried, and today you can tour them (sadly you can't take photographs), but you can see the photo's of the other bones found under the Cathedral.
The other two points worth a mention are the woeful 'tour' we took on a landtrain. We waited 30 minutes, and after paying our 5 soles (their currency) or £1 each we were on our way to discovering Lima... Well 20 minutes later, we were back where we started, having driven around the block and been spoken at in Spanish.
Later that day, our luck changed and after a bad run, we were delighted to be shat on - Miranda took the first bullet, striking her on the chest. As I fumbled for a pamphlet to carefully tend to her (barely managing to hide my smile), I was struck, struck by large calibre (Eagle) shit... My hair, neck, and predominantly chest were soiled. Earlier I tried to hide a smile, and now I was fighting back tears as I raised my fists to the sky. The Peruvians found it somewhat funny, and well if I hadn't have laughed I'd only have fuelled their happiness.
Today is a new day, and we decided to leave this place in favour of greener fields, today we go to Paraças and it's national park. It's right next to Pisco (Pisco Sour) and while we also wanted to also visit here, we discovered Pisco was flattened by a 2007 earthquake - apparently 2 years later it's still in the same state. Back to our trip: we'll be doing 1 night stays in Paraças, Nazca, then Ica and from there onto Cusco, Arequipe and Puno where we'll cross Lake Titicaca...
Plenty more to come then, anyway Waffles and Maple syrup await, so I'll be off!
Apologies RE Skype, we've struggled to get onto it in the last few days, mainly due to busy schedule. Hopefully catch you up tomorrow night!
C'mon Leicester!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Yesterday we went for a walk around to see what we could find, and short of a few central Plaza's we couldn't find a lot else of interest.
The San Franisco Monastery was probably one of the few highlights with it's Catacombs where 27,000 (Lonelyplanet states 70,000?) people were buried, and today you can tour them (sadly you can't take photographs), but you can see the photo's of the other bones found under the Cathedral.
The other two points worth a mention are the woeful 'tour' we took on a landtrain. We waited 30 minutes, and after paying our 5 soles (their currency) or £1 each we were on our way to discovering Lima... Well 20 minutes later, we were back where we started, having driven around the block and been spoken at in Spanish.
Later that day, our luck changed and after a bad run, we were delighted to be shat on - Miranda took the first bullet, striking her on the chest. As I fumbled for a pamphlet to carefully tend to her (barely managing to hide my smile), I was struck, struck by large calibre (Eagle) shit... My hair, neck, and predominantly chest were soiled. Earlier I tried to hide a smile, and now I was fighting back tears as I raised my fists to the sky. The Peruvians found it somewhat funny, and well if I hadn't have laughed I'd only have fuelled their happiness.
Today is a new day, and we decided to leave this place in favour of greener fields, today we go to Paraças and it's national park. It's right next to Pisco (Pisco Sour) and while we also wanted to also visit here, we discovered Pisco was flattened by a 2007 earthquake - apparently 2 years later it's still in the same state. Back to our trip: we'll be doing 1 night stays in Paraças, Nazca, then Ica and from there onto Cusco, Arequipe and Puno where we'll cross Lake Titicaca...
Plenty more to come then, anyway Waffles and Maple syrup await, so I'll be off!
Apologies RE Skype, we've struggled to get onto it in the last few days, mainly due to busy schedule. Hopefully catch you up tomorrow night!
C'mon Leicester!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, November 26, 2009
The Frightening Facial
Now before I start this post, I know what you're thinking...facials are hardly slumming it! Whilst I would normally agrees with you, there's a little spa sandwiched between our budget hotel and the beach. I decided to enquire on the price and it's £18 for an hour's facial-how could I refuse??
So with my Spanglish I informed the nice beautician that I wanted an hour treatment and lay on the bed. Expecting the lights to dim and smell aromatherapy oils, I was a little alarmed when she shone a 100watt LED light on my face and pulled on some latex gloves. Now I was afraid!
For the next 30 minutes she performed the 'sports massage' of facials. Feeling like I'd had a bit of an ordeal, I felt sure I didn't need the top four layers of skin anyway and was satisfied we'd finished.
As I sat up to leave, my beautician indicated that I should lay back down and unveiled a machine that would have been more fitting in a hospital resuscitation room. She turned it on and as it chugged into action she pulled a spatula-like device from the machine. It crackled like there was electicity running through it. She held it to my cheek and within a split second my suspicions were confirmed and I felt an electric shock. I jumped and she did it again! She saw my look of horror and proceeded to explain that it was absolutely fine as it will make my pore smaller.
Well that's alright then!!!
They say no pain no gain. I'm sure when the nightmares stop I'll appreciate how soft my skin is!
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
So with my Spanglish I informed the nice beautician that I wanted an hour treatment and lay on the bed. Expecting the lights to dim and smell aromatherapy oils, I was a little alarmed when she shone a 100watt LED light on my face and pulled on some latex gloves. Now I was afraid!
For the next 30 minutes she performed the 'sports massage' of facials. Feeling like I'd had a bit of an ordeal, I felt sure I didn't need the top four layers of skin anyway and was satisfied we'd finished.
As I sat up to leave, my beautician indicated that I should lay back down and unveiled a machine that would have been more fitting in a hospital resuscitation room. She turned it on and as it chugged into action she pulled a spatula-like device from the machine. It crackled like there was electicity running through it. She held it to my cheek and within a split second my suspicions were confirmed and I felt an electric shock. I jumped and she did it again! She saw my look of horror and proceeded to explain that it was absolutely fine as it will make my pore smaller.
Well that's alright then!!!
They say no pain no gain. I'm sure when the nightmares stop I'll appreciate how soft my skin is!
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Adios Caribe Mar!
We made it to the airport with too much time on this occasion, so thought I'd treat to all to a transmission.
We're now waiting at Cartagena airport for our wings back to Bogota, and I think we're both sad to see the back of the place (for now). We'll be landing at 11pm, so after a brief taxi ride to the hostel...
*BEEP BEEP*
As I was saying, last night we got the flight from Cartagena, and headed straight to bed on arrival in Bogota. Today involves a 1pm flight from Bogota, to Lima (Peru).
Why Peru, and not Ecuador?
Well, after some deliberation, ear-wigging and research we've decided to skip Ecuador all together in favour of more time in Peru. Flying to Quito from Bogota would have cost £175pp, or involved a 30hr bus ride... I'm not sure there's enough Anusol in circulation to prepare adequately for such a voyage. We'd also heard Quito was fairly dirty, unwelcoming and more of a gateway to better places, so we jumped the fence (if we could afford to visit the Galapagus Islands, things would be different). Hopefully the additional week or so in Peru will prove to be the right decsion to have made... We'll see!
So Peru, for me this is where the activities start, with things like mountainbiking, rafting, bungee and skydiving apparently freely available. There are of course other pulls like Machu Picchu, ancient temples from lost civilizations and mountains carpetted in rainforest to explore.
On talking to a few people, it seems the traditional Incan trail up Machu is more akin to a stream on ants up a tree. We've learnt of some perhaps better routes which involve cycling for 1 day, then a jungle trek for 2 nights... Count me in!
Zooming back to Cartagena, it's a fantastic place to visit and somewhere we plan to visit in the future (the water temperature alone is enough to get me back on a plane, unreal). Today we had a wander around the old town (walled city), and it's like something out of a picture book (the pictures will hopefully show some of what it's about), it's a stunning colonial town.
We visited the Rosario Islands, where we went snorkelling on a coral reef, we both really enjoyed it and saw many weird and wonderful fish, though Miranda suffered somewhat initially with a leaky mask and dodgy snorkel. It was a bit of a trek in a speedboat, and a long way off of the 45 minutes we were quoted by Billy(wouldsellyiuhisgranny) at the hotel.
Anyway, gotta dash, flights called. More later!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We're now waiting at Cartagena airport for our wings back to Bogota, and I think we're both sad to see the back of the place (for now). We'll be landing at 11pm, so after a brief taxi ride to the hostel...
*BEEP BEEP*
As I was saying, last night we got the flight from Cartagena, and headed straight to bed on arrival in Bogota. Today involves a 1pm flight from Bogota, to Lima (Peru).
Why Peru, and not Ecuador?
Well, after some deliberation, ear-wigging and research we've decided to skip Ecuador all together in favour of more time in Peru. Flying to Quito from Bogota would have cost £175pp, or involved a 30hr bus ride... I'm not sure there's enough Anusol in circulation to prepare adequately for such a voyage. We'd also heard Quito was fairly dirty, unwelcoming and more of a gateway to better places, so we jumped the fence (if we could afford to visit the Galapagus Islands, things would be different). Hopefully the additional week or so in Peru will prove to be the right decsion to have made... We'll see!
So Peru, for me this is where the activities start, with things like mountainbiking, rafting, bungee and skydiving apparently freely available. There are of course other pulls like Machu Picchu, ancient temples from lost civilizations and mountains carpetted in rainforest to explore.
On talking to a few people, it seems the traditional Incan trail up Machu is more akin to a stream on ants up a tree. We've learnt of some perhaps better routes which involve cycling for 1 day, then a jungle trek for 2 nights... Count me in!
Zooming back to Cartagena, it's a fantastic place to visit and somewhere we plan to visit in the future (the water temperature alone is enough to get me back on a plane, unreal). Today we had a wander around the old town (walled city), and it's like something out of a picture book (the pictures will hopefully show some of what it's about), it's a stunning colonial town.
We visited the Rosario Islands, where we went snorkelling on a coral reef, we both really enjoyed it and saw many weird and wonderful fish, though Miranda suffered somewhat initially with a leaky mask and dodgy snorkel. It was a bit of a trek in a speedboat, and a long way off of the 45 minutes we were quoted by Billy(wouldsellyiuhisgranny) at the hotel.
Anyway, gotta dash, flights called. More later!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Arrival in Cartagena and Bogota in retrospect
Well we arrived on our £54 flight from Bogota to Cartagena, after initial concerns we were going to be cutting it fine for check-in. Luckily, South American time came to our rescue and therefore having 5 minutes to spare meant we were actually pretty early in the scheme of things.
The flight was 1hr10m, during which I was unfortunately seated next to (as Miranda put it) "Miss Plastic Fantastic". After initial concerns and contemplation of how exactly I'd contain the scene if the worst was to happen (no, not the plane crashing); her implants exploding, I settled back into my seat and relaxed. Some time later she picked up on my authentic London twang, it transpired she'd spent a year in London studying English. In summary, she said she woon't be going back to England, mainly due to the weather and that Cartagena was the best place in Colombia... we'll see! Interestingly she said, she loved her country, something I can't imagine many British people saying?
So, Bogota... the evil city who's inhabitants included visits from Pablo Escobar and Satan, the city where mountains of white stuff are universally snorted by old ladies and children alike. Our stay was in the old town, which is called La Candelaria. It's full of little cafes, eateries, restaurants,cocaine dealers, and beautiful buildings. The Cranky Croc hostel was our base, which was recommended and seemed like a great hostel - lounge/bar area/wifi/hot water/big tv - and a lively international atmosphere.
The rooms were dotted around a small outdoor courtyard, which was fine with exception of some noise, and the possibility of needing to get dressed in the middle of the night to go for a pee (altitude does funny things to one's bladder). The other oversight was any form of heating in our room, not helped by the lack of glass in our door (shutters aren't draft proof) and having just arrived from a nice 35 degrees in Rio, the room got more than a little nippy at night - thank god again for our sleeping bag liners! Climate control in the UK is a different concept entirely...
Edit - I neglected to mention, that on third day there they commenced with some building work to the floors. We arrived back to find that the 3/4 tiles they'd lifted from the floor on our way out, had grown to 3/4 trenches, that allowed us all to appreciate just how good sewage smelt. Disgusting. It's a decent hostel though, just let down by a distinct lack of cookware and in our case, the horrendous smell of god knows what...
Anyway, highlights of Bogota include:
I reckon it was the third day before we were feeling normal, and from that point you no longer felt your heart rate increase when opening a door. Makes me wonder what reaction La Paz will provoke 14,000ft... sick bags at the ready!
So Bogota in a few (actually 200) words, it feels safe and I'm sure nobody would have any issues, provided they follow the simple common sense rules you'd use in East London of leaving jewellery, watches, iPhones at home (they catch your eye when you earn £150-£200 a month). The people are friendly, if you need anything they'll point you in the right direction. We didn't have even a sniff of the white stuff, there's nobody peddling it on the streets at least. The climate is somewhat similar to the UK, and like Rio it's surrounded by nice green mountains. Oh, and though we didn't need to use it, they have a subway in the shape of bendy-buses, which operate on their own dedicated roads (no traffic(lights)) and appear to work fluently... the reason? They couldn't find the cash to build an underground.
Finally, first thoughts on Cartagena... fork me it's hot and sticky!!!
P.S Pics to follow.
The flight was 1hr10m, during which I was unfortunately seated next to (as Miranda put it) "Miss Plastic Fantastic". After initial concerns and contemplation of how exactly I'd contain the scene if the worst was to happen (no, not the plane crashing); her implants exploding, I settled back into my seat and relaxed. Some time later she picked up on my authentic London twang, it transpired she'd spent a year in London studying English. In summary, she said she woon't be going back to England, mainly due to the weather and that Cartagena was the best place in Colombia... we'll see! Interestingly she said, she loved her country, something I can't imagine many British people saying?
So, Bogota... the evil city who's inhabitants included visits from Pablo Escobar and Satan, the city where mountains of white stuff are universally snorted by old ladies and children alike. Our stay was in the old town, which is called La Candelaria. It's full of little cafes, eateries, restaurants,
The rooms were dotted around a small outdoor courtyard, which was fine with exception of some noise, and the possibility of needing to get dressed in the middle of the night to go for a pee (altitude does funny things to one's bladder). The other oversight was any form of heating in our room, not helped by the lack of glass in our door (shutters aren't draft proof) and having just arrived from a nice 35 degrees in Rio, the room got more than a little nippy at night - thank god again for our sleeping bag liners! Climate control in the UK is a different concept entirely...
Edit - I neglected to mention, that on third day there they commenced with some building work to the floors. We arrived back to find that the 3/4 tiles they'd lifted from the floor on our way out, had grown to 3/4 trenches, that allowed us all to appreciate just how good sewage smelt. Disgusting. It's a decent hostel though, just let down by a distinct lack of cookware and in our case, the horrendous smell of god knows what...
Anyway, highlights of Bogota include:
- The Gold Museum, apparently the worlds biggest collection of gold artifacts. It costs pennies to get in, and houses 3 floors full of all things golden and a few other bits and pieces thrown in for good measure. Definitely worth seeing, though I was mildly disappointed by the lack of gold fixtures and fittings in the toilets...
- The Botero Museum, this one is actually free entry on certain days/times. Housing all of Botero's work, and a fair selection of other artists it's a nice place to aimlessly wonder. I wouldn't really describe myself as being an art fan, but Botero's work is something I can really appreciate and for the most part you get the impression most of his paintings were done with his tongue in his cheek. Well worth a visit, if only for the fact it has a Juan Valdez (think authentic Starbucks) coffee shop next door, Miranda isn't a fan of Juan though...
- The Police Museum, we actually went to his one today, and also free entry. This basically involves a tour around and looking at the technologies and techniques the Police in Colombia have used over the years to counter terrorism and drug issues (i.e Escobar/FARQ). They've got a couple of rooms dedicated to Pablo's legacy (though they certainly don't glamourise him), but for me the most interesting room was the gun room, wall-to-wall guns... including my Canons!
- The food, it's cheap... really cheap. You can feed 2 and have a drink each for £3 if you shop around (Recolete al Carbon, just off of Calle 15, muy bien!). There's also a great chain here called Crepes and Waffles, which despite it's name has a wide selection, though not as cheap, we're talking £5 each. The jewel in the crown though for me, was this special bread they have called Areype, kinda like a naan crossed with a pitta I guess... filled with whatever you choose, also cheaper than chips.
- BoozeBus, I felt compelled to parade my gringoness on the bus with a load of lads from the hostel. Jist of it was you got free Tequila/Vodka shots whilst you were on the bus, and from time to time it stopped at bars/clubs for you to make a fool of yourself. I hate Tequila...
I reckon it was the third day before we were feeling normal, and from that point you no longer felt your heart rate increase when opening a door. Makes me wonder what reaction La Paz will provoke 14,000ft... sick bags at the ready!
So Bogota in a few (actually 200) words, it feels safe and I'm sure nobody would have any issues, provided they follow the simple common sense rules you'd use in East London of leaving jewellery, watches, iPhones at home (they catch your eye when you earn £150-£200 a month). The people are friendly, if you need anything they'll point you in the right direction. We didn't have even a sniff of the white stuff, there's nobody peddling it on the streets at least. The climate is somewhat similar to the UK, and like Rio it's surrounded by nice green mountains. Oh, and though we didn't need to use it, they have a subway in the shape of bendy-buses, which operate on their own dedicated roads (no traffic(lights)) and appear to work fluently... the reason? They couldn't find the cash to build an underground.
Finally, first thoughts on Cartagena... fork me it's hot and sticky!!!
P.S Pics to follow.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
*Toot Toot* All aboard!
Just a quicky before we head out to see out the Police Museum.
Today we're taking a flight from Bogota to Cartagena, which thankfully is situated on the Carribean coast of Columbia. We'll then be flying back here (to Bogota) on the 25th, where we'll make a move for our next border crossing.
We checked on kype just now, but nobody was on... you're all fired!
Oh and... Blue Army! ;o)
Today we're taking a flight from Bogota to Cartagena, which thankfully is situated on the Carribean coast of Columbia. We'll then be flying back here (to Bogota) on the 25th, where we'll make a move for our next border crossing.
We checked on kype just now, but nobody was on... you're all fired!
Oh and... Blue Army! ;o)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
New pictures
Quick update just to let you know the first Columbia pictures are up. Featuring:
Bogota city centre
Monserrat (which gave me very bad altitude sickness!)
The Gold Museum
My sleeping bag liner-which has been invaluable for cold bus journeys, the chilly nights in Bogota and protecting ourselves from not-so-nice bedding
Proper update on Bogota to follow shortly.
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Rio
We're currently on a six hour bus ride from Rio to Sao Paulo (getting our internal flight to Bogota,Col-oooom-bia in the morning). Even after just three weeks of travelling we've adjusted really well to the long bus journeys- anything under 16 hours now feels short!!
After nearly a week in Rio I've certainly developed mixed emotions about the place. The natural surroundings are just breathtaking with the green hills and mountains and gorgeous beaches it certainly has a lot going for it. That said the rich/poor divide is huge and obvious everywhere you go. One street can be affluent at one end, with it's residents expected to live until they're over 70 yrs old and just metres away there's poverty, with their life expectancy parallel to Sierre Leone.
The really difficult pill to swallow is that these people have no opportunity to ever work themselves out of poverty. The cleaner in out hostel works 9 hours a day, 6 days a week for 500 reias a month which is less than £200 and her rent in the favaela is 200 reias leaving her and her family £100 a month to live on (and living is by no means cheap in Rio)! School there is only 4 hours a day from 6-14 years so if by some miracle on this limited education they reached the same academic standard as a well off child, how on earth would their parents pay for university when the family has so little to life on?! So the cycle just continues.
Outside of this Brazil has so much going for it, with a wealth of natural resources, it could absolutely thrive!
Yesterday we met up with some friends (2 French guys from
our Florip hostel) and went to the Maracana to watch a football match. It was a brilliant night. From the really positive, friendly atmosphere in the stadium to the excitement of the game. Saying this the friendly atmosphere could be down to there being about 60,000 Flumenese fans and 10 (yes 10!) Atletico fans there. I'm told it's because it would have been a 12 hour bus ride each way on a Sunday night for the match but who knows!
A custom seems to be bringing a bag of flour with you to the stadium and then when the players some on,they're thrown like bombs through the air and onto the pitch. Ever wondered how much mess tens of thousands of bags of flour can make? The results being that everyone gets completely covered in flour, visibility goes to zero for about 10 mins and you have flour sitting in your lungs for a couple of days!
We should arrive at our hotel (yes you heard me right-hotel) at about 10pm then up again at 5am for our flight so in that time I need to use all the complimentary toiletries and blow dry my hair, just because it'll be Christmas Eve before I see another hotel (or a beloved hairdryer).
See you in Bogota
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
After nearly a week in Rio I've certainly developed mixed emotions about the place. The natural surroundings are just breathtaking with the green hills and mountains and gorgeous beaches it certainly has a lot going for it. That said the rich/poor divide is huge and obvious everywhere you go. One street can be affluent at one end, with it's residents expected to live until they're over 70 yrs old and just metres away there's poverty, with their life expectancy parallel to Sierre Leone.
The really difficult pill to swallow is that these people have no opportunity to ever work themselves out of poverty. The cleaner in out hostel works 9 hours a day, 6 days a week for 500 reias a month which is less than £200 and her rent in the favaela is 200 reias leaving her and her family £100 a month to live on (and living is by no means cheap in Rio)! School there is only 4 hours a day from 6-14 years so if by some miracle on this limited education they reached the same academic standard as a well off child, how on earth would their parents pay for university when the family has so little to life on?! So the cycle just continues.
Outside of this Brazil has so much going for it, with a wealth of natural resources, it could absolutely thrive!
Yesterday we met up with some friends (2 French guys from
our Florip hostel) and went to the Maracana to watch a football match. It was a brilliant night. From the really positive, friendly atmosphere in the stadium to the excitement of the game. Saying this the friendly atmosphere could be down to there being about 60,000 Flumenese fans and 10 (yes 10!) Atletico fans there. I'm told it's because it would have been a 12 hour bus ride each way on a Sunday night for the match but who knows!
A custom seems to be bringing a bag of flour with you to the stadium and then when the players some on,they're thrown like bombs through the air and onto the pitch. Ever wondered how much mess tens of thousands of bags of flour can make? The results being that everyone gets completely covered in flour, visibility goes to zero for about 10 mins and you have flour sitting in your lungs for a couple of days!
We should arrive at our hotel (yes you heard me right-hotel) at about 10pm then up again at 5am for our flight so in that time I need to use all the complimentary toiletries and blow dry my hair, just because it'll be Christmas Eve before I see another hotel (or a beloved hairdryer).
See you in Bogota
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Yep, even more pictures up'd!
Yesterday we visited Pao de Acucar, or Sugarloaf Mountain to you and I. Unfortunately yet another quick post, but I promise to stop back when I can with a summary of Rio.
Today, we'll be moving hostels from this sh*thole (sorry it needed to be said), to hopefully a better (by that I mean not having to refer to my girlfriend as 'inmate') place on Ipanema beach, After that we're hoping to finally get a chance to visit good ol' Jesus Christ - the picture above is about as much as we've seen of him all week!
Then obviously England vs. Brazil, where we shall be attending a nearby Ingerlish bar, for some IN-GER-LUND chanting and a few beers!
Over and out!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Amusing
Is anyone else finding this as funny as me???!!
NB: James 'doesn't need' suncream.
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
NB: James 'doesn't need' suncream.
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
More photo's up!
Hot on the heels of the last bunch, the first batch from Rio are up and ready to go...
Yesterday we visited a Favela (actually 2, of the 950 in Rio). I won't say too much as I'll cover it in more detail when time permits. Anyway, take a look and as always, comments very welcome!
Hopefully make some of you realise what life can be like when you fall through the cracks.
Today, Statue of Christ and Sugar Loaf... If the low cloud leaves us alone!
Speak to you all later.
P.S on the subject of speaking, I've added the Skype status buttons to the site (see right), if were online you should be able to click to dial us.
Skype Names:
James - ozzyo99
Miranda - mirandahonan
Yesterday we visited a Favela (actually 2, of the 950 in Rio). I won't say too much as I'll cover it in more detail when time permits. Anyway, take a look and as always, comments very welcome!
Hopefully make some of you realise what life can be like when you fall through the cracks.
Today, Statue of Christ and Sugar Loaf... If the low cloud leaves us alone!
Speak to you all later.
P.S on the subject of speaking, I've added the Skype status buttons to the site (see right), if were online you should be able to click to dial us.
Skype Names:
James - ozzyo99
Miranda - mirandahonan
Two oddities of Florip'
Despite recently leaving Florianopolis, I feel compelled to post two pictures, which for me were two brand new experiences:
The first encounter was on the way back from the motorcycle hire place (without a motorbike - long story). After a long 25 minute walk in 35 degree sunshine, and facing the same walk back, we encountered this little thing on Logoa de Conceicao.
Rather odd for the climate I'm sure you'll agree!
We noticed in the distance what we naturally assumed was a fish, but no it was indeed a Penguin. As soon as he'd noticed us he waddled up the beach... Poor thing looked as confused as we were!
Not sure how true it is, but o e of the surfers said when they get lost, they usually don't make it due to the water temperature (the lagoon is like a bath). Hope the little fella proved the exception!
Onto other delights in Florianopolis. We heard via Caio (co-manages Tucano) of a fantastic local pizza restuarant that offered something a little different - Doce (Sweet) Pizza.
Doesn't look that great, but honestly... Chocolate really does work on a normal pizza base, they should do them everywhere!
The first encounter was on the way back from the motorcycle hire place (without a motorbike - long story). After a long 25 minute walk in 35 degree sunshine, and facing the same walk back, we encountered this little thing on Logoa de Conceicao.
Rather odd for the climate I'm sure you'll agree!
We noticed in the distance what we naturally assumed was a fish, but no it was indeed a Penguin. As soon as he'd noticed us he waddled up the beach... Poor thing looked as confused as we were!
Not sure how true it is, but o e of the surfers said when they get lost, they usually don't make it due to the water temperature (the lagoon is like a bath). Hope the little fella proved the exception!
Onto other delights in Florianopolis. We heard via Caio (co-manages Tucano) of a fantastic local pizza restuarant that offered something a little different - Doce (Sweet) Pizza.
Doesn't look that great, but honestly... Chocolate really does work on a normal pizza base, they should do them everywhere!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Happy Belated Birthday
To Julie
Happy belated birthday. We hope you had a lovely day.
So sorry it's late, you can blame our poor grasp with the real world at present!!
Lots of love
James and Miranda xxxxxx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Happy belated birthday. We hope you had a lovely day.
So sorry it's late, you can blame our poor grasp with the real world at present!!
Lots of love
James and Miranda xxxxxx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Monday, November 9, 2009
New photos
New photos are up. As you can see we spent most of out time in Florip relaxing at our hostel so not too many shots of the island I'm afraid.
Off to Rio now so I'm sure we'll have more interesting shots for you from there.
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Off to Rio now so I'm sure we'll have more interesting shots for you from there.
Mx
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Followers
Hi
If you're reading this can you please post a comment with your name so we know who's following our adventure.
Thanks
Miranda and James
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
If you're reading this can you please post a comment with your name so we know who's following our adventure.
Thanks
Miranda and James
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
Friday, November 6, 2009
Tucano house
Over the past two days James and I have been passing the time at Tucano House which is proving to be more like the Big Brother house than a hostel. They have their very own Hostel dog Duna who everyone loves. You can take her with you to the shops (without a lead), she'll cross roads and wait for you outside the supermarket until you're finished your shopping....genius!!
The whole place is centred around communal areas and very quickly everyone knows everyone.
Most people eat breakfast and dinner in the hostel together and inevitably spend the rest of the day with someone or other from the hostel.
There are a lot of interesting characters including an over index of people from London. Whether reading a book in one of the hammocks or lounging by the pool, there seems to be plenty to do to pass the hours.
I made the mistake of telling an English guy Farook that James worked in IT and could probably take a look at his laptop. Unfortunately I didn't realise this was going to occupy hours each day fixing this complex problem and James is less than happy. From now on we're going to say he's a bible bashing cult leader to anyone who asks!
Tomorrow we're hoping to hire a moped and explore the island as we're very aware we've barely scratched the surface...
Hoping to get some good pics for you all tomorrow.
Mx
The whole place is centred around communal areas and very quickly everyone knows everyone.
Most people eat breakfast and dinner in the hostel together and inevitably spend the rest of the day with someone or other from the hostel.
There are a lot of interesting characters including an over index of people from London. Whether reading a book in one of the hammocks or lounging by the pool, there seems to be plenty to do to pass the hours.
I made the mistake of telling an English guy Farook that James worked in IT and could probably take a look at his laptop. Unfortunately I didn't realise this was going to occupy hours each day fixing this complex problem and James is less than happy. From now on we're going to say he's a bible bashing cult leader to anyone who asks!
Tomorrow we're hoping to hire a moped and explore the island as we're very aware we've barely scratched the surface...
Hoping to get some good pics for you all tomorrow.
Mx
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Praia mole and Barry
Hello peeps
It's day 2 in Florip (yes that's what the cool kids call it!) and we went to one of their nice beaches 'praia mole'.
It wasn't too busy and beautiful brazilians peppered the view. It's a long narrow sandy beach with turquoise waves breaking right along the shore. Lots of surfers were out today, catching big waves and lapping up the sun.
There was one interesting spectacle on the beach; Brazil's answer to Barry Chuckle from Chucklevision! Barry was parading down the beach in his rather ill-fitting moss coloured lycra hotpants and very severe mohawk. To be honest even from the back he looked a bit of a prat. Then he turned around...we both gasped. Barry had the best example of a full on adolf style moustache attached to his face. Oh yes, the ensemble was complete!!
If anyone is inspired by today's blog- (Alasdair I'm thinking you'd pull this look off the best) then I'll be sure to try and get some photographic evidence tomorrow.
Mx
It's day 2 in Florip (yes that's what the cool kids call it!) and we went to one of their nice beaches 'praia mole'.
It wasn't too busy and beautiful brazilians peppered the view. It's a long narrow sandy beach with turquoise waves breaking right along the shore. Lots of surfers were out today, catching big waves and lapping up the sun.
There was one interesting spectacle on the beach; Brazil's answer to Barry Chuckle from Chucklevision! Barry was parading down the beach in his rather ill-fitting moss coloured lycra hotpants and very severe mohawk. To be honest even from the back he looked a bit of a prat. Then he turned around...we both gasped. Barry had the best example of a full on adolf style moustache attached to his face. Oh yes, the ensemble was complete!!
If anyone is inspired by today's blog- (Alasdair I'm thinking you'd pull this look off the best) then I'll be sure to try and get some photographic evidence tomorrow.
Mx
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Arrived at Florianopolis!
We set off (what seems like days ago) yesterday on yet another bus journey... We had better get used to them, no trains and another 16 hours to Rio!
We happened to be doing the same route as 4 Americans who we'd met earlier and seemed to get along well with (thankfully different from the Texans we met only days before).
Upon arriving at Foz du Iguaçu station we ate some dinner and loaded up with snacks for the journey. Unfortunately Brazilian bus travel isn't the 3 course meal, wine, champs and breakfast offered over the border in Argentina.
At 18:15 we boarded our bus and prepared for the 14 hour trip ahead. Ciao Iguaçu, next stop Florip'
Leas than an hour into our journey, the bus stopped in a service station (presumably to fill up), the locals were immediately hanging their heads out of the window, but soon they had their head firmly in their hands. As it turned out our fan belt had snapped, and the radiator was overheating... Perfect!
As we had no idea how long we'd be waiting for a replacement, we headed into the services for a beer with the rest of the folk on the bus.
Thankfully and right on cue (an hour later) another bus arrived. So back on the bus and away we go... but not before the Americans had to empty their bags for the Police. We were asked, but after explaining we were English were not required to empty them, result.
Several hours later, we (and a coach in front) were forced to stop for a spot check by the Rosavario Federal. Not sure if it the bus in front was someway involved or if it was purely coincidental, but this 206 was also right next to the bus?
Another hour later, after they'd checked a handful of bags we were sent on our way.
We went to sleep (in an 'eyes-closed-but-can-hear-everything' kinda way) pretty quickly afterwards. This morning we woke to yet another sunny 30+ scorcher, and some hours later rocked up at Florip' bus station.
The next apparent hurdle was the bus drivers here being on strike, at this point we had no way of getting to our hostel. Me, Miranda, an Argentinian girl (from our bu)s, and a random managed to grab a lift with some guy in a Corsa (5 adults, 3 big bags... the chassis was bowing).
So finally 16 hours later arrived at our hostel, Tucano House. We'd managed to book it online yesterday where it had received some acclaim as being 2nd best hostel in South America... Seems like a nice social place complete with (bath sized) swimming pool, pool table, internet, tv etc, we booked in for 5 nights (we get a 6th free) as we figured we deserved a break!
Now, for sleep! Tomorrow, the beach!
Ciao ciao!
-- Posted from my iPhone
We happened to be doing the same route as 4 Americans who we'd met earlier and seemed to get along well with (thankfully different from the Texans we met only days before).
Upon arriving at Foz du Iguaçu station we ate some dinner and loaded up with snacks for the journey. Unfortunately Brazilian bus travel isn't the 3 course meal, wine, champs and breakfast offered over the border in Argentina.
At 18:15 we boarded our bus and prepared for the 14 hour trip ahead. Ciao Iguaçu, next stop Florip'
Leas than an hour into our journey, the bus stopped in a service station (presumably to fill up), the locals were immediately hanging their heads out of the window, but soon they had their head firmly in their hands. As it turned out our fan belt had snapped, and the radiator was overheating... Perfect!
As we had no idea how long we'd be waiting for a replacement, we headed into the services for a beer with the rest of the folk on the bus.
Thankfully and right on cue (an hour later) another bus arrived. So back on the bus and away we go... but not before the Americans had to empty their bags for the Police. We were asked, but after explaining we were English were not required to empty them, result.
Several hours later, we (and a coach in front) were forced to stop for a spot check by the Rosavario Federal. Not sure if it the bus in front was someway involved or if it was purely coincidental, but this 206 was also right next to the bus?
Another hour later, after they'd checked a handful of bags we were sent on our way.
We went to sleep (in an 'eyes-closed-but-can-hear-everything' kinda way) pretty quickly afterwards. This morning we woke to yet another sunny 30+ scorcher, and some hours later rocked up at Florip' bus station.
The next apparent hurdle was the bus drivers here being on strike, at this point we had no way of getting to our hostel. Me, Miranda, an Argentinian girl (from our bu)s, and a random managed to grab a lift with some guy in a Corsa (5 adults, 3 big bags... the chassis was bowing).
So finally 16 hours later arrived at our hostel, Tucano House. We'd managed to book it online yesterday where it had received some acclaim as being 2nd best hostel in South America... Seems like a nice social place complete with (bath sized) swimming pool, pool table, internet, tv etc, we booked in for 5 nights (we get a 6th free) as we figured we deserved a break!
Now, for sleep! Tomorrow, the beach!
Ciao ciao!
-- Posted from my iPhone
Monday, November 2, 2009
High res shots uploaded
The complete low res archive is on the Picasa link (see below), however I've also added the high res originals to our new Flickr account (see right) - basically you can view them in full size/quality if you choose to (Click ''All Sizes'). There's a few photo's that didn't upload, but I'll add those when I get the chance... Picasa one is complete.
Anyway, gotta dash... see you at the other side :o)
Anyway, gotta dash... see you at the other side :o)
Todays trip to Iguazu & Photo upload (finally)!
So as Miranda has already covered, we went to Iguazu Falls within Argentina today. Wow... very very impressive, the sight, sound and sheer power of what you're witnessing takes a couple of minutes to absorb. For anybody planning to visit, if time/money are of concern, just visit the Argentinian side. Whilst the Brazilian side offers a better panoramic view, it's completely overshadowed when you see El Diablo Garganta.
The Argentinean side is a lot larger, and whilst we got most of what we set out to accomplish done, there were a few stones left unturned (Marcocu trail), for now. We thought it would e awfully rude not to jump in a speedboat and get absolutely drenched under the waterfalls, so that's exactly what we did... even from the safe distance we got to, the power of the water hitting your skin, well it was like large hail stones!
During the trip, we managed to happen upon several million Butterflies, many Lizards, some Coati thingies, a troop of Monkey's and 3 Mosquito's which took a piece of me... the barstewards!
Met some people at the Hostel today from Chile who confirmed that despite living there for 20 years, that they couldn't fully understand the Spanish spoken in Equador and parts of Bolivia - doesn't bode well for us then... Puedo hablar mas despacio por favor?! We can only try :o)
So tomorrow, we're heading to Florianopolis for some Sun, Sea and Relaxtion, sadly it's another 14 hour bus journey on the cards, but I'm sure we'll be well drilled in no time at all. So that's it for Argentina for now; back around December to Mendoza/Patagonia which should be interesting.
On the subject of photo's I've uploaded everything to my Picasa account (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jamesdosborne) for now, which you should hopefully be able to see and access on the right hand side. Apologies for the somewhat amateur photography, we haven't had the time or desire to sit and process them anymore than uploading them!
The Argentinean side is a lot larger, and whilst we got most of what we set out to accomplish done, there were a few stones left unturned (Marcocu trail), for now. We thought it would e awfully rude not to jump in a speedboat and get absolutely drenched under the waterfalls, so that's exactly what we did... even from the safe distance we got to, the power of the water hitting your skin, well it was like large hail stones!
During the trip, we managed to happen upon several million Butterflies, many Lizards, some Coati thingies, a troop of Monkey's and 3 Mosquito's which took a piece of me... the barstewards!
Met some people at the Hostel today from Chile who confirmed that despite living there for 20 years, that they couldn't fully understand the Spanish spoken in Equador and parts of Bolivia - doesn't bode well for us then... Puedo hablar mas despacio por favor?! We can only try :o)
So tomorrow, we're heading to Florianopolis for some Sun, Sea and Relaxtion, sadly it's another 14 hour bus journey on the cards, but I'm sure we'll be well drilled in no time at all. So that's it for Argentina for now; back around December to Mendoza/Patagonia which should be interesting.
On the subject of photo's I've uploaded everything to my Picasa account (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jamesdosborne) for now, which you should hopefully be able to see and access on the right hand side. Apologies for the somewhat amateur photography, we haven't had the time or desire to sit and process them anymore than uploading them!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Cataratas Iguazu
James and I have now seen Iguazu falls from both Brazil and Argentina and we can unanimously say that the Argentinian side is phenominal!!!
Pics to follow later...
On another note, a cultural observation is that whilst Argentinian people queue, James and I must have 'gringo' written all over us as they all like to (try and) push infront of us.
Today we were waiting in line to get on the speed boat that takes you under Iguazu (amazing by the way) and a guy behind us had the look of a queue jumper in his eyes. For the purpose of this, we'll call him 'Juan'. Juan did not look relaxed at all, was shifting from foot to foot, trying to find a gap between myself and James. We're now a little less wet behind the ears so deliberately blocked his path. There were a couple of very old people in front of us and the staff were saying to us to come ahead of them. In a moment of lapsed concentration I saw Juan out of the corner of my eye taking his chance whilst I was distracted.
The next few seconds are a bit of a blur but I managed to dive infront of Juan, block his path and gave him the best angry stare of my life-yes 1-0 to the Gringos!!!
Pics to follow later...
On another note, a cultural observation is that whilst Argentinian people queue, James and I must have 'gringo' written all over us as they all like to (try and) push infront of us.
Today we were waiting in line to get on the speed boat that takes you under Iguazu (amazing by the way) and a guy behind us had the look of a queue jumper in his eyes. For the purpose of this, we'll call him 'Juan'. Juan did not look relaxed at all, was shifting from foot to foot, trying to find a gap between myself and James. We're now a little less wet behind the ears so deliberately blocked his path. There were a couple of very old people in front of us and the staff were saying to us to come ahead of them. In a moment of lapsed concentration I saw Juan out of the corner of my eye taking his chance whilst I was distracted.
The next few seconds are a bit of a blur but I managed to dive infront of Juan, block his path and gave him the best angry stare of my life-yes 1-0 to the Gringos!!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Journey to Iguazu
Hello and welcome to my first post. It's Saturday 31st October and we're currently 13.5 hours into our 17 hr bus journey. We've woken up to another glorious morning in Argentina. Now I know what you're thinking, the bus sounds HIDEOUS but this is no ordinary bus. Think closer to Business Class on a plane rather than the school trip to Germany!
On rather interesting discovery is that if you sit for this long without really moving, your feet swell up like a couple of balloons (very attractive I'm sure you'll agree. Apologies for the photo but seeing is believing).
(this one's for you Zoe!)
Today we're heading to see one of the top ten wonders of the world; Iguazu Falls. It's 24 stories high and 2.2 miles wide. It spans Brazil and Argentina, we're off to experience it from the Argentina side today and if we have time Brazil tomorow. It's set right in the heart of a big national park so there's plenty of other stuff to see and do there other than the Falls. If you're really 'lucky' you can come face to face with a wild big cat. Their advice is to try and seem as big and confident as you can and to stay calm. I'm fairly sure that's easier said than done.
More to come later...
-- Posted from Miranda's iPhone
29th/30th October - BA
Yesterday we explored the ciudad (city) some more.
Our next scheduled flight from is from Sao Paulo to Bogota on Nov 17th, and we've a number of places we want to see before then (Iguazu Falls/Florianopolis/Rio). Yesterday after strolling the streets and spending some time kicking back in the park, we went about planning our escape from BA... For this we needed to locate the retiro (station).
The station area is a particularly busy "in your face" area, here we found plenty of traders and truckstop style snackstops. I'd read about some of the street food on offer, and under recommendation of Lonely Planet ordered a Carne Empanada (basically a small (Cornish) Beef Pasty) at San Maria cafe. We instantly took a liking to these little things, I think one of them and 2 drinks came to 8 pescos (£1.20).
I digress, we got supreme tickets with Viabariroche for 270 pescos (£45), the service includes a hot dinner (which was good) and breakfast, with inclusive drinks. It's a good 1000 miles/17hrs (approx) so decided to upgrade the seats, basically fully reclining armchairs... We managed to bag the front seats on top deck!
So after that we headed home and decided to take the tube (confusing), where we happily stumbled into some 9st drunk retard who after briefly saying "hello" and offering me some of his beer, decided to stand repeatedly in front of the tube map. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want to manually move him!
Anyway, we got back to San Telmo and decided to have a drink (see yesterdays post), £3 a cocktail, yaaaaar!
Now at Dorrengo Plaza (famous square), we bumped into 2 Americans (that we saw at the last bar, but hadn't spoke to). So suffice to say they were camper than a row of tents, but we shared a laugh, Miranda had eaten at this guys favourite restuarant in NY, which they found funny. It turned out they weren't a couple, but one guy had clear intentions. We kinda felt for the guy... lol.
As it turned out, while we talked about Ab Fab and Yorkshire Pudding an artist called Frazer was sketching the four of us. He approached us, and we sent him away, we felt kinda bad so Miranda went and spoke to him, he came and finished the sketch whilst we looked through his portfolio. We decided to enquire about another sketch in his 'folio. As it transpired the picture was one he drew retrospectively after a night with a Ballerina... We liked it and ended up paying 45 pescos (£6), just need a bathroom to hang them in now heh.
Dinner tonight was Steak (it's everywhere) at Desnivel (Defensa Av), sort of place you'd never knowingly go to, but having read a few tips on tinterweb we went for it. Wow is all I can say... Seriously, steak in the UK just doesn't taste this good, in fact it's like comparing Corned Beef to a Fillet, we handed over our £15 and retired.
Today, was another scorcher. We ended up going on a tour bus, figured for £4 it was a good way to see the City as a whole, fortunately lunch consisted of a steak sandwich from a roadside parilla (restuarant), for £1.50 how could you not?
Observations of BA:
- Cheap.
- Wonderful Beef!
- They don't eat vegetables.
- Friendly city to walk around, slower than London.
- Some of the cars are deathtraps!
- Noticable (perceived) wealth differential.
Next up... Iguazu/National Park.
-- Posted from my iPhone
Our next scheduled flight from is from Sao Paulo to Bogota on Nov 17th, and we've a number of places we want to see before then (Iguazu Falls/Florianopolis/Rio). Yesterday after strolling the streets and spending some time kicking back in the park, we went about planning our escape from BA... For this we needed to locate the retiro (station).
The station area is a particularly busy "in your face" area, here we found plenty of traders and truckstop style snackstops. I'd read about some of the street food on offer, and under recommendation of Lonely Planet ordered a Carne Empanada (basically a small (Cornish) Beef Pasty) at San Maria cafe. We instantly took a liking to these little things, I think one of them and 2 drinks came to 8 pescos (£1.20).
I digress, we got supreme tickets with Viabariroche for 270 pescos (£45), the service includes a hot dinner (which was good) and breakfast, with inclusive drinks. It's a good 1000 miles/17hrs (approx) so decided to upgrade the seats, basically fully reclining armchairs... We managed to bag the front seats on top deck!
So after that we headed home and decided to take the tube (confusing), where we happily stumbled into some 9st drunk retard who after briefly saying "hello" and offering me some of his beer, decided to stand repeatedly in front of the tube map. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want to manually move him!
Anyway, we got back to San Telmo and decided to have a drink (see yesterdays post), £3 a cocktail, yaaaaar!
Now at Dorrengo Plaza (famous square), we bumped into 2 Americans (that we saw at the last bar, but hadn't spoke to). So suffice to say they were camper than a row of tents, but we shared a laugh, Miranda had eaten at this guys favourite restuarant in NY, which they found funny. It turned out they weren't a couple, but one guy had clear intentions. We kinda felt for the guy... lol.
As it turned out, while we talked about Ab Fab and Yorkshire Pudding an artist called Frazer was sketching the four of us. He approached us, and we sent him away, we felt kinda bad so Miranda went and spoke to him, he came and finished the sketch whilst we looked through his portfolio. We decided to enquire about another sketch in his 'folio. As it transpired the picture was one he drew retrospectively after a night with a Ballerina... We liked it and ended up paying 45 pescos (£6), just need a bathroom to hang them in now heh.
Dinner tonight was Steak (it's everywhere) at Desnivel (Defensa Av), sort of place you'd never knowingly go to, but having read a few tips on tinterweb we went for it. Wow is all I can say... Seriously, steak in the UK just doesn't taste this good, in fact it's like comparing Corned Beef to a Fillet, we handed over our £15 and retired.
Today, was another scorcher. We ended up going on a tour bus, figured for £4 it was a good way to see the City as a whole, fortunately lunch consisted of a steak sandwich from a roadside parilla (restuarant), for £1.50 how could you not?
Observations of BA:
- Cheap.
- Wonderful Beef!
- They don't eat vegetables.
- Friendly city to walk around, slower than London.
- Some of the cars are deathtraps!
- Noticable (perceived) wealth differential.
Next up... Iguazu/National Park.
-- Posted from my iPhone
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Quick drink? No work... Sure!
Fresh from wondering the town in stifling 30+ degree heat, we decided to stop for a drink. More later...
Oh and one for Dan!
(Yes, they are my Jesus sandals!)
-- Posted from my iPhone
Oh and one for Dan!
(Yes, they are my Jesus sandals!)
-- Posted from my iPhone
Test / Meal
So we just got back from Don Ernesto in San Telmo, we paid £11.50 each for a bottle of Malbec and a massive Steak... Can't go wrong, superb meat, muy bien!!
Half of the point of this post was to test the new Blog app on my iPhone, hopefully make it a little easier to post spontaneously - WIFI permitting.
Buenas noches!
Half of the point of this post was to test the new Blog app on my iPhone, hopefully make it a little easier to post spontaneously - WIFI permitting.
Buenas noches!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Hola de Buenos Aires!
Well, we made it, and pretty much without a hiccup!
Our journey started at Heathrow airport at 9:25pm, we managed to arrive in plenty of time for the flight after the getting a lift down to with mi padre (my dad). We also managed to meet with Zoe and Nick, at which point we headed for some grub.
The plane departed a little late after some initial problems starting the propellers, luckily they managed to bodge it, so there wasn't too much of a delay. Actually the 747 was fine, though there were shades of irony after being excitedly told how much in-flight entertainment had moved on in the last 18 years (the last time I did longhaul) and finding the forking thing had conveniently broken for 90% of our 15 hour flight... luckily we both slept for a fair stretch of the flight. Four meals later, we arrived in Buenos Aires, after briefly touching down in a miserable looking Sao Paulo.
We managed to get a bus/taxi ride to our hostel (Carlos Gardel) for 70 pescos (£11 - 1 hour drive), take note Great Britain. On arriving we were greeted by a helpful girl, who showed us to our basic, but clean double room. After dropping our bags, we went for a walk in the local area (San Telmo, famed for cobbled old streets and Tango) before grabbing some lunch at a local Cafe and later heading to downtown (Florida Av.) and taking a look around the busy shopping district. Miranda successfully managed to grab herself a watch (hopefully she can stop being late now) and while handbags and leather goods are barato (cheap), watches are not... think 100% mark-up on UK prices!
We headed back to the hostel earlyish for a much needed shower (did I mention it was 25 degrees?), and while I now tap away, Miranda is doing what she does best and grabbing 40 winks. People apparently don't eat until around 10pm here, which is a little late, but I'd wait all day for a decent Steak and a bottle of Malbec...
Finally, we checked out the timescales today for travelling to Iguassu Falls, it's a 16 hour bus journey, the cost is £50 each (full reclining seats/beds, including dinner/breakfast).The plan I thnk is to spend another day/or two here in BA, then the following day take the bus to cataratas (waterfall) Iguazu. We'd also love to see a Polo game, and watch Boca play, but I guess it may all be weekend fare... Answers on a postcard!
Hope everybody is well at home, talk soon. But for now...
Friday, October 23, 2009
Reality check
Well, today was my final day of work for the next 6 months. Leaving my now familiar desk (and mug) was a little strange, very strange in fact! Nothing a few days in the Sun won't fix I hope...
Today I also needed to get my final jabs, pick up my Malaria tablets (I reckon £350 on jabs/meds so far) and buy a few other bits I'd neglected to buy... Yes, I'm the proud owner of some 'Jesus Sandals', sandals I'd promised myself I'd never wear!
Tonight we've spent the whole evening packing our stuff into boxes ready to move out tomorrow morning (the last morning we'll wake up in London until well into 2010). All pretty much sorted, bar the important bits like laptop, PS3 and TV. Speaking of which tonight was the first time I'd packed all my travel stuff into one bag... I think I need to prioritise, it's going to break my back!
Right, time for bed... actually no, time for another episode of Ultimate Fighter ;o)
Today I also needed to get my final jabs, pick up my Malaria tablets (I reckon £350 on jabs/meds so far) and buy a few other bits I'd neglected to buy... Yes, I'm the proud owner of some 'Jesus Sandals', sandals I'd promised myself I'd never wear!
Tonight we've spent the whole evening packing our stuff into boxes ready to move out tomorrow morning (the last morning we'll wake up in London until well into 2010). All pretty much sorted, bar the important bits like laptop, PS3 and TV. Speaking of which tonight was the first time I'd packed all my travel stuff into one bag... I think I need to prioritise, it's going to break my back!
Right, time for bed... actually no, time for another episode of Ultimate Fighter ;o)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
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