Peru Part 2!!!!

Back to Peru for Machu Picchu! (Yes, I'm aware that's a shockingly bad rhyme)
And so began another chicken bus ride- this time from La Paz to Cusco (via Copacabana and Puno).. And at this point, I will need to add a couple of extra ways to tell you have unwittingly booked a chicken bus:
* When you ask the woman at the booking office if the bus is cama, or semi-cama (classes of bus in SAm: cama= awesome reclining seats, semi-cama= half recline), she wont meet your gaze and responds "ah, semi-cama".
* After transferring buses 3 times and being stranded in Puno for hours, the bus finally arrives- and there is poo on the floor of it! Human? Animal? Who knows! But it makes for a cold old trip to Cusco with the windows open!

Right, so obviously due to the delays, I didn't arrive at Cusco until around 2.30 (instead of 10.30pm, only 4 hours late). So following a great sleep, I set to exploring the city- and it is gorgeous! One of the most beautiful in South America! There are gorgeous old buildings and plazas around every corner! And also the most optimistic hawkers around every corner! "Art students" selling their paintings, people trying to con you into a massage, people selling jumpers/socks/jewellery/dolls/you name it, and people trying to get you to book a tour with their company! I was contemplating making a recording of "no, gracias" to save myself some energy! These hawkers were relentless, and eternally cheerful! After turning a particular "art student" down for the 3rd time in the one day (he just happened to be everywhere I went), he responded with "maybe later?"! Unbelievably optimistic! (Although as an aside, I DID buy one of that bloke's paintings on my last day in Cusco- it seemed only fair!)

I was also sucked into doing a few of tours, but I figure that it was easier than doing it myself, PLUS I had a bus driver named Nestor!! (Long story, the reference was just for Jakie)- one to the Inca sites around Cusco, one to the Sacred Valley, and one to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu was left until last, and getting picked up at 4.40am was a bit of a rude shock!! But it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it! The train line isn't fully fixed, so there is a bit of bus-ing in between stations, but the train itself has glass panels in it's ceiling, so you can make the most of the view! Awesome! And after mastering the stairs at the site itself, the view is truly spectacular! The ruins are in pretty good nick considering how many tourists go there (and how many do the wrong thing by climbing all over everything). But once the inital flood of tour groups from the morning was over, it was quite calm in the afternoon, and it allowed me to take some top photos! (Hopefully these will make it home ok!) The Sacred Valley was gorgeous, but Machu Picchu was spectacular! One of the best days of my whole trip! I was lucky in that my tour guide happened to have grown up in the region, knows A LOT about Inca history, and has even written a book about Machu Picchu and the Incas. It meant that he was able to answer any question and tell you so much about the place- fabulous!

So despite the fact that I spent the best part of a week in Cusco, I think I have pretty much summed things up succinctly!

Next stop- Chile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bolivia- I´ll be seeing you again!!

Bolivia in Brief
So, at the crack of dawn, I boarded my bus- once again it was an upmarket chicken bus, and headed off to La Paz, Bolivia (with a short stop-over in Copacabana).

Copacabana is a super-touristy little place, just past the Peru-Bolivia border at Titicaca. I spent a nice bit of time checking out the market stalls for bargains, and being mistaken for being Argentinian (what the?!). Then my next chicken bus arrived to take me to La Paz.. Not too long past Copacabana, the bus stopped at a port near the lake. We were all told to hop off the bus, buy a ticket for a ricketty little boat and meet the bus on the other side of the lake- yep, the bus was loaded onto a punt, and sent across the river!..

Once we were all across, it was off to La Paz again!.. The outskirts of the city are almost rural looking, but as for downtown- it's awesome!.. I treated myself to a room in a nice hotel for the couple of nights I was spending there- good move! I was given my swipe card, the porter picked up my dirty old backpack without batting an eyelid (nice bloke!), and we headed for the lift. Once inside the lift, I realised that i was in room 1301 (on the 13th floor), and the lift only went to the 12th floor.. I was kinda confused for a minute, until we walked up the stairs from the 12th floor to my room, and the porter opened the door- ummmmm... it was a penthouse suite!!!!!!!!!!! How on Earth did I swing that!?!? My own kitchen! King-size bed!!! And HUGE dining setting! And the rooftop was my balcony!!! My nights there were probably the best I have slept for the whole trip! Oh yeah, when I got back from dinner, my bed had been turned down, chocolate on the pillow, and a nice note wishing me "dulces sueños" (sweet dreams). LUXURY!!!

I spent my few days there wandering up and down the giant hilled streets, seeing all the gorgeous old building, monuments and cathedrals. In fact I was there for Good Friday, so I saw the parade down the main street with crosses and priests and bands playing hymns.. And, of course- there was shopping! Bolivia is SUPER CHEAP! I'm not even that good at bargaining, but I managed to get some Alpaca scarves for around $3 Australian! But, there was SOME restraint! I can only fit SO MUCH into my backpack! Even the minibar prices are reasonable!! THAT'S how cheap the place is!!! I even ate at the hotel restaurant for an extremely reasonable price (and got asked by one of the waiters, whereabouts in Ecuador I was from- UMMMMM, I'm not THAT short!)

An AC/DC incident, and more details on strange places to hear Oz music
On my last night in La Paz, I was heading back towards the hotel, when I saw a crowd gathered watching a busker. It was a bloke with some skeleton marionettes, and a "stage" for them. He set everything up, and was ready to roll... And what should the skeletons be "playing" to, but AC/DC!!!! Sensational!!!

I need to go back a bit to fill you in on other run ins with Oz music- When I was in Lima having dinner with the American bloke from the bus, the restaurant we ate at was playing Crowded House's Best of!!! Fabulous! As I'm sitting here in the internet cafe in Arica, Chile, they are cranking out Divinyls!!! When I was in Cusco (yes, spoiler alert), and heading back to the hostel at night from Plaza de Armas, there was a cop who took it upon himself to accompany me back to the hostel (which was SO not necessary, but I figured a bit of security couldn't hurt). When I told him I was Australian, he played me some Midnight Oil and Men At Work via his phone!

OK, so it's dinner time here in Chile- so I'll be off! Be good!

PERU- Part One!... Lima, Arequipa, Puno....

Dinner was great, thanks for asking... Now to the go in Lima...
With the passing of time, I no longer feel the need to slag off the bus trip from Guayaquil to Lima.. I was originally going to spend a bit of time banging on about how the "hostess" hated my guts. Then how she got her comeupance when she tried to argue with me about my needing a visa to enter Peru- she thought Australia was in Europe (no, not AUSTRIA!) And how it is suspected that she had something to do with the disappearance of the iPod belonging to Jeremy (the American bloke on the bus).. But I'm kinda over it now!

So eventually we arrived (I say WE, because Jeremy and I spent nearly the whole 28 hours on the bus yakking, and he decided to stay at the same hostel) in Lima. The hostel wasn't downtown, but in a swanky suburb called Miraflores, which is right by the ocean, and also has some Inca ruins there too. That just blows my mind!! In a city as big as Lima, there are still some original Inca ruins- which are amazing, by the way!

Jez and I took a walk along the path that separates the ocean from the town, which also happens to have lots of parks along it. We stopped to watch the sun set at a particular park that had some interesting sculpture (ie- a couple in bed together). He was constantly harrassed by people selling flowers urging him to buy me some, and eventually someone filled us in that it was Parque del Amor! Hence the flowers! Hilarious!!

As I outlined earlier, I went and saw the ruins (which were ace). And also spent some valuable time getting my laundry organised!!.. With that all done, I was ready for a night out... And who should be geared up but Mariela (a Scottish lass who has been living in Spain for 7 years)- funny that a Scot would fancy a drink!? And Pedro (one of the guys working at the hostel) made us his secret recipe pisco sours! Top start! We moved from club to club before settling on one that played western rock. It was kinda nice to have a break from South American music...... Although secretly I was hoping for some reggaeton!!!!.. Unfortunately I made the decision to take my camera out with us...... And ended up leaving it in a taxi!.. BOO!!!!!!! I was devastated to have lost a whole heap of photos, but so be it.. We had a great night! And as the blokes from the company I went to the Amazon with told me- you'll have to come back and take more photos! TOO TRUE!!!

Arequipa!!!...
So once I had sorted out getting a police report re- the camera(many thanks go out to Christian the manager of the hostel in Lima for his help!), I was off to Arequipa on a cushy overnight bus- it was pretty swish, and the hostess even organised a game of bingo!

In Arequipa I stayed at a hostel where there was only one staff member who spoke English! (And her English wasn't all that flash, either!) But it was kinda good for me to have to really try and use Spanish, without resorting to English. Plus it kinda showed me how my comprehension of Spanish has come along really well! First up, I bought a new camera- and I LOVE IT! The city of Arequipa is gorgeous! There is a lovely old monestary (which in reality is a convent), a stunning cathedral, and other amazing buildings. I happened to be there for Palm Sunday, and despite the fact that I'm a non-practising Catholic, I got swept up and headed to church. There were traditionally dressed Peruvian women weaving palms into crosses and adding pictures of Jesus, flowers, herbs etc to them. They sold these, and the congregation wave them at appropriate times. Amazing!

I was convinced to stay an extra night (I was only going stay for one), by John who runs the hostel (who despite the English name, no speaka the English), which I did. I went out for dinner with Rob, a German medical student.. And we wondered why the waiter looked at us strangely when we ordered the same thing each. When they arrived, we found out why- each serve was enough to feed three people quite easily! And we had one each! As you can imagine, we didn't really make a dent in the meals, and we hurriedly paid the bill and ran!! (BTW- it cost me around $2 Australian). Instead of going out (as we had planned), it was a quiet night in just chatting with the other backpackers staying there..

Titicaca and Puno... Yes, it's a great name!!
Then I headed off to Puno, on Lake Titicaca. I got in (after my chicken bus trip) at around 10pm, and it was sooooooooooooo bloody cold!!!! I slept in several layers of clothes, and had to rug up if I was out after the sun had set! I did a boat trip of the lake, and saw the floating islands (which, contrary to what I had thought, aren't really islands- the native people construct them out of reeds!).. Then we headed off to Taquile island. There we hiked up the side of the island to reach the town square. The way up was lined with gum trees which made me feel a touch nostalgic towards home!.. We had a sticky beak around, then went to a local restaurant to have yummy quinoa soap and grilled lake trout for lunch! We headed across the island to the other side and descended the 500 stone steps. On the way down there were heaps of locals- most with babies or supplies strapped to their backs, walking up the steps! Unbelievable! It was a very pleasant cruise back to Puno.. And it was then that I decided to make La Paz my next stop!..

A brief "Chicken Bus" Interlude...

OK, let me rephrase that- upmarket chicken bus!
The "chicken bus" is an essential part of South and Central American transport- basically they are former US school buses that get retired from the beat in the US, and sent further south. Once down south, they get decked out in all sorts of amazing colours and patterns and used as a means of transport. The "chicken" bit apparently comes from the fact that often poultry and other livestock are taken on the bus. But having said that, I have also heard that it is because the buses would stop for anyone- even a chicken flapping its wing. Perhaps it's a combo of these??..

Now, I must admit that my own chicken bus experience has been limited to short distances within a city, and not long distance. BUT! I have unwittingly purchased tickets for what could only be described as "upmarket chicken buses" for long haul rides..

HOW TO TELL YOU HAVE PURCHASED A TICKET FOR AN UPMARKET CHICKEN BUS
* When asking to buy a ticket for the next bus, the lady at the counter convinces you to buy a ticket for the 3pm bus- and it's currently 3.25pm.
* When asking the person behind the counter if they need to see your passport- they laugh!
* Despite the journey being international and taking around 14 hours, it costs around $15 Australian.
* When you find your bus, you discover that the windscreen has a gigantic crack completely through it. It's ok though- there's masking tape holding it together.
* When stowing your luggage under the bus (yes, I told you it was an upmarket chicken bus), the bloke doesn't give you a receipt to claim your bag back. When you ask why, he laughs.
* You board the bus to find that it is full of local women with babies strapped to themselves in brightly coloured slings (plus or minus birds- no, not chickens, but budgies!)
* It's now 4pm, and the bus was due to leave at 3pm- the natives start to get restless and begin a chant. They stomp their feet and yell "VAMOS TORTUGA!" (Translation- let's go, tortoise!!) This chant is again trotted out any time the bus starts to slow (crusing for more passengers- great idea! It's certainly not stinking hot and full to capacity in the bus!?), or when the driver suggests stopping for a snack break.

They are a whole heap of fun, and you can meet some great people (when you're crammed in next to them!)

I swear, I WILL post about Peru (Part One), but it's dinner time, OK!!

Ecuador- Thanks for making me feel tall!!!!...

Yep, you read correctly- TALL
Upon arrival into Quito, I noticed two important things:
1) I am taller than around 90% of the population- male and female!!!, and
2) It gets bloody cold at night in Quito!!!
It was a shock to the system to have to wear long sleeves!!! But having said that, I didn't really mind- the days in Quito were sunny. And for a big city, Quito is GORGEOUS! The hostel I was staying in was next to the old city, and from it's fifth floor bar, there was the most AMAZING view of the city! The old buildings, cathedrals, churches, plazas were all soooooooooooooooo pretty! And the people are incredibly friendly! (In one particular case, TOO friendly!.. Yes, a bloke grabbed my boob when he was allegedly going to look at my necklace). But they are lovely people nonetheless!

I spent my days in Quito wandering the hills of the old city, and testing out my Spanish bargaining skills at the market.. I got into the swing of it eventually, and bought the CUTEST bag! (Along with other bits and pieces!) I walked up the 300-plus stairs to Parque Ichimbia which has an amazing view of Quito. And then hoofed it up to the statue of the virgin on El Panecillo (yep, more stairs).. So I was looking forward to a snooze on the bus overnight to Guayaquil after a day of stairclimbing..

Unfortunately the bus to Guayaquil was CHOCKERS, (and full of kids, no less), so there wasn't a heap of sleep to be had. Added to that was the fact that the bus arrived in Guayaquil at 4.30am!!! So I had a wee kip at the bus station before sorting out my bus ticket to Lima.

The guesthouse I was staying at in Guayaquil was right on the Malecon- a gorgeous area along the river. And so in 24 hours, I tried to cram as much of Guayaquil in as possible! For some reason it seemed like a good idea to walk up the stairs (uh huh, I know!) to the lighthouse at Santa Ana.. Only 450-odd stairs... But it was worth it! The houses there are painted in a rainbow of colours, and the is an amazing view of the city from the top of the hill. (And the added bonus of a pirate-themed park for the kids!)

Following that expedition I decided to see as many of the plazas and parks as possible. Parque Bolivar was my fave though- it has iguanas wandering around in it! And a pond full of turtles! It was cute watching the turtles climb over the ledge into the second part of the pond!.. And also watching the looks on toddlers' faces when parents put them down next to the iguanas for photos!

So after an early night, I was all set for my bus to Lima (all 24 hours of it!)....

COLOMBIA!!!!!!!!!!.... And a Trini update!...

Embarrassing???... You could say that!!
On my last night in Trinidad, I decided to bongo bus it to Port of Spain to go out to Sweet Lime (a fantastic restaurant on the Avenue).. So I tied my hair back and hoped that I wouldn't look TOO windswept when I got into town!.. Naturally, the driver took some ridiculous route, and I ended up nowhere near the restaurant.. Which I guess gave me time to fix my hair on the way!

The restaurant had a rather attractive bloke singing as entertainment, and I was natually seated right near him (not my doing- blame the waitress!).. During the Bob Marley classic "Is This Love", he sat down at my table, and sang.. Which was pretty damn embarrassing.. He then thought that he was going to get in trouble (he assumed that I was dining with a bloke), so he got up again.. And I thought all my embarrassment was over for the night.. But no! He had been dedicating songs to people dining at the restaurant (some requested the dedications, others didn't!)... And he decided to dedicate a song to me. He realised that I wasn't dining with anyone, so he plonked himself down and sang a soppy ballad to me, forcing me to hold his hand... Jesus!!! And of course, the WHOLE restaurant was looking!... SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO embarrassing!!!!... I finished up my meal pretty quickly!.. And then headed to the nearest bar for some rum!.. Which is where I met McGarvey, the Trini gangster.... But that's a whole other story!!... By the way, you need to look up the song "Hold You" (or hold yuh, as it is in the Caribbean) by Gyptian on youtube, so that you can have it stuck in your head for days on end! It was on SUPER high rotation in Trinidad, and despite hearing it about 20 times a day (no exaggeration!) I still love it and can't get enough of it!

Mum, I'm ok, and so's the house- no need to sell it to pay the ransom!
So after flying through Panama (yet again! but this time I treated myself to a bed in a hotel!), I arrived in Cartagena Colombia!!.. My taxi driver pointed out all the sights on the way to the hostel, and I was amazed at the contrast between the old city and Bocagrande (the swish area of town that I was to stay in). I packed myself off for an early night, because I was getting up early for a trip to Playa Blanca..

I managed to get out of bed on time and headed off with a few people from the hostel and the most disorganised tour guide you could imagine!! He had perfected the art of looking busy and avoiding organising anything! But eventually we ended up on a boat! The sea happened to be pretty damn choppy that day, and we were literally hanging on for dear life! I ended up with a REALLY sore bum afterwards! But we eventually made it to Playa Blanca, which lived up to its name by having the softest, whitest sand! The water was soooooo blue/green, it was amazing!!!

That night happened to be June's birthday (June being one of the women who worked at the hostel I was staying at). So we cracked open my bottle of rum punch to celebrate, and the evening degenerated into aguardiente shots and much silliness (complete with cake fights, birthday hats and balloons).. Once midnight hit, it was officially Paddy's day, and we were taught some Irish dancing by Fidelma!.. We eventually got to bed.. The next couple of days involved seeing the sights of the old city. It is so amazingly beautiful- no wonder it's all Unesco listed! Two of the best things I saw there included the old fort (complete with rum smuggling passages you can walk down!), and a museum housed in a building that was used during the Spanish Inquisition (complete with exhibition on the "interrogation tools" used- gruesome!)..

It was just an amazing place, and I will sooooooooooooo be coming back to Colombia!! Even in spite of the farewell that I was dealt at the airport! I was interrogated by several official-looking blokes in army uniforms at the airport, and apparently because I spent such a short time there, I was a person of interest!.. So my baggage was searched VERY thoroughly! I thought they were going to open the coffee I had bought too! I was patted down, and then told that I should go upstairs.. Upstairs involved a further interrogation, along with xrays and a more in depth pat down... Holy crap!... Eventually they were satisfied that I wasn't taking any of Colombia's finest with me, and I was allowed to board the plane.. So I didn't get abducted by Colombian druglords!... Nor was I acting as a drug mule- luckily!

And I am now chilling in Quito. (Chilling is right, it's bloody cold here!)...

Trinidad..... Going with the flow....

Equal parts frustrating and fantastic!!!
After spending time in Brazil speaking Portuguese, and in Argentina/Uruguay "speaking" Spanish, I was really looking forward to not having to struggle with language and being able to get what I want a bit easier in Trinidad.. It didn't turn out to be the case!! But I still had an amazing time!!!

My first few days were spent staying at a guesthouse in Port of Spain- man, that is one CRAZY town!!!... Even in the middle of peak hour traffic, guys will slam on the brakes so that women can cross the road!.. The traffic itself is NUTS! The people are sooooooooo friendly (in fact, some of the men were a little TOO friendly- I have never had so many marriage proposals anywhere before!).. The rum punch is pretty darn great!.. And the seafood is divine!!.. (Except that it may not be the dish that you order!... I had a waitress tell me she wouldn't give me what I ordered, despite the fact that the said they did have the dish I wanted!!.. It was a nice meal anyway though!!!!)

But after a couple of days there (and half a day being spent trying to send a package of souvenirs back to Oz), I needed some beach time!.. So I popped down to Chagaramas for the last part of my time there. The "resort" I was in happened to be right next to the army base, so I was woken up each morning by the army fellas chanting and marching!.. I did a few day trips to places like Maracas Bay and Diego Martin, and they are AMAZINGLY beautiful!! I didn't actually intend to go to Diego Martin, but the maxi taxi (Trinidad's version of the bongo bus) didn't go to Sangre Grande like it was supposed to!!.. That's just what happens in Trinidad, I guess!! You gotta go with the flow!!

Speaking of the maxi taxis- they are decked out according to the personality of the driver, and play SUPER LOUD music that the driver happens to like.... So you end up on a soca one, or rnb one, or a reggae one... AWESOME!! I haven't heard The Thong Song so much for years!!!

OH! I just remembered another strange place to hear Aussie music- the duty free shop in Panama City had Men At Work's "Down Under" cranked up when I arrived for my marathon stop over effort on the way to Trinidad!

I absolutely LOVED Trinidad- and will have to go back there for Carnival! Everyone who lives there says how sensational it is... So maybe next year????...... Yes, this is a just a quick post- gotta get back to sightseeing!!!

Long awaited!!.... FINALLY the Amazing Amazon story!..

Yes, I KNOW it's long overdue!
Now the reason for this blogging delay is Trinidad!!!.. The weather was just too nice! And internet access was too scarce!! But I'm getting around to it now!!

So I arrived in Manaus, Brazil and had a bit of a scare re- the baggage! My bag was the last one off the plane and I was starting to think that maybe it had been taken off when we stopped in Brasilia!.. But eventually my tatty old backpack rumbled out on the carousel.. Once I got out the doors, there was a frazzled-looking guy holding a sign with my name on it (Paulo, from the company I was taking the Amazon tour with). He had thought I'd missed my flight!

I spent the night in Manaus at a hotel, basically just relaxing. I had a bit of a wander around the Opera House there, which is gorgeous! And packed myself off to bed ready for my jungle adventure the next morning!

Bright and early, I met Elso (the bloke who was going to be my jungle guide), and Euan (the pommy guy who was going to share the adventure with me), and we were off! Once we got the the port, we were bundled into a boat and headed along the Rio Negro to the part where the the Rio Negro and Rio Solimões meet- the meeting of the waters. It was AMAZING! Two completely separate rivers, that don't mix!.. And the sheer size of the rivers is mind-boggling!

Once we'd crossed the Rio Solimões, we ended up at the port on the other side, where there were locals waiting for boats. It seemed like such a rustic place, and yet, there was a kid sitting there waiting for a boat with a DVD player in a box!.. We purchased our GORGEOUS rain jackets for the trip, met our driver, and headed off again.. We jumped into another boat and we were off on the Amazon! On the way to the jungle lodge we dropped in at one of the houses to pick up our assistant guide, and as we did so, a fish jumped clean out of the water and flipped along the river! A monkey jumping fish, apparently!

The lodge itself was fantastic! It has a little jungle shop to buy snacks and drinks, and it becomes the local bar at night- gringos staying at the lodge (and the place nextdoor) mix with locals to play pool, chat, drink, and dance.

Now, I COULD spend forever blogging about everything that happened- but I'm going to try to condense the info a bit!.. The trip involved a few treks in the highlands, and the lowlands. The lowlands trek was spent swatting mosquitos! The air was thick with the buggers! But luckily there were plenty of animals too! Like a few different species of monkey, sloths, various birds. And Elso (whose nickname evolved from "the Terminator" due to his army fatigues, to become "Rocky"), showed us all the plants that are used to medicinal purposes- handy if you have malaria, or diarrhoea to name just a couple of things! Bird-wise there were hawks, tucans, osprey, kingfishers, herons.... It was unreal! And no tarantulas or anacondas!..

There was alligator spotting- I kinda held one, but wouldn't let Rocky completely let go of it!.. We saw grey and pink dolphins in the river- AMAZING!! We went canoeing through tall grass in a leaky boat, fed piranhas (allegedly I was fishing for them, but I turned out to only be feeding them!), walked on water using the "magic feet", went to visit some locals in their homes, and even attended a local soccer match as the only gringa!.. Honestly, I could write forever about my time in the Amazon! But due to time constraints, I will just write a few of my fave moments-

* Euan asking Elso if we could take a boat without holes in it (after the guides had had to plug the leak in our boat the day before), and Elso laughing and putting us into the same boat! Which not long after was followed by Euan playing around with Elso's machete and being told "don't you put a hole in the boat".. Euan's playing with the machete got him the nickname "machete boy".
* Attempting to climb the banks of the river following a HUGE deluge of rain.... And sliding back down on my bum!.. (The fact that Rocky missed seeing it, made it even better!)
* Following the trek of the highlands (which was a little tough for me due to lack of sleep and having sampled too much of the "caipirinhas" which I swear contained petrol!), having Euan try to tip Rocky out of the boat!..
* Spotting a hummingbird in the jungle myself!!..
* Not getting eaten my mosquitos!!!
* The look on my and Euan's faces when we watched Dartemio (the assistant guide), light up a smoke at the back of the boat next to the petrol and the engine!
* Going to Superman's house to watch the sun rise over the giant waterlillies..
* Seeing the toddlers from the family who run the shop on the river jumping in and out of boats in the shallows, swimming around, rowing the boats (YES, REALLY), and then delivering beers to the locals watching and playing soccer!
* Rocky (who was goalkeeping in the soccer match at the time), running over to tell me how you could hear the howler monkeys at the time!!.. And grabbing a beer and cigarette to refuel!..
* Meeting some of the most amazing people! (tourists, locals and guides)...

Yes, I KNOW it's a cop out considering how long I've waited to blog!
As it says above, I KNOW I should write more... and maybe I will update things later.. But it's breakfast time here in Panama! And I still have to write about Trinidad too!!! (But that will have to wait until at least tomorrow!!!)

Catching up!!...

Let's start back in Rio..
Right! So clearly I survived being in the jungle for 5 nights, since here I am blogging again!.. But since I didn't actually blog from when I was in Rio or Porto Seguro, I'll get cracking with that now!

So a while back now, I arrived in Rio and was pumped to be staying in the Copacabana region! The beach itself is swarming with Cariocas and tourists. I must say, it was kinda liberating just watching the women of all ages and sizes strutting their stuff in little bikinis on the beach- they just don't care! So I joined them for a while before strolling around to Ipanema beach (which happens to be a prettier beach and frequented by prettier Cariocas)..

Unfortunately, instead of lazing around at the beach, it seems that I should have been busting my gut to see the sights of Rio! When I went to see Christ the Redeemer, the woman at the office of the "tram" that goes up to the top of the mountain said that there was no point going because the fog/cloud was so thick you couldn't see Jesus!.. (Ummm, shouldn't she have been trying to convince me to go??.. Surely it's in her best interests to sell me a ticket?!).. But go I did (along with a couple of Aussie blokes I seemed to keep bumping into all over Rio). When we got to the top, there was a pretty thick mist covering the ol' Christ, but it lifted enough to get some great photos- unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the view from Corcovado (the mountain Jesus is perched on)!! It is meant to have the most amazing view of Rio, but all I could see were clouds!.. Then in the blink of an eye, the thick fog moved back in and sure enough, you could hardly make out the shape of Jesus, even though he was only a couple of metres away!

The fog wasn't quite so bad the day I went to Sugar Loaf (and again ran into the aussie boys).. Got some quite reasonable shots of the city, and wasn't scared in the cable cars going up to the top!.. OK, maybe just a little scared!

I also managed to survive the CRAZY bus system they have going on in Rio- you literally have to jump on the road in front of the bus to get it to stop (and then hope it stops in time!!).. LOVED IT!!!

There were (of course) nights spent having a caipirinha (or two), and sharing some Natasha with fellow travellers!.. But all too soon, my time in Rio came to an end, and I found myself on an overnight bus to Porto Seguro...

Porto Seguro, Stupidity, Scandinavians and Lambada
So after a mammoth bus trip (when despite wearing my stolen TEDs, I STILL ended up with ankles that were almost bigger than my calves!), I arrived in the coastal town of Porto Seguro (between Rio and Salvador).. After surprising the guy working in the ticket booth with the fact that I understand Portuguese, I had my ticket sorted to go to Salvador the next night and checked in to my hostel.. The hostel was only a 10 minute walk from the gorgeous beach (and beachside bars!), and is run by a super helpful American named Paul, who lives on the property with his family. Not only did he sort myself and the Scandinavian blokes staying there out with tips on restaurants and bars, he even included us in the family BBQ for his son's birthday!.. It was kinda like being at home!..

So the boys and I headed into "town" for dinner, and at the insistence of our waitress, ended up at zouk/lambada club on the water... OH MY GOD!!!! The dancing was incredible!! I was quite keen to have a crack, but the poor Scandinavians (despite being able to dance) were kinda intimidated and just stuck to observing! I was trying to use my "interpreting skills" to get one of the guys to dance with a local who was keen.... But he was just too shy!..

The next day (28th Feb), I was swanning about, and going to organise my accommodation for Salvador... when all of sudden it hit me- THERE ARE ONLY 28 DAYS IN FEBRUARY, NOT 30!!! The lack of structure and a diary had almost made me miss my flight from Salvador to Manaus on the 1st of March!!

Luckily my bus to Salvador arrived in enough time for me to get a taxi to the airport and catch my flight!!!

YES, I KNOW I need to blog about my Amazon trip, and I certainly will....... But right now I'm in Trinidad! And I need sunshine!!!... So perhaps tomorrow I will pick up where I'm leaving off now??....

Apologies!!

Ok, so it has been a while since I last blogged... And due to the SLOW connection of the computer I'm currently on, this is just going to be a quick one to say that, YES I WILL fill you in on what went down in Rio de Janeiro, Porto Seguro, Salvador, etc!!!

I am in Manaus and will be getting up at sparrow's fart to go on a 5 night Amazon tour! So I don't know that I will have internet access for a while... Then there's the fact that I have a SHOCKINGLY BAD connecting flight from Manaus to Panama City and Panama City to Port of Spain.. But who knows? Maybe this jungle lodge has internet access???... And there is to be NO laughing at the thought of me sleeping in a hammock in the jungle with all the beasties for a night, either!

São Paulo- Melbourne on steroids!!..

I heart Sampa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, it has been a while since I last blogged, but I have been thoroughly enjoying being in São Paulo!! I have enjoyed spending time in most of the cities I have ever visited, but this one is the first that really feels as though I've come home. It is AWESOME!!!

I'm staying in an area of the city that has a real Fitroy vibe to it- sensational!! And no, I'm not biased- some of the people I have spoken to agree that São Paulo is the Melbourne of Brazil, and that Vila Madelena (where I'm staying), is like Fitzer. My Portuguese teacher Gisele was spot on! And the hostel is fabulous! I can't speak highly enough of the great staff, the awesome location, and the comfy hostel itself!

I have spent days checking out the art galleries (there are thousands of them in this city!), and the gorgeous streets. They have streets that are almost designated to a certain product- a street filled with stores that sell musical instruments, one for antique furniture, etc etc.. And some great markets! So yes, I have blown the budget here in Sampa!

The people here are awesome, and despite the bad press São Paulo has copped at times (touch wood) I have had no trouble!

Today (Sunday) I have spent the day the way that most of Sampa spends it- at Parque do Ibirapuera, this HUGE, gorgeous park- there are lakes filled with black and white swans, gorgeous garden areas, museums, galleries, bike paths, soccer pitches, basketball courts, skating areas, restaurants.... you name it! And due to the lovely warm weather, there are many scantily clad men jogging through the park!... Nice!

There are nightclubs EVERYWHERE!!! They are so sensational that the cover charge alone is almost what you would spend on a whole night out back in Oz! (I guess that stops me from over-indulging on the caipirinhas!!!)

So tomorrow I'm off to check out the centre of the city in the morning (it's a no go area on the weekend due to its dodginess), and will then be bus-ing it to Rio!!!..

Oi Brasil!!!

Visas, vistas and Carnaval
After much stuffing around, the visa situation was FINALLY sorted, and I was on my way to Foz do Iguaçu.. (A little hint for anyone wanting to sort out their visa for Brasil in Puerto Iguazu- the consulate opens at 7am... GET THERE AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE POWER GOES OUT!) The hostel I stayed in at Foz was the sister hostel of the one in Puerto- only with a superb bar and a pool!!! SWEET!!!!

I went to the Brazilian side of the falls, which were fantastic! Although I must admit, I wish I had seen the Brazilian side first- you get so close on the Argentinian side that despite the sensational view in Brazil, it isn't quite the same.. But I DID learn something I wish I had known earlier- the cute coatis that were everywhere on the Argentinian side carry RABIES!!!! And are AGGRESSIVE!!! Lucky I didn't get too close to them then!

I also went to the bird park near the falls, which was kinda scary!!! I just wanted to get a good photo of a tucan!!! But the ones in the park are so used to people that they hop around you and try to pull at any dangly bits on your backpack! And they have HUGE beaks!!!.. (I did get some great photos though!)

My inital plan was only to stay ONE extra night in Foz....... But somehow the Irish contingent at the hostel managed to peer pressure me into staying for TWO more nights- mainly due to the hostel's Carnaval celebrations which included super cheap caipirinhas!... A great night was had by all- and there are NUMEROUS photos to prove it- "OK, one more with my camera".... And I swear I WILL put up photos soon! (I just have to find the USB cord first!)..

Curitiba
So I arrived in Curitiba after a relatively sleepless 10 hour bus trip from Foz (after the bus left 2 hours late)- I WISH the Brazilian buses were as comfy as the Argentinian ones!! No such luck!!! No one serving food and drinks, and no videos- just an old bus with the most uncomfortable seats ever!!! But I managed to only have a little snooze after checking in, and walked my way around the town. The footpaths are paved with black and white patterned cobblestones, just like in Portugal- gorgeous!.. And the old buildings are amazing! It seems as though every second block there is another beautiful praça with old trees and fountains.. No wonder it is known to be the "greenest" city in Brazil!

But next up will be Sao Paulo- should be sensational!!!......

Luaggae, Che, oedema and Iguazu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Luggage... Kinda
Right, so I caught the ferry from Colonia to Buenos Aires on Saturday morning. I spent the walk to the port in Colonia plus the hour it took to get to Buenos Aires, joking with a Swiss bloke about how my backpack (that I was forced to check in by staff at the port) wouldn't turn up when I arrived in BA... BAD MOVE!!! Turns out that it isn't quite that funny when you go to pick up your backpack and it's not there! Luckily there was a lovely Brazilian couple who were in the same boat (figuratively and literally). EVENTUALLY we were approached by a woman working for the boat company who informed us that our bags were put on the wrong boat and that we'd have to get a taxi to the other company's port to pick our stuff up... Luckily THEY would foot the taxi bill! But we weren't so lucky with the taxi driver- MANIAC!!! Made it to the port in one piece, grabbed my bag, hoofed it to the bus station, bought a ticket to Rosario for the next bus, sprinted to the bus platform and was on my way....

Che... Kinda
I arrived in the afternoon in Rosario and went for a wander around that night.. It's a gorgeous city! When I got back to the hostel I was glad I splashed out and got myself a single room for the night- talk about LUXURY! (Not really, but it GREAT to be able to stretch out in a double bed again!..) I spent the next day furiously trying to see as much of Rosario as possible. I went up the war memorial which has great views of the city.. Had a look at the market by the river.. Went to the house that Che Guevara was born in- which was CLOSED (boo!.. but I guess that's to be expected on a Sunday!).. Then hoofed it to the lovely park to go to a couple of museums within the park- CLOSED!.. So I figured that I'd hike to the Che memorial statue, which was in the middle of nowhere! I got there, and it was literally a statue of Che in an unmown field.. Oh well! With sore feet, I headed back to the hostel for a quick kip before I went on the 16 hour bus trip to Puerto Iguazu..

Puffy ankles are NOT attractive!
I KNOW it's my own fault for not putting on the TEDs that I have, but when I evetually made it to Puerto Iguazu, I had ankles the size of my calves! After a rest, they were feeling a touch better, and I popped out to the adjoining bar for cheap daquiries and caipirinhas- YUM! Met a great group of people and had a huge laugh, before a refreshing night of sleep...

Yesterday was Iguazu falls day (for the Argentinian side). It was so amazingly breathtakingly spectacular! You can get so close to some of the falls that you can feel the pressure of the water! And get drenched in the spray!.. Fabulous! You can catch a little train up the the Devil's Throat where you get close to a whole heaps of falls together, and have to shout to be heard over the noise of the falls!

The falls are surrounded by parkland, and surprisingly (because of the huge number of tourists in the park) there are heaps of animals to spot! There was a group of monkeys up in the trees throwing fruit at us!.. There were coatis EVERYWHERE! They rummaged through bins and jumped on picnic tables after food- (they are VERY cute looking animals, google em!).. Despite how cute they looked, I wouldn't have stood between one and food! There were turtles in the water, lizards running around.. AWESOME!

Today I was meant to be heading to Brazil, but my plans were thwarted! It's daily occurrence that the power goes out in Puerto Iguazu- and it's usually for a good couple of hours.. Which makes it hard for the consulate (that is only open for a couple of hours a day- coincidently the same kinda time the power goes out for..) to photocopy my stuff for the visa!.. Anyhow, there are worse places than Puerto Iguazu to be stuck for a day!.. I will be up at the crack of dawn to get this visa situation sorted out once and for all, then on my way to Foz do Iguaçu, on the Brazilian side of the border.. After that, there'll be a long bus trip (with TEDs in situ) but not 100% sure where to.... Curitiba? Sao Paulo?... I'll sort that out in the next day or so.......

Colonia Del Sacramento... Uruguay's Ocean Grove

Hmmmmmmm
OK, so I just realised that in the last blog, I referred in one of the subtitles to "mate", and then never said anything about it! Mate is a herbal tea-like substance that the Uruguayans go NUTS for! Every second person has a thermos of hot water, their mate gourd and bombilla and mate under their arm! The pull their cars over and sit on the grass in the shade drinking it, or outside shops- basically anywhere! I thought Argentinans were keen on the stuff, but they are 10 times more obsessed in Uruguay!

Monte-Colonia
My last night in Montevideo was spent at a different hostel, which turned out to be great! I met a couple of awesome Kiwi chicks, and some of the locals there taught us a bit of latin dancing!.. Great fun! I kinda slept in the next morning, and was ALMOST late for my bus (plus there was the fact that the screen with the departure bays on it said that mine was leaving from platform 14, when it turned out it was leaving from 16). But some kind Montevideanos helped me get the right one!

I arrived in Colonia in the early afternoon, and spent the rest of the day wandering around the old part of town, stickbeaking in shops, avoiding being run over by the people hooning around the streets in rented golf carts (yes, SERIOUSLY) and generally just taking it easy. I had an AMAZING candlelit dinner at a restaurant next to the river, where the crickets and frogs were competing to see who could be the loudest... It was all quite romantic... except for the fact that I was sitting by myself reading a book! Today, I went up the rickety old staircase to the lighthouse without tripping up- YAY! It had a great view of the town..

Things I've loved about Uruguay
Since I'm heading back to Argentina tomorrow, I've been reflecting upon some of the trivial things I have loved about Uruguay.. And here are some of them- I love that they call their McDonalds drive-through an "auto mac" (as I'm sure other South American countries do too, but it's the first time I've seen one!). What a great name! And one that I shall use back home! I love that there is a dress shop called "tit" in the upmarket shopping centre in Montevideo. I loved that one of the older women at one of the hostels I stayed in had more idea about what to do in Montevideo, and spoke better English than the bloke working at the hostel- he said to me "she have my job". I love that the graffiti in Montevideo was about Jesus and Christianity!

Actually, enough trivial stuff! I LOVE Uruguay- full stop! The country is gorgeous, the people are really friendly, and it has a laid back vibe..

Next stop, Rosario- the birthplace of Che Guevara. PS- I am now the owner of a functional camera WITH a USB cord..... Photos will be coming!...

Montevideo madness!...

Algae, blisters and mate
OK, so I've been a touch slack with the blogging of late, but can you blame me??? I've been out enjoying the sunshine in Montevideo and taking lots of photos- until my camera died yesterday, that is! So the next thing on my agenda is to buy a new camera. (Not something I'm looking forward to, as electronics in this part of the world are pretty expensive!) But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I arrived in Uruguay having taken an overnight bus from Buenos Aires- the bus was pretty plush, with an onboard bar (no, not THAT kind of bar, non-alcoholic drinks only), and BIG reclining seats. The only thing to stop me from having slept the whole 9 hours was being shaken at 3am by an angry bus driver to hand over my passport for crossing the border. Once that was all dealt with, it was plain sailing (so to speak). The hostel I have been staying at was in Pocitos (as is the new one I'm staying in tonight). It's the area of Montevideo where the wealthy live (or have their summer houses), and it's right near the beach...

Beach??....
Speaking of beaches, I was super pumped having read that Montevideo has "pristine beaches" as per the old Lonely Planet... But I had also found a blog where a sooky American tourist was having a whinge about the water at the beach being brown and sticky.. I figured that was just a sooky Yank's point of view.... But Ol' LP let me down! Yes, indeed the water IS brown and sticky! And having walked the 8.5km of La Rambla from Pocitos to Ciudad Vieja, I can tell you that it gets worse closer to town with (what I'm sure must be) blue-green algae everywhere. Not that the locals were put off by it- they and their dogs were swimming in the algae with no issues! It has made me think that maybe we in Oz are OTT with closing beaches/rivers with algae??.. Or is it that the locals have built up a Salmonella resistance?? PS- the walk into town along La Rambla was great! But after walking around the city, deciding to walk back to the hostel along La Rambla again, was NOT the best decision I've ever made! Hence the blisters!

Monte itself
The city itself is GREAT! Kinda like a cross between Melbourne/Geelong and Coimbra in Portugal. (Although without the drug trafficking footy players... actually scratch that, there may well be drug trafficking soccer players here). The Ciudad Vieja is the old part of town (hence its name), and is full of tiny winding streets, lovely old buildings and small plazas. Microcentro (the city centre- funny that) is a bustling place with museums and theatres. Today I'm off to Museo Torres García (art gallery for Uruguayan abstract and cubist painter) (once I've bought a new camera). Yesterday I went to the old summer house of Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, whose poetry and politicism (according to an older woman who was staying in my hostel dorm and giving me the lowdown on MV) is very important in the history of Uruguay. The house was full of all sorts of amazing stuff, and a beautiful place itself!

Next up!
Next on the agenda is a couple of days in Colonia Del Sacramento.. Then a ferry ride back to Buenos Aires, followed by a bus trip to Rosario, where I'll spend a few days.

A Walk On The Wild Side

I now retract my statement that I have a good sense of direction
OK, so it has been a source of much internal pride, that I have a good sense of direction, and don´t tend to get lost. However, today I managed to get myself well and truly lost (except that I ended up where I had intended to go in the first place, but then decided not to go to!) So perhaps my credibility is somewhat saved by the fact that I ended up where I was initially wanting to go???? I´ll stop being cryptic and tell the actual story!

I had decided to head down to La Boca- the neighbourhood in Buenos Aires where the brightly coloured houses and shops are located.. Having read up on it in the ol´ Lonely Planet, I knew that it was the dodgiest barrio in Buenos Aires, and to stick to the "well worn tourist path, during the daytime as well as at night" (quote, unquote). So I checked out the map, and found the route that looked to be via the most major streets, then headed off. Upon arriving at the street I thought would take me there, I found that it was kinda a freeway, and therefore that I couldn´t walk there! So I turned around to head back to San Telmo (where I´m staying), and to find out which buses would get me to La Boca.. Except that somewhere along the way, I turned right instead of left, and I ended up getting a touch lost.. So I thought I´d keep walking the way I THOUGHT was towards "home".... The streets started to get grottier looking, and I saw a big soccer stadium- I thought to myself "that CAN´T be La Boca´s stadium, it must be a different one"... Then I spotted a ´for sale´ sign in a window that had the word ´Boca´ on it, and it was THEN that I realised that it WAS La Boca.. So I kept trapsing along until I finally found the waterfront and realised that I was quite close to ´Caminito´.

Despite what was in the LP and on ´trip advisor´ websites, I had no issue with my walk through the dodgy streets- OK, so I don´t INTEND on doing it again, but the people there were all lovely. It possibly helps that I don´t exactly look like I´d be worth much!

All in all, it was a worthwhile jaunt- got some ´íconic´ snaps of the coloured buildings (which were initially painted in muliticolour because the people who lived there were too poor to buy paint, so they used to ask the ship builders for their left-overs and paint the houses in whatever colours were given to them). There are the usual touristy shops there, but also an artists´ market- some of the paintings were amazing, and I´m thinking of getting one when I come back to Buenos Aires.

Bits ´n Pieces
Right, now I´m about to re-open the debate that I started on the Caribbean cricket trip: Coke Light tastes like Pepsi Max, it DOES NOT taste like Diet Coke! I was RUBBISHED by some of the girls when I brought that up in Barbados, and I am now re-presenting the issue. It tastes nothing like Diet Coke!!!!!!!!! OK!!!!!!! To make sure it´s not just MY opinion, I shall bring some home, and do a taste test with Coke Light, Diet Coke and Pepsi Max. THEN we´ll see who´s right!!!!

I´ve also had my first couple of "strange places to hear Aussie music in" moments for this trip- the first was in what could only be described as Buenos Aires´ version of Target, when I heard Midnight Oil´s "Beds Are Burning" and saw a little Porteño girl dancing away to it.. So strange! The second was when I was heading out for a walk last night, and heard INXS´ "Original Sin" BLARING out of a car with a middle-aged Porteño bloke singing his heart out. Sensational!

Better head off to buy the bus tickets to Montevideo for Friday (not Saturday, as I´d written in the previous post).. I´m splashing out and paying an extra 10 pesos for a bus that has seats that fully recline!..

Beautiful Buenos Aires

The Departure
Well, it would seem that despite my morbid fear of flying, that I have made it! Prior to leaving, I had my last minute crisis (a hole in the bottom of my backpack), which (once dealt with using my newly acquired sewing skills) actually helped me to calm down! Myself, Mum, Sandi, Robbie and Brittany made the squashy trip to the airport at silly o´clock in the morning, despite the fact that my flight had been delayed 90 mins. And SILLY o´clock is right! Rob had us all in stitches telling sick jokes, and just generally behaving like a sleep deprived fool!

I thought the karma gods were getting me back for laughing at Tash when she was on a flight with a stack of scouts earlier in the month- there was a group of Kiwi school kids loitering in the aiport.... But luckily they were on another flight!

The flight to NZ was no big issue. But then I had to queue for over an hour to check in for the flight to Buenos Aires! There happened to be a bloke by the name of Bruno in the queue who must be a famous Argentine muso of some kind- the teenage girls in the queue giggled their heads off and had their photo taken with him. (He WAS quite hot, I must say!)

Buenos baby
The hostel I had booked to stay at had arranged a minibus to pick me upon my arrival at the airport in Buenos Aires, so I had a bloke holding up a sign with my name on it. I was a tad jealous though- one of the Argentine blokes on my flight had people holding a banner (not just a sign), who also blew whistles and shook maracas when they saw him!

I arrived at the hostel at around 4.30pm local time, and basically crashed! I was VERY glad I had booked a room to myself for the night, and took the opportunity to snooze for a few hours before surfacing for a snack, and then sleeping again! My first actual day was spent fighting jetlag, and basically doing some Evita-themed sightseeing. I was wishing I had someone with me, so that I could belt out a bit of "Don´t Cry For Me Argentina" outside the pink presidential palace. (I decided that to do it on my own would be a tad strange). An early night followed a day of walking (later on, hobbling) around the city.

Today has been spent window-shopping along Avenida Florida. Yes, WINDOW-shopping. Since I´ll be heading home out of Buenos Aires, I figured that I may as well leave the shopping until I get back here! Not sure what the night will hold- my back is playing up (which I imagine is a delayed response to the position I contorted myself into on the plane).. So I don´t think it´s time to hit the town just yet. The Brazilian boys in my room were out until some ungodly hour last night, so I don´t know that they´d be the right ones to go out with tonight, with my crook back!..

Next up is planning where I´m off to on Saturday... Thinking maybe Montevideo???..

Getting organised!

OK- so for those of you who know me pretty well, you will know that I can be a tad disorganised at times! You might think that when it came to planning a solo trip around South America for 3 months, that I'd make an exception and get my act together. Well, you'd be wrong!

My aim for the trip was to arrange things myself (and for what little I HAVE arranged, I have indeed done it myself!). I'm not really the sort of person who likes to have every day planned out- I revel in the freedom that comes with travel. It's great to be able to change your plans because you find out about an awesome place from a fellow traveller, or to extend your stay somewhere because you love it. And that's how I'm managing to justify my lack of organisation!..

My backpack and I depart for Buenos Aires at 8am Sunday 24th January.. Which is my first mistake for the trip! I decided to book the flights online while I was at work on night shift, and somehow (at 4am) it seemed acceptable to fly out at 8am! Clearly I hadn't taken into account the logistics of getting to the airport from Geelong in time for an international flight check in!

Apart from that slight hitch (and the fact that I have an over-the-top, irrational fear of flying), preparation seems to be going along quite well. One might say TOO well! I seem to have all the necessary stuff ready (and some things I could possibly do without- epilady? hello?), with room to spare!? This, coming from the person who used to over-pack when going from North Fitzroy to Geelong for the weekend! So I'm just waiting for the last minute glitch in the system, (ie- realising I've forgotten something very important), and then I'll be all set!

The plan of attack at this stage is: Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Trinidad, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, then back to Argentina for the trip home.. However, as with a lot of things I do- this may be subject to change!

So why am I blogging this trip? To cut to the chase- partly laziness, partly selfishness! I love to keep family and friends updated on the happenings while I'm away...... But I also love spending time in places other than internet cafes!.. So this seems like a great option!

Here's hoping I can get everything done that needs to be done in the next 24 hours, and psych myself up enough to set foot on a plane solo!!