So two more sleeps then Im leaving this amazing continent on a jet plane to head back home. I cant believe the 3 months is up. Wow. A month ago I was freaking out at the idea of going back to Sydney, and facing reality. Travelling is the most self indulgent form of living. You do what you want, when you want (except when on a tour, then you just switch off the brain and be told what to do).
But now Im a little more prepared and excited to be coming home. Ch7 has freelance shifts for me in January, which will help boost the bank balance and give me time to find a permanent job.
Spending my last week in Buenos Aires has been good too. Plenty of time to get to know the city and relax, but also long enough that by the end of the week im thinking, ok, time for something new.
So here is a re-cap of my time here:
Highlights (in no particular order ... more chronological than anything)
Meeting Paul and Rena in Peru. Two awesome people who made me laugh 2 weeks straight.
Machu Picchu. Stunning.
Bolivian Salt Flats. Felt like I was on another planet.
The Pantanal wetlands in Brazil. Out of my comfort zone, but for my own good.
Snorkelling down a Bonito river. Crystal clear shallow waters.
Ilha Grande. Gorgeous island.
Jericoacoara. Remote Brazilian sandy street beach town. Favourite place.
Arrail DAjuda. Another excellent Brazilian beach town.
Rio with Mark. Great weather.
Buenos Aires. Awesome city to lose yourself walking around. And great nightlife and food.
Our Patagonia tour group.
Patagonia. Stunning scenery and great weather.
Lowlights, or things I cant wait to see the end of:
White bread. Its served every day for breakfast, no matter which country. Uggghhhhhh
Throwing toilet paper in the bin next to the toilet. Yucky. Someone remind me to stop doing this when I get home.
Buying water. Although I stopped doing that in Argentina, where the tap water is fine.
Actually thats about all I wont miss about South America.
The hardest part of travelling for me is saying goodbye to all the awesome people you meet along the way that you spend an hour, or a day or 2 weeks travelling with. But I guess its better to have met them than to have never met them at all.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The one where Lynne fends off prostitutes
Thought that headline might get your attention ... more on the prostitutes of Buenos Aires in a minute. (god im still writing like it´s a tv news script!!!)
If the last blog was all about trekking and mountain scenery, this one is all about the Argentian nightlife. After Puerto Natales we got a bus to Punta Arenas, in very southern Chile. Its a crap town, as Mark said .. i dont have good vibes about this place. He was right. Its the kind of place you stop when you need to travel long distances. We stayed in a b and b called Dinkas House, run by a crazy Croatian woman who has photos of herself all over the walls.
There were two gems in the town though. The restaurant we had dinner in was lovely, with great ambience and service. Two common themes in Argentina. And we found a bar with a jukebox so spent the night playing daggy songs.
The next day was a full day to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Its way below Tasmania and New Zealand. Its back in Argentina, so we had another border crossing.
We slept most of the 11 hour trip, because the tour had been pretty full on.
Ushuaia is a lovely town, and wasnt that cold. We were so blessed with the weather. We went on a boat on the Beagle Channel, seeing seals and birds.
It was Marks last night on the tour because he flew home a day early, so we went to an Irish pub (is there a town in the world without one???) then to a karoke bar. Only Martin the tour leader sang.
A little hungover the next day, and with minimal sleep, 6 of us went for our last hike, but it was an easy coastal 3 hour walk.
It was back to Buenos Aires the next morning. Our final night of the tour saw most of the group looking sick or tired. Only me and Amy from England and Martin showed any kind of stamina.
We went to a little bar in Palermo at midnight, and waited for 3 hours until anyone else turned up! Man they party late in this city. But when it got crowded it was really fun. Like being in an intimate house party.
I was sad to see the tour end. It was a great group. The next day I checked into the Milhouse hostel. Its a party hostel but I have my own gorgeous private room. One of the best Ive stayed in. And the rooms are away from the noisy bar area.
Its easy to meet people. I made friends with an Irish girl called Clare whod been living in Coogee. The hostel has a party on Monday night, where the common room eating area is transformed into a disco .. it reminded me of a Blue Light disco at one stage with everyone standing around the edges until the dancefloor got going.
We then headed to a club across the road, and when that closed at ridiculous oclock, 5 guys and I decided to see what else Buenos Aires had in store on a Tuesday morning. So we asked a cabbie and he dropped us off at a club. After I wrangled down the extortinate cover charge we went inside, and got our ´free drink´. But once we sat down we realised everyone else was either a dodgy old man, or a prostitute.
The prositutes swarmed on the new arrivals, and because I was the only one to speak any kind of Spanish, they targetted me, telling me how beautiful my friends were and could they have them for the day. I was keen to get the hell out of there, but I think the boys were enjoying the attention, because the women were quite attractive. The women even offered to find me a nice Argentinian guy .. who was probably the same one who followed one of the Aussies into the bathroom and offered him a lewd sex act.
We quickly left .. although only 3 of the 5 Australian guys returned home .. not sure where they went????
If the last blog was all about trekking and mountain scenery, this one is all about the Argentian nightlife. After Puerto Natales we got a bus to Punta Arenas, in very southern Chile. Its a crap town, as Mark said .. i dont have good vibes about this place. He was right. Its the kind of place you stop when you need to travel long distances. We stayed in a b and b called Dinkas House, run by a crazy Croatian woman who has photos of herself all over the walls.
There were two gems in the town though. The restaurant we had dinner in was lovely, with great ambience and service. Two common themes in Argentina. And we found a bar with a jukebox so spent the night playing daggy songs.
The next day was a full day to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Its way below Tasmania and New Zealand. Its back in Argentina, so we had another border crossing.
We slept most of the 11 hour trip, because the tour had been pretty full on.
Ushuaia is a lovely town, and wasnt that cold. We were so blessed with the weather. We went on a boat on the Beagle Channel, seeing seals and birds.
It was Marks last night on the tour because he flew home a day early, so we went to an Irish pub (is there a town in the world without one???) then to a karoke bar. Only Martin the tour leader sang.
A little hungover the next day, and with minimal sleep, 6 of us went for our last hike, but it was an easy coastal 3 hour walk.
It was back to Buenos Aires the next morning. Our final night of the tour saw most of the group looking sick or tired. Only me and Amy from England and Martin showed any kind of stamina.
We went to a little bar in Palermo at midnight, and waited for 3 hours until anyone else turned up! Man they party late in this city. But when it got crowded it was really fun. Like being in an intimate house party.
I was sad to see the tour end. It was a great group. The next day I checked into the Milhouse hostel. Its a party hostel but I have my own gorgeous private room. One of the best Ive stayed in. And the rooms are away from the noisy bar area.
Its easy to meet people. I made friends with an Irish girl called Clare whod been living in Coogee. The hostel has a party on Monday night, where the common room eating area is transformed into a disco .. it reminded me of a Blue Light disco at one stage with everyone standing around the edges until the dancefloor got going.
We then headed to a club across the road, and when that closed at ridiculous oclock, 5 guys and I decided to see what else Buenos Aires had in store on a Tuesday morning. So we asked a cabbie and he dropped us off at a club. After I wrangled down the extortinate cover charge we went inside, and got our ´free drink´. But once we sat down we realised everyone else was either a dodgy old man, or a prostitute.
The prositutes swarmed on the new arrivals, and because I was the only one to speak any kind of Spanish, they targetted me, telling me how beautiful my friends were and could they have them for the day. I was keen to get the hell out of there, but I think the boys were enjoying the attention, because the women were quite attractive. The women even offered to find me a nice Argentinian guy .. who was probably the same one who followed one of the Aussies into the bathroom and offered him a lewd sex act.
We quickly left .. although only 3 of the 5 Australian guys returned home .. not sure where they went????
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The one where we hit ice, ice baby
Its been over a week since my last blog, because Ive been trekking in Patagonia... and actually did ok!
Mark, a Sydney girl he met in Peru called Alex and I went to a football match in Buenos Aires the night before we joined the tour. We saw two local teams play. It wasnt as good as the Rio match because they put tourists in this protected area, which has a great view, but is completely separated from all the fans, and you feel a little detached from the action. The locals are in the stands above us, and were crazy. At one stage there was about 20,000 people just jumping up and down and chanting. Awesome to see.
The three of us went out in Palermo, a cool part of town, after the match. We had possibly the worst meal Ive had on the this trip. Argentinian food and wine has been unreal, except for this dodgy restaurant where I ate spaghetti with soy sauce, and dessert was cheese and a caramel sauce. mmm tasty, not.
Buenos Aires nightlife doesnt kick in till 3am, so we stayed out a while drinking at an outdoors table.
The next day Mark and I switched hotels and joined our Patagonia group. There are 8 of us, which is a nice small size. When they all started talking about marathons, iron mans and everest base camp treks I started freaking out thinking Id be unable to keep up with them. But you know what? I managed fine, and really surprised myself. Some of them got a lot more tired than I did.
Martin is our tour leader. Hes a 31 year old from Mendoza, the Argentinian wine region. And as luck would have it is a sommelier, so every night we have been tasting different wines. Man they are so good here. Hes a lot of fun. In fact our group is getting along so well its ridiculous. We are all having a great time together.
We flew from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, and on the first day we went to Perito Moreno Glacier. Wow. Its a huge glacier, several kilometres wide and about 80m high. We went on a boat to get up close and see huge chunks of ice fall into the water. Global warming right in front of us.
That night, like every night, we went to a great restaurant to sample local cuisine and wine.
The following day we got a bus to El Chalten, the Argentinian trekking capital in Patagonia. Its a little village where we based ourselves for 2 days to do treks to Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. Huge shaggy mountains. The first day trek was 9 hours and 24 km long and one of the hardest. Man we were all so tired, but at least I keeped up and felt pretty good afterwards. Mark was more tired than me! The second trek was shorter, about 6 hours, and easier.
The only problem with all our treks has been the fact they arent a loop, so we get to the lookout, or top of the mountain, then have to come back the same way, which is a bit monotonous. Although we certainly couldnt complain about the weather. Patagonia is notorious for changing seasons in an hour, and the wind, but we had perfect sunny days every day.
From Chalten we went back to Calafate and then got a bus to Chile, where we camped in Torres Del Paine for 3 nights. Yes, Lynne camped. Shared a tent with her brother even. I cant believe we fit inside it! Talk about bonding with your brother. Its been fun, and we have got along well. Hardly any little tiffs, let alone arguments.
3 more day treks there. They were quite hard. Mark says its been a lot tougher than the Inca Trail. All between 4 and 9 hours long. Plenty of thinking time, and chatting time.
The group has a lot of funny stories. Mark has re-introduced Roxette to everyone, so weve been reminiscing about dodgy 80s bands, and spotting people who look like celebrities.
Martin brought along 12 bottles of wine for the camping, which we finished on the second night. Peter, from Colorado, got a little drunk and nearly fell into the camp fire while doing the crump (a dance). Hilarious, but only because he so spectacularly managed to avoid the flames.
The camping wasnt that tough. We had cooks make us 3 excellent meals a day. The chefs name was Carlos Santana. Seriously. I guess hes taking a break from his guitar.
So I feel really good about managing to trek almost 90 km in 5 days. Quite an accomplishment considering my preparation involved 2 months of being a backpacker bum, sitting on beaches and occasionally going for walks around towns. Its been greast scenery. Huge snow capped mountains, lagoons and lakes.
Lots of condors, which I just love. They are beautiful to watch in the sky.
We are now in Puerto Natales, which is still in Chile. We are heading south over the next few days.
Last night we went out for drinks and Martin, me and 2 other girls had a pretty big one. So Im a little dusty this morning.
Mark, a Sydney girl he met in Peru called Alex and I went to a football match in Buenos Aires the night before we joined the tour. We saw two local teams play. It wasnt as good as the Rio match because they put tourists in this protected area, which has a great view, but is completely separated from all the fans, and you feel a little detached from the action. The locals are in the stands above us, and were crazy. At one stage there was about 20,000 people just jumping up and down and chanting. Awesome to see.
The three of us went out in Palermo, a cool part of town, after the match. We had possibly the worst meal Ive had on the this trip. Argentinian food and wine has been unreal, except for this dodgy restaurant where I ate spaghetti with soy sauce, and dessert was cheese and a caramel sauce. mmm tasty, not.
Buenos Aires nightlife doesnt kick in till 3am, so we stayed out a while drinking at an outdoors table.
The next day Mark and I switched hotels and joined our Patagonia group. There are 8 of us, which is a nice small size. When they all started talking about marathons, iron mans and everest base camp treks I started freaking out thinking Id be unable to keep up with them. But you know what? I managed fine, and really surprised myself. Some of them got a lot more tired than I did.
Martin is our tour leader. Hes a 31 year old from Mendoza, the Argentinian wine region. And as luck would have it is a sommelier, so every night we have been tasting different wines. Man they are so good here. Hes a lot of fun. In fact our group is getting along so well its ridiculous. We are all having a great time together.
We flew from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, and on the first day we went to Perito Moreno Glacier. Wow. Its a huge glacier, several kilometres wide and about 80m high. We went on a boat to get up close and see huge chunks of ice fall into the water. Global warming right in front of us.
That night, like every night, we went to a great restaurant to sample local cuisine and wine.
The following day we got a bus to El Chalten, the Argentinian trekking capital in Patagonia. Its a little village where we based ourselves for 2 days to do treks to Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. Huge shaggy mountains. The first day trek was 9 hours and 24 km long and one of the hardest. Man we were all so tired, but at least I keeped up and felt pretty good afterwards. Mark was more tired than me! The second trek was shorter, about 6 hours, and easier.
The only problem with all our treks has been the fact they arent a loop, so we get to the lookout, or top of the mountain, then have to come back the same way, which is a bit monotonous. Although we certainly couldnt complain about the weather. Patagonia is notorious for changing seasons in an hour, and the wind, but we had perfect sunny days every day.
From Chalten we went back to Calafate and then got a bus to Chile, where we camped in Torres Del Paine for 3 nights. Yes, Lynne camped. Shared a tent with her brother even. I cant believe we fit inside it! Talk about bonding with your brother. Its been fun, and we have got along well. Hardly any little tiffs, let alone arguments.
3 more day treks there. They were quite hard. Mark says its been a lot tougher than the Inca Trail. All between 4 and 9 hours long. Plenty of thinking time, and chatting time.
The group has a lot of funny stories. Mark has re-introduced Roxette to everyone, so weve been reminiscing about dodgy 80s bands, and spotting people who look like celebrities.
Martin brought along 12 bottles of wine for the camping, which we finished on the second night. Peter, from Colorado, got a little drunk and nearly fell into the camp fire while doing the crump (a dance). Hilarious, but only because he so spectacularly managed to avoid the flames.
The camping wasnt that tough. We had cooks make us 3 excellent meals a day. The chefs name was Carlos Santana. Seriously. I guess hes taking a break from his guitar.
So I feel really good about managing to trek almost 90 km in 5 days. Quite an accomplishment considering my preparation involved 2 months of being a backpacker bum, sitting on beaches and occasionally going for walks around towns. Its been greast scenery. Huge snow capped mountains, lagoons and lakes.
Lots of condors, which I just love. They are beautiful to watch in the sky.
We are now in Puerto Natales, which is still in Chile. We are heading south over the next few days.
Last night we went out for drinks and Martin, me and 2 other girls had a pretty big one. So Im a little dusty this morning.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The one where we moshed at The Killers
Man what an awesome awesome night. The Killers rocked.
Our first full day in Buenos was incredible. The most amazing weather. We walked around Recoleta, the posh part of town, and went and saw Eva Perons grave, purely because everyone seems to do it in this city. The cemetery was interesting, but we didnt hang around long.
Mark then suggested a beer in the sun. Buenos is full of al fresco cafes and bars and restaurants. Im in heaven. So we had a drink and some nachos in Recoleta, then decided to do a pub crawl around a few suburbs.
Next stop Las Canitas, then Palermo. Both neighbourhoods are so cool. You just cant go wrong in this city. Think differing versions of Balmain and Surry Hills. So we sat outside all afternoon drinking wine and beer while people watching. But no one goes out here till well after 9pm, and by then we had hit the wall so called it quits and went home.
The next morning ... not so fun. It was raining, and cold. We tried to do one of those daggy hop on hop off city bus tours, but it was a bit of a disaster. The bus up top had open windows, and we froze. The most interesting point was when protesters walked past us and were waving and yelling while we took photos of them.
So we abandoned it and I had a relaxing afternoon at the hotel while Mark met up with a girl from his Peru tour who is here. The 3 of us had dinner then Mark and I headed off to The Killers.
God it was one of the best concerts ever!!!! I know Paul Budrikis thinks theyre over rated .. but theyre my favourite band.
We were standing about 40 metres back, surrounded by 20,000 fans. By now the skies had cleared. They opened with Human and the crowd went crazy. Moshing .. thank god my brother is 6ft4 so he could look out for me and stand behind me! It was such a great night. They played all the hits. Brandon Flowers is such a charistmatic and energetic performer.
I cant remember the last time I moshed at an open air concert!
Today is the last day before we join the Intrepid tour of Patagonia. Im a little nervous about it. God Im just so unfit after 2 months of no exercise. I even slightly strained my calf muscle at the concert last night!
Our first full day in Buenos was incredible. The most amazing weather. We walked around Recoleta, the posh part of town, and went and saw Eva Perons grave, purely because everyone seems to do it in this city. The cemetery was interesting, but we didnt hang around long.
Mark then suggested a beer in the sun. Buenos is full of al fresco cafes and bars and restaurants. Im in heaven. So we had a drink and some nachos in Recoleta, then decided to do a pub crawl around a few suburbs.
Next stop Las Canitas, then Palermo. Both neighbourhoods are so cool. You just cant go wrong in this city. Think differing versions of Balmain and Surry Hills. So we sat outside all afternoon drinking wine and beer while people watching. But no one goes out here till well after 9pm, and by then we had hit the wall so called it quits and went home.
The next morning ... not so fun. It was raining, and cold. We tried to do one of those daggy hop on hop off city bus tours, but it was a bit of a disaster. The bus up top had open windows, and we froze. The most interesting point was when protesters walked past us and were waving and yelling while we took photos of them.
So we abandoned it and I had a relaxing afternoon at the hotel while Mark met up with a girl from his Peru tour who is here. The 3 of us had dinner then Mark and I headed off to The Killers.
God it was one of the best concerts ever!!!! I know Paul Budrikis thinks theyre over rated .. but theyre my favourite band.
We were standing about 40 metres back, surrounded by 20,000 fans. By now the skies had cleared. They opened with Human and the crowd went crazy. Moshing .. thank god my brother is 6ft4 so he could look out for me and stand behind me! It was such a great night. They played all the hits. Brandon Flowers is such a charistmatic and energetic performer.
I cant remember the last time I moshed at an open air concert!
Today is the last day before we join the Intrepid tour of Patagonia. Im a little nervous about it. God Im just so unfit after 2 months of no exercise. I even slightly strained my calf muscle at the concert last night!
Friday, November 27, 2009
The one where Lynne does the Tango
Buenos Aires .. what an awesome city. Except for the stupid horrible man who asked me if I was pregnant!!!!!!!!!!! So Ive obviously put on a little holiday belly during this trip. I was pretending I hadnt until the stupid shop attendant while finding me a jacket size pointed to the holiday belly and said 'oh youre pregnant'.
I didnt buy the jacket. My poor brother hasnt heard the end of my fury and depression. When will men learn that even when a woman's water has broken and she is clearly in labour, you never say 'oh youre pregnant'. Its so rude. I havent been asked that in years, since losing weight. Clearly its now back!!!! So my brother is having to put up with me looking in every window reflection at my stomach, saying 'it isnt that big' and now feeling guilty every time I eat a big meal. But seriously, who diets on holidays? Of course Im going to eat pizza, ice cream and pringles every day if I want to. And its hard to find lots of fresh fruit and vegetables in South America. Anyway, Ill move on.
We left Punta Del Este in Uruguay one day early. The weather was cold, so it was pointless hanging out at a beach hostel. Although we had to wait all day for our laundry to be returned. Ahhh laundry. So many funny stories about handing your laundry in. One time in Brazil I collected my laundry from the lavanderia, and the girl was saying something about a black t shirt and pointing to the underarms.
When I got back to the hotel I realised she had kept my favourite Billabong t shirt because it was so dirty it needed 2 washes! So I collected it the next day, although it only lasted another couple of weeks. Im sure you will all be glad you wont see that t shirt in any more photos because I threw it out in Rio.
We went to Montevideo for one night. Its a nice enough city, not a lot to see. Too many McDonalds signs and flags waving from poles for my liking. But the usual cobbled streets and outdoor cafes and rundown buildings to fill the city with character.
We then got a bus to Colonia and a ferry to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is great. Huge huge city, but you could walk all day and constantly see something interesting. We are staying in the centre, in a hotel we booked on my new favourite website booking.com. Its so easy to use, and has some bargains on it. We got a really nice hotel for $35 per person a night, inc great breakfast. Although obviously Im now ignoring the pastries.
Our first afternoon was spent collecting our tickets to The Killers for tomorrow night. Mark googled them in Punta Del Este, and found out they were playing here. God I was so excited! My favourite band in a cool city!!!! But hes angry he will miss seeing ACDC by 2 days .. and there are still tickets on sale!
We walked around the pedestrianised shopping area, had coffee at Plaza Mayo. Then went to a tango show last night. Its a touristy thing to do, but sometimes they can still be really good fun, and it was.
We first had a tango class. My god, the Scrivens family are not dancers. We battled through learning 8 steps, Mark and I as partners, then had to dance in front of the class and messed it up!
I had steak and red wine for dinner ... yay!!! Finally tasting the amazing Argentinian reds and steak that everyone raves about. Then the tango show started, and it was really good. Man these people can move. And I had to get up 3 times to dance!!!! Far out, I was sitting in a spot that was easy for the guys to grab me. Mark and I both ended up on stage dancing for a bit, then a couple of times I danced in the aisles with the men. It was fun.
I didnt buy the jacket. My poor brother hasnt heard the end of my fury and depression. When will men learn that even when a woman's water has broken and she is clearly in labour, you never say 'oh youre pregnant'. Its so rude. I havent been asked that in years, since losing weight. Clearly its now back!!!! So my brother is having to put up with me looking in every window reflection at my stomach, saying 'it isnt that big' and now feeling guilty every time I eat a big meal. But seriously, who diets on holidays? Of course Im going to eat pizza, ice cream and pringles every day if I want to. And its hard to find lots of fresh fruit and vegetables in South America. Anyway, Ill move on.
We left Punta Del Este in Uruguay one day early. The weather was cold, so it was pointless hanging out at a beach hostel. Although we had to wait all day for our laundry to be returned. Ahhh laundry. So many funny stories about handing your laundry in. One time in Brazil I collected my laundry from the lavanderia, and the girl was saying something about a black t shirt and pointing to the underarms.
When I got back to the hotel I realised she had kept my favourite Billabong t shirt because it was so dirty it needed 2 washes! So I collected it the next day, although it only lasted another couple of weeks. Im sure you will all be glad you wont see that t shirt in any more photos because I threw it out in Rio.
We went to Montevideo for one night. Its a nice enough city, not a lot to see. Too many McDonalds signs and flags waving from poles for my liking. But the usual cobbled streets and outdoor cafes and rundown buildings to fill the city with character.
We then got a bus to Colonia and a ferry to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is great. Huge huge city, but you could walk all day and constantly see something interesting. We are staying in the centre, in a hotel we booked on my new favourite website booking.com. Its so easy to use, and has some bargains on it. We got a really nice hotel for $35 per person a night, inc great breakfast. Although obviously Im now ignoring the pastries.
Our first afternoon was spent collecting our tickets to The Killers for tomorrow night. Mark googled them in Punta Del Este, and found out they were playing here. God I was so excited! My favourite band in a cool city!!!! But hes angry he will miss seeing ACDC by 2 days .. and there are still tickets on sale!
We walked around the pedestrianised shopping area, had coffee at Plaza Mayo. Then went to a tango show last night. Its a touristy thing to do, but sometimes they can still be really good fun, and it was.
We first had a tango class. My god, the Scrivens family are not dancers. We battled through learning 8 steps, Mark and I as partners, then had to dance in front of the class and messed it up!
I had steak and red wine for dinner ... yay!!! Finally tasting the amazing Argentinian reds and steak that everyone raves about. Then the tango show started, and it was really good. Man these people can move. And I had to get up 3 times to dance!!!! Far out, I was sitting in a spot that was easy for the guys to grab me. Mark and I both ended up on stage dancing for a bit, then a couple of times I danced in the aisles with the men. It was fun.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The one where we arrived in Uruguay
Buses in Brazil are great. Comfy with seats that recline a long long way back. We had a 9 hour bus trip to Sao Paulo. Its not that far, just the coast road is very windy and the bus makes sooo many stops. Even 90 minutes out of Sao Paulo, we stop for a 20 minute break. Just Get There!!! Ive lost my Ipod charger so its power is on borrowed time. Luckily Marks Ipod has some good music on it!
Thankfully I had booked a hotel online because arriving in Sao Paulo at 10.30 on a Friday night without a hotel would have been a little frightening!
The hotel seemed to be in a nightclub part of town, although that could be every street in a city the size of Sao Paulo.
We spent half a day walking around, re visiting part of the city I had been to on my Intrepid tour a month earlier. Sao Paulo is not that interesting. Its a hold onto your wallet the whole time kind of place, and can get really crowded in the black market area where we walked.
We didnt do much in the afternoon, just stayed around the hotel and ate a kilo of ice cream at a self serve place.
The next day we got a flight to Montevideo, in Uruguay. A 40 minute cab ride took about 15 minutes thanks to the driver doing 140kph for some reason.
At the airport we were waiting to get a cab to the bus stop to get a bus to Punta Del Este, when Mark had the spot of the day, by seeing a bus pass by with a sign to the very town we were wanting to go! So before you knew it we were heading to Punta, which is like a mini Gold Coast. I am sad to have left Brazil. 6 weeks there in a country I fell in love with, and Im already having Brazil withdrawals. Its colder here. Like, about 15 degrees it feels like. Although its probably warmer, Im just used to 35 degrees every day. We are staying in 1949 Hostel. We got lost walking the 100m to the hostel from the bus stop. Mark is standing behind me telling me to blame the map. Ill be Switzerland .. neutral.
The hostel is cool. We have a twin room, but there are lots of fun travellers here, so I settled in for an evening of drinking and chatting, while Mark had an early night.
Mark and I are going well together. Sometimes he speaks in a language I cant understand. eg `hopefully there will be fresh fish at the hostel today' means 'hopefully some hot new chicks will check in today'. His favourite saying is 'shes not struggling'. This means the girl he is perving on is hot. And he has an unbelievable memory for movie and Seinfeld quotes. We have also developed a game where if we see someone who looks like someone famous, we say I didnt know Vladimir Putin was in Uruguay. The best one was the Jonathon Thurston lookalike here in the hostel.
Thankfully I had booked a hotel online because arriving in Sao Paulo at 10.30 on a Friday night without a hotel would have been a little frightening!
The hotel seemed to be in a nightclub part of town, although that could be every street in a city the size of Sao Paulo.
We spent half a day walking around, re visiting part of the city I had been to on my Intrepid tour a month earlier. Sao Paulo is not that interesting. Its a hold onto your wallet the whole time kind of place, and can get really crowded in the black market area where we walked.
We didnt do much in the afternoon, just stayed around the hotel and ate a kilo of ice cream at a self serve place.
The next day we got a flight to Montevideo, in Uruguay. A 40 minute cab ride took about 15 minutes thanks to the driver doing 140kph for some reason.
At the airport we were waiting to get a cab to the bus stop to get a bus to Punta Del Este, when Mark had the spot of the day, by seeing a bus pass by with a sign to the very town we were wanting to go! So before you knew it we were heading to Punta, which is like a mini Gold Coast. I am sad to have left Brazil. 6 weeks there in a country I fell in love with, and Im already having Brazil withdrawals. Its colder here. Like, about 15 degrees it feels like. Although its probably warmer, Im just used to 35 degrees every day. We are staying in 1949 Hostel. We got lost walking the 100m to the hostel from the bus stop. Mark is standing behind me telling me to blame the map. Ill be Switzerland .. neutral.
The hostel is cool. We have a twin room, but there are lots of fun travellers here, so I settled in for an evening of drinking and chatting, while Mark had an early night.
Mark and I are going well together. Sometimes he speaks in a language I cant understand. eg `hopefully there will be fresh fish at the hostel today' means 'hopefully some hot new chicks will check in today'. His favourite saying is 'shes not struggling'. This means the girl he is perving on is hot. And he has an unbelievable memory for movie and Seinfeld quotes. We have also developed a game where if we see someone who looks like someone famous, we say I didnt know Vladimir Putin was in Uruguay. The best one was the Jonathon Thurston lookalike here in the hostel.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The one where there was trouble in paradise
Ah yes .. the joys of travelling without realising Brazil is hitting peak holiday season with a long weekend. More on that in a moment.
The football game Mark and I went to in Rio was amazing. A Rio team versus a Paraguayan team in the South American Cup semi final. Thank god the Rio team scored. They won 2-1. It was the most unbelievable crowd. So many flares went off at the start and we couldnt see the ground for a while! The crowd chanted and yelled the whole time. About 50,000 people there I reckon. The small crowd of opposition fans were in a little area completely separate to ours. When the Rio team scored in the final few minutes the crowd erupted and everyone was hugging and cheering. Awesome. We paid $6 each for an ice cream though. Ahhhh love being ripped off when youre a tourist. The game started at 10pm!
We strolled around Copacabana the next morning then got a bus to Angra Dos Reis where you get the ferry to Ilha Grande. I had been there on the Intrepid tour earlier, you might remember the hot young Brazilian Cristiano from earlier blogs. When we docked at the island we hit trouble, big time. A woman who spoke English told us the whole island was booked out because it was the start of a long weekend, and everyone in Brazil seemed to be coming to Ilha Grande. So I left Mark in a restaurant with our bags while I searched for a room. It took a lot of doorknocking and ´no we have no rooms´before I found a pousada with a double bed for one night. Given it was 5pm and there was no way of getting off the island till the morning, we took it. Ah yes, sleeping with my brother in a double bed. Oh well... it was better than the other option of sleeping on the beach! We had planned to stay 3 nights, but it was impossible to find any rooms. So one night it was. And it took about 5 minutes to spot Cristiano, who was on the beach looking rather gorgeous. My Portuguese is a little better than it was a month ago, so this time we were able to have a sort of conversation!
Mark and I had a beautiful swim in the ocean at sunset. A great travel moment. You just know that in a few months when we are back at work we will be wishing we were back on Ilha Grande swimming in the water. Im still not taking any of this trip for granted, because I know its 3 of the best months of my life.
We then went to a bar for a few drinks and Cristiano and a couple of his friends joined us. Mark went to sleep and I stayed out drinking for a while with Cristiano, who was very upset we werent staying longer! So was I ... ahhh oh well, such is life.
Just to ensure the travel gods were making our lives difficult, Mark and I got the ferry back to the mainland in the morning to catch a midday bus to Sao Paulo, but of course its booked out, so here we are waiting for the 3pm bus in 37 degree heat in an internet cafe with no air con. But we are still smiling, cause we are on holidays, just like everyone else in Brazil this weekend!
The football game Mark and I went to in Rio was amazing. A Rio team versus a Paraguayan team in the South American Cup semi final. Thank god the Rio team scored. They won 2-1. It was the most unbelievable crowd. So many flares went off at the start and we couldnt see the ground for a while! The crowd chanted and yelled the whole time. About 50,000 people there I reckon. The small crowd of opposition fans were in a little area completely separate to ours. When the Rio team scored in the final few minutes the crowd erupted and everyone was hugging and cheering. Awesome. We paid $6 each for an ice cream though. Ahhhh love being ripped off when youre a tourist. The game started at 10pm!
We strolled around Copacabana the next morning then got a bus to Angra Dos Reis where you get the ferry to Ilha Grande. I had been there on the Intrepid tour earlier, you might remember the hot young Brazilian Cristiano from earlier blogs. When we docked at the island we hit trouble, big time. A woman who spoke English told us the whole island was booked out because it was the start of a long weekend, and everyone in Brazil seemed to be coming to Ilha Grande. So I left Mark in a restaurant with our bags while I searched for a room. It took a lot of doorknocking and ´no we have no rooms´before I found a pousada with a double bed for one night. Given it was 5pm and there was no way of getting off the island till the morning, we took it. Ah yes, sleeping with my brother in a double bed. Oh well... it was better than the other option of sleeping on the beach! We had planned to stay 3 nights, but it was impossible to find any rooms. So one night it was. And it took about 5 minutes to spot Cristiano, who was on the beach looking rather gorgeous. My Portuguese is a little better than it was a month ago, so this time we were able to have a sort of conversation!
Mark and I had a beautiful swim in the ocean at sunset. A great travel moment. You just know that in a few months when we are back at work we will be wishing we were back on Ilha Grande swimming in the water. Im still not taking any of this trip for granted, because I know its 3 of the best months of my life.
We then went to a bar for a few drinks and Cristiano and a couple of his friends joined us. Mark went to sleep and I stayed out drinking for a while with Cristiano, who was very upset we werent staying longer! So was I ... ahhh oh well, such is life.
Just to ensure the travel gods were making our lives difficult, Mark and I got the ferry back to the mainland in the morning to catch a midday bus to Sao Paulo, but of course its booked out, so here we are waiting for the 3pm bus in 37 degree heat in an internet cafe with no air con. But we are still smiling, cause we are on holidays, just like everyone else in Brazil this weekend!
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