Down to thongs in Mendoza

Done pretty well on this trip in relation to possessions...but I did a very stupid thing in Salta...I left the only shoes I own in the taxi..so I'm down to a pair of Havaianas, just glad I have got all of the hard trekking I'm going to do out of the way. The worst part about it was they were probably the best shoes I've ever had, definitely going to pick up another pair of Merrill's.
Had a great time in Salta, only there for 2 days, and didn't actually get much done in the place, but we had a massive barbie on the last night, ended up hitting a club...with decent music..no gayass Regatone..which was played in all the bars in Bolivia..great soundsystem and good looking people. Mendoza is even more normal then Salta...massive wide open streets, beautiful people everywhere..everyone looks very European and the place has lots of shoe shops for me.
The 17 hour bus ride from Salta was one of the easiest bus journeys I've ever done. Managed to get a decent night sleep..so much room and the seat was extremely comfortable. We have a great hostel here, pool, table tennis and a chilled out feel. Looking forward to hitting some wineries tomorrow.

Leaving the 3rd world behind...a weird feeling...

In Argentina after spending 23 crazy days in Bolivia, definately up there with one of the most disorganised countries I've ever been to. All the roads are either dirt, falling apart or so narrow that hardly one vehicle can head down it...but it's a strange feeling when you come back to normality after Bolivia. We arrived yesterday in Salta at 7.30pm, after catching the bus from Tupiza at 4.30am. The bus journey was only meant to be about 10 hours..but after the change of bus at the border, the border check, and catching the bus from the first town in Argie, we somehow ended up stretching the trip, and after tearing it up in Tupiza...and not getting any sleep, it wasn't the ideal senario.
We somehow managed to venture out and make it to a restaurant, needed to have a decent meal after those 23 days...had some good food in Bolivia (and plenty of shit as well!), but the steak last night was amazing.
Today was a day where you know it's not always great travelling with another 9 people. We basically took a whole day cruising around, and not getting much done. We managed to befriend a stray dog who ended up following us around for a good 2 hours, and then he finally left us when we had some food for him, much to our disappointment. I'm off to Mendoza tomorrow with a few of the guys, got another big bus journey ahead, but in Argentian comfort!

A night out in Tupezi

What a big night we had in Tupezi. It was Jules' birthday, so what a better place to spend your birthday then a pizzeria and a crappy karaoke bar in a town like to Tupezi.
We actually made her night, we managed to find a place that sold a pooh pinata and since she was suffering with a broken arm from a paragliding mishap, all 9 of us made crappy arm bandages out of toilet paper and sticky tape.
From there we had tea at a Pizzeria in town, which I should of eaten, but instead decided to take on a Peppered steak...bad move. It was tough as an old boot..the gravy had 4 peppercorns and the gravy definitely wasn't up to expectation. Anyway from there we moved to a karaoke bar where we first played the 'Cereal Box' game. The object of the game is to pick up the box with your teeth without touching any part of your body against the ground. Once the box has been picked up, you tear a piece of the box. It sounds easy enough, but when you get to the bottom..it ain't so easy! That's what happened to me...I found out that I'm actually good at something else besides remember sporting information and facts from the last 20 years. Once the game was finished we moved on to singing some tunes..there were many English ones to sing, but we did find 'Who Shot the Sheriff'...we just weren't expecting to see a bunch of girls parading around topless with firemen hoses. I think some of the Bolivians will be choosing a few English songs to sing from now on. After that we ended up sinking a few more bottles of rum and dancing with the Bolivians in the place until our bus left at 4.30am...what a crazy night!

Biking and horse riding in Tupezi

We decided to spend the day in Tupezi doing a triathlon, which consisted of some bike riding, horse riding and a bit of a spin in a 4 wheeled drive. The bike riding was fine, even though they weren't the greatest bikes in the world...mine had no suspension at all which was the best for ripping downhill. The spin was OK as well, but me and horses don't mix. I'm glad I did it, but I will say now, it will have to be a very special occasion for me to venture on one of those again. I didn't have that much trouble..they were very placid horses that were use to doing nothing much when it comes to riding, but the couple of times that it move more than a walk, and the once when it moved from a trot to a cantor scared the shit out of me. The worst part about it was that it wasn't me that was controlling the horses..(he boys that were our guides they must of been 12 at most), as soon as the boys made a kissing sound the horses all took that as a sign to change speeds. By the end I really didn't like that sound anymore.

Rurrenabaque

Well this is going to be bloody hard, it's been quiet a few days since my last post, but after spending 5 nights in Rurrenabaque, the Internet..and electricity aren't a given like most places.
Left La Paz for Rurrenabaque last Thursday..and it was a tough decision..should I catch the bus..which is meant to be very hairy in some places...and the bus ride takes about 20 hours if your lucky. The other option was a 40 minute flight..it sounds easy enough, but not when you take into account the plane is a 16 seater Cessna..a single engine plane..and the only plane that seems to have fatalities in Australia..and we are talking about Bolivia!
Anyway, Nick, Jess and I didn't nearly make the flight..and maybe in another country, we definitely would not of. Nick and Jess thought the flight left at 4.30pm, instead of 4.15pm, but there ended up being a massive traffic jam near the airport..so we decided to walk the remaining bit on foot. The only problem was that every single person we asked pointed us towards the other airport..TAM...but after some nifty taxi driver though the TAM section, we got to the correct airport at 3.45pm. We need not of rushed..there seemed no rush from the check-in desk when we arrived.
The flight wasn't to bad, a few shaky moments, the plane felt like it was just a piece of tin over some parts. The scenery was amazing though, it felt like you could stick you hand out and touch the snow capped Andes as we passed the mountain range.
The 5 day in Rurr was pretty cool. After being in La Paz, which is a crazy big city, it was great to be in small town...very chilled out place.
We spent 3 days in the Pampas...which is basically a waterway where you can get to see loads more animals than the jungle. It's was cool to cruise down on the boat..we got to see loads of Alligators and Turtles, we saw one group of Spider Monkeys as well, but would of love to have seen more monkeys. On the second day we marched though long muddy grass for 1 1/2 hours each way to look for an Anaconda. We did eventually see one which was cool, but the effort didn't really match the reward. What was more rewarding was fishing for piranhas later in the arvo. I have never caught a fish before, and I managed to catch 3 piranhas...even though you would hardly be impressed by my catches..they were no bigger than any goldfish I've had before..and they certainly didn't have teeth like I was expecting.
On the last day we went swimming with pink dolphins...but even though there were quiet a few where we were swimming..the water was so brown..and they weren't your Flipper kind of Dolphins..a bit shy. The boat trip back was pretty funny in some respects, I nearly caught a big piranha..but it wasn't due to my fishing technics..the bugger flew out of the water as we were cruising along and fish slapped me in the face. haha
The last two days was spent in Jungle, a 3 hour boat ride from Rurrenabaque. It was a cool experience, got to see one of the best sunsets I've ever seen. We went for a few jungle walks, the night one was far and away the best...all we had for light was our head lamps...and some of the insects we saw even gave me the schivers. We also visited a jungle community, but it was hardly what I expected. They are pretty poor, but we only met some kids and one older guy, who gladly took our 50 Bolivianos each. The community did give me a chance to take a few happy snaps of some of the worst looking animals I have ever seen. Chickens with hardly any feathers, and it seemed every dog looked like it had gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.
Besides this, I had the best fish I have ever tasted in Rurr a couple of times. God knows what the fish was, but it was soaked in this delicious garlic sauce. I have never been much of a fish eater, but if it all tasted like this..I would be chowing it all the time.
The last interesting thing we did in Rurr was catch motorbikes to the airport after missing the bus. It wasn't such a problem, only a 10 min ride, but we did this with all our belongings, I had my big backpack, a little backpack on my front, and my shoes in my hands..another interesting experience in Bolivia!

Mountain Biking on the World's most Dangerous Road

I've heard quiet a bit about this journey since I've arrived in South America, and since I love to ride, I thought that I'd give it a go. I haven't done any mountain biking before, but surely it has to be pretty similar to road...yeah right.
We left La Paz at 7.30am and headed up to La Cumbre, which is about 1 1/2 hr away from La Paz, and is 4700m above sea level. After getting all our gear prepared and the bikes sorted we were ready to go by about 10pm. The first section was fairly straight forward, we had to travel a few kms to get to the hairy bit, this was on a sealed road that you not use to see in Bolivia. So I managed to built up some serious speed by getting into a crouching position.
Everything was going swimmingly until we reached a small section where the sealed road turned into gravel, and this is where I did my best somersault in years. Actually it wasn't that dramatic, but I did come off at a fair whack, and wasn't feeling the best for awhile after. Actually about a minute after it happen, my eyes when all funny and it felt like I was looking through broken glass. Thank god it only lasted for about 10 minutes, because it really was freaking me out! After this will had a few uphill moments to test our fitness, but the real fun was just around the corner.
The North Yungas Road is named the World most Dangerous Road due to the 100s of people that use to die each year on the road, it isn't used as much by vehicles anymore due to a new road being built. It still has fatalities, but this is reserved by Mountain bikers now, I think about 11 people have died over the last 10 years, and some poor Israeli lost their life in March this year.
I'm actually surprised more people haven't kicked the bucket, because it really is a bloody scary experience. The 64km ride has so many parts where less than a metre to the left you have a 100m drop. The road isn't sealed either, it's made up of lots of rocks, so your bouncing up all over the place. I think I was a bit shaking from the earlier experience, a fall here could of meant much more than a few scratches.
Anyway looking back on it it was a fun experience, but it was great to get to the end without more bruises to the body.

Coca Museum and the Bolivian Zoo

The Coca Museum in La Paz is a pretty cool place. It give a run down how this leave has been such a big part of not only Bolivia, but also Peru over a 1000 years. It also explained the process how to make cocaine, and how certain countries have put pressure on the Bolivian government for the eradication of this leave, even though it's the demand for the drug, not growing the leave that's the problem. Over 100 countries have access to make cocaine-derived (so they have access to tons of coca leaves for production) drugs, but these countries don't include either Bolivia or Peru. The US consumes 50% of the world's cocaine, but only has just over 5% of the world's population.
Besides this, to kill some time, Mark and I ventured to La Paz's Zoo, which is about 1/2 hour away on public transport. This was an experience in itself, 100's of buses stream down the main street, and they stop anywhere when someone wants to get on. This can create chaos on the road, with vehicles weaving in and out to stop.
The Zoo was what you can expect from a 3rd world country. People were feeding the monkeys junk food, cats were kept in little cages, the the big birds didn't have it much better. The flightless birds had it best...a big lake..no worries in the world. At least the bus ride took us past a place they call the badlands..which is similar to the badlands that I saw in the States...pretty cool funky rock formations.

Crazy La Paz

Arrived yesterday arvo in La Paz, and what a crazy city it looks when you coming in on the bus, white-capped mountains in the background, and a sprawling city..houses everywhere. La Paz is in a valley, but there are houses as far as the eye can see.
Mark and I decided to stay in the Adventure Hostel, the Mircobrewery in the hostel was the deciding factor in the choice. It's a pretty cool hostel, has a cool bar that looks out on the city.Ended up having a huge night...I ended up meeting an Aussie couple called Jess and Nick, and a few Irish boys...so it's not hard to see why it was a big one. We went to this dodgy bar for a couple of drinks first..then it was off to a club called Orange for a bit of a boogie.

Copacabana & Isla del Sol

I have really enjoyed the laid-back feel that Copacabana offers, definitely not like the impression one get from hearing about Bolivia..but I'm sure that will change latter in the afternoon when I arrive in La Paz. Yesterday I ventured to Isla del Sol, which is an Island 2hr away from Copacabana. I was meant to go with with Mark, but he is really struggling with a stomach bug, he could hardly move yesterday. The Island was pretty enough, all I basically did was walk from the North point of the Island to the South, which was a 3hr leisurely walk, and had some some with myself. There was a few Inca ruins on the way, but nothing too special after the stuff near Cusco in Peru.
Last night I had Mexican at a place down the road, pretty tasty stuff..with a set menu with 5 courses for only 25 Bolivianos. Got talking to a guy from Belgium called Dimitri who was pretty cool. He's about to cruise into Argentina and then cycle 1300km to the bottom tip of South America, Ushuaia. If only I had an extra month on my trip!

Into Bolivia and Copacabana

I left Arequipa yesterday for Puno, which is a town in Peru near lake Titicaca, one pretty impressive lake..I think it's one of the biggest ones in the world.
I was lucky enough to find a decent bloke who was travelling my way, Mark from London..so we set off with a slightly rickerty Flores bus at 10.30am.
The bus ride was fine enough, we got to Puno at 4pm after one or two heart stopping moments. First a tanker lost it's load...which gave everyone a chance to stop and relieve themselves on the side of the road..with the toilets out of action this was a welcome relief..even for the Peruvian women just squatted and used their long dresses as cover.
The biggest heart-stopping moment was when Mark decided to get off the bus at this really dodgy town..I mean really dodgy..the bus took off and all his stuff was on the bus with me. I'm carrying enough stuff on my own, but thankfully after some arm waving I managed to get the bus driver to stop.
Puno isn't the nicest city in the world...it looks like a favela in Brazil, but we needed to stop there a night before heading into Bolivia.
We had a decent night there anyway, we went to this bar and had a few beers with some Canadians and Americans that we met on the bus. The place also had Jenga..which isn't the normal game I play when I head down to the pub, but after a few beers it was pretty enjoyable.
Besides this, we notice that at the end of the night restaurant owners dump their rubbish for the stray dogs to feast on...can't say I agree with the practice, it looked pretty disguising seeing it spread out on the road, but it actually fitted in with the general appearance of Puno.
Today we arrived in Copacabana, and I'm glad that I have a couple of days here, it's such a cool little town. We are only paying 20 Bolivianos, which is about $3US a night for our own room in a cool little hotel...it's half the price of the shed we stayed in last night..not that the shed was all that bad...but did the street look dodgy at midnight last night!

When a holiday isn't a holiday - El Misti

Decided to test my body the last 2 days, had some fun along the way, but El Misti would have to be one of the hardest things I have ever done.
El Misti is the second largest volcano in the country, but is said to be the hardest to climb. El Misti stands at 5822m, a tiny bit bigger than Australia's highest, Mt Kosciuszko at 2,228m.
I started off getting picked up at 8am from my hostel in Arequipa, there was only one other person, a French girl who was nice enough.
We needed to carry all our own gear for the hike. That meant carrying a tent, ground mat, sleeping bag, 5 litres of water and any other clothes that were needed. I would say that I was carrying at least 15kgs, which is a huge difference than the 6kgs I was carrying on the Inca trail.
The starting point of the trek is 3,300m not too far from Arequipa. The first day wasn't too hard, the base camp is at 4,500m, it was hard going lugging 15kg up shifting sand and rocks, but I didn't feel any effects of the altitude. We got to be the base camp at 3pm, I was pretty hungry but tea wasn't ready until 5pm, so I spent 2 hours talking to the French girl and dreaming of big fat chickens. Unfortunately for me, the food wasn't on the same level as the Inca Trail...tea was soup with pasta, then mains was 2 minute noodles. As you can imagine, after 6 hours for trekking through the sun with a big backpack, this wasn't enough to satisfy my hunger...but what could I do..there wasn't a 7/11 in sight.
Anyway, after dinner with nothing to do...was in bed by 6.30pm. I would of preferred staying up, but everyone was too buggered from the first day. We needed to wake up at 2.30am for day 2 anyway, so maybe this was a good thing. I got to see an amazing sun-set which was cool, so least that was something.
The breakfast at 2.30am was even worse than the dinner, it consisted of stale white bread, jam and cheese...hardly the food you need when your about to make your body really suffer.
Anyway after the hardy breakfast, we set off at 3am. There aren't too many advantages getting up at this hour, but I got to see stars for the first time in awhile...and lights of Arequipa shone brightly amongst the darkness.
The backpack was considerable lighter for this, we could leave most things behind at the base camp, and pick it up on the way out..but this didn't make it any easier. I could really feel the altitude effect me..the 6 hours to reach the top of the volcano was so bloody hard. Basically it one step, two step..over and over again..the lack of light, small rocks and the 40-50 percentage gradient didn't help matters either. Anyway, when we finally made the top, it was all worth while. Amazing views of Arequipa and other volcanoes in the area...got to see inside my first volcano.
Going down was a lot of fun as well, instead of walking down, we ran down the volcanic sand, so you do it loads quicker, not to mention the fun of bounding down the mountain.
Great to do it, but I was pretty starved by the end, we got back to Arequipa at 2pm, my last meal was the stale bread at 2.30am.

Rafting in the Chili River

I really wanted to climb El Misti today, the large volcano near the city..it stands 5800 and something metres...but unfortunately there wasn't enough people, so will get to it tomorrow. To pass the time today, decided to do a little rafting, and I wasn't disappointed. I have done rafting in the Zambezi and Rotorua in New Zealand..they were both special for different reasons...Zambezi, what can you say...and Rotorua had a 7m rapid which was rather special. This wasn't too technical, but the scenery was amazing...there were water falls coming down at various intervals and there was a couple of grade 3/4 rapids.
Besides this didn't really do much, met a couple of cool German brothers on the trip, so hung out with them for most of the arvo.
Anyway, I have booked in the Volcano tomorrow, so that should be pretty interesting. After 5000m things can get pretty interesting, but I will be decked out with all the stuff, so should be fine.

Arequipa & the Colca Canyon

I took an overnight bus from Cusco and arrived in Arequipa last Tuesday. It only cost 40 soles on the Flores bus, and even though I'd heard of a bad story from them from another traveller, the ride went without incident. Got some food on board and got to practise my Spanish watching Happy Gilmore.
Didn't really do much on the Tuesday, I caught up with Christel, a girl I met during the Inca Trail, so we decided to do the Colca Canyon trek, which is the deepest canyon in the world...or the 2nd..so I've been told.(it's twice as deep as the Grand Canyon)
We started on the Wednesday, getting picked up at 5.20am by taxi, then taken to the main bus station with millions of other Peruvians.
There were 6 others on the trip, a Dutch couple, 3 French blokes and a Swiss dude.
Anyway we made the 6 hour bus ride with few difficulties...we went over unpaved road for at least 4 hours of the journey, and a whole bunch of Peruvian women jumped on with a couple hours to go, they were pretty smelly....I don't think a shower is a big part of their custom and they wear so much clothes for the conditions...I would hate to see what they'd wear in cold weather!
After having a small lunch with rice and potatoes included...they use them in every meal over here...we started the downwards trek at 2.30pm. We arrived at the first site around 6pm, just before dark. This was all downhill...which isn't the easiest on the legs, small rocks and sand abound. The scenery was a stark contrast to Machu Picchu, cactus everywhere instead of orchids.
Our first night was spent in a very small village, we stayed in rooms made of mud-brick and a tin roof with a dirt floor, with the beds made of tree-stumps and bits of reed like material as the base. Thankfully they used a normal mattress and bedding...and surprising enough I had a great night sleep, except for the bird dancing on the roof at 6am in the morning. Even though the place was basic, I should be thankful, only 5 months before they didn't even have electricity.
We left at about 9am after some pancakes and some coca tea. Coca tea is pretty good, they love drinking or chewing the leaves over here...unlike the rest of the world who prefers it up the nose. The 3 hour walk to lunch was pretty crusiey, we stopped in to check out the local doctor, who's range covers about 8kms over various mountains. It was pretty basic, just glad my Mum isn't Peruvian..because I don't think I would of made it 30 years ago! One other interesting thing we learnt...Peruvian women from this area will likely have their babies standing up and crouching...because they tend to be shy...the husband might wrap a blanket over her so no one can see her godly bits.
After this we stopped in a very small (closest really) little Inca museum where this old lady showed us various things. We also tried Chicha, which is a corn beer that they brew. The taste was pretty interesting, let's just say I didn't ask for the recipe.
The lunch was at the Oasis, which is just like the name suggest...greenery right at the bottom of the canyon where the rest of the area was sandy and brown. After 3 hours of having another carbo fuelled meal and a dip in the pool, we did the hardest part of the trek, 2 hours...for me anyway..of climbing from 2000m to 3200m of Cabanaconde. It was great to reach of the top after 2 hour..not have to worry about dust flying around anymore.
We had dinner at the same place as the first night, and once again it was nothing special, more rice and potatoes, but they had a DVD of rock videos from the 80's, so that kept us entertained for the night. After a good night sleep in the hostel, we checked out the condors, which was OK, then we had a few moments of adventure..the mini van got a flat and we got pulled over by the transport police for some paper that wasn't in order..it didn't matter to them that we had 11 people in a van that should of only held 8. The day was completed by a buffet meal included cuy...better known by little girls as Guinea Pig, yummy...actually it was OK, but it doesn't have that much meat on it. Lastly we went to a near by hot springs to soak our weary bodies. The day was capped of by one of the French guys leaving his jacket and credit cards behind at the springs after we got to the the bus station, that kind of misfortune is usually left to me!

Party time back in Cusco

After knocking back some lunch in Aguas Calientes we took the slowest train in the world to Urubamba, then a bus back to Cusco. That was a bit hairy, it started pissing with rain and the bus felt like it might go over a edge a few times. We got back in Cusco @ 8.30pm, and decided to celebrate the end of the trip together with a bite to eat and a few drinks. We met 1 hour later, but first it was great to put some water and shampoo through the hair after 4 days without a wash.
I took the crew to my local, 2 Nations, where we got stuck into some great food, and a a few pisco sours. After that we decided to move to this little bar down the road, which wasn't much, but we had a great time in there, playing stupid drinking games. We got this crazy alcohol there which is made of 24 herbs, and it has a crazy taste as well. I wouldn't start the night on it, that's for sure, but for 10 soles for a jug you can't really complain.
That bar had the worst toilet I have ever seen, it was disguising, some one had thrown up in the corner, the toilet looked like it was falling apart, and the ground was all wet and sticky.
After that we ventured to Mamma Africa to finish off the night with a bit of stomping. It was a cool place, had decent music, and it was amazing that we could stay up to 4am after getting up at the same time the day before...not to mention all the walking.....

Finally the Inca Trek....

Well what an experience the Inca trek was. It was a hard little trip, some really tough moments, but definitely one of the best experiences in my life. After getting to the entrance at 3pm, Cessar and I power-walked the 12kms in 3 hours. The first day wasn't that hard, we arrived at camp just before dark, with lots of claps from the rest of the guy. It was great to see them all again after all the hassles that I'd been though.
The second day was probably the hardest, it was another 12kms, but most of it was up hill. Just think of a million steps, and that's what it was like. The weather was pretty miserable through that morning, but by the time that we had reach the highest point the weather had cleared. The weather is so temperamental up there, one minute it's pissing down, then the sun is out.
I can't complain too much, my backpack was just over 6kgs, but the poor porters were carrying at least 15kg, and they needed to leave after us, and arrive at camp before us to set up the tents and get the food prepared. So you would regularly see them running to get in front of you.
Talking of food, it was amazing, so much great food. I gave Alpaca meat a try, and I was the tour's garbage can, always knocking back others leftovers.
The 3rd day was probably one of the best, lots of downhill steps and some amazing scenery. I was a bit worried about the weather, the last stretch before camp on the 3rd day it absolutely pissed down. All you could do was kept your head down and walk.
Every night on the trek it rained, but the last night was the worrying one, I had visions of Machu Picchu being completed covered in mist. We woke up at 4am on the final day, which was the earliest time, after a 5.30am and 5am start on the previous 2 days. Actually it was very weird, because even though we were getting up pretty early, we were expected to go to bed at 8-9pm. This didn't really work for me, and the rain on the tent meant it was hard to get a proper night sleep anyway.
We arrived at the final check point at 5am, and started through when it opened at 5.30am. Our group was at the front, so I decided to speed to the front (I tended to be near the front for the whole tour...except for the first day of course!) for the 5km walk before I got to Machu Picchu.
I managed to be the first to the Sun gate, which is the place that you can first see Machu Picchu below, but unfortunately there was loads of mist at 6am in the morning, so I had to wait for another tour leader to arrive to make sure I was heading in the right direction. After being there was 10 minutes, the mist gradually move, so you could start to see it.
We spent the morning taking lots of happy-snappys and learning about the site. I might be the first person that has carried Vegemite to Machu Picchu, hopefully Kraft might be able to donate a few jars for my effort.
After a few hours of a guided tour, the dutch sisters, Ishka, Sasha and me decided to climb Wayna Picchu, the mountain which gives you a great view of the whole area. The way up was reasonable tough..a 40 minute hike , but the way down was one of the scariest things I have ever done. The top section, the stairs were so steep and small that you needed to crawl down to feel like you were in control. It was great to finally get down after that, even though it was great to do it. Wayna Picchu was the hardest stretch for me, after 3 days of solid walking it topped it off for my body, we were all pretty buggered at the bottom.
One last thing that capped off the tour was the bus ride down to Aguas Calientes, down the mountain. A little kid ran down the mountain in Peruvian gear, going through a path while we snaked down the mountain. This was a fair effort, the bus ride was about 20 minutes, all this to earn himself a few bucks at the bottom when he jumped on the bus...and supposedly he does this a few times a day.

Having 2 passports isn't always a good thing

When I check the ticket I realised that I had used my Aussie passport for the trek, these details were on the ticket, and the problem was that my Aussie passport was in the safe of my hotel back in Cuzco. This was a big problem I was told by my guides...I might not get in. I tried to get in, but the rangers wouldn't have a bar of it...so while the rest of the group went through, I was standing around like a tit. Anyway, after some deliberation by the guides, and a call back to the company in Cuzco, the only thing that could be done was head back to Cuzco to pick up the Aussie passport. As you could imagine, I was pretty deflated, but was lucky that the assistant guide, Cessar, was such a top bloke. With the help of Mr Speedy González taxi driver we made the return trip back to Cuzco, and were back at the start by 3pm, only 4 hours after we should of started. The taxi ride cost 120 soles, about 40 bucks, so it wasn't that bad after the trouble I got myself in. The trouble gave me a chance to get to know Cessar and now I have a Machu Picchu entrance stamp on both of my passports for the trouble..I bet not too many people can say that!

Start of the Inca trek

Everything worked out great last Wednesday, I got picked up at the hotel 6am. I managed to organise everything the night before so I was all set. There was 13 others in the group, and everyone kept fairly quiet for the bus ride, except for Cristal (from Vancouver) and me. She had slept in so she was too amped, and I was too excited to sleep.

We arrived at km 82 at about 10am after stopped in Urubamba for brekkie, and it was great to see the sign showing us that we were about to start the trek, all we needed to do was show our passport and ticket to the park rangers so we could begin the 45km walk over the next 4 days.

Two Nations Restaurant

I have managed to find my favourite restaurant on the trip so far, it not just because it's extremely cheap, but that is one very good reason. The food and the service is great, and the place is pretty funky as well. Funny enough, the 2 nations that it refers to is Peru and Australia. I believe an Aussie bloke met this Peruvian sheila, and the rest is history.
I have eaten there the last 2 meals, and for 5 soles at lunch, or 10 soles at dinner (6 soles to a pound) you get garlic bread, soup, a choice of mains and a drink, how can you go wrong with that. To think I was eating a crappy pizza for 18 soles alone earlier in the week! They used all good quality stuff, and they wash all the veges in purified water, which is good to know..I don't want to be sick again on this trip! Anyway I only have one more meal until I embark on the Inca trail tomorrow morning, so I will be heading to the 2 Nations again tonight. I tell ya, I wasn't expecting to find an 'Aussie Burger' in South America....beetroot here we come!

Cuzco the city of Museums

Over the last 2 days I have managed to visit 7 museums of varying quality with a ticket (boletoturistico) bought to access 6 of them. The only 1 that I thought was any good was the one outside of of 6, Convent of Santo Domingo, which has some interesting stuff on the Incas, and the best painting out of any of the museums. The ticket costs 70 soles, or 35 if your a student, thank's again STA! It also good for some of the Inca ruins, but to access the fancy churches in the main square of Cuzco you have to pay extra, gotta love the catholic church trying to make a few extra bucks, like they need it! Besides getting some culture into this trip, I visited the closest Inca ruins to Cuzco, Sacsayhuaman, try saying that after a couple of cervesas. It is only about a 15 minute walk from the town, but pretty good exercise as it's all up hill. I had a good time checking it out, but this young Peruvian soon-to-be shaman took a liking to me, so I spent 25 minutes with him practising condor arm waves and depth breaths, while he told me some history of Cuzco. I decided against one of his little practises, he said that urinating is one way of releasing negative energy, but I told him that I released all my negative energy earlier.

Pisac to lift the spirits

Now you can't go nearly 4 months travelling alone to have a few down days along the way, and due partly to my fault yesterday was one of them. The day wasn't bad, it just that since I'm not staying in a hostel, I'm having dinner by myself the last few nights, and in a restaurant, that can sometime be a bit off-putting. I actually don't mind it, I picked a small little place, decided to have a pizza and cheer on Peru as they played Paraguay in the 2010 football world cup qualifying...they have a bloody long road in South America! Anyway, 5 minutes after I sat down, a group of 9 sat down from some tour..filling out the whole of the floor, so I felt like I had crashed their party, plus the service towards me was non-existent after that.
This morning didn't start off in a good way either, I went to buy a couple of bottles of water and a chocolate bar from a supermarket, but I only had a 50 sole note, with the goods coming to just under a 5er. Now when I pulled out the note the bloke looked like I'd pulled out a knife. So I couldn't buy the stuff, so I walked out of the store f'ing and blinding...unfortunately not in Spanish!
Thankfully the rest of my day was fantastic. I took a little bus to Pisac, only 32kms from Cuzco, but a good hour journey with it travelling at a snails pace up the winding road. I got to see Peruvians with Lamas or Alpacas..I can't tell the bloody difference, their mud brick houses with pigs and dogs running around.
Pisac has a massive market on Sundays, but I decided to quickly bypass this, and hike up and see the Inca ruins, which is a 5km walk up and a fairly difficult one especially in the mid-day sun. It took about 2 hours to climb and see everything. The walk was also good, I met a really cool French couple on the way, it was great to have a chat with someone after a day cruising by myself. We then shared a taxi back down to Pisac and had a quick walk around the market, I didn't look too hard, but there was some very cool stuff there.
After have a drink with them at their funky hotel, I just caught the bus back to Cuzco, and I meet some cool Israelis on the bus. It's the people that make travelling fun they say.....

A Kangaroo..the symbol of the world!

Now, I have done a bit of travel over the last 10 years, and one symbol keeps popping up all over the world, from Japan, Australia (funnily enough), Belgium, Slovenia, England and now in Peru, Lima. Now using a Kangaroo from a transport company, I can kind of understand, even if it's in Japan..but this latest one in Peru was pretty strange to me when I saw it. I bought my plane ticket from Lima to Peru in this travel agent, and they had this company selling travel insurance I believe..the company was called EuroAmerican whatever....using a Kangaroo as their symbol. Who thinks of this? What's a Kangaroo got to do with, America, Europe or Peru for that matter!

Cuzco

What a cool city Cuzco turns out to be. If you have any images of what Peru is like..Lamas, women walking around with the funny hats, a baby strap to her back with a bright cloth, and Internet cafes everywhere...oh well, we can't be too authentic in this day and age.
I haven't done a great deal so far, I have walked around checking the sights. The main square has a couple of amazing looking churches. Cuzco has even more taxis than Lima..every 8 cars that pass seem to be a one..and they are bloody cheap, 3 soles anywhere in town.
I'm feeling a lot better now, I think I have managed to beat the bug that was in my system in Lima. Tonight will be the first day since Thursday that I will eat 3 meals in a day...I'm actually bloody hungry at the moment which is a good sign.
I'm staying in this great little guest house at the moment, it a cool little place, I have my own room with double bed, cable and bathroom. It great value 7 bucks, but it's a bugger to meet anyone, so I might have to leave and move into a hostel soon. The family that run it are so nice though, so I will leave with some difficulty!
I'm so glad I'm not in England at the moment, I watched the rugby today, I can't believe the French didn't win...bloody hell, the Poms better not win! I'm a massive Puma or Springbok fan for next week. I just won't be able to watch it..I will have just finished the Inca trek to Machu Pichu...oh well...

Lima

Only spent 1 day in Lima, wanted to give myself enough time in Cuzco to acclimatize, the city is pretty high up, so they say you should give yourself a few days in the city before you do anything hectic, and after the food poisoning, and the Inca trek to come on Wednesday, I thought sooner the better.
Lima is an interesting city from what I saw, which wasn't a lot. They have some very cool old churches in the centre, but in front of these they had riot police, tanks with sub machine attached to the front and loads of police just roaming the street. God knows what happens, but maybe they like a protest like the Argies.
Lima also has more taxis then you can poke a stick at, half the cars on the road are taxi. Anyone can be one, supposedly you can pick up the taxi plastic sign at a market, so if your short of a few bob, you can take your car out and earn a few extra soles.
Decided to catch a plane this morning at 5.50am to Cuzco, it only cost $71US, so I though what the hell, it saved a 30 hour bus ride and I was here 1 hour later.
Besides this, my small backpack is falling apart, it got caught on the bus from the airport to the plane in Buenos Aires, which is a bugger. I should be able to get it fixed for a good price over here anyway.
One last thing, I have to be touching some wood whilst I'm saying this because I'm sure I'm going to lose something soon. I don't know how many times I've dropped something, or left something behind before someone runs up giving me the paper, passport, camera or ipod back.

Sick as a Dog in Lima

I arrived in Lima last night, was really looking forward to seeing another city, but my last day in Buenos Aires made my first night in Lima one that I don't want to remember.
I spent the majority of last night keeling over a toilet bowl, I couldn't control any body functions..lets just say it wasn't a pretty sight! I had a buffet at a fancy restaurant with my mate Adan, so I knocked back quite a bit of food, 12 hours later the food was staring back at me.
So I will be on the waters and the sports drinks for the next few days, hopefully I can get my body back to some normality.
Had a great last night in BA, went kart racing with some of the guys from the hostel. If you know me, you will know that I didn't win, but came an honorable 5th out of 6...probably would of come 6th if one guy didn't spin out a couple of times. I was jumping on the brakes too much, that 1 week behind the (car) wheel over the last 10 years didn't hold me in good stead.

Boca Juniors @ River Plate

I decided to go to one of the biggest sporting events in the world today, and it was totally worth it, crazy, crazy event, that's all I can say. Boca Juniors, where the great Maradona played, are a team from the dock area of Boca in Buenos Aires, which is a poor and colourful area. River plate are called the Millionaires, due to the wealthy area where their team is located, but after spending the game in their sections, the ground didn't have quite that feeling.
I went with a group from the hostel, so it was basically a group of Israelis, me and another bloke called Nick from a Macclesfield in England. We were up in the top terrace, miles away from the game, but it was great in some respects because you got to see all the action. Anyway, you don't have atmosphere like this in most stadiums around the world, due to seating being imposed. We were all jammed in...with the River supporters constantly singing...they had a few 15 second pauses here and there throughout the game, but the were basically going crazy for 3 hours!
I had to watch most of the game through the legs of 2 guys, they were all propped up on the rails of the exit gates, so this was the only way to see, we were all packed in like sardines. This was all going swimmingly, got to see loads of action, River scored 2 goals, their supporters were going crazy...but with about 15 minutes to go, some newspaper caught fire..and there was loads of it everywhere. They bring piles of the stuff into the ground to rip into pieces, and used to chuck it onto the pitch...anyway, I had visions of myself being turned into an barbie..with nowhere to go. The fire eventually went out..not after there was a massive push to the left...which I was apart of. The game finally ended about 10 minutes after the fire, but we didn't get let out for another 30 minutes..this was to let out the Boca fans first...so in our thousands we just stood there and sung the River Plate songs....well they did anyway.

The Gregson name....

This post is a couple days late...but my sister think here surname isn't common..not so...they even have whisky named after her in Uruguay! La Gregson Clasico....haha

Spanish Lessons

I had my first Spanish lesson today, now that I'm back in Buenos Aires..I decided that it was time to get with the local lingo....my Spanish is very crappy!
My teacher Dolores and her Siamese cat made me feel right at home. I know that it will take the next 5 lessons and more for my Spanish to come on, but I really want to get there...it will make the rest of my trip so much better. By the way Mum, you can pick up a Siamese for between 100-150 pesos from a proper place, that's between 30 and 50 Aussie...can you believe that!
It's great to be back in the hostel, the staff really make you feel like your at home in the Estoril, made some cool friends, learnt a lot about other cultures.
There was another protest today...actually it's rare when their isn't one....the Argies love to Protest...every day they march past the main street where our hostel is located...banging drums and protesting with the loud speaker....I always ask what it's about...but the staff are so use to it.
I'm hitting the town tonight...or should I say tomorrow, their nights start so late...so watch out Buenos Aires, I'm a coming!

Montevideo

Decided to leave BA for a few days, with Uruguay only a 3 hour ferry ride, it was a great place to visit. Left the hostel with a couple of Israelis that I met at the hostel. Yesterday was spent in Colonia de Sacremento...it's meant to be a pretty little town, and probably is, but yesterday it absolutely pissed down, so that kind of distracted from the place.
Anyway, enough was enough, so a 2 hour bus ride later and we were in Montevideo, the place where despair and jubilation has been felt by Soccer supporters from OZ over the last 8 years. I made sure that I was wearing my rain jacket when I got off the bus...didn't want to get hit by any saliva like the Socceroos...anyway, there was no need to worry. Uruguay is a sleepy little country, there was just grass and a few cows from Colonia, not really any towns to speak of.
Montevideo isn't the prettiest city, it has loads of crumbling building, more banks in a city than I've ever seen before, but it does have some charm, just can't put it into words.

Cat..cat for sale

After leaving Recoleta market, I came across this person trying to sell this kitten. Can't saying what the price was..I can't count that high, but I'm sure it would be a lot less than OZ. This guy was saying no problem about getting it back home..yeah right. Just glad you weren't here Mum, because I think there would be a new edition to the Alcock family!

Dog walking

Just a quickie, but there must be a very large dog population in Buenos Aires, you see walkers going down the street with 5 odd dogs in there control. Here's one I came across the other day.

Recoletta Market

Every single girl I know would love Buenos Aires, just for the markets that are held on Sundays. Man, even I enjoyed them, and if you know me, I don't generally like to shop. Recoletta market is just like St Kilda market back in Melbourne, except it has just cool stuff, and there's all this other stuff going on. People are practising juggling, tight-rope walking and Capoerira..which is a dance that was created due to the Brazilian slaves not being able to fight one other. So even though it looks like they are having a barney, generally the point is to look like you kicking each other, without actually doing it.
Today was a great day, did my bit to try and fit in like a local, I cheered on the Pumas, who beat the Irish in Rugby, then did the Recoletta market experience. The weather has also really picked up, it was pretty cold when I arrived on Monday, but it has gradually got warmer throughout the week, today was a balmy 26...so I'm back to shorts and thongs again.
I have found out a couple of things since being in the hostel, Jewish people generally don't like Rugby and Vegemite. I'm basically on my own there, but at least my Vegemite will go further in South America. Every day I get some strange looks when I pull out the Yellow tube!
I had my first amazing meal last night with this cool Israeli named OZ. I can't I forget that one...and it's a lot easier to say then most names I come across...there seems to be lots of gutterel K's in the Jewish language...and that isn't a sound that I'm use to producing unless I've polished off half a slab of Carlton Draught. The meat was so tender, and unlike the meat in Brazil, you could season the meat yourself, so it wasn't salted at all.
I have been getting some very strange looks from others when they find out I'm 30, no one believes me, which is always a bonus.
Anyway will probably head to Uruguay for a few days tomorrow, so hopefully it will be just as nice as BA.

Cruisen the days away in BA

Having a very chilled out time in Buenos Aires. I was going to do some Spanish lessons, but will probably do some after I head back from Uruguay next week. Yesterday I went to the Botantical Gardens, or should I say he Felinical Gardens, there were cats everywhere. They obviously prefer the tropicals plants and lush surroundings than the urban sprawl, even though for a city of 13 million, and one of the biggest cities in the world, BA definitely has a different feeling than some of the other biggies.
I also visited Eva Peron's museum, which gave me a run down, because I have to say, I didn't really know too much about the women. The museum was nicely set out, but I definitely think they could of done more, and it wasn't really 'English friendly'.
Finally had a quick burn around in the Japanese Garden, didn't think I'd be saying that in BA. Some Japanese tripper decided at the end of the 70's that planting a Japanese Garden in BA would be a good idea, and the Argies probably said what the hell. It was nice enough, but definitely not a par with some I saw in Japan...what a surprise!
Having a good time in the hostel, met some cool people, quite a few of them are about to go home after 8-12 months of travelling...I though the Aussies knew how to travel, but the Jewish definitely leave them for dead when it comes to a length of a trip.
Once last thing, managing to survive nicely with my tube of Vegemite, the Israelis won't go near the stuff, but they happily wolf down the condensed milk turned caramel stuff that the Argies love to put on their bread in the morning..errrr

Jerusalem Hostel

Well, another thing has happpened that I wasn't expecting. I thought learning Spanish would help me in South America, you know, being able to comunication with the locals. Since being in Buenos Aires, having Hebrew another the belt would be just as useful, and being on a floor in a hostel where everyone except me is Jewish. Save you jokes, David King of the Jews..haha
It turns out that South America is a favourite destination for Isreales once their military services is over, so they come over in droves.
Went to Boca yesterday with 5 Isreales, they were are very nice when they decided to speak to me in English, but that didn't happen too much...so it was rather frustrating. Anyway Boca was very cool, lots of little bar with couples dancing to the tango. Building with bright colours, and artists showing their wares. Boca is a pretty dodgy area besides this main area, we got told by a local when we started walking away from the main area that this wasn't a great idea.
Today I have just visited the Recoleta area, which includes a very swanky cemetery. Some very famous people are buried inside, including Eva Peron...but I think she actually isn't there, her body has been move elsewhere for security reason, not for her...haha
Now besides that, my eating habits have gone out the window. Anyone that knows me, knows that I keep to a pretty strict eating regime. All you need to do is look at the clock, and every day I'm eating something at the same time every day. I think all that meat that I consumed in Brazil has destroyed my hunger, I haven't eaten dinner for the last 2 nights, and I've missed a few other meals along the way as well. Anyway, I think the hostel is having a barbie tonight, so I will be ready for that one. Shalom

Happy to leave Rainy Posadas

Well, I can't write too much about Buenos Aires, cause I've just arrived, but I feel very happy to be here all the same. Posadas wasn't a great idea, I should of just headed here from the beginning, but how was I to know that Posadas would be a shithole, where it constantly rained, and it was like a ghost town on Sunday. The only thing missing was tumbleweed flying through the street. I got a very dodgy deal from the hotel the save me with their shed from a night sleeping in the streets. Paid 1 night which included some basic Spanish lessons, and a bike tour of the town with her son. I enjoyed that, but the price of 150 pesos was the same as what I've just paid for a week in the hostel in Buenos Aires..but we learn. I kind of felt I owed them something, but 150 isn't exactly going to break the bank anyway.
The good part of this story, the 12 hours from Posadas was spent in the best bus that I've ever travelled, and that is saying something. I'm not bragging, but my ass has spent a hell of a lot of time on buses! The bus had nearly fully reclining seats, plenty of room, provided hot food, beer and champagne and movies in English with Spanish subtitles. This bus wasn't even the best bus that you can get...you can get seats that go completely vertical, basically like what you see in first class on a plane. The next long trip I do, I think I will give one of those bad boys a try because it only about 20 pesos more for that comfort.
Still feeling very jaded, didn't really sleep, actually feel like I'm on a boat at the moment writing this. There was a guy that decided to snore in my ear for the trip, so I didn't get much sleep, I think I need to invest in some earplugs! Anyway, you will be here plenty of stuff about Buenos Aires in the coming days.

A night in a shed

Well, it had to happen soon or later, everything went completely Pete Tong yesterday, well I suppose it could of been worst. I could of headed to the Pantanal, which is a massive wilderness park in Brazil with Leigh and Stew, but it would of meant heading in the wrong direction. So I decided to be done with Brazil, and head into Argentina. I left the majority of the planning at the bus station. I managed to cross Brazil into Argentina with a little bit of hassle, had to get off at the Brazilian customs with this Dutch couple. Did the formalities, but after that the bus had already taken off, so we decided to catch a taxi to the Argentinian side, the buses don't come all the often, and we would of needed to do the same through the Argentinian customs. So after screwing around with various forms of transport, got to the main bus station. Really wanted to head to Corrientes, and then onto Mercedes, but the next bus left 6 hours later, so I decided to choose another destination. Got told that Posadas would be a good and lively place on a Friday night, but unfortunately for me, too lively! Six hours later I arrived, after spending the time on a small rickety bus, not like the luxurious buses that I had been told about, and saw as they passed on the trip to Posadas. Walked around the bus station 20 or 30 times after getting to Posadas, I decided that I didn't want to stay, but unfortunately that was the only option at 8.30pm, the only buses yet to leave were back to where I'd just come from, bugger!
Had a little difficulty with the taxi driver, lots of pointing, and a bit of writing. I pulled out the bible, and ask for him to take me to the first place. Anyway, it turns out that there was some University thing here over the weekend, so every bloody hotel, guesthouse and floor had been taken. I had images of me sleeping the night in a park, just couldn't find one! Was lucky enough to find the Hotel Residencial Colon, which even though they didn't have any rooms available, she could speak great English, and secondly, they cleared some room in their storage room for me to sleep. Definitely wasn't the Hilton hahaha, but it was fantastic compared to the other options, they wasn't any. Had a extremely crappy sleep, had rainfall like I haven't seen since I was last in Seattle, it pissed down. Anyway, if your still reading you have done a bloody good job, but it was a very crazy night! I think I will sleep well tonight....

Paraguay & Foz Do Iguazu in 36 degrees

Decided to visit Paraguay this morning, see what the fuss was about. Actually there isn't much fuss about Paraguay, the town of Cuidad Del Este isn't what you call pretty. People go there to buy cheaper good, supposedly they don't get hit with the taxes on good that the Brazilians get. The place is pretty dirty, and there's plenty of dirty people around as well. Went there with Alex, my Brazilian mate from the hostel. After that, it was time to visit the falls from the Brazilian side, Foz Do Iguazu. Now after seeing it yesterday from the Argentian side, got told that it was worth seeing from the Brazilian, it give you a move of a panoramic view of the falls. Definitely worth seeing, but I can safely say that I'm falls'd out. Yeah and another thing, it was 36 degrees today, so it was tough going. They have just started Spring, it's not meant to be this hot! Didn't get burnt, but I'm totally buggered, I think the pool and a few beers later will go down very nicely.

Foz at night

Went out last night with a group from the hostel. Leigh from Melbourne, Antoni from France, Alex from Brazil and Stew from England. Managed to find an meat buffet place for 10 reis, so we all stuffed our selves silly for a few bucks. Leigh and Antoni can both speak Spanish, weird, an Aussie speaking to a Frog in Spanish. Anyway, we had a few beers last night, nothing too crazy, but it's was great to relax after the killer bus ride. Also a crazy coincidence, I thought I recognized Stew, his face just looked so familiar. Anyway, worked out last night that he went to Lapa in Rio on that Friday night, and we had a quick 1 minute chat before he had to leave. My memory isn't as bad as it should be! Also had another freaky thing, meet an Aussie in the Alpha hostel in Rio, and we got talking about are trips in South America. It turns out that we are catching the same plane back to Melbourne on the 20th December, he's currently doing an overland trip, and I'm doing whatever, but we will both be on the plane from Santiago to Melbourne. What are the chances....

Brazil & Argentina in a day

Said my goodbyes to my new found friends in Floripa, and boarded the bus for Foz do Iguazu at 2pm, arriving in Foz at 8am yesterday morning. Foz is a pretty small place, so I hard the hostel without too much difficulty. Not a bad hostel, has a pool, table tennis table, so I could definately spend time here, but I need to get moving. Anyway I was just going to visit the Brazilian side of the falls yesterday, but hopped on a bus, and the next time I got off I was at Argentian customs. So I spent yesterday arvo cruising around Puerto Iguazu, which is the Argentinan side of the falls. I met an American on the bus called Ben, so had some company for the day. I bet if wished he didn't met me, I was on a mission, I knew that I had to get back to Brazil, so I was speeding around the place, 100 miles an hour. It was really weird, but I only know about 4 Portuguese words, but these words kept coming to me when I wanted to say hello or goodbye or thankyou. The falls are bloody amazing, there's so many of them, so it completely different than Vic Falls, but just as impressive.

Still cruisen

Andre & Claudia have shown me loads of Floripa that I couldn't have seen without some local knowledge, and of course Claudia's car. They have been fantastic, I've managed to eat some home cooked food, as well as being taken to some local restaurants around the Island. Floripa is such a laid-back place, just no worries here. The beaches are great, but they do have a small problem with stray dogs...you go for a walk in the morning and there's dogs flopped out everywhere. Andrea and me went for a walk this morning, and we managed to gather a few friends that followed us for a walk. I love dogs, but fear of catching something from the mutts makes me give them a wide-birth.

Samba skills

Went for a boogie last night with Andrea, Claudia and a couple of their friends. Now we all know(well everyone that has seen me dance before) that I have a unique dancing style, you won't see me on "Dancing with the Stars" put it that way. Anyway, the music was great at this little place, the music is called Chorinho, it's a slower style of Samba. Man did I feel like I had 2 left feet, not use to side-way movement with my feet, more of an up & down person. It was also hard because my Portuguese stops at Hello, thanks and goodbye. So basically it's was hard to do anything, but I really enjoyed the music, very cool. People going out and having a great time without getting absolutely blotto'd. I never understood when my folks use to go out dancing for a good time, now I know!

Floripa

What a cool place, man this wasn't what I was expecting of Brazil. Florianopolis has beaches just like home, except girls (and guys for that matter) are obviously wearing different attire then you would see back home. Managed to find a pension right near my Brazilian mate Andre and his girlfriend for 25 reis a night. It's not Buckingham Palace (but Buckingham Palace isn't a 3 minute walk from a beach either!), but definitely got a bargain, my own room with all the trimming for 15 Aussie bucks. Spent the day cruise, checking out the beaches. Actually met an American dude called Brad so I ended up chucking the pigskin on the beach with him. Didn't expect to do that in Brazil. Anyway we are about to sit down to some fish, only 10 reis for 5 fish...can you believe that. Even back home in OZ that would cost at least 5 times at price.

No mores buses

So I left Rio yesterday, got told that there was a bus going to Florianopolis (Floripa) @ 4.30pm, and I would get there about 16 hours later. Obviously the great thing about travelling is that things never work out as they are planned. All the buses were booked out heading there to Floripa, and my next possible destination, Iguacu Falls, all the buses had already left for the day. My first thought was going back to the hostel, but I quickly dismissed that idea, I was leaving Rio. My next move was to pull out the trusty Bible (Lonely Planet - South America on a Shoestring) and work out another destination. Anyway, I found that a place called Curibita was on the same way as Floripa, so I went up and found out the bus was leaving at 8pm that night. Anyway, got talking to this Brazilian guy who was from Floripa, who was in the same boat as me. worked out very well, after nearly 24 hours on 4 buses we are here. Great place, so relaxed, completely different than Rio & Sao Paulo. My Brazilian mate is a good bloke, can't remember his bloody name, typical of me. It's great, he gets to practise his English and I get to benefit from his Portuguese, it works for both of us. Cheers from Floripa!

Copacabana and other random thoughts.....

This will probably be my last post from Rio. Cool city, everything they say is right about the city. You do see hardly any clothes on the beach, whether the person is fat, skinny, bloke or a chick. There's been some pretty horrible sights, shudder....
The food is pretty good. Love the kg restaurants. You pick what you want to eat, much better than most other places I've been, cause you end up eating some random bit of grizzle that looks even worst than it taste.
The people are very friendly, some dodgy people about and I've meet people that have had stuff stolen, but you just need to be very careful and not carry too much on ya. Anyway, that about it from Rio, speak soon.

Maracana

Went to a football match on Sunday to see one of the big four Rio teams play, Flumenese. There must of been only 20,000 people there, but the noise they made it seemed like there was 20 times as much. The Maracana use to hold about 200,000 people just over a year ago, but they put seats in the ground because FIFA was moaning. Anyway it now holds 96,000. All I can say is I would of love to be there even if it was full, the atmosphere would of been amazing. Everyone left happy, they would 2-0. By the way, beer porters brought the good stuff to you, only 3 reis a pop! The photo is the half time entertainment, this old codger managed to keep the ball up for the hold break, kicking it all the way around the pitch! Classic

Rocinha Favela tour

Yesterday decided to check out a favela, which means slum to you and me. Not the place you would usually visit, but I did it through a tour. It was definitely an eye opener. Houses are built in all kinds of shapes, there are loads of small little streets, would hate to do furniture removals that's for sure! There was a massive open sewer running through the street so a flood would be a major problem. The lady that ran the tour told us that we could freely take pictures because if the camera was stolen, the person that did it would end up with a few broken bones. Crime that effects the city only happens when the police come in. Electricity, water and cable TV are all stolen, so there's cables running everywhere. 300,000 people in such a small area, really amazing.

Lapa

Went out to Lapa on Saturday night with a group from the hostel. Wasn't expecting to be on a street with a million other people, but that's what we basically ended up doing. Nothing like I've been before, but you could pick up beers very cheap from dudes selling them on the street. Got back at about 5.30am. Don't no what's in there beer, but felt like a bag of poo for the whole day, so I did nada. Actually the only thing that I did along with Jason on Sunday was go and eat at this buffet meat restaurant down the road. It is amazing, for 24 reals they have this amazing salad bar, but the best bit is the meat they keep bring out on skewers. Beer, lamb, pork ahhh (cue in Homer mmmmm donuts (meat)). Anyway the meat was so tender, it was fantastic. I definately got my money's worth that's for sure!

Rio

Well guess where I find myself? Rio is everything that you can imagine, I can see myself being here for the next week at least. Went up to Cristo Redentor today, better know as Christ the Redeemer. Meet another bloody Aussie (Jason) in the hostel so we went up there with a million other people. Pretty cool though, he doesn't look as big as he does from the TV box, but definitely impressive.

Anyway left Sao Paulo at lunchtime yesterday and had a pretty interesting trip. Got talking to this Brazilian women (more like she got talking to me) and that managed to pass the time. Her little girl who must of been all of 5 was a cute little thing. She did this little samba dance, just couldn't imagine an Aussie girl doing the same. Arrived at the bus station in Rio after getting caught in this massive traffic jam, we hardly moved in an hour. The bus station was pretty dodgy and darkness had set in, but my friend directed me to the right bus, so I was at the hostel in Botafogo 30 minutes later.

Hitting the bars tonight in Lapa with some of the hostel tonight, things don't kick off till after 12 so I've got a feeling it's going to be a late night!

Havaianas

Finally managed to pick up a pair for 13 reis (just over 3 pounds), someones making a shed load of cash back in England! I ventured into the city centre on the metro yesterday, and had a walk around. They had some pretty cool old buildings, and the whole dynamics of the city is completely different than any other city. I know that seeing group of Police standing around everywhere should make you feel safe, but it had the opposite effect on me. Anyway, taking a couple of photos was a big deal, just didn't feel safe just whipping it out. Came out of the wrong exit of the metro coming back and nearly got lost, didn't even know the street name of the hostel, that could of been interesting. haha
It's a public holiday tomorrow in Brazil, so a lot of the hostels in Rio have already been taken, planning, David, planning.

Comida a Quilo

This little phase is common in Brazil, in many restaurants you get food served by the kilo, how cool is that! Especially when the food is fantastic, with loads of different options, and lots of meat. Just down the road from where my hostel is this little place does Comida a Quilo. Anyway after loading up my plate the last 2 lunches with salad, vegetables and plenty of meat the plate only comes to $8-9R, which is basically 2 pounds, or $5AU.
Besides this I haven't really done much. Managed to knock off 1 book already, and 2/5 way through the De Vinci code, it is a pretty addictive book, glad now that I brought 5 books with me!
Going to check out some more of Sao Paulo, definitely heading for Rio tomorrow.