It seems like a long time ago I was in Alcantra for Festa do Divino, but it was one hell of a party. Its a 12 day religious festival in this little historic town near Sao Luis. A small town full of old 16th and 17th century ruins and newer mansions everywhere. Rich then poor, then rich again and now back to a poor town, but I wont go too deep into the history because I wasn't there for that. I went there for the party and after a little difficulty we managed to get on a boat to Alcantra. I didnt really know what to expect but quickly found out that a few houses were selected to host the festivities and supplied the town with free biscuits, cake and of course, drinks. A really sweet port like drink which wasnt overly good, but it was free and there was LOTS of it going around. The festa started LOTS of music from bands roaming the streets and with the locals chopping down a tree and covering it in vines. Then they attached ropes and poles to it and about 50 guys picked it up and started running around down to all the selected houses where it was compulsory to drink as much as you can. The small children of the town then jumped onto the log and were also carried around town. At this stage I was the only gringo around and everyone was giving me drinks... This was when I found the donkey guy. He was a guy with a little cart pulled by a donkey behind the tree and the band that followed. He was the alcohol supplier and was handing out this port drink to everyone... including the little children. It was strange drinking with 6-8 year olds... but this is Brazil. After running around for a few hours drinking heavily the tree made its way to a selected spot where it would be erected. Tying more ropes around it and using sticks for support they tried to erect it. The first attempt made it about 1/2 way before it slipped and dropped nearly crushing lots of people... So they tried again and got it up before it started to spin around like crazy, I turned around and everyone behind had ran away, so i decided to follow and run in case the tree fell my way. They managed to hold it up and was then supported. I then talked to one of the guys who was running around with the tree, but he was so drunk he was just walking some weird drunk language. The next day was more relaxed with the bands running around town and just eating more cookies. So it was time to leave. When I got to Sao Luis, I went to a small market and got to try snake cashaça. Cashaça with a real snake in the bottom and it even had a wasp in it for flavour... Really strong stuff!! That afternoon I got on a bus and headed for Belem.
| related link
The journey to Barreirinhas was really fun. It involved a local bus to a small town where we got 2 different 4x4s to Barreirinhas. But the 4x4s had about 20 people (or more) in the back and was really fun. The 4 wheel drive went through really beautiful countryside with lots of bumps and water crossings, over sand dunes and through really little villages. I love the village life here, they just sit outside and watch the road for someone to pass. I guess about 4 or 5 cars would pass per day ... But the scenery was just spectacular. Really cheap way to travel and a really good experience.
Once we got to Barreirinhas we got a little hassled by the locals but we met a guy called Pando who after a little misguided information, he basically lied through his teeth, but was a cheeky kind of lie but became quite useful and we got a really nice place to stay on the river banks for a really good price. It included a canoe which we went for a paddle along the river that afternoon and again at night under the moonlight. We ended up organising a tour with Panda. He didnt have a company but he hired a 4x4 and we went out with him. Basically the next day started with a small boat picking us up from the hotel and took us on a tour of the river. It was really nice, got to see some mud skippers, crocodiles, monkeys and lots of birds. We stopped at the beach and walked over more dunes, but the day was really relaxing and must nicer than the delta of Parnáiba.
When we arrived back at the hostel from the river cruise Panda was waiting for us with the 4x4 and after picking up some supplies we left for the sand dunes of Lençóis Maranhenses, one of Brazils more famous national parks. We arrived at Lagoa Bonita about 5pm. After running around the extremely white and fine sand dunes of the park and jumping into a couple of the 16,000 lakes there, we made camp. The sand dunes there are incredibly beautiful, extremely white and large with lakes everywhere. The lakes are crystal blue and I was told there are other lakes with greens and reds. Really beautiful, just sand and water, no vegetation!. So we camped there and started having a few beers. Our ´guides´ after a smoke and listening to the same Bob Marley song for hours (it went on all night aswell, one song) we went to a house there where we had dinner. Ohh, I got to pick which chicken we were going to eat ... poor chicken :). After dinner we had more beers and cashaça we decided to swim in the lakes at night. It was really surreal, the white dunes were really beautiful under the moonlight and the lakes were so peaceful. So I decided to run down the steepest dunes into the lakes. It was really fun because I was running down dunes really fast and running into the lake and couldn't see when I was going to sit, so running full speed down hill then smashing into the water... It was really fun. After a few hours of this I went to sleep.
I was the first to wake up in the morning and I wandered around the dunes really early. I was alone with no one near me, so I took my kit of and swam in a couple of the lakes naked and with the white dunes and blue lakes, it was really peaceful. I didn't want to be alone for this experience and thought of Rebeca, but it was still really beautiful. It was beautiful blue water, white sand and a REALLY white ass! After I got back to camp everyone and were packing everything up. That day we explored different parts of the national park which were really beautiful but full of people. Definitely the highlight was the camping with no one else around! Getting to enjoy the national park to ourselves. Really good stuff. That night I got a bus to Sao Luis.
| related link
When I got to Parnáiba I went on a boat trip of the delta. It was advertised as a relaxing way to explore the delta with lots of animals, sand dunes and being with nature. Sure, it sounded good. But it was really just a bunch of drunk Brazilians shouting and dancing on a boat to the really annoying sound of forró for the whole day. Really getting close to nature by pumping out music and shouting. I really should have known better and asked more questions....
But the delta was nice, nice river with mangroves on either side and we stopped to walk up and down the sand dunes which was nice. I met Danielle who was going to Barreirinhas the next day aswell. So the next day we woke really early to get the 6am bus.
| related link
I arrived quite late to the 7 Cities so I just went to bed. In the morning I got the free employee bus to the National Park. It was amusing when I got off, as they drove off they stopped, reversed the bus just to ask where I was from. After saying Australia I walked off but turned to see them driving off with one of the employees jumping like a kangaroo in the bus. It was a little strange. I was dropped off with some of the guys selling stuff and I ended up carrying about 1/2 of the employees drinks and all their other crap to their little shops there. I dont exactly know how this happened but I didnt really mind.
The 7 cities themselves are really beautiful rock formations in a really relaxing part of Brazil. I enjoyed the rocks :) I was the only one walking around that day (and my guide). Saw lots of rocks, birds, lizards and a little cat. It was kind of funny because I saw the native cat on one of the rocks and asked what it was. My guide was really excited because it was really rare to see them and it was the first time she saw one. So excited that she radioed the other guides at the reception saying, i just saw a beautiful cat on the rocks, the reply was from another guide saying that it was her second beautiful cat she seen today, referring to me. When I started laughing my guide realised I understood the Portuguese and she became a little embarrassed but laughed as well. I had a great time walking over rocks, looking at indigenous rock paintings and went for a swim in a really nice waterfall. Really good morning. I met the other guide later and she was really forward telling me about my blue eyes and I just had to laugh and say goodbye. Really professional staff hehe. That afternoon I caught the bus to Parnáiba.
| related link
After Natal I went to Fortaleza and I stayed with Erik at his house for a couple of nights without doing too much except sit around and talk. Good talks though. I did however make a stop at the Federal Police to renew my visa. After 4 hours of waiting, talking with them, arguing, I left with a 8.25 reais fine and was given an extension of 8 days. But I couldn't just give them the money for the fine, that would be too easy... so I had to line up in a post office for another 45mins - 1 hour for a $5 fine. Fucking Brazilian bureaucracy.
After waiting a little longer to show that I had paid my fine, the guy told me to enjoy my holiday. I stared at him for a good 5 seconds and I said Ill try and enjoy my 8 days. But Im not really that bothered. It costs $5 a day to stay in Brazil without a visa, so when I leave Ill just pay my fine and leave. But it was my fault for counting the days wrong ... note to self ... months have 30 and 31 days, but Ive learnt my lesson, I should of just bribed him.
After this I needed a beer so I went out with Eric for a few drinks then I made ´Bens Kickass Curry´ my special ´Australian´ food. :)
The next day I just left for Piripiri to check out the Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades.
| related link
Rebeca and I were supposed to leave Recife for Natal straight after her work (that was about 10am) but we managed to get the 6pm bus which took about 4 hours to get to Natal. We just stayed somewhere close to the bus station and went to sleep. The next day we found a really nice place on the beach front which was also pretty cheap for what it was, a really nice boat themed bed and breakfast with good owners. We then went to Pirangi because I wanted to go snorkeling there, although when we got there it was high tide and a bit too rough so they wouldn't let anyone go out. I was a little annoyed because we had a bit of hassle trying to get there. But, I did get the see the biggest cashew tree in the world and as exciting as that sounds, I must admit, it was a pretty big tree.... It didnt have any nuts on it and I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to tell everyone that I ate a cashew from the biggest cashew tree in the world ... What do you think, hiking to machu picchu or eating a nut from the biggest cashew tree in the world ...
The next day we went on a dune buggy ride around Genipabu for the day. All day driving around the really impressive sand dunes stopping in lagoons to have a swim and a relax. There was one lagoon where you could go on a flying fox devise but sit in it and go down a steep hill until you landed in the water. It was kind of fun when you hit the water because you bounced up and down on the water like a skimming rock. There was also a giant slippery slide which when I went down but turned me around while I was going down so I went tumbling into the water. At least Rebeca found it funny. After some more dune buggy rides we went to the well maintained fort overlooking the ocean. Small but well maintained and a good view from there. Sun burnt and tired, it was time for bed.
The next day we just spent the morning together until the bus took us separate ways. The worst thing about travelling isn´t getting guns or knifes pulled on you, loosing your everything you have when your backpack floats down a river, getting pick pocketed, crashing your motorbike or anything like that, its definitely the goodbyes that hurt the most...
| related link
Fernando de Noronha is an absolute paradise :) Really luxurious, really beautiful and extremely relaxing. I knew 3 days wouldn't be enough, but I managed to do everything I wanted. I would have loved to spend a week relaxing there... but I got a good deal with flights, accommodation, guides, transport and tours. After a delayed flight, I arrived on the island and started relaxing and organising my next couple of days. The first day I went scuba diving and did 2 dives. The first one going around some rocks with lots of fish and a couple of grey nurse sharks. Got really close... less than a meter from both of them until i managed to scare them away. REALLY beautiful getting that close to a shark thats bigger than you! We went into a really large cavern which was really good, completely black except for the opening. Really nice with stingrays on the sand bottom. The second dive was more rocks, fish and a couple of silk sharks. Nice relaxing dives, but the group was too big, 5 people plus a guide which also contained two old Italian women who were flapping their arms about like a seagull and kept bumping into rocks, coral and me. Really annoying when Im trying to float headdown to look under rocks. I expected a little more from the suba diving as everyone was saying it was the best in Brazil, but for me it was just ok-good but it was nice to get under the water again. The sharks were the highlight.
After the diving I went on a historical walk. I wouldnt have done it but it was included so why not. Too much talking and not enough walking but it was nice to have a walk around one of the old forts in the town. I was really tired after a big day but that night I went with Projecto Tamar to go look for baby turtles. I left before 8pm and rode my dirt bike (XR200) down to the beach and met them there. The two biologists didnt speak a word of English but it was good to practice my Portuguese even though I didnt completely understand everything they said. They were patient and I think that I got alot of out it. We basically walked up and down the beach all night looking at the turtle nests and digging up the nests counting eggs and looking at the baby turtles who had hatched out. It was really good fun and I really enjoyed holding the baby turtles. The second cutest things alive! The sun came up about 6am or something around there. I managed to get a couple of hours sleep before I headed off for own tour of the island, XR style.
I explored everything on the island on my motorbike. Managed to find some really good dirt tracks where I nailed it for awhile until I managed to hit a fairly big rock where I did my superman impersonation and tumbling practice. I managed to snap the front brake lever and crack the mirror. I was ok though and didnt have to pay for it which was lucky. Without a front brake, I decided to take it a little easier. So I stopped in the beaches, walked up and down the 3 most beautiful beaches in Brazil. They really are beautiful !, swam in all of them and did a little snorkeling. At praia de leo (Lion Beach) there was noone on the beach. Brazils third most beautiful beach and just me on it. So I took off my kit and went for a skinny dip. Really refreshing until I saw an old man walking to the lookout. Time to leave.... This day was a really good day, just sitting around on beaches, having a few beers and just basically having fun. That night I was in bed by 10pm because I was so bloody tired.
The next which was my last day was the best for me. The morning was a boat trip around the island stopping in a few bays to go snorkeling. Some of the best snorkeling Ive ever done. Good variety of fish, lots of coral and fish and a couple of large stingrays. Really good morning. The boat trip was pretty fun as well, this old guy with his wife kept buying me beers on the boat so that was fun. They were about 50 years old and spoke really good english. I think about 60% of the people I met on the island spoke really good English including the old people. I was really surprised and most of them came from Sao Paulo. The afternoon was the best part of the island for me. I went snorkeling with the turtles. You needed a life jacket and a guide so you couldn't destroy the turtles food on the bottom but it was still amazing. The visibility was average in some areas but brilliant in others. I saw about 10-15 large turtles, good variety and quantity of fish, a couple of huge stingrays, lobsters and a baby lemon shark. It was really really amazing. This was by far the best snorkeling Ive ever done! Really amazing stuff with turtles everywhere !
But my time was coming to an end so I packed my bags and started to wait for my plane. Again delayed but I made it back to Recife. I met some really amazing and cool people on the island, everyone was really friendly on the island. People were helping everyone else out, I hitchhiked a couple of times, people offered me lifts but I guess the best thing was just how everyone just talked to everyone (everyone was on holiday in a safe environment so that helps) but it was good to experience. I really wanted to stay longer to really sit down, relax, talk and just do nothing on one of the most beautiful places I have been to in Brazil.
That Friday was my last night in Recife. I had a few drinks with Pedro, Mari and Rebeca but I was tired and made my way up the stairs and just crashed that night. The next day I said my goodbyes to everyone which was a little sad for everyone. Its been nearly 3 months since I arrived in Recife and I have some really good relationships with alot of people. It was only meant to be a week in Recife, but its been really good for me. Ive rested and have the desire to see new things again but the best thing was that I learnt alot about Brazilian people here and its been very difficult for me to leave. Even now (Im in Fortaleza) it doesnt feel like I need to say goodbye to Recife. Ive got the same feeling of when I left Australia, its hard to explain, but it feels like it wont be long until Im back in Recife...
| related link
Well, my time in Recife is coming to an end but Ive had quite a bit of fun since Pipa. Im completely recovered from dengue fever and Ive been teaching the Brazilians how to say ´Dengue sucks balls´. Is there any good way to describe that? .... But anyways Ive been having a ball here.
I had a really good day last weekend on Friday. Diogenes (Junho) took me into Olinda where we had a look around the old historic town. He showed me a few things and I finally got to eat tapioca. Fried coconut with a big blob of butter in the middle ... it doesnt get much better than that. Maybe if it had bacon it would be better for you. We checked out the main market in Recife, but I got really hassled by everyone there so we ended up leaving and going to a restaurant and had traditional food for lunch. Some good food and some really good food. I dont remember the names ... I ate to much and went to sleep but around 11pm Diogenes called me and we went out for a drink. With no idea of where to go, we did the usual Brazilian trick of going to a service station, buying beer and sitting around waiting for something to happen. After some beers, a few calls and chatting to a few randoms we picked up a few people and made our way to Downtown. A British rock pub in Recife Antigo. We sat out the front for quite a long time drinking quite a lot of beer but eventually made our way inside just so we could drink some more beers. Good fun in there, but when it was time to leave we decided to go to another market where we could buy more beer. This was about 6am. After a few more beers and some really fatty food laced with even more butter we went to Bar dos Cornos where I learnt what a corno was. A corno is the word for horn, but it also means when a guys girlfriend sleeps around, the guy is a corno. So Bar dos Cornos is where you go after your girl has cheated on you and drink until you feel better. Being blind drunk I put on one of the hats you can wear ( theres a wide range of different hats, all with horns on ) and decided to ring the bell to confess I am a corno (I must add it wasn't true but it was fun). Shouting, in English, ´The bitch left me!´, while I was ringing the bell.... Really drunk. Anyways I stumbled home somewhere between 8 and 9. Noone really knows to be honest ... but it would have been around that time I guess....
After getting very very little sleep I ended up going out to Downtown again that night where Junho played in 2 bands. One a tribute to British rock and the other playing a wide range of covers. I was really tired but I battled through and after going out to a nice restaurant about 3 or 4 am I managed to stumble home again at 4 or 5am. I wasnt very drunk but I crashed!
The next weekend Rebeca and I decided to go to Gravata. A small country town not too far from Recife. We stayed at a farm hotel with lots of farm animals running around. It was pretty funny. It was a really nice relaxed couple of days involving rock climbing, mechanical bull riding, walks, see saws, ping pong (where we (me) were a little rude to a kid who wouldnt give us the paddle, but it was a little funny), good wine, good food and the best company. We spent most of our time just lazing about and joking around. It was funny when we were leaving though, I havnt met enough country people in Brazil, but I can imagine this being common though, when someone asked Rebeca where I was from, Rebeca answered ´Australia´, then the guy asked if Rebeca spoke Australian... I was trying not to laugh and had to bite my tongue but the reason Im shocked is because hes studying law. What kind of school did he go to ?
Anyways I need to go, I need to pack my stuff as Im going to Fernando de Naronha in a few hours. The rain has stopped in Recife so lets hope Fernando is the paradise that it looks !!
| related link
My days are starting to feel better everyday now. Ive been pretty sick with Dengue fever. It really sucks but Rebecas been my private doctor and has really looked after me. I basically had fever and a rash for the first 4 or 5 days then complete exhaustion for the next few days. Its been over a week now but its starting to get better. But I still went to Pipa for Easter. I wasnt going to let a little thing like dengue ruin my Easter weekend. So we went to Pipa, about 15 people in the house. A really small, old, run down house with 2 bedrooms. Yes, 15 people in 2 bedrooms. But I played my dengue card and got the double bed!! I was in the bed for most of the time though. I slept or rather tried to sleep pretty much the whole time. The music and everyone else was too loud for me to sleep but I was generally accepting of the noise... I knew if I didn't have dengue, Id be one the loud drunks. I got a little shitty one morning at about 6am when the music was getting louder and hadn't stopped all night. I just walked outside and pulled out the plugs and took them into my room. I finally got some sleep. I thought people would be angry but most people thanked me the next day. Only Walter looked like he was going to cry when I pulled the plugs hehe.
The town itself was really nice, a quiet little beach town with really nice beaches and a nice relaxed atmosphere. I really just wish I could have enjoyed it a little more. I got sick of being sick so I decided to have a couple of drinks and go to the concert that was on the last night. Medication and booze is always a BAD combination. I didnt think I drank much, maybe 6 beers during the night. But I dont remember anything after leaving the concert. The concert itself was really good. A band from Salvador, good music and I was dancing alot and having a great time until my legs started to hurt. After getting a street hotdog it was time to go home. A few more things happened that night but I dont remember them. If you dont remember, it didnt happen hahahah
| related link
Its been a few weeks in Recife. I realised that Ive been here for about 5 weeks now. Time has gone REALLY quickly. Since Porto, things have calmed down except for a few big nights. Ive got my own place on Boa Viagem beach which is small, but just what I need. I share the apartment with the local prostitutes who work out the front of my place and the local whore house across the road from my apartment. The road I live on is street where all the whores work. Nice neighbourhood. But its fairly cheap and close to everything.
Some big nights. One of the first big nights was when Pedro got some tickets to a party here. Fashion Club or something. I dont remember. But it basically involved us drinking on the beach about 2pm then going back to my house, playing a really interesting game of cards. ´Note to self´, dont play cards with drunk Brazilians unless you want to get into a ´discussion´ about the rules and cheating hahaha. Really funny stuff though ...
But then we went to the fashion club which had clone ... buy one get one free vodkas.... they really hurt me. People ended up finding out I was a gringo and people started practicing their English on me. I saw a couple of people at the party who had some really big guys standing around them. I asked people if they were body guards and the answer was probably. Apparently its not uncommon to go to nightclubs with bodyguards here... Not really my type of crowd, but I got drunk and talked shit to people which was fun but towards the end of the night I was using my phone and someone either hit me or put their shoulder into my eye. I didnt see it coming, but it made me drop my phone and when I picked it up I then looked around and was said to someone .. Did someone just hit me??
I had a red eye so probably. Ahh, thats Brazil. I was just more confused than anything. After eating and making an early morning phone call to Rebeca, which Im sure she appreciated :), Pedro and I stumbled home after the sun came up. Really big night.
I went scuba diving here in Recife. 2 nice wreck dives. Turtles, octopus, eels and lots of fish were the highlights. One of the wrecks was pretty cool, it was an old British Paddle steamer that blew up about 200 years ago but the paddle wheels still fairly intact. All the fish were hiding in the wheels which was really nice. The turtle was cool, I put myself into negative buoyancy and sat next to the turtle for a few minutes watching it eat. It watched me for a bit but we had to move on. One of my dive buddies was a complete tool. He had grab everything, touch everything, pick up everything and bang into everything. I actually saw him put 2 hands on a large piece of coral and push it as hard as he could... We had to dive with another guy, who had to go up because he was running low on air, but the other guy decided to stay down by himself when I went up with the guy. Complete tool. He found a piece of porcelain from the wreck on the ground and put it in his BCD. Mother fucker.
But the guys that work there are nice guys and Ive got a deal with them now that if I help put the equipment on and off the boat I can do 2 wreck dives for 50 reais, about $35 Au, which is a pretty good deal.
Ill try and do some more diving before I leave.
Another night to remember was Pedros birthday and his birthday party. On Pedros birthday we went to a few pubs, lots of drinks etc, ended up in Recife at a pub called Downtown. Nice rock pub with live bands. But after we went back to my place and had a few more drinks. This was about 6am. We were singing the Toda Boa song as loud as we could. It was really funny, but a little bit rude at 6am. Pedro ended up passing out on my bed, then Andrea decided to passout as well, but instead of sleeping on my bed she ended up sleeping ON Pedro. I walked in and took some photos. Ivo then found my Portuguese/English translation book and started telling Pedro some pickup lines in English that he was reading. Pedro doesn't remember, but Ive got some great photos. I have no idea what time people left.
Pedros birthday party at his house was really good as well. I was the bar wench for the party and made caipirinhas and caipiroskas the whole day for everyone. People seemed pretty happy with my bar skills but after sampling every drink I made plus my own drinks I ended getting a little drunk and was dancing with Pedros brother Deco and they have photos of my dancing on chairs etc. It was a fun party.
Ive spent most of my time here walking around, walking down the beach and hanging out with people. Rebecas been really good to me here and I go around to her house a fair bit where her family constantly feed me. Its a good life here and it looks like Im staying here for another month.
| related link
Our Manu jungle videos that Fredy put up on youtube,
It doesnt show any of the rafting, which was the best part, but it does show how simple our raft is.....
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7AQo0yOrEw
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDH2_nkQtBI
| related link
More parties at Porto de Galinhas. We went down south this time to Marianas beach house and we stopped on the way to check out a few of the beaches along the way. Really amazing spot and it was full of tourists. That day we walked along some really beautiful beaches and when we got to the reef we hired a little boat who took us around the reef and to some areas that you would walk over and look at all the natural pools which were full of fish. The whole time I was walking on the reef I was say... Im killing coral, Im killing coral. It felt good to get off the reef and into the water where I could observe the reef and the fish from underwater. After doing a few deep skin dives I kept saying to myself, I need to go scuba diving soon, its been TOOO long!! After the beach we went back to the house and started having a few drinks. More of Pedros friends arrived who have the house next door so we ended up partying as a big group. Ivo was totally smashed and was talking about how hot the Queen was and other things I just cannot repeat.
I missed this event as I went home, but they recorded everything on video so at least I got to have a laugh.... Pedro and Ivo decided to do some skateboarding at the local skate rink, except they didn't have any boards. So they climbed up and kept jumping down the ramps, its really good video and the next morning they were like ... did I do that? Really good night, although I got a little sun burnt under my arms on my back (my hands didn't reach there with the sunblock!!) and I kept rubbing my back on the wall where I was sleeping.... But I really had a good night.
It was actually during this night that I decided to stay here in Recife. I'm in the process at the moment of looking for an apartment to rent for a month... I really like it here...
| related link
After the craziness of carnival had ended I went to Ilha de Itamaraca, a large island north of Recife. I met some of Pedros friends throughout carnival and ended up tagging along with them and stayed in Andreas beach house. It was a really beautiful island with some absolutely ridiculous houses. From the main beach were we were staying you could see more islands all around and probably the biggest and most beautiful island is owned by one guy. His house looks like a hotel resort and doesn't visit that often. I would probably just live on that island if I could. We arrived about 10am to the sound of beer cans cracking. A great sound after a solid week (more for some...) of heavy drinking. Really relaxing day of swimming in the ocean, drinking, having a lot of laughs and a good churrasco.
It was really cute when a troop of monkeys (sagüi) came and ate some mangoes from the tree next door. We ended up hand feeding them, but they were a little shy and ran away after a few minutes. They returned a few times throughout the day and during the night.
The sunset there was really really beautiful. We wandered through some mangroves (no crocs here!!) and ended up in front of a river and swam there during the sunset. It´ll be hard to forget that sunset. It was nearly perfect watching the red sky and sun set behind the river with the jungle in the distance. Look at the photos when I put them up (but photos never capture the moment). The night involved more of the same, drinking, laughs etc, although the funniest was definitely the drive to get more booze. Lots of football chants, honking and lots of bumps. We got a little lost trying to find a shop that sold beer but we eventually found one and after some bargaining we made it. A bottle of cashaça was bought and a few shots didnt help the situation. Perdro was absolutely smashed and we found him sleeping on the stairs.... After crashing I was woken up about 6am with the Andrea shouting GLUBY GLUBY GLUBY !!!!!!! It woke everyone up and was a little annoying but also pretty funny. That day we just went back to Recife and the next day we went to Porto de Galinhas. But it was a really good trip with some amazing people.
| related link
Olinda.... Carnival was totally crazy. Its difficult to explain everything so Im not going to go into too much detail. But basically the days of carnival involved going to Olinda during the day and going to Recife Antigo during the night. Ive been staying at Pedros house, a local from Recife and the days involved waking up at 8am and getting to Olinda by 10 to start drinking. The streets were already packed with hundreds of thousands of people, mostly wearing fancy dress, some were really original costumes as well. By this stage everyone was dancing around and drinking very heavily. Some of the best moments was when a large block would come, basically a music group that was wandering around the already crowded streets pushing their way though the crowd, you could follow them around for awhile listening and dancing with little footsteps, shoulder to shoulder with everyone. Really good fun, but it was fucking hot, so hot that when I got slapped on the shoulder by a friend there was a splash. The heat coming from the crowd was insane.
It was funny when I saw 2 blocks coming from different directions because when they met they both just stopped then one just turned around and went in the opposite direction.
I loved it, there was very little or no violence in Olinda, except for the few really drunk guys I saw grab women and try and kiss them. Some Brazilian guys just cannot control themselves and really are disturbing to see and talk to. Only one thing going on up stairs...
The music apparently started at 6am and no one could tell me what time it finished at night. People would set off massive amounts of fireworks really early too wake everyone up...
We met one of Pedros friends who had rented a house for the week and we stayed there for a lot of the time, just to avoid the heat. I was quite popular there in the house for some reason, probably the drunk gringo factor, and everyone kept feeding me beer, cachaça and food. I made the mistake of calling the cachaça suave (smooth) and then I got more shots... They hurt....
Carnival was basically a smut fest. So many people were walking around kissing anyone, it was kind of funny, but also a little disturbing at the same time. I had to run away a few times from people and Mariana helped me avoid some people. Ive got a couple of cracker stories, but I really cant write them here hahaha ... my excuse for everything I did was ... Its carnival
I did met some really amazing people during the carnival days, a lot of who I really want to see again sometime.
The toilet situation was a totally unhygienic,
There were no public toilets so everyone just went everywhere. At times it was just revolting, but .. its carnival ....
The nights in Recife Antigo were good, but I definitely preferred the craziness of Olinda. Recife was basically a big stage with thousand of people crammed in watching a show. Not really being the biggest fan of the local music, I wandered around trying to practice my pathetic level of Portuguese. At least it makes people laugh.
Well, Carnival is over and Ive been going to a few different beaches with Pedro and his friends, staying in their beach houses. I need to blog them because they have been really good nights, but I need to cook some mango curry for Pedros family. Most people here dont know what curry is and they really want to try Australian food. So I cook what I want and tell them its Australian... Australian mango curry.... The way I cook it isnt Indian and I do eat it a lot in Australia so I guess its Australian haha
| related link
Leaving Sao Paulo on a 32 hour bus, I arrived just after the 34 or 35 hour mark.... I had a family of drunks on the bus that had no respect for anyone and sang shit almost the whole way. The bus broke down which added to the fun, but it comes close as the worst bus Ive been on. After 34 hours sitting in the same seat will make most people grumpy...
But I got to Salvador, so theres no problem
I was only meant to stay in Salvador for a day or 2 but ended up staying for a few extra days. Some big parties, some lazy days, but generally really good fun. It was warm up parties for carnival, so there was lots of people dancing in the street, lots of drumming groups jumping around having lots of fun. Lots of beer as well ... The drumming really was amazing... Salvador has a really huge African influence and it was really amazing to see. There was this massive big black guy doing this dance by himself with everyone watching, it had so much power and anger, but really quite impressive. After he stopped he kissed this tiny really white girl of about 18 or 19 and the first thing that came to my mind was that he was going to destroy her....
I can see the appeal of the Salvador carnival but I was ready to leave to Olinda and I wasnt the only one. There were alot of tourists there and it kind of felt like we were the outsiders watching on. Anyone white just looked ridiculous when they were dancing to the drums. The locals were very impressive though but kind of kept to themselves and I basically hung around gringoes the whole time. Met some really cool people though so it turned out really good.
The house I was staying in was alot of fun, we spent about 2 days just cooking food for people and actually had a good time doing it. Towards the end, the house was getting really crowed, a small apartment with 3 Brazilians living there, and the tourists, 4 Argentinians, 3 Americans, 1 Japanese and me... so it was time to move on. I teamed up with Yuri and we headed off to Recife together. I cant be bothered saying why it took so long to get there, but we got to Recife and got there in time for the start of carnival.... thats where the real craziness started!!
| related link
I came here with the expectation of staying for 1 or 2 nights. That was 2 weeks ago.... I started off setting some travel sickness which forced me here for an extra day before I could explore the Jesuit ruins of Trinidad and Jesus. The ruins themselves were really impressive. I wasn't expecting much left, and they are surprisingly well maintained seeing that no one has lived there for a few hundred years. On the way back I felt like a beers so I tried to find a pub when I heard some really loud music coming from a building. Lots of drums and singing. I wandered in only to find an indoor sports center full of girls dancing. Carnival practice!! I sat down and watched for awhile when I noticed there was a couple of other people watching and they had beers. So I went and bought a couple of beers and sat down and joined them with the drinking. They ended up knowing most of the girls in the hall so I got to chat to some of the really sweaty girls haha My Spanish still sucks but it gets a few laughs
So for the last 2 weeks Ive been hanging around my new friends, a few drinks, pubs and having alot of fun. The last 2 days here have been some of the craziest days in my life !!!
Carnival was supposed to start on Friday but because of the rain was cancelled. Saturday was when the real craziness started. At about 2pm the warm up beers started out the front of Monos (monkey in spanish). The name suits him perfectly... haha. By the time the parade started at 9, I was fairly well on my way... Monos friends had box tickets because they all knew the dancers but we didn't have any tickets. You couldn't buy tickets for the area only get given them. So being slightly inebriated we decided to sneak in... After jumping a river, walking across a field, jumping a fence and then walking for abit more we arrived to the police checkpoints. We crawled past the first checkpoint behind a small fence and then had to wait about 5 minutes for the next group of police to turn around so we could run past them. It actually worked and we got in without any problems. We found our friends in their box, right on the fence of the parade. The BEST seats at the place. It was an unbelievable experience being at the carnival there. Everyone was just jumping around the entire time, the parade was unbelievably beautiful. And the thing I loved about it the most, was the parade wasn't serious. Ive seen a video of Rios carnival and its very serious... But the dancers were waving at us, coming up and drinking our beer, hugging us. After giving one of the dancing girls a drink of my beer she grabbed my head and kissed me haha. My friends then started an Australia Australia chant! haha. Absolutely crazy stuff was happening, all this while they were meant to be dancing. Everyone had cans of foam and being the only gringo in the area I ended up getting foamed ALOT. After carnival finished... I have NO IDEA what time, we wandered into a club. Everyone was going crazy in there, a couple of hundred people jumping around all with arms around each other. After jumping around for a few hours I wandered upstairs and watched the sunrise from the roof of the club. It was getting bright, so I wandered back downstairs and jumped around for abit. I made my way back to my hotel and got home about 10am. Crazy crazy night
I wish I had my camera for that night because the group I watched in the sports center danced that night, but I didn't know what to expect so I decided to leave it home. I brought it the next day which created a very amusing situation.
After getting very little sleep, I got picked up for the next day of carnival. I brought my camera along this time and it was suggested that I make a fake press pass so I can get backstage and take photos of all the dancers...
So with the help of my new friends we made a fake press pass. I was a journalist for Australian Party Magazine. I don't know... I was a little drunk and sleep deprived. To be honest... it was a terrible fake... but that's why i liked it
So when it came to Carnival, we were going to sneak in again although in the field we met and old man and had to pay him $10,000 ($2.50) each or he would call the cops. After giving him the money he told us to tell the police his name and we wouldn't have any problems. He was right. I think he was working for them haha .. gotta love corruption!
That night was more beers, dancing, foam and this time I had my camera !! I tried to go back stage but the security there wouldn't have any of it ... so we just went back to the private box and partied hard... I met a fucking crazy guy there... he saw his girlfriend dancing and jumped over the fence run up to her and kissed her, I got a photo of him with her actually... a bit later he ran across the road dancing and talked to his friends on the other side... The security just shook their heads but were laughing... A really relaxed and fun party and on the way back we were having piggyback races when I tripped and fell and grazed up my shoulder, hands and elbow. Luckily the girl on my back didn't get hurt so it was all good. I think I wandered back into my hotel at about 6am...
Well I need to start packing as I need to leave here and go to Recife... A couple of thousand kilometers in 5 days ... Should be a boring few days on the bus, although its just what I need right now after so many crazy crazy nights...
| related link
The Paraguay Border, between Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) and Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) was an interesting experience. I crossed it with an Aussie and an American who were travelling together. After getting the run around trying to find the Brazilian immigration we finially got stamped out and made our way across the border. Upon entering the immigration of Paraguay, I got my stamp (Under my British passport, god save the queen!) and then the other 2 needed visas and were told to go back to Brazil and get them and then come back. Being a 20 minute walk in 38 degree heat, they decided that they couldnt be bothered, so they were just going to run the border. So it was agreed that because I had my stamp I would get into a taxi with all their stuff and then they would cross the border when noone was looking.... Solid plan!! I got the cab no problem and told him to go to the bus port and when I realised we were going the wrong direction, I immediately thought something was wrong so I started swearing everything I knew in Spanish at him and forced him to stop. I didnt think I could remember my Spanish, but that football game in Colombia really came in handy!! After more yelling he agreed to take me to the bus port. I hope he was just going around in circles to make the price more expensive, but with 3 peoples belongings who knows...
When I eventually got to the bus station, they were waiting for me and surprisingly made it across without any problems... I hope they dont have problems trying to leave the country.. ohh well, not my problem
So we caught our bus and left, I thought, to Encarnation. The bus broke down along the way and we were forced onto a much smaller and much more uncomfortable local bus where I had to stand for the rest of the trip. One of the sluttier local girls took a fancy to me and proceeded to rub her rather nice arse all over me. I found it really amusing, although I did get some REALLY dirty looks from a lot of the locals on the bus.
Upon arriving in Encarnation I very quickly realised that I was actually in Asuncion. I bought the wrong fucking ticket and was now 5 hours away from where I want to be!! But it wasnt too bad, I ended up sharing a hotel room with the American and Australian couple and quickly fell asleep.
I then woke up standing in the corridor of the hotel wondering what the fuck was going on... To add to the mystery my ass was hurting like crazy, it was actually one of the more painful experiences Ive had. Not really sure what was going on, I wandered back to bed and fell asleep. My arse was really hurting...
In the morning I was really curious about what had happened so I asked Melissa why my ass hurts and why I was standing in the corridor. This is how it goes... I was sleeping on the top bunk of the bunkbed... Aparently... in the middle of the night I had decided to place both my feet on the rails of the bunkbed and jump, grabbing one of the poles and swing around like a monkey and landed ass first on the rails of the bed under me. I then said I was ok and tried to open the door to get out, but being asleep I couldnt. After a minute they opened it for me and I walked out into the corridor and woke up. Poor people, I must of freaked them out pretty badly.
Ive been sleep walking alot lately, I found myself crawling around my dorm at Foz the other week. Noone saw me which was good, but jumping off the top bunk is a little worrying. I could have seriously hurt myself... Note to self... No more bunkbeds!
The next day was a nice relaxing day, walking around the city seeing a few sites and then catching 2 wrong buses and getting a city tour thinking I was going back to the bus terminal. Both times I made it to the end of the line. Make it back though and got on the CORRECT bus to Encarnation. I ate some food and went to bed, I woke up with travel sickness which wasnt pleasant so I need to wait before I can check out the Jesuit Missionary ruins. Hopefully tomorrow, if I can leave the toilet and get on the right bus...
| related link
Foz do Iguaçu was absolutely amazing. I just ended up sleeping on the Brazil side the whole time but did make my way across to the Argentinian side. Walked around the Brazil side for a few hours. Really beautiful. From the Brazil side you get an overall picture of the falls and they really are beautiful. I had no idea just how many different falls there was and much area it covered. Really spectacular. The next day was kind of funny because we went to the Itaipu Dam. After waiting about 2 hours for a bus that comes every 20 minutes I met up with a couple of poms and a Belgium guy and we just got a cab. The dam was big and impressive but the tour was incredibly boring. The dam jokes were out in force and only got better with age... this dam road, the dam music, the dam bus, the dam tour...etc it was very very sad, but was very amusing. The next day was the Argentinian side of the falls and that was really really amazing. The walks take you up close to the falls and you really get to see the power and violence in the falls, but also just how beautiful they are. I went on a boat under the falls and got a shower, all of that touristy stuff. I got to see a monkey, fresh water croc, lizards and lots of these little furry possum looking animals. Was quite a nice day. After spending 2 months away from tourists, I really dont miss them at all. To be honest, a large number of them just really shit me... I ended up being a little anti social to most (I nearly had to slap this annoying Canadian because he wouldnt shut up about his views on politics) but met a few cool people and ended up hanging around them and had lots of good laughs.
From there I met up with an American and an Aussie who were going to Paraguay so I joined up with them for the border crossing which turned out to be one of the stranger days away...
| related link
Ive left Sao Paulo now and have started my travels of Brazil. It was sad saying goodbye to most of the people there, as a lot of them Im sure Ill never see again. Ive had lots of promises from people who said they will come to Australia and I really hope they do. I had a lot of fun in Sao Paulo and met some really amazing people...
Well Im in Curitiba at the moment and still recovering from a week in Floripa with a few friends from Sao Paulo, Gabriel, Massao and Adri. Florianopolis is where all the brazilians go for a holiday, and the traffic showed. Many hours were spent in traffic jams but I had one of the best weeks travelling there with lots of laughs and a few too many drinks. The nights basically involved drinking on the street with a few pubs and clubs along the way. Really fun street partys with lots of friendly peolpe. The days were exploring the island and going to the beach. Really beautiful beaches with THE most beautiful women in the world. Everything about the beach was perfect. I met a few Aussies on the island and they all agreed it reminded them of Australia (except the women were prettier in Brazil)
Paul Van Dyk played there on one of the nights and we all went along to check him out. Another crazy night, I ended up falling asleep on the way home and my friends couldnt wake me so I ended up sleeping VERY uncomfortably in the car. It probably wasnt much worse than the tents we were in...
The funniest thing for me was when we all were jumping off the bridge (we even got Adri jumping) and Gabriel decided to do some flips into the ocean when he turned too much and face planted into the water. He got a black eye from it but it made me laugh soo much. I filmed the whole thing, but some fucker stole my camera on one of the nights so I lost all my photos and videos. Thats 4 times now in South America. My friends have other photos so theres no problems ... Someone stole Gabriels speedos as well .. haha
Massao and Gabriel keep playing jokes on me and Adri kept giving me the usual amount of crap, so it really made the week feel special for me.
´Lets go to the shop next door and get some beers`
´peredeca`
The usual tricks of teaching me bad portuguese continued but it was really really amusing...
Saying goodbye to my friends last night was sad, but Im pretty confident Ill see those guys again some time. Ill miss them until we do meet again...
Well off to Foz do Iguaçu tonight then to Paraguay for a couple of days to check out the Jesuits missionaries and to buy another cheap camera....
| related link
I´ve uploaded most of my pics from Brazil
| related link
Rio was a lot of fun. I cant be bothered uploading the photos but I will later... I met up with Dee, a mate i met in Colombia and spent a night with in Peru and now in Rio. The first night was rather quiet although it was really nice, just sitting with a few of his Rio friends at a pub overlooking the lake. Nice chilled out place with cool couches on stilts. Still didnt end until 4 or 5 am...
The second night was a bender, it started with some more of his friends at Outback.. an Australian themed restaurant. Really tacky, but everyone else liked it. Good food though. But then we started drinking hard... We went to a few clubs and met some really interesting people on our adventures, but a good fun night that ended with the sunrise and very painful Caipirinha hangovers.
From there, I just explored Rio, did a few touristy things, Big Jesus statue etc, and then went hand gliding over the beaches of Rio. That was amazing. Jumping off the mountain was a little worrying but once we were in the air I loved every minute of it. I even asked the guy to scare the crap out of me. So after hitting some thermals he would drop us a bit, then come back up. It scared the shit out of me, but I still loved every minute of it.
I met up with a few Germans, Italian, person from Hong Kong and a Pom, and ended up going out with them a few times. Lapa street party was the best. Good strong drinks and cheap clubs. Went to a few other places which were fun, but nothing too special.
The highlight of Rio by far was the Football match I went to. Flamingo v Atletico. Flamingo home game at Maracana. I think its still the football stadium in the world. But it was a sell out. About 85,000 mad, absolutely fanatical, crazy and one eyed supporters. It was a fairly tame crowd during the first half. A few songs, abuse, fights, but nothing too crazy. Then flamingo got a goal in the 4th minute of the second half. That set the crowd off..... flares, fireworks, songs, flags, shirt waving and even explosions were going off... for the rest of the game. The next 40 minutes was just mad. Ive never seen anything like it in my life. It was no longer a football match, it became a party where no one gave a shit about the game. It was all about the party. I took a couple of videos. The first one is the first goal and the rest is what happened until the end of the game. I dont think it captures the madness of it all, but itll give you an idea.
http://www.benstravelling.com.au/MOV00389.AVI
http://www.benstravelling.com.au/MOV00390.AVI
http://www.benstravelling.com.au/MOV00391.AVI
http://www.benstravelling.com.au/MOV00394.AVI
http://www.benstravelling.com.au/MOV00397.AVI
I cant get these videos to work on this computer but they should work, if not Ill sort it out later...
But its back to SP again. Its time to settle down and learn some portuguese. If you know me, then youll know why I just started laughing haha
| related link
Well, Ive been lazy, real lazy. My liver was supposed to get a break, I was going to settle down, study hard and play some cricket. Instead Ive just been partying, pretty much the whole time actually. I started off at the Formula 1. That was fantastic!! A few days of practice and qualifying which was fun, but nothing like the race day ...
After a very interesting and a warm Brasilian meeting on the bus, I got into the ground and started practicing my Portuguese on the workers. This was my first taste of Brasilian culture as I had to wait 5 minutes for the bar staff to stop drumming and singing before I could get my beer. When the race started the crowd was wild as Felipe Massa was in the lead for most of the race. Anyone who watched the race would know how confusing and how many lead changed for the championship and the race there was, so drunk, no portuguese and not really the biggest formula fan, I had no idea what was going on. Still, I had a fantastic time and the sound alone was worth it. That night was a pretty big party.
Ive been out to a few places in Sao Paulo, most are fairly good but pretty expensive. Even by Aust standards. I´ve stopped going to these types of clubs and hang around my Portuguese teachers friends most of the time. We just go to pubs and hang around each other alot. They all speak a little English which is making my portuguese progress harder. I met Massao through couchsurfing.
Went to Santos with them a few weeks ago, really relaxing time. No big benders, just nice relaxing nights and good fun on the beach with volleyball and soccer. I tried explaining cricket and footy, but they didnt have a clue... so I left it at that.
Good clean fun with a good bunch.
Ive met up with Vanessa and Gabi since Ive been here, (Brasilian friends from Australia) but Ive only seen them once and we keep missing each other with our own plans. It was good seeing them again and if I actually stay in SP for a weekend then Im sure there will be more adventures...
Ive had a couple of games of cricket since Ive been here. The first one was a bit of a shambles but still alot of fun. I got a golden duck...
I was kind of hoping for a bit more coaching than what there is. Its pretty much just drinking before, during and after the games. From these boys drinking level, Im being coached ...
The kids dont really train often and the guy who organised everything at the local school has left. And because of security there wont be any further participation from them. So its pretty relaxed.
We had an intercity/interstate competition 2 weekends ago. That was a lot of fun. Teams from Brasilia, Cuitiba and Sao Paulo were there and it was alot of fun. One of the guys took photos during the comp so when I get them Ill upload them. I ended up playing for Brasilia and had a great laugh with them. We came last, but we all did well and we had 5 Brasilians on the team which was a record. We didnt break any other records ...
My portuguese sucks still and its taking longer than I thought just to get into my head, but Im sure Ill get there.
Ive just got back from Rio and now I know why Rio is so famous...
| related link
Well... Bogota is fun, a little dangerous, but really really fun. The first night I was in Bogota I had a quietish one but then I went out with Angelica on the Friday for some local food and a few drinks. It was this strange corn meal with chicken and it was really nice. We then met up with Tim, who I met in Cartagena but lived in Bogota. We had a real blinder. I tried Aguardiente (firewater) and it lived up to its name. Went to a couple of clubs and we kept buying bottles of rum at the bar. It was a bender.
The Sunday I went for a drive with Angelica and some of her friends to the country side and we enjoyed a really nice BBQ out there. I cant remember the name but they told me it was the soul of Colombia. It was pretty bloody good. We just played a few board games which I kept winning which rather amusing. Twister was mentioned but quickly shot down. No way was I playing twister... sober!
The next couple of days I just explored Bogota, went out for a few nice meals and a few drinks. Tried cow tounge.. interesting but quite nice. Went to a cool bowling alley where everything is manual. When you bowl there is a guy sitting behind the pins who would lift his feet up so the bowl and pins wouldnt hit him. Kind of dangerous but entertaining to watch. Afterwards I ended up attracting trouble again. I was sitting on a park bench drinking Chicha, a illegal indigenous drink made from corn, when someone approached us and asked if he could have the bottle. After saying no he opened the cardboard box he was holding and showed us his gun. He then calmly closed the box and asked for the drink again. He got what we wanted. We made a quick exit and decided to go back to the hostel where everyone was partying pretty hard. Lucky he was hammered and only wanted my drink and not my wallet. For $1 US, he can have my drink!
Went out with them to a club called Cha Cha which is located in the penthouse of one of the highrise buildings. I think the 42nd floor, so it had an amazing view of the city. They were playing d&b so i kept shouting requests to the DJ. He didnt have much but kept playing pendulum for me. It was kind of fun dancing to d&b again.
One of the highlights of Bogota was definitely the football match. Brasil v Colombia. Without doubt the greatest atmosphere Ive felt at a sports game. We got there a few hours before the game and the people had already started to party. Singing and dancing and running around. A really heavy shower slowed them down for a bit, but the thunder still got cheers. The rain stopped and after a ¨Colombian delay¨, the match was started. Colombia played really well but couldnt get a goal. Brasil was really dissapointing and Ronaldinho was really dissapointing as all he did was fall over. Learnt some good Spanish insults ...We went out after the game and probably the biggest night in South America. The photos sum it up. I wasnt as drunk as the photos suggest....
The Monday was a public holiday in Colombia and I got invited to go to the country with Angelica and her family. I was REALLY hung over from the night before, but had an amazing day. Went horse riding around some of the hills and loved it. I was a little concerned when the horse was galloping but I held on and didnt fall off. There were a few reallly nice homes around the area. On the way home we stopped off at a small town and played some tejo. It involves a rock which you throw at fireworks for points. Now thats sport!!
I wasnt very good at the start and put a few holes in the wall which got a few looks but I got better as the night went on. The greatest thing about the game though, is the fact that you need to drink beer while you play. You dont pay to play, but pay for beers and then you can play for free. To play the full court you needed to buy half a case! Close to the perfect sport, beer, fireworks and throwing rocks!!
My last day in Bogota was also kind of eventful. Went up to the mountain Monserrate. Again stunning views of the city. We met a few more people that we knew. Ben actually met people from his Uni which again, small world. But on the way back two guys approached us and grabbed one of the girls bags and tried to run off with it. When we tried to intervene the other one started shouting at us and pulled out his knife. The girl didnt let go of her bag and they ended up running off. But everything happened really quickly withing about 5 seconds. But again nothing eventuated from it, so I guess all is well.
But the majority of the people in Bogota are the friendliest people Ive ever met. Everyone was so helpful with everything and really looked after you. Really friendly people with alot of passion. I really loved my time Bogota and it was a little sad to leave but Ill go back there one day. But Im in Lima atm for a few more hours before I leave to Sao Paulo. The formula one and then my cricket starts. Im really looking forward to Brasil.
Got invited to a lesbian party tonight so it should be another interesting night ...
| related link
Im leaving Colombia tonight and its been an interesting experience. Cartagena was absolutely amazing. The old town is really beautiful and spent alot of time wandering around just looking at all the old buildings. I also enjoyed walking on the wall surrounding and protecting the town from pirates. The whole area has been kept in fantastic condition and restored really well. I was there for about a week and relaxed the whole time. Didnt really do anything to exciting, but I did enjoy the mud volcano. Although the guys who massaged me was a little worry as they were a little too lecherous. It was good fun though, floating in warm mud. The other highlight was the old fort which Ive forgotten the name. Just a relaxing week with some good company in the most beautiful city Ive been too. I decided to fly to Bogota to sort out my passport.
| related link
Im currently in Cartagena atm and loving it. I ended up spending about a week in Santa Marta. Basically just spent the time going to police stations, calling insurance, banks and embassys. I did have a couple of huge nights which was kinda fun. One night was for my birthday and mourning the loss of my bag. I got a few drinks out of it so it made me feel a little better but no less stupid. A few of us went to the beach and waited for the sun to come up, but when ppl started running along the beach it was time to go home.
Another interesting night was Matthias last night in Colombia. I decided to make him feel like shit for his flight the next day so lots of rum and shooters went around. We went to this really cool bar, cant remember the name but we had a great time dancing to the sounds of the Caribbean. People were dancing on tables and chairs and it was just a good fun place. My dancing skill keep the locals amused. We left and on the way home we went into a club where we just shouldnt have. I got approached by a guy who insisted on talking to me even though he was talking way to fast for me to understand. He eventually left although another guy came up to us and started hassling us for a beer. I was getting a beer so I bought him one to try and shut him up. It didnt work because he then started demanding money. He then showed the other Ben this bracelet and tatoos which showed that he was a member of the guerrillas or some sort of paramilitary. We decided to leave but we got followed home. It was only about 100m away so we got back, after an argument out the front of the hostel that was quickly turning violent, the owner of our hostel came out with a dirty harry style handgun and the guys who followed us back left. We quickly got inside and after a goodnight drink on the roof we went to bed. Not before we heard the sound of 3 gunshots down the street. There was a large group of people arguing but it didnt look like anyone was hurt.
The next days were pretty uneventful, just paperwork etc.
I didnt have to bribe the police again. But I was asked if I wanted to donate some money so the police could buy soap. I helped them buy a lot of soap!
In Cartagena now, and loving it. By far the most beautiful city I`ve been in. The old town is just amazing and I love just walking around the walls surrounding it. Had an interesting arrival though when I got in though. I`m travelling around without a backpack atm, so all my stuff is in 2 garbage bags. I had those bags stolen from me on the bus to Cartagena. Just my luck... The guys from the bus company called around all the buses that connected with my bus and my bags were found on one of them. So I ended up getting my bags back. They were very sorry, but I`m kinda glad that they didnt have the people responsible because I was kinda pissed off. I celebrated that night as well.
Well I really love Cartagena but unfortunately I have to leave sooner than I´d like. Its going to be easier for me to get an emergency British passport than it will be to replace my Aust one. I wouldnt get my Aust passport until November and it should only take a week or 2 to get my British passport. So I`m going to be travelling as a Brit for the rest of my travels. At least I dont have to pay to get into Brazil. Ohh well Bogota is next...
I think I may stay in Cartagena a bit longer ....
| related link
The lost city itself was really magnificent and the hiking was very challenging and had really beautiful scenery. But my experience of the lost city is relatively shit. The lost city use to be a risky route and you had to bribe the paramilitary to get access. But they advertise that there hasnt been any kidnappings for 3 years so its now safe... We ended up going with a company called Sierra, who after paying realised that they were a new company and we were taking a route that they had never done before. We decided to take the loop around rather than walking back the same way we came. We were told that we would have to catch up with the guide that was leaving the next day, so basically 2 days hiking in one day. We were happy with that and after some discussion about a discount for one less day, we agreed and left on our hike. We ended up not walking the 2 days in one but did the trek in 7 days, we couldnt quite understand their reasoning but didnt really mind. Our guide changed 4 times along the journey. Guides left, got sick and more came. It was very confusing and at times we had to insist that we were doing the loop and not coming back with the rest of the group. Luckily Ben, another guy on the loop, could speak really good Spanish and did most of the talking.
Now for the fucked part... We had to cross several river along the trip, some were up too our knees and some were up to our chest. Although there was one crossing that was too deep and too strong, so there was a cable cart for the crossing. This cart was really dodgy. A mudslide had occurred recently and had changed how tight the cable was. It now hanged abit. So we basically had to climb down a slippery rock to get inside. I took my backpack off for this and climbed down and put the backpack inside the cage. Letting go of my pack I grabbed the cage to lift myself in. My bloody heavy pack with everything in tipped over and fell into the river and was quickly being taken down the river. We chased it for quite awhile but the river was too fast. I lost everything, passport, camera, ipod, clothes, plane tickets, everything.... everything that i need to survive, Gone.
The cart itself needed some work and all the bolts were loose and looked like they could give way at any time. Some Indigenous people used the crossing and a woman with her baby were stuck in the middle for a good 15 mins until someone came on the other side to help her.
So after my loss the people in the group felt sorry for me and lent me some of their clothes so I could be dry and warm at night.
I´ve got insurance and I´m currently sorting out everything with them at the moment. Everyone was surprised and kept asking why I was smiling and laughing when I tell the story... stupidy is always amusing...
But the lost city itself was really amazing. Its really amazing that there is still lots of gold there and that people still come to grave rob. We were told a story of one of the last guys who tried to grave rob and got caught by 5 policeman. They shot the robber and had a swim in the rivers when the chief policeman shot the other police to take the gold back for himself.
Another thing that was interesting was that Ben found a scorpion in our room. He kicked it outside and thought nothing else of it. When I was in my bed with a mosquito net around me I was pretty much asleep when I felt something large crawl across my face. I knocked it off and said FUCK quite loudly. Ben woke up and asked what was up? I got a torch and looked in my bed and found another scorpion. I killed it with my boots and didnt get alot of sleep that night as everything else after that sounded or felt like a scorpion. We were told in the morning that the one that was on my face, brown with black tips wasnt the deadly type, but it still would cause paralysis for a few days and hurt like hell...
Our circular route was rather interesting hike back because our guide was a bit of a waste of space. He basically just walked off and smoked weed the whole day. The loop is definitely worth it for the scenery and the bird life alone.
When I got back to Santa Marta I went and filled out a police form. The guy from Sierra helped me out because of my Spanish. While I was at the police station, I asked about his English and then he was telling me about how he lived in America then got kicked out of America for possession of firearms. A dodgy Colombian in America with lots of guns....
We then had to bribe the policewomen there to get the police statement which was annoying because she wouldnt process the loss of items only my passport, obviously didnt bribe enough...
Sitting in a Colombian Police office with a convicted felon bribing the police was an interesting experience. I have to go back there Monday for the items. More money Im guessing ...
Well, I guess I´m stuck in Santa Marta for a few days until I can get my immigration papers back, then off to Bogota to get my passport. I really want to go to Cartagena and I´ll be really disappointed if I cant make it, so I may just have to travel without a passport for awhile ... If I get pulled over it should only cost me about $100 to get off so it may be worth the risk...
| related link
I´ve had a rather eventful couple of weeks, but I´ll get to my stupidity a bit later. I started my advanced diving course in Taganga and had a really good time. We ended up getting a pretty good deal on the dives and ended up getting 2 free dives and a few discounted dives. The guys that work there are a really good laugh and had alot of fun there. The owner in broken english would keep asking us "Are you happy?" "yes" "I happy, This is very important for me". He would ask after every dive... Jose, one of the instructors found this really amusing and would imitate this, even though he doesnt speak any english. The whole place was a good laugh.
I did 10 dives in total, for my advanced I did a drift dive, deep, underwater navigation, wreck, advanced buoyancy and did a night dive. I ended up doing another night dive last night because the first one was magic. Last night wasn´t as good as the moon was out but the first one definitely goes into the top 5 dives.
There was heaps of crayfish, moray eels and shitloads of fish. A puffer fish blew itself up and started going nuts jerking around, we all just stood around and watched it for a bit, I think wondering what it was doing... The other interesting thing was when we turned out our lights and waved our arms about so the plankton illuminated which was pretty surreal. I was waving my arms around, in the pitch black of the night, off the coast of Columbia, underwater in the carribean sea.....
The wreck wasn´t that impressive but the drift dive was fun, floating along the coral while the current took us rather quickly. I was perpendicular to the coral and floating to my right, not moving at all except adjusting my height, as rocks or coral would come, with my breathing. Really good fun. A lazy dive but good fun...
We went to the dive centre last night for a bbq and beers and had some really fresh fish which was really good and ended up eating too much again ....
After the advanced course I went on the lost city treck, which kinda fucked my travel plans for awhile....
| related link
Well I did what I said I would in Lima. I got drunk ... very drunk. Lima is quite an interesting place. Really friendly people, nice bars, historic buildings and really really dodgy and seedy clubs. I´ve learnt that when you ask a cab driver for a nightclub they take you to a whore house. We started driving around these dodgy areas and he pulled up to a garage and honked, when we drove in 3 big security guys came up to us and let us in. When we walked in we walked straight back out again. The cab driver was waiting for us. We managed to find a decent pub and bumped in Erin again who did the Solar de Uyuni with us. We then had several shooters and beers and went to a disco called Tequila Rock. Upon entering we quickly discovered that this too was a whore house although a little less dodgy.
**Added 11/9/07 - I thought I should add something else after thinking about what I wrote. It was basically a normal club/bar except there were girls working. Although the venue was a little seedy, we were left alone.**
We ended up staying for a couple becasue there was no where else to go and we were all up for a big one. After some drunken yoga in Parque Central I managed to stumble into my room and find some much needed sleep. A policeman on a motorbike saw us doing yoga in the park and just laughed and drove off.
Im now in Santa Marta, Columbia and having a pretty good time of it. Starting my advanced dive course in a couple of days then the lost city hike. I get back on my birthday ... another big night ....
| related link
Added photos of Machu Pichu and Manu
| related link
Our jungle experience started off as pure survival. Just bring a knife and everything else would happen from there. We had problems convincing guides of what we would do, but managed to find a guide (Fredy) crazy/stupid enough to accept. We ended up bringing a tent and sleeping bag. Backup food and a pot to cook in. By the time we had all of our smaller stuff all our packs were between 15-18kgs. So much for just a knife... just as well as it turned out.
The first day we got a local bus to Pilcopata. Really nice drive through the Andys and then through the cloud forest into the upper jungle. After buying a few more supplies, plastic for a backpacks, poncho etc we stayed at a hostel full of mozzies.
Our basic plan was to hike for 4 days, build a raft on the 5th and raft down that day and the 6th. Then return on the 7th.
Our first day in the jungle was basically hiking. We stopped off at a small native community where we had to convince the natives of what we were doing and where we were going. After it was agreed a child would show us the way to the Pinipini river where we would continue alone. We had a short play with a bow and arrow our guide let us use. I wasn´t very accurate with it. I managed to hit my hand with the rope twice which the native children found a little amusing. We hiked all day, crossed a river carrying our packs on our shoulders and made camp.
The second day we met some natives from the Machagenga tribe who told us there was no raft wood up stream. Regardless we started to hike in the jungle without any tracks using our machetes the entire time. Its amazing how thick and dense the jungle was and so many bugs and insects. We had to free climb up hill for a bit, with full packs, really difficult and dangerous but without any problems. The quote of the day came from our guide who turned to us and said ¨For me, I am lost¨. Just what we wanted to hear, but it wasn't hard to find the river again. When we did it was an almost vertical drop down to the river. We had to climb down with our packs on. A few loose rocks came down as we were climbing and I got hit in the legs and chest a couple of times but they wern´t too big. At one stage I started to slip forward and got my legs tangled in some vines, if I had to fallen forward I more than likely would have slid down the face and gone head first towards the river. It wouldn't have been a good result. I managed to hold onto a termite eaten vine and supported myself until I was stable. We finally made it down to the river bank and found a 2m wide beach to stop on. We then realised we would have to cross the river to have any chance of camping that night. We used the plastic to float our bags over the river while we swam one by one. The river was really strong and the knot that was tying me to the bag came undone and I had to pull the pack with my hand and swim against the current with the other. After about an hour we had all made it across. Our guide then pointed to the area we had just swam and said that's where Anacondas tend to live. That made us feel much better. We had a bit of a discussion that night after we realised how far we managed to hike in a full day of hard hiking. By far the hardest hiking Ive ever done. We walked about 200-300m upstream in a whole day.
With no raft wood we wouldn't be able to hike for another 2 days and get back in time. So we decided on the third day to stay in the one spot. Our guide showed us things from the jungle, what to eat, drink etc. We tried to fish but without any decent bait we didn't have much luck. We caught a small sardine but used it for bait which got eaten. The 4th day in the jungle we built a bamboo raft. It looked very rustic and performed how it looked. We made camp and started to head down the river swimming. The raft could only support our packs so we swam. We thought it would be a good idea until we came against our first rapids. The water was about 30-50cm deep and we got smashed against the rocks. We went feet first but I kept getting caught and ended up tumbling down the rapids. We quickly realised how dangerous this was going to be. The next rapids we ran along the beach and let go of our raft. It was lucky, for the most part during the rapids there was beach we could use. But swimming that much and being bashed around by the rocks was taking its toll. I also was running on the beach on time and felt some travel sickness come, with no time to do anything I dropped my pants where I was and went. Our guide then cruised past looking at me wondering what I was doing. I shouted DIAHREAH as loud as I could and he laughed and kept going. We continued down a little bit more but the water was freezing and it was getting dark so we made camp. We managed to find a few small pieces of raft wood lying around and used that on our raft.
The 5th day was a day we´ll never forget. The rapids were really bad this day and there wasn't alot of beach so we had to sit on the raft. With the raft wood, balsa wood, it could just hold us. We went through some pretty ugly rapids with some really dangerous whirlpools. Going over them in the raft you could feel it suck the raft down bending the raft and pulling us into the water. For the most part we just flew over them. After a combination of swimming and rafting we were really cold, hungry and starting to question the sanity of what we were doing. I told Matthias what song I wanted played at my funeral. Sigur Ros - Starálfur. It was mostly for jokes sake but its still a beautiful song.
At the end of the day we went though the strongest rapid so far. The whirlpool sucked the raft towards it, almost tipping it over, Matthias fell but managed to hold onto the raft. There wouldn't be any coming back from that whirlpool, it was really strong. Our raft started to break apart and then we smashed into the rocks breaking our raft. Sharp spears of bamboo were loose and it looked really nasty. We managed to hold the raft together and made it to a beach where we made camp. Fredy was laughing and said ¨Your face was total fear¨. Without any meat for the last few days and eating only our emergency food of rice we were very low on engery. It almost stopped being fun but really it still was. I forgot to mention that it rained a few nights and making fire was really difficult but Fredy managed to do it
On the 6th day we found some more balsa wood and managed to remake another raft just of balsa that could support our packs. We continued to swim/get bashed by rapids until we got to a really long stretch of river with a long beach. It was getting very cold in the river. There we met another Machagenga who told us of a way back to Pilcopata. He also had a good laugh at our raft. We gave him our plastic and salt and started the short hike back to Pilcopata. I´m going to try and come back to Manu in April next year for a few weeks to live with the Machagengas. They looked really peacefull and I talked to Fredy a lot about it. He seemed to think it was a good idea. He also though it would be a good idea to make a bamboo raft for the rapids... After making it back we had a few drinks to our health we went to bed in a hostel.
The next day we recovered from our injuries. I had a cold, diahreah, chaffed legs, bruised knee, wrist soreness, cuts and bruises all over my body and millions of bug bites and every muscle needed rest. We did a little bit of fishing but nothing really of note and had a gave of volleyball with some locals which was really fun. They took it really serious and tended to cheat with line calls. It was good fun. We left that night on the local bus and it was a really bumpy and sleepless 10 hours. Arrived back in Cuzco at 5:30 and slept for ages.
Overall the trip was the most exciting and terrifying 6 days of my life. A few close shaves but I had a really good time. I highly recommend our guide not just for these sort of trips but for just your normal jungle trips staying in lodges. He knows everything about the jungle and really loves what he does. A little crazy but a good sence of humour and good english. I have some great photos which I´ll upload in Lima.
I think I´m going to do a few normal travelling experiences for the next week. Just get drunk with travellers and see some tourist sites. Off to Lima tommorow for a short trip, then back to the jungle in Equador then towards Columbia. I´m sure we´ll get bored of the backpacker thing by then.....
| related link
Machu Pichu was amazing. Its been awhile since I did the walk but its hard to forget something like that. We were a group of 12 I think with about 20 porters and cooks and guides. We had a good group basically of Irish, Scottish and English. There was a Swedish person and an annoying Australian girl but the Irish, Scots and Pom were a good laugh.
The porters were were crazy. 25kgs on their backs and they basically ran the whole way. I ended up carrying my own equipment on the hike. I wanted a challenge but even with my own pack it was a fairly easy hike. I wouldn't have been able to go much faster than I did, but I could have kept going for a few more days.The first day was really easy although my left shoulder started playing up again, but a few tea spoons of cement and I ¨hardened the fuck up¨. The food throughout the trip was completely over the top, the best food I´ve eaten continuously during my time in South America. 3 meals a day, with soup then mains every meal. Day 2 was fairly tough, climbing dead woman's pass then another pass directly after that. The second pass was really steep and I found that harder than dead woman's pass. I think it was 4200m above sea level. It was rather cold. The 3rd day was really magic. The scenery was really special and we took it really easy that day. The ¨go slow¨ team helped us with that.
The 4th day was Machu Pichu and its pretty hard to describe how amazing it was so I wont even try. Its easy to see why its a wonder of the world.
After machu pichu we had a little debacle with our train tickets and had to wait in Aguas Calientes for 5 hours before our train. So we got drunk. Really drunk. I ended up falling a sleep/passing out on the train home and woke up and one of the Irish lads gave me some whisky and it started again. We got back about 12 that night and I was really tired. Waking up at 4am hurts. Went out with the ppls again the next night to hostel Loki. Again got really drunk, the end of the night was a little hazy, but I know I walked from hostel Loki to hostel respolosa. I have no idea how long it took, but I´m guessing a long time because I had no idea how to get there....
Good bunch of people ... one of the Irish lads didn't show his face the second night because of the night before, so we put drinks on his tab. It would have been a big night ...
Overall, given my state during the 2 days, some of the Irish out drank me...
After that night it was basically organising our jungle trip into Manu. Our last night before we left we said our good byes to Marie and Julia who were headed towards Lima then back to France. It was going to be a big night but they both got food poisoning in Aguas Calientes, so it was a quiet one. So many people came away sick from Aguas Calientes. We then headed to the jungle on our survival tour...
| related link
Well I thought I should write a bit more about La Paz .. Its kinda blurry at the moment so I can imagine in a few months I wont remember much. I arrived in La Paz about 6am and from there checked into our hostel and just walked around the streets for awhile. I think the whole city is just a big market. You don't need to buy anything from shops as the people just sell everything on the street. We were lazy and just booked our road of death tour with the hostel we were staying at. Although, they were cheap and we did the same thing as everyone else. We even had decent bikes. The worlds most dangerous was really fun but wasn't really that dangerous. At some stages there wasn't any room for error but overall it was a little tame. You couldn't overtake the guide, so I´d go slow for a bit then hammer it down until i caught up.. then go slow/take photo, then go down again. It was hard overtaking some of the girls because they were all over the road. The scenery was amazing though and you could see some of the buses and trucks that had rolled down the cliffs. The road isn't really used for traffic any more as their is a new highway going to the jungle. It would have been a lot more dangerous if cars were still going down ...
After the ride we stayed in the jungle for a night at an animal rescue shelter. I was talking to another traveller and she said it was an amazing place. It was nice, and the monkeys were friendly and a little cheeky. We got dropped off in the middle of nowhere and had to walk 3.5km up hill to the place. We were drunk and had all of our stuff so it took us nearly an hour. A nice walk thought the jungle road though. The monkeys there kept trying to steal our food and one of them pissed all over Matthias. The owners were a bunch of hippies that let the animals sleep in the bed with them ... i dont know
We managed to get a lift back to La Paz with the next days bike tour and met a few people on the bus and went out with them for a few drinks. That was when we went to club Vivians. Without doubt the dodgyest place Ive ever been too. Just a guy standing out the front with who ran over to the cab to tell us too come in. We walked through 3 locked doors, through another security point and then through the dirties kitchen Ive ever seen in my life, into the club from behind the bar.. We had a fun night there but we left because it was getting a little too dodgy and some people felt too uncomfortable. Some weird pom started hanging around us and if you look at his eyes in the photos you can imagine how messed up he was.
We ended up going to a local Bolivian pub where we were the only tourists. The people there were BIG drinkers, they were getting hammered, so hammered that they couldn't walk for some of them. They kept coming up to us with bottles of beer and a glass, pouring 1/2 a glass and making us skull it. After an offering to Pachamama first of course. We danced to their local music and some how I was dancing with a 50yr old very Bolivian woman, It was quite a night. More drinks came our way ... We ended up getting blind because of the locals... I like to blame them anyways ... La Paz was a dirty city, with a few problems but I really liked it there, I think I could spend a bit more time there...
I also had the worst meal of my life in La Paz. It was a steak and was about 5mm thick and unbelievably tough. From the time we walked in it took over 3 hours before we could leave ...
Well I´m in Cusco now and I start my Inca trail tomorrow. Today is a relax day with talks with a tour company. We´re trying to organise a less than common tour in the jungle... We´re sick of doing crap tourist things and are looking for something a little more interesting...
We were going to go to Pisco in Peru, but the earthquake destroyed the town. Pisco is the national drink of Peru and that's what the towns called... Pisco would be the equivalent to a town called Beer in Australia that was full of breweries. A bit of a party down, but I read a report that 70% of it is destroyed so I don't think it'll be a place to visit atm. We felt the quake in Cusco, everything in the room started shaking and our couch started shaking. It was weird and Im glad I was here and not near Lima...
Food time.
| related link
We got the last tickets to Potosi that night and ended up with quite a few people.4 French,a German,an American and me. At least we had a spanish speaker with us which made it a lot easier. We kept hearing all sorts of weird rumours about road blocks and strikes in Potosi so we ended up travelling together. It was all bullshit of course. The road was bumpy and the bus old but we made it.
With some fantastic directions we made it to our hostel at about 3am and slept for a bit. When we got up Matthias and I went on a mine tour of Potosi. We bought dynamite and cocoa leaves in the street for the miners and for ourselves :) After making the bombs our guides lit them up. They all ran off with theirs leaving me standing there, I tapped another guide who looked at me then grabbed it and started running off. It was pretty amusing. The mine tour was pretty tense. Crawling through tunnels to get anywhere and not being able to breathe too well was very interesting. Watching the miners do everything by hand was shocking and I know what they show the tourists and what happens deeper in the mine would be very different. It was crazy the amount of cocoa leaves they chew/suck. I would have liked to have stayed in Potosi for a few days and explore everything but I was running out of time so we left for La Paz that night. This time a decent bus..
I´m actually leaving La Paz tonight and have been here for a few days but I cant be bothered typing any more. I´ll have time later in Cuzco. La Paz is realllly fun .....
| related link
After being ripped off we went on our trip through the Salt Flats of Bolivia by 4wd. It was a 3 day trip. Landcruisers HJ-60. The border checkpoint was rather dodgy but we had no problems. We ended up in the French car and were unfortunately surrounded by French speakers. Its was rather annoying, mostly just one guy though. But there was other people in the other vehicles that spoke English, (Dutch and American) so we had a bit of fun with them. The trip was cold the entire time and the first night got to below zero... a few weeks before it was -20 but I have no idea what it was the night we were. It felt like -20.
Stopped off at lots of lakes with flamingos and llamas and saw Geysers and some people had a swim in the hot pools. It was too cold to get changed and then way too cold to get out of the water. The road was really bumpy and I was in the back so I hit my head on the roof a few times. On the salt flats we tried to do these pictures where you cant judge the distance but most of them are really shit. But we had alot of fun doing them. Looking at them now I still laugh, mostly because of how crap they turned out. The second day was the Bolivian national holiday and the locals celebrated by drinking themselves stupid in the street. Lots of dancing and music and lots of beer. We arrived at this little town and everyone was drinking on the street and our drivers ran into the pub. A little while later they came out and we moved on. I´m pretty sure our driver was drunk after the town. I heard people were having shots of warm Pisco and I wouldn't be surprised if our driver had a couple. We arrived at the hostel safely though, only a little bit of drifting around corners with a verticle drop. All dirt roads as well.
One of the highlights of the trip was Incahuasi Island, where cactus were and had a nice walk around. Our drivers ran out of fuel at that stop so he had to run around and beg for fuel so we could move on. After about an hour we set off towards the salt hotel. A hotel made completely out of salt. We ran out of fuel again on the way so we had to push the car to the hotel. It was only about 1km, but at 4000m it really hurt. After waiting there for another hour we got some more fuel and headed off to Uyuni, only too run out of fuel another 2 times on the way. It was rather frustrating sitting around waiting for the fuel to arrive. I don't know why they just didn't fill up the tank. They only seem too put in 5-10L at a time.
From here we decided not to stay in Uyuni because of time and we were talking to people who were stuck there and couldn't get out because all the buses and trains were full. We made it though...
| related link
Well San Pedro was a lot of fun. The first night we arrived at the hostel the owner gave us piscola, (Pisco and coke) had a guy singing and playing the guitar and had a nice warm fire for us. The hostel was rather dodgy but its one of the best places I´ve stayed in. Most of the ppl staying were from Chile and were all hippys. We went out to a little bar on the first night and got absolutely hammered. I had a few Mojitos at the bar and i think they were just pure rum. I sort of got taught how to Salsa by the French girls Marie and Julia but I was very average. Pedro was very impressive and put us all to shame. Its pretty crazy how easy drugs are to access. I got asked if I wanted cocaine, the girls were offered some type of magic mushroom and on one of the nights there was free cocaine in the girls toilet.
The next day we decided to go horse riding and I´ve never been on a horse in my life. I wanted a donkey, but I was still lucky as I got a pretty small horse. The horses were kind of crazy though as they would just start running at different times and stopped when they wanted too. It was very funny. No one fell off but at times I thought someone would. I´ll definitely go riding again. That night we went to the Valle de la Luna and watched the sun set. Again I took way too many photos but it was pretty amazing.
The next couple of days Matthias and I teamed up with Marie and Julia and organized our trip to Salar de Uyuni and went for a bike ride. Explored the fortress ruins of Pukará de Quitor and walked up to the top of the hill. Really nice view and you can see why they built the fortress there. Explored the death valley by push bike and walked up the sand dunes. We organised our trip to Uyuni with a company called Colque.. or something like that. Interesting company.. The French guy working their ripped us off with the exchange rate. He gave us 5 Bolivianos for $1 US , where the exchange rate is 7.5-1. We only exchanged $20US so it really wasn't much but the dodgyness of the company was soon to show...
| related link
Im in La Paz at the moment so i need to try and remember what I did a while ago. When we left Santiago we took a bus trip north through the Atacama desert with a company called Pachamama (motherearth). It was actually a good trip with a good bunch of people and a good guide that made us drink.
The first day was pretty much a long bus ride to La Sererna with a lunch stop in a little fishing village called Pichidangui.
Day 2 I went to National Reserve Pinguino de Humboldt where we went on a boat ride around the islands there. It was calm but very cold and I wasn´t sea sick. It was a pretty interesting place with dolphins, sea otters, sea lions, penguins and lots of birds. After than we stayed in Bahia Inglesa. We had a pretty good game of soccer that night with the ppl on the bus. We had Australians, Germans, French, English and a Mexican playing. It was a really fun game but playing in beach sand with shoes was impossible so I ended up having a bruised foot afterwards.
Day 3 was pretty uneventful except a quick visit to the mining town of Caldera and then a massive bbq cooked by our driver. A good Chilean bbq. The most eventful thing was when our driver decided to go have a drink. Malt beer, raw egg and sugar all whipped up. We joined him and I think I was the only one who actually enjoyed the drink. I was made to drink the remainder
Day 4 we went to a cemetery from one of the mining operations. A lot of the graves were very small and were probably children. Some grave robbers had dug up a grave and we saw the dead bodies in there. Because its so dry the body still had all of its hair. There are areas out in the Atacama that havn´t registered rain in over 50 years. We then stayed in Antofagasta for the night.
Day 5 we went though the Atacama salt flat. And climbed up a giant salt dump. They were mining something in the area and dumping the salt onto a waste dump. We climbed up the top and when we were on the top the trucks started dumping next to us. It was pretty dodgy and we got kicked off. Had lunch in Peine which is where alot of the miners lived and most of the people there are against the mine which takes their only fresh water. They didn't have much left. From there we went to Natural Reserve Los Flamencos where we saw flamingos and watched the sun set. From there we went to San Pedro de Atacama where we left the tour group.
This internet sucks and I have no access to change photos around so you'll have to turn your head when you look at photos. My stupid pic shrinker wants to leave watermarks and I cant do anything about it until I pay or get something else... so if you want a good copy of any of my photos just ask me. I´ll fix it all up later when I have more time and a better computer.
| related link
Back in Santiago and I´ve got about an hour to wait until my Spanish lesson. From what I´ve heard about the teacher, she cant speak any English and has no patience. Should be interesting.
I got back from Easter Island last night and it was really amazing. I stayed with a local family that couldnt speak any English. I dont think their Spanish was too flash either. They spoke the local language Rapa Nui. The first day I was there I walked towards Orongo which was the birdman cult village, but it started pissing down so I had to turn back because I didnt bring my raincoat. So I got sick again and spent the day in the museum and in bed trying to get warm. But the sickness didnt stop me this time around. The next day I walked back towards Orongo and made it. It was a pretty amazing place, lots of rock carvings and a nice walk through the replanted forrest. I took way too many photos and I´ve put a few of them in the photos section. I´ve had to really drop the quality of the uploads because the internet here is slow.
For the main trip around the island I was going to ride around on a horse but it was a little further than i expected (55km loop) so I hired a dirt bike. XR250. Good old XRs! It was by far the best way to travel around the island. There are lots of little tracks thats go around the coast and it would be too slow if you did them by 4x4. Everything was really muddy and rocky so I ended up having a great time. Rano Rananu (cant remember the spelling) was the quarry where the Moai were carved out and I ended up walking up to the top of the volcano and had lunch on the top with 360 views and overlooking the Moai at Tongariki. Its pretty impressive to stand next to Moai and interesting to walk around the ones that have been pushed over and broken up.
One of the most fun and exhausting thing I did was to walk around the coast from Anakena to the main town of Hanga Roa (cant remember the spelling). It didnt look that far on the crappy tourist map I had but ended up taking all day. I left before 9am and got back after 6pm. I did take the zig zag route and just wandered around looking at all the sites around there. I lost the main track for the most part but managed to boulder my way around. It was pretty amazing when you stumbled upon rock carvings that wernt on the map and were well off the main track.
For the most part I just walked around the Island .. shorter walks, although I went diving on my second last day. I met Olympia, a Chile girl with OK english and convinced her to be my diving buddy. We wanted to go cave diving but the weather was too rough so we just dived around the local reef. Which was still pretty good. Saw a few turtles, lobsters, eels and heaps of fish. A few fish followed us around the entire trip, but I still like watching the turtles under water. The main reef was about 14-25m deep and our dive was just under 50 minutes with our safety stop. max dept was 22m (most of the details are for me so I can fill in my log book when I get home).
I found the local people a little hostile towards tourists, I got yelled out a few times at night time and another time some punk pretended to shoot me with a shotgun. The the hand movements. I mouthed ¨get fucked¨, without any doubt he had no idea what i said but he got the message. He just drove off which was good. So I just ended up hanging around a bunch of Japanese people and a few Chileans.
Well I dont think Ill write again for awhile as I´m heading North in the Atacama desert. I managed to convince Matthias, the german guy I was hanging around with in Santiago to go with me. We´re going to try and tent it most of the way which is going to be pretty cold but should be fun. There´s a couple of others hanging around that need some more convincing on the camping idea but are heading north the same time as us. We´re heading towards San Pedro de Atacama.
Ok well its time for me to get yelled at in Spanish and to feel like a complete idiot for the next 2 hours
cyas
| related link
Well, I´m leaving Santiago after the first week and I´ve had an interesting week. I was sick, has a bender and have had alot of fun with the locals and just walking around the city. I spent the majority of my time just walking around the city trying to talk to locals, although my Spanish sucks.
I know a few basic phrases but still havn´t learnt all the numbers which is making it hard to barter.I was going to take a short course when I got here, but havn´t found any time yet. Still trying to get use to dorm life. Never been a good sleeper.
Santiago is very western. Takeaway shops on every corner and western stores everywhere you go. The people are very friendly and seem to all just laugh at the fact that I cant speak Spanish. A few of the younger people can speek a little English and all seem pretty keen to give me their emails so I can write to them when I can speek Spanish.
I´ve been well behaved .. I have only been drunk once... although I my drunked blog suggests, was a bit of a bender. Note to self - No more drunk blogging. I went out with some poms last night but didnt drink, Im still sick and need to get better so I can go diving next week. They were very dodgy and ended up leaving without them. It was their first night and South America so you can imagine what they were chasing. Lots of dickheads are hanging around the hostels, but I´ve met some pretty cool people who are very helpful with ideas of where to go and what to see. Too many people just drink all night and sleep all day.
Went to Valparaiso with a German guy for the day yesterday and was the best place so far. Its closer to what I expected of South America. A little port city of 200,000 people with dodgy houses on the hills surrounding the city itself. Street markets where people are selling vegis and fish. There are these lifts all over the city that go into the hills so you dont have to climb up. Great food.. go to Las Gato Tavanna. I cant remember how to spell the last word but I think that was it. Great fish and a fantasic view. I´ve got a few photos from there and I´ll upload when I get a chance.
Well Im off to Easter Island for a week so goodbye and enjoy work ...
| related link
Well its 7-45 Sunday morning and yes I am drunk. Big night .. Some dodgy NOISY backpackers then Blondies in Santiago, Depeche Mode tribute night. The cover band was in Spanish ... from what i remember it was quite entertaining. A tip for people when ordering shots... if you cant speak Spanish get a local to do it for you ... a shot of vodka became at least a triple of vodka, it hurt when drank like a shot
ohh yer the reason I'm up is 1) im slightly tipsy (smashed) 2) an alarm clock went off in my dorm of 8 people and noone responded, so i picked it up and tried to turn it off, being rather tipsy couldnt so i started punching it until it stopped. It stopped. As a went back to bed, almost immediately a girl walked looking at where i picked the alarm clock from.
"the alarm clock went off so i put it in the bin"
"I thought it didnt work"
"it worked"
"Im sorry"
"im sorry but i think i broke it"
... silence ...
I rolled over and gagged myself not to laugh
I got up and couldnt sleep.
Tongiht was my first beer and my first night out on the town
The first 40 hours I had a fever and never left my hotel room. Great start and what a flight it was! ... The next night was sleepless and the morning at that hotel was just plain weird... and now its the next morning and its not weird, typing at 750am on sunday morning :)
| related link
Well I'm leaving tommorow and spending a week in Sydney was just what I needed before I left Aust. Lets just say Kings Cross is pretty dodgy. It was a fair bit of fun though ... I think I'll leave it at that.
I'm feeling rather seedy at the moment, as I've just come back from Ribs and Rumps and SMASHED the Man-o-war.
1kg of rump steak with chips and ice cream..
stomach hurts... the question i keep asking myself is why ....
| related link
I've added some photos from the last week out at Phos Hill and the cocktail party. The first section is the Duchess pub, which was called The Thirsty Camel, then it moves onto my last night at Phos followed by my cocktail party.
I've got some short videos which I'm having trouble with. But I'll sort it out later because I'm hung over.
| related link
Ben has been travelling for
Search
