France-Italy

Madonna and Child
Louvre Museum at night
Pommery Champagne
Chenonceau Chateau
Arc de Triomphe
A few photos to give you an idea of what we've been seeing, having trouble with photos\computers over here so the rest will have to wait.
Hope everyone had a great christmas and all the best for the new year. Thinking of everyone back home, love M.

Sunday 3 December

Louvre, Paris
Lined up at 9am and was in and bag and coat checked (separately?) by 9:30. spent the next four hours not seeing half of the place, some amazing things, crazy to see the throng around La Jaconda (Mona Lisa). 15-18th Century Sculptures, the July Monarchy and Cour Cluny, NapoleonIII Apartments (wow!), Middle Ages, Renaissance and 17th Century, then through the Large Format French Paintings to La Jaconde. Important Italian Art on other side of the wall noone stopped to look at. 16-19th Century Italian Sculpture, Eutrucan and Roman Antiquities, Greek Antiquities, Pharaonin Egypt Thematic Circuit, Levant Antique Iran, Mesopotamia, Medieval Louvre (moat etc), Arts of Islam. Covered 1/2 Lower Ground Floor, all the Ground Floor, 3/4 1st Floor, none of the 2nd floor. Lots of Museums and Monuments are free on the first Sunday of the month so you can imagine it's pretty packed, that's why I started early, almost everyone headed straight up to the Mona Lisa so I went in the other direction (packed now or packed later?) so saw the french sculptures with only a few others around then worked my way over. The place is so huge, very easy to get lost, if you wanted to see everything (and not just walk throught the room but read the translations of information) it would take at least a week, they have so much info it's great but after 4 hours I stopped taking anything in and realised I was looking at the floor! Headed over to the Musee Moyen Age also known as the Musee du Cluny middle ages museum with famous tapestry "Lady and the Unicorn", some sculptures from Notre Dame Paris as well.

7 months

Away from home for 7 months today, crazy!
Saturday 2nd December here, after a day filled with Paris activities thought I would do this while I still remembered!
Friday night in Paris: walked from the hostel down to the Seine River and got my first view of the Eiffel Tower then along to the Louvre, all lit up and pretty at night, some good photos I think. Could see down the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Lots of people in the Louvre and around town, locals and tourists. Early to bed at my HI Hostel (bleugh) very small room with three other girls, Columbian artist been in Paris 4 years trying to get UK visa, Japanese girl on 10day France trip and Italian that doesn't speak much english.
Was told it would cost 80euro to train form Brugge to Paris but went from Brugge to Lille for 14 then Lille to Paris usually costs 36 I got for 18 since bought youth pass (which should pay for itself in another trip or two). Still not very close to 80 even at full price?!?
Saturday in Paris: Started with pathetic excuse for breakfast at hostel (one crusty bun?), then headed to Cimetière du Père Lachaise. Large Cemetery - Oscar Wilde and Edith Piaf to name a few. Caught the Metro (obnoxious buzzing when doors close?) got off at Opera to see Opéra Garnier - pretty building with lots of gold, designed by Charles Garnier in 1860. Walked down to Place Vendome where a giant 44m high column of stone is wrapped in bronze from 1250 cannons captured by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlittz (1805). Then on to place de la Concorde a giant cobbled square laid between 1755-1775, Louis XVI guillotined here in 1793, lots of others to follow. 3300 year old obelisk in the centre given to France in 1829 by the ruler of Egypt, Mohammed Ali. From here walked the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe (12 roads meet here). Went down towards the Eiffel Tower stopping along the way at at a street market for fresh fruit to eat in the Jardins du Trocadéro with a view of the Tower (why did I always think it was grey?), then underneath the tower threatening to rain so decided not to wait in long lines in case when I got to the top it bucketed down, turns out I had time before the rain but went to Notre Dame Paris instead, free entry but paid 5euro for audio guide so was in there a while - very interesting, insane number of people so hard to appreciate some of it.
Overall a great day, off to the Louvre tomorrow!

Lille 30th Nov

Arrived in France(!) just before dark, did some washing (complicated - poor brain). And wandered down through main pedestrian shopping area, rich mens market stalls giving out samples of wine liquors, cheese and salami, some very nice! Le Pineau des Charentes vin de liquer blanc especially nice (from western France).

Brugge 30th November

Train from Brussels to Brugge (11.80eu) bout 100000 People in Brugge but lots and lots and lots of tourists, must be insane in the summer. Very pretty town, Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child very nice, 2squares with great buildings, willows over the canals, more chocolate shops and an ice skating rink opening soon in the main square. Had some frites with mayo but as it was 1°C wasn't in the mood to hang around, checked out lots of shops on the way to the train station to unfreeze my fingers. Got afternoon train to Lille France.

Brussel Sprouts

27/11 Caught a train from Groningen to Brussels for 31euro, had to change train a few times but saved a bit of money not going through Amsterdam.
Stayed in the Vincent Van Gogh Hostel 13.50euro per night including breakfast - cornflakes and toast. Went out with Aussie girls Rachel and Casey to Irish Pub for cheap drinks, lots of pushy european men after us but some very good music.
28/11 I love Brussels, it's so pretty and friendly the buildings are great the chocolate shop I went into (Elizabeth) had a lovely lady behind the counter suggsting places to go and giving me directions. Also the chocolate was great!
Went to the Musical Instrument Museum, headphones play the intrument you're standing in front of, very cool.
Also walked around the Sablon area, lots of antique shops, the Grote Markt (main square) has amazing buildings, they were setting up the Christmas tree and lights - christmas market starts soon.
The St Michael and St Gudule Church is very imposing at night and even more so inside, has amazing windows and the pulpit was very intricate.
29/11 Staying another night in Brussels because I'm enjoying it so much.
Beaux-Artes Museum today 15-20th Century Art, really enjoyed the 15-18th century paintings. Also saw Mannekin Pis (small statue of boy peeing) and the St Catherine Church. Went out later to see if they were done with setting up the light show with NSW Shearer Peter. Tree all lit up in blue and white but they were getting all the lights in focus so didn't see proper show but should be impressive when ready. Tried a few more Belgium Beers at a nearby pub, not finding many that I like!

Bedum 15-26 Nov

Arrived in Groningen on Wednesday and Alex picked me up from the train station. We headed 20min from the city to Bedum where they have a lovely little house, three storeys with kitchen, dining, lounge on the bottom, three bedrooms and a bathroom second floor and bedroom at the top. They are doing it up at the moment, adding an extension to the back for a larger living area and painting the bedrooms, the bathroom and downstairs toilet already done. Joey their white shepherd dog is a year old and absolutely lovely, has been going to obedience training so all the Dutch words I know are to do with telling him to sit or lie down or drop the ball or go to bed!
Alex works on an Offshore Oil Rig in Denmark, so on Thursday Patrick, Alex's brother, took me for a drive to drop Alex off at the bus that takes them to where they catch the helicopter to the rig. Since we were nearby Patrick and I went to the Zoo (you do not want to know how much that cost!) The usual animals there, but loads of each kind, obviously some good breeding programs cos lots of little ones too. Baby giraffe, zebra, monkeys and baboons. They had 4 green sea turtles in a huge aquarium too.
Friday H has off work, so we went in to Groningen to do some shopping for clothes.
Saturday went out on the town with H, met up with Patrick and his friend Miriam went to a great dance bar, lots of people but not too packed as the bouncers super strict (35people had to leave before we could go in so not sure who will get into trouble for that!) the music was a great mix of stuff Dutch and English but DJ crap at keeping a mood going, house music to ballad in one move!
I wore the pretty shoes Becky gave me (she's a shoe and bag crazy woman - she hadn't even worn these ones!). So my feet were killing me by the time we left at 4am, then had to catch taxi home which is pretty bloody scary at the speeds he was driving, H got carsick! (the alcohol may have contributed to this).
Monday went with Patrick to H's work at the Seal Rehab to see her and the seals, amazing place been going for 35 years saving sick or injured seals.
Spent the rest of the week taking it easy, going for 2 or 3 long walks with Joey every day while H at work.
Went to Bourtange yesterday, a small town built as a well defended fort with star shaped canals all around, stopped in Winschoten on the way home for some Olliebollen (deepfried balls of dough eaten at New Years), then a stop at H's parents to show them the new car (station wagon so Joey can fit). I took H out to a Greek restaurant for dinner to thank her for having me for so long, the plates of food were enormous and delicious as well. Today (Sunday) took Joey to the lake for a swim and stopped at the new cafe there for a hot chocolate.
I have spent a lot longer than I planned here, but I have finally managed to sort out my flights (Gulf Air and STA were driving me crazy) so it was great having free internet to make lots of calls all over the place. And I have managed to find (actually H found it) a cheap train ticket to Brussels from here without me even having to stop in Amsterdam so it'll only be a 6 hour trip. So off on Monday continuing down to France and Italy to be in Rome for Christmas and New Years.

Alex, Henriette and Joey in their living room

Netherlands

Caught the overnight bus from London to Amsterdam.
Thursday 9th - Amsterdam
Struggled to find the hostel I had called as it appeared not to exist, found another popular hostel near the Leidsplein. Shared a room with some very hungover Irish boys, went to the irish pub for a feed with them, then headed into central station to meet Jayde, went to Coco's Outback a great Aussie pub and restaurant serving awesome food in huge portions for dinner. Eating lots to keep out the cold, this place is so bloody flat there's not a lot to stop the wind!!
Friday got myself an I AMsterdam card to get into the museums etc
Went to the Van Gogh musuem, Canal boat tour, Modern art museum etc etc
Met up with Jayde when he finished work and caught train with him and flatmate Janick back to their place in Castricum 20 min from Amsterdam. Jayde has given me his bed while he stays at his girlfriend's.
Saturday 11th - Amsterdam
Headed back into town to see Rijksmuseum, Windmill and Oulde Kerk (Church).
Sunday 12th slept and watched movies and ate Indonesian (Chinese)
Monday Janick took a day off work and we headed into Amsterdam for some sightseeing, Museumsplein, Dam Square, 2m wide house and went to the movies to see Borat, very very funny, overall a great day.
Tuesday finally got myself sorted to get north and meet up with friends there.
Wednesday caught the train to Groningen 2.5 hours 27euros what a rip!

House boats on one of the many canals.

Very easy to walk past and miss it!

Fort William 4-7th Nov

Thomson girls, left to right; Rachel, Rebecca and Samantha (oldest to youngest)

Rachel's 4 year old daughter Shannon

Had such a great time, Rachel and Shannon met me at the bus station and we went to a cafe for lunch, then Becky met us and we headed to a nice restaurant for some cake and another coffee. We sat and talked until tea time so Samantha and her husband Calvin joined us for dinner.

I stayed at Becky's and Jonathan's place very nice (and warm) house in Corpach, and the next day headed up the Nevis Range (Ben Nevis highest point in Britain at 1344m) for a few hours walking. Freezing cold wind but nice walking in the shelter of the trees. Met up with Rachel and Shannon again and had a look round Fort William including the old fort the town is named after (see photo of Shannon). We caught up the the other girls at Becky's bag shop then headed to the pub for a drink then lots of yummy snacks for dinner.

I made a few phonecalls home, good to catch up with Melissa and Aaron.

Left the next day for Glasgow took the train for the views, but a bit wet some of the way.

Glasgow

Glasgow bus tour well done, ticket good for 48 hours, hop on hop off bus round town with live commentary of the sights.
Tallest movie theatre???
Don't need to spend more than a few days here, and don't go to the bus station if you can help it.

Rochdale

Sam and Belle,
Margaret and Frank over for coffee the night I arrived, Franks mother used to write to my Grandma, then his Aunt and now Margaret!
Went out to lunch the next day with Sam and Belle's daughter Elizabeth, and Harry (of Harry and Sheila Travis) by the lake for lunch, stopped in at Margaret (daughter) and Keith's then Blackpool "Illuminations". Also had a look around the Rochdale Town Hall, very well known for its painting? Very cool stained glass windows, took lots of photos for mum since they didn't get to see inside when they were here.

Shrewsbury

Stayed with David and Thelma for three days (I had my own bathroom!), visited Iron Bridge, a little town called Eccleshall and had a brief run into Wales to visit David's father and sister. Had a lovely walk around Shrewsbury with Thelma interesting buildings - black and white wood with a tendency to lean - and nice sunny weather. Finally got my hair cut, doesn't look much better but should grow out ok.

Bath

Stonehenge
Avebury - largest stone circle with a ditch round the outside
Castle Combe - Cotswold village (used in movies like Dr Dolittle and Pride and Prejudice)

Did a Day Tour to Stonehenge, Castle Combe, Lacock and Avebury. Quite a good day, small group. Avebury very cool, village in the middle of the largest cirlce, also smaller circles inside not as picturesque and popular as Stonhenge so can still walk around the stones touch them etc, is 1000 years older than Stonehenge -where you can't get very close at all. Lots of stones missing from Avebury used to build houses, also the church ordered the burial of the stones years ago so they are currently digging them up again (found a guy underneath one!).

Ireland - England

After Cork visited the Dingle Penninsula, a bit wet but the stormy atmosphere added to the intrigue and attitude of the place. Then a night in Limerick cos there's a limited choice over there and I missed the last bus :-(
Had a really nice dinner in Dublin with Finola (met in Peru on Colca Canyon tour) was great to catch up with her again.
Have contacted a few family friends and relations to visit on my way up through England so that should be fun meeting up with them.

Ireland

18th-24th October
flight to Dublin stupidly early in the morning.

Am in Cork at the moment, flew into Dublin this morn, caught bus (2.5hr) to Waterford where I had a look round the town caught a town bus to Waterford Crystal and did the tour which was pretty cool (can you cut 200 stemware glasses a day??) pretty dedicated guys to do 8-10 years apprenticeship!
Caught late bus (2.25hr) to Cork and am now heading for bed, pretty small dorm room will stay here (Shelias Hostel) for 2 nights, off to Blarney Castle and Kinsdale tomorrow, bought bread, ham and cheese so feeling like proper backpacker again no more pampering by friendly locals -Grilled cheese for brekkie, ham and cheese for lunch!

Canterbury 14-16 Oct

Caught a bus down to Canterbury in Kent (£4) where met Ruth and Matt Judge (you'll remember them from my entries in southern Chile) Stayed the weekend with Matt's Family, 2 birthdays to celebrate so a great night Saturday (Matt has 2 brothers and 2 sisters) with all the family there with their partners. The house a converted barn, really nice. Was welcomed as just another family member which was great as I initially felt bad for gatecrashing the party!

week in Harrow

Roast Lamb and veges including kumara for dinner (yummy!) my first night at Shona and Lloyds, did washing, wandered around Harrow, caught the tube out to Greenwich to stand on either side of the East/West divide, and caught up on loads of sleep!!!
One night we went to the Driving range and had dinner there, unfortunately they over cooked my salmon but got a new one with only a little wingeing.
Out for dinner with Tina and Paul to PeriPeri (Portugese Chicken) another night, (pub for a drink and the footy)
Also the Golden (Something) for nice Asian another night, must remember to do some more exercise! Getting fed far too well for a backpacker.
Friday 13th went to Oxford for the day by bus, lovely town visited a few of the colleges climbed to tower and roasted in a stupidly hopt bus all the way home!

Kew Gardens and a new home away from home

9th Oct
Went to Kew Gardens today, spent bout 6 hours there, so much to see, the glasshouses are amazing, even stuff from NZ, was horrified by the price (£11.25) but was worth it. Will be good to get out of London, is supposed to be a little cheaper out there! Then headed to Shona and Lloyds.

Shona and Lloyd

Arranged to go out for dinner on Friday night with Shona and Lloyd (met them in town) London is good, been raining a bit on and off cooled off a lot the last few nights but cosy duvets (doonas - lots of aussies here!) so still nice, they have loads of heaters that they'll start turning on soon. Been using the underground loads (mind the gap!) been on a couple buses but harder to navigate and the bus drivers are scary angry in their little perspex boxes! So jealous of the garden and fresh veges at home. Been cooking in the hostels tiny kitchen and making the others girls jealous.

Monday 2 October

Now living at Dean Court

Week in London:
Tower of London
London Eye
Canary Wharf
Tate Modern
Tower, Millenium and London Bridges

. . . and eventually to bed

Moved Hostels, now staying at Dean Court Hotel. Still in Bayswater but much cheaper £89 for the week including a cooked breakfast every day, eggs (fried or scrambled), bacon, spaghetti hoops, toast (white or brown), and cereal.
Taking it easy at the moment cos still recovering from lack of sleep and different time zone.

Getting to London . . .

1.5hours early for the bus in Washington (so get a seat) 4.5 hours on the bus to New York, arrive 2:30am, no shuttles available cos the bus doesn't run 2-5am, so walked down to Train station to catch 5:15am train to Airport. Checked in for flight that left just after 8am arriving in London 8pm London time (3pm NYC) through customs then 2 trains to the hostel (10pm). Met a girl in my dorm room who was going out with friends so I tagged along to a dance club, left town "early" 2 buses to get back to hostel (trains stop running about midnight), so got to bed about 4:30am (London Time 12 hours behind NZ).
Super Tired!!

Washington DC

Only had 2 days in Washington but managed to squeeze in a lot.
Went to the Air and Space Museum today very cool but got tired and bored of watching videos and reading displays before I'd seen everything!! Very huge. Also, saw the Lincoln Memorial and the Whitehouse. Yesterday went to the Natural History Museum also pretty cool, about 4 years of school packed into one building, all sorts of stuff there. Also went to the Holocaust Museum, very disturbing, good, but very sad (people suck).
That evening I caught the metro to the bus station, left at 10pm but since (even though I bought my ticket days before) it's first in first served (no overcrowding of buses here - bum in seats only) I got there early. Not that there was likely to be many people travelling that time of night cos it gets into New York at 2.30am!! But that meant I could then catch a local bus to the airport and arrive with plenty of time to check in (they reckon it's really long going international from Newark, the lines were quite long but still got through with plenty of time to spare).

New York City

Time Square

22nd September
Long day to fly from Chicago to New York, caught train, stuck in tunnel when electricity cut off due to fire in downtown, long lines at airport, flight quicker than anticipated but we were so early had to wait on the tarmac for a free gate. US$15 shuttle to hostel took almost 2.5 hours should have been 1.5 tops, no tip for the driver!! US$32 for a bunk in a 6 bed dorm bagel and fruit for breakfast.
Saturday 23rd September, got lost going for a walk in Central Park. No sense of direction! Walked a lot round town, saw the library (free tour), ate my first (American) hotdog in America was pretty good. Called Kathryn from the hostel on Skype.
Sunday Started a little project for Kathryn's birthday that involved taking photos of me in a silly hat all round town.
Monday 25th used a New York Pass card (US$54) for the day. Went to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (where all the immigrants came through) Guggenheim museam (art), Central zoo (sealion and penguin feeding times), Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (had dinner with George Clooney), NBC Studio Tour (saw the sets for Saturday Night Live and Dateline), then went to Planet Hollywood for dinner (buffalo wings) and then up the Empire State Building for a night time view of all the pretty lights! When all that was done I was exhausted so I went off to the New York Comedy Club (of Seinfeld fame) for a few hours of hilarious laughter (and some sad comics!).

Chicago

18th September
Flight from SLC to Chicago 18th September went well, caught train to Chicago International Hostel on North Winthrop Street, has a great kitchen, internet access and bagels for breakfast. US$23 dorm room, no bunks but also no curtains and right next to train tracks. The Hostel is only a few blocks from Lake Michigan, loads of squirrels and the water an amazing blue. Caught a train into downtown Chicago, very centralised shopping. Next day went up Sears Tower for a great view over the city and lake. Phoned home from an internet café, then went to the movies to see Hollywoodland. Went to the Botanic Gardens (2 trains to get there). Lots of different sections including, fruit and veg, historic, enabling, Japanese, English walled. Lovely sunny weather.

Usana Convention

Awesome, amazing, inspiring, fun.
4 days of learning, meeting new people, and generally loads of clapping and dancing and having fun, for those of you not sure what Usana is all about can check out the website http://www.usana.com/ so much new stuff happening in all aspects of the business. When I get home . . .

Salt Lake City

9th September
Salt Lake City is gorgeous, loads of trees and quaint houses, central shopping area with train through the centre up to the university and out to the burbs.
Stayed at the Avenues Hostel on 107F Street and 2nd Ave (original huh?), lots of Americans staying there including far too many older men that need to get a life and possibly some personal care products. A couple of kitchens and two huge screen tvs. Went to the Port of Call Pub to watch the Football on Sunday with Jody from the Hostel. Met a few of his friends and watched 6 tvs at once cos there are so many games on at the same time! Bought loads of veges and fish and meat, so nice to able to cook my own meals, make sandwiches for picnic lunches and not have to eat takeout.

Goodbye Teresa

And the Visa card dilemma:
So after having my wallet go missing in Cusco I had a temporary card delivered to me straight away, unfortunately it required me going into the bank to get money out and all the associated costs that go with that (except in the states its free and easy). So Mum and Dad had arranged for a new card with a pin to be sent to me in Los Angeles at the Hollywood International (Thank you!), the card took a long time to leave New Zealand so I knew it wouldn't be arriving until my last day in LA but that was all good, I'd called the courier company to change the address which was fine. Then the card was delivered to the hostel and the guy at the desk said 'she's not here, go to the hostel down the road (the original address)'. Of course I wasn't there so it went back to the courier company. Now, I had told everyone about my package that was arriving and I had been asking every day in case it had arrived, so later that evening I was told what had happened and the guy was suitably sorry and called the courier, but they were unable to deliver it that night and with my flight at 8am there was no way they could deliver it before my 5am exit. So I changed my flight to the 8pm flight and said good bye to Teresa the next morning.
My last day in LA was spent waiting for the courier and thinking about our mad dash through Central America. Traveling with someone else definitely changes your travel style
and general outlook, it makes you look at the things around you from another perspective, which is great, but I'm happy to be going it alone again. You meet a lot less people when you are traveling with someone, as a lone woman traveler I can easily attach myself to a couple or pair of backpackers for a day or two, make some new friends that happen to be doing the same thing as me, and ditch them again at my earliest convenience!
My card arrived safe and sound and I even tested it to check that it worked, then I went shopping (kidding! although I did by a bag).
8th September

Los Angeles!

1st September
Stayed at Hollywood International Hostel, "kitchen" consisted of microwave and plastic cutlery and plates. I messed up somewhat in that I didn't have enough money on me to pay for the full booking for both of us (Teresa was arriving in a few hours but they wouldn't wait) looking back I could have found a little cafe and sat round til she arrived at midnight but I was so exhausted and grumpy I just wanted a bed! So I paid for 2 nights which meant I broke our booking. When we went to pay for the rest of our week they had given our beds away and the hostel was full. So we moved to Hollywood Highland Hotel and Hostel just down the road. Lucky we checked because the guy told us there were no beds left in Hollywood and we would have to go to Venice beach or somewhere!! And we thought he was being nice and had checked out a few hostels for us, guess he just didn't want us to spread bad news about them! New hostel a bit better with the kitchen and access to breakfast.

So we did the usual touristy things:
Hollywood Walk of Fame
walked almost all the stars (as well as holywood boulevard also branch off down some side streets)
Downtown LA
Went shopping on Sunday, unfortunately not a lot open (???)
Santa Monica/Venice Beach
Awesome beach (in the sense it was huge) you had to walk a mile down the sand to the sea!!
Disneyland
Loads of fun at the original disneyland (also have 'california')
Love Space mountain - rollercoaster in the dark (lots of stars), and splash mountain
Universal Studios
Even more fun here super wet on the Jurrassic park ride and more roller coaster in the dark (and in reverse) on the Mummy ride, Waterworld brilliant and the behind the scenes guys loads of fun.
Shopping
New favorite shops, Wasteland, MNG and Target (bit of a selection there; expensive second hand stuff, flash stuff from Barcelona and better than warehouse cheap but good quality)

Shopping in San Jose

Teresa left Dominical early, I stayed to spend some time on the beach. Next day spent shopping at mall etc. Lots of presents! Flight to LA early for me lunchtime for Teresa. Quite cool to get a veiw of Texas, Dallas airport is enormous and although I caught a train from one terminal to the next when the doors opened you could definitely feel the heat!
30Sept-1Oct

Hacienda Baru

Read the book "Monkeys are made of Chocolate" by Jack Ewing. I read this while in Chile and that's why we visited here! Not that I let Teresa read it before she came it might have scared her off (snake bites, giant toads . . .). Brilliant book of short articles written by the guy that started this wildlife refuge. We did the Mangrove tour, loads of spiders and white faced capuchin monkeys (and a baby!) a three toed sloth and nesting egrets.

Dominical

Took 2 buses from San Jose to Dominical, changing in San Isidro, we stopped in at lots of wrong bus stations before we found the right one, they must not like to share! Dominical is a lovely place, just a main dirt road with some shops and little restaurants and then a road by the beach with more places to eat/drink and hostels to stay in, walk across the road to the beach. Bit of a rip but life guards on duty, went swimming but the water was so warm not like freezing Taranaki water! mmmm hotcakes for breakfast, haven't had those for a few countries. Beats bread and jam any day.
28 August 2006

Tarantula

Me holding an orange-kneed tarantula at the Butterfly Farm, Monteverde.

Scared of spiders?

Monteverde (Santa Elena) is lovely we're staying at this great hostel called Pension Santa Elena, they are so friendly and helpful and we´ve been cooking in the kitchen the last three nights.
Went to Bajo del Tigre last night for a night tour saw lots of cool stuff including a snake and a two toed sloth. I went walking in the Santa Elena Reserve this morning, saw a great view of Volcan Arenal with no cloud on it! Then went to do the zip-line tour this afternoon, unfortunately it was cancelled cos of a thunderstorm (lightning and tall towers made of metal not a good idea!) so that was sad, did the first few lines through forest which was cool but not the highest or fastest ones, met a kiwi chick from Auckland and her english boyfriend. Teresa slept in then went on a 2hour horse trek, only her and the guide which was good. Also visited the butterfly farm where we were told all about the insects etc of Costa Rica and then got to walk through the different gardens. I have a picture of me holding a orange kneed tarantula but it won't upload :-(
25-26th August 2006

La Fortuna 22nd August

Unfortunately Volcan Arenal covered in cloud so didn't get to see even a hint of lava. Baldi Hot Springs the most amazing extravagant place ever, over 20 pools ranging from 37deg to 67deg lots of gardens and a few cold pools for when you got too hot, also 2 swim-up bars and a few restaurants. Had the biggest shower in our room i've ever seen!!

Kayak Parismina

Went kayaking on the canals, once off the main river very quiet and peaceful. Saw spider monkeys, a morpho butterfly, a three toed sloth, some cool lizards and dragonflies and birds.

Parismina

Having a great time in Parismina, very relaxed here, all our meals cooked for us (lots of beans and rice and fried bananas) the turtle patrol can be hard work walking in sand for 4 hours a night, especially if you dont see any turtles cos then you walk to the end (5.6km) but if there are turtles then you have to wait about 1.5 hours for them to lay and then to cover the eggs and flick sand everywhere and get back to the sea (the poachers also steal the turtles) have seen a few turtles but its sad that we get excited if there are 5 turtles laying in one night when not that long ago there would have been hundreds every night. Have had a couple of nights with no turtles and one where 2 turtles came onto the beach then turned around while we watched (for reasons unknown to us sometimes it just isnt right for the turtle) they are amazing to watch and the eggs are so flexible but strong have reburied a few nests at the hatchery which was cool. Had Saturday night off so went to the "disco" the music is so loud you can feel the vibration all over Parismina, so everyone ends up sitting outside!
You can find out more about Parismina and the Turtle Association by going to the "Save the Turtles - Parismina" link on the left side of this page.

Deikol with my Kathmandu frisbee (he liked throwing it in the air) at

Leiony's house (our 'mother').

Some of the local boys having fun at the lagoon.

11-22 August 2006

Where to next?

We´re in Nicaragua now heading down to Costa Rica in a few days, stupidly hot here but at least i´ll be able to wash my clothes and they´ll dry quick! I can say i´ve been on an authentic chicken bus now as yesterday a woman got on the bus carrying a live chicken!! I look forward to being in the US where they have no doubt made the seats and spaces larger cos they are all so fat and there will be airconditioning and movies and a toilet . . . i could go on ;-) Looking forward to chilling in Parismina for 10 days but it will be a mission to get there, from here it´s 3 buses to the border and 1 to San Josè where we will have to stay the night to get an early start for the 2 buses and a boat to Parismina!! We stopped of at a book store in Tegusigalpa (capital of Honduras) for some english books to while away the spare time when not playing with turtles, still have to find some gifts for the children and our host family.
So stopped in; La Ceiba, Tegusigalpa, Frontera los Manos, Ocotal, Esteli, Leon, Managua Granada, Rivas, Pinas Blancas, San Jose, Siquirres, Cano Blanco, Parismina, whew!

Want your hair braided?

Everyone's just itching to braid our hair, especially Teresa's cos it's so long. Caught a ferry from La Ceiba to Roatan Island, stayed at Chilli's Hostel on the beach, the water is crystal clear and gorgeous. It's my 3 month anniversary away from home.
After a swim the next morning and a look at the little shops along the 'strip' (main road - dirt), went snorkelling with the Coconut Tree Resort dive boat. Awesome, would love to come back here and do a diving course. Watched 'free' movies Superman Returns and Da Vinci Code at the Brick Oven pizza place, pizza's very expensive.
5th August, After my morning swim we headed over to the main town on the island Coxen Hole. Not flash, and still expensive food, so headed back to our part of the island and took a water taxi to West End Beach. Resort part of the island large beach with loads of people.

West End Beach

Most dangerous city in central america

Caught a bus to Tela, but had to catch a taxi to a new bus station in San Pedro Sula for the last part of the trip, found out when we were there that it's supposed to be the most dangerous city in central america.
Tela is effing hot we`re off to the bay islands tomorrow morning, will be just as hot there but hopefully more beautiful, although ppl are friendly here, the kids maybe too friendly, a couple of girls selling sweets took a mandarin each from our lunch and then a couple of boys selling bread took teresa`s water!! We didn`t hold it against them though they should have been at school (maybe aged 5-7)
Gotta dash no email for the next few days, stupidly expensive on the islands (US$6 an hour 70cents here)

31st July

So we bailed on Guatemala because it took forever to get anywhere or anything done and noone knew anything but pretended they did which was rather frustrating! Now in Copan, Honduras and the people are lovely and friendly (right from the border) raining now as it does every afternoon but not too warm here which is nice (I had a shower and didn't break out into a sweat getting dressed) going to the Copan ruins tomorrow, our last ones of the trip, have some interesting carvings and temples inside temples so should be fun. Then up to Tela on the coast (yay beach). If all of Honduras is this nice may be here a week.

Tikal Ruins

Teresa and one of many Coatis foraging at the entrance to the Tikal Ruins

You know you're hot when . . .

- your knees sweat

Now in Guatemala and it is hot.

- your elbows sweat

Found a hostel in a great location on a lake close to the Tikal ruins.

- your ears sweat

If you want the best limonada (fresh lemon drink) on the planet you need to go to Cahui Restaurant in El Remate.

Orange Walk

(as in the town), Belize. Took a boat ride up the river to the Lamanai Ruins, only one other group there (our group only 6 people) so lovely and quiet. Amazing lunch supplied with the tour, very belizean.

Teresa climbing a Lamanai Temple - great view of the River and Jungle from the top.

Belize is a crazy mix of cultures, everyone is really friendly (sometimes creepily so) but always helpful and everyone says hello. The chicken buses aren't nearly as bad as everyone makes out (no chickens so far), although for a taller person the lack of leg room (these are old US school buses) is a bit painful after a few hours, luckily Belize is small so we travelled from Belize City to San Ignacio (almost at the Guatemalan border) in 2.5hours and we stopped lots to let ppl on and off and stopped for 20min at the capital Belmopan (has a population smaller than Hawera).
Moving so fast through these countries but having lots of fun, Teresa is even finding lots of food she can eat (mostly vegetarian, no spicy food, no sauce).
Got some money out in Belize city, US$600 but cost me a lot in fees with the bank, govt tax and the cut they take (1.75%), and that doesn't include TSB's fees, so that kinda sucks! (wasn't quite so bad in Mexico). It's really really hot, have to drink so much water cos even sitting still we drip sweat (kinda gross!!), getting used to sleeping like a starfish though!! Always going with the rooms with a fan helps, but not much.
Internet costs 3-5 us dollars an hour so can't write much.

Leaf Cutter Ants

Staying in the jungle is sooo cool!! Took a taxi out to El Panchan a few km's from town. We have a jungle cabin of our own with a shared bathroom, a couple of restaurants nearby and other cabins hidden away, have to step over the leaf cutter ants on the pathways. It's so amazing green and lots of pretty flowers, lobsters claws, birds of paradise (I keep forgetting their proper name), but all very "rainforest".
Took a tour to the Palenque Ruins, very nice, set in the rainforest so could cool off in the shade. Also went to Misol-Ha and Agua Azul waterfalls, Could walk behind Misol-Ha but might as well have gone swimming, and "Agua Azul" not very "blue water" due to all the rain lately more "Agua Cafe".
Do not recommend anyone ever spends more time in the town of Palenque than absolutely necessary, super hot and not a lot to see, unless you're doing a study on deformities (ever seen "Wrong Turn"?) ok that was a little harsh, I'm sure they don't kill people and it is unfortunate, but there's something wrong there, we sure as hell didn't drink any of the water!

Teresa at our jungle cabin in El Panchan

Giving birth the Mayan way

Arrived in San Cristobal at 5:30am but no room for us at the hostel we went to, so left our things there and went for a walk around town. Gorgeous little mountain town, nice and cool, green hills all around and loads of churches and little squares. After breakfast donated our spare bread to some hungry dogs and a homeless man, looks like we might have to carry spare food with us all the time. . .
Headed through an extremely poor part of town to the Mayan Medicine Museum, gave explanations on all sorts of Mayan tricks, including a video of a woman giving birth Mayan style and how a live chicken is used to aid the birth, (I saw it on video but still have no idea how rubbing a chicken - or an axe for that matter - over the woman's body helps for a quicker birth!).
Decided we were done with San Cristobal and jumped straight on a bus for Palenque.

Feeding the squirrel

While looking round the markets spotted a squirrel checking the little feed troughs on the trees, so took some of our bread over and shared it with a few kids and the squirrel took the food out of their hands! Then the kids ate the rest of the bread, poor buggers, needed a wash as well as some food.
Took a local bus to the Monte Alban Ruins just outside town.

Torture Museum

Nasty! Not a place for the faint hearted (as I discovered myself to be) had examples of absolutely everything you could possibly imagine had ever been used for torture. And they let children in! Had a look round a mall Mexico-Style, caught a bus back to the hostel music blasting and no leg room (literally sitting sideways). Then good old Pizza Hut for dinner. A little different from home, the chef came out and offered us some"Acapulca Gold" when we were done eating, good stuff so we're told!
The next day we took the "Bamba Experience" bus to Oaxaca. Not just a bus ride but a travelling experience. Stopped in a nice town called Pueblo for lunch then the Zapotitlan de Salinas (cactus forest) where we learnt about some of the hundreds of uses for cacti. You could cure any ailment in the desert!

Tequila

Mexico City. 17th July.
Teresa made it through all her flights from Brisbane to Mexico but was extremely tired when she got here. So we spent a few days checking out the city and some nearby ruins built by the Zapotecs the photo shows the view from the top of the Temple of the Moon (50m high) to the Temple of the Sun (70m high) taken on my birthday (happy birthday to meeeeee).
Have been trying to plan the rest of our trip, having trouble trying to fit everything in - there`s a lot of travelling to bedone in the next few weeks!! Need to be in Costa Rica 11th August.

Miraflores

Everyone was right when they said to stay in Miraflores in Lima. It`s a really nice area near a beach, lots of nice shops and a great veggie place called Come with awesome veggie burgers and large amounts of fresh juice. Stayed at Samay Wasi Hostel in a 4 bed dorm for US$9 and free breakfast, was ok. Went into the city one afternoon by bus, an afternoon is definitely long enough to see everything, which is kind of sad for such a large city (8-10mil). Caught my flight ok to Mexico.

Oasis

Not that Ica itself is an oasis, there is still desert everywhere, butI went out to Huacachina, and that is an oasis, a lagoon in the desert a few kilometres from town with restaurants and hostels around it and trips out into the sand dunes in these great buggies where we did some sandboarding in the very loosest terms of the word, we just lay on our stomachs on the boards but the dunes were so steep this was quite scary enough for me and the children! (what a wuss)

Desert . . . Again

in Nasca.
Painful day of waiting around and being lied to about how long things would take etc. We had to rush to the airport to get on a flight over the lines - where I waited for 3 hours. The flight was great, I got to sit in the co-pilot seat in a four seater plane, we were about 500m above ground level, so got a really good view (the larger planes fly at 1500m (or feet?)). Nasca town wasn`t flash, (again with the dust) but ate some good street food (the locals use a rag on the table to wipe their hands on but the gringo got a napkin! some really do try). If I had known that soon I wouldn`t have the little stalls to buy snacks and water from on every corner I might have bought more stuff.

Astronaut

Hummingbird

Inca Trail Photos

Looking down on the track to Dead Woman`s pass. Day two.

Our group - pretty tired on day three

Sunrise over Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate, (the shadow effect is probably not an accident).

Machu Picchu with Huayna Picchu in the background.

Me!

Camino Inca

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu has been conquered!! ha!!
Well I made it, it was rough, and very hot and hard but not nearly as painful as I thought it would be and it turns out my group `maybe very good walkers`, so we made good time (some even went so far as to carry all their own gear and beat most of the porters!!).
I had a great group of people, mostly around my age, mostly single, mostly female. And a Swedish couple in their 50s. The rest were American or Canadian except for 2 swedish girls and an aussie girl, so they managed to remind me that not all americans are loud and offensive, though they do tend to have a different travelling style when they are on vacation for only a few weeks. I do have more people to visit while in North America though which will be nice after leaving Teresa behind. Overall, the food was amazing, the porters spectacular, and the toilets the nastiest on earth. My hand sanitiser was a blessing to the entire group, and note to all those who think they might like to try it - take more toilet paper than you think you could ever, ever need. Watching the sunrise onto Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate on the last morning was great with perfect weather, but we were probably too tired to appreciate it properly! Then a short walk down allowed us to see what all the fuss was about, unfortunately it was so hot and still and we didn`t have enough water for the 2.5hour tour so everyone was glad to get the hell out of there!!! Though that meant a bus trip down to Aguas Calientes (I don`t recommend staying there or the hot pools) then a 4 hour train ride back to Cusco, though a few of us bailed with an hour to go to catch a bus that took 20min.

Bug bites

Rafting the Apurimac River - 3 days/2 nights
This has got to be the highlight of my trip so far . . .
Had an absolute blast!! I thought I would enjoy it (hence why I paid US$150) but never thought it would be that much fun. The first day was a 4 hour bus trip to the river, an adventure in itself due to the size of the valley, then lunch and a few hours on the river to learn the ropes and practise flipping. The water was pretty cold but we were supplied with wetsuits, spray jackets and lifejackets.
That night the guides cooked up a great feast and we slept in tents on a small beach next to the river. The next morning we were up before the sun for brekkie so we could put in by 8am. We rafted for about 4 hours straight in class II through V and walked around some big scary ones (class VI). The views were amazing the only downer being the fact that the rest of my boat was speaking in Hebrew the entire time (and I mean the entire time). I did learn a lot about Israel on my trip though! Aside from me and the boy from Holand learning how to be a raft guide the other 15 in the group were from Israel.
After lunch on a large beach we were off again for another few hours of fun rafting before arriving at our camp. We managed not to flip though we did get stuck on a rock (we had just swapped sides of the raft to use our other muscles - needless to say we swapped back!), and we lost a man overboard when we were too slow to get down in the boat, but he was ok.
Another great mountain of food (and good to!) then we sat around our beach fire until bed. The next morning we were up even earlier, then 4 hours rafting til the put out where we packed up the boats and all the gear and had an enourmous lunch of meat meat and more meat and potatoes. Only a few hours from here back to Cusco and everyone slept most of the way! I am now required to return to New Zealand and raft some of our rivers!

Pansies and Marigolds

Qusqo originally, Cusco is a really nice town with loads to do, lots of gringos but that`s to be expected.
My first few days were spent checking out the town, a few museums and the nearby ruins of Sachsayhuaman (saxy-woaman), Qènko and Tambomachay.
There are tours daily that go up to the ruins, but with the Inca Trail looming I thought I could do with the walk. I couldn`t tell you how many km I walked cos the signs never added up but it was quite a way and boy was it hot!! Hired a guide at S who was doing his thesis on the site so as well as knowing quite a bit about it he had excavated some as well so was very enthusiastic.

Inca Express to Cusco

Made it to Cusco!! The bus was good, a long day starting at 7am and going till 5pm but we stopped and saw some ruins, churches, had a great buffet lunch, stopped at the highest point for photos and ¨shopping¨ (anywhere the tourists stop you will find women selling alpaca hats, blankets etc etc.)
Stayed the first night in a dodgy hostel, met an aussie couple on the bus (among others) so we went looking for a hostal together but lots full so just went with this yuck one (they were only staying one night anyway). So second mission the next day (the first was breakfast) was to find a nice hostal, found a few ok ones and a really nice, really expensive one but finally found El Andariego. Only a few blocks from the main Plaza but well back off the street and I have my own room with private bathroom and free breakfast, with fruit! and the hot water is so hot and fullon it was great! Caught the local bus over to Pisac to see their Sunday market, some good quality weaving etc for good prices even before the bargaining. Climbed up to the ruins - what an absolute mission!! i didn`t have a very good view when we drove down to the city cos the bus was so full so i didn`t see just how high the temples were. When I started to climb I was underneath the mountain so didn´t realise it would be that much of a challenge, the amount of work that went in to building the terraces, houses and temples puts my pathetic effort to climb it all to shame! Some bad news though, lost my wallet on the way back to the hostal, lucky bugger that finds it cos I had just that morning gotten out 500soles (the max I can get out) so have had to cancel my visa card - should get a new one Thursday.

Lake Titicaca

Titicaca = Grey Puma or Stone Puma.
Did a 2 day 1 night trip out on the lake. Visited 2 of the Uros Floating Islands (there are 40) then Amantani a farming Island where we stayed the night with different families and dressed up in the traditional clothes to go dancing in the hall. The next day to Taquile island, much more touristy (working with tour companies for 30+ years compared to Amantani`s 6) where we had Kingfish for lunch and then 3hours by boat back to Puno. Booked a tour bus to Cusco with Inca Express.

Puno

Made it to Puno, certainly not a city to put on the ¨pretty¨list, maybe the ¨pretty poor¨list. My hostel was ok, private bathroom which was nice, and the girl was lovely - kept getting me tea for my cough. After arriving in the evening I found a simple diner and spent some time in front of the tv, which I haven´t done in over a week so that was a nice change.
Went for a walk the next morning to test the altitude, wasn´t too bad so climbed up a nearby Mirador (Lookout) to get a view of the city. Took me a while stopping often to let my heart rate slow down and get my breath back but was a good view of Lake Titicaca.
Puno is trying to be a tourist town at least near the centre with quite a few restaurants and pubs etc, but the rest of Puno is crazy busy with locals selling everything from market stalls. I don`t think they have a full on super market in Puno, I didn´t see one, everything from soap to kitchen sinks to cordless drills can be found in stalls. Some really good fruit here, had my first Kiwifruit for a while.

As hot as hell

Is now monday 1:30pm here in Arequipa. Have spent the majority of the weekend (since friday night 6pm) in bed going out only for food and water. The drugs have kicked in and I feel much better, even when I do cough now it´s empty and doesn´t make my head pound! I have booked my bus for Puno tomorrow so will keep you posted on whether this is a serious ¨you must not go to altitude you´ll get sick again¨ kind of thing or whether I´ll just need a few days in Puno to adjust to 3800m (am at 2300m in Arequipa) is quite a big jump in altitude but will be doing all the necessary coca leaf chewing (yuck!) coca tea drinking (not as yuck) and coca toffee eating (tastes better but not sure how much I need to eat!) so wish me luck!

Arequipa and the illness

And Bingo on the Bus. I was promised bingo on the Navimag but we never got it, but I have now had my bingo fix (?). Good practise for my spanish numbers as well, but didn´t win. Guess they didn´t have enough movies on the bus to see us through!?!
Arequipa is a lovely city built out of sillar, a white volcanic rock. Spent my first day checking out the museums and churches (they have 17) and the convent and Juanita the ice princess (mummy). Moved to a cheaper hostal and booked a two day Colca Canyon excursion.
Headed off the next mornign at 8am for Chivay at teh beginning of the Colca Valley, went to a height of 4500m for some great views then down to 3600m for the night gret entertainment with dinner (I´m more than likely going to be seen on a marketing video for the restaurant) but started to feel a little more ill than your standard altitude sickness headache and started to cough. After a rough night no sleeping (very very cold) got up at 5am (-3deg) for breakfast and the drive to the Colca Canyon to see the condors, the weather wasn´t the best for them to fly but saw a couple then headed back to Chivay for a buffet lunch. By this time my cough had worsened and was becoming quite painful, but lunch was good. We were all feeling quite grotty with headahes etc but otherwise a happy group (2 irish girls, french couple and english couple). Then came the drive back up to 4500m and down to Arequipa. It was a rough ride (not paved) on the way over but was worse going back as we were tired and sore already and with my cough getting worse by the hour everyone was quite paranoid about going higher again and getting sick, but we all made it back ok and I went straight to the chemist for drugs then to bed by 6pm!

Arica

Still in the Desert. You can look out from Iquique to the ocean and it´s warm and sunny, turn around, look over the city, and you will see what basically amounts to a giant sand dune towering over the city, a constant reminder you are still in the Atacama region. Arica is very similar, very dry, surrounded by sand and rock. I stayed a few days, mostly because I wanted to do my laundry, it´s so nice to have clean clothes! The town isn´t too bad checked out the square and the building made by Eiffel (as in tower) and climbed the hill to get a view of the city and visit the war museum. Also headed out of town to the Archaeological museum to look at the mummies and some amazing weaving etc from 2000bc. Stayed total 2 nights in Arica at 2 hostels both across the road from the bus station. Hostel International $4000 single room but crazy small bathroom (they had a childs size toilet so it would fit) and no toilet paper. So moved to Rocca Luna (6 doors down) $3500/night single room much nicer bathroom. These aren´t ¨real¨ hostels though, same in Iquique, you won´t find many gringos or information, no free maps or suggested places to go, no guest kitchen and often not even a common room or lounge. So I haven´t cooked for myself in a while.
From Arica got a colectivo across the border to Tacna, Peru. But these weren´t no tiny town taxis, I sat in the middle of the front bench seat of a Crown Victoria! Guess they have bigger boot space for 5 people´s luggage! In Tacna had a few hours to kill before my bus to Arequipa so checked out the town centre market etc before another bus ride!

Iquique

My first bus break down in almost 125 hours of bus journeys. 2 hours into the trip there was some electrical problem so we turned back to the last small town and waited a few hours for them to find us a new bus and for it to arrive from Calama. Had said ¨Hi¨ briefly to the only other gringos on the bus an english couple Chris and Miki, but the breakdown meant we had plenty of time for a chat and even watched some of Happy Gilmore at the ¨dairy¨. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but due to the delay we arrived late in Iquique and went to the nearest hostel we could find (literally a block away from the bus station) called Catedral cos it was right across the road from the cathedral! I had hoped to do some laundry while here as I had collected quite a lot of dust in the desert but being a sunday they weren´t open. Checked out the town and the beach (wrong season for swimming hopefully when there´s more people here they clean up the rubbish) had an amazing lunch - cerviche (marinated fish salad), fish soup (all sorts of shellfish bones etc) and fried fish with a salad. As well as that had a great fresh mango and orange juice from a nearby stall. But I decided I´d seen quite enough of Iquique and didn´t need another day there so headed for the bus station. It is a beach resort town with a great central plaza and main street paved and lots of trees and sculptures but the rest of the town could do with a serious paint job. The pelicans were very cool also but best you see the photos, coming asap.

San Pedro de Atacama

While at the bus station met 2 american boys, Ben and Pat. They were keen to hire a car for a few days and tripping around the desert so I got off the bus in Calama and hired a pick-up truck (Chevrolet S10 4x2). I drove to San Pedro to pick up the boys, we found a hostel to ditch our stuff and headed south to the Lagunas (4300m above sea level). Unfortunately all three of our maps were hard to follow (and all different! - the chilean way) so we missed a few turns but eventually made it - amazing views. Then to the Salar de Atacama (salt flats) we just missed arriving there to watch the sunset but the drive was great the ground is crazy rough! Early to bed that night as it was freezing (esp after a cold shower!) and we had an early start.
Up at 4:30am for the 2 hour drive to the Tatio Geysers (4600m) north of San Pedro, very cold at -10deg but the geysers were great to watch as the sun rose. Then back towards San Pedro to the hot springs. Only a small river but a catwalk built alongside so you could run between the 7 or 8 pools, only 33deg but plenty warm enough and it meant we could happily sit there for more than 2 hours. Back down in San Pedro it was a scorcher of a day so after lunch we headed to Valle de la Luna (yes another one! Similar thing to Argentina San Juan but on the Chilean side of the Andes). We climbed a giant sand dune and watched the sun set before heading for Calama. Found me a hostal on the 5th try (all full of locals) and dropped the boys at the bus station before turning in. Since I had the car til lunch time Saturday drove North East to Chiu Chiu and Lasana a few tiny villages along the river where they are doing research into different methods of agriculture. After ditching the truck jumped on a bus for Iquique on the coast.

Chile 11th June

Flew Sunday night from BA to Santiago, then straight to the bus station for a ticket to La Serena. Midnight bus and arrived in Serena at 6am (the bus attendant had a mission to wake me up!). Then headed off by taxi to hostel that didn´t wake up when I knocked (it´s still dark and I´m very tired . . ) So I went in search of someone who new where another Hotel I´d heard about was. And this is how I met Karen and Alex. Alex had his head between his knees removing the excess alcohol from his system, so they didn´t look pàrticularly threatening. After establishing they spoke no english and I very little spanish and that they weren´t from La Serena so had not a clue where the street was, Karen invited me to stay at her house. So we jumped in a collectivo (taxi with a set fair to set locations) to Coquimbo 5 minutes south and another collectivo up the hill and a quick walk through an increasingly dodgy neighbourhood and we were there. Luckily they had a great sense of humor so after we slept till lunch time Karen and I sat down with my little dictionario and started ¨chatting¨.
So the last 2 nights I´ve stayed in a hotel (my own little apartment thing) because Karen doesn´t have hot water, and met up with them to hang out, see some sights (borrowed a friends car) and generally have a lot of laughs. Ate a loads of places I probably wouldn´t have even seen, saw the lighthouse, japanese gardens, cross on the hill, central coquimbo and serena, and went for a boat ride out in the harbour to look at the views of both cities and seals and birds on the rocks. Also went to the fish market (Mel you would have loved it!) as well as selling your usual whole and filleted fish of every kind, they had ready to go plastic punnets of seafood all chopped up (I couldn´t begin to name them) and you got a spoon and added salt, lemon, onion and chilli to taste and went for it!! So I went back this morning and had seafood for breakfast!!The thing with having a communication problem was that it took a long time to figure out what was actually going on but I´ll sum it up here so you don´t have to go through the pain of every explanation (and I don´t have to relive it!!).

Karen & Alex together 3 months living together 2, Karen has a son (4) and they live in Santiago. She is originally from Coquimbo so was showing Alex (and now me) her home town. The house they are staying in breaks almost every building code I know about and it took some courage to go up stairs to sleep! But I haven´t established who usually lives there as she calls it ¨her house¨but there´s very little furniture (2 bedrooms with nothing in, my room a bed and a wardrobe). She works administration at somewhere that does something with chemicals and minerals and he is a student. They are getting married in Jan/Feb next year and have invited me!

So I´ve been here longer than I´ve planned and done very little tour wise, but had a great time, unfortunately my bible has gone walkabouts so not sure what to do about that, I may have been able to find a dictionary in Santiago but not here . . .

Off to Calama tonight, had wanted to stop in Copiapo but can´t find anywhere to stay and will probably be like here with no gringo tourists, from Calama will aclimatise (2200m) and head out to Atacama and the salt plains.

Buenos Aires 9-11 June

I can´t believe I´ve been away for 5 weeks!! It feels like it´s gone so fast but then I look back at how much I´ve done and the list is quite impressive!!
BA, Nice city, huge and city-like (ie not where I would stay for long) unfortuantely I drank too much first night there and spent the next 2 days I was there being a bit vague. Stayed at the Tango Hostel (Hostel Inn HI Hostel, kinda expensive, grumpy staff, really busy) Real party atmosphere with bar downstairs free brekkie and internet, nice place in San Telmo area but wish I´d stayed somewhere a little more low key as the whole drug scene is not my thing.
Plenty of reasons to go back/spend some more time in BA though:

• markets
• antiques market
• shopping (musical instruments, clothes, cds)
• tango (dinner and show with lesson)
• theatre (loads of scantily dressed women in comedy plays)

Spent my second day in BA watching football, english game in the morning at the hostel, then went out later with Nick, an english guy from the hostel that had met briefly in Bariloche, to cafe for some food and watched the first half of the Argentinian game then back to the hostel for the second half, so funny to see the streets empty (8lanes and only one bus!).
Decided we weren´t up for drinking again so went downtown to find some entertainment, unfortunately neither of us is great with spanish so didn´t feel we could could cope with any of the (many) plays or stand up comedians and went with dinner and ¨the perfect plan¨ movie with Clive Owen robbing the bank. Was quite good for an escape from reality but confused Nick no end!!
Went to the Recoleta markets this morning (Sunday) and bought loads (whoops!). So much cool stuff, loads of jewellery and glass and amazing art. Next time i´m stopping here last on my way home so I can buy a saxophone, cheap clothes and at least 4 piecies of art!! then headed back to San Telmo for the antiques thing, really great, heaps of people, living mannequins etc, Tango music, proper antique stores and stalls outside so if you need some silver cutlery . . . Found a little silver box just like (kathryn) has at home but slightly wobbly on the hinge and lined with velvet (US$50) also found Limoges piano, unfortunately not enough money on me to buy ($150 pesos or US$50) not sure if it was a good buy or not? (or whether authentic or american actually didn´t think to look).
It is now 11:15pm in Chile (12:15pm Argentina) so feeling a little tired, another overnight bus will no doubt help (not), it leaves just before midnight and arrives at 6am so not really a full nights sleep by my standards! Planning on taking a few days at a number of stops heading north, some at altitude so will have to allow time to adjust. I would like to be in Cuzco by the 4th July at the latest so have three weeks, when I get to La Serena will set down a more definite plan. It should be getting warmer further north - yay.

Córdoba

Quite a large town (really had no idea when I decided to stop in here!!). Stayed at the Tango Hostel cos heard a rumor it was good, met a couple of Aussie chicks (sisters) Marina and Catherine at the bus station and caught a taxi, hostel nice, quite small, lots of people. Spent the day looking round town, quite a nice city really, walked in the park and did a tour of the Jesuit church, library and University which was really interesting, got invited to celebration on Saturday for the Futbol (Argentina match) but unfortunately will have to move on before then. Drank the orange liquor I bought in Mendoza (finally) with the Aussie girls went out, then got a great nights sleep (much needed I might add!!). Was hoping to do some trekking nearby the next day but since I slept in and needed a 2 hour bus ride before I could start walking thought I´d give it a miss. Spent another day in town people watching and window shopping which felt a bit lazy of me but I think I needed a break. The girls got their hair cut/coloured while in Córdoba, really great for both of them, but somehow they managed to end up with really bad fake nails as well that cost loads (always ask how much!). Wish I had a photo to show you how bad! So then caught (yet another) overnight bus to Buenos Aires 9 hours. Wasn´t too bad, didn´t stop a lot which was good.

San Juan

No idea what day or date it is . . .
but I´ll try and do this at least in the right order.
San Juan: Went to Valle de la Luna (valley of the moon) really hard day, spent 13 hours in the back of a taxi, great views as you will see from photos but just driving and stopping to get out and take photos and driving some more. Also rather unfortunate that there were no other backpackers at the hostel!!! Some nice locals tho. Was a guy staying there that kindly offered to be my translator as the guides that do the tour in the park don´t speak english, turns out he just wanted to go to the park for free and didn´t help hardly at all with translating!!! Also, even though I asked twice, missed out on stopping at Difunta Correa. Check this website for the Correa Story for those that don´t know.
http://www.answers.com/topic/difunta-correa
The description´s not the best but you get the idea, also the story varies a lot as to whether the husband had ever seen the son, and if he was sick/left behind, depending on who you talk to (Arg/Chilean etc). But I thought it would be nice to leave a bottle of water as a lot of people do this before the undertake a long journey (like me).

Submarine

Mushroom

Then I jumped on an overnight bus to Córdoba 9 hours East.

Mendoza 2nd June

Arrived in Mendoza bright and early in the morning and headed for Winca´s, unfortunately no room so went to Hostel Alamo where I got a dorm room and Sarah and Liam (english couple) got a twin. Went for a walk in the park (beautiful) it´s still autumn here so all the trees are brown and orange. Steak for dinner (tried a different cut - yum). Did a wine tour by bike yesterday (Saturday) bus trip south to Maipu then picked up the bikes and visited a wine museum, a winery, a liquor and chocolate factory, a delicatessan for a delicious lunch, another winery and an olive oil factory. There were a few other wineries on the list but a few were closed and one wouldn´t show us round cos they didn´t speak english and we didn´t speak spanish. Most disappointed that Trapiche was closed as their Malbec is my favorite wine in South America so far, even after all the tastings.

Jason and Amanda Oz/NZ couple met at the bike place, on the home stretch.

Bariloche

Disembarked with a hangover and 3hours sleep on Monday morning went straight to the bus station to find we (bout 8 ppl heading the same way as me) had just missed a bus to Bariloche so got on the next bus for Osorno (1.5hours) hoping to get a bus to Bariloche. Missed that bus by less than 5 minutes and had to wait 5 hours till the next one so found an amazing bakery/cafe and warmed up there with empanadas, checked our emails, took a look at the church and the park then caught our bus to Bariloche (5hours) where we stayed at 41 Below (run by a kiwi) really nice hostel, great staff, free tea and coffee, no breakfast, no internet. Went out for great Argentinian steak at a flash restaurant $20 argentinian pesos (have left the thousands and mil in chile) it´s $3 AP to $1 US so pretty cheap!!

Me, Neil, Manix, Simon, Sarah and Liam. Check out the size of the knives!!

Unfortunate we had to waste a day travelling but the next morning (tuesday) went for a walk up a nearby Cerro (hill) for some great views of Bariloche (revolving restaurant at the top).

View form Cerro Otto down on Bariloche

Caught a bus Wednesday to the nearby ski lodge (no snow yet) and walked up to the first Refugio (Frey) If I had been here earlier this would have been my first day´s walk of a 5 day trek but there was a bit too much snow up in the mountains so just did a day walk, some amazing views and very tired by the end of the day!


Bus to Mendoza (north) 19 hours. Left 12:30pm Never had so many stops and farting around with a bus before,nightmare of a ride with about 4hours sleep in fits and starts.

Navimag

Embarked Thursday night 9pm, set sail 6am Friday.
Not what it´s cracked up to be, but no doubt better in summer, as the answer to all our questions about the glacier and Puerto Eden and the live music and the happy hour and the bingo and the hot water was ¨Only in Summer¨ (so there).
Did have a great time, but would not recommend cattle class for the weak stomached - this is a cargo ship that accomodates passengers, and all that cargo was cattle. We had to go outside and down a few flights of stairs and past the cattle trucks to get to our rooms from the canteen or even just to use the bathroom, whereas the others were upstairs with their own bathrooms, but ironically cattle class had hot water and the champagne backpackers toilets didn´t even flush!!
Loads of food though, basic, but for people doing no more exercise than raising their drinking hand to their mouth we were stuffed full. And we watched 2 or 3 movies a day (oh yeah no ¨lectures¨either a bit of stuff on video about the area etc but no captains talk!) so all in all a nice break from the hectic pace i´ve been setting but ready for a long walk!
Next: Bariloche, Argentina

El Calafate 24th May

Little bit led astray here as I caught the only bus over into Argentina in the morning (5hours) only to find on arrival that there in fact no tours going in the afternoon to the Perito Moreno Glacier. Luckily for me the best hostel staff ever arranged a deal with a taxi driver to get me out there (80km from town) and back. It was amazing and even though it cost me a bit more than a tour would´ve I couldn´t go all that way and not see the glacier!!
America del Sur a great hostel, heated floors, amazing views, the best staff allround i´ve ever met, quite a few staying there so had a quiet night with a few drinks, awesome empanadas delivered to the door and icecream too (yes they delivered 1L icecream, chocolate, dulche de leche and coconut amazing!!!) then off bright and early the next morning to catch the bus back to Puerto Natales. Where I went back to Casa Cecila to pick up my gear and managed to have a shower, cook some lunch and generally just stay warm till I had to check in to the Navimag!

5km wide moves forward 2m per day at the front and 40cm at the sides (creates arrowhead) continuously breaking off creaking and groaning and cracking all the time.

Puerto Natales

Torres del Paine reflected in salt water lake.

Day trip to Torres del Paine National Park $20.000 plus park entry $5000

• Milodon cave
• Waterfalls
• Brilliant views
• Lago and Glacier Grey
• loads of wildlife; grey foxes, skunks, condors and other birds, guanacos, but no puma.

Guanacos crossing the road.

Punta Arenas Saturday 20th May

Walked down past the port, up a nearby hill and went to the museum, some pretty cool stuff but terrible english translations that I sometimes couldn´t follow, and found out Methanex in Punta Arenas. Bitterly cold wind, still can´t find a hat I like, might have to bite the bullet and buy a lime green one, happens to be the ¨in¨colour here in Chile, buildings, clothes, you name it, it´s been seen green.

Punta Arenas Friday 19th May

Sky airlines very cheap but a nightmare to get a flight with, although I have to say if the flight wasn´t delayed a lot of people would have missed it, this wasn´t entirely my fault there were three girls serving and it took 15min to serve 3 ppl but then I took over 30min which included running out the back to make a phonecall and everything! The flight was amazing though, we made a stop somewhere starting with B possibly in Argentina (David or Clare will know) the view was great photos to come. Staying in a lovely place called Hostal Costanera, got myself a double bed awesome heater and free internet and breakfast for $4000 a night, brilliant! Of course this is because i´m the only one here but that´s beside the point (you should have seen the set up for breakfast, like an english supper!), unfortunately there´s no tours going, no buses going anywhere interesting (hoped to go to nearby National park) so I´m left with a freezing city. The cemetery is very cool though (am I allowed to say that?). View from Plane down on Andes, not sure exactly where this is but the glacier is pretty huge.

Puerto Montt Friday 18th May

Puerto Montt Port

Bus from Chonchi to Puerto Montt (4 hours). My flight still wasn´t organised, i couldn´t call them (still not sure what was up with that) and I couldn´t find a hostel where anyone spoke english (even the one recommended because they did), so I threw a minor paddy booked myself into a nice place with a room to myself a tv, private bathroom and a heater, then I called mummy and daddy! Yay for skype, we love skype, tell all your friends about skype (thanks Paul). Super cheap from internet to landlines anywhere in the world, free to another skype user. Bit of a delay but still good! Then I went back to my room and watched american tv til late (¨prime time¨is after 9pm here) saw Gilmore girls, ER, Greys Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, very cool, no idea where the storylines are up to which sounds crazy but it´s true! Highly recommend Hostal Pacifico to ppl like Ma&Pa super basic, but clean and warm. Also it´s really nice to have soap and a towel to dry your hands on for a change!

Chiloé National Park Wednesday 17th May

Carlos drew us another map then ordered a taxi which took Clare, David and myself ($14000 total) to the National park on the other side of the island (Cucao). We walked through the rainforest (educational walk) then down to the beach, we had to take our shoes off in order to get past a swampy part and then walked down the beach shoeless but with gloves, hats and jackets on! and we weren´t just being wimpy it actually hailed on us 3 times before the bus came to take us home. Some amazing views, i´ll get them on here when I´m at a computer that can handle it, but just wanted to write something as my written diary has died a horrible death (sorry Katrina!)and I can only figure out what i´ve been doing on what day by my receipts!

Lemuy Tuesday 16 May

Arrived late Sunday to Esmeralda´s in Chonchi on the island of Chiloé. The only other ppl at the hostel were David and Clare an english couple, so we headed off to the small island of Lemuy for the day on Tuesday. 4km walk to the free ferry accross to the island where we walked along the coast through farmland to a small church (we couldn´t get in though). We had a map drawn for us by Carlos the hostel owner unfortuately there was some misunderstanding (on my part) as to where we should expect to find the small villages and we thought we were 3.5km further away from our destination than we were. This resulted in the other two taking the ´quick´ way home and me continuing to the next village, luckily for me I wasn´t led astray for too long as my road soon ran out! So off I went to follow Clare and David who weren´t in fact walking in the direction they thought they were. So I hitched a ride in the back of a ute to catch them up and we got a ride to town where we then had some time to kill before the bus back to the hostel. Esmeralda´s; Esmeralda street Chonchi, Chiloé $5000/night, internet access, $4000 fish dinner breakfast on request, hostel in the middle of being renovated including improved heating. Carlos speaks english and should invest in some maps for the guests!

Petrohué Sunday Stroll

Osorno from Cerro Phillipi in Puerto Varas

Caught a bus to Petrohué today (Sunday 14th May)

Did a lovely walk near the lake there then walked down the road to the waterfalls (bout 15km total) then caught last bus back to Puerto Varas, very tired now (2 hours total on a 16 seater bus with 25-30 ppl on it). Weather turning nasty but had a nice time in my waterproof pants and jacket, the cooler weather meant I didn´t get as hot. So off to Chiloé (Island south of here) tomorrow hope the weather isn´t tooo rocky!

Saltos de Petrohué, waterfalls emptying lake, very green.