surreal

Chiclaya - Trujillo , Peru

ree — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:05:00 GMT

Day 18 - another early morning, im beginning to hate this 5am wake up thing.Caught the bus going to Peru. Lots of signs at the border about people smuggling and drug smuggling, but it was just a hot dusty little building and another stamp on the passport!!!. We continued on to Zorritos, little fishing town on the Peruvian coast.Nice rustic resort to chill out for a couple of night.The dood that owns the resort breeds the weird and ive gotta say ugly Peruvian dogs, they are hairless definately not attractive looking dogs.One of them stole sarahs black cardigan took it back to its bed in the kitchen, atleast it wasnt covered in dog hair, just dirty.

Day 20 - Peruvian buses are much nicer than Ecuador, toilets on board and comfy seats, double deckers...ooooooh the luxury..haha.We travelled through the desert down the coast to Trujillo to see the Chan Chan ruins, which were very cool.So much excavating work still to be done.The ruins are pre inca and our first real ruins of the trip, very impressive, although it helped to have an english speaking guide to explain everything.Chillaxin ( Titos favourite word!)afternoon, so thanx to him i actually got some more of this blog done and got to talk to my J =)..gota get ready for a 8hr bus ride to Lima tomorrow ...ewwwwwwwwww

Baños -Cuenca, Ecuador

ree — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:56:00 GMT

Day 13 - out of the jungle caught a bus to Baños very pretty town surrounded by volcanoes some of which are active.It was very cold, compaired with the humidity of the jungle.We took a bus out to all the waterfalls surrounding Baños very pretty,the largest one required a 1km hike straight down to see it great walk but not so great climbing back up again, well worth it though .

Day 15 - another bus, this time to Riobamba...just another squishy bad road Ecuadorian bus, as always great scenery though.

Day 16 - Up early this time 5am to the train station - Devils Nose railway train, was way to codl to sit on the top, which is the best view, so inside would have to do, even then it was damn cold.Scenery was stunning, the ride ends at Aluasi, then it was back on a bus to Cuenca

Day 17 - Panama hat factory so I could get mitch his hat, the only thing he wanted from South America. Cuenca has an old colonial part of town which is very pretty, some areas seem dodgy though, lots of guys hanging around peeing against buildings, yuk!!!Interesting museum though well worth a look, some pre - inca ruins but they just really looked like someone had rearranged stones to make a rough wall.

Gallery: buenos aires

ree — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 10:02:00 GMT

Jungle - Ecuador

ree — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 08:37:00 GMT

Day 11 of our trip, up early 5.30am we had to be at the bus station to get the bus to Tena.the buses in ecuador get so crowded and stuffy, the roads into the jungle arent the best either but the scenery is just awesome, volcanoes,cloud covered mountains and green everywhere.It took all day to get to the river, before catching a motor canoe to the lodge...very rustic, no power ( except for the kitchen - we,ve got to eat after all!!!) its hot and humid.Before going to bed we were warned to check for scorpions and tarantulas..hmm nice.Thank goodness there wasnt any in our cabin but we did have the biggest ugliest grasshopper ive ever seen and mmm we screamed like little girls.

The jungle is so noisey at night but we both seemed to sleep well.In the morning there were dozens of little monkeys playing in the trees outside the cabin, I sat and watched them for ages, very very cute.I think they are squirrel monkeys.

Huge storm in the afternoon, it rained so hard you just couldnt see a thing, was great to watch, storm went all through the night, complete with lightening and thunder...our huge friend the grasshoppper was back ..gawd they are ugly looking things.

Quito - Ecuador

ree — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 10:30:00 GMT

Made it to Quito after a long flight via Santiago Chile,got in late so it was straight to bed.

We had been warned by others that the altitude takes some getting used to, but we still decided to walk to the old town, up and down hills, it was worth it, we found some gorgeous old churches, plazas and pretty little buildings all squished together.Wandered back to the hostel which is in the new part of Quito, seemed to take for ever but we did it!we were in bed by 6pm sound asleep...gawd we are such party animals! but im blaming the altitude its a killer, makes you so short of breath, chest gets all tight and I start coughing like ive just smoked a pack of cigarettes.But we did it all again the next day, the old part of town is great for people watching and soaking up the atmosphere.

tomorrow its off to the Amazon! ( photos soon as i buy a new cord or usb stick thing since i left mine at home!!!!!!!)

Buenos Aires

ree — Thu, 1 Jan 2009 01:13:00 GMT

We finally arrived in Buenos Aires after a long but uneventful flight.Once we landed in BA the heat hit us, humid hot and hectic was the first impression.Got to the hostel without too much trouble and slept! and slept some more.Our spanish got a bit of a work out its hard to remember to speak it, you tend to say thank you or yes instead of gracias and si but oh well, we were basically understood so that was ok.

Breakfast on the roof top of the hostel was a good way of taking in the city.We went for a walk around to get our bearings wandered along the Ave de Mayo which leads down to the beautiful Plaza de Mayo, surrounded by huge old buildings, the Prime ministers offices ( which are pink!)are at the end of the Plaza.

We decided to then walk down to San Telmo which is a working class barrio with cobble stoned roads, on sundays its filled with market stalls and people tango dancing it was awesome just to wander and soak up the atmosphere.

Recoleta was the next stop, that also has Sunday markets and a good vibe although its a more upperclass neighbourhood.The park is lovely full of people relaxing and street performers.Recoleta cemetary was closed by the time we finished looking at the markets, so that would have to be saved for another day.There is a lovely church right next door supposedly the oldest church in Buenos Aires, it has the most ornate alter i have seen, unfortunately you cant take pictures so you will just have to take my word for it!.

Day 3 saw us in La Boca & Camminito area of B.A.Its down near the docks.We were told it is/was a poor immigrant area, it has a great vibe the main building there is the La Boca Juniors soccer stadium, these people are loco about football/soccer.This area is were all the colorful corregated iron houses are, very eye catching.

Day 4 - off to recoleta cemetary, very eerie place filled to the brim with huge tombs, very ornate and beautiful, rich and influential people are buried here, ex presidents etc...the most visited tomb is of course Eva Perons, its not all that hard to find you just have to follow the crowds and its the one with fresh flowers all over it.

Day 5 - we caught the ferry over to Colonia-Uruguay,pretty old colonial village by the sea, just wandered around the cobblestone streets and lanes looking in shops and a nice lunch by the water,another stamp on the passport!! Back to Buenos Aires for new years eve only to find most cafes and bars closed as its more of a family holiday than party night.Eventually after much searching we found a bar in a plaza in San Telmo, great atmosphere, left just before midnight to go back to the hostel, and email loved ones, good idea too as soon as the clock struck midnight people came out and set off fireworks all over the city it sounded like war had broken out..lol...crazy south americans!

almost time to go

ree — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:27:00 GMT

Going away parties are over, jabs are done, visa no.1 is safely in my passport,we just have xmas to get over and we're on our way! exciting and scarey all at the same time..im going to miss everyone,especially my boys ( M & J <3 )hope they miss me just as much.