Brooke´s incredible overseas adventure

10 days in Ecuador...

brookehahn — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:22:00 GMT

So... we arrived into the north Peruvian town of Tumbes, and spent one night here (border crossing only open during the day). The following morning we took a taxi to the border, walked across, then got a mini-van for 5 hours to the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil. We were wanting to go onto the beach town Montanita, but had to go to Guayaquil in order to get a further bus. Ecuador is known for its fruit - namely bananas, and we past kms and kms of banana fields on the way.

We got dropped off in Guayaquil - not at the bus station like we had expected, but in the city centre, quite a way away from the terminal. An Ecuadorian guy Daniel who was also in the mini-van with us - he spoke no English - but we understood that he was being picked up by his friends, and they could drop us off at the bus station. So grateful, we all piled into this tiny hatchback car, with our packs, me sitting on Sarah's lap so we could fit, and they took us to the bus station. They even paid the carpark entry fee and refused to take money from us! They were all so lovely. Daniel even gave us his number in case we had any problems or needed anywhere to stay.

Then inside the terminal, in line to buy a ticket to Montanita (was about 6pm), we were talking to one of the ladies who worked there, about wanting a ticket. She only spoke Spanish, and a young guy (the lovely Gorky) in the line behind us, asked us in English if we needed any help. Yes!! Gorky was there with his mum, and was coming home from uni. He explained that there were no direct buses to Montanita until the morning, but we could get a bus to the nearby town called Salinas for the night. Gorky said they actually lived in Salinas, and could help us get there and even help us find a hostel. Very very kind of them. So we agreed, and got on the bus with them. Then on the bus, Gorky called his Dad, and said that we could stay the night at their place in Salinas if we'd like instead! Such wonderful, amazing people. When we got off the bus, Gorky´s dad picked us up and they gave us a driving tour of the town (Gorky was the only one who could speak English). Then back to their lovely little place, where we drank tea, and they even vacated a bedroom for us.

Then the next morning we awoke to a huge cooked breakfast (where we werent allowed to help at all! Not even to clear the table), and sat around chatting to them all. They asked us to stay for lunch, so we did! Spent a couple of hours walking the beach with Gorky, then back for a huge lunch (the mum was cooking for 3 hours!), and we all sat around talking, eating and drinking red wine. Was a really lovely day. Then late that afternoon they were sad to take us to the bus terminal, said they wanted us to stay longer, and if we ever needed a place to stay in Ecuador, we were most welcome there. We said the same for them in Australia and England, especially for Gorky, who was studying international business and wants to travel the world. We just couldnt get over the absolute kindness of strangers.

We arrived that night in Montanita, a small, beachy and hippy town very popular with travellers. And it didnt disappoint... a really cool place with a perfect blend of beach, music, bars and cafes. We spent 3 nights enjoying the sun, hammocks, good food and good cocktails... And here, the sunset is INCREDIBLE!! A huge orange ball slowly melting into the water.

From here we went to the town Banos, set inland in the mountains, and a rather different surrounding to where we had just come. We actually had to go back south to Guayaquil before getting an overnight bus to Banos (nothing direct), so again it was another long journey (and our 2nd of 3 trips to Guayaquil bus station).

We arrived in lightning speed in Banos at 7am the next morning (was meant to be in at midday, but awoke many times on the trip to the bus kareening around corners...), and found the cutest hostel that overlooked huge, green mountains. We ate an incredible breakfast, before having our first of 2 hot bath type sauna treatments. In the hostel, they had this thermal bath/steam room (which was meant to be great for releasing toxins from your body), which had 4 wooden boxes with a hole cute out for your head. So you sit in there, the box gets closed around you (all you can see is the person´s head poking out... looks hilarious!). Then your body gets sauna-ed inside the box for 4 mins, then out and wash yourself down with cold water and a wet towel, before back in the box. Repeat this about 4 times (it gets bloody hot and claustrophobic too!). Then the guy running it sits you down in a pond of icy water and splashes you, then back in the box. Finally he gets a big hose and hoses you (it hurts too!), and then its all over and your body´s meant to be very grateful for the experience. Dont know how many toxins it released, but we had a good laugh.

The next day was Claire´s birthday, and Sarah and I surprised her with booking her and I into doing horse-riding along the mountain (Sarah refused, so it was just Claire and I). Claire was thrilled as she is a semi-experienced horse-rider (her brother has a farm where he horse-whisperers horses), whereas I had only ridden my uncle´s temperamental horse a few times when i was about 10. So a tad nervous i was. Our guide picked us up at 2pm, only to inform us that we couldnt do the 2hr ride as planned, but had to do a 4hr one. Claire was thrilled at the change, whilst myself was a wee bit more nervous (also worried about how my bum and legs would survive).

At the... I wont say stables, but the street where the horses were tied up, we met an NZ couple who were also doing the tour, and the horses: George Bush, Ossama Bin Laden, John Travolta and David Beckham. A rather odd and interesting choice of names, and not quite sure how the latter 2 fit into the political theme... I was given Beckham who was a lovely and placid horse, and Claire was given George Bush. We were also informed of the tense relationships the horses had with each other - mainly George Bush and John Travolta disliked each other, and if riden side by side, they´d start biting each other. David Beckham was the peace-keeper (who knew?), and often pushed his way between the two to break up any fighting. I´ll also say that the horses were very badly behaved - they walked when they wanted, stopped when they wanted, and if one started trotting or cantering, they all did. We really didnt have much sway in controlling them - we were just a pesky annoyance along for the ride. But that aside, it was a nice walk through the mountainside. Sadly, it wasnt until about 10 mins before the end that i figured out how to trot properly instead of just bouncing around on the saddle, and by then the bruises to my bum and legs were very much developed.

Claire finished the ride buzzing; I had also enjoyed it, which i stated inbetween punctuations of "ow...ow" with every step. Went out that night for a lovely birthday dinner, before collapsing onto a very comfy mattress.

The next morning we got a bus to Quito, Ecuador´s capital, and from there, a bus to the town Otovalo. Otovalo was home to the biggest craft market in South America – which was on the following day (hence our reason for going). Our hostel was in the countryside quite a way from the town, with 4 huge, soppy dogs, a log fire and hammocks. We had a really lovely stay here, along with a few really cool people staying there too.

The Otovalo markets were great – we got up bright and early to make the most of the day´s shopping and bartering. We bought quite a number of gifts and souvenirs, in a solid 5-6hrs of shopping. That night was another restful one, watching movies in front of the log fire, before a bus back to Quito the following morning. Claire and I only had one night in Quito, as we were flying out to London a couple of days later – Claire from Santiago in Chile, and me from Sao Paulo in Brazil. So we spent our last night here with Sarah (she was going onto Columbia… sad to part with her!), and we needed to get back to Tumbes in north Peru, to begin our convoluted journey to London.

We got a bus back to Guayaquil, spent the night there (funny too... again we didnt get dropped off at the main terminal. So we asked these guys "donde es la autobus terminal", and they had no idea what we meant. Until it finally dawned on one of them, "ah... terminaaaaal!". Sounds very similar to terminal, no?), then the following morning got a bus back to Tumbes (which marked the beginning of my horrendous transit to London, and the last time I would shower in 4 days). I had to fly to London from Sao Paulo in Brazil, and a more long-winded trip there via various return flights worked out cheaper than a direct one there.

So a 5 hour bus ride to Tumbes (a tad worrying when we got off the bus at the border to get our passports stamped, and the bus drove away with our bags! Assured it would return, and it did about 15 mins later after dropping others off), then a flight to Lima, where Claire and I spent the night sleeping on metal chairs in the airport. The next morning I flew to BA and Claire to Chile. I arrived in BA in the afternoon, put my bag in a locker, and spent a few hours in the main street of BA (went out for another steak too!). Then back to the airport about 11pm where I was to spend another night on metal chairs (didnt want to pay for a hostel).

The next morning I was meant to have an early flight to Sao Paulo, but it got delayed. I was transferred onto another flight there; and worried that my bag would get lost, but they assured me it would be fine. Exhausted, i finally got my flight to S.P., trying to remember Portuguese to ask for directions. Got my flight to London via Madrid, and it was farewell to South America! A bit sad, and I thought poignant that my trip both started and ended in Sao Paulo airport.

Absolutely exhausted after 4 days in transit, we arrived at Heathrow airport (Claire and I had the same flight from Madrid), were interrogated at customs by a horrendous lady, and then to the bag carousel, where my bag was not. At this point, I burst into tears (turns out my bag was spending some extra time in Madrid, and it was courriered to me that night. The airline even gave me 50 euros compensation so i could buy emergency things!). Met our friends Leah and Sarah at the airport for our next phase: "hello London"...

10 days in Bolivia...

brookehahn — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:50:00 GMT

Well, the bus ride from Cusco to Bolivia was really only a taste of those to come. The guy we booked our ticket through in Peru assured us that it was a direct bus, straight from Cusco to La Paz (Bolivia's capital city). No changing, no waiting. So we got on the bus at 10pm, saw a guy James from our hostel there (he was going to Loki Hostel, La Paz too); Claire and I were sitting upstairs on the bus, and James downstairs. Normally on overnight buses, the driver turns the lights off so people can actually go to sleep, so I assumed this bus would be the same. By about midnight, i thought that, huh, they've probably just forgotten, so i'll go find someone to turn them off. So i went to the level downstairs to find that 1) the driver was in a blocked off and inaccessible area, and 2) the dowstaits level had lights off, and fully recliner, spacious seats!

Outraged, i stomped back upstairs, tied my scarf around my head in manner of a blindfold, and sent thoughts of rage to the driver (only semi-rage though, because he was the driver of the bus...). Then about 5am we arrived back at Puno, all off and a 2 hour wait in the freezing bus terminal for our next bus to arrive (luckily the shops were open, so we feasted on tea and chocolate oreo-type biscuits). Finally got on another bus at 7am, that was supposedly to go direct to La Paz (with a quick hop on, hop off at immigration at the border). About 2hrs later we arrived at the border, took off our bags, got our passports stamped and were ready to get back on the bus on the Bolivian side. Only we were then told that we werent to get on the big bus, but everyone was to get on a series of old, old mini-vans, with all our luggage tied to the roof. Was good to have James there to help us out.

So we all crammed into the mini-van for about an hour, then we stopped at a place called Copacobana. All off here, where we were to then get a proper bus to La Paz... in an hour. Oh, well there are nice restaurants here, why not have some lunch? Possibly a big scam to get our lunch money, but given a really yummy burger and juice cost about $AUD1, it wasnt so bad (Bolivia is the cheapest country by far).

Then finally onto another bus - and this one had seen better days (uphill, i think we did about 20km/hr). Then a couple of hours later we arrived at a lake, and all off the bus and onto a dinghy/boat to cross, whilst we all watched nervously as our bus was driven onto a pontoon thing and taken across the lake (all our luggage was on it, you see). Back on finally, and a few hours later we arrived in La Paz! (I yhink we were in transit for about 19 hours).

The next morning our friend Sarah arrived at our hostel (the girl we met in Arequipa) - she´d been in the Bolivian jungle and arrived back that morning. Well along her travels she´d been given a contact inside San Pedro Prison in La Paz (he was a South African guy named Daniel who´d been in the prison for 3 years for cocaine smuggling). He did tours inside the prison (have you read the book "Marching Powder"? Same deal as that). So we arranged to do a tour that day... and it was probably one of the most surreal experiences I´ve ever had, and one of my best travel moments.

We asked for Daniel once we were inside the prison, and were taken to his "cell". I use this word liberally. San Pedro prison (well, the safer part we were in anyway), could quite easily pass as a shabby hostel, complete with restaurants, grocery store, gymnasium, library and snooker room (where they had tournaments). They also had a big cement courtyard area where they played basketball, and there was a TV showing sports up on the wall outside. And the cells are like mini apartments, with lockable door, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, TV, computer (with internet - Daniel just got facebook). And the only requirement of the inmates is to be at roll call at 7:30am every morning. The prison is also unbelievably corrupt; the guards require bribes for everything (we pay to do the tour, and the guards take most of it).

You also need money to survive in the prison - you arrive with nothing (no cell - you have to buy one or sleep in the courtyard), you need to buy food as well, and also fund your own court case. One way that inmates make their money is by making cocaine (the majority of the cocaine that is readily available in Bolivia comes from within the prison. I think the guards get a cut of the profits too, so turn a blind eye). Another oddity about the prison, is that a number of families of inmates live in the prison too (i.e. wife and kids). The families and children are well respected within the prison, and often the wives smuggle things in for their husbands.

So we met Daniel, an extremely scattered and honest guy, and hung out with him inside his room and also a tour of the prison (met some other inmates too) for about 4 hours. At first we were a bit shit scared (we were in a prison!) but after chatting a while we relaxed. Daniel was busted for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Bolivia (what he says was his first and only time doing it), and after 3 years in prison, was due out in another year. He told us of his marriage to a Bolivian woman whom he´d met whilst he was in prison (she was a friend of another inmate, and used to visit him, and met Daniel). They actually had a priest marry them inside the prison! He is also writing his own book about his life in prison - i think a lot of the inmates have seen the success of Marching Powder, and want a bit for themselves.

So after 4 hours we left the prison, completely blown away by the experience we´d just had.

The next night we took an overnight bus to Uyuni (a place about 12hrs south, which ran tours of the salt flats... will explain in a bit). So we got the bus down - breaking down temporarily (as i said when i was writing earlier entries on that bus trip), but finally made it, and booked onto a 3 day salt flats tour, leaving that morning. And what an experience that turned out to be! Oh boy... how to start this epic tale... So the salt flats tours are very popular - starting at the Bolivian town of Uyuni, and stretching down as far as Chile, are some of the most varied and beautiful landscapes you´ll ever see. So you head off in a jeep and go off-roading type thing across all the different terrain, staying in accommodation on the way, and being cooked food by the guide with a little kitchenette thing.

In our tour group, there was Claire, Sarah and I, an Aussie guy Andy, and a lovely Spanish couple Marta (girl) and Nester (guy). They were our saviour on this trip! The comedy of errors that was to be our tour began when our guide Franz arrived an hour late, then after several failed attempts of leaving the town (Franz forgot countless number of things, which included many trips back to the town. He also forgot his jumper, and given at night temperature could reach Ö degrees, we had to go back to his place and fetch it). Franz, um, was like a vague, dense puppy dog. You could see he wanted to do the best he could in things, but just didnt possess the capacity to do things well. He had this incredible ability to lack both commonsense and logic (e.g. spending half an hour watching lunch cook, then once all the hot food1s ready, he decides it1s time to wash the plates so we can use them. So by the time that1s done, the food is cold), which made him both sweet and incredibly frustrating all at the same time. He spoke no English (so thank god we had Marta and Nester to translate), he didnt know anything about the places we were seeing, he was 19 and had no driver1s licence etc...)

First on the stop was the incredible salt flats - kms and kms of what looked like snow, but was in fact salt. I dont know how they came to be like that, given Franz didnt know anything, but they were very cool. That night we stayed in a completely salt-made house - the house itself, the tables and chairs, the beds...really incredible. Had a really lovely night there, playing with local kids as well was really cool.

The following morning it was off to see the sun rise over the flats, before going back briefly to the salt house because Franz liked the daughter and wanted to have a crack/ask her out (we waited in the car). Day 2 was also beautiful - incredible lakes with flamingos, vast red desert (looked seriously like Mars), then that night we rocked up to our supposed accommodation (the only available for hours), to find out that our company hadnt actually booked us in, and we may not have been able to stay there (could1ve been a night in the jeep... with no heating...). Very angry all of us at this point, because we had also been promised wine, sleeping bags, warm clothes by our company, and were given none of it. Fortunately were able to stay the night there. The next morning we were up at 5am to see more sunrise, and it was FREEZING!!! We also broke down for the second time - all out to push - then going again, and to a natural thermal bath. Sounds beautiful, and it was, until we started getting bitten by water lice. So all out, and after breakfast it was to the Chilean border where we were to say goodbye to Marta and Nester (who were continuing onto Chile, whereas we were heading back to Uyuni to get our bus to La Paz that night). Fear gripped us, as Marta and Nester were the real guides of the tour, and our saviours, who provided logic to Franz. Nester1s last words were "goodluck". Yes indeedy. We all put on brave faces and told them we'd be fine.

An older Bolivian couple at the border were needing to get to Uyuni, so we agreed for them to get a ride back with us. Blessing, blessing, blessing. Started heading back to Uyuni, about 7 hours away, when we broke down, again. All out to push. Got it going, drove a bit further, then the jeep broke down again. Battery was screwed. Let me also mention that Franz had decided to take a short cut back to Uyuni, which meant a route that no other tour group would be driving down. After failed attempts of starting the jeep, managed to flag down a big truck, and them, Franz and our Bolivian passenger (I will refer to him as Bolivian Dad - we nicknamed them Bolivian Mum and Dad, because they were such a help to us) all tried to get the car going. Nada. The truck had a spare truck battery, but it didnt fit in the bonnet of the jeep properly. So... Bolivian Dad took over driving the jeep, and Franz sat INSIDE the bonnet of the car, holding in the battery. I kid you not. We drove like that for a few kms, until we managed to find some industrial plant where we could get help. So the car went in for supposed repairs, and for the next 3 hours we sat in the back and waited (Bolivian Mum organised lunch for us with whatever we had left - rice, tuna and tomato). Then it was about 3pm, and the jeep supposedly fixed. We needed to get back to Uyuni asap to make our bus, which was still 5 hours away, so we missed our entire 3rd day of sight-seeing. Not happy.

Back on the road, and all good for about 2 hours. Suddenly the steering wheel began smoking, so we all bounded out of the car. The car that, once the engine stopped, wouldnt start again. So out to push again, and worry of not getting back to Uyuni for our bus, now turned to fear of spending the night in the freezing jeep, in the middle of nowhere. Finally managed to get it going again, and on we drove, into the nighttime.

And then... the headlights began to dim, until they went out completely. And Franz stalled the car, so we broke down again. It finally started again, but the headlights wouldnt. So for the next 5 or so kms (to the nearest town), Bolivian Dad drove the jeep again, whilst Franz sat on the bonnet of the car again, using Claire's small torch as our headlights. Yes, a wee bit scary, when there was no track to follow, and couldnt tell where dips and edges were. Not to mention worry when the occasional car came the other way, that they might not see us and hit us. Yes, i gripped onto the seat in front of me, and said a little prayer (along lines of, please dont let me die on salt flats tour).

We finally made it to this timy town, and managed to stay in a "hostel", which looked like a converted orphanage. Franz assured us he'd fix the car, and we'd leave at 6am the next day.

Up at 6am, and the car was not working. Franz even asked us for money to call the tour company (yep, he had no mobile phone and no money for emergencies), and we were stuck for the next 4 hours in this town. Managed to buy some bread and some biscuits to eat for breakfast. Finally, after rage with Franz for just being Franz, a replacement vehicle with a replacement driver arrived to take us to Uyuni. And sadly, Bolivian Mum and Dad, after all their help, werent allowed on, and had to take a later bus.

Got back to Uyuni, raged at our tour company, demanded a full refund each, but they wouldnt budge, onlz giving us a third back each. Spent the day in Uyuni, got an overnight bus to La Paz, then straight onto another bus to Cusco (our flight heading north to Ecuador was actually from Cusco). So we spent another 2ó hours on buses, and arrived, exhausted, in Cusco about 11pm.

From here, we got a flight from Cusco to a northern Peruvian town Tumbes, where we were to cross into Ecuador...

Lima, Huacachina, Nazca, Arequipa, Puno and Cusco...

brookehahn — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:17:00 GMT

(Again... I wrote most of this entry on the Bolivian bus still.) So...

Peru seems to have become our most intense time travelling so far - seeing and doing so much in 2 and a half weeks. We spent our first night (and the only one) in Lima - I must say it wasnt a particularly appealing place, but then i only saw a small part of it, and i had just said goodbye to Viv... ( hooray the bus is fixed! Last entry, i told you how the bus had broken down).

We then bused for about 2 hours south, down to a place called Huacachina, famous for and frequented by travellers because it is a town in masses and massive sanddunes. So we went sandboarding! It was so much fun. We got driven around the dunes by a guy who owned our hostel - we´d board down a slope then he´d come pick us up at the bottom and drive us to another one. We stayed there until almost dark, so we could see the sunset which looked incredible with the dunes.

Then i spent a day in Nazca to see the world famous Nazca lines (lines made in the massive desert plains, in various shapes e.g. spider, waving man, hummingbird... They date back to the ancient Nazca civilisation, are only visible from the air, and are quite a mystery. You´ve probably seen them on ´The Extraordinary´). They were amazing, except we went up in a 4 person plane, and the pilot used the tip of the wings as a reference point (e.g. "see that one on the right?" plane then tips almost vertical...). Halfway through the flight i was feeling preeeetty queasy...but hoorah! Did not throw up.

Then that afternoon i did some tour, where we went to a graveyard with all mummies and stuff. Pretty gross actually. Was an interesting tour... There was me who could speak English and a little Spanish, the tour guy who could speak Spanish and a tiny tiny bit of English (who loved "discotec". He really liked to talk about the "discotec"...very happening word over there...). There was a Japanese girl who spoke no Spanish and only a little English, and an Argentine who spoke Spanish and a little English. So we all had to work together to explain things to each other...lost in translation!

That night i got a bus to Arequipa, where we spent 2 days on a tour of the Colca Canyon. Pretty much some of the most amazing Peruvian countryside, complete with Andean women and children in traditional dress and living on the land, and selling countless but each identical alpaca jumpers, beanies, socks, gloves etc... ("pure alpaca, miss! For you, special price."). We saw loads of alpacas, llamas (and we tried both of them...very tasty), also saw condors. We went to a thermal bath, and unfortunately were subjected to the terrible, terrible thing that is Peruvian music, in our restaurant for dinner (think lots of whistle-pipe things, being blown on intensely and out of tune by a bunch of blokes...painful, painful experience. And to add insult to ear injury, not only were we each dragged up and made dance with the restaurant dancer entertainment - people doing odd dances in their traditional dress - we also had to donate money at the end!)

And it was on this tour that we first tried coca leaves - they are leaves from the coca plant, that is also used to make cocaine. It is tradition in Peru to chew coca leaves (yup, munching on greens like a cow), apparently they help with altitude sickness, as most of southern Peru is at high altitude. Chewing coca leaves is really really disgusting...the only interesting part is that it makes your mouth go a bit numb and tingly. Coca leaf tea is really nice though, and does the same trick.

In our hostel back in Arequipa, we also met an awesome English girl named Sarah, who we arranged to travel with through Bolivia and Ecuador a few weeks later.

And then it was my birthday! Quietly celebrated because i was actually really sick, the night before in Arequipa hostel with Claire, Sarah and other hostel folk - had a glass of vino tinto. Claire also surprised me with a plate of aljahores biscuits (Susan and Jenna - conceptually pleasing biscuits only with dulce de leche caramel in the middle...amazing), and a candle, and everyone sang me happy birthday.

Then on my actual birthday we got on a bus to Puno - the town housing the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca (biggest lake in South America - apparently the shape of the river looks like a Puma - i think the Peruvian people are nuts with their ability to see pumas and people in shapes of rocks, rivers etc. I think they believe too much...), and spent the night there (unfortunately i was still sick, and all I wanted was to go to bed!) The following day we had a 2 day tour on the lake, visiting the famous floating islands(made solely of reeds and dirt stuff, about a metre deep... incredible). We then had an overnight family stay with a local family on one of the islands (real, not a reed one) on the lake. That was a lovely and humbling experience - there were about 8 people in their family with no electricity, and they spent over an hour each time cooking us meals on their fire stove (the 13 year old daughter did most of the cooking). That night we went to a "discotec" - we all had to dress up in traditional Andean dress (yes, we were tied into a blouse, skirt, belt and headscarf thing). Not a great look, and a little different to what you"d wear out in Sydney or somewhere... And oh my god it was cold there! I slept in all the clothes i brought, beanie, scarf, and about 5 blankets on me. A really cool tour.

Next was an overnight bus to Cusco, and funnily enough, one of Viv"s friends was on the bus! Popular gringo trail... And he was staying at the same hostel as us too. That is, Loki Hostel, which houses about 180 gringos, all there to party.

Our first night in Loki, we met a guy at the bar who could do the most amazing card tricks i had ever seen. He apparently could also hypnotise people, which i was sceptical of until one of the nights we watched him hypnotise this poor guy, who was doing all sorts of funny things (e.g. chatting up a broom, being the worlds best break dancer...)

Cusco was an alright city - great for the nightlife, but very touristy otherwise - but everyone goes there to see Machu Picchu, the ancient city of the Incas. We were no exception, and were booked to do the classic Inca Trail trek, the famous 4 day hike to Machu Picchu. After a few days relaxing in Cusco, we set off. Our trek group, oddly enough, consisted of only Claire and I, so for the 2 of us, we had our lovely guide Christian, our cook and 4 porters! So we got looked after rather well.

And the trek was just unbelievable. Its difficult to actually describe, but the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. And the food they served us! Truly amazing. The porters would set off with all our stuff for the entire trek (Claire and I only needed to carry little day packs with water and copious snacks including Snickers) - each porter could carry a maximum of 20kg each - theyd virtually run the whole way. We"d arrive at the lunch point, where our 2 course lunch would be cooked for us (starting with soup, then a yummy main of fish or chicken), we"d have a bucket of warm water and a towel to wash our hands and faces with, and we didnt have to do a thing! We"d eat, then set off walking for another few hours to our dinner and overnight camping spot. The porters would wash and pack up from lunch, pass us on the way, then have our campsite set up, including our tent and sleeping bags rolled out, for our arrival. Then it would be afternoon tea and biscuits, an Inca history lesson from Christian, followed by a 3 course dinner of soup, main and dessert (best dessert was chocolate pudding). Ooh and best brekky was pancakes and dulce de leche. And every morning the porters would wake us up, and outside our tent there would be a cup of coca tea each, and a bucket of hot water and a towel to wash with.

The first day was pretty easy going, but the second day was TOUGH. Four hours of walking uphill, until you reach the highest point of the trail, at 4000 metres above sea level (bloody freezing! Especially after sweating and puffing the whole way up, then to reach antartica at the summit.) It was such a relief to make it! And then it was just another 2 hours of downhill. Easy... so I thought. But walking down steps for 2 hours is bloody hard as well! By the time we arrived at the campsite I was just a little grumpy. Snickers and the fact that I didnt have to walk for another 12 hours brightened my mood though.

Day 3 was probably the best - just a really beautiful walk, and stopping off at lots of Inca Ruins. Actually... just remembered that we walked for 8 hours that day... a bloody long day. It was beautiful up until the last few hours, when i turned tired and stroppy with Christian because he kept saying, for about 2 hours, that our campsite wasnt far away. Then we finally made it to Day 3 campsite! This place actually had a restaurant and a bar where you could buy drinks (unfortunately beer, which i dont like, but Christian shouted us one each. Rusty, rusty nails...). The place even had a shower, but given our tent was about a 10 min walk uphill from the bar-rest area, we figured, whats one more day?

More stroppiness with Christian when, after our arrival at the bar, he wanted us to walk another 10-15 mins to more Inca Ruins. So petulantly (me), we went. They were really beautiful, however i did refuse to walk further down into the main set of ruins, and admire them from afar.

That night we had our final meal cooked by our porters, and we had a hilarious time with them getting group photos. (Especially sweet when Christian had to explain to one of them how to use a digital camera). Then it was off to bed because the next morning we were due to get up at 5am. Or so we thought... At 4am, the porters were knocking on our tent- "senoritas, time to get up!". I figured they got the time wrong, so tried ignoring them. But they didnt go away, so we got up (and good that we did, because all the other groups were well under way). Day 4 is quite competitive - people trying to get to Machu Picchu first to see the sun rise.

After a hearty breakfast of dulce de leche pancakes, it was about an hour"s walk until we reached the sun gate - the spot where you get the first view of the staggering Machu Picchu ruins. We"d finally made it! We made the final, 20 minute descent, and we were at Machu Picchu. It was incredible. Unfortunately our 3 day stint of beautiful weather didnt continue, and it was overcast, so we didnt get to see the sunrise.

We got loads of photos (except my camera, on cue, ran out of batteries upon arrival. No problem, because I had been super cautious and brought 2 new packets of batteries. Yes, 2 packets of batteries that DID NOT WORK. Rage was diffused though, because Claire"s old batteries still had some juice left in them.) After spending a couple of hours at the ruins, getting an incredible Inca history lesson, we caught the train back to Cusco, with the surreal experience of "did we just do the Inca Trail?"

Arrived in Cusco about 10pm that night, showered and straight to the hostel bar for celebratory drinks. Met an awesome bunch of people who we went out in Cusco with - lots of drunkenness, complete with dancing on the bar (me, and an American guy we were with).

Claire and i also tried guinea pig before we left Peru. Apparently its a delicacy there, but um... We shared a roasted one, and it arrived, cut in half (half on Claires plate, half on mine), complete with skin, toenails and teeth. Just turn it over, avoid the brain, and pick out the scrawny bits of meat with your fingers. Really isnt a lot of meat on a guinea pig (who knew?), so best not to eat when you"re actually hungry.

Finally, our 2 and a half week stint in Peru was over, and time to board an overnight bus to Bolivia...

2 weeks in beautiful BA...

brookehahn — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:06:00 GMT

Now BA... OMG what an amazing city! We got the ferry which took about 3 hours, then got a cab to our friend Big Phil`s place (an Australian friend of mine and Viv`s who has moved to BA to work). So we rocked up about 12:30am to Phil`s apartment, worried that we were going to wake him up, but we were then unwise to the Argentine way of life. Phil had about 12 or so friends over for drinks, and within half an hour of arriving (after a 14 hour bus and ferry trip), Viv and I were changed and ready to go out.

Argentinians usually eat dinner about 11 or 11:30pm at night (even later than mum and dad), they dont usually head out until at least 1am, and get home about 6 or 7 am, maybe 8 or 9am... And i love this lifestyle! So for our first night we got home about 5am, exhausted from the bus trip, and from singing along to Bon Jovi. In a popular nightclub. (yep, BA is stuck a little bit in the 80s...)

And so the lifestyle worked for us straight away! The next day we slept in til about 1pm, then just pushed the time scale of a regular day about half a day later. And Phil`s apartment was amazing! Only thing was that its one bedroom, so Claire, Viv and I slept on the floor on 1cm thick mattresses. We did that for about 10 days, and my hips got pretty sore.

BA is a beautiful city, quite European, and home to the best steak and mash around. I think for the 2 weeks we were there, Viv and I ate steak for about 10 meals. OMG and the dulce de leche! AMAZING. It`s EVERYWHERE, and oh so cheap (so a regular day usually involved a coffee and a dulce de leche pastry from a cafe). Ooh and the wine! $AUD1 bought $3 pesos, and a good bottle of wine cost 8 pesos (so about $2.70 Stace...carry the one... haha just teasing).

Ooh and Susan, there was a beautiful park near Phil`s house, that was home to hundreds of stray (but oh so cute) cats and kittens! They were everywhere, and apparently the council or equivalent actually provide water for them, and people arent allowed to shoe (i know this is wrong spelling in this context, but what is right spelling?) them away.

And the shopping! I went a bit crazy actually... Viv and i bought beautiful leather jackets for about $200 each, a bag, shoes, jeans etc... Everything is so cheap!

After about a week, our other Sydney friends arrived (the ones we were with in Brazil, carnival etc..), who all rented apartments. We spent some time in La Boca, home to the crazily adored Boca Juniors (think Maradona statues everywhere). The guys went to watch a Boca match; instead i decided to spend a day getting my hair done (i was going to get it cut into a bob, and i chickened out when the guy couldnt speak any English whatsoever, and my Spanish was rusty at this stage). So i just got a bit of a trim instead (and in Spanish, the hairdresser still managed to point out how damaged my hair was, and make me feel guilty! Pha!!)

We had such a great time in BA - it was great to stop for a while in such a livable city!

Mine and Claire's flight to Lima, Peru was for the 12th March - Viv had another week in Argentina before flying to Oz for a couple of weeks (taking my shopping home with him...), and then onto Mexico. So apart again for another 6 months... Viv and I decided to spend our last 3 nights together renting an apartment, just to hang out before being apart again. I found this awesome-sounding apartment on hostel world, and booked us in for 3 nights. So the next day Viv and I packed up from Phil's place and took all our luggage to the apartment's address. We buzzed the porter, but he had no idea who we were or what apartment we were there for. And he only spoke Spanish. The agent was supposed to be meeting us at the apartment, but nope, no one there for us.

We tried phoning the number we were given on the booking, but the number wasnt connected. We had no idea what to do! We had all our luggage (which we left with the porter), and we just kept checking the net for an email from the agent. We waited for 4 hours, and because of it, we missed out on going to a Boca game. Very, very angry people we were. The porter (Jorge, pronounced Hor-hay) told us that he had a friend who had an apartment there, but it wasnt available until the following two nights, and maybe for about $US100, he wasnt sure. He said to call him the following morning. We managed to book ourselves into a bed and brekky for that night.

We called Jorge the next morning, and he said to come to the apartment block at 3pm. We did, and were pretty tired and cranky by the whole situation. Finally his friend Enrique arrived, an older man who began telling us about his 8 kids. He then told us that the apartment he had wasnt where we were, but actually in the city, (we were angry again by this stage, just tired of being stuffed around), and he said for us to all hop in a cab and go.

Well... Enrique is possibly the nicest, most generous person I have ever met! He paid for the cab (we were still feeling grouchy, so werent going to offer to pay anyway), then he tried to buy me a flower from a nearby florist (couldnt find man who worked there though). He said that when Jorge told him what happened with our apartment booking, he wanted to help. He apologised that this apartment was very small and the TV didnt work, but hopefully it would be ok.

The apartment was gorgeous! It had everything we could possibly need. Enrique spent about an hour showing us how everything worked, and when we asked how much, he said he didnt want any money from us! But he said maybe, if we wanted to, we could give Jorge some money. He was so lovely! He gave us contact numbers for him and all his children in case we had any problems, and let Viv choose what time he wanted to check out (because my flight was at 6am). Incredible. Then Viv and I were discreetly trying to scrape some money together to give him for his cab home (the least we could do!). Enrique asked us if we were alright, and whether we needed any money! We just couldnt believe how generous he was. The following day he rang the apartment just to check that everything was fine! So we had a perfect last few days together.

(I'm still writing this entry on the overnight bus in Bolivia, although its much easier to write now as we've broken down...I think the tyre broke... a sign of things to come in Bolivia).

And then it was time to say goodbye to Viv and goodbye to Argentina, and Claire and I got our flights to Lima, Peru...

3 days in Punta del Diablo, Uruguay

brookehahn — Wed, 9 Apr 2008 16:59:00 GMT

Well its about time i wrote another entry!! So I'm up to leaving Brazil for Uruguay (I'm actually writing this entry on a bumpy Bolivian overnight bus that's going about 5km an hour! I can barely read my own writing...( We were on our way to Buenos Aires in Argentina, but thought it'd be cool to check out Uruguay for a couple of days on the way.

So... we got an overnight bus from Florianopolis to Uruguay, which was set to arrive at the Uruguayan border at 4am (the bus was going all the way to Montevideo, the capital, but we were going to a seaside fishing village called Punta del Diablo, so needed to get off at the border town, Chuy(. Once getting off at the border town, Chuy, we needed to get another bus to Punta del Diablo.

At 4am the bus stopped, the driver called out "Chuy!", our stop. But insetad of taking us to a bus terminal, they dropped us off on the side of the road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere! Luckily there was the 3 of us and about 6 English guys all getting off together. Unbelieving that they'd just leave us on the side of the road, we asked the driver where the bus terminal was, he shrugged and pointed vaguely in one direction. So off we all traipsed... managed to find a main street with some bus companies on it. Hooray! We thought we could get the next bus in a couple of hours to Punta del Diablo, we just needed some Uruguayan pesos to buy our bus ticket. Except none of the ATMs would accept our eftpos cards... Not good.

Then after discussion with the guy at the bus company, we found out that our other bus didnt stop at the Brazilian immigration office for us to get our Brazilian exit stamp...about 3km back the way we'd come. We had no pesos to get a cab because of the ATMs, so we all then had to walk. Fortunately it was daylight by then, and we were escorted there and back by about 3 stray dogs, all along for the adventure. THen of course on the walk back to Chuy in Uruguay, it started to pour with rain. We werent happy people... only the dogs seemed to be maintaining high spirits.

The ATMs still didnt take our cards, but luckily Claire and I had $US200 emergency money (thanks Carissa!!( So finally, FINALLY, we got onto a bus to Punta del Diablo...

Its a gorgeous seaside fishing village, and when we arrived it was quite blustery and cold. We hadnt booked any accommodation, but the town was filled with quaint little cottages, and within minutes of getting off the bus, we were taken to a cottage by a lovely old Uruguayan lady. So we rented this gorgeous cottage, fully equipped, for 2 nights. We cooked some awesome meals, played lots of cards, ate lots of dulce de leche, Viv played guitar, and just had an awesome time.

I made friends with another stray dog... he was standing outside our cottage when we arrived, and was so cute and friendly, so naturally i hung out with him and gave him some food. Then whenever we'd leave our front door open, he'd run inside and sleep behind the lounge! After the first night i put him outside, and we didnt see him again until when we were waiting near our cottage for our bus to Montevideo to arrive. He ran over to us and licked my feet! So i fed him again.

And that was Punta del Diablo! I really loved it there. From there we caught a bus to Montevideo, so we could then get a bus and then a ferry to Buenos Aires, Argentina...

When my baby, when my baby smiles at me I go to Rio...

brookehahn — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:16:00 GMT

hola!!

Wow, I havent written for ages, and am a little daunted at the catch up task ahead. But here we go...

So Rio. Claire and I stayed in a hostel in Ipanema beach (next to Copacabana, but much nicer). Rio is a really picturesque city - with mountains right down to the ocean, islands close to the beach, and the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city. We spent most of our days at the beach, huddled under a beach umbrella, where we still managed to get hideously sunburnt (we were at the beach for about 5 hours that day though...). Ipanema is quite a rich area, filled with beautiful shops, restaurants and people, and quite safe for the 2 of us.

As is typical Brazilian style, the men here were always very forward in asking to be your "boyfriend for today". A more creative pick-up strategy from one guy was "give me your emm-essa-enna", my what? Turns out he wanted my msn to chat to me online, keeping up with the technological times and all that.

One really awesome night Claire and i had, we went to a live samba music venue in Copacabana called Bip Bip. It looked like a tiny cafe, with a diverse mix of people playing instuments and singing all sitting at the tables inside, and people there to listen to the music spilled out onto the street. We were the only gringas there, and glasses of vino tinto in hand, we really got into it. (I initially asked the owner if he had caprioskas, but he made some comment in Portuguese about this not being the Carrabean. Huh.) The people were so passionate about the music, and after a song, the singer would sit down, then instruments would be exchanged and a different person would stand up to sing. It was an awesome expreience. 2 Brazilian guys with incredibly limited English started talking to us; we actually chatted to them with broken Portuguese and English for about 2 hours, and they were teaching us how to samba. You just need to stress that you have a boyfriend, and if they still wanna chat to you, then great! Claire and I marvel at how you can have such language difficulties, but still manage to talk and be understood, and have a great time (body language and hand gestures is key).

We went to the Christ the Redeemer statue one of the days; it was a great view, but it was just so touristy it didnt do a great deal for us.

One night our entire hostel went out to a samba club in Lapa, which was so muh fun, really awesome group. It was bloody daunting though, after being asked to dance by a Brazilian guy (who all can dance), knowing that a) you dont know how to samba and b) you`re going to tread on their feet quite a number of times. They were all really nice though, and i always stressed that it was my first time samba-ing.

Then after our week in Ipanema, Viv and the other guys arrived, staying in a hostel in Santa Teresa (one of the suburbs of Rio). He arrived on Valentine`s Day! That night we went to another samba club, and I got to dance with Viv instead, which was much better (and we trod on each other`s toes equally...haha just kidding, we`re stella dancers together). Claire and i then spent the next 2 nights staying with all the guys, and we went to Maracana Stadium to watch a soccer match (oh my god, the fans are insane). Was really awesome.

From there, Claire, Viv and I travelled for the next two weeks on our own. We went to a place called Trindade, about 4 hours south west of Rio. It was this gorgeous, tiny beach-side town, and our hostel was in a rainforest, about 5 mins walk from the beach (a haven for mozzies though). You would barely pick that this place was a hostel, it was so beautiful. We spent 2 nights there, just going to the beach and relaxing around the hostel. And the other travellers staying there were really awesome - we hung out with them a fair bit.

Then onto Florianopolis, another beachside town, where we managed to score an apartment overlooking the beach! Again, spent our days relaxing at the beach, cooking awesome meals, and OH MY GOD enjoying ICE CREAM BY THE KILO. Yep, you get a bowl, choose the ice cream you want, add any kind of sprinkles and toppings you could possibly want (yes, chocolate ice magic and dulce de leche sauce), then you weigh it and pay accordingly. I think i might open one up in Sydney...

We also ran into some friends of Viv`s from sydney uni, so we spent a night drinking homemade caprihinhas (a really potent cocktail, made with a Brazilian alcohol called cachaca, made from sugarcane) and playing cards. Oh, and Florianopolis was home to this incredible doughnut thing from the bakery (imagine a jam doughnut without the overload of sugar sprinkles, and instead of jam, filled with dulce de leche). Oh, and another incredible thing in this town? The fruit and veggie stores did 1 kilo of any veggies for 90 cents. Yep, we ate a lot of veggies.

Florianopolis (like every Brazilian town) had lots of stray dogs, especially on the beaches. I do have a real love for dogs as you may know, so (whilst not patting them, because they were strays), i`d often say hello to various dogs in that voice that people only reserve for pets or children ("who`s a good boy?!" etc...). Anyway one night the 3 of us went down to the beach, and as we walked onto the sand this really cute stray dog came over to us, so i chatted to it (a very normal sentence to write). This dog then walked with us along the beach, when we sat down it sat on the sand next to our sarong. If anyone walked anywhere near us on the beach, it would go mental barking at them, and protecting us (not that anyone was a bother, but the dog just wanted to protect us!). Then after the beach we walked to go out for dinner, and the dog trotted along beside us and growled at anyone nearby, and wagged his tail at us. We went to a restaurant and the dog waited across the road. Then after dinner we went to the ice cream place, we sat outside so the dog could sit with us (he sat underneath our table). Then he walked with us back to our apartment, and we bode him farewell! Was so amazing, this poor little stray just befriended us because we were nice to him. I wish i`d gotten a photo.

After 3 nights in Florianopolis, Viv, Claire and I then headed to Uruguay... (I`ll write this section next).

Ciao!

Brooke

entry 2

brookehahn — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 09:55:00 GMT

oi!

So i´ve been in Salvador for 2 weeks now! It´s been amazing. My last entry i said i was going to some parties...

The first one we went to was to watch a band at a bar in Salvador called Boomarangue, and it had all Aboriginal art on the walls ( i imagine the owner has been to Australia and liked it). Monica and Marcelo knew the guys in the band. Claire and i were the only gringas in the whole place! We´ve been experiencing that a lot with going out with Monica, as i´ll explain shortly. But everyone has been really lovely, have had some interesting conversations in toilet lines with women speaking to us in Portuguese, we saying that we dont speak Portuguese, so then they just repeat it louder. Ooh, and remember i said i was sitting next to a lovely Brazilian couple on my flight from Sao Paulo to Salvador? Well they happened to be at the bar as well! So chatted to them for a bit too, and they were going to come out with us in a few days (but couldnt make it in the end). But a small world!

Then the next night we were going to the beach party, about 1 and a half hours from Salvador. It was actually like a big music festival with one stage with heaps of bands playing. So we cut up our shirts (in Brazil, special shirts are your tickets into places, but the girls often cut theirs into something skimpier), and again, Claire and i were the only gringas at the party! Was AMAZING. And the Brazilian music was incredible! Claire and i generally just made up lyrics, but we danced for hours. And drinks are so cheap! Cans of smirnoff ice are about $AUD2 or so.

Another awesome thing we went to was this massive concert type thing at an ampitheatre in a park in Salvador. The band was an african one (Salvador has a very rich african culture), and we were standing up on a hill looking down at all the people dancing. It was amazing. Again, we were the only gringas. I took some videos of it which i´ll post.

Monica and Marcelo also do capoeira (Marcelo is actually a teacher), and one night we went and watched them doing capoeira in the park with their whole class. It´s so amazing to watch. Claire and i are going to get marcelo to teach us! But dont worry dad, we wont get hurt.

I´ve also spent the last week with Viv, which has been incredible. So great to see him! Monica and Claire decided that they didnt really want to stay for carnival, so they went camping, and i stayed in the hostel with Viv - we shared this single bunk bed in a dorm with 7 guys, with a fan that was broken, and windows that let all the bugs in. It was so hot! Fortunately, the hostel staff were different every day, so nobody knew that i hadnt checked in.

Carnival was just unbelievable. Such an incredible experience. So to explain Carnival... The parade goes along a big circiut along the street overlooking the beach. There are lots of trucks with bands playing on them; each truck is roped off, and this is called a bloco. People then buy onto a bloco (i.e. they buy a shirt that allows them access onto it), and then they walk along in front and behind the truck, dancing for about 5 or 6 hours along the circuit. If you dont want to buy a shirt, you can just go onto the street next to the bloco and dance there.

So the first night we just went onto the street (4 of us), and danced and danced for hours. Then the next night we were on a bloco for DJ Tiesto, who, surprise surprise, only plays techno-house type music, which viv and i hate. So we ended up dancing in a gap with the bloco behind tiesto, was awesome Brazilian music. And the crowds are just insane. You have to be really careful with money and valuables - this poor guy from our hostel on the first night (not realising how much pick-pocketing goes on in carnival), came out with his wallet in his back pocket and his digital camera zipped up in his front pocket, and a bag of beers on his arm. Within 5 mins of getting onto the street, he got caught up in a group of about 8 guys, they stole his wallet (complete with credit cards), his camera (and kindly zipped back up his pocket) and some of his beers. Ouch! Viv kept our money in a satchel down his pants, which may only get stolen if we went onto any of the gay blocos... :-)

We also went on another bloco called Timbalada which was Brazilian music, and it was incredible. So during carnival, our general daily routine was go out til about 2 or 3am in carnival, sleep til about 11am, go for an acai (an amazing fruit sorbet, type thing, amazing), spend all day at the beach, come back for a nap in a hammock at the hostel, then go out, repeat.

And the Brazilian people are so lovely. So friendly and happy. Generally dont speak any English, but still manage to get buy with broken Portuguese. Some of my favourite phrases in Brazil: `kehjo´(a cooked cheese that they sell on the beach), ´cheese-bacon´. People sell everything on the beach. It´s incredible. What´s also awesome, is people come and pour a watering can of beach water on your feet when you´re sitting there, because your feet get hot on the sand. And people will pretty much sell you anything. If you ask for something they dont have, they´ll find it for you somehow. And oh my god the children here are just gorgeous!

And now i´m back staying at Monica´s (and as soon as i arrived i was fed a huge roast meal complete with wine and dessert, and also the incredible cafe) - we´ll be here for another couple of days and then onto Rio... And i´ll be meeting up with Viv in a few weeks in Argentina. Cant wait.

Oh and possibly the best food i´ve had away from Monica´s, aside from acai? Churros. Oh. My. God. You all possibly know my love of caramel. So imagine, a hot, deep-fried doughnut in a long cylinder shape (hollow on the inside), then filled with hot caramel. Yes, let me leave you with that thought. Oh, and also, that they´re only about $AUD70...

Brooke xx

Gallery: Salvador

brookehahn — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:04:00 GMT

it starts...

brookehahn — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:54:00 GMT

hola meu amigos!

So The Trip has begun. I had to fly around the world to get to Brazil, and i think i spent 3 days either in planes or in airport terminals. Yes, 3 days without showering, which really got me into the travelling lifestyle. First up was a 22 hour flight to London - for the Sydney to Singapore leg i was sitting next to a lovely guy from Sydney who i chatted to a lot, and I also watched some movies on the in flight entertainment. And got fed quite well too! Then Singapore to London i had a spare seat next to me, so managed to sleep for about 8 hours. The flight actually wasnt too bad. Then my flight from London to Sao Paulo wasnt for 12 hours after i arrived in Heathrow, so i spent all that time in the airport terminal! I bought a coffee and a muffin and it cost me $AUD15!!!! I vowed not to eat for the rest of the day. Fortunately i´d packed some pringles... So the next 12 hours i spent sleeping and reading and wandering and reading some more, and i also got to practise some Portuguese.

My flight to Sao Paulo was delayed by almost 2 hours! By the time i boarded i was starving and tired. I slept through the take-off. Then it was 13 hours to Sao Paulo, Brazil... My domestic flight from Sao Paulo to Salvador was 3 hours after my supposed arrival time from my flight from London, but because the plane was late leaving, i arrived at Sao Paulo with only an hour to get through customs and get onto my other flight. Possible? I thought so, until i got to the horrendous queue at customs, where i had to wait 45mins. A lovely Irish guy traded places with me in the line (he was further ahead), so after customs i rushed around finding my bag, then had to try and find the terminal for my domestic flight. I was frantic, couldnt find where i was meant to be, and was worried about missing my flight, because Claire and Monica were meeting me at Salvador airport (Claire was flying from Sao Paulo to Salvador at a similar time), and if i didnt show, they wouldnt know where i was. I rushed to the information desk with my broken Portuguese, a tap on the shoulder and Claire was behind me! I could´ve cried, i was so happy to see her. (We laugh that we met at the tourist information desk, of all places). So we raced around, found my terminal, spoke some broken Portuguese to the aiport staff, and after they ran around with me to try and get me on the flight, we found out it had already departed. Unimpressed. I then had to buy another flight, and spend even more time in airports.

Finally, finally, i got my flight to Salvador, and i was the only non-Brazilian person on the flight! I was sitting next to a young Brazilian couple who i ended up chatting to the entire flight (the girl, Marina, could speak some English). They were lovely. Then at Salvador airport, Claire and Monica were there! So good to see them, especially Monica, who we havent seen for 7 years.

Monica lives in a really awesome apartment with her parents, grandma (who is 90!), brother and their maid Isobelle. None of them speak English, except Monica (her brother speaks only a little bit), so we have interesting conversations where we point at things and say the few Portuguese words we know. But they are such a lovely family.

And the food they´ve cooked for us! Lunch is the main meal of the day, so you eat a big cooked meal with all the family, and also have dessert afterwards. Incredible. Yesterday for lunch we had a salmon and prawn curry with rice, cake for dessert. Today we had beef with this amazing stuff that was like mashed potato but 100 times better, and for dessert we had a custard pudding with meringue on top and caramel sauce. Oh my god. It was funny, because Claire was saying yesterday that she likes custard, and then today they made us a custard pudding! So i started saying that I love caramel... Monica´s mum and grandma do all the cooking. This morning we awoke to Isobelle asking us if we wanted cafe (coffee, which is incredible here), and out into the kitchen for a massive breakfast spread. Incredible. We´re stocking up on all the amazing food here, because when we leave we´ll be buying our own, so wont eat as well. And they dont let us do anything! No cleaning up or washing dishes, 5 mins after we get up in the morning, Isobelle has made the bed.

Today we went to the beach with Monica and her boyfriend Marcelo. It was beautiful. I bought new swimmers (and yes, they are the tiny Brazilian kind, but when in Rome...), so donned them quite awkwardly today. The Brazilians on the beach laughed at us too, because of our pale skin (well, Claire´s pale skin, mine´s not so bad, but i get laughed at by association); we had a really good time. The people in Brazil (despite their finding us amusing) are really lovely and friendly. It´s great having Monica and Marcelo to help us speak and understand things too. And they´ve driven us around everywhere! Oh yeah, and the driving here is chaos too...

Tonight we´re going to a party, tomorrow a beach party which we bought tickets to (on Australia Day too!), and then it will be Carnivale. So excited!! Ooh, and Viv´s arriving in a couple of days too, which will be amazing.

Ok, well that´ll do for a first entry! We´re having an amazing time here. It feels like we´ve been in Brazil for ages, but only 2 nights!

Ciao!