Oogs & Mich's World Trip 2008

Goodmorning Vietnam

oogs_mich — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:55:00 GMT

We had a SCARY introductory taxi ride from the airport but arrived at the 5 star Melia Hotel in Hanoi safely where we met Oogs' friend Jurgen who he is the Head Chef there. Once we arrived we asked the receptionist to please call him, she replied "Are you checking in?" So we like, "Nope, not us, just want to talk to the chef please..." So she says, "Yes, chef has checked you in..." (Of course he has!!!! Silly me!) Then we looked around and our backpacks were gone - off to the room, what a pleasure! Jurgen had surprised us and not only booked us a room but a SUITE!! We were in our element as you can imagine...We caught up over some drinks & then he had to go so sent us off for steaks and wine in the restuarant...delicious! Was so fun and just what we needed as were feeling a bit tired of all the travelling but were of course rejuvenated again after that...Amazing what 5 stars does to a backpacker?! The funniest part was leaving...the porter asked if we wanted a taxi so we said, "No thanks, we will walk!!!" Have they ever seen such a sight?!?! And off to our $17 hotel we walked...Classic! After that we did a trip to Halong Bay & stayed on a junk (boat) and cruised around the hundreds of karst mountain islands jutting straight out of the sea all around us which was beautiful and kayaked around some too. Then we started making our way down the coast on hair raising buses!! Its a free for all on the roads and everyone hoots for EVERYTHING! They hoot to say Hello, Goodbye, I am on your right/left, I am irritated, I am going to overtake & You are in my way...to name a few! Our first crazy sight from the airport was a bicycle with two people on it coming down the highway on the wrong side of the road in the fast lane with no light!!! The traffic is crazy and you put your life in your hands crossing the roads... We explored a place called Tam Coc and its surrounds which was beautiful, climbed 400 steps in the humidity for a view well worth it - overlooking the rice paddies and a river through the valley which we had a ride on later by a lady using mainly her feet to row the boat!! Went through 3 really long caves straight under huge mountains which was amazing and got to see the locals working the land & planting rice...Then we went to Hoi An which is such a quaint town taking you back in time in a sense with the buildings surrounding you, really enjoyed the atmosphere there and of course the tailoring!! Had to have a few things made - so cheap & fun of course! Next was Nya Trang & Mui Ne for some beaches - we counted 80 kitesurfers off Mui Ne beach the one day with about 20 getting ready on the beach...and thats excluding the 30 windsurfers in the bay - an amazing sight of colourful kites & sails... We also did a tour to some sand dunes which we slid down at speed on a piece of hard plastic - you could also call it Exfoliation Express - ouch! Sand & sunscreen mix far too well so I was covered in sand for the rest of the tour...beautiful! Visited a fishing village with hundreds of boats in the water after that & also walked through the "Fairy Stream" which is a red canyon nearby which was lovely! Ho Chi Minh City was next - the locals still call it Saigon though! We did a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels which was so interesting, an underground tunnel system of 400km which they used during the war - ingenuis! We only saw about 15m of it! They have widened the tunnels for Western tourists & we still didn't travel too far on our knees as it was tight down there!! We then did a 2 day tour of the Mekong Delta visiting a coconut candy making operation, tasting banana wine, seeing rice paper being made, drinking honey tea & listening to locals singing...all a bit touristy for us but still interesting to see but its sad how dirty the river & surrounding areas are. The best part was the floating market which we cruised around watching trading being done, a different way of life for sure!! To top off the most brilliant time in this country we decided to head to Phu Quoc island for 5 nights where we enjoyed the beach & the good company of a couple from South Africa & Scotland who we met on the bus... Hired motorbikes to visit other beautiful beaches and areas on the island and did lots of reading & relaxing. We also ended our Vietnam experience with 5 star treatment thanks again to Jurgen in Hanoi...he has a South African friend who is conveniently the Head Chef of the only 5 star hotel on this island so we enjoyed yet another delicious steak, wine & great company before we left Nam. We are now in Thailand enjoying more sun & beaches...Until next time. Photo's of our time: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=224407&id=639785606&l=84eb0

Borneo Diving & Laos

oogs_mich — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:53:00 GMT

Drama struck as we landed in Borneo. Our agent that we booked our diving trip through cancelled our booking & didn't tell us and the resort would not let us on their boat without paying them directly!!! Nightmare...seems like our agent has gone under and now our credit card company is chasing the refund! What a pain, so needless to say that put a dampener on our excitement but the resort and the diving was still fantastic!! Amazing setup on a reef with the beach showing slightly at low tide otherwise we were in the middle of the sea on stilts - amazing! Our last dive was the best seeing lots of fish, white tip reef sharks and more than 20 turtles!! INCREDIBLE...what a sight...

We also spent a day looking around Kuala Lumpur and went up the tower for a good view and walked around China Town. It was just a stopover before heading to Vientienne in Laos where we spent a day walking around the market and having dinner alongside the great Mekong river. We loved our time in this country, the people are so friendly and their faces always smiling - so refreshing. We spent a few days in a place called Vang Vieng which has a beautiful clear river so chilled alongside it in hammocks, went tubing down it for a few hours and also rented bicycles to go exploring in the mountains nearby visiting caves and a blue lagoon for a lovely swim. The scenery was incredible with these towering karst mountains behind our little bungalow. Even had 2 massages as they were so cheap!

Then we headed 7 hours north to Luang Prabang in a "VIP Air con" bus...NOT!! Maybe when it was bought 15 years ago?!...haha. It was a looooong bumpy and twisty drive but beautiful mountain scenery! We explored the town which is on a peninsular where the Mekong river and the Khan river join, it has a great night market with amazing handicrafts but we held back as we are enjoying our light bags! From here we visited 2 waterfalls which were beautiful and also went on a "Mahout Experience" (Mahout meaning Elephant herder) where we learnt how to ride the elephants sitting right behind their ears, how to control them and then bathed them too, all in the mahout outfits - we loved it...when bathing they sit down & then stand up a few times randomly so its like you riding a bucking bronco - classic!! And then the Mahouts command them to spray water which is like the water park...trunks blowing and splashing their trunks on the water & blowing bubbles...wet wet wet we were! WHAT FUN!! Such gracefully huge animals...and the African Elephant is bigger...golly! We also visited another waterfall from there and went bamboo rafting on the way back...

Photo's: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=213196&l=fc815&id=639785606

Australian Sunshine

oogs_mich — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 11:50:00 GMT

After our arrival in Sydney, we were collected from the airport by Jim and the next day was spent on the Sydney harbour sailing up and down, which was great fun and an excellent way to see the Sydney sights initially. The next few days we spent down the coast in Austinmere, which is a small seaside village and although the weather wasn’t great, mostly windy, we still spent time on the beach, swimming etc. and touring around the area.

We returned to Sydney on Christmas Eve to help out at the local church with 3 kids’ services, where they had camels, donkeys, goats, sheep etc. The whole farm yard! Although we were only on “pram parking duty” it was fun and something different. Prams are not our thing at the moment!.... Anyhow, had a great Christmas with Jim & Jane and her family and felt so welcome. Boxing day was spent on the side of Sydney harbour watching the start of Sydney to Hobart yacht race, with the next few days exploring the northern beaches (“Home & Away” area) and a day hiking up in the Blue Mountains, which was all a lot of fun.

New Years Eve was spent on the North Head of the harbour overlooking the entire city so got a panoramic view of all the fire works across the whole city, truly awesome and spectacular. Then for the next week we all took to the road camping for a week up north towards the Barrington Tops National Park and then down to the coast to an area called Forster and its surrounds. The sea colour was truly incredible!! Also saw lots of dolphins too! Great fun was had by all apart for a leach that latched itself onto the underside of Oogs' toe in the middle of the night to awake in the morning with blood all over my feet and a hugely engorged leach lurking in the tent later. We had to dispose of the disgusting glutton...

So after five weeks in the land of sunshine and warmth spending quality time with great friends, who looked after us like royalty, we packed our bags again, albeit a lot lighter as we sent a lot home, we flew on northward to Singapore and then onto Borneo, Malaysia to explore the underworld of the Celebes Sea.....

Some photos for you... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=207195&l=bf330&id=639785606

White dots on green pastures - New Zealand

oogs_mich — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 10:40:00 GMT

We had a wonderful time in New Zealand understanding all the signs and having a hired car to get around instead of lugging of bags on & off buses every other day! And also got back to the comfort of our tent which surprisingly feels like home for us by now! We were extremely lucky with the weather, only had to stay in hostels for 3 nights in the month while we were there, due to torrential rain, so were really blessed. Saw loads of sheep of course and were so amazed by how green everything was...but with all that rain of course it would be! On the West Coast they measure their rainfall in metres...Milford Sound has about 9m a year! The only downside was the sandflies, that are ferocious and sooooo irritating!!

We did the touristy route around the North and the South Islands and managed to see all the main sights we wanted to including the black sand beaches near Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsular beaches, Lake Taupo, Mount Cook, the southern & northern most tips of the South Island, the Catlins, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Abel Tasman National Park, Farewell Split & Hanmer Springs.

Photo's: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=192616&l=393a2&id=639785606

Our highlights were:

- The campsites are fancy!! You get kitchens, fridges and pools - even had a jacuzzi at one! luxury!

- Hot Water Beach: This is a beach where you dig a hole in a specific area at low tide and then climb in for a hot spa bath! There is thermal activity down below so the water gets up to 68 degrees celsius in places...ouch!

- Waitomo Cave glowworms: This was an amazing cave of stalactites and stalacmites and then you get onto a boat into the darkness to see a ceiling FULL of glowworms...mesmerisingly beautiful!

- Mount Cook and Lake Pukaki - We got there on a dull & cloudy day so didn't get to see Mt Cook so braved the cold and camped there in hope of seeing it in the morning. WOW...We awoke to amazing clear blue skies, so we're so excited to do the walks around the area and take it all in. The glacial fed Lake Pukaki in the valley was also just a brilliant turquoise blue that day, it looked so fake!

- Milford Sound: We had booked a cruise for the next morning but because we arrived on a clear day we decided to drive to the Sound that evening in case the next day was cloudy/raining...GOOD MOVE!! It poured with rain that night so the drive and boat ride in the morning was like visiting a totally different place...millions of waterfalls coming down from the mountains surrounding by clouds making it all rather mystical.

- Jet boating near Queenstown: This had to be done, problem is there seem to be jet boats on almost every river in NZ so was a tough choice! Was great fun going through the Shotover Canyon on the jet, really beautiful & of course got the adrenalin going with 360 degree spins and getting up close and personal with rock faces etc!

- Abel Tasman National Park: We hired kayaks and did a 2 day trip where we were free to explore at leisure and camped half way which was great fun. Had the most amazing days for it with no wind and crystal clear blue water and lots of birdlife & seals all around us. A change from the days before where we had torrential downpours on the West Coast where roads were closed and trees had fallen over etc. We have never experienced so much consistently hard rain without a break!! Incredible!

We are now in Sydney after 10 days in Brisbane with friends & a few great, HOT & humid days exploring Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef which has been brilliant fun. Lovely to have some swims in the sea and enjoy the summer sun again. We even saw kangaroos on our first weekend in Brisbane which was a treat!! And lots of fish and amazing coral on the reef of course, even a little shark and some cute turtles!

Lakes in Argentina and Patagonia

oogs_mich — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 08:57:00 GMT

We are now out of South America after 4 months and REALLY enjoying English & understanding EVERYTHING and also how clean, green and neat it is here in New Zealand! Since our last email we have managed to see quite a bit...we spent 10 days in and around Bariloche in Argentenian Lake District which was beautiful! We went up the cable car at the Cerro Catedral ski resort nearby which gave us incredible views of the surrounding Andes mountains and the lakes...also climbed to another viewpoint for different views of the lakes, met a south african couple in our hostel so spent a day with them walking and also hired a car for a day to explore further. For this we couldn't have asked for a more crystal clear day with mirror like reflections in each lake along the way. Toooo good!

Photo's from Bariloche & the surrounding lakes: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=179621&l=99141&id=639785606

We then headed to Puerto Montt, Chile, to catch our 4 day ferry to Patagonia. Drama hit as we woke up to no ferry in the bay and hearing the news that it had been cancelled...we were bitterly disappointed as had been looking forward to it for months!! Missed out on an amazing coastline but saw some of the fjords and views nearby the town before we left luckily.

Patagonia blew us away...literally and scenery wise!!! We had to criss-cross between Chile & Argentina to see the best of southern Patagonia...We started with a day trip to the Torres del Paine national park (Chile) which had incredible towering mountains, torquiose blue glacial lakes, the Grey glacier where huge chunks of blue ice have broken off the glacier & floated ashore. Amazing views indeed but pretty chilly winds so didn't brave the hikes. We then headed to El Calafate (Argentina) to see the Perito Merino glacier. WOW...and WOW again. This glacier, which is one of the only ones advancing in the world (2cm a day!!!), was incredible!! Its 5km wide, 40km long stretching back into the valley and we could see 60m of the ice above water and there is still 100m below the water at the face! The blue colour and seeing & hearing the thunderous noise of the large pieces breaking off was mesmerising. Another "must see"!!

We then spent a few days further north in El Chalten (Argentina) where we did a hike to Fitz Roy mountain with some South Africans we met (friends of friends in fact - small world!) Breathtaking views all the way and luckily another clear day for us! It was then time to make our way back south to fly to the Santiago area for our last few days. Chantelle sadly had to leave us to return home and we went on to a coastal town called Valparaiso for a few days before we left for New Zealand.

Can't believe its been over 7 months on the road already...We have truly been blessed with being able to see so many mind-blowingly beautiful parts of God's creation...and so much more still to come.

Brazil & Argentina

oogs_mich — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:24:00 GMT

Hola Amigos!

After a few rainy days the sun eventually came out for us to explore Rio's sights, thank goodness! Went up to the Statue of Christ which was pretty crowded with tourists but an amazing piece of sculptural construction & views from there!! After that we headed for a different viewpoint of the bay and beaches up Sugar Loaf which was great too! Luckily for the next day the sun stayed out for us, so we gathered the sunscreen, beach bat & ball, sunnies and other beach paraphanalia and hit the famous beaches of Rio. As tourists we stood out a mile as we were the only ones wearing board shorts and slapping on the sun screen and body surfing, not to mention that we even got dumped a few times. Body surfing just isn't the same without the odd bumping!!!! Anyhow we can now say, and have pictuers to prove, we have been there, and only to add that SA's beaches are still better, hands down...

We knew we had limited sunny days ahead so up at 4am the next day to get the bus and then ferry to Ilha Grande which is a beautiful island just south of Rio...we did a boat trip to make the most of the day and then just relaxed there for a few days even though the weather wasn't great. After that was another coach ride down to the coastal area of Florianopolis, where we spent about a week chilling (in the sun, on the beach & a few days in the hammock), cooking heaps of meat, and the odd swim in the sea, which was considerably colder than Rio..... Just a great time of r & r after a lot of running around, catching buses, packing up every odd day, sight seeing etc etc etc...as this traveling is harder that you think!!!!!

Photo's of Rio, Ilha Grande and Florianopolis: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165732&l=9fe18&id=639785606

We then gathered ourselves and headed inland to the much awaited Iguazu Falls and it certainly did not disappoint us at all. We initially visited the Brazilian side and then crossed over the border to the Argentinan side. Both sides had a lot to offer but we spent more time doing trails to different view points on the Argentinian side which gets you much closer especially to the main drop, the devil's throat, and the spray thereof, so got pretty wet. Took loads of pictures but unfortunately they will never capture the enormity, power and beauty of this wonderful attraction. And now being in Argentina we were compelled to experience the true and much anticipated meat this country had to offer and have to admit the rumours are all true. The portions are huge, tasty and cheap... heehii, we like cheap meat!!! Away with the pasta's, pizza's and salads.....

So after another highlight (one of our main) of our South American leg we boarded the 1st class coach, which has fully reclining seats, meals and drinks served, we made our way to Buenos Aires (a 19 hour trip) to see what all the fuss is about, the Tango, La Boca, Evita etc.. Once again the weather was not too kind to us and the sky was grey but we endured and did the sights, trying to avoid the numerous piles of dog poo that litters almost every street every few metres, and took in a tango show while munching down another steak. Even went to the races, unexpectedly, which was free!!!!! Well no-one asked us for tickets on entry...?!

Photo's of the Iguazu Falls & Buenos Aires: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165768&l=66e3f&id=639785606

It was then back to the bus station to board through that 1st class gate for a 20 hour trip to take us to Bariloche, the lake district in the Andes, northern patagonia...More news to follow of the next adventures soon...

Caio!

Peru, The Inca Trail and Bolivia

oogs_mich — Mon, 1 Sep 2008 04:20:00 GMT

We have been having the most amazing time...Our highlights so far here have been the Inca trail in Peru and the Salt Flats trip in Bolivia, both with the most amazing scenery!!

Peru: The Inca Trail, Machu Picchu and Cusco
We enjoyed our time in Cusco acclimatising and exploring the town and markets but were rather nervous about the challenge ahead as we had heard stories about how hard the trail is and especially the 2nd day!! We had the most amazing time, the scenery was incredible and worth each step (most of which were being out of breathe due to the altitude!) The second day was hard work, an uphill climb for about 5 hours and then downhill for about 2...hard on the knees! but we were treated like royalty by Peru Treks (the company we went with)...our tents were set up before we arrived in camp each evening, we were clapped in as we all arrived at camp at lunch and again in the evening, we were woken up with coffee and ate the most amazing food each meal time in our dining tent (even popcorn at tea time!!) and to top it off a cake on the last night...with no oven in sight, our chef was talented!!! The porters on the trail are incredible how they manage 20kgs on their backs and run up and down the same hills, setting up camp way before we are even close by! and most wear open-toed shoes!! Crazy!
- Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146703&l=a2637&id=639785606

Bolivia:
We spent a few days on Lake Titicaca (highest navigable lake in the world!) in a lakeside town called Copacabana chilling out and also spent two nights on an island called Isla del Sol which had beautiful views and steep cliffs down into the lake (was not fun climbing up the steps to the village with our huge backpacks on though!!) The island wasn't the best introduction to Bolivia as we felt slightly ripped off on numerous occasions and then once we got to the city of La Paz Chantelle's card was cancelled due to cloning, Guy's card was blocked as Bolivia is high risk and then to top it off our wallet was stolen a week later...luckily not with all our cards but the pain of phoning the UK to cancel them and get them to us again is ongoing! We loved the trip to the Amazon though...we did a 3 day pampas tour and saw loads of animals like alligators, caimans, capybara, turtles, pink fresh water dolphins, 2 anaconda's mating, a cobra and loads of amazing birds all over!!
- Photo´s: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153370&l=2d71a&id=639785606

The next trip was a 12 hour bus journey south (scarily bumpy!) to Uyuni to go on a 3 day trip to the Salt Flats...WOW!!! The most incredible landscape...the salt flats are enormous and stretch as far as the eye can see! We then went further south to see amazing mountains, colourful lakes with thousands of flamingoes, desert terrain and other amazing rock formations. It was really cold though so had all the layers and thermals on...one night it was minus 10 and no heating or hot water!! We were really lucky though as we joined up with another couple and she was fluent in Spanish as the guide and cook didn´t do english at all so that made it all that more interesting!! - Salt flat photo´s:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154018&l=99e61&id=639785606

Mountain bike trip down "The World's Most Dangerous Road"
Starting at 4750m, in the cold wind, we had some tar to get used to our bikes and brakes & practice our techniques for the gravel to come. 20mins into the ride one of the team behind us braked too hard and went over the handle bars...and to hospital for stitches!! (and we weren´t even on the dangerous road yet) so that freaked us out along with the guide telling us stories of people´s accidents over the past ten years!! Scary...and we did wonder once or twice why on earth we signed up! Then the clouds and rain came in, visibility faded rapidly and our goggles misted up...Perhaps a good thing not being able to see the 800m cliff drop into the valley 2000m below half a metre away from our bike wheel!!...My brakes were never off for too long!! but after a while our confidence picked up and the road widened for a section to get some more speed...and then a waterfall, some dogs, chickens and 2 rivers to cross were added to the challenge! Eventually we got to the bottom alive and wished we could do it again!! The most scary part was going up on the bus and seeing what we actually accomplished...one minor mistake and you history!
- Photo´s: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154040&l=ea886&id=639785606

Off to Rio on Sunday so looking forward to our next adventure...

Venezuela news

oogs_mich — Thu, 7 Aug 2008 04:48:00 GMT

We had a good time in Venezuela with no hassles which was great! We also met some great people to do things with along the way and had a fast track experience of learning the basics of Spanish!! We are getting by with the main things so thats good! Hard work sometimes though!

Some facts and laughs about our time there:

You can fill up your 60 litre petrol tank for US$2 in Venezuela, cheapest in the world!
Every driver is late for a meeting!! We feared for our lives many times at 150km/hr, passing trucks on blind rises or with on coming traffic...there is of course room for 3 cars on the road so use that space! Even buses do it and just hoot in case someone is coming around the next corner...
You can buy coffee or other drinks along the highway come rain or shine...with the traffic as bad as it is in the capital, Caracas, its no problem to stop for a drink!
Chavez, the president, has insisted that their currency is strong so has set the rate at 2.15 to the US$...so unrealistic therefore the black market rate is about 3 and in December it was 5! He has also and knocked off 3 zero´s from the currency...
Inflation was at 37% when we got there, therefore the locals are really suffering !

And now for the things we got up to...

Angel Falls; highest waterfall in the world, dropping 979m from the cliff into a cascade below
After a broken down bus not arriving we were put into a taxi to go across Caracas in bad traffic to another terminal to buy another bus ticket...all not knowing how to speak Spanish! This was our first adventure but we eventually got to Ciudad Bolivar! From there we did a tour to Angel Falls which was a great adventure...got to walk behind amazingly powerful waterfalls which was incredible and also took a wooden dugout canoe up the river and rapids (with an engine of course!) for 4 hours to the falls, swimming along the way and hiked to a great viewpoint of the falls. It was raining most of the hike but luckily we got to see the falls between some cloud spells. We slept in hammocks both nights (new experience for us!!) but think we were tired enough to pass out in them! We were with a great crowd too so had lots of fun!

The Orinoco Delta (the size of the Netherlands)
We then travelled on with a French couple who did the falls with us to the Delta. Was so interesting visting the Warao Indian communities and seeing how primitively they live....and then you walk around their homes and see some washing machines...BIZZARE...they live in open sided huts built on stilts on the banks and then to see that modern influence was quite funny! And then you go to another house and they have a TV and DVD setup...must be the communal MOVIE HOUSE! Saw lots of birds, parrots, macaws, tucans, TARANCHULA spider...yuk!, fresh water dolphin, monkeys, heard and saw some LOUD howler monkeys too...quite a sound! and a caged up puma...and loads of mozzies but luckily we had nets over our hammocks sleeping which helped.

Santa Fe, Carribean beaches
After the Delta we headed to the coast and met some great people to spend time with again. We enjoyed our time swimming, playing bat & ball and going on a boat trip to the islands of the National Park...saw loads of dolphins and got to snorkel which was fun. Unfortunately some of the beaches and the Carribean sea around them was full of litter which had washed down & blown in from the mountain towns.

Merida; the Venezuelan Andes
After a 16 hr bus ride which took 24 hours because of breaking down we arrived in Merida. A great mountain town famous for having the highest cable car in the world and an ice cream shop in the Guiness book of records with over 800 flavours (not each day though!). Some really odd ones include garlic, calamari, cheese, spaghetti etc! We went canyoning one day which was really scary!!! Rather hectic as the water bashes against you/your head while you trying to abseil down this slippery waterfall 12m or 6m high!!! We felt rather out of control most of the time but enjoyed it!

Then next day we went in a jeep to this village high up in the Andes on a cliff hugging narrow road which was just as scary looking at the valley far below! Took us 6 hours instead of 4 on this road...you guessed it...we broke down a few times!! The accelerator cable snapped but nothing a spring and some rope would'nt fix, just the way it had before with other things under the bonnet! Really beautiful drive though and so remote..crazy that people live in these way out places and farm on hillsides as steep!! Stayed the night there and then started a hike the next day across the Andes to the cable car...oh my gosh!! Steep uphill climb 80% of the way for 7 hours...not a great idea for the unfit like us and the altitude didn´t help!! And it was cold, windy and raining so not that fun but was a good experience and practice for Machu Pichu...

And now Peru...
We are now in Peru in the Andes (these mountains may be a theme for this continent like the Rockies were in America!) We are loving the views from our room, there are amazing snow covered peaks all around the town we staying in. Did a tour to a glacier which was great and another hike by ourselves to a glacial lake which was incredible...amazing blue but freezing up there...was even snowing so didn´t stay up there too long !! The taxi ride there was adventure enough with 8 of us squeezed into a Toyota Corolla station wagon along with baggage inside & on top! He even stopped along the way for a passenger to jump out, catch a stray chicken & jump back in...hilarious!

We are meeting up with Guy and Chantelle on the 7th so are so excited to see them and catch up and spend the next 3 months in South America with them...

Venezuela 1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=137483&l=a9e03&id=639785606

Venezuela 2: Andes etc http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146665&l=c37ac&id=639785606

Peru, Huaraz: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146670&l=e8e11&id=639785606

USA Part 2

oogs_mich — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 05:19:00 GMT

And our US update continued...

We spent time in San Francisco which was fun of course and such a lovely city; ate clam chowder soup in a sour dough bun, rode a tram, explored the wharf & saw the sealions at Pier 39 and of course drove over the Golden Gate bridge! We then headed up the North coast of California exploring different State Parks and enjoyed seeing the waves of the ocean again. Lots of Redwoods in the area – one road is called the Avenue of the Giants (-: Oogs managed to get some fishing done in some of the rivers en route which were so picturesque and very tempting to explore on kayaks if we had the time…The rafting trips are slightly out of our budget unfortunately!

Once into Oregon we headed to Crater Lake National Park. We had seen amazing photo's of the lake and its' reflections so we were looking forward to it. We didn't realize though that for 8 months of the year it snows a LOT at this lake…so as we drove closer the more the sides of the road towered over us with snow. It was raining too and so misty and we realized we weren't going to see ANY lake in this weather! We prayed for a miracle as we were desperate to see it and we knew we had to get out of the area for a campsite (clearly) and also needed to get to friends in Oregon the next day as planned. We hung out in the lush lodge for about 40mins and there it was – a view! We RUSHED outside and snapped away…over the next hour the mist lifted in all sorts of areas so we got to see most of it! YAY!! We didn't see any reflections but at least we saw the water!

We spent time with family friends Pat and Cliff in Oregon on a farm so have enjoyed the views and relaxed feel with them. Their hospitality has been so amazing and we have had such fun with them! We've been up to their condo near a lake for both weekends and enjoyed the sun, tennis, kayaking, swimming etc. Oogs has also managed to do a lot of fishing with Cliff (and catching!) in a float tube and waders so he is one happy man!

Yellowstone National Park was brilliant, mainly due to the fact that I saw my first bear!!! YAY!! and a cub...who ran down the hill too fast and did a somersault - hilarious! Enjoyed the smelly geysers too and also saw 3 wolves which is rare so were very happy. We also loved the Grand Teton National park...back in the Rockies again...seems like a theme we are sticking to! So beautiful!

We have loved being at the sea again in Florida...South Beach, Miami was great! such beautifully coloured water which we played bat and ball in and swam in of course...we then headed to the Keys which was fun (Its the part of the Carribean you can drive to they say!)...and we also spent time in the Everglades and did an airboat ride which was brilliant and saw loads of gators etc.

We head to Venezuela tomorrow, which we are slightly nervous about it and are hoping we won't be ripped off too much, currency and exchange rate problems! So say a little prayer for us! (-:

Can you believe its been 3 months of travelling already for us, crazy!!!

Photo links:

USA part 4 Roadtrip Vegas and California etc http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125172&l=04f2d&id=639785606

USA part 5 Oregon, Yellowstone and Florida http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=137464&l=85450&id=639785606

USA Part 1

oogs_mich — Wed, 7 May 2008 05:09:00 GMT

We had a great time in New York staying with Heather & Pete, saw all the major sights in a day, bit of a whirlwinded tour but great fun! And then had a very wet & rainy walk in Central Park before catching our bus to Philadelphia but at least we tried to explore it! We stayed with Eamon and Glynne just outside Philadelphia; we loved our time with them and they were the most amazing hosts! Did day trips and saw lots of Jim, another friend who lives nearby, so that was great. Went to Atlantic City (the poor man's Vegas); visited the Amish community (VERY interesting!); ran up the Rocky Steps and had Philly cheese steaks in Philadelphia; visited Cape May and took a ferry ride (saw dolphins!) and went to Chesapeake city for seafood dinner; day trip to Washington DC (we were even interviewed there by CNN for Memorial Day!) so all in all a great time!

We then went to Denver via Dallas and missed our first connecting flight ever! Luckily the next one to Denver was in an hour so that was great! We stayed with a family friend in Denver, Paul & Dory, who have also been so amazing to us…lent us more camping equipment and other things for our roadtrip that have been such a help! We then headed off in our upgraded rental car into the Rockies again and lone behold, more snow, sleet, hail and rain. Come on summer! Froze in our tent that night but soon figured out that thermals were needed the next night and we were toasty!

We basically followed the road to as many National Parks as possible; Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion in Utah which were amazing – the red coloured rocks and formations were beautiful! Then onto Lake Powell which dams up the Colorado, some 180 miles or so, in a desert type terrain, surreal but stunning and a great first swim of the trip! After that came more of the Colorado river and of course the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We loved our time there, one can't get enough photo's to truly capture it, especially at sunset! After that was driving a part of the original Route 66 highway and onto Hoover Dam and the bright lights of Vegas. Stayed in a hotel there but in hindsight should have camped!! We stupidly arrived on a Friday night when the rates double!! Oh well, we still had fun! Especially watching the Bellagio Water show to lights and music, so beautiful.

We then drove through Death Valley National Park, where it gets to below sea level, heading for the Sequoia National park when we got to a dead end (pass was still closed due to snow!) so asked some people in a RV motor home for help and lone behold – a fellow South African, Vanora and her husband Franz step out. We got chatting, had tea, then a beer and then pitched our tent and stayed the night near them. Oogs and Franz fished and caught our dinner that evening – such fun and so great to be flexible and make the most of a wrong turn! The next night of our travels wind broke a tent pole on our 10 day old tent! We were so upset and didn't sleep much that night but managed to change it to a better designed tent for high winds a few days later luckily! The Sierra Nevada area was beautiful with amazing blue lakes and hot springs along the route to Yosemite National Park which is a must – incredible scenery and waterfalls but no bears unfortunately. Then again after seeing a video of one ripping the frame of a car door off, just for some bread, I wasn't too upset!!

To be continued...we don't want to bore you or make you jealous all at once!

Here are some photo's though:

USA New York http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=114258&l=6d2cc&id=639785606

USA part 2 Washington and Philadelphia http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125359&l=b479c&id=639785606

USA part 3 Roadtrip starts Utah and Arizona http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=124547&l=555a1&id=639785606

Canada

oogs_mich — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:36:00 GMT

Our first stop was Vancouver to explore Canada as most of you know...Once we got off the bus in Whistler, my cousin Paul made us yummy breakfast and whipped us off to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games site for Cross country skiing, biathlon and the ski jumping area. Neither of us had cross country skied so it was great fun learning and experiencing the Olympic tracks. The next week was spent exploring the slopes of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains which was great with awesome views and so many runs to choose from! We were spoilt rotten by my cousins, their hospitality was just amazing and was so lovely spending time with them. Paul was a brilliant tour guide, showing us all the views, neighbourhoods, parks and iced over lakes in the Valley. We even had the chance to use snow shoes and go into the woods which was great fun! A totally different world out there for summer with mountain biking, hiking and fishing galore - beautiful!

After our time in Whistler we headed back down to Vancouver where we spent the weekend with the Nash's who have also been so so amazingly to us!! so generous! and sent us on our roadtrip with most of their house! hehe. We did some exploring downtown and also went to China Town, did a long walk in Stanley Park (saw the Totem Poles of course!) and also around the dyke's on the Fraser River near their house - all so beautiful, especially with the snow-capped mountains in the backdrop of every view!

After the weekend we headed off on our roadtrip around BC (British Columbia) and some of Alberta following the National Parks as we went. We saw the most amazing amazing views and scenery of mountains, rivers, canyons, glaciers, iced over lakes etc and most of the areas under THICK snow which was beautiful! We did just over 3000km in the 12 days and loved it...especially exploring Banff and up to the Icefields Parkway which is a highway through the Rockies...viewing glaciers and icefields on top of these enormous mountains. MIND BLOWINGLY beautiful!!! "WOW", "Gosh", "Awesome", "Look there" and "Oh my word" were things flung around sooooooo much more than we can count. We stayed in Banff longer so as to get the sunny day for this section of the trip and it was the most amazingly blue sky day with no clouds so we were so blessed. We hadn't and haven't had as clear a day since so was incredible all in all. Most of the lakes were still frozen with snow all over the ice and the mountains...and the waterfalls were flowing but amazing ice formations all around them and snow on the banks etc. Totally different environment to what we are used to thats for sure!

On the way back down to Vancouver we stayed another two nights in Whistler with my cousins in almost a different town...the lakes had defrosted, the snow melted, the roads and sidewalks were clear and one of the resort mountains was closed for skiing...We enjoyed some bike riding along the Valley Trail system and even had to navigate some snow around one lake that wasn't melted...Bicycles on snow don't go too well so a lot of pushing was done after attempting to go as far as we could on the snow...sliding all over...

Now that we are back in Vancouver we have just been chilling out, did some wine tastings nearby and also went up to Harrison Lake to do some fishing and have a braai...another blue day with sun - we like that! We are now getting ready for our next leg...New York, New York. And then onto Philedelphia for a few days before our US roadtrip.

Here are some links to photo's we have uploaded for you to see...

Whistler: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110287&l=5846c&id=639785606
Vancouver and some of the roadtrip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110298&l=2c90d&id=639785606