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ay 28th Hola once again,
How are we all, enjoying the joys of spring I hope.
Hands up how many of you reached the end of the last one? Sorry
for it being a bit long winded, I soon realised when I read it
over myself a couple of days later. Anyway better stop rambling
and get on with all the juicy bits that Im sure you are all gagging
to hear about!
After I last left you all, I decided that I was going to leave
for Chile the next day. I toddled back off to my rather pants
hotel and started to re-pack my bag, it is then that I realised
that somewhere along the lines I had lost my Entry/Exit card
to Peru. I searched hi and low but to no sight of it..anywhere,
(I assume I left it in Cusco somewhere). I initially didnt
think it was going to be too much of a problem, famous last
words! That night I sat reading my LP trying to format some
kind of plan for Chile, then decided to have a look at the
entry requirements for Peru, where I read with great horror
that it was needed to escape the country however replacements
could be obtained in Lima.. about a 24 hour bus ride away,
something I really didnt want to do. The next morning I made
a phone call to the national tourist police, but discovered
they were unable to help me due to no one speaking a word of
English! This is when I started to panic. I decided to ignore
all this and made my way to the bus terminal. I bought a ticket
and then had to explain to a rather confused ticket seller
that I had no card the look on his face was priceless until
the oh dear came out of his mouth. With all this off we went,
about 35 mins later we hit the Peruvian border control, our
bags were sniffed, passed through an x-ray machine and then
manually checked, all clear. Then on to passport control. I
handed my passport over and got asked for the card, I tried
to explain that I had lost it somewhere and had no idea what
I had done with it. I was then escorted by a big military/police
man to a room where for the next 1 hour I was questioned (in
Spanish the last 15mins an English speaker turned up) as to
where I had been, what I had been doing in Peru, what did I
have for breakfast, where I was going, how long was I spending
in Chile and when was the last time I cut my toe nails. After
a lot of backwards and forwards and me constantly telling them
no entiendo they decided that the standard 90 day stamp that
I was given had been forged by yours truly and that I had only
been granted 10 days, so had over extended my stay! (This is
the point the English interpreter turned up and bloody thankful
I was too.) He soon explained what I was saying to them, which
they accepted, however still didnt believe I hadnt fiddled
with the stamp. I realised where this was all heading, so after
10 US dollars and 20 Peruvian soles later they where happily
bribed, I was happily stamped out and on to the very straight
forward Chile border control.
From the moment I stepped into Chile I realised once again
it was going to be very different to both Peru and Bolivia,
for me it is a lot closer to Argentina then anything, it still
has its poor and down areas (but doesnt everywhere) but it
seems somewhat more organised and efficient. It is the most
expensive place I have visited in South America, but the overall
quality of most things are so much better it compensates it
somewhat. My first stop was Arica, the border crossing town
with Peru, Arica is ok, a nice seaside feel to it, after Peru
and Boliva, the buildings seemed so stable inside and out,
the food increased in quality 10 fold and the women just all
together looked better. I liked what I first saw of Chile!
I only spent really a day here but did go to have a look at
the church Alexandre G Eiffel designed, although not as impressive
as some of his other structures!
Next stop was Calama, main reason for this was the stop after
but also to see the nearby town of Chuquicamata, which is in
the process of being re-located to Calama. Chuquicamata is
just a small mining town. The Chuquicamata mine is the largest
open pit mine in the world, covering an area (at present) of
4.5km wide and 800m deep, there are another two mines adjacent
to this which within the next 2 years will be merged into one.
The only thing that is mined is Copper. The difference between
this and the co-op mines in Bolivia was astonishing. Everything
here was automated, blood and sweet labour was near non existent,
and the health and safety standards were firmly in place. Calama
it self is an nice town to sit back and relax for a few days,
I managed to catch up on some films at the outstanding quality
cinema and also stumbled across a Circus, which I paid a visit
too, a lot better then the last one I saw in the UK, but it
did lack something not going with my niece (although did cost
me a lot lot less!!)
From Calama I moved on to San Pedro de Atacama, situated in
the Atacama desert (one of the driest in the world) I initially
never intended to stop here, as to me it seemed a stop over
point if coming from South to North, however for the first
time since I started this trip, I seemed to have more time
on my hands then what was needed, so thought what the hell.
Am I ever grateful I did. Initially it reminded me a lot of
Tupiza (Bolivia). It is a very laid back place, saying that
for South America is something! If it got any more laid back
it would fall over itself. I met up with a fantastic short
Auz here and between us took the place by storm. A visit to
the El Tatio Geysers was the first trip, and despite the freezing
(about -11c) weather and the 4am start they where impressive,
seeing the steam and boiling hot water bellow out to various
heights and seeing the sun slowly peeking its way over the
Andes to defuse them a couple of hours later was a sight. The
next trip was to the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon)
a great vast space of really nothing but desert and rocks,
some of which really do resemble how the moon looks.... funny
that. The rest of my time in San Pedro was spent enjoying the
very warm desert sun, getting very drunk with Carla and doing
a spot of horse riding, something I haven't done in years...
and not sure I will do again for some more years!
From San Pedro I made my way off to La Serena. This place
grew on me more and more stayed, its clean, friendly, very
pretty and even better is on the coast (although the weather
wasn't that great) It also has a really nice Japenese Garden
(Kokoro No Niwa) around the main park area. Whilst here I wanted
to take a trip to the Reserva Nacional Pinguino de Humboldt,
however a fishing accident had occurred the day I arrived so
all tours where cancelled out of respect until after the funeral,
in typical South American style this just took longer and longer,
and so I never actually got to go! However I did take a tour
to the Observatorio Cerro Mamalluca, a fantastic side trip,
seeing Saturns rings through a telescope was a highlight. The
Observatory is purely for tourists but the guides are extremely
knowledgeable and I learnt a lot I never knew about our little
universe. I got a recommendation by Adam and Fran to go to
a bar/restaurant called Cafe del Patio, I'm still not sure
whether to kick them or love them for it, from the moment I
walked in I made good friends with the owners, who took me
out to the local casino, most nights I was there I got free
drinks until we were all in a total state of being paralytic,
if I was ever in bed by 3am then we had a quiet night!
I finally managed to drag myself out of La Serena and moved
onto Ovalle. A very small town, with not a great deal going
for it. Main reason for going was a side trip to the Parque
Nacional Fray Jorge (a substitute for not being able to make
a trip to the Reserva Nacional Pinguino de Humboldt.) A Unesco
protected area (or at least 400hectares of the 10,000 hectares
of the park is) The vegetation is unique to this area, due
to the arid conditions, a lot of the plants are similar or
the same to what is only found in south Chile, the rest is
unique, and despite some cloudy cold wet weather the tour was
good, certainly the closet I got to the south anyway. I also
went off to the Monumento Arequeologico Valle de Encanto (Enchanted
Valley) which contains various petroglyphs, pictographs from
the ancient El Molle culture.
From Ovalle I moved off to Vina del Mar, another sea side
town just outside of Santiago. The city became really popular
after the railway linked it to Santiago and hundreds of people
flocked here because of the easy access to both the beach and
Santiago itself. Some of the houses are huge, the shopping
is extraordinary and the food even better. Vina in itself doesnt
have a great deal to do, but it is a nice place to visit and
has a somewhat homey feel to it. I spent the three days here,
either wandering around the town or in a museum of some sort
or another.
This is where the story nearly finishs for now at least. My
last and final stop for South America, Santiago. Along the
trip everyone has told me that Santiago is more effort and
hassle then it is worth and that I didnt need more the 48hours
here. I personally disagree. I like it a lot. The city in itself
is small and compact but once you move away from the heart
of it all it has a lot more to offer. I cant really say what,
but it just has that something that makes me go yeah I like
this place I moved in with Christian and Eduardo (a contact
from Elin, the Swedish girl I met in Salvador, Brazil) Christian
is a total nutter, a fantastic photographer and an amazing
host. Eduardo is a lot more subdued and really a world of difference
to his house mate, but he is one hell of a cook. The house
is big, very airy and very relaxed and open. I also met up
with a Marillion fan who lives in Santiago, who would have
guessed! Santiago itself, where do I start? The snow covered
Andes to the east of the city, towering above everything, the
great food and restaurants, the museums, the street performers,
the hussle and bussle but in not so much of a complicated horrible
way as most major citys seem to have, the list I could carry
on.
So where now? I leave Santiago tonight night, bound for Auckland.
Have I enjoyed my time here in South America? Im sure I dont
need to answer that one. Would I come back? In a blink of an
eye. South America is a truly wonderful continent, the people
are great (except two gits on a hill in Bolivia) and very hospitable,
the food (can be!) first class, the music is interesting! the
lust for love are things that are so very different to anywhere
else I have ever been. South America seems to be over looked
by a lot of people, but really shouldnt be, it has so much
to offer and as long as you can cope with the laid back approach
to anything and everything and just go with the flow, then
you cant lose. I have no regrets on anything that I have done,
but do have regrets on things that I havent been able to do
or didnt do at the time, but I cant do everything can I now?!
I dont feel I have even started to scratch the surface of what
lies beneath the exterior of what I have seen. I am sorry that
I am now leaving but know what lies ahead will be another chapter
in the book. Keep reading, its going to get better :)
See you in New Zealand!
Lots of love
Iain
xxxx
P.S. Thanks for all your emails, keep em coming!
29th April
ACTION, NO CAMERAS... BUT AN EPIC
Howdy
Its been a long time hasn't it? I do have some good reason for this, all my original
draft and notes had a nasty end so I have had to start from scratch, a task I
didn't like the idea of too much. Most of you will understand when you write
something and then have to start it again it never seems to flow in quite the
ame way, so apologies if this has a stop and start feel to it. Before I start,
how are you all? I am grand, still having an amazing time over here in South
America (yep still haven't left) and loving every moment of it. There has been
so much I have done and seen since I last wrote to you all, that this may turn
out to be an epic of sorts. I have tried to make it a little smaller so that
you all get to the end, but if it doesn't end up that way, please excuse me.
Shortly after I last left you in Tucuman I met up with a couple of locals
(well I asked them for directions), one thing lead to another and I had made
myself another couple of friends who took me around and got me very drunk!
Tucuman is a nice little city, sod all to do apart from a couple of Museums
but does have a great park where the independence of Argentina was declared,
the park also is home to a nice lake with rowing boats, I was that convinced
on the safety of them, so decided not to partake and stayed dry. I left another
set of new found friends in Tucuman with another vowel to learn Spanish and
return one day soon, from Tucuman I made my way to Salta. Now Salta rocks!
I came across a fantastic Hostel, a very welcome break from staying in hotels
on my own and possibly one of the best I have stayed in since I started this
little adventure. The residents and staff were fantastic, the only downside
(not that it was really that much of a downside, probably more of an upside)
was the hostel had a bar open 24/7 and to that them arranging nights out to
clubs every night and things got quite messy. I must admit I really didn't
achieve as much as I should have done here, except drink, but it did make a
nice change to mingle again. Salta as a town is nice and has some great places
to just sit and chill out, I climbed to the top of Cerro San Bernardo, the
towns major landmark and took in some great views of the surrounding valley
and town along with another few beers!
From Salta, what I should have done was headed south to Cordoba or Mendoza,
however what actually happened is slightly different. I went north. I left
a nice warm Salta at 9pm and in the bloody freezing early hours of the morning
I arrived at La Quiaca at the Bolivian border. I had to wait around for an
hour until the border opened so found myself unpacking my coat and searching
for a pair of jeans. When the border finally opened I got my exit stamp, walked
across and got another new stamp in my passport. I was now a very different
place altogether and I soon realised that Bolivia was going to be nothing like
Brazil or Argentina. I decided that my first stop was going to be Tupiza (more
so as this was the first bus that left, and Villazon really didn't take my
fancy.) This is when I realised that the standards of buses and everything
else was going to drop...considerably. Its hard to describe the bus, (I do
have a photo) but it looked as if it had about 10 serious accidents, wheels
that were ashamed to still (just) have the 'Goodyear' shadow on them, my bag
was loaded on top of the roof, tied down with what seemed like more luggage
then a 747 would hold and off we went. Four hours later, sitting on a very
uncomfortable seat and next to some coca leaf chewing, rather unpleasant smelling
Bolivian the bus stopped, to be honest I thought it had stopped for a break
in a little out of nowhere town.... it actually turned out to be Tupiza.
After finding a decent enough hotel I took myself for a walk and discovered
that the little town grew on me, very quickly. The buildings were shabby, the
people extremely different, the dress sense of the women is something from
the 40's with a bolar hat that never fits. The air had a distinctive smell,
not unpleasant but not something you would want to spend the rest of your days
breathing. However the surrounding area is exquisite, and unlike anything I
had seen before. Tupiza is sat in the middle of the Cordillera de Chichas,
simply put a surreal landscape of rainbow colored hills, rocks and mountains,
I actually got to see a mountain with 7 different colours, quite a sight. Tupiza
is where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid spent their last night after robbing
a near by bank and then before moving on the next day to meet a nasty demise.
Apart from a tour into the local mountains and surrounding area, there is nothing
much to do, so after 3 days I decided to make a move on to Uyuni. The bus trip
from Uyuni stated in the same way as it did from Villazon to Tupiza, the main
difference being this one took about 8 hours had chickens flapping about quite
happily and for the majority of it I seriously valued my life. The roads were
pretty much non-existent, we actually drove through a river for the best part
of 20mins to reach the next part of road.(for lack of a better word) The trip
was all spent driving through mountain ranges, at times not wide enough for
a small car let alone a bus. When the bus went round corners with steep slopes
and leant to one side (more so then what gravity should have allowed it) I
panicked and everyone else carried on regardless and just seemed to lean the
opposite way. Uyuni is another small town, with even less to it then Tupiza,
all it has to offer is a few stranded locomotives (they got left there when
the new line and station was built) but its main (and really only) attraction
is the Salar de Uyuni.
The Salar is the worlds largest salt flat. Imagine an area covering about
12,000sq km flat as a pancake sitting at about 3500m above sea level, with
a octagon shaped pattern on the floor with a blindingly white surface. At the
point I was there it was classed as wet season which meant that the whole area
was covered with about a cm to an inch of water. This in tern meant that the
floor gave perfect mirror images of the sky, clouds, car, mountains and us.
You could look in any direction, and it just seemed that there had been mirrors
placed on the floor and on the horizon. A really incredible sight to see.
From Uyuni I made my way to Potosi, on again another similar bus trip, although
this bus still had some padding left to the seats... but only just. Potosi
I really liked, apart from the altitude that I soon realised was going to make
some things a tad difficult... like walking! Potosi is officially classed as
the worlds highest city and sits at an impressive 4070m above sea level. Many
many moons ago it was South Americas richest and largest city (the architecture
shows this in many places) due to the discovery of Silver in the over looking
Cerro Rico hill. The silver soon dried up, however the hill is still mined
for tin. I went on a trip to the mines, which is something I won't forget!
I have never had to scramble through holes on my belly (I would have never
made it on all fours) climb up and down crickity ole ladders and squeeze past
some incredibly tight passes. The health and safety standards are non-existent
and it is no wonder that very few of the miners live to be older then 50. The
tour took about 3 hours and was hard work for all of that, however well worth
the trip. I spent the rest of my stay in Potosi wondering around the town,
taking in the great architecture and also a visit to the Casa Real de la Moneda,
The Royal mint musuem, also rated as Bolivias best museum, but personally it
didn't grab me all too much.
From Potosi I moved on to Cochabamba which is where things all went pear shaped....again!
Cochabamba is a nice city, more funeral parlors then I care to think off and
about 12 cinemas all from the 60s, overall it reminded me a lot of Corrienties
(Arg) Once again in pursuit of being on top of the world I decided to take
a quick walk up to the Cristo le la Concordia (similar to Corcovado in Rio)
the walk up was fine coming down was where it all went wrong. About half way
I went past another lad, as he passed I felt my bag pull from behind me and
then realised I was having it nicked... a little struggle later and I feel
a couple of blows behind me, I soon realised I had two attackers, I after a
few punches later I noticed a blade in one of their hands and decided to give
it up, so once again I had lost another camera (myself and cameras are not
a subject that go well!!) and with it my LP guide and all my notes to write
this! It shook me up and bruised my confidence slightly and even worse my view
on S.A, but not enough to make me turn around and come home. A trip to the
unhelpful police and another crime report later I decided to leave Cochabamba
and cut my loses there, so not much to report on that one I'm afraid! (I had
to stay for 24hours at the police request)
From CBMA I moved onto La Paz, probably not the best bet after what had happened
as it is Bolivias largest city and the last thing I needed was a big city to
navigate around. La Paz to me seemed like a 'wannabe' Rio, but lacks the charm,
energy and beauty, almost everyone else I have met that has been there agrees
that it is not worth the effort, nothing to see (even the architecture is disappointing)
and very little to do. I only spent two days here and was really bored by the
end of it. The only great thing that La Paz held for me was a nice Sony shop
selling my by then well missed minidisc player, the best buy so far and a well
used device so far.
I departed La Paz and headed of to Copacabana which is sat on the border of
Peru and next to Lake Titicaca. This is also where I met up with my travelling
companions Adam & Fran, a couple from Norwich and with whom I spent the
about the next 4 weeks with. Copacabana is a small town again, about the same
size as Uyuni just with a nicer feel and with better overall surroundings.
We found a really nice hostel and went off for a beer, that soon turned in
a few, a few into lots and by about 12:30 we were all totally legless. The
next day bought us all some nice hangovers, not the most welcome thing as we
were on a boat heading for the Isla del Sol. The Isla del Sol is in the middle
of Lake Titicaca, South Americas largest lake, with a surreal blue colour to
it. The visit to the Isla took us from the north side by boat and a short walk
to some Inca ruins, we then had to make our own way back to the south side
where we were being picked up, this involved a longish tiring walk around the
island, up hills and with some blazing sun, (yes we did all get burnt) the
view of the lake at points was really majestic though. We arrived back in Copacabana
about 7pm and continued to find another bar to help cure our hangovers! - I
at this point we realised we weren't going to help each other and the next
few weeks were going to be a drinking massacre. The next afternoon we jumped
into a very crowded Colectivo (like a small minibus) and headed for the border
of Peru.... Puno was in our sights, looking back we wished it wasnt though!
Puno is horrible, its main attraction being the main gateway for Lake Titicaca,
we only spent a night here as none of us particularly felt safe or liked anything
about it, we woke at the crack of a sparrows song the next morning and caught
the first bus to Cusco.
We arrived in Cusco and the moment we got of the bus were bombarded by touts
trying to sell us hotels, restaurants, tours you name it. A couple of times
the touts even jumped into the taxi with us, informing us that every hotel
we were going to was terrible and his one would be by far the best.... at US$50
per night I should hope it was. Cusco I liked, its a bit too touristy orientated
and there are many other travellers wondering around but somehow this adds
to a nice ambience. The main Plaza is big and has some great architecture (Fran
commented that it looked a bit like Venice) and the Inca mark can clearly be
seen at times. Cusco has a reason for such a huge tourist influx, it being
the gateway for Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail. We all wanted to do the Inca
Trail, but also wanted to see the Sacred Valley at the same time, so we incorporated
the two and instead of returning to Cusco after the S.V tour stayed over in
Ollantaytambo (my first major Inca ruin site, originally it was called a temple,
however after defeat the Spanish called it a fortress and it has been known
as such since - If seen from above it is in the shape of a Llama - Most major
Inca ruins are in the shape of an animal) for a night before being picked up
to head off to KM88 - The starting point for the four day hike. The Inca Trail
itself was hard work at times, but seriously rewarding and something I will
never forget. Machu Picchu is outstanding and after doing the Inca Trail and
arriving there I could see why it was only discovered in 1911. It was something
I was looking forward to since I decided to head into Bolivia instead of Chile,
but I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did, for the 4 days I seemed
to gain a unknown quantity of energy and was named 'Llama Boy' as all were
amazed at how I pounced along without a care in the world, the guide was so
impressed he presented me with a T-shirt at the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu for
being an untiresome bouncing lunatic! I still don't know where I got the energy
from or even why, but very thankful that I did. I will try to make this a slightly
condensed version as I could quite happily double the amount I have already
written, but its going to be hard. Needless to say it has been by far the highlight
of my trip so far. The first day resulted in an early start, about 5am. Adam,
Fran & I were transported to KM88 to met the rest of the group, all seemed
a nice enough bunch. We had breakfast, were given our tickets and off we went.
Day one was a relatively easy days hike, and I thought that all the talk of
it being difficult was just rumours. We stopped for lunch about 1ish on a hillside
overlooking Llactapata (Town on the Hillside) an Inca ruin site. From here
we continued on a gradual (at times steep) uphill climb to the first camb Wayllbamba,
where we arrived about 7pm. When we arrived the energetic porters had set up
our tents, and dinner was being prepared, we were given a beer each and some
popcorn and a toast was made to the next 3 days. We retired to bed about 9ish
as we had to be up at 5, for which was going to be the hardest day. At 4:45am
a smiley porter unziped our tent and handed us a cup of Coca tea and with a
big grin warned us for a hard day - at 5am in the morning, no showers and being
at 2500m above sea-level with the air being bitterly cold not many people were
rays of sunshine - myself included! We set off around 7, after some breakfast.
The first few hours were not to bad, the climb was reasonably steep, and the
surrounding Andes were now coming into focus as the sun rose and the clouds
moved on, the view was sublime. We continued uphill walking following an original
Inca path and taking in the amazing view of the Andes in all directions at
around 11ish we reached our lunch camp and were presented with the next stage
of the hike - 'Dead Womans Pass' it is named so because if you look at the
top you can make out the outline of a naked women laying on her back (biggest
boobs I have ever seen!!) At this point we were about 2900m above sea level,
it was estimated to take us between 1.5-2hours to climb to the top at which
point we would be at 4125m (about 13,500feet - small aircraft cruise at this
height!) I lumbered off with the fantastic and knowledgeable guide, Augusto
leaving Adam & Fran and the rest of the group behind us, about half way
up, Augusto left me to it and told me to wait at the top. I made it up in just
under an hour, it took me the next 35 mins before anyone arrived to catch my
breath back, at that height the air is pretty thin and you almost find yourself
trying to catch it in your hands and pass it towards your nose! On reaching
the top I could see down both sides of the mountain, one side had the view
of the lunch camp below with the rest of the tour groups clambering up. The
other side was covered in clouds that were swirling around and climbing up
the mountain, covering me in the mist before being swept over the other side
and rushing down towards the approaching groups. I sat down, caught my breath,
reached for my trusty bubbles and stuck a few bubbles in the mix, I'm not sure
if it was the altitude or just the thinness of the air but they looked remarkable
and were highly welcomed by people reaching the top. After the rest of the
group and had reached the top and all caught their breath we started the descent
- that was the tricky part. The original Inca road had been destroyed over
years, either by the Incas themselves to halt a Spanish invasion or by landslides
and nature, the path consisted of lose stones, rocks and pebbles which made
coming down again to an altitude of 3600m quite a task. We arrived at the camp
about 4ish, had some food. A little while later two of us decided we were bored
and much to Augusto's surprise decided to go for another walk to kill a couple
of hours - this turned out to be the best decision we made. We followed the
path along what would be the next days hike, we decided we would reach the
next pass and then turn round to come back. Every time we thought we had reached
the top we turned the corner to be presented with another steep slope, at some
points we were nearly on all fours and dreading the thought of climbing it
the next day with our packs. We also passed another small ruin on the way.
(I'll come back to that) On reaching the top, we were presented with a gorgeous
valley below us, surrounded by a jungle, what made it so special was it was
a cloud jungle. We were at this point above the clouds and could see them being
blown and drifting along the tops of the trees like crisp bags caught in the
wind! One moment it would be thick the next moment nothing the view changed
so quickly and each and every second was so different and outstanding I could
have spent hours there just watching. Every now and again the wind would change
direction and blow the clouds towards us, they would then climb the side of
the mountain and blow through us before once again, disappearing over the other
side behind us and down towards the camp. After 45mins we decided we should
head back and join the group for dinner. On our arrival, the rest of the group
was keen to know what was in store for the next day - we told them with great
excitement! After dinner and a couple of bottles of rum to celebrate the cooks
birthday we all collapsed in our tents and slept like babies.
The next morning we were woken up again at 5am with a smiley porter who handed
us some more coca tea (which I must add is really nice and has grown on me
a great deal) I clambered out of the tent and then realised that I couldn't
feel my legs! We all looked around but all we could see was mist, we couldn't
see 5meters in front of us, the rest of the group were inquiring as to whether
it would clear with Augusto, who said he doubted it very much as it was too
thick. After breakfast we started off up the trail again and reached the ruins
that myself and Dave had passed the day before, Runquracay which we were told
would have been used as a store house, a half way house for the Incas, or that
it would have been used as a watch tower as it gives a near 360 view of the
surrounding Andes and would have been an ideal place to warn the inhabitants
of MP of an attack. We reached the submit and discovered that the clouds had
not dispersed and still nothing was in sight. We continued down the path though
an 20m Inca tunnel cut through solid granite. After about a couple of hours
we reached Sayacmarka, an impressive fortress, which according to archoligst
would have been almost impossible to attack due to its location. From there
we continued through the cloud jungle, stopping for lunch and continuing on
until we arrived at our last camp site, where there is a decent building containing
hot showers (although you had to pay for the use of them). Before a fantastic
dinner and a few beers at the bar, our guide took us off to see Winaywayna
(Forever Young) which was only discovered in 1941, the ruins are impressive
from a distance as the terraces that the Incas built to cultivate crops work
from the Urubamba river below up to the top (about 100+ levels). After probably
to many beers Adam, Fran and I went off to bed, finding every guy-robe and
tent possible to trip over, resulting in waking the rest of the group up.
The final morning we were woken up about 4ish, went to have breakfast among
some rather irate fellow campers due to our noise the night before (it didn't
help when I found a nasty flying bug inside the tent, who it seemed was determined
to bite half my face off - the noise I made and the lack of a torch didn't
help matters much - All Adam & Fran could do to help was laugh at my panicked
state). We strolled off and around 5:15am reached the steps to the Sun Gate
(the steps we had to climb up on nearly all fours) of M.P. To our horror we
were engulfed in mist again and realised that our first views of MP were not
going to be that clear. We arrived at MP at the top of the Terraces over looking
MP at about 6am - despite the mist the view before us was like no other ruins
I had seen before. The city is spectacular and beyond describing. The water
canals that the Incas created to provide the city with water are still running
naturally from the glaciers on the surrounding peaks. The city it self is huge,
the main alter and temple is impressive and the technology the Incas had and
knew is incredible. Augusto took us on a 2.5hr tour and gave us a fantastic
insight into it all. By this time the mist had disappeared. We then had about
3 hours to ourselves, before we had to be in Aguas Calientes (the village below
for lunch, also where we spent the night). I decided at which point, still
with too much energy that I was going to climb Huayna Picchu (Young Peak, incidentally
Machu Picchu means Old Peak) if you have seen pictures of M.P, its the famous
mountain in the background. Certainly as far as I am concerned the hardest
part of the trek. The climb was a incredibly steep scramble on all fours for
the majority of the top end of it, but once again I was rewarded with a gorgeous
view of M.P (which is in the shape of a Condor) and the Andes surrounding it.
After I made my way down, I discovered that I had missed the rest of the group
and the bus to Aguas Calientes, and as Adam & Fran had my cash, had to
walk back. After some dinner we all went off to the hot springs, soothed our
aching muscles and bones and retired feeling content, exhausted, and very rewarded
to bed.... well after a few beers at least.
The next morning we headed back to Cusco, where I stayed for another night,
whilst I waited for a package containing some more Minidiscs, a new LP guide
and a few other surprises. From Cusco we moved on to Arequipa. After the buzz
of Cusco and still on a high from M.P (and still with aching legs) Arequipa
was a bit subdued, it probably didn't help as it was Easter week, and its hard
to find anything open to do. We did however have a wonder around the Monasterio
de Santa Catalina, where at one point 450+ nuns lived, without any contact
with the outside world, they exchanged goods and crafts through turnstiles
and lived totally cut off. From Arequipa we took a 2 day tour to see the Colca
Canyon, there is some speculation to this comment, but it is supposedly the
worlds deepest canyon, either way it is impressive, whilst at the top we also
got to see wild Condors, I knew they were big but never expected them to be
quite as big, hearing them 'whoosh' about 8m above my head was a sound I will
never forget.
From Arequipa we moved on to Nazca. Nazca is a small town, the main reason
for going there was to visit the Nazca lines which are set in the surrounding
desert. To see them we had to take a guided tour in a small aircraft. (Adam
left this bit out as he is terrified of heights) The trip took about 40 mins
and was worth going out of my way for it. The lines themselves are huge and
incredibly impressive, they include a Condor with a 130m wingspan and a 90m
high Monkey. Nazca itself has little else to offer, although we did find a
fantastic resturant called The Grumpys. Adam and Fran then headed towards Lima
to catch a flight home and I headed off towards Tacna, but made a stop over
in Mollendo (a small seaside town) before heading towards Tacna, which is on
the Chilean border (finally I have it in my site) and is where I am now. Tacna
is OK, another border town really, although it is a tax free zone and a mecca
for buying cheap electronic goods... not sure I will invest in another decent
camera!
I think that draws us all up to date. Hopefully you are still all awake have
got this far. Hope you are keeping well
Take care
Iain
xxxx
Phew |
Brazil |
11th March
Cant think of a title
Howdy,
The trouble with writing these emails (like any badly written novel) is I forget
where I left you last and as I have no concept of time or dates anymore it
becomes harder to back track. So when it comes down to it I just ramble and
hope for the best. So how am I? Good, really good. To be honest I dont think
I have every woken up every morning with such a spring in my step and a desire
to get out there and discover another mesmerising place. Every time I think
I must have reached my peak of excitement and happiness, I turn the corner
just to be smacked again by an insane bus driver, and believe me they are all
insane..seriously! This leg of the journey is truly a experience, South America
is amazing. The people (inc the eye candy!), surroundings, food, culture and
pure lust for life is inspiring. As I have said in the past, with the obvious
language barrier I am having I am getting around and interacting so well (at
least I think so, after all if the people are cursing me and calling me names
they are doing it with a
smile!) If humans can interact with Monkeys, this mosquito bitten monkey can
interact back! This email has now been a long time coming and written in so
many
stages, I hope it makes some sense and gives you all some idea of what I am
experiencing.
I finally left Salvador and hopped on a very nice bus to Porto
Seguro, some (more the long distance ones) of the buses here
are fantastic, and beat the socks of Greyhound, they have near
fully reclining seats, pillows, blankets, foot rests, drinks
and snacks and the most important thing Air-Con. Porto Seguro
is a lovely little sea-side town and also where the first recognised
Portuguese landfall was made in 1500 (or around that date)
It has everything from Cocktail stands, bars, small kiddy funfairs,
popcorn and candy floss stalls, its only let down is it has
no direct beach (its mainly a docking port for boats) however
you can catch a 10min ferry to Rio Buranhem which has crystal
clear waters, coral reefs and perfect white sand, truly idyllic.
I met up with Henry here, but it soon became clear we had to
different agendas, his mainly to sit on a beach, avoid any
tourist attractions and eat constantly! I only spent 2 days
here, one day spent around the town and visiting Cidade Alta
(a small Church, expected to be the oldest one in Brazil which
is now a nationally protected area) with a fantastic view over
the town and surrounding coastal area) Porto Seguro is also
home to one of the best clubs I have been to in a long time,
its based on the small island of Ilha do Pachio is based outdoors
around a huge lake, is very loud and has HUGE fish tanks everywhere,
housing everything from goldfish to mini sharks! It doesnt
open until 1am and closes at 7 - a very long night on the beer.
From Porto Seguro I made my way slightly south to the very
small dusty town of Itaunas, a small fishing village which
has been rebuilt over recent years. The old town has now been
engulfed by sand dunes which
surround the area (some reach 30meters high) and up until about 2.5years ago
you could still see (and touch) the old church steeple. The town is pretty
much cut off from the real world, the next biggest town is 50mins away, they
deal only in cash, have a real lack of hot water and lots of Mosquitos, who
all seemed to find me, for dinner. I originally planned to stay here for about
4 days and do some more trekking in the nearby national park (Parque Estadual
de Itaunas) which is home to wild monkeys, Sloths and Jaguatiricas but cut
myself off as I ran out of cash! I expected (I should know better by now) everywhere
to have a cash machine, but soon discovered the nearest bank machine was a
50min bus drive away in Conceicao da Barro, I had a total of 5real on me, the
bus was going to cost $1.50real each way, I still had not paid for my accommodation
and had not eaten for over 24hours. Not a problem I thought until I arrived
in Conceicao to find the bank machine wouldnt take my card. I caught the next
bus back and had to explain my
situation to the Hostel owner, who then very nicely made me some food, told
me the other nearest bank that I could use was nearly 1.5hrs away and would
cost $3real each way and then still a chance my card wouldnt work, but she
would allow me to leave without paying if I promised to put the money in the
post to her, an option I took and have since done (along with a little extra
as a thank you). The hostel was great with a funky loft style meeting room,
which housed a fridge, TV, DVD player and the biggest bean bags known to man!
Two days after arriving I paid for my next bus ticket by Visa (just) and hoped
on a bus to Vitoria. I only stayed in Vitoria for one night, and really only
used it as a stopover to break up the journey to
Rio. It has very little to offer and is just a port city. Apparently in the
past did have a lot of colonial history but now most has for one reason or
another disappeared. During the one day I spent here, I wandered around the
town, visited the Metropolitana Cathedral, the state government building and
just by accident stumbled across a chocolate factory, which apparently makes
the best choc in Brazil, personally I wasnt that taken by it, but that didnt
stop me eating away at it. Next stop Rio. Rio, what can I say? There are few
places in the world that can conjure up the atmosphere and feeling on a daily
basis as Rio can. Think everything you know about it and have seen of it, add
more and you may be getting some where close to what it actually is. Despite
loving Rio, it is expensive (compared to anywhere else in Brazil) so I decided
to shorten my stay there, besides prices were escalating far too much in the
lead up to Carnival. It is a beautiful city, from the huge hills with Favelas
to the tall high rise blocks of central. Copacabana and Ipanema are busy, very
laid backed, extremely clean and extremely busy with gorgeous women (and they
know it!), sun tanned volleyball players and people trying to sell you anything
and everything. The three days I spent here were divided between visiting the
Beaches, Central, Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf mountain), which has some fantastic
views of the city and well worth a
visit and of course my main reason for visiting Rio, Cristo Redentor on Corcovado
mountain, the statue is amazing and offers some breathtaking panoramic views
of Rio, the monument is 38m high (the statue itself is 30m) finger tip to finger
tip is 28m and it weighs a total of 1.145ton - So how do we now come to be?
From Rio I moved inland to Curitiba, after the bus being stopped, everyone
being chucked out, bags searched and passports/identity cards checked - try
telling a non English speaking policeman why you are in Brazil, that you have
no fixed address, at 4am in the morning and with a stonking hangover! Curitiba
to me and to most other people I met there, including Brian (a Danish guy I
spent the next week traveling with) was far far too European. It is Brazil’s
success story in terms of cities. The bus system is meant to be the best in
Brazil, it offers free internet, and is also home to a little 24 hour street,
housing everything from restaurants, bars, and shops but to me had very else
to offer. So why go there? One reason, the train trip to Paranagua, rated as
one of the best in Brazil. The railroad was the first in Brazil to be completed
in 1880, along with huge amounts of deaths due to disease. The rail road is
110km descending a steep 900m mountain taking in 13 tunnels, 67 bridges not
to mention some surreal views, canyons and tropical lowlands, the trip in total
takes 3.5hours (you can drive it in 1.5hours) and is breathtaking, I doubt
any photos I managed to take will do it any justice. From Curitiba we moved
inland even more to what has to be the greatest and most amazing thing I have
seen on my trip so far and probably in my life time to date. I have no doubt
in my mind that I dont know of any words that can do it any justice and know
for a fact that no photos will ever relay anywhere near the spectacular beauty
that it is, welcome to Foz do Iguacu (or Puerto Iguazu, depending which side
of the border you are on) Foz is sat on the border of Argentina and where the
Rio Igacu river crashes 80m in 275 different falls. We spent one day visiting
the Brazilian side which gives a fantastic overall view including a very wet
close up view of Garganta do Diablo (Devils Throat)
which is the main fall, however this is really only half the picture (you dont
find this out until you get to the other side!) The evening we spent at the
hostel, which is more like a mini resort with a swimming pool, tennis courts,
football pitch, bar (which is a rare thing for HI hostels for those of you
that know HI) After starting drinking at 5pm Brian and I got chatting to two
guys from Bristol, a Dutch girl and a German girl, around 2am the Bristol wimps
hit the sack we continued to drink Cachaca (a EXTREMELY lethal high-proof sugarcane
rum drink) until about 3:30 when the bar shut, Im not sure who initiated it
or even jumped first but the pool looked to inviting the next thing I knew
we were all skinny dipping, before being asked to leave around 5am because
of the noise! The next morning presented itself with some raging heads, and
a nice set of infected eyes for all of us, it turned out the pool had a lump
of Chlorine dumped in it about 40mins before we fell in! From here Brian and
I moved across to see the other side, our intention was to have a look and
move on, but got told we would need a full day to do the park, and even with
a full day we would be hard pushed... and we were. The Argentinean side is
mind-blowing, you get to see a lot more of the falls and as there is a national
park this side there is a lot more wildlife. We checked into a little Pousada
and soon found out the sleepy little town was having a small carnival which
we stayed to watch, and was great fun. From Foz we moved onto Posadas (my intention
was never to com to Argentina, but one thing has lead to another and this is
where I am, Argentina seems to be hooked on a drink called Mate (mattay) it
looks like chopped grass, is drunk either hot or cold and through a thin metal
straw, everywhere you go, you can see kids, teenagers and old people walking
around with a Thermos flask and a little cup of it, passing amongst friends
like a ritual! Posadas is a lovely little town where almost everything shuts
for Siesta, even the buses are a rare thing to see moving, but it did give
us some time to get around the town without being rushed or bumped out of the
way! Brians eye got a lot worse while we were here and a quick phone call later
he was heading down towards Buenos Aires to possibly catch a flight home. After
he left I somehow (and Im still not sure how) caught a bus into Paraguay to
visit some Jesuit Ruins. I (think) I was told they were about 20min bus ride
after the border, 1.5hours later, piles from driving down some heavily pot-holed
roads sitting on a lump of metal classed as a seat I arrived. The ruins are
really nice but if anything the site is small, I have since been told they
are more of an unfinished project rather than ruins. From Posadas I decided
to carry on across Argentina instead of trying to catch a flight to Chile,
as 1) it would be cheaper and 2) why not. The next stop was Corrientes. Corrientes
is a great town, and if you are ever in Argentina, go and visit it, the people
are so friendly, the buildings are old but really well kept and once again
things just stop for Siesta, except the bars which everyone gathers on for
some light and heavy drinking.... I like Argentina! Corrientes also is a major
Carnival player and after a two year break (due to the economy) the carnival
has made a revival this year, and it kicked off big style! I caught the last
week of it, my intention only to see one night but met up with some locals
on the first night (after a heavy foam fight) they took me under there wing,
showed me around got me involved in the Carnival, so I decided to stay put.
Despite them speaking as much English as I do Spanish, we communicated really
well and had a great time, I also discovered the attraction of Mate with them,
it tastes a bit like hot bitter grass, but acts like a coffee stimulant and
is really addictive. I must post back 5kilos! The carnival was fantastic, the
costumes are outrageous, the women are stunning, the music and beat of the
drums creates an amazing atmosphere, the people lap it up and the louder the
noise the better it gets! whilst in Corrientes I also caught a bus to Resistencia,
an odd town full of Sculptures, the story goes that the local museum ran out
of room so started to place them on the pavement outside, they then ran out
of room here, so put some in the city’s centralpark, this then became
overcrowded and before long they were spread right across the town, on every
corner, roundabout, and park visible, there are currently over 300 scattered
around! After 3 days of serious partying I reluctantly left Corrientes, leaving
some very sad new friends behind, with a promise to learn Spanish (and them
English) and a return visit in the future. There are so many more things to
tell you all about, but I would be sat here for ages if I attempted to write
it all down for you and have no desire to sit here for any longer!
I am now in Tucuman and from here I have absolutely no idea where I am going!
I have a few ideas, but each one is in a different direction and none are heading
much closer to Chile! I’ll keep you posted, honest!
Much Love
Iain
xxxx
BEVEINDO A BRAZIL
Boa Tarde,
Well here I am, Brazil and what a place it is turning out to be so far. I arrived
in Salvador around 12pm on the 5th after just catching my connecting flight
from Sao Paulo, with a fresh new stamp in my passport, a bounce in my step
and an offer to stay with some people in Brasilia who I met on the plane.
After leaving the airport my first major challenge presented itself with a
nice big smack... trying to catch a bus to where I was staying. Phrase book
in hand and a bit of body language I still had no idea where to go... I opted
for luck and hoped on the next available bus... 45 minutes later, after driving
down some of the best coastline I have ever seen I arrived, somewhere near
my destination. I found the hostel easily enough and checked in for 2 nights
at a cost of 20 real per night inc breakfast (about 3.50pound) OK for those
of you that dont know, look at a map of Brazil, find Rio and work north for
about 5cm (depending on the size of your map of course) and you will see Salvador
sitting on the coast. It is the capital of Bahia and Brazils 3rd biggest city
with about 2.4million people. Up until 1763 it was the capital of Brazil until
Rio took over which was then replaced by Brasilia as the political capital
in 1960.
Salvador is beautiful and is home to one of the biggest African-Brazilian communitys
in Brazil, and it shows in everything from the music, food, dress and culture.
Unfortunately due to poverty it is a haven for pickpockets and crime (lucky
ole me huh? - unlucky for them though, I have nothing else to have nicked!),
however the area is HEAVILY guarded by armed police who have no worries about
pulling their guns out and waving them around in the air the moment any trouble
or look of trouble occurs. Salvador is spilt in to the upper city and lower
city. The buildings are brightly colored, the streets are cobbled and lined
with lively restaurants, bars, shops and houses, the architecture is basic
in most places, but the town seems to swallow anything up and make it colorful.
The Pelourinho (centre) has a fantastic waterfall (fountain, depending who
you speak with) and comes alive at night with street performers, dancers, musicians
and mini parades all gearing up for the carnival. On my first night I met up
with some Americans in restaurant (hostels dont have cooking facilitys here,
but when you can eat a 3 course meal with drinks for about 3/4pound why cook?)
Mark owned a boat, so after diner we headed for that sailed into the sun set...a
wonderful start to my trip.
After 3 nights in Salvador I took an overnight bus west to the small town of
Lanois (pronounced Lenswar) with Elin, a very nice Swedish girl I met in Salvador,
who has spent the last 8 months traveling around South America, she convinced
me to go to Lenois with her, how could I refuse?! Lenois is situated in the
gorgeous region of Chapada Diamantina (from now on known as C.D!) and is a
tiny village, the dogs room free, the horses join them and the chickens do
what they please. With no more than 500 people living there, I got a real good
taste of a small Brazilian village; there is no industry here (except a little
mining) so most of the locals survive by selling crafts or opening up their
homes as Pousadas (Guest houses). I stayed at the Pousada Nossa Casa, and was
welcomed in with open arms, the owners have never had an English person with
them and went out of their way to do things for me, including all my washing,
which came back ironed as well. A morning shower had two options a) Using the
normal bathroom shower or b) walking 5 mins and heading for a natural waterfall/river
with little pools that you can bath in... Believe me there is nothing like
bathing under a waterfall and then jumping into a fresh water pool at 6am and
then overlooking the town and watching the day begin.
The C.D is a wooded oasis with natural fresh water streams, waterfalls, pools
and caves covering a total area of 1520sq km and only 1 of 3 in Brazil. I decided
to take a 12km trek on day one to the Cachoeira Da Fumaca, which is Brazils
longest waterfall at 420m, and is stunning, you have to hang over the edge
to see the bottom but the look down is well worth it. The walk was mainly uphill
but took in some of the best scenery I have seen and made it all worthwhile,
the view was outstanding. The heat however made it hard work and despite some
serious sun block I still got a tad burnt, as did everyone else. On the downward
walk we took a different route and arrived at the Ribeirao do Meio which is
a fresh waterfall with a natural rock slide down and a pool at the bottom,
a very welcomed refresh after the walk. Day two took me off to the Caverna
Torrinah, as the name suggests it is a huge Cave spanning nearly 24km in. The
tour only takes you in 2000m though, squeezing through gaps that even little
me struggled with but entirely worth the effort. On the way back to the Pousada
we visited Morro do Pai Inacio which is the highest peak in the C.D at 1120m
and the view is breathtaking. For my final day in Lenois I spent looking around
the town and surrounding area, it really is a beautiful place, the people are
fantastic and the food, oh my the food is something else. I left Lenois last
night and headed back for Salvador to catch a bus for Porto Seguro, unfortunately
I forget I wasnt dealing with Greyhound anymore and after a few problems with
communication discovered that there was no space left on the morning bus so
have to wait until 9pm tonight, so headed back to Salvador town to catch up
on some emails. So far Brazil is turning out to be everything I expected and
a lot more. The buzz of trying to communicate to catch a bus, order a drink,
meal or just to buy something at a local market is wonderful and even more
so when Im successful which isnt every time!
Hope you are all well
Adeus
Love
Iain
xxxx
’M IN BRAZIL NAH NAH NAH NAH!
Hello you lovely lot,
Thought I would drop you all a quick note to let you know I made it to Brazil
in one piece and with no difficulties. My flight left Miami (hell forsaken
place, but I still got ta love it) a tad delayed at around 9:40 last night
and I arrived in Sau Paulo very tired (I lost 3 hours in the process - yes
that does mean I’m only 2 behind you now) and just caught my connecting
flight to Salvador. When leaving Sau Paulo, the plane was just starting to
run down the runway and then stopped, it turned out we had lost contact with
air traffic control for no reason.
arrived in Salvador at around 12ish, with a fresh new stamp in my passport
and an offer to stay with some people in Brazila (they work as missionarys)
I got slightly stumped when I had no idea where to catch the bus and no one
seemed to speak English, phrase book in hand and a few lucky choices I jumped
on the next bus and said take me home amigo. 45 minutes later, after driving
down some of the best coastline I have ever seen I arrived, somewhere near
my destination - a nice shower. I got to the hostel pretty easily, but now
regret wearing my Jeans and boots, it was about 90 today and I was wet in the
most unpleasant way (and places), I think, I smelt pretty bad also. I checked
into a very nice hostel (20 Reals a night inc breakfast - 3.39 pound Sterling)),
with good security (not that there is anything left to take!) and had a nice
cold shower (the hot water lasts for 30 secs) but a cold shower is what was
needed. I spent the rest of the day wandering around, getting my bearings and
congratulating myself on a wonderful job, Im in BRAZIL MAKE SOME F*@#ng NOISE!
As a well done to me I have just taken myself out to supposedly the best restaurant
in town, for the HUGEST Meal I have ever seen (it arrived on two plates) with
3 beers and set me back the grand total of 4.58 (pound sterling). I got chatting
to some strangers (I must stop doing that, some of you will be right before
long :)) who felt sorry for me sitting with todd and invited me over to join
them, I reluctantly did after they twisted my arm so hard I felt water in my
eyes...oh hang on that was the sweat from my brow, did I mention it was hot
here.... rassssssssp? Anyway it turns out one of the guys owns a 45foot boot
moored just down the road (and yes it is in water not actually on the road,
smartarses) and I have been invited aboard tonight for a few drinks etc, was
cautious at first but then thought what the hell, take a risk, I can swim after
all. Now I suppose you want some details on what this place is like.... well
you will have to wait until the next installment. (and mum knows not a lot
more, so dont be bugging her for gossip!) all Im saying is its Brazil, Im on
a high again and like what I have seen so far..... in a massive way. Well I
had better think of going this is costing me 0.42p per hour! Im planning to
push the boat out and go on a two day trek into a ecological park, which includes
all accommodation, food, transport and a guided tour, it will set me back 50quid,
but at that price I cant lose. Then work out somewhere to meet up with Henry.
Unfortunately I couldnt get a new camera or minidisc player at any airport,
so settled for some books and will use disposable cameras until I can find
one (there is nothing around here). Anyway really gotta go, need to wash parts
of me again!
Love ya all, let the good times roll, and remember lifetimes are so short the
youth is wasted on the young and wisdom on the old. (Have I used that yet?)
Love....
Who else?
xxx |
|
USA Chronicles |
eb 3rd
NO MORE GREYHOUND
Hello All,
Aren't you all lucky getting another email so soon? Well I made it from one country
into another and from one side to the other. Things have been great and despite
a couple of mishaps that at times have made me want to turn round and come home,
I have really enjoyed my time in the US, I have seen some amazing sights and
made some great friends along the way. I leave Key West and head for Brazil tomorrow
night (4th) and am really looking forward to it. This is where the real adventure
starts! I'm armed with my phrase book and everything else I need.... at least
I hope so! I also received an email today from a guy I met in Philly who is going
to be in Brazil around the 8th (I think) and our plan is to meet up and see some
sights together. Well thats about all from me for now, hope you are all well
and shivering nicely (for those of you that are unfortunate enough to have cold
weather that is).
I'll give you all a warm thought when sunning myself on Copacabana beach :)
Love
Me
xxxx
P.S. Remember that lifetimes are so short that youth is wasted on the young and
wisdom on the old.
January 28th
It’s long with a splash of Bourbon and handcuffs
Hello All,
Apologies for the lack of email recently, i have been a very busy boy. If I told
you to make a cup of tea for the last one, make a pot this time. I'm not entirely
sure where i left you all but think it was from Philly so thats where i will
continue from, please correct me if i'm wrong but don't expect a decent report!
From Philly I moved on to Westminster (Orange County) Just outside of Baltimore
and met up with some friends of friends of my parents, Ernest & Margit who
very nicely put me up in their house and gave me some nice creature comforts
again including homecooked meals, decent shower and a very welcomed break from
the city. Westminster is in the back of beyond and is full of rolling hills and
farm land. Ernest is an architect by trade and design the house they now live
in about 11 years ago and had it built on 9 aches of land and it's impressive.
Whilst I was there they also took me on a day trip to Washington DC which saved
me some time as they know their way round very well and got me to the places
i needed to see very quickly. DC is HUGE, it's basically it's own state and consists
of maninly government buildings and museums, however due to 9/11 most things
are shut to the general public and the ones that are open are very tight on security,
but netherless I saw the bits I needed to and wanted to and a few other bits
that I would have missed without them. Apart from that I hit Baltimore for a
couple of days and returned to Westminster in the evenings. The heart of Baltimore
is around the Inner Harbour which was run down until about 20 years ago and now
consists of museums, cafes, bars and resturants and has a great feel to it, despite
it being so damn cold. Little Italy was pretty but was exactly as the name sugests;
little. Whilst in Baltimore I spent my time in the National Aquarium which is
split across 7 levels and houses more than 10000 animals and was a fantastic
day out. The American Visonary musuem is a 3 floor musuem that showcase's 'outsider'
talent (what ever that means!) it's wasn't what I would all modern art but just
some very detailed and impressive things, including a 2.5 metre replica of the
Titanic made from Cocktail sticks (560,000 in total). I also hit the Maryland
Science Centre, but as they are refurbing it half of it was shut, so caught an
Imax film while I was there. Whilst in Westminster I met Ernest & Margits
family and Neil (the son in law, who owns the greatest barn I have ever seen)
told me to hit New Orleans (a few other people had mentioned it also) as it was
a happening place, so thats what i did. I decided that I would move straight
down and miss everything else in the middle as nothing really caught my attention
and the one place that did, I couldn't get accomodation as the hostel was having
some much needed work done to it. I left Baltimore on the 16th and prepared my
self for the 22hour journey ahead of me, or at least 22hours was what it should
have been. It seemed Greyhound Bus 7028 was doomed, firstly it was a brand new
bus that broke down just outsied of DC, so we then had to wait for a mechanic
to come and fix it, it turned out the problem was something simple but i can't
remember now, anyway about 10pm we arrived in Lynchburg (Virginia) and arrived
in a heavy snow storm, as the bus was pulling out of the station it was losing
grip and then slid down the hill and hit a bus stop and smashed one of the windows,
this was the start of the problem, the driver had got the bus wedged against
the bus stop and when he went to drive away he had no traction and kept sliding
back down the the hill in the end he gave up being gentle with it and decided
to go full throttle, this meant taking the top of the bus shelter with us and
4 other windows out, the atmosphere on the bus after this was....different. Whilst
this was all happening I stepped out for a smoke (I have now give up smoking
twice, both times succesfully) and got chatting to lovely young lady named Jessica,
who was travelling back to New Orleans also, so we budded up and made the journey
a great one. To make things worse as our bus was now 2 hours late in arriving
in Atlanta, Greyhound had put on another bus, which meant we then had an 1.5
hour delay in Atlanta, the home of my first pickpocket incident, luckily he only
got away with $25 and my magic $2 bill. I finally arrived in New Orleans after
a 29 hour journey, feeling very dirty. New Orleans, what can i say? The place
is dangerous, it has the highest murder rate in the US, but is a town that knows
how to party and also where anything goes, or at least thats what I thought until
I got arrested (I'll come back to that). The main part of NO is known as the
French Quarter and consists of lots of little streets with fantatsic Spanish & French
style buildings, the main drag is known as Bourbon Street and it's the place
where anything goes, you can walk down the street with a pint of beer ($1.50)
and every pub has fantastic live bands, playing everything from Rock, Blues & Jazz,
the rest of the streets are full of street performers. Eating in NO is a whole
new experience, the food is mainly Creole & Cajun and is wonderful, eating
in the French Quarter is a must for anyone that goes to NO, and something the
locals are all very proud of. Bourbon St at night is mad, (and gets even worse
during Mardi Gras (people do what they want, including having a bunk up on the
street) above the street there are balconys with people hanging beads from them,
women & men (mainly women) walk along and flash in return for beads, after
a few two many beers we decided it was time to grab some beads and proceded to
pull our jeans down and flash our backsides, the downside being the overweight
cop didn't appreciate us doing this in his direction, and the next thing I knew
I was being cuffed and arrested for Public Lewdness! I got taken to the station
had my rights read and was locked in a cell for 45 mins before being transferred
(shackles around my feet & wrists and in a row with about 10 blokes) city
jail. My phone call was to Jess but bail stood at a hefty $80 and I still had
to report in the next day, I was advised if I kept my mouth shut and was good
I would be out the next day, advice I took. It has to be the most scary night
of my life, locked in a cell with 2 beds, 6 men all either very very drunk, high
or both and cursing all night, I got out safe and sound the next night after
spending about 20 hours locked up, an experience I don't want to repeat in a
hurry! Whilst I was a free man in NO, I went on a swamp tour, but due to the
season all the Gators were in hiding, and my camera battery died as I was about
to take the first Photo so have no photos of it, but it was a fantastic day out.
I left NO pretty quickly following my arrest and headed down to Orlando, the
home of Disney and thats all that is there. Orlando, breaths, lives and sleeps
Disney and the theme park area is just gigantic, Disney also has it's own 'Downtown'
the downside to this is it's expensive (tickets are about $48 for any theme park).
I stayed outside of Orlando in a place known as Kissimmee which is just about
9+miles of Motels, Hotels, tourist shops and resturants, if you want theme parks
than Orlando is the place for anything else forget it. I went to MGM Studios,
which was great, the 3D movies are fantastic, America really knows how to build
a theme park, but I think this was the first time I missed having someone with
me. Whilst there I bumped into a couple of blokes I met in Philly who where leaving
and had a free day pass to the Universal Island of Adventure theme park, so extended
my stay for another day and went there with two Aussies I met the night before,
the park was good but I would have felt very ripped off if I had payed the $48
to get in, as 2 of the rides were shut and you didn't find out until you got
in. From Orlando I made my way to Miami Beach and it's great. It's hip, clean,
safe and very friendly. When I arrived and was wondering around trying to find
the hostel I got chatting to two guys (Frankie & Manu) who where walking
along side me, they took me straight to my hotel and then waited for me before
taking me out for something to eat and a very heavy drinking sesion, nearly all
paid for by them. (Frankies sister is stunning) I'm in what is known as the Art
Deco area, it's flash and full of some of the most beautiful women I have ever
seen, it is known as the playground of the rich and beautiful. Shopping here
is fantastic, forget London, Paris & New Yo rk, Miami Beach has it all. The
weather is fantastic and the beaches are even better. Did I mention the women?
The downside to this is that unless you drive a Ferrari and have an inch thick
wad of $100 bills you have very little luck - even I'm stuck here!
I'm planning to hit the Everglades tomorrow and then on to Key West before heading
back to Miami for my flight to Brazil, which I think is where the real adventure
will start. Anyway I think that draws us to a close, there are tons more stuff
to tell you all about but time is limiting, the sun is beating and my beer glass
is empty. I'll leave you all there for now, and try to give you better updates
more often..... don't hold me to that though.
Hope you are all well.
Over & out
Me
xxxx
OVERDUE UPDATE
Hello all,
Firstly HAPPY NEW YEAR, did you all have a good one and survive without me ok?!?
Before we start, go grab a drink, get comfy this could be a long one. Here we
go, I finally got my backside out of T.O. on the 29th of Dec and took a night
bus to NY, I was told it would be a 12 hour trip, I arrived about 8 hours later
and at 7am in the morning, feeling very tired as I had some big oath sat next
to me on the bus snoring all the way, even with headphones in and on full blast,
Marillion stood no chance! I kept knocking him every so often, he would jump,
grumble, wake up and just stare blankly ahead before saying, "Oh are we
there yet" "No" I reply, to which his response everytime was,
better get some more sleep then hadn't we! Cheeky begger. I arrived at my hotel
(luxury for a few nights!) with little trouble to find out I couldn't check until
after 3pm - what to do? Walk and walk and walk so that's what I did after grabbing
some well needed brekkie. The hotel was about 5mins from the Empire State Building,
10 mins from Time Square (which is fantastic)and about a 20 min walk to Central
Park (I never actually realised how big it is.) To cut things short, I met up
with Jane and her mate Susan later that afternoon and spent the majority of my
time coasting around the Big Apple with them. I manged to see the following:
Chrylser Building, Madison Square Gardens (which wasn't quite what I was expecting),
Ellis Island, Liberty Island, Staten Island, Macys, Central Park, Wall St, the
Rockafeller Centre, Times Square, and Ground Zero, possibly one of the most scary
things I have seen to date, when I first arrived I thought it was smaller than
I imagined until I got closer, it's a huge hole and a lot of damage has been
done to the surrounding buildings, it was amazing to see how much work has been
done in the clean up process and that is still being done to clean the area up.
I also caught a few other bits and bobs. I loved New York, everything about it
rings true and is exactly how it's meant to be, from the steaming drains, yellow
taxis zipping in and out to the overweight policemen sitting in their cars eating
donuts and drinking coffee. We caught an an "off broadway show" called
'Bartenders' a one man show telling the story of 6 Manhatten bartenders, thankfully
we didn't pay full price for the tickets, it was pretty crap! - another womens
decision! Unfortunately I didn't make it up the Empire State, the one day we
were going to do it, we decided against it because it was 'slightly cloudy' -
hindsight is a wonderful thing as the next 2 days it just rained.... hard and
there was 0 visibility. New York is very easy to navigate around, except the
subway which after 5 days still made no sense to me. I left NY on the 3rd (I
think!) and headed for Boston. Boston is a great city, although a lot smaller
than I thought, but the Irish influence is clear and makes for a great atmosphere.
I took myself on the Freedom Trail, a 5mile round trip of the city, which links
16 important colonial & revolutionary sights, including Bunker Hill... 294
steps to the top... hard flipping work! Downtown Boston is nice but again smaller
than I was expecting. Boston was pretty much covered in Snow whilst I was there,
and I got in some sledging on the Common with some local kids, who bet me they
could beat me down the hill for a Pepsi, they won, but then they were about 6
stone lighter. I found both the Cheers bars and had the obligatory pint in both...
oh and a Bloody Mary in the Orignal...not convinced on that what so ever. The
hostel had some free tickets for the Boston Comedy Connection which we all hit
on my last night night, some were very funny, the others on the other hand needed
to go back to the 'Learn to be a Comedian' book. I left Boston on the 7th and
headed towards Philadelphia, which is where I am now. I was told that it was
an 8 hour direct trip, I later found out that I had to change at NY, so when
I arrived at 4:50am and then got told that the bus to Philly didn't leave until
7:15am, I was not in the best of moods! I had major trouble boarding the bus
as the driver who reminded me of a Marine Drill Sargent didn't recognise the
60 day bus pass, and told me that unless I could explain the ticket and how it
worked etc.. (I hand the driver the ticket, he looks at it and I board, nothing
difficult) then I would have to wait until he had checked with security and Customer
Service that the ticket was valid before he would let me board, at 7:15 and little
sleep my temper was running thin! to make matters worse if no one had arrived
by 7:15 when he was due to leave he wasn't going to wait for me. All turned out
good in the end. I finally arrived in Philly at around 9:30 and only just made
it to the Hostel on time as they kick everyone out at 10 am (I arrived at 9:50)
and don't let you back in until 4:30 - and then lock you in at 12:30 and the
door stays locked until 8am - apparently it's safer that way! I spent most of
yesterday walking around and getting a feel for the place. Iwent to see the Liberty
Bell and Independence Hall though. I also went to find the Rocky statue that
was used in Rocky 3, I just wish I knew how far out of town it was before I started
to walk, it took me and hour and 45mins to get there and the same to get back,
and was it worth it...no not really! Philly is also home to the worlds largest
suspension bridge, (1.8 miles) the 'Benjamin Franklin Bridge' but it is closed
to the foot walkers at the moment due to much need renovation. Despite being
warned off Philly by a few people on my little travels so far, I'm glad I came
here, I like it by day, however by dark it's a bit scary, its the home of rap
music and clothes that never seem to fit the person wearing them, but overall
is a nice city. The hostel is also one of the best I have stayed in so far. Anyway
I think that brings me pretty much up to date, whats all your excuses?!? Off
to see the Art Museum now and run (well maybe crawl) up the steps also used in
the Rocky Movies. Hope you are all well Take Care
Iain
xxxx |
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Canadian Chronicles |
23/12/2002 UPDATE
Hello All,
Thanks for all your recent e-mails it's nice to hear from you all. Things here
are good, as most of you all know my hormones took me on a 61 hour round bus
trip across to Winnipeg. (It's sar far that I was 6 hours behind you whilst I
was there) Winnipeg is a strange town, in my opinon not a great deal to do tourist
wise, and seems very much a local town, most people seem not to have left it
and have no intention of, on the up side it had more snow than I have seen anywhere
so far and I had a major snow ball fight :) It supposedly has the world's most
windy street corner, It was a pretty cold corner. The last time I walked through
there snow was coming in horizontally and it ripped your face apart, no kidding
it was pretty windy, but then so was the rest of Winnipeg. I went to the Forks,
(very cool area with a market and gardens, bit like parts of Camden Market in
places. I wasn't there that long, but feel that I got the feel of it! I didn't
see Winnie the Pooh in his garden either, he was a little far away. I met up
with Jo on Saturday morning and went off to the Man & Nature museum, a very
small condensed version of our Natural History - Nice day out though. Dinner
and a few drinks followed with her and some mates, all nice people, but was concerned
that I had travelled so far to meet her and didn't come armed with a blood stained
axe in my back pack! - Winnipeg has a real lack of bars & clubs - there is
no main drag of them and the ones that are there are incredibly spread out. The
night time sights I saw were great though - well worth the trip!
I have now just got back to Toronto until around the 27th then I'm planning to
hit Chicago for a couple of days before heading down to NY for New Year - Well
so far thats the plan, these things are always subject to change!
Take Care All, Missing you all Have a good xmas
Iain
xxxx
P.S. You have got to try Sponge Hockey - Basically you get some boots with huge
sponges on the bottom and play Ice Hockey - I played for 5 mins and ched for
the next 24 hours!
23/12/2002 MERRY XMAS
Hi All,
For some stupid reason this machine won't let me enter any more addresses than
what I have so this will have to be sent out twice. Just a quick message to wish
you all a very merry christmas and a fantastic new year. I'll see the majority
of you in the new year.
Take care & enjoy
Missing you all loads
Iain
Dec 11th I’m still here
Hello All
Apologies for my lack of mail recently, it's been a mad week! Most of you know
the recent news but for you of those that don't I will explain now. After much
conversation Nathan has decided that travelling is not for him and consequently
is returning home on the 17th (this Tuesday). It became clear quite early on
that he was not settled. We have spent the majority of our time discussing this
and his decision has not been an easy one for him by any stretch of the imagination.
Anyone that knows Nathan well will understand his reasons. I respect his decision
and if nothing else I hope I have helped him to make the right choice. I would
hate to think that he would spend the next year being unhappy and not enjoying
what we had set out to do. He is an amazing guy. We travel the world to find
out what we want is at home, he has found this out earlier than most and I am
extremely happy for him.
My original thoughts were to crawl up in a ball and have a fit, but over the
last week my mentality on it all has changed and I am now looking forward to
it more then ever. I have already meet some great people and the thought of
being able to do what I want to do and when I want to do it, without having
to consider anyone else is a wonderful feeling. Obviously I will miss him more
than anything but I know it's for the best.... for the both of us. On a brighter
note, what have we been up to? We moved onto Montreal for a few days, the french
seem to be everywhere, even in the building sense, although it was flipping
cold -27 wind factors - thermals become useless! From there we made our way
to Quebec city, a very small city, but very beautiful, and a very old feel
to it. From there we hit Ottawa, which to date has been the most friendly place
we have been, everyone went out of their way to help us, and a smile from everyone
you met... fantastic atmosphere. We are now back in Toronto for a couple of
days before Nathan leaves, may plan from here is to take a 30 hour bus ride
to Winnipeg to meet up with a young lady I met in Montreal!!
I have lots to tell you all about but obviously have a few e-mails to reply
too, so just wanted to let you all know that I am fine and things are dandy.
I will send a more detailed report later on. Please don't worry about me, I
know it's easy for me to say, but I know I have so many people at home I can
contact at any point I need to. As I have said, I am really excited about the
adventure that stands before me and I am going to leave my mark on the world.
Hope you are all well, missing you loads. Hugs & love to all
Iain
xxxx
NATHAN 29/11 OOOOOOooooo my head
It may not surprise any of you to learn that, soon after sending the last message
when we checked into the Hostel..........we got drunk! We ventured out into
the city and settled in a bar for food where a plateof food and garlic bread
costs $6 (about 3 pounds) and a Guinness cost $7.......... seems a bit bizarre
but didn't stop us indulging. Then did a bit of a pub crawl back to the Hostel
where the lager is $10 for apitcher (4 pints - ish) so i may have to start
drinking lager.......or I could cut down......hmmm?
So yesterday started painfully with a hangover and the fire alarm going.....not
nice.Yes it is cold, very cold. High's are minus 3! Don't want to talk about
the lows. People are very friendly in the hostels and we have a quad dorm which
means that people arrive and leave randomly. There were three of us yesterday
when I went to bed and four when I woke up, which was a bit awkward as the
fourth is a girl called Emma so we all had awkward moment scrabbling for some
trousers to put on to be able to get out of bed...... quite amusing. We have
done a lot of walking and mooching around the city. Just looking for the differences
between the countries. The most difficult thing here is crossing the roads
as sometimes, we have priority and other times, the cars can actually go through
red lights to turn right......tricky! Individual buildings are huge and they
seem to be all over on one side near the CN tower. West of there is much smaller
and has some houses too. It's weird as the houses will be half way down a street
and have small front gardens so they look really out of place. We plan to do
the CN tower tomorrow and then to experience one of the night clubs tomorrow
night. There's a "festival of lights" on Saturday and we hope to
go to Niagara on Sunday. On Monday we plan to leave and go, probably to Montreal
for a few days. Ottawa and Quebec are also on the list before we come back
to Toronto for Christmas. Iain has some family coming here for Christmas so
we are looking forward to meeting them. I hope you are all well and enjoying
life.?
Take care, love from Nathan.
IAIN 29/11 Chilly... you have no idea
Hello peeps,
How are you all? Well I hope. We have now settled in and starting to make our
mark on Toronto. The couple we sat with on the plane it turned out are from
Sandhurst, we didn't realise this until we left the airport and shared a taxi
with them (their hotel was about five mins from our hostel) Toronto is a strange
ole city, lots of new mixed with old and parts of the city look quite run down.
The roads are HUGE and crossing them can be.....strange to say the least, cars
can turn right at red lights etc.... Overall though it's like a typical American/Canadian
city. I like it. Seeing the big yellow school buses made me smile. The hostel
is nice, basic enough but has everything we need, including a very cheap bar
(about a pound aincrediblyredabily cheap (it cost us about 2pound (no pound
signs on this keyboard!) for a meal each) We have met some nice people and
so far everything is going to plan. (including waking up to find a blonde in
the bunk opposite me, nice!!) Not done a great deal to date, we decided to
take it easy and settle in before doing anything more, so have really just
wondered round freezing our bits off (yesterdays high was -3c) still seen no
snow apart from a very feeble attempt today...heres hoping. I was speaking
to a guy called Chris last night who said he was here last new year and queued
for 1.5hrs in -18c to get into a club...two layers of thermals and all the
jumpers i have for that, maybe i'll invest in a hot water bottle to tie under
my t-shirt!) We went to the Eaton centre today (a big underground shopping
centre) quite impressive. We have extended our stay at the hostel until Sunday,
then move off to Ottawa and then onto Montreal before heading back to Toronto
for xmas.
We are visiting Niagara on Sunday and the CN Tower tomorrow.
Take Care, missing you all
Iain |
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