The side junket of the trip is 8 days in Puerto Rico
2 days in San Juan, very American with Mcdonalds on every corner. But Old San Juan is beautiful, all historical buildings maintained and dating back to the 1500s. The fort the Spanish built is amazing, having been bombarded by the English every 100 years or so. A big night out in Old San Juan was fantastic, the bars started slowly but took off, the dancing and music was electric, very saltery. The party continued until about 4pm - where is the kabab shop when you want one?
We are all using come very dodgy Spanglish, but I managed to book 3 camp sites in Spanish the other day so maybe the classes payed off. "Where is the bathroom" and "how much" are the most popular phrases. Also "Hola chica guapa!"
Hired cars and now road tripping around the country, driving on the right took some getting used to but no accidents yet. Stayed a couple of nights at the dodgy town of Farjardo, but this gave us access to the amazing El Yunque National park and rain forest where we hiked to waterfalls and the peak. Breathtaking! It also gave us access to the Bioluminescent Plankton that was like kayaking through pixie dust - Facinating. And then the Island of Vieques, for some very beautiful carribean beaches.
Historical Ponce on the south coast has been a nice change from camping, great hotel, cheap and better food. A nice place to just hang out, recharge the batteries.
Overall, Puerto Rico is a funny place. The Spanish influence is fantastic. We saw that in Old San Juan and Ponce, but the American influence is hideous. Everywhere you eat, restaurants and Cafes included, you eat of polystyrene plate and with plastic cups. The beaches generally are nice but horribly littered which makes them quite an eyesaw. They just don't seem to take pride in there own country! Despite this it has been a facinating visit and well worth the trip.
