How to spend your redundancy settlement

Kuala Lumpur

dan_powell — Sat, 5 Feb 2011 22:12:00 GMT

19^th January – I got up at 3:30 as I had a very early flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL). I had said my goodbyes to Phil and Jemima the previous night so didn’t wake them up. I just jumped into a taxi and headed to the airport.

Once I arrived in KL I got a bus and then a train to my hostel on the edge of Chinatown and Little India. The hostel was called “BackHome” and I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to KL as it is really nice. After a much needed post flight shower I decided to explore the local streets for some food.

As I said before I was staying on the edge of Little India and I hadn’t had a good curry in a while, although the one in Sydney was also good, so I decided to find somewhere. I walked down the road next to mine and it was full of curry houses but they were all empty. Finally I found a little gem. Not literally as it was filthy but it was also full of Indian people. Obviously this had to be the one. I went in and after a brief chat with a waitress that new little English, more than my Hindu or Bahasa, I asked her to bring me something out and surprise me as I didn’t have the foggiest idea what I was doing. After a while she brought out a kind of savoury and crispy pancake stuffed with vegetable rice, it was a veggie restaurant, and she poured 3 different sauces over different areas of, what I later found out to be a, Massala Dosa. It was delicious and to ingrain myself with the locals I went and washed my hands before tucking in with just my right hand, no cutlery or anything. It was great fun. I also decided that I would have a Massala Tea, no beer or G&T available, which is quite an interesting taste but very good. By this time I was quite full but in a slight mix-up over me asking what everyone else was eating I ended up also getting a Tiali. A Tiali is a Palm leaf with a pile of rice on it. The waitress then places 3 curries around the outside before drenching the rice in a sauce. Obviously I tuck in again and when sufficiently full and very happy with my new experience I pay, and outrageous £2, and head back to my hostel.

Back at the hostel I just hung around in the communal areas and ended up making friends with some English and Australian guys. In the evening they were going out for some dinner and then to see the Petronas Towers, Ex-Worlds tallest buildings, at night. After my two main course lunch I was clearly too full for dinner so I just ad a drink wit them before we went to the towers. The towers were pretty cool and they light them up at night time so some good photos were taken.

20^th January – When I got up I went down to the communal area of the hostel and met some people going to the Batu Caves. They asked if I wanted to join them and I had previously heard that there was a Buddhist pilgrimage on today so went along to have a look. We caught the bus to the caves and when we arrived it was packed. There were lots of people on the pilgrimage and just as many watching them. Many of the pilgrims were carrying an offering of a milky water to the gods in urns on their heads but others had other ideas. Quite a few of the male pilgrims had frames supported by their torsos and on top of the frames were pictures of various Buddhist gods. There was even one pilgrim hanging from a frame by a number of meat hooks going through his skin. As the pilgrimage was on I felt it was slightly wrong for me to go into the caves so after taking lots of photos and watching for a while I got the bus back to the hostel. Once I got back I went for some lunch with a girl I went to the caves with and then just chilled out in the communal area of the hostel. In the evening a number of us decided to go to get a curry from around the corner. Regrettably we didn’t go to the same place as I went to yesterday and the food in this one wasn’t as good. Ah well never mind.

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Perth

dan_powell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:31:00 GMT

7^th January – Woke up and checked out before the ashes started so that I could bag my self prime position in the TV room. England ended up Drawing it out a little longer than they should have but managed to dismiss Australia to WIN THE ASHES IN AUSTRALIA!!!! After watching the celebrations I went to the airport to fly to Perth. The flight took 5 hours and Phil, My old flat mate in Bristol, was there to meet me. I am staying at Phil’s, with his fiancé Jemima, so we went to his place and had a catch up over a BBQ and some chilling in the hot-tub.

8^th January – Got up and went to a place nearby called the Maze. Its quite obvious what they do here and after doing all the maze’s we went and had a look at the Koalas, Kangaroos and Emu’s that they also had. Once animal time was over we played crazy golf and Disc golf which is frizbee around a course and is really good fun. In the afternoon we went to the Hillary’s area of Perth and went to the AQWA Aquarium. Before going home we went for a drink in a rather extravagant bar on the water and got a very nice ice cream. In the evening we had another BBQ, like you would do anything else in OZ, and jumped into the hot tub again.

9^th January – Today we decided to go for a walk around a local National Park. We saw some Koala’s in a really big enclosure and some roo’s in the wild. After we did the Sunday thing of just relaxing and taking everything slow.

10^th January – I decided that as the others were at work that I would go into the centre of Perth. Once I arrived I went for a walk along the waterfront past the Bell Tower. This is quite cool and noting like what I expected. Following that I went for a walk towards the centre again and ended up getting a bus to the WACA. Unfortunately the ground had finished its tours for the day but I was informed that there is a game on Thursday so I may go. In the afternoon I went to Kings Park and wrote some post cards home thanking people for my Christmas presents. After I got home we cooked some pasta for dinner and watched TV for the evening.

11^th January – In the morning I had to sort out the next legs of my trip so I ended up booking 3 flights to and around Asia. In the afternoon I went to the city and went to the Museum of WA and had a look at their aboriginal and colonisation displays. I had wanted to go to the art museum as well but it was closed to epic fail on that point. In the evening we did another BBQ. On my way home I had got some “Gurt Big” (for the Bristolians) prawns and they tasted amazing. After dinner we popped some Beers and Mojito’s open and jumped in the tub again to celebrate J getting a new job.

12^th January – Got up quite early, for a backpacker, and headed to Fremantle. Once I arrived I went for a nice walk around the town and went to sit in a park and read a book. Fremantle is really nice and if you’re in the area you should definitely go. You should also go the Little Creatures Brewery. It’s a really nice brewery/bar on the water front and all the working brewing equipment is open for you to see and you sit all around it. After sampling a pint, obviously only because I had to… I’m sure you have noticed from this blog that I don’t like a drink… T-total me, I went to a fish and chip shop that Phil had recommended. The fish and chips were very good and once I had consumed them I went and walked them off as I had a look around the town. Ok so I don’t think I walked them all off but maybe a few. After a while I got the train back to Phil’s place, I cant actually remember what we did in the evening but I’m sure if I did it would be very interesting and involve a BBQ and the hot tub.

13^th January – After a quiet morning I went into the city and went to the Art museum that was previously closed. They had a Peggy Guggenheim exhibition on and it was very good including a Jackson Pollock and a very very nice Kandinsky. After looking around the museums standard exhibitions I made my way to the WACA and watched the WA V SA game. WA were shocking and lost by a long way it was humiliating for them.

14^th January – Didn’t really do anything as I appear to have run out of tourist attractions to visit. In the evening I had tuna and Pea Pasta and watched England lose n the 20/20 v Australia.

15^th January – As it’s a Saturday Phil an I went out for a drive. We visited Lanclin first and wanted to watch the kite surfers but they were too far out to be seen so moved on to the Pinicles. The Pinicles are actually quite cool. They are just lots of rocks sticking out of the sand but they make really good photographs. In the evening Phil and J had invited Aussie and Lindy around for a BBQ. After a few games of lawn bowls, yeah were cool, we kicked the BBQ into gear. Once everything had been consumed we got into the hot tub and proceeded to get rather drunk.

16^th January – Today was a relative write off as we all felt like poo after having too much fun the previous night. I have worked out that hangovers are relative to the amount of fun you have, not how much alcohol you consume, if you don’t have a hangover you obviously didn’t have a very good time.

17^th January – Again as I appear to have exhausted things to do in Perth I didn’t do much apart from organise all my documents for the next few countries.

18^th January – Did all my packing I the morning as I fly tomorrow morning. After all was packed I went to the shopping mall to grab a few things such as an Aussie rules Jersey and Ball. I had offered to take Phil and J out for dinner but they told me to save my money and we had BBQ’d fish instead and just relaxed

Sydney - Visit 2

dan_powell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:30:00 GMT

29^th December – The first thing I did today was commit a crime. I don’t wish to shock you but its true. The annoying Yank Twat on the bunk above me had a “Round Asia on a Shoestring” guide and I wanted it. As revenge for him being a complete tosser I may have acquired it whilst he was sleeping. After making a hasty retreat ad checking out I went and caught my flight back to Sydney. By the time I had arrived in Sydney England had won the Melbourne test and thusly retained the ashes.

I caught a train from the airport to Circular Quay and headed to the hotel where I’ll be staying with Mum and Dad for a few days. It was really good seeing tem after such a long time and we went to a rooftop bar for a drink and a catch up. In the evening we went for a walk and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.

30^th December – we decided to get up reasonably early and head to Manly beach. Once we arrived we had some breakfast n the beach front before renting a parasol and picking our spot. After chilling and swimming for a few hours we all grew a bit restless and fidgety so decided to go for a walk down the beach. On our way back we decided to get a drink in a bar overlooking the beach. The bar was pretty cool so we decided to get some food as well. Once we were finished we caught the ferry back to the CBD and crashed in our rooms.

31^st December – We didn’t really want to stray too far from our hotel so we went down to Darling Harbour. At the harbour we got some breakfast and went for a wander. We went to the Chinese Gardens and these are really pretty. After a walk around the shops and the harbour we went for a drink in a pub an met a couple on their honeymoon. We then went for an early dinner and ended up going to a contemporary tapas bar. I had Belly Pork and it was amazing. We then returned to our rooms to shower and change before the fireworks started.

We decided to meet up in Mum and Dads room and have a few nibbles and Champagne before the 9:00 smaller firework show. The show was pretty good and lasted about 5 mins but didn’t include the big fireworks that were being saved for the later show. After the show we returned to mum and dads and had some more food and drinks. In order to bag a prime spot for the 12:00 show we decided to go up to the roof at 10:30 and I took my tripod with me. We ended up speaking to the people next to us so that helped pass the time. When the fireworks started they were amazing. I had brought my tripod up with me so I was able t take photo’s whilst being able to watch the fireworks and they were spectacular. The show only lasted about 10 mins but it was just so nice. After all was over we returned to the room and toasted towards the new year before going to bed.

1^st January – We decided to do some walks around Sydney that were in Mums guide book. We walked around Darlinghurst, Paddington, Wooloomooloo and Kings Cross amongst others. We stopped a couple of times for drinks etc but we had a really good day and managed to see some really nice parts of Sydney often missed by tourists. In the evening we went and found a Curry house. It was full so we went to the Admiral Nelson micro brewery before returning and having a very tasty curry.

2^nd January – We decided that as it was such a nice day we would head to Bondi beach. Once we arrived we went to the Bondi North Italian restaurant and got a round of meatball sandwiches whilst looking out over the beach. After eating we found a spot on the beach and proceeded to fall asleep. The beach was actually quite overcast and windy so we decided to go for a walk along the beach so that mum could see the famous Icebergs swimming club. We then returned to central Sydney and visited the MCA. Mum and Dad weren’t bothered with seeing the Anne Libowiz exhibition so we just went to the free ones. I can tell you now don’t bother. Its one of the worst museums I have ever visited. I’m not a fan of Aboriginal art but the contemporary art is so pretentious its just not art. I don’t think that the box that a TV comes in stuck to a wall is art, that’s because its not. After I picked up my stuff and went to check into my hostel. In the evening I walked up to Circular Quay to meet Mum and Dad for dinner. We ended up going to a little restaurant near their hotel and I had Fish and Chips, very good Fish and Chips of that. Dad had a nice fish risotto and mum had a very sensible but equally delicious Caesar Salad.

3^rd January – Met Mum and Dad and went for a walk around the shops. After discovering that we didn’t actually want to buy anything we decided to go to the Barracks Museum that explained about how the Penal Colony was established and operated within the early years. After we went for some lunch on Circular Quay before I returned to my hostel. In the evening I met up with Liz, Michael and Rhia as Michael and Rhia fly home tomorrow so we went out for a goodbye dinner. We went to China town and ended up having a completely disastrous meal. The one good thing was that we met England cricketer Chris Tremlett in the restaurant.

4^th January – Met Mum and Dad at Ticket Master so that we could collect our tickets for the day. We then headed to the SCG and took our seats. England had another good day (I think I’m good luck) and they dismissed Australia for 284 before going on to score almost 200 for 4 by the end of play. We walked back to the centre from the ground and ended up having dinner in a restaurant on the waterfront. I even had Kangaroo!! Its lovely. After dinner we went for a drink and then said our goodbyes as Mum and Dad go up to Cairns tomorrow and I’m off to the cricket again.

5^th January – Another day at the cricket and another cracking England performance. England batted all day and Alistair Cook scored a shed load. After the match I walked home again and met up with Sarah, who I met in Peru, and we went for a drink. We weren’t really feeling the bar that we were in so we decided to go to Star City casino. We didn’t actually bet any money, I am a backpacker after all, but we had a cool time. We started of with a few drinks before going and watching the tables. We ended up settling at a Craps table and made friends on the table. We actually got sponsored by a player on the table so also got to roll the dice a few times.

6^th January – Today is the final day for me at the Ashes. This is a very sad day but also an amazing day as by pure fluke Dad managed to get me tickets in the centre of the Barmy Army. It was amazing. Not only were England cruising to a win down under but I was in the best area of the ground singing my little head off with the Barmy Army. Alas by the end of the day my voice was quite horse and I was knackered but it was sooo worth it. What a day. England batted till lunch and set Australia a massive total. At the end of play things were even better as 7 of the Australian side had fallen and this included Mitchell Johnson who over all of the 6 days that I attended easily bore the brunt of the abuse. “He Bowls to the left, He bowls to the right, That Mitchell Johnson, His bowling is shite” X 1 million.

After walking back I packed all my stuff up and sorted things out as I leave Sydney at lunch tomorrow.

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Melbourne

dan_powell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:08:00 GMT

26^th December – Got up early as I am flying to Melbourne to watch the Ashes. After a train to the airport I caught my flight and all was easy peasy. When I arrived in Melbourne I found out that Australia had lost 4 wickets by lunch so decided to go to the ground to collect my tickets for the next 2 days and to also purchase a ticket for the rest of the days play. And what a days play it was. England managed to dismiss Australia for only 98 before going on to have a go themselves. Brilliant.

After leaving the ground I headed to St Kilda and met up with Marek and Lisa who I originally met in Brazil and grabbed a drink with them. We were also joined by Dave and Caroline who I met in Puerto Iguassu. Its crazy sometimes when you meet people you originally met soo far away. We had a few drinks before I checked into my hostel, got a falafel and hit the hay.

27^th December – Got up early and headed to the MCG. I have a really good spot on the 16^th row. I am also surrounded by English fans including two very funny guys next to me who wont stop yelling funny abuse at the Australia team. England batted all day and are on their way to setting a massive total. After a fantastic day at the cricket I went with some of the people next to me to the football stadium next door. Inside I met up with Marek as he has a season ticket. The match was Melbourne Victory Vs Newcastle Jets and it was a terrible standard of football. Que chants of “This would be a sit game in England, Sit game in England” from fellow cricket fans that also decided to come across. Australia really weren’t having a good day with English sports on that day. After the football Marek invited me to his as Lisa was cooking a massive Lasagne. We were joined by Dave and Caroline and also Marek’s dad who ad also been at the football. After a lovely dinner Marek’s dad gave us a lift home and I went to bed.

28^th December – Went to the ashes again and England were eventually dismissed for 513 around lunch time. Australia had a target of 415 to make us bat again but due to a brilliant bowling display they ended the day on 169-6 wit their hopes of winning in tatters. When I got back to the hostel David was there waiting for me as we are going to a Pub quiz and I don’t know where the pub is. We came 2^nd in the pub quiz so I was quite happy with that.

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Sydney - Visit 1

dan_powell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:37:00 GMT

17^th December – Got up early as I am flying to Oz today. The flight was pretty uneventful and I ended up watching one of the Twilight films which to my surprise was actually quite good.

Getting through Australian customs was surprisingly easy and I was in a mini bus to my hostel quickly. After checking in I went and watched some more of the ashes before getting in touch with a girl I met in Rio called Liz. She told me to get on the bus and head to her house in Bondi so I did. Once I met her she took me to the rocks on Bondi beach and we watched the surfers before heading o her house and chilling in her garden. I also met her cousin Michael and his fiancé Rhia who are both really cool. After a while we decided to go to a bar and got sufficiently leathered. After a while we grabbed a burger and headed back to their place. We started watching a film but as I was drunk and tired from my early start I just crashed out on their sofa and fell asleep.

18^th December – After waking up on Liz’s sofa I headed back to my hostel as I had lots of washing to do. For the rest of the day I watched the ashes and only briefly ventured out to get some food for dinner. I went to Pie Face and this place is amazing. Definite idea for a company in England.

19^th December – In the morning I decided to go for a walk through the Botanical gardens all the way up to Mrs Macquaries point. This is where the classic photo’s of Sydney harbour are taken from showing the opera house and the bridge in the background. After taking my “Classic Photo’s” I walked round to the Opera House and on the Circular Quay. The Museum of Contemporary Art is on Circular Quay so I decided to go in and have a look at the Anne Libowitz exhibition. The exhibition is fantastic and well worth it. Especially as I happened to turn up just as a guided tour was starting. Whilst I was in the museum Liz text me to say the she along with Michael and Rhia were going to walk the Harbour Bridge so I joined them and walked it as well. Its quite expensive but is a good laugh and the views of Sydney are very good from up there. Its also nice to be able to say I walked over the Harbour Bridge. The walk took 3 and a half hours and afterwards I went back to my hostel. In the evening I sat in the TV room where I met Michelle and Sophie so we sat and had a chat.

20^th December – Met Sophie and Michelle and we went to the Sky tower. I waited whilst they visited it as I had done the bridge I didn’t feel the need to do the sky tower as well. We then went to The Museum of New South Wales and Michelle left us as she is returning to Canberra. Sophie and I went in and went to the Terracotta Army exhibition. This was really interesting and has only fuelled my desire to go to Xian and see the army. The museum has a number of exhibitions so we walked around them all. My favourite was probably the sketching exhibition that had some amazing pictures. In the evening Sophie and I walked to Kings Cross to meet Dave and Sarah who I met in Fiji. We had a few drinks with them before walking back.

21^st December – Sophie and I went for a walk before catching the ferry to manly where we were going to meet Dave and Sarah on the beach. After meeting them we had a swim in the fucking freezing sea and chilled on the beach chatting. Surprisingly not playing cards, see Fiji if you don’t understand. After a while we decided to build a sand man. We however noticed that it looked more like a penis and balls so as the mature males that we are we decided to build a massive penis an balls sand castle on the beach. It was huge. And lots of people laughed as they walked past. Que lots of shouting “its not the size that counts” to passing girls. Once we had fished we got the ferry back to the CBD and went to our hostels to have a shower and change. In the evening Soph and I walked across to Dave and Sarah’s hostel to watch TV and generally hang out.

22^nd December – I got up and decided to go to the Botanical gardens to read and sleep. I picked a nice spot in some shad overlooking the opera house and chilled. After a while Soph came to join me and we sat reading. We had arranged to meet Dave and Sara in the evening but they had caught a 24 hour bug so we just watched TV instead and saved some money.

23^rd December – I headed to the park again and sat in a similar place to the day before. Soph along wit Dave and Sarah came to join me and we got the cards out and played all day. It was a pretty cool day as all things go as we just chilled out playing cards and had a picnic. I had arranged to meet up with a girl I met on my trip around Peru in the evening so I gave her a call and she came and met me. Sarah hadn’t eaten so as I’m the back packer and she was working she insisted on taking me out for some food. Once we finished we went to the backpacker bar attached to my hostel and were joined by Dave, Sarah and Soph and had an epic night. It was a really good night and we were just being idiots and laughing all night.

24^th December – Got up not quite believing that it was Christmas Eve. Its way too hot to be anywhere near Christmas. I packed my bag and took it to my hotel where I meet mum and dad after I visit Melbourne as I’m not taking it wit me. As I was doing this Liz invited me around so I did some shopping for food for tomorrow and went round. We were joined by Michael and Rhia and had a few drinks in the garden before we went headed to Darling Harbour to see the Christmas Eve fireworks. As the girls took soo long to get ready we missed the fireworks so we just went to a bar and met Dave ad Sarah for a few drinks. We stayed up long enough to see Christmas day in but left soon after.

25^th December – Got up early and headed over to Liz’s. Everyone was still in bed so as they got ready I cooked some tuna Pasta with peas to take to the lunch that we were going to. We went on a nice walk along Bondi and about 5 other beaches to Coogee that took about an hour. We were heading to the flat of Rhia’s cousin and they were cooking up a storm and having a good party. The lunch was really good we had a normal English dinner with all the trimmings it was brilliant. After lunch we went on to the beach and had a dip in the sea. Bit strange for a Christmas day really. After a bit more of a party I headed to bondi with Liz and met up with Andrea who I had met in Fiji. We caught the bus together back to the CBD and I went off to Skype home as it was about time for Mum, Dad and Fred to be waking up to their Christmas morning.

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Fiji

dan_powell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:51:00 GMT

4^th December – Headed out to the Islands from Nadi. My first stop is Bounty Island which is only about 30 mins off of the shore so was quickly there. Bounty Island is quite small but has lovely white sand and a nice swimming pool rite on the beach. I had a swim in the sea and ended up seeing a baby shark in the shallows. I then went and relaxed in a hammock before having a dip in the pool. In the evening I sat down fir the included dinner when surprisingly Frasier and Chloe arrived and joined me. In the evening we had a few beers with a German couple that we had dinner with before going to bed.

5^th December – I got up along with Frasier and Chloe and headed off of the island to the far north. We went to Coral View resort and it took us 5 hours on a rather choppy boat so we were feeling rather sea sick by the time we got there. For the rest of the day I chilled on the sun beds reading and taking the occasional dip in the sea. During the day I met Marcus, Laura and Tash so we ended up having some dinner together and a few beers whilst playing pool for the rest of the night.

6^th December – Hung out on the grass area all day chatting with Chloe, Fraser, Marcus, Tash, Laura and Pate (who is in the bunk below me). In the evening after dinner we played a few games organised by the staff before having a few drinks ad chatting

7^th December – Today our group is leaving Coral view and heading down to White Sandy Beach. On the boat transfer Frasier passed out in the toilet as he had been feeling quite ill so they decided to go on to main land and take him to a doctor. At first glance we didn’t really like WSB as its very basic and in poor ish condition. We however grew to love the place as we ad a good group and the staff were pretty cool. After a simple dinner the staff put o a show and then we played some games. The games were a great laugh and we ad a awesome time. Once the games were over we sat around a beach fire and had a chat.

8^th December – Woke up to another beautiful day in Fiji. Went for a swim wit Pete and Marcus and found some blue starfish. These starfish were like proper navy blue it was so cool. In the afternoon we decided to have a bit of a barber session. Laura used t be a Toni and Guy hairdresser and I had brought my clippers with me so we got them out. Marcus decided that he wanted a mow-hawk so we did one and it looked awesome. The staff were laughing and calling him Mr T and one actually asked us to do one for him which really did look like Mr T. We then asked one of the staff to climb a tree for us and he got a load of Coco nuts down for us. In the afternoon 3 girls form Kent, Katie, Hayleigh and Jo arrived which is very good news as they are all hot. We then played a few games of Volleyball with the staff before having a sea cucumber fight with some of the younger staff. After dinner we played more games and I was paired up with Hayleigh and we almost won 2 of the 4 games and I did actually win the limbo.

9^th December – Moved from WSB to Waya Lai Lai. After arriving we relaxed in the hammocks until dinner. Fr dinner we had the best food that we have had so far on the islands which was a very good chicken curry. In the evening we played games (not up to WSB standards) and everyone won a free glass of wine. Before we went off to bed we organised one of the members of staff to make us Kava. This is a traditional Fijian drink made from the root of the Kava plant and this is ground up and water is passed through it in a Hessian bag flavouring the water. It doesn’t taste of much apart from muddy water. It does however make your moth go numb and if you drink enough of it, it makes you a little light headed.

10^th December – Marcus and I have decided to learn the capital cities of each of the country’s in his diary so we did some revision in the morning. We were doing really well but as this is written soo late I think I have forgotten most of them. Did you know that Pyong-Yang is the capital of North Korea?? Didn’t think so. After lunch we went down to the beach and played volleyball before going out on the most unproductive fishing trip in the history of fishing. The girls from Kent had arrived on our island so we had dinner with them and watched a traditional show of singing and dancing performed by the local village.

11^th December – we are all moving on today and I am going off on my own to Manta-ray island. Unfortunately it was absolutely hooning it down so I got completely soaked transferring on to the transfer boat. After checking in to Manta-ray I had some lunch and watched Toy Story 3. During the day I met a few people including an Austrian guy called Manfred. For dinner we had 3 courses. There was no entertainment so Manfred and I played cards with two Swiss girls.

12^th December – Sat on the beach all day reading and listening to my iPod. In the afternoon I met an English couple called Sarah and Dave. We played a few games of cards before heading up to have some dinner. Dinner was a really good Buffet and by the end of it I was properly stuffed. After dinner we went down to the beach bar and played cards till the wee hours.

13^th December – Again went and sat on the beach and ad another wicked day. In the morning I taught Dave and Italian card game called Briscola as he is half Italian. After lunch Dave and Sarah left and I met a guy called V who was from New Zealand. After a bit of a chat we went for dinner. After dinner we went to the beach bar again an played cards with an American couple called Omar and Jennifer and a Belgian called Dorine.

14^th December – Another lovely day on Manta-ray and to be honest the days are starting to blur into one. Manfred left today and 3 new girls arrived called Frankie, Laura and Jordan. It was a really cool evening as everyone on the island knew each other so we all sat around chatting and playing cards all night.

15^th December – Today I am transferring off of the islands on to mainland. I was joined on the beach by Dorine, Jennifer and Andrea, an Austrian girl. After lunch I took some photo’s on the beach with a Santa hat on. Lol.

We then got our transfer to the Yassawa Flyer and headed towards main land. When we were about half way we were stopping to let some people off when we were joined by a school of dolphins. It was amazing as they were right next to the boat and were jumping in the air and everything. After a while we had to continue towards mainland. Dave and Sarah were also transferring on to main land so I met them on the boat and ended up checking into the same hostel as they did. I had some dinner with Dave and Sarah and we were joined by a German guy who turned out to be a proper twat but ah well. After dinner there was a fire show and we played a few games of the now obligatory cards.

16^th December – I have a full day in Nadi so decided to go into town. I really wanted to see a Buddhist Temple that is in town so went there first. The temple turned out to be amazing as it is so brightly coloured and so pretty. The only down point was that the German Twat insisted on joining me. Shit. After taking a million photos I walked back to the hostel. I had rather underestimated how long it would take to walk back but never mind. It’s not like I had anything else to do. After getting back the ashes started on the TV and England did a fantastic job of dismissing Australia for a first innings total just over 200. After dinner I joined Frankie, Jordan and Laura as they had come to my hostel for dinner.

I fly to Oz tomorrow so my story will continue in the Australia Chapter.

Please find my Fiji photo’s here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=137739&id=286602040&l=179ff4dc71

New Zealand

dan_powell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:49:00 GMT

I’m going to start off with two apologies. Firstly – If any words are missing a “h” its not my fault. The “h” key is a little dodgy. Secondly – I know I’m crap and apologise for my lack of updates in the past.

19^th November – The flight to Auckland from Santiago was rather uneventful. I had to fly Via Buenos Aires and had a 11 hour layover there which was shit but meant that I could catch up on some sleep and my diary that I hadn’t written for approximately a month. Oooh there was soo much to write. Hopefully I’ll be able to remember so that I can put it on here soon.

21^st November – The main event of the flight from Santiago was that I crossed the date line causing me to never experience the 20^th November 2010. It just didn’t exist for me.

After landing I got the short Airport transfer to the centre of Auckland. I had managed to book my bed for the day that didn’t exist but luckily the hostel didn’t mind and changed my booking for free. After dumping my bags I went and found the Magic bus office and booked my tickets. Magic bus is a hop-on hop-off tourist bus that drives around New Zealand and you simply hop on and off were ever you please and can stay in those places as long as you want.

The girl in the Magic bus office had told me that Devonport was nice so I headed to the dock to get some Jandals (flip-flops to you and me). My trusty flip-flops that had got me around 90% of South America were showing signs, in the shape of chunks missing etc, that they should probably be replaced. It was a sad time. I then went and got an amazing ice cream and my boat ticket. TBH I think that I could have stayed there all day eating ice cream, the memory of the flip flops was long forgotten.

Once in Devonport I went for a walk. I had noticed that there is a “Cheltenham” in Devonport so decided to head towards there. I headed up a dormant volcano, small hill, and surveyed Devonport. My conclusions were, “Small” and “Village-y”. I then went to Cheltenham and took some obligatory pictures.

By this time lunch, and my stomach, was calling. I went to a nice bar that was serving very nice meatball subbs. As I was tucking in none other than Rosie Gray, from the actual Cheltenham, walked past me, this really is a very small world. She was about to go to a food festival in Auckland so we got the ferry together and I went with her.

I then headed back to my hostel. In my room I met a number of girls including Sharon who studied at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, Seriously the links to Chelt today in edging on ridiculous. After a good chat I ended up crashing on my bed at about 6:00 and slept straight through.

22^nd November – Woke up early to catch my Magic bus to Pahia. After leaving the “City of sails” over the harbour bridge we headed north, passing bright pink sheep, for 45 minutes before stopping for breakfast in a nice café. I had met a Dutch guy called Arjen on the bus and we ad been chatting most of the way. After breakfast we continued on our trip up to Pahia. When we arrived I checked in to my hostel and booked on a 4 hour dolphin watching trip through The Bay of Islands. Soon after leaving the harbour we were told that Killer Whales had been spotted in the bay so we quickly headed towards that sighting spot. When we got there we saw about 6 whales. I took a load of photos but unfortunately they weren’t jumping out f the water so only saw their backs and noses.

After watching the whales for a while we went through the whole in the rock and then to a really nice bay where we went onto the beach for a quick drink. We then sailed around the islands for a wile before heading back to the port. In the evening the passengers from the bus went to a BBQ at one of the hostels so we all had a few drinks and a good chat. A bit later on a few of us also went off to a karaoke bar for a short sing.

23^rd November – When I got up I went and met Pam and Becky who I met the night before. We had decided to rent kayaks so we went and got a few out. When we got on the water we decided to go to the town of Russell that is across the water. Russell was the original capital of New Zealand and is now a small quaint town. When we arrived we dragged our kayaks onto the beach and went to get a sandwich. I got a beef sandwich as I had been craving horseradish. After lunch we went back to Pahia which was much harder in this direction as we were going against the current.

In the afternoon I chilled out in Pahia and the hostel. Two Irish girls checked into my room so I had a chat with them before getting Fish and Chips (pronounced fUsha n’ chUps) and joining them at a pub quiz. I have an early start tomorrow however so left before the quiz had finished.

24^th November – Today I am going on a trip to Cape Reinga (pronounced Ray-An-Ga) in the far north of the island. Our guide for the day was a Maori called Rob who was very funny and a really good guide. Our first major stop was the very north of the cape. This is where the Maori people believe that their souls leave New Zealand and dive into the sea when you die. There is a really nice lighthouse at this point and the obligatory signs to major world cities. We then went to a nice beach in the eastern side of the cape to have our lunch and a dip in the sea.

In the afternoon we went to the sand dunes at the top of 90 mile beach and went sand boarding. It was really good fun but one girl did stack and went about 2 meters along the sand on only her face. I dubbed this “extreme exfoliation” tbh I don’t think its going to catch on and make me much money. We ten drove over some quick sand, and rob had the coach sideways, before going on to 90 mile beach and driving down it. The beach is a classified road and it’s quite funny because the road running alongside the beach has a 50 kph limit while the beach is 100 kph. On the way back we stopped off for fish and chips. In the evening I just passed out on my bed at about 6:00.

25^th November – Today I leave Pahia and return to Auckland. Our route went via Opononi on the west cost and Waipoua Forrest where “Tane Mahuta”, god of the forest, a giant Kauri (pronounced Cory) tree that is approximately 200 years old is. Once I arrived in Auckland I checked in and went into town With Becky to buy the book “Shantaram” (btw this book is amazing!!! Read it!!) and in the evening we went to watch the new Harry Potter film.

26^th November – Left Auckland for Rotarua. On the bus I met a guy called Nathan who seams cool. We started by going to Mt Cook which has good views out over Auckland. We then went to Paeroa where the “World Famous in New Zealand” lemon and Paeroa is from. This is a Lemon fizzy water drink that’s really nice and should defo come to the UK in the future.

After a few obligatory photos with a giant bottle we moved on to Hobbiton where Lord of the Rings (no never seen even 1 minute of them) was filmed and the new Peter Jackson film The Hobbit is about to start filming (probably finished and out on DVD by the time you get to read this as I’m so crap at updating this blog).

We then continued on to Rotorua. You know when you’re in Rotarua by the smell. It is home of natural hot mud baths and these small of sulphur (rotten eggs). I was staying in a non Magic bus affiliated hostel called Crank and it was really cool (also it was run by a very friendly Argentinean couple who wanted to know about where I went and what I thought of Argentina). It was also running a very good accommodation/cultural experience/mud pool deal that couldn’t be missed.

Soon after arriving I departed for my cultural experience. I went to a place owned by the Maitai tribe/family to watch the show and experience their traditional cooking. The evening started by selecting a “Chief” for our “Tribe” (marquee). We then went to have a look at the “Hangi” which is a traditional Maori way of cooking under the ground on hot rocks. On my table were two Dutch guys that I had actually met on the bus, an Australian girl called Brooke, who happens to be in my room I discover as we get back to the hostel, and a Canadian couple called Danielle and Darrell who are also in my hostel.

We were then taken to see the show. It started near a small river where we were shown how the Maori’s sailed and some of their fighting songs in the boats. We were then led to the staging area where we were shown dancing, fighting, training and traditional leisure activities (before the Xbox arrived). We were also shown a number of “Haka” dances which are really cool. Once the show was over we returned to our marquee to eat an amazing meal of everything you can think of and tons of it. After dinner we were taken on a glow worm walk in the dark and had a number of the plants described to us and beliefs/medicines the Maori’s attached to them.

After everything was finished we were bussed to our hostel however myself along with Broke, Darrell and Danielle decided to go and get a drink before bed.

27^th November – today was a free day in Rotarua. Firstly I decided to take advantage and have a lie-in. I then pottered around and did travel admin sort of stuff. At 1:00 I was collected and take to “Hells Gate”. This is where the hot mud baths are. After walking around the mud pools that you can’t get in, they would burn or melt your skin right off, I got into the mud bath and covered myself with smelly mud. In the evening I went with Brooke, Danielle, Darrell and a new roomy called Lennie for dinner in a bar across the road before everyone went climbing in the rock climb centre at our hostel. I had a go on the free climb wall, no ropes just mats on a big overhang, and actually managed to complete tie course. Yay to me. I did however manage to kick the wall as I was climbing barefoot and started bleeding. Oops. After we went to the Pig and Whistle for a quick drink before I left early leaving the others to it.

28^th November – I left Rotarua today on the Magic bus to go to Taupo. We were first taken to a Californian red wood forest. Then we went to the Lady Knox Geyser. This is pretty cool. You sit in the outside ampetheatre and one of the park rangers puts some chemicals down the spout of the geyser and then it goes mad and spurts water out about 3 stories high into the air. We then went to the Huka falls and did a walk along the side of the river. We were then taken to Taupo and to our hostel to check in. I then went for a walk with Nathan and we went to have a look at the lake. The lake is massive and is in fact larger than the whole country of Singapore. In the evening the whole bus were going to a pub so we went along and had dinner and a few drinks.

29^th November – Had a free day in Taupo so got up late and went to the supermarket to get some food for the next few days. I then went wit Nathan to town and we watched the Ashes. In the afternoon we watched “New Jack City” in the hostel and then cooked some dinner and chatted to our new room mates Cameron and Alex for the rest of the night.

30^th November – Have another free day in Taupo so got up late again. After Skype’ing home we went for a walk around Taupo and went to the beach. Unfortunately my hayfever was really playing up so I ended up going back to my room and read for the rest of the day. In the evening we finished the spag bol we had cooked the previous night and then went to the pub with Cameron and Alex as it is Cameron’s birthday. In the pub they had a movember competition on and were giving out prizes for best mo etc. They also had a pub quiz but we didn’t do very well.

1^st December – Jumped on the Magic bus as am leaving Taupo. Firstly we went to Waitomo where there are some famous caves with glow worms. We then continued on to the national park. However it was a rather hot day and when we were almost there the bus over heated and stopped working. It was ok though as after 10 mins of cooling down we were back on our way. We then went to a couple of Lord of the rings locations including Mt Doom. This all means nothing to me as I have never seen Lord of the rings. After checking in to my hostel I got chatting to some people in the kitchen area and we went for a quick pint before bed.

2^nd December – Spent the morning in the hostel as my train isn’t until lunchtime. The train was taking me back to Auckland and it was a nice train with some pretty views. We also went around the Raurimi spiral which is quite a cool piece of engineering. I arrived in Auckland at 7:00 so cooked some dinner before grabbing a drink with a German guy called Stephan that is in my room.

3^rd December – Got up early and skyped mum as I go to Fiji today and I don’t think that the islands will have internet. Afterwards I packed up and checked out and went to the airport. The flight was nice and I was sat next to two big Fijian guys and we chatted most of the way. We were greeted to Fiji in the airport by a bula band singing and dancing which was quite cool. I then headed to a hotel and booked onto an island hopping pass. I then went to the pool and met an English brother and sister called Fraser and Chloe. We went and got a pizza for dinner and then I crashed.

Please find photos at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136150&id=286602040&l=2ced7a9fcf

Patagonia

dan_powell — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 09:45:00 GMT

Due to the shocking internet connection found in such a beautiful yet remote location as Patagonia, Argenntina I haven't been able to keep up to date with my Blog. Sorry about that.

I will in the future update this however i don't currently have time to sort it out.

I will however let you know what highlights there were:

I started off in Peninsular Valdes where i saw a Sea Lion fight followed by a live Sea Lion sex show. In the afternoon we also saw Whales which was pretty cool.

I then headed towards the Puerto Morreno Glacier. This is the only growing Glacier in the world but you do get to see some awesome ice calves.

I also visited Torres Del Paine in Chile. This is a very cool place and is where the famous walk "The W" is located. This is a 4 day trek that to be honest is fucking hard. some very nice views were had though.

We then headed down to Ushuia which is the southern most town in the world. I was surprised to find that it was shorts and t-shirts weather so that was nice for what is usually such a cold place.

We then started heading back up the country to eventually reach Santiago. People say Santiago isn't very nice. They are wrong. Santiago is in fact really nice and has some fantastic Gardens etc.

Sorry this is so rushed but i will expand on it in the future. In the mean time please feel free to look at the following Photo albums.

Argentina (inc some Patagonia) - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133677&id=286602040&l=74de4ae169

Patagonia - Argentina - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136147&id=286602040&l=33586a3bab

Chile - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136149&id=286602040&l=f3d012459d

New Zealand - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136150&id=286602040&l=2ced7a9fcf

Buenos Aires - Visit No 2

dan_powell — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:37:00 GMT

After checking into the final bed i discovered that i wasnt actuallt tired so decided to get back up and went down to the bar, accidentily forgetting to put any shoes on so got a few wierd looks. In the bar i met Joe, American lad, and had a beer with him. I discovered that he was moving hostel the following day to "The Milhouse".

Milhouse is a really good hostel and well known for being a really good laugh and has lots of backpackers. After checking in the following morning I watched Chelsea kick some Gooner ass and win 2-0. YES GET IN !!

Afterwards I felt that this clearly wasn't enough football for one day so I booked on the Boca V Lanus football tour which was set to leave in 1 hour. I chucked all my stuff in my room and headed out. The football was really good and was good to see Boca in their `La Bomba` stadium. Unfortunatley they lost 2-1 from a last min penalty so the fans weren´t too happy however Boca had wasted numerous chances so it serves them rite i suppose. After returning to the hostel me, Yael (Isreli i met in Mendoza) and Tom (an Irish lad i met on the bus to the match) went for a beer and pizza.

The following day i met up with Yael and a twat of an Isreli guy and went for a walk around the Palermo area of BA. Palermo is a really nice neighbourhood full of little botiques and bars. It is also on the edge of a number of nice parks and gerdens which we had a pic-nic in and generally chilled out. In the evening I went to "La Bomba" a percussion show. There were approzimatley 15 bongo players playing various songs, Very loudly. It was amazing. After the show we went to the other Milhouse, there are two close to eachother, and had a few more drinks.

The following day I had a slightly foggy head and headed down to use the computers. I met a guy called Cameron, Scottish, and had a chat. We discovered we were both planning on doing some shopping so headed out together. I wanted to get a book "In Patagonia" as I am heading through Patagonia when i leave BA. I managed to get it along with a lovely tripod for my camera that was a complete BAR..GIN. After returning to the hostel i read a book about Ron Kray, Its actually a really interesting book. In the evening I had steak in the hostel and played some pool with a group of english lads.

The next day I went for a walk around BA on my own. First i headed to "The Pink House" where Eva "Evita" Peron did here speaches. I then headed to another neighbourhood called San Telmo and had a look around. San Telmo is a rougher neighbourhood but had some nice areas. After returning towards the hostel i went for a lovely lunch of Milanesia Nepolitana. In the afternoon i went back to San Telmo to meet Caroline and Sam, Dragoman truck drivers/guides, and went to the cinema to see "Inception", the Leonardo De Caprio film. After the film we went for a beer and a catchup. I then walked back to my hostel and on arrival was ambushed by my room mates to go to a tango show. I ran upstairs and got changed and headed out with them. The tango show was in a local hall and was for locals not pro's. It was really good fun and they ran a number of classes from Beginer to Expert and then had a free dance at the end when the best dancers took command and strut their stuff. On return to the hostel we joined the party that was being thrown before going to bed. What a day!!

The next day I went to the main train station to meet Sam and Caroline. We then walked to the "Recoleta" neighbourhood and had a walk around. We went to the famous cemetary and saw the grave of neumerous generals, presedents and of course Evita. After a very nice lunch we went to have a look at the mirrored flower which it ginominous. we then walked back to the centre before splitting off and doing our own thing. In the evening I cooked Spag-Bol with a few of the other guys in the hostel.

The next day i spent chilling out in the hostel reading and hanging around. In the afternoon Tom and I went to San Telmo and had a beer in the main square whilst watching a live tago show. In the evening we both met up with Sam and Caroline and headed to "La Cabrera". This is meant to be the best Steak House in BA, If not Argentina, and it is easy to taste why. the steak was mind blowing, even by argentinian standards. and also bloody cheep. We had steak with all the trimmings a lovely bottle of Shiraz great service for 16pounds inc tip. BAR..GIN !!!

The following day was a Saturday so we headed to the markets. I went with Harry and Rebecca to Palermo but unfortunatley the market was starting to close. We had a drink, G and T obveously, befor walking to Recoleta. This market was deffinatley not closing up and was really good to have a look around. I took some nice people watching photo´s here aswell. In the evening I went to the takeaway around the corner and got a lovely couple of short rib steaks and chips.

On Sunday Me, Harry, Cameron and a Dutch couple, Marcel and Sarah, went to San Telmo market. This market is massive and stretches over 10 blocks down one road and includes various side streets. You can pretty much get anything here, including a rather nice antique belfast sink. It was however very busy so inevitably we all ended up loseing eachother but never mind. In the evening i went for dinner in a restaurant around the corner with some guy i cant remember the name of as everyone else had gone to the football. Hey better than eating alone.

Monday was a bank holiday in Argentina so lots of people were around and the markets were still on. Cameron and I decided to head to Palermo to try and get a t-shirt. after a false start in a shopping centre, far too expensive, we went to Palermo-Soho. Here we found that the bars have local traders in the bars and you can buy their wares. We found two really nice t-shirts in different bars and got them. Hey were not exactly going to be bumping in to each other all the time wearing the same shirt. Also they were a propper bargin at under 20pounds for the pair. In the evening i went out with Lauren, Rhian and Mitch for dinner in San Telmo and had a pretty good steak, Steak just isn´t the same after "La Cabrera".

On Tuesday I did the La Boca tour. La Boca is notoriously a slightly dangerous area so I booked on the tour. We started by going to the stadium and club meuseum. We then went for lunch before having a walk around. La Boca is where Tango originates from and you see people in the streets putting on shows. The area is quite run-down so they have painted the buildings in amazing, bright colours. It is really nice and works soo well, sorry i´ll take my Urban Design hat off. In the evening Marcel, Sarah, Cameron and I all went to a little Peruvian restaurant and had dinner before playing some pool in the hostel.

On Wednesday I went on the "Grafittimundo" tour. This tour, as the name suggests, showed you lots of grafitti in BA including a couple of galleries and bars. The tour was very informative and there were some really nice pieces around. In the evening I cooked with Marcel and Sarah before sinking a few pints and heading to bed.

Today I have checked out and checked into to my hotel as I start my next Dragoman trip to Patagonia today. Tonight I also go to see The Dave MAtthews Band so that should be eppic.

PHOTO UPDATE !!

dan_powell — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:28:00 GMT

Well hello everyone. Those of you have been asking to see photo's of my trip however this site is pretty poor at being able to upload photo's. I have now worked out that I can post links to my Facebook photo's and you DONT have to have Facebook to view them. However i dont know how they work with company firewalls etc. Please see links to various photo albums below:

Peru = http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122987&id=286602040&l=a447b68b4c

Brazil = http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123779&id=286602040&l=b4bbe40a80

Argentina - Visit 1 = http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=132719&id=286602040&l=4ea69cf374

Uraguay = http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133676&id=286602040&l=a98219809f

Argentina - Visit 2 = http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133677&id=286602040&l=74de4ae169

Please enjoy them and I have noticed that I'm not getting any comments any more. Please do comment as i enjoy reading your feedback.

All links to photo albums will be in the text from now on.

Punta del Diablo

dan_powell — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:14:00 GMT

The bus to Montevideo was easy and once I arrived I booked on to another bus to Punta del Diablo. I ended up getting to Punta del Diablo quite late but was met by Daniel a rep from one of the hostels. I was later to find out that it was the only hostel open in the off season. After checking in I headed downstairs to the restaurant for dinner.

When I got down there I heard English being spoken by a group so asked to join them. I met an Canadian couple, an Australian couple and a single Australian girl. They were all really nice and we all had a good chat over dinner and a few drinks.

The following morning I met Brian (owner of the hostel) who told me about the charity that the hostel runs, helping local people set up businesses. He also told me how he ran school classes and other initatives in the town to try and help the locals as this is a very remote beach town.

After dinner Kate (the single aussie girl) and I went for a walk down the beach. It was a really nice walk and good to feel the sand between my toes again. For the rest of the day I chilled and read on the hotel decking looking out to sea. In the evening we sat around watching films and I cooked myself a nice veggie pasta that ended up making 4 meals.

The following day I chilled out again around the hostel and beach and managed to finish "The girl who kicked the hornets nest". Everyone should read this series, it's really good. In the evening we watched a Bio pic about The Doors and Allice in Wonderland.

Unfortunatley I had to leave the following day as there is no cash machine in the village. II got up early and watched the sea for 45 min's until I had to go to the bus stop. I first got a bus to Montevideo and then a connecting bus to Colonia. Once in Colonia I jumped n my boat to BA. On arrival in BA i walked to the hostel that I had left my bag in only to find that it was full. This meant that I was walking arround BA at 11:00pm looking for a hostel with space. Luckily the first one I tried did have space and I took their final bed.

Rosario Pt2

dan_powell — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 02:36:00 GMT

After hanging out with Quilermo all day we had some of Facu's friends around in the evening for Chiripan. The party was really good fun and again i set my camera up with the remote so that we could take some spontanious photo's.

The next day we went Kiyaking on the river to the Islands in the middle of the river. This was a fucking horrible experience that i dont want to re-live so i'll leave it there. In the evening we were heading to Canada (Pronounced Can-Ya-Da, its not in North America) which is where Facu is from. We had been invited to go and stay with his family for the weekend and to attend his Grandmothers supprise 80th birthday. The family was massive and hardly spoke any english so Facu was kept busy translating but we had a brilliant time. The party was at a local Assado restaurant and the food was fantastic. Again there were the Brin, intestine type foods but also lots of "normal" cuts. The family was so accommodating and friendly they were all practly fighting over who could chat to us.

Hopefully we didn't take too much attention off of Granny. She appeared happy to see us and we got the first photo with her and the cake. We really were guests of honnor. After Granny's party we headed to another birthday party. It was a shared 22nd and 24th party of 3 brothers all born on the same day. Again we seamed to steal the lime light as everyone was introduced to us and wanted to practice their English. Again this was a really hard job as the girls were outragiously attrative. I hate all this traveling lark ;)

After going clubbing we went to a petrol station for breakfast. it was 7:00am and this sounds a bit of an odd thing to do but everyone was in there having croissants and cakes before going home to bed.

We were awoken the following day by the melodic tunes of Phill Collins. Facu's dad is a big fan and i think it was put on in our honnor. however i dont thinkit was recieved in the way that it was intended but it was a nice gesture. Throughout the day varoius relitives and friends came to the house to peer at the funny foreighn guys but they were all really nice so it was ok. Lateron we went for a tour around Canada. This is something that everyone appears to do on a Sunday afternoon as they all head top the main street and get Coffe etc. It was really cool as we got to meet alot of the people from the night before.

In the evening we headed back to Rosario to collect our stuff before heading on to Buneos Aires the following morning.

Buneos Aires - Visit No1

dan_powell — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 02:36:00 GMT

I got up earlt in Roasario to get my bus to BA so that i could arrive at a decent time. I have decided to split off from Adrien now as i was getting intense cabin feever. Luckily he was also tempted to stay in Rosario and learn Spannish so I was able to split off from him without causing any issue.

When i arrived in BA i met a rep from the hostel and he driected me to the Underground and how to get to the hostel. The hostel is really nice and within muinets of checking in i met Tom an Aussie from my room and we decided to go for a short walk and grab a beer. On the walk i met Julian (From Iguasu) and arranged to meet up that evening as we are in the same hostel. In the evening we met up and headed to Andy's (who julian is traveling with) hostel. There we had some food and played pool before finding a bar. The bar we found is called the Beer Meuseum and is more of a bar than a meuseum but it has a massive collection of beer cans of various companies including some really cool limited edition cans with cartoons etc on them.

The following morning me and Julian headed for the port to get a boat to Colonia Uraguay. On the way we were caught in the most almighty downpour it was insane, I swear i have never experienced rain like it, not even in England. This caused us to miss the boat we wanted but we mannaged to get on a later one so all is good.

Colonia

dan_powell — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 02:36:00 GMT

The boat to Colonia took 1 hour and on arrival we discovered that it had been raining here aswell.

The first thing i did was find a hostel to ditch my stuff in and then we went on a walk around the town. The town is tiny and you can walk around it in about 1 hour. Its a really pretty cobbled town with a small fort. After walking around and grabbing some food Julian headed back to the port as he is flying back to Germany tomorrow from BA.

For the rest of the day is read, surfed the net, went on a few more walks and booked a ticket to Montevideo.

Tucuman

dan_powell — Fri, 1 Oct 2010 06:11:00 GMT

After arriving in Tucuman we had a mad dash arround trying to find our respective buses. We booked on to two buses for that evening so headed to the centere for some dinner and to kill some time.

We had heard that Tucuman was a shitwhole and the drive in certainly suggested that however the center is really nice. We headed towards the main square and pedestrian shopping streets. The guy in Tourist information reccommended a little Ialian restaurant so we went there for a very nice dinner. After dinner we went for a walk arround and found that there was a live open air concert going on in the main square playing local music. After watching for a while we headed back to the bus station.

After saying our goodbyes we jumped on our respective coaches, Me to Mendza and Amy to Cordoba.

Mendoza

dan_powell — Fri, 1 Oct 2010 06:11:00 GMT

My bus took 14 hours to arrive in Mendoza so I arrived at about lunch time. After heading to a hostel that had been reccommended i checked in and had a much needed shower. After the shower i went on a little walk around the area. I discovered that Mendoza is a really pretty city and that the women of Mendoza are absolutley stunning. Easily the best so far.

During my walk around i bumped into Andy (Andria) and Julian who i had shared a room with in Iguasu. We decided to go on a bit of a walk and to have a quick beer. Once I returned to the hostel i bumped into Natalie, The very attractive girl i shared with in Salta, who was again in my room. In the evening i cooked Veggie pasta and had a few G&T's before bed.

The following day was very boring as i had to sort things out such as laundry, posting stuff home etc. In the evening I met Adrian who is traveing with Nat for a few days and we all went to get some food for dinner and the wine tour tomorrow. afetr a few G&T's we went to bed.

In the morning we (Me Adrian and Nat) all got up ad headed to the bus stop to head to Maipu. We also met Dab and Keith who know Nat and are going to join us. Once we arrived in Maipu we headed to Mr Hugo's. Mr Hugo is a guy who rents out bikes and he's quite a character. After getting ourselfs a nice little discount we wre presented with some god awful wine and our bikes. Yes that order is correct, we were presented with the wine first. it was 11:00 in the morning.

The first winery we went to was 10km away but was also the furthest that we were to go. It was a nice winery and we tried 3 half full glasses of Rose, White and Red wine.

Afetr we went to another winery and after the obligitory tour tried 3 more generous glasses of white and 2 red wines.

The third winery was by far the best. within seconds of arriving we met Christian the owner. Christian is quite possibly the most ovrly friendly person in the world. I wasn't sure if i wanted to hug him or get a restraining order it was crazzy i seriously felt a little bit molested. After the groping was over we headed inside for the usual tour of the factory that none of us really wanted to do but its all part of the game. Then came the best bit, the wine tasting. The wine in this pace is well worth "The Christian Experience" as it is absolutley fantastic. Due to Christian taking a fancy to Nat we managed to get 4 very full glasses of this wine for hardly anything. Surfice to say we were getting rather jolly by this point.

After saying goodbye we headed to the fourth Winery. This was by far the worst. It was a chain winery that was a bit shit. we did however meet some very cute american girls and got them to come to the Beer Garden with us.

The Beer Garden was really cool and had a selection of different beer's. The first was a Guinness esc Beer. The second was a red burnt beer similar to an English Ale and the last was a Larger Beer. after finishing up we noticed that we were already 10 mins late for returning our bikes so we headed back to Hugo's.

Back at Mr Hugo's we joined all of the other people that had rented from Hugo that day and had some more of the god awful wine. Its amazing he is surrounded by soo many fantastic wines and he serves this shit. After a while we all jump on a bus back to Mendoza in a rather jovial mood.

Back at the hostel we returned to the wine and true to form out came the G&T's. Deb and Keith came to our hostel to join us as did Julian. We were meant to all go out clubbing but quickly realised that we were all way too drunk to get in anywhere so stayed where we were. Much hillarity was had including me being on Adrians shoulders and him running towards a door and Adrian deciding that little Adrian needed some air.

Suffice to say i felt like utter crap the next day and did sod all all day. In the evening Nat continued on her trip and me and Adrian went for some dinner. I had a Mexican that was lovely and me and Adrian decided to travel together for a few days as we were going in the same direction.

The next day we went for a massive walk through the park. Ater getting back into town we went and booked our bus tickets to Cordoba and then chilled in the Plazza as they were getting ready for the Chillean 200 year anniversary. In the evening we got our sleeper bus to Cordoba.

Cordoba

dan_powell — Fri, 1 Oct 2010 06:11:00 GMT

The bus journey turned out to be a bit of a mare. At 3:00am the bus decided that it had had enough of driving backwards and forwards all the time and wanted to sit on the side of the road for a bit. Obveously in England the bus company would just send a new bus. This isn't what happens in Argentina. When a bus decides it no longer wants to work you the "Passenger" turn into a hitchhiker. Good eh??

We eventually managed to get picked up by a passing bus at 7:00am and they took us the 10 min journey up the road to the nerest town. That wasn't so hard was it. I could have walked it quicker than just sitting there. After much deliberation and sleeping on the floor we were presented with new tickets at 9:00am for a bus 30mins later. everyone was very relieved that we were going to get somewhere.

After arriving in Cordoba we checked in a hstel before grabbing a Pizza and having a siesta. In the evening we chilled with a couple of Irish guys that were also stranded with us and had a few beers.

The following day adrian and I headed to Alta Gracia. Alta Gracia is a small town 1 hour outside Cordoba and is where Ernesto 'CHE' Guvara spent the majority of his childhood. One of his old houses had been turned into a meuseum that is really cool so we went and had a look. In the evening we cooked Steak and chips and chatted to some Belgian girls in the hostel.

The next day we had decided to go to the meuseums. This was not a good idea as we had not noticed that it was Monday and meuseums in Argentina close on mondays. We did however manage to get in to the art meuseum as the curator took ptty on us and opened up for us anyway. This was really nice of him and really cool for us as we had the whole meuseum to ourselfs. After having a good look around we went on a walk around Cordoba.

To be honest Coroba isn't a very nice city. its choked by traffic and tall builgings. This causes mass polution and no sunlight can get to ground level. I wanted to get out of there. In the afternoon we got the bus to Villa Carlos Paz. This is a small village outside Cordoba that is meant to be very nice

What we hadn't realised is that there was a spring festival on which is fr 6th form collage kids so all the hostels were over priced and full of kids so we jumped on he next bus to Rosario.

Rosario Pt1

dan_powell — Fri, 1 Oct 2010 06:11:00 GMT

In Rosario we had arranged to stay with someone that Adrian had met on a bus.

We went to Facu's early in the morning and dumped our bags. The day was really horrible and rainy so we sat with Facu and Mello (his friend) for most of the day chatting and getting to know each other. In the afternon we went around to the flat of a friend of Facu's (Sophia) and had cakes. In the evening we cooked Risotto and set my camera up at the end of the table. I have a remote for the camera which we passed around the table taking supprise photo's.

The next day me and Adian got up late and went to Facu's uni to meet him for lunch. He hadn't quite finished for the day so we wnt into the lecture with him. He was in an Urbanisum lecture which was abit freeky as that is what i do. I had a good chat with the lecturer and arragnged to meet her and her Architect son in the afternoon for a better chat. Sh was really interested in telling me about Rosario and finding out what i do in England. After the lecture we went with Facu and some of his friends for lunch at a ramshackle hut that served really good sandwiches.

After lunch Adrian and I went on a walk around Rosario. After that I headed to the meeting with Liliana (Lecturer) and Quillermo (Son). We had a really good chat that went on for almost 3 hours about alkinds of different things. I learnt a lot about Rosario and why Argetinian cities are designed the way that they are. I wont bore you, More than i already have, but they are very different to England. After our meeting we arranged to meet up again later in the week to have a look around Rosario.

In the evening we took Facu and Malo out for dinner as a thankyou for having us. It was strange as we were doing this at the start instead of theend because Facu had lots of parties etc planned for the rest of the week.

We went to "El Estancia" for dinner and ate Assado. Assado is a big rack that they cook on over coals. We had two platters. the first was a typical steak platter and thesecond was a mixed platter that included Brain, Intestine and Kidney. The Brain was ok to taste but had a nasty texture. i didn't try the Intestine as it was very fatty and looked vile. after dinner we went to an Irish Bar and then home for bed. During the meal i noiced how late it had gtten. It was 11:15 by the time we got to the restaurant. I'm getting used to this Argentinian eating late lark.

Facu had planned a bike tour the following day around Rosario. He had arranged to borrow some bikes off of his neighbours so we grabbed them and headed out. We started off at the flag monument. this is where the cretor of the Argentinian flag had his idea whilst looking at the clouds and sky. We then headed up the river stopping at various points to take photo's look at something or rest. Whe we got to the river beach we stopped for lunch and had Chiripan (Chorizzo Saussage sandwich). We then headed back to the flat.

Once back at the flat we got ready to go out as we have been invited to a birthday party. The party was mental. We were the star guests as everyone wanted to speak to "The English Guys" so we had soo many people to chat to. We also discovered that this was where they were hiding all of the attractive Rosarian women so it was a hard task to chat to soo mny attractive girls. Not a job i enjoyed im sure you'll understand....NOT!!!

After having a bite o eat the next morning i went to meet Quilermo. We spent the day driving around Rosario whilst he showed me things in relation to Urban design that he found interesting. Again i wont bore you with the details. We also went to the shopping centre to get me a Rugby shirt and have some very very good ice cream that Rosario is famous for.

Cafayate

dan_powell — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:24:00 GMT

The bus to Cafayate was quite simple and i arrived at lunch. After heading to a hostel that Emma and Rach had reccommended I went and got lunch in the form of a coupple of Empenadas (Small Cornish Pasties) after a look around the town i headed up to the roof top terrace to finish The Girl Who Played With Fire. Again these Steig Larsson books are fantastic.

That evening i went to a restaurant reccommended by lonley plannet and had a nice dinner. After returning to the hostel i met a load of other backpackers and chatted to the small hours. One of the people i met was Amy and she was on the same tour as me the following day.

Once i could be bothered to get out of bed (it wasn´t and early tour) i had beckfast and got ready to leave. The tour was to start with 3 wineries. Told you traveling was hard. At about 10:30 we arrived at the first winery and started tasting. The Malbec´s and Torrontes in this area are very nice. At the 3rd winery we decided to buy a nice little Torrontes for a future occasion. After the tasting we headed off for lunch before going on a few small treacks in the afternoon in the countryside. It was a really good day as the group was good and our guide was sooo funny.

In the evening we met up with a Swis/Italian couple and went for dinner. They took us to a guy´s hous up the street where you sit on garden furniture inthe street whilst he cooks a load of meat on a BBQ built into the front of his house. I had 3 different sausages and they were all really nice. We then headed off for Pudding. Now you couldn´t really come to the wine region of Argentina without trying it out so ofcourse for pudding we had Wine ice cream. Unfortunatly the main (and apparently best) shop had shut so we got it from another. It was soo nice and really tasty. There on to something here.

The following day i was heading on to Tafi with Amy as we decided to travel together for a couple of days. We got up late and went for a walk in the morning. After lunch we went to the better Ice cream shop and sampled his wine ice cream. the rumors were true and his ice cream was much nicer and obveously still had alcohol in it.

We got the bus to Amancha as we wanted to go and see the ruins in Quilmes. After arriving we discovered that this was going to be a nightmare so after much ribbing of Amy we jumped on the next bus outa there.

We endedup in Tafi where we were going to go the day after. this was much better and the village actully had human beings walking around (You may now understand why i was ribbing Amy). Tafi is a really pretty hill top town and after checking in we had a wander around. We got some local Goats cheese and crackers and enjoyed our Torontes. How mightly civilised we are!!

In the evening we went to Don Pepitoes and had Goat. They have big racks of goat in the front window and we just couldn´t resist. Its also the local dish so 'when in rome...' and all that. After a few G&T´s we went back to the hostel.

The next day we woke up after checkout and had a mad dash to get out of the room. Once the panic subsided we went for a nice walk to the lake and a picnic. In the afternoon we got a bus to Tucuman where we were to go our seperate ways.

Salta

dan_powell — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:05:00 GMT

That had to be the best bus journey ever. The seats are abnomally wide. You have a hostess that gives you food, Wine, Whisky and tv showing good films it was cool. It was however still a bus journey that took 24 hours so not amazing.

After finding a hostel rep i was chucked in a Taxi with a group of girls to check in. The girls were Alesia, Bon and a french girl who´s name i have forgotten. They were also with a pair of germans (who are in my room) so we all made friends. In the day i chilled around Salta going for a few walks and reading my book. Salta is lovely and has a very pretty central Plaza.

In the evening we went to a different thats part of the same chain for free dinner. After the dinner was consumed we decided we weren´t ready for bed so headed to the bar area. The bar we went to had live music and it was really good. although they did murder a few english speaking songs and they didn´t really know the words so made them up or skipped them all together. We then went on to a club and had a pretty awsome night.

The following day the others left as they were hiring a car and traveling north. I booked on a trip for the following day and chilled out in the hostel and walking arround Salta.

The follwoing morning was an early rise ready for the trip. The trip went to see the Train to the clouds, some ruins and most importantly The salt flats. The salt flats are really funny as its so barren and everyone takes funny pictures using the perspective. I´ll upload mine ASAP. On the trip was Emma and Rach. Rach is from america (atually quite nice so may have to take back some of my america rant) and Emma is from england. Infact she went to the Ladies College in a house that i worked in when i worked there. Its a small world.

That evening we again went to get our free food. Whilst we were eating we were joined by a VERY attractive girl from Bristol (again small world) who just so happened to be in my room. Que big chears inside my head!!!

Tomorrow i head to Cafayate.