As long as I can bear this keyboard, I am in a very basic internet cafe in Cusco, Peru, and most of the keys are so worn I can't see alot of the letters, I'm going to make a valiant effort to recall our adventures since Santiago (and maybe some flashbacks from before). So it may be a long blog today - hope you don't mind.
A quick aside - if in Buenos Aires visit the "Casa de Empanadas" on Hipolyte Yrigoyen - it's only open during the day, but does every variety of empanada you could hope for and you order in quantity!
So, we left a slightly damp Santiago and headed down to the bus station to hop on the bus to Arica on the Chile-Peru border. The bus trip itself was fairly uneventful, 30 hours of strange 'in-flight' food (cold chicken & rice, bread rolls, biscuits, tepid beef with rice etc) videos, mainly in Spanish, but it's surprising how little of the dialogue you actually have to understand when you are watching most of them, horrible music (eg the Grease soundtrack) and dodgy heavy metal blokes taking our photos with their phone cameras - doubtless they wanted to send my death stare to their pals. Some of the videos were of Chilean comedy, no doubt very amusing, but if it was anything like the sketch of the man who had to take all his clothes off to get a picture on his new tv, maybe it wasn´t. Anyway, we arrived in Arica at about 2pm and headed off to the hostel we had emailed to reserve a room. This was pleasant enough little place run by a French-Chilean couple quite near the centre of town, who cheerfully told us that they had no rooms available because there was a conference on. In fact there were no rooms available anywhere in Arica. I guess we must have looked a little distraught because they took pity on us and let us stay in one of their 'spare' rooms. We celebrated by going out and scoffing ice-cream, pizza, beer & pisco sours (local brew combined with lemon juice & sugar), suffice to say we both were a little merry - on our return to the hotel Jo cheerfully announced her pisco consumption to the hoteliers and they were most concerned for her welfare the next morning!
We left Arica and headed across the border to Tacna, having been sold a ticket that would take us to Arequipa and then onto Cusco, and got on yet another bus. This time we had movies, snacks & on bus bingo (?!?!). Of course we arrived in Arequipa a little late, 2 hours over schedule, but that left us 30 minutes before our bus to Cusco. Or so we thought...Turns out we, along with 12 other passengers, had been told there was no bus to Cusco because the road was closed, or that was the story the man from the bus company was sticking to. After much argument he gave us all our money back and we booked ourselves on a different bus that was leaving for Cusco at 8.45am the next morning, which would get us there in time for the Inca festival of Inti Raymi. This meant we all spent the night in the hostel that was built into the bus station. I´ll keep it brief - no hot water, station announcements starting at 6am, and windows that looked over the ticket desks...and to make it worse they played 'Lady in Red´twice in a row - once in English & then in Spanish! Thanks.
But we made it onto the Cusco bus. Jo & I had seats that seemed to have some kind of suspension system that involved them being not quite attached to the floor, not that anyone else had. We then discovered that the reason our previous bus had been cancelled was because the main road to Cusco had been blocked (literally, with big rocks) by local strikers, so we took the 'other' road. This consisted of 8 hours on a dirt road full of potholes, and was possibly one of the most bone-shaking experiences of my life. Let´s hope it works like one of those slendertone machines eh? We were also sitting behind a Peruvian American family whose kids didn´t stop whining the whole way, had a dad who insisted on waving at everyone we went past (they generally stared at him like he was a bit simple), and, when he took off his baseball cap, gave us a close up of his scabby sunburnt baldy head. And I developed a cracker of a headache thanks to the altitude, constant jiggling and diesel fumes. At least I didn´t barf like one of our fellow strandees, Sven, but that may have been caused by him sitting next to one of the annoying kids. We saw him this morning and he seems alot better. Oh and the on board loo turned into something like "The Perfect Storm" on the bumpy road, providing a serious risk of a backwash bidet if you were fool enough to use it. It really was a test of the thigh muscles!
Finally reached Cusco at 9pm last night, found our hostel (who have accidentally given us a big room with double bed as they thought I was going to be a bloke - don't even bother with the obvious jokes), had some coca tea & crashed out. This morning it was up & at 'em for Inti Raymi, a huge festival of dancers etc pretending to be Incas, which starts in the main square & then heads up to the nearby Inca ruins (apparently pronounced "sexywoman", I kid you not) where they do much of the same except they also light some fires and sacrifice a llama (guess what they´ll be having for tea tonight? BBq´d llama anyone?). The place was absolutely heaving and we stood on some stone steps for free rather than cough up the US$120 they wanted for a crappy plastic seat. This also meant we got to leave when we´d had enough of their llama frolicking and head back into town for tea & a piece of lemon pie (which tasted strangely of seafood). So the rest of tonight will be spent having a decent meal, dealing with our pink sunburnt faces and drinking more coca tea to get rid of the headaches.
But I´d still rather be here than at work! Ho ho ho!
Hope you are all okay, and you in the UK are enjoying the sunny weather. Thank you for all the emails!
S & J
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Monday, June 20, 2005
Feliz Dia del Papa
So today we leave Santiago having spent father's day wandering the street markets.
Having been told not to expect much from Santiago, I have been pleasantly surprised. The people seem friendly (except for the man from LAN at the airport) and we've had a pretty good time! The weather was good yesterday so that helped too.
It's been one of those classics where your accomodation is so rough that you go out and about just to not be in your room (which smells of a combination of damp, bleach, stinky feet and the various things we've been trying to cover the smell with). Furnished, in this case, means that there is a bed in the room and in spite of booking ahead, they still didn't seem to be expecting us so we appear to have received the worst mattress in the world. In fact it might have been better on the floor but for the damp - no roll together.
The shower is a work of patience, you have to turn the hot tap approximately half way and leave it to run for 5-10 minutes for the "24 hr hot water" to appear. The art of mixing is best left to aspiring DJ's so my shower consisted of either boiling hot or freezing cold alternately every 3-4 minutes. Apparently you do get used to it... I'd just rather smell, at least it covers the bedroom stench! One of the hostel workers kindly informs me that ths is his preferred method - eeewwwww yuk!
Father's day certainly seems to be a treat here. There were Oohmpah bands (the local police force) and all variety of street entertainers including a family of one man drummers, you knoiw the ones where they flick their legs and it crashes the cymbals, with a big drum on their backs. To add to their show, they have a habit of spinning furiously. The youngest member (all of about 5 yrs) put on the best show however when he did a strip tease in front of a teenage girl. You could see the jealously in his older brothers' faces!
The museums were pretty cool too. We visited 2: the Pre-Colombian art which has a great gold exhibition and one we stumbled across whilst walking home, combined Art and Archaeology.
Soo we're off to Arica now, 30 hours by bus, where we'll spend the night and head over the border into Peru on the 22nd for another 20 hours to Cusco... At least it's warm in Arica eh?
Ciao!
J & S XXX
Having been told not to expect much from Santiago, I have been pleasantly surprised. The people seem friendly (except for the man from LAN at the airport) and we've had a pretty good time! The weather was good yesterday so that helped too.
It's been one of those classics where your accomodation is so rough that you go out and about just to not be in your room (which smells of a combination of damp, bleach, stinky feet and the various things we've been trying to cover the smell with). Furnished, in this case, means that there is a bed in the room and in spite of booking ahead, they still didn't seem to be expecting us so we appear to have received the worst mattress in the world. In fact it might have been better on the floor but for the damp - no roll together.
The shower is a work of patience, you have to turn the hot tap approximately half way and leave it to run for 5-10 minutes for the "24 hr hot water" to appear. The art of mixing is best left to aspiring DJ's so my shower consisted of either boiling hot or freezing cold alternately every 3-4 minutes. Apparently you do get used to it... I'd just rather smell, at least it covers the bedroom stench! One of the hostel workers kindly informs me that ths is his preferred method - eeewwwww yuk!
Father's day certainly seems to be a treat here. There were Oohmpah bands (the local police force) and all variety of street entertainers including a family of one man drummers, you knoiw the ones where they flick their legs and it crashes the cymbals, with a big drum on their backs. To add to their show, they have a habit of spinning furiously. The youngest member (all of about 5 yrs) put on the best show however when he did a strip tease in front of a teenage girl. You could see the jealously in his older brothers' faces!
The museums were pretty cool too. We visited 2: the Pre-Colombian art which has a great gold exhibition and one we stumbled across whilst walking home, combined Art and Archaeology.
Soo we're off to Arica now, 30 hours by bus, where we'll spend the night and head over the border into Peru on the 22nd for another 20 hours to Cusco... At least it's warm in Arica eh?
Ciao!
J & S XXX
Sunday, June 19, 2005
A slight change of plan
Just a quick update as I think we will be incommunicado for the next few days...how very mysterious!
We attempted to cut our flight to La Paz (via Arica) short by asking the airline if we could simply get off in Arica instead of carrying on to La Paz. Yes, of course you can, but it'll cost you US$75 each. Thanks. Thanks alot. So, after some rather frantic investigation we have discovered that it will be cheaper for us to catch a bus to Arica, stay a night there, and then catch another bus to Cusco. So LanChile can shove their flight.
Should be in Cusco on the 23rd.
Santiago is small and not very exciting, and our hostel is a bit basic (no heating and our room smells of a heady combination of disinfectant & mould), but the museum is free today and I've spotted a funky looking French restaurant called 'Les Assassins', so that's that sorted. Off for breakfast now.
love
S & J
We attempted to cut our flight to La Paz (via Arica) short by asking the airline if we could simply get off in Arica instead of carrying on to La Paz. Yes, of course you can, but it'll cost you US$75 each. Thanks. Thanks alot. So, after some rather frantic investigation we have discovered that it will be cheaper for us to catch a bus to Arica, stay a night there, and then catch another bus to Cusco. So LanChile can shove their flight.
Should be in Cusco on the 23rd.
Santiago is small and not very exciting, and our hostel is a bit basic (no heating and our room smells of a heady combination of disinfectant & mould), but the museum is free today and I've spotted a funky looking French restaurant called 'Les Assassins', so that's that sorted. Off for breakfast now.
love
S & J
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Anyone got a spare artery?
I wrote a witty and concise entry for this blog this morning, but under pressure to get off the internet so one of the other guests could use it I managed to delete it. So, if this entry is shoddy, you'll know it's because the muse has left me. Then again it might have improved over the course of the day.
A couple of quick asides -
1. We did not book a private room on the bus to Buenos Aires, we had a private room booked when we got here. And very lovely it is too, I can heartily recommend the Portal del Sur hotel-hostel if you are ever visiting Buenos Aires.
2. In my previous post I meant to say "the water in the toilet going the wrong way round", as it does in the southern hemisphere.
So... we packed up our rucksacks and headed to the bus station in Foz do Iguacu, some of our belongings still distinctly damp, and bought ourselves a couple of $40 tickets to Buenos Aires. Little did we know that this got us onto the luxury bus. If you ever head this way I would recommend these buses - huge business class size fully reclining seats, 3 free movies, dinner with a glass of champagne, after dinner brandy and breakfast! The only drawback was that breakfast consisted of incredibly sweet biscuits and coffee that tasted of tar tempered with liquorice (Jo discreetly flushed ours down the sink). I also managed to almost lose my passport in the loo, luckily Jo found it and returned it to me safe and sound. Anyway, we arrived in BA at 7am and hopped in a taxi to our hotel, which turns out to be a very tastefully converted old colonial house (marble staircase, beautiful art deco ironwork etc), and our room which is up in the attic & positively luxurious compared to our last couple of hostels, where we promptly fell asleep for 3 hours.
Our exploration of Buenos Aires so far has been slightly limited thanks to the very wintery weather - horizontal driving rain, a bit like November in Amsterdam or Liverpool - but, of course I have managed to eat vast amounts. Argentina, being known for its steak & thanks to a very healthy exchange rate between the peso & the US dollar, is a very cheap place to eat. Last night Jo & I took advantage of a 39 peso set meal for two offer (approximately US$15) that provided us with water, wine, empanadas (sort of cornish pasty thing), bread, salad, 2 steaks, 2 hunks of chicken, black pudding, chorizo, sweetbread (strangely a bit like liver), tripe (ugh...and chewy), chips & dessert. We didn't manage dessert. And everything is seasoned with salt, heavily. So, if any of you do have any spare arteries I think I may need one. Today we went for something vegetarian instead (and a couple of bottles of wine that I picked up from the local supermarket). Another alternative are the local 'Aphrodisiac Restaurants' where they serve suggestively named meals in an atmosphere of red lighting, soft music, erotic sculpture and live recitals of saucy poetry - I am not making this up, I found it in a guide book (admittedly the same guide book that lists swingers clubs!?!?) - I can't imagine anything less appetising. In fact it's making me a little queasy now...
Hopefully over the next couple of days the weather will improve and we'll get out a bit more. I particularly want to visit the Evita Museum, which sounds immenely camp, and the cemetery at Recoleta. Jo is taking some Spanish lessons, so with luck I can let her do all the hard stuff on the talking front. Oh, and some tango of course.
Going to skeddadle now and let someone else use the internet. love to one and all.
S
A couple of quick asides -
1. We did not book a private room on the bus to Buenos Aires, we had a private room booked when we got here. And very lovely it is too, I can heartily recommend the Portal del Sur hotel-hostel if you are ever visiting Buenos Aires.
2. In my previous post I meant to say "the water in the toilet going the wrong way round", as it does in the southern hemisphere.
So... we packed up our rucksacks and headed to the bus station in Foz do Iguacu, some of our belongings still distinctly damp, and bought ourselves a couple of $40 tickets to Buenos Aires. Little did we know that this got us onto the luxury bus. If you ever head this way I would recommend these buses - huge business class size fully reclining seats, 3 free movies, dinner with a glass of champagne, after dinner brandy and breakfast! The only drawback was that breakfast consisted of incredibly sweet biscuits and coffee that tasted of tar tempered with liquorice (Jo discreetly flushed ours down the sink). I also managed to almost lose my passport in the loo, luckily Jo found it and returned it to me safe and sound. Anyway, we arrived in BA at 7am and hopped in a taxi to our hotel, which turns out to be a very tastefully converted old colonial house (marble staircase, beautiful art deco ironwork etc), and our room which is up in the attic & positively luxurious compared to our last couple of hostels, where we promptly fell asleep for 3 hours.
Our exploration of Buenos Aires so far has been slightly limited thanks to the very wintery weather - horizontal driving rain, a bit like November in Amsterdam or Liverpool - but, of course I have managed to eat vast amounts. Argentina, being known for its steak & thanks to a very healthy exchange rate between the peso & the US dollar, is a very cheap place to eat. Last night Jo & I took advantage of a 39 peso set meal for two offer (approximately US$15) that provided us with water, wine, empanadas (sort of cornish pasty thing), bread, salad, 2 steaks, 2 hunks of chicken, black pudding, chorizo, sweetbread (strangely a bit like liver), tripe (ugh...and chewy), chips & dessert. We didn't manage dessert. And everything is seasoned with salt, heavily. So, if any of you do have any spare arteries I think I may need one. Today we went for something vegetarian instead (and a couple of bottles of wine that I picked up from the local supermarket). Another alternative are the local 'Aphrodisiac Restaurants' where they serve suggestively named meals in an atmosphere of red lighting, soft music, erotic sculpture and live recitals of saucy poetry - I am not making this up, I found it in a guide book (admittedly the same guide book that lists swingers clubs!?!?) - I can't imagine anything less appetising. In fact it's making me a little queasy now...
Hopefully over the next couple of days the weather will improve and we'll get out a bit more. I particularly want to visit the Evita Museum, which sounds immenely camp, and the cemetery at Recoleta. Jo is taking some Spanish lessons, so with luck I can let her do all the hard stuff on the talking front. Oh, and some tango of course.
Going to skeddadle now and let someone else use the internet. love to one and all.
S
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Today we have been mostly wearing waterproof ponchos
Having escaped the smog and sheer sweatiness of Rio, Jo & I headed south to Foz do Iguaçu and the UNESCO protected waterfalls and national park. We passed a surprisingly comfortable 24 hour bus trip to get here (despite various seat changes & my nifty trick of dropping almost all our cash and our credit cards down the side of my seat - much wide eyed panic and swearing ensued until it was found and recovered, plus I did hear someone mutter something about "tourists"). But we made it to the youth hostel just outside town, which Jo dislikes and I must say it does smell slightly of damp, dropped off our stuff and headed off to the Brazilian side of the waterfalls for a spot of sightseeing.
By gum, they are impressive! A definite recommendation to anyone heading out this way. Foolishly I wore my glasses, but now we have many amusing photos of me squinting through very foggy lenses, alongside a few of racoons and various critters. Back at the hostel I sampled the local brew and we partook of the cheapo cheapo buffet (I managed to drop some chips in the gravy, but no one seemed to care) and took ourselves away to bed. Alas, we are having to endure our only stint of dormitory accommodation and I can confirm that I am definitely getting too old for this. Listening to someone else breathe who isn´t your significant other is just weird. But it has its advantages in the form of Josephine, our dutch room mate, who has travelled fairly extensively and is a font of information.
So, this morning, despite the thunderstorm, we headed off to the Argentinian side of the waterfalls (they are on the border of Paraguay, Brazil & Argentina), stopping off to buy waterproff raincapes on the way. Fabulous! You can spend the whole day getting seriously up close & personal with huge waterfalls. Great stuff. We´d also booked onto the 40 minute boat trip, but had been warned that it was soggy, so we put our waterproofs to the test & put our shoes in plastic bags and set off. Some unsuspecting folk seemed to be completely unaware that the joy of this boat trip is that they actually go into the waterfalls. Basically it has a similar effect as being hosed down by the fire brigade - I confess I laughed maniacally throughout the whole thing, but I can now testify to the water repellent abilities of Hema´s waterproof trousers! Delightful though the waterfalls are, after 6 hours in the pouring rain perhaps next time we´ll visit during summer.
Oh yeah, I also water going the round way round in the loo for the first time. Jo wasn´t quite as excited by this as me - strange girl.
Tomorrow it´s the bus to Buenos Aires - only 17 hours, easy!
keep on truckin´
S
By gum, they are impressive! A definite recommendation to anyone heading out this way. Foolishly I wore my glasses, but now we have many amusing photos of me squinting through very foggy lenses, alongside a few of racoons and various critters. Back at the hostel I sampled the local brew and we partook of the cheapo cheapo buffet (I managed to drop some chips in the gravy, but no one seemed to care) and took ourselves away to bed. Alas, we are having to endure our only stint of dormitory accommodation and I can confirm that I am definitely getting too old for this. Listening to someone else breathe who isn´t your significant other is just weird. But it has its advantages in the form of Josephine, our dutch room mate, who has travelled fairly extensively and is a font of information.
So, this morning, despite the thunderstorm, we headed off to the Argentinian side of the waterfalls (they are on the border of Paraguay, Brazil & Argentina), stopping off to buy waterproff raincapes on the way. Fabulous! You can spend the whole day getting seriously up close & personal with huge waterfalls. Great stuff. We´d also booked onto the 40 minute boat trip, but had been warned that it was soggy, so we put our waterproofs to the test & put our shoes in plastic bags and set off. Some unsuspecting folk seemed to be completely unaware that the joy of this boat trip is that they actually go into the waterfalls. Basically it has a similar effect as being hosed down by the fire brigade - I confess I laughed maniacally throughout the whole thing, but I can now testify to the water repellent abilities of Hema´s waterproof trousers! Delightful though the waterfalls are, after 6 hours in the pouring rain perhaps next time we´ll visit during summer.
Oh yeah, I also water going the round way round in the loo for the first time. Jo wasn´t quite as excited by this as me - strange girl.
Tomorrow it´s the bus to Buenos Aires - only 17 hours, easy!
keep on truckin´
S
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Jesus Christ...
(The title is for you Sacha - an excuse to sing another of your favourite songs...)
So yesterday (Wednesday) after breakfast, and an interesting struggle finding the right bus, we were adopted by a nice old dear ( who spoke no English but gestured rather well) who made sure we go to the tram for Corcovado. Once at the top, we stared at the big stone statue of Christ the redeemer. To be perfectly honest I was more interested in the vast range of butterflies I saw on the way up, and the views from the top were spectacular!
In the afternoon we headed back down to the hostel for a brief rest and then went to a restaurant recommended in the "On a Shoestring" guide as splashing out. It was a nice evening stroll from Copacabana down to Leme to find the place and we were pretty close to giving up when we found it. Foolishly we didn´t look at a menu, just went in, ordered a couple of caiprihinas and got stuck in to the seafood buffet. There was a vast selection and the food was great! They even bring fresh stuff from the griddle around for you to choose from - the snapper was yum!
Unfortunately when the bill came, we realised that we didn´t have enough cash and the Visa card was in the locker back in the hostel... oops. Fortunately we had enough to cover the food and drink, just not the tip, so we went back this morning to settle up the last of it. What a way to spend two days budget though - would recommend it! When we got back to the hostel, the inhabitants were enjoying watching a rousing game of Brasilian Football. Now there´s a surprise!
Today we got up and headed for the beach again... Started in Leme, then at 12:30 having paid our tip tot eh restaurant, we walked the length of the beach (Leme and Copacabana) down to Ipanema where we spent a couple of additional hours in the sun before heading to the Supermarket and back to the hostel to Shower.
Now before anyone starts to worry, yes we have seen the news and we´re keeping a close eye on the situation in Bolivia. If needs be we´ll change our flights from Argentina and avoid it like the plague!
Hope all is well with you lot!
Keep cool...
Jo and Sarah XX
So yesterday (Wednesday) after breakfast, and an interesting struggle finding the right bus, we were adopted by a nice old dear ( who spoke no English but gestured rather well) who made sure we go to the tram for Corcovado. Once at the top, we stared at the big stone statue of Christ the redeemer. To be perfectly honest I was more interested in the vast range of butterflies I saw on the way up, and the views from the top were spectacular!
In the afternoon we headed back down to the hostel for a brief rest and then went to a restaurant recommended in the "On a Shoestring" guide as splashing out. It was a nice evening stroll from Copacabana down to Leme to find the place and we were pretty close to giving up when we found it. Foolishly we didn´t look at a menu, just went in, ordered a couple of caiprihinas and got stuck in to the seafood buffet. There was a vast selection and the food was great! They even bring fresh stuff from the griddle around for you to choose from - the snapper was yum!
Unfortunately when the bill came, we realised that we didn´t have enough cash and the Visa card was in the locker back in the hostel... oops. Fortunately we had enough to cover the food and drink, just not the tip, so we went back this morning to settle up the last of it. What a way to spend two days budget though - would recommend it! When we got back to the hostel, the inhabitants were enjoying watching a rousing game of Brasilian Football. Now there´s a surprise!
Today we got up and headed for the beach again... Started in Leme, then at 12:30 having paid our tip tot eh restaurant, we walked the length of the beach (Leme and Copacabana) down to Ipanema where we spent a couple of additional hours in the sun before heading to the Supermarket and back to the hostel to Shower.
Now before anyone starts to worry, yes we have seen the news and we´re keeping a close eye on the situation in Bolivia. If needs be we´ll change our flights from Argentina and avoid it like the plague!
Hope all is well with you lot!
Keep cool...
Jo and Sarah XX
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Her name was Lola...
Greetings from Rio! Well, as you can tell from the name of this post I have lost the competition to avoid using dodgy Rio-related lyrics and my penance is to buy dinner tomorrow (not much of a punishment seeing as we are paying for this trip from our joint account).
So, as the song goes, we spent today at Copacabana beach. And very lovely it was too. Jo & I were only outdone in our pastiness by a few old blokes, but who cares? Its not like anyone here knows us. Contrary to the myth of the Brazilian body beautiful, the beach was full of all shapes, ages & sizes and the only constant was that everyone was ludicrously tanned. It seems the local approach to sunscreen is to slap on some coconut oil and take the stance of "skin cancer? never heard of it mate!". We also got into the local swing by buying some local flipflops (known as "Havaianas" in these parts) which come in a mind-boggling array of colours and styles. I am now the proud owner of some "trekkers" and a pair of "flash", whilst Jo owns a pair each of "style" and "slick". She was also eyeing some with an Amazon theme, but they were quite pricy at $5 a pair.
But what of our travels so far? The UK seems miles away and it is quite odd that we´ve only been here 24 hours. We managed to find the bus that would take us to the hostel straight away, but failed miserably to get off at the right place. However, this kind of worked in our favour as we got to do the whole tour of Rio before the driver kindly brought us back and made sure we got off. The hostel seems nice and friendly enough, so we dropped of our stuff and did a little exploring. We are right in front of the big statue of Christ on the hill, across the main road from the beach in an area called Botafogo. It seems okay, not quite as swanky as Copacabana or Ipanema, but okay for us (aside from the noisy Canadians, but they got told off by the owner for waking her up at 4am - ho ho ho - and I am famous for my ability to sleep through almost anything). I have already found a restaurant that I want to check out tomorrow night, it´s called Mariu´s and apparently has the most amazing seafood buffet at $16 for all you can eat. Hooray! Tonight though it is the backpacker special of pasta & tomato sauce (we did have quite a big lunch) with fruit for dessert. Lovely.
Signing off for now so I can check my emails etc.
So, as the song goes, we spent today at Copacabana beach. And very lovely it was too. Jo & I were only outdone in our pastiness by a few old blokes, but who cares? Its not like anyone here knows us. Contrary to the myth of the Brazilian body beautiful, the beach was full of all shapes, ages & sizes and the only constant was that everyone was ludicrously tanned. It seems the local approach to sunscreen is to slap on some coconut oil and take the stance of "skin cancer? never heard of it mate!". We also got into the local swing by buying some local flipflops (known as "Havaianas" in these parts) which come in a mind-boggling array of colours and styles. I am now the proud owner of some "trekkers" and a pair of "flash", whilst Jo owns a pair each of "style" and "slick". She was also eyeing some with an Amazon theme, but they were quite pricy at $5 a pair.
But what of our travels so far? The UK seems miles away and it is quite odd that we´ve only been here 24 hours. We managed to find the bus that would take us to the hostel straight away, but failed miserably to get off at the right place. However, this kind of worked in our favour as we got to do the whole tour of Rio before the driver kindly brought us back and made sure we got off. The hostel seems nice and friendly enough, so we dropped of our stuff and did a little exploring. We are right in front of the big statue of Christ on the hill, across the main road from the beach in an area called Botafogo. It seems okay, not quite as swanky as Copacabana or Ipanema, but okay for us (aside from the noisy Canadians, but they got told off by the owner for waking her up at 4am - ho ho ho - and I am famous for my ability to sleep through almost anything). I have already found a restaurant that I want to check out tomorrow night, it´s called Mariu´s and apparently has the most amazing seafood buffet at $16 for all you can eat. Hooray! Tonight though it is the backpacker special of pasta & tomato sauce (we did have quite a big lunch) with fruit for dessert. Lovely.
Signing off for now so I can check my emails etc.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
And they're off!
Ho ho ho, only 3 hours to go until we head off to the airport and check in for our first flight! Jo & I have ceremoniously eaten a large plate of sausages, bacon & scrambled eggs and I shall be drinking huge quantities of tea in readiness of two months without either decent bangers or tea. I'm sure my determination to consume as many local specialities as I can will ensure that my burgeoning waistline will remain in place despite the plan to explore all our destinations on foot. Well, you never know I may return to the levels of fitness I managed on my last grand tour of the USA, but that was when I was 18 and significantly skint.
So, we've spent the last week in a frenzy of socialising - it was really great to see everyone and has made me realise I'll have to try very hard to make friends as good as you guys in NZ. Of course everyone is expected to visit as soon as they can afford to, and Jo & I will try to be back next February for Ali & Sini's wedding (work commitments etc allowing). Although I am assuming I'll see everyone again over the next few years, it was incredibly hard saying goodbye to some of the older family members - particularly Auntie Marj - as there's always the morbid thought that they may not be around for many more years, but then I guess it would be slightly strange to stay in the UK until everyone had popped their clogs. However, on the more cheery side I have been given a wad of cash for my birthday, which I intend to spend on a slap up feed, and perhaps some new pyjamas (cleverly I decided that I could just make do with a sarong, but I am having second thoughts). I may also use some of it in Heathrow duty free etc, after I have doused myself in Chanel No.5 just to irritate the perfumery ladies, and buy some Body Shop products at reasonable prices, along with a book or two to keep me amused.
Hopefully we'll be able to post fairly regularly, and I'll try not to be too melodramatic and put the wind up people, although I fully intend to wring as much drama out of the Inca Trail as possible.
Gotta shoot now 'cos we need to return Sacha's front door key. See you in Rio!!!!
So, we've spent the last week in a frenzy of socialising - it was really great to see everyone and has made me realise I'll have to try very hard to make friends as good as you guys in NZ. Of course everyone is expected to visit as soon as they can afford to, and Jo & I will try to be back next February for Ali & Sini's wedding (work commitments etc allowing). Although I am assuming I'll see everyone again over the next few years, it was incredibly hard saying goodbye to some of the older family members - particularly Auntie Marj - as there's always the morbid thought that they may not be around for many more years, but then I guess it would be slightly strange to stay in the UK until everyone had popped their clogs. However, on the more cheery side I have been given a wad of cash for my birthday, which I intend to spend on a slap up feed, and perhaps some new pyjamas (cleverly I decided that I could just make do with a sarong, but I am having second thoughts). I may also use some of it in Heathrow duty free etc, after I have doused myself in Chanel No.5 just to irritate the perfumery ladies, and buy some Body Shop products at reasonable prices, along with a book or two to keep me amused.
Hopefully we'll be able to post fairly regularly, and I'll try not to be too melodramatic and put the wind up people, although I fully intend to wring as much drama out of the Inca Trail as possible.
Gotta shoot now 'cos we need to return Sacha's front door key. See you in Rio!!!!
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
I was going to get all clever...
And post some photos on here showing evidence of the debauchery that took place at our leaving BBQ, but considering the hassle we've had with pc's lately we decided that it was best not to risk trashing my mum's new laptop the day after she bought it, so you'll just have to wait until we arrive in NZ and we'll email some copies across. Of course you'll all be wanting to use these images as screensavers, wallpaper etc, and there are a few beauties that Vogue will be wanting to publish. I wonder if it's too late for a modelling career?
Apologies in abundance to anyone who I haven't been in touch with this week, and those who have had plans changed on them at the last minute, but Jo & I are both starting to feel emigration fatigue. The combination of sorting out our travel plans, packing everything, moving, catching up with as many people as possible, sleeping in a strange place (and being leapt upon by small dogs every morning) etc etc is a bit much when you get to my time of life. After all I am going to be 35 in a few weeks time, and the grey is starting to show through (as well as the paunch). Jo sensibly has already started the hardcore trashy novel reading that is a feature of any trip we take, and has got off to a roaring start with "The Da Vinci Code". At some point I will sneak a copy of "The Master & Margarita" on her because everyone should read that bok at least once.
In a continuation of our unadventurous penchant for booking everything ahead of our arrival, we have now got all our accommodation covered, and being a bit of an old codger now I have of course lobbied heavily for hotels in areas that are quite trendy but not too noisy. And all have comfy beds. Should be great! We shall mooch aimlessly around a variety of cities wearing our groovy Rio flip flops, checking out bars and restaurants that look as if they have reasonable seating and where you can hear yourself think (and are within staggering distance of our hotel). All this hard work should compensate for the occassional overnight bus trip, and will be greatly rewarded when we arrive in Portland and will be joined in our mooching by Patti (we might even go camping - how outdoorsy am I?). We've even managed to find a very retro sounding hotel in LA that is right behind the legendary Chinese Theatre! But will retro mean scraggy and old? I hope not.
Oh what fun! I promise I will try to update the blog and email when I get a chance, but I am guessing that some of our more exotic destinations may have rather dubious internet connections. To make up for it I'll blurble on at you for the next few days until you beg me to stop.
Keep on truckin!
Apologies in abundance to anyone who I haven't been in touch with this week, and those who have had plans changed on them at the last minute, but Jo & I are both starting to feel emigration fatigue. The combination of sorting out our travel plans, packing everything, moving, catching up with as many people as possible, sleeping in a strange place (and being leapt upon by small dogs every morning) etc etc is a bit much when you get to my time of life. After all I am going to be 35 in a few weeks time, and the grey is starting to show through (as well as the paunch). Jo sensibly has already started the hardcore trashy novel reading that is a feature of any trip we take, and has got off to a roaring start with "The Da Vinci Code". At some point I will sneak a copy of "The Master & Margarita" on her because everyone should read that bok at least once.
In a continuation of our unadventurous penchant for booking everything ahead of our arrival, we have now got all our accommodation covered, and being a bit of an old codger now I have of course lobbied heavily for hotels in areas that are quite trendy but not too noisy. And all have comfy beds. Should be great! We shall mooch aimlessly around a variety of cities wearing our groovy Rio flip flops, checking out bars and restaurants that look as if they have reasonable seating and where you can hear yourself think (and are within staggering distance of our hotel). All this hard work should compensate for the occassional overnight bus trip, and will be greatly rewarded when we arrive in Portland and will be joined in our mooching by Patti (we might even go camping - how outdoorsy am I?). We've even managed to find a very retro sounding hotel in LA that is right behind the legendary Chinese Theatre! But will retro mean scraggy and old? I hope not.
Oh what fun! I promise I will try to update the blog and email when I get a chance, but I am guessing that some of our more exotic destinations may have rather dubious internet connections. To make up for it I'll blurble on at you for the next few days until you beg me to stop.
Keep on truckin!
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