Travel

Argentina and Brazil on a shoestring

fernandrob — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 07:25:00 GMT

What's new...Buenos Aires!

So we are leaving Bolivia, La Paz airport does not have much going on so killing time and trying not to spend any money (remember that time we were in Tahiti?) was becoming somewhat of a skill for us. A desperate Canadian girl had me help her clarify a phone plan is Spanish whilst Rob was being accosted by a lady selling hand cream out of her jacket...

Rob "I don't speak any Spanish. Only English"
Hand cream lady "ah si [continues trying to sell hand cream in Spanish]"
Next stop was Santa Cruz Airport. This is where we discovered the amazingness that is Cinnabon! The sugary goodness was so delicious and kept us going until we boarded our 1am flight. As we get closer and closer to arriving in Argentina the songs from Evita start to sing slightly louder inside my head and the excitement develops. Having spent most of my childhood listening to the musical, with my mum I was excited to get to BA and do some of the Evita 'must dos'. It was also going to be good to meet new people as part of our tour, even if we were highly likely to be the oldest there.
When we got to our hotel we had to question if we had come to the right place. Having spent the past week showering before bedtime to get warm enough to sleep we entered the lobby which had giant chandeliers and lemon water available for guests...amazing! It's 7am, check in isn't until 2 and at some point during our time at Santa Cruz airport Rob had pointed out that something I was wearing smelt really bad! Thankfully our hotel was able to get us into our room at 8.30 where we promptly went to sleep!
When we finally rose we started wandering the streets "cambio cambio cambio!" Due to Argentina's crazy law making it illegal to exchange foreign currency there is a 'blue market' for the US dollar. As we walked down Florida Street, just around the corner from our hotel, people on the street just walk up to you "cambio cambio cambio change sir? Good price? Cambio? Change?" The banks change 9 pesos for every USD with the street vendors offering up to 14pesos. We were warned to be careful of counterfeit notes and staying safe with the hotel offering a competitive rate of 11pesos. Our guide later told us that he was in Mexico when they brought in the law against exchanging currency and he was unable to access any money from his Argentinian bank account for over two weeks!
Buenos Aires is a beautiful city and its easy to understand why it is called the Paris of South America, despite the rain. Equipped with our waterproofs we headed out to explore the city. First stop - Recoleta cemetery! We have never seen anything like it. The cemetery is where the rich and famous go as their final resting place. This is where we would find the graves of the Duarte Family. It was incredible to see the size of some of the tombs and mausoleums. As we wound our way back around towards the entrance we happened upon a funeral taking place...slightly awkward

Next we walked around the dock front where we saw a one legged guy throw up as he was walking down the street! Hands down weirdest thing we had seen so far and we had seen embalmed llamas! As we headed back to the hotel to dry off I researched La Casa Rosada. Having misread the map earlier and taken a photo of the wrong government building we headed back out to visit the grand palace! It was pretty incredible. All Evita'd out we headed to get ready for our groups welcome party to start the tour.

The tour started with a group get together and then a meal to get together with everyone. Needless to say that 1) we were the oldest bar two guys who were visiting from Spain 2) we ate a lot of meat 3) we drank a lot of beer and even more cocktails! It was a great way to get to know everyone and get ready for spending two weeks together. The next day we got on a 17hour bus ride to Iguassu falls.

I think it's fair to say that Rob and I had few expectations from Iguassu. We hadn't heard much about the falls prior to booking our trip and had decided to join the group on the recommendation of our travel agent based in the fact that few people would speak English in Brazil and we speak no Portuguese. Iguassu was far more than we expected. The falls were absolutely incredible. The size, volume and beauty just blew us away. We spent two days at the national park and it was probably one of the highlights of our trip. Our three days at Iguassu were finished off with a BBQ at a hosts house with 2 other G Adventure groups. The meat! So much meat! It was amazing! Next stop was a 24hour bus to Paraty before then moving on to Rio.
Rio was hot! Still in their winter it was hard to understand what it would be like in the summer! First off we took a walk along the famous Copacabana beach. We sat beach side with $5 beers and took in the sun, sand and speedos. So many speedos. There must be a law which forbids men from wearing any other clothing items when within 3 blocks of the beach! I've said this before but there were also a lot of women with amazing arses. Such butt envy! The second day in Rio we walked along Ipanema beach (in our opinion far nicer than Copacabana) then up to Largo where you can look directly up at Christ the Redeemer. Acutely aware of next years Olympics in the city we were guessing where we thought different events would take place, guessing Largo may host some of the boat races.
Day three took us up to Christ the Reedemer and it was clear why it is considered one of the modern 7 wonders of the world. Absolutely massive and incredibly high it was hard to imagine how it was sculpted and put on top of that mountain. The views from the top over the city were amazing and we were lucky to have relatively good visibility. As we descended to get onto our shuttle back down to the city the whole area clouded over and rain looked inevitable. Entertained by the monkeys jumping around the van waiting area we headed off to Lapa to see the famous Lapa steps. The Lapa Steps were started by a local mosaic artist and were incredibly detailed. Realising we should have gone on a weekend afternoon when the markets and bars were open we walked the steps before deciding to head back to the hostel.

Not quite believing that our South America journey was over we started to prepare ourselves for the east Coast of the USA. Not before a bit of airport drama! Deciding to leave 3hours earlier than necessary to share a ride with some girls we had met on our tour we again had some airport time to kill. With plenty of time before check-in closes we headed up to the desk (one of the first ones there) hand over passports (becoming quite good at this bit now) and have the check-in lady be unable to find our ticket number. Not to worry she's going to go and speak to someone more senior and find out what the problem is. 45minutes later 2 people walk back towards us at the check in desk. Word of warning - this is never good news, two people are not usually coming over to say "we've checked you in". Somewhere someone had taken us off the flight and not put us back on. The advice? Call New Zealand and ask the travel agent what to do. After tears, several Skype calls and very very anxious waiting STA travel manage to get us booked on to the flight with 1 actual minute before check-in closed. Both of us being the sort who like to be super early to airports found it quite stressful to be part of the "last call for flight XYZ" group. Krista and Emily I know that you are pros at this I don't know how you do it. Finally with arses on the seat with minutes before take off we crash out. We managed to munch what has been the best aeroplane meal we've had to date and then slept all the way to Miami! Now that's one way to kill time in an airport!

Photos: Argentina and Brasil

fernandrob — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 07:13:00 GMT

La Paz...a moon valley, some wrestling and the worlds worst tour guide

fernandrob — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 10:49:00 GMT

I was going to call this blog "Bolivia" but that was drastically unfair to Bolivia. So it's called La Paz because we spent most of our time in La Paz. Quick tip, spend v little time in La Paz! There is not a lot to do and as a result this is like to be very short! Our journey to Bolivia did not go to plan and as a result our journey in Bolivia changed. Blockades, strikes, a "unacceptable" departure card made our exit from Peru expensive! The plan was a VIP bus and then book a trip to the salt flats. However we ended up flying and then at the airport paying for me to leave the country. Second tip - look after those pieces of paper they give you - do not drop it out of your passport on the Inca Trail, you will likely have to pay/bribe someone for a new departure card!

We arrived in La Paz and the views were pretty impressive. Arriving in one of the highest cities in the world is incredible. We were surrounded by glacial mountains making you realise just how high the city is. We had arrange for the hostel to send a cab to pick us up as we had been told that taxis were often on the dodgy side and you had to be sure exactly what company you were dealing with. So of course the taxi was nowhere to be seen. Up until this point we had experienced people who spoke at least some English with my mixture of Spanish and English just getting us by. Bolivia is a different kettle of fish me: "hablas Ingles?" Internet/telephone lady "no". Ok we will be working this thing out for ourselves! We somehow managed to speak to the hostel, workout that the cab wasn't coming and then find the "Aeropuerto" taxis who took us safely to our hostel. hurrah! My Spanish was getting better out of necessity. Once settled in we set about exploring the city. Easier said than done. La Paz was like a maze! Defeated we returned to the hostel prepared to take a walking tour the next day to find our way around the area. It struck me that La Paz was a complete contradiction. At times you would see lots of modern dress, technologies, touristy shops and a bustling banking district. Turn the corner and you were truly in "old Bolivia" cholitas selling food on the street, huge food markets and peeing in the street. It was going to be an interesting week.

Our waking tour started at San Pedro square which is home to the famous San Pedro Prison. The prison is unlike any other. There are no guards inside and the prisoners make the rules themselves. We were told you will find shops, coca cola, cafes, prisoners families and real estate sales. Four years ago the Bolivian government put a stop to tourist tours but we were told you can often find someone who promises they can get you inside although this often ends in mugging at best and more gruesome outcomes at worst. The tour moved around the city explaining about the cholitas ( their clothes can weight up to 1kg!) and how their hat wear is a trend brought over by the Europeans indicating their marital status. It took us through the witch markets and explained about offerings made to pacha mama or Mother Earth. They went on to tell us an elaborate story about sometimes the offerings need to be a live human and the witch doctors get homeless people drunk enough to pass out and then carry them to a hole in the ground near to where a new building will be. They then explained how they bury this person alive, concrete and all! Then claiming it's all an urban legend but "to be on the safe side don't take unusual drinks from strangers or pass out drunk in the street ok?" Wow! The recent visit by the Pope meant that a lot of work has obviously gone into La Paz recently but there are still clear divisions between the rich and poor and still markers from its history. In the presidential square there are many buildings with the markings of gun fire from a civil war in the early 2000s. Our guides explained that this is a part of their history that haunts many young Bolivians and the buildings are kept that way as a reminder of what has passed. The tour ends in an English bar with a shot of Bolivian alcohol ( the name escapes me!) we then head back to the hostel and figure out what we are going to do to pass the time over the next 6 days.

The answer to that was 'not much'. We had to take an opportunity to save some money after having a fairly spendy 3 weeks to try and get our budget back on track. A very cheap and cheerful was a day trip to Catchatallya and Moon Valley. Heads up don't be fooled by the word 'tour' in Bolivia, it can mean a lot of different things. Secondly, Catchatallya is a deserted ski field 5000m above sea level (Bolivians love telling you how high up you are!) and is not worth your time unless you happen to enjoy walking up an old ski field, covered in shale, with very little oxygen to get to the top and walk back down. It was a long day and it was hardly a guided tour. Some lady took money off us, pointed to the top of a mountain and said "walk up there come back at 12:15. Don't be late". It was incredible what you can see so high up but without a guide you are looking at a lot of brown ground and some mountains. Disappointed, breathless and desperate for the bathroom our 'tour' took us to Moon Valley. Again our guide pointed to an arrow and said "walk that way. Come back by 3". Moon Valley was a very interesting collection of rock formations. It had been filled with water but had since dried up leaving the formations. She then said we would see all these cool animals, except "you probably won't see them they are the same colour as the rocks and very timid. Ok. Thank you". Next minute we were back at the hostel. Hopefully the cholita wrestling and Lake Titicaca would be more impressive than today's tour.

Hurrah! After a few very slow days filled with podcasts and a UV party we had Cholita wrestling to look forward to! A local Sunday treat we got on our transport, picked up our popcorn and coke and some questionable souvenirs and settled in for our ringside seats. It was just as mad as Freyja had told me! I've never seen women in full skirts clothesline each other before. It was highly entertaining if bloody freezing! One of the highlights has to be a Bolivian local getting involved when one of the male wrestlers was out in the audience! Classic!
Lake Titicaca was going to be our last day in Bolivia and it was totally worth it. A long and bump by bus ride took us to the sleepy town of Copacabana. It was stunning. Hungry after an early start and insufficient snacks/breakfast we headed to get some food. We over ordered but it was delicious! Fed and watered we got ready for our boat ride out to the Isla del Sol. A beautifully clear day the lake was like a mirror. As you looked into the distance you saw glaciers and clouds kiss the lake. The photos just cannot convey what we were looking at. Having done our fair share of walking recently we were ready for our wander around the Isla del Sol. It was great entertainment hearing people on our boat saying things like "this will be great prep for the inca trail" guys...you have no idea...this is barely day one! The sun temple and the view from the look out point were incredible and definitely the highlight of the trip. As the boat arrived back at Copacabana was had a quick drink and browsed some markets before we headed back to La Paz. The bus had to cross an inlet on a barge so we waited in the cold and munched on a packet of chips to tie us over for the rest of the journey.

If we were doing the journey again we would have bused to puno waited out the strikes, bused to Copacabana for a few nights and then La Paz. This is what I would recommend if you find yourself in this part of the world trying to save money and not doing the salt flats. I would also suggest that Bolivia Hop is the company to go with! Two Irish guys own and run it and the info you get about each place you stop at is awesome! They can even help you find hostels!
Back in La Paz we packed and readied ourselves for our next stop...Buenos Aires...I was so incredibly excited!

Photos: Bolivia!

fernandrob — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 10:39:00 GMT

Cusco and the Inca Trail

fernandrob — Sun, 2 Aug 2015 04:25:00 GMT

The Inca Trail...up, up, up, down, down, down,down

The time had finally come it was the night before the trail. Trying to work out what to take and what to leave was challenging. We needed to take money for buying water, tips etc but Peruvians hate giving change. Cue Rob and I walking up and down the street in to different banks withdrawing 20 soles at a time. It took a while...
We had organised our bags, checked our luggage in with the hostel and had our last shower for a few days and decided to get some shut eye. Just in time for Festival Santos Christos to take place. Cannon fire was non stop from 1am til 5 which then set off all the many many dogs and all the pipe music. By 3am we would give up and just resign ourselves to getting up an hour earlier than planned. By 5:10 our guide arrived to collect us and start the trail. Greeted on the bus by a smallish group we were off! Day one was due to be the easy day. Or so we thought. We stopped off in Ollantaytambo for breakfast around half 6 before heading KM82 where we would start the trek. First things first we had an awesome group and evdry one cheered for each other. Some were hardcore hikers whilst most of us were novices. Rob and I had packed ourselves up with thermals and walking trousers in preparation. One couple however were the very definition of novice. He in his salmon button down shirt and jeans and her in her wet look leggings we couldn't fathem how they were going to manage the day in their kit. We had to take a photo!

The first realisation that this trek would be a challenge came when over half our group had rented porters to carry 6kgs of their belongings. Maybe 6kg was going to be heavier to carry for 4 days than we had anticipated. Mani, our guide, introduced himself and introduced us to 'my office' the Andes. Shortly after beginning the trail we stop for Mani to explain about the trek, the dos and don'ts and a short history lesson. Turns out the original Inca Trail will get you to Machu Pichu in one day but the four day trek allows you to experience the Andes...the one day was already beginning to sound slightly more favourable. Looking back, day one was relatively breezy compared to the other days. However carrying 8kgs over 8hours up and down some hills was always going to be challenging.
Our porters ran ahead carrying up to 25kg each, it was incredible to watch. We reached our lunch spot to find tables, chairs, table clothes and AMAZING food. I kid you not, the most amazing guacamole I have tasted in my life. The food turned out to be the best motivator over the coming days. Our lunch was made even better by the tiny kitten who came to join us. Having stayed well clear of the millions of dogs in cusco for fear of rabies we couldn't resists the kittens tiny charm! Lunch over and we were back on the road. The climbs during day one were fairly undulating but I started to have a new definition of 'up' and 'flat'. We gathered at the first camp and all had a celebratory beer and enjoyed the last of the sit down toilets. Dinner was fantastic with all of us heading to bed early for an early rise for "the challenge" day two. Remember we talked about festivals in cusco. Well here we were being greeted by yet more party goers. In the tiny village we camped in there were yet more cannons (where the hell were they coming from), frequent repetition of the same song and lots of loud speaker use! It was the villages historical celebration we were told and the next day would be Independence Day...thankfully no villages to be seen by the end of day two.

Day two. Oh dear lord. There's up and there's up. The first quarter of the day lured me into a false sense of security. Reaching the meeting point I turned to Rob and said "well that wasn't as bad as I was expecting" only to be told by Mani that by the end of the morning I would hate my backpack...he wasn't wrong. As we set off to get to our second breakfast meeting point (yes somehow we'd all been transferred into Hobbits) it became abundantly clear that we had started the challenge. 3 hours climbing steps, second breakfast and a further three hours of climbing steps I found myself plotting out how I could burn my backpack. This is why Frejya said "whatever you do, hire a porter". You know you have gone high when the camp you started in is literally a dot in the distance. My super slow climbing speed had me paired up with Mary, a lovely American lady who kept the same pace. I figured we must be slowly losing the plot when she encouraged me to 'curse in as many languages as possible'. Getting to the top of 'dead woman's pass' was the biggest relief of the day. Only two hours down to camp, that can't be hard right?! Wrong! Down is supposed to be easy, except down was down 2000 steps. Hips, knees and back still in tact we just plodded along reaching camp in time for a very late but very delicious lunch. Claps from the porters were boarderline embarrassing as they had reached camp hours before us with about 5 times the weight each, set up all the tents and cooked a three course meal. Needless to say we were glad day two was over! Grateful for the new walking shoes we couldn't help but be amazed at the porters who completed the trek each day wearing sandals. Open toed sandals. It was incredible!

Day three, an earlier start but hurrah this was long but easier yes?! Oh wait, nope, 4000 steps to walk down in the afternoon. I swear, if I never see a set of stairs after leaving Latin America it will, be too soon!! The morning was beautiful and undulating with incredible Inca sites to see along the way. Our guide explained that each year there was a race amongst local people from Km82 to Machu Pichu with the fastest completing the entire course in 3.5hours and our assistant guide had completed it in just under 4 hours. The trail that was taking us 4 days (and four challenging days at that) people were completing in hours! Just incredible! The sites of day three were extraordinary. Feeling on top of the world (literally) we headed into the lunch tent. Rob was starting to feel less awesome as day three went on. Hot, high altitude and very little sleep does not make for a well person. We reached the end of day 3 and it was time for happy hour! Popcorn aplenty we wolfed it down before gassing ourselves out of our own tent. Walking for 8+hours a day in the heat with no shower leads to the worst smell you can imagine. Thankfully everyone smelt pretty terrible!

As we head for our last supper we are all getting excited about the short walk tomorrow. That's when Rob got really sick. Of course it would happen right at the end of the trek. Having had very little sleep and worked hard on all the walks his body decided it had had enough! How he pulled himself out of bed the last day and kept walking I will never know! What a trooper.
Day four should be easy right, only 5km left, 2 hours we were told, no worries. Except it was an hour up and an hour down. Up at 3:30, queued until 5:30 to get into the track, sick Rob, little sleep and more bloody stairs. By the time we were close to the sun gate my thoughts were along the lines of "this can F*** off now". Exhausted we just wanted to arrive and arrive we did. The view of Machu Pichu from the sun gate is breathtaking. The place is so much bigger than you expect. As our guide talked us through the significance of the trilogy in Incan times and the history of this magical place it was hard to absorb.
Machu Pichu, other than being full of tourists who are annoyingly clean, is an incredible site and it is clear to see why it is one of the wonders of the world. The intelligence behind what they created is truly phenomenal given the tools and the time they were working in.
Walking the Inca Trail gave us a whole new appreciation of the strength and intelligence that would have been necessary to have created such an incredible city and to learn about the spiritual nature of the trail.

Hands down this has been the most challenging thing we've ever done. Each day is consistently challenging in its own way but also one of the most rewarding things to do. Simply, amazing.

Cusco part 1

fernandrob — Sun, 2 Aug 2015 03:27:00 GMT

Cusco, Peru. Dogs, altitude, cannons and steps...lots of steps

So we managed to survive our last night in LA care of Popeyes chicken and a reasonably secure lock on the motel doorway. Having realised that the room was cheap for a reason we listened to our shuttle driver and stayed indoors until we left for the airport again!
Hurrah! Time for South America! Taking note of the schedule we were pleased to see that the flights were reasonably short and felt this leg of the journey would be a breeze! Not quite as we expected. Three flights, 24hrs and the craziest taxi journey to date we arrived at our hostel. The advice when arriving at altitude is to rest, not a problem for us! With very little sleep in the last 36hours we wanted to crash out as soon as possible. Introducing the smallest double in the world. Coordinating sleeping without actually crushing each other was a task!
Having read a lot about altitude sickness and being the worry wart that I am I was expecting that I might find the air a little thin. I was not wrong. Robs lungs of steal saw him quickly acclimatise whilst I could barely walk up a set of stairs without feeling like I'd run a marathon! Having had very little sleep we crashed out at 7:30 and decided we would explore the city more then following day.
The next day we headed out for a wander to discover a festival taking place in the main square, Plaza De Armas. Exciting, I head you cry! Well it is until you realise there is a festival most days involving lots and lots of cannon fire! We meandered through the streets and found ourselves at the Chocolate Museum! I say museum, it was two rooms and a cafe with some information on how the cocoa bean is turned into chocolate. Still feeling rough as guts, we headed back to the room so I could take a nana nap. That night we sat down for some traditional Peruvian food. We declined the guinea pig, local speciality but rather decided on a chicken dish that was delish!
The next day we headed on a free walking tour around the city. We walked around a variety of settings with our guide giving us great information on the Inca and Spanish control of Cusco and Peru. We met and had our photos with an Incan descendent who then tried to sell Rob his pipe music CD for 10 soles. We tasted an amazing ceviche before heading back to meet with a bus rep to organise our journey onto La Paz. Turns out strikes and road blockades are frequent and as a result she wasn't sure if our bus would go or not but we could always "just see". Given the time frame we were on we had to quickly devise another plan to get into Bolivia. Hours on the phone to various people we eventually managed to reorganise our trip and could start to prepare for the Inca Trail.
Dinner that night was like nothing we had quite experienced before. A local eatery we decided to have something small. The waiters frequently exited the restaurant to source the ingredients for our meal and had to take the menu to identify which ingredients they needed. Hands down the nicest meal we had eaten with the weirdest circumstances.
Rebekah and Janko had encouraged us to take a walk up to Christo Blanco at the top of the Cusco for a great panoramic view and as good training for the Inca Trail. They had warned us that they had ended up clambering through someone's garden and to take the road route instead. We asked our hostel manager and he pointed us in the direction "no problem very easy maybe 15minutes". Following our hosts instructions we reached the road where a local said "no no this goes to Saqsayhuman no go back and take those stairs" cue scrambling through an old ladies back garden past her llamas. My mediocre Spanish managed to get us to the top and an amazing view over the city. It was definitely worth the trip up. Now to prepare for the Inca Trail....

Photos: Peru!

fernandrob — Sun, 2 Aug 2015 03:19:00 GMT

Photos: USA July

fernandrob — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 14:01:00 GMT

Trip1

'Merica yo!

fernandrob — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 13:31:00 GMT

LA, San Francisco and Vegas

Where did the last two weeks go?! We arrived in LA after a needlessly long journey via Tahiti. With both of us vowing to "never again" take an 8hour layover for the sake of a few dollars we arrived in L.A. We got on the longest shuttle journey known to man to our hotel and arrived just 27 short hours after leaving Auckland (!). We both welcomed the amazing weather and took straight for discovering Hollywood. L.A. was a very brief stop for us and we wanted to make the most of it so within 3 hours of arriving we were on Hollywood Boulevard, had eaten the worlds largest slice of pizza, started and finished a tour of Hollywood and admired the craziness that is LA.

The next day we headed off to Santa Monica on a very very long public bus that came with a whole bag load of entertainment. The bus trip was 100% worth it. Santa Monica pier was amazing and the weather was beautiful. We took ourselves down the beach and headed towardis Venice beach and watched all the wonders of Muscle Beach. There were some incredibly strong and agile people along our walk and some interesting characters once we reached Venice. Back on the bus we decided to go back for another crazy piece of pizza before getting ready to set off to SF.

The beginning of our journey to SF was jumping on a Megabus up the coast. Having survived 8+ hours in a totally closed Tahiti airport we are now pros at filling long periods of time! We got to San Francisco and were welcomed by an AMAZING hotel room all thanks to Aunty Donna and Uncle Mark. We got ourselves a hot shower and some grub before making plans of what to see. We were all set for Alcatraz the next day!

Walking is is definitely something we've gotten very good at so far this trip and San Francisco was going to be no different. After an epic climb up Lombard to see the curvy street and down into little Italy we had some Ben and Jerrys ice cream and jumped on the boat to Alcatraz. The island and its audio tour are incredible. Full of incredible history we also got to go and see the hospital wing which is rarely open. We got back and wondered around pier 39 finishing the day with a Bubba Gump Shrip dinner! Our hostel for the night was quite different from our accomodation the night before with Rob swearing we would have been better staying on Alcatraz!

The he next day took us to AT&T stadium and a walk down the Embarcado finishing up with a bike ride to the bridge. My feet were eternally gratefull for the rest. An hours cycle later we wandered along Fishermans warf and ended up in Fiddlers Green Irish bar just in time for happy hour. $4 pints of decent beer and Magnears cider and we were in our happy place! Josh from Miami offered to take us to his grandma's house for dinner when we get there - excellent! San Francisco had treated us well with the locals giving us great information and tips, many in shock that we are on the road for 4 months.

The next day we flew to Vegas! Vegas was exactly what we expected it to be loud, bright and full of people! The plan was to walk less but we still managed to crank up about 10km each day! We found amazingly cheap drinks and people watched for the majority of the time!

Now we are back in LA getting ready to head off to Peru tomorrow! I will say that cheap is probably not always best when in LA(!).

Ciao for now,

Fern and Rob