The one where Lynne found paradise

Yes I am in paradise, but had a travel low point to get here.
I was staying in Rio for an extra night, after the tour finished, before flying here to Jericoacoara on Brazils far north east coast.
A girl on the tour, had already booked her extra night through Intrepid at home. Once at the hotel, she realised she had paid an extortionate amount of money for the room, almost double what the rate was.
So she suggested I sneakily stay in her room the extra night, and go halves with her. I didnt want to, it was of no financial benefit to me, but I agreed because Im a believer in travel karma, and wanted to be nice.
So there I was, a 35 year old who earned good money, sneaking around the hotel pretending I had checked out. I even carried a girls backpack out to look like I had left.
And I had a barely single bed to sleep in, while she had the double....
At 3.30am the next morning I was due to get a transfer to the airport.
The night manager made me check my name off the list, and our game was up. So I had to pay an extra 40 reais (about $30).
Then I waited for my taxi ... and waited and waited. The hotel manager offered to call a cab, but then seemed unable to get through. So with time ticking away, at 4am I was stressed and angry, and grabbed my backpack and started walking to the end of the street to find my own cab. At 4am ... in dodgy Rio De Janeiro.... after hearing loud sounds and whistles not far away (it turned out to be boys playing soccer).
Luckily a nicer hotel was up the street, with a cab waiting and a lovely concierge who organised the cost of the fare. Still, I wasnt happy Jan at suddenly forking out all this extra cash before the sun had come up.
Ahhhh but now Im in Jeri and all that is a distant memory. It took a 5 hour flight and a 5 hour 4WD trip to get here. But soooo worth it.
The Lonely Planet calls Jeri a truly special place, and the LP got it right. Its paradise.
Its so remote I feel like im on the corner of the earth.
The sand street village is surrounded by sand dunes, so only 4WDS can access it. Its small but has heaps of great restaurants and shops. The only real problem is the wind. Its a kite surfing capital of the world, so there is lots of wind all the time!
When I arrived I had no accommodation booked. The driver took me to this great pousada, overlooking the dunes. So Im splurging. Its about $80 a night (a lot for an unemployed backpacker). But I have a roof top balcony all to myself. And theres a pool. I had planned on staying 5 nights, but ive booked 8.
After all that overland travel its so good to get settled in one place, and just chill.
I met an Irish guy called Steve, who lives in Spain with his Spanish girlfriend Christina, in the 4WD on the way here. Lovely people. Last night we went to an amazing restaurant. It had plastic chairs and tables outside, and a man cooking fish on a bbq. It was packed, so we knew it was going to be good.
I know I rave on and on about the Brazilian food, but the fish was unbelievable. You pick your own from eskies, and he cooks it on the bbq. Melt in your mouth fish, washed down with a capirinha and rice and salad. Awesome.
Steve, Christina and I speak Spanglish. Its great to practice my Spanish with them, and learn the finer points of the language. Although they speak Spain Spanish, which is a little different to Latin America Spanish (like they pronounce gracias GRATH-E-ASS, while in South America its GRASSY-ASS). And Brazilians only speak Portugese, so its getting complicated!
Sunset involves a walk up the highest dune to watch the sun go down. There are stalls set up at night selling alcohol on the street. As I wondered around, capirinha in hand, I thought ... this is it. This is what life is all about. Although it would be nicer if someone was here to share this with!

The one where Lynne channelled Barry Manilow

At the Copa, Copacabana....where music and passion is always the fashion... Sorry if the song lyrics are wrong, but dont forget Im the girl who for years believed Midnight Oil sang `You asked for forgiveness` when they were actually singing `US Forces Get The Nod`....
Anyway, let me back track.
Paraty is a lovely old Portugese colonial town with cobbled streets and cute architecture. But the rain has been falling every day pretty much since we reached Brazil, and it meant we decided not to go cycling up to a waterfall, and just walked around town.
That night Mimi our leader sang at the Che Bar, named in honour of yes, Che Guevera. It was a fun night. I tried once again to learn samba, with little coordination.
The next day we headed by bus to Ilha Grande, an island an hour by boat off the coast. As soon as we arrived I was in a happy place. Finally, after weeks of roughing it we were in my territory ... beach and bars and sandy streets and a very cute pousada (hotel), where I stayed in a loft above where Michelle and Rody were sleeping.
I had a yummy meal of chicken with passionfruit sauce, then we hit a bar, where I locked eyes with a cute young Brazilian. We danced together at a discoteque, and because mum and dad read this, lets just say i kissed him goodnight after a lovely night dancing together.
We had 3 nights on the island, which was a great way to unwind after so many long travel days. I met up with young Christiano again the following night at the discoteque, after yet another scumptious meal on the beach. This time beef skewers.
Michelle, Rody, Mimi and I took a walk on the island. We had to cross a creek, and Rody went first. It was then my Haviana Rescue Operation took place. She lost one of her thongs, and we all know how important Havianas are to Sydney girls. So without thinking I dumped my handbag, and jumped in the creek to save the thong. But the rocks were really slippery and the water fast flowing, so i took a massive stack. Blood pouring down the knees, and I had cuts and scratches. Roger, the 58 year old NZ used car salesman in the group, accused them of being carpet burns, which i vehemently denied.
After saying goodbye to the island, and Christiano, we headed to Rio.
Unfortunately we had cloud, rain and mist. The tour in the afternoon included a trip up the mountain to see Christ the Redeemer. I saw his feet. His head was above the clouds, which i guess is where Christ should be.
I skipped the Sugar Loaf Mountain cable car, because it was covered in mist. Hopefully Mark and I will have better weather when we meet there in 3 weeks.
We had the yummiest churrasco meal that night though. All you can eat meat and salad. It was our final group night together.
Now I come to one of those humiliating experiences which most people wouldnt speak about, but what the hell.
I was sharing a hotel room with Rody (also from Sydney). She told me one of the guys was going to store his bag in our room that day. Ill call him Daniel...thats not his real name. I took a shower, then realised I didnt bring underwear or any clothes into the bathroom. I stick my head out the door, the coast is clear. So wearing only a t shirt (no underwear) i start to duck across the room. Then Daniel walks in. At that exact moment. Daniel is the only straight single guy on the tour. But its his first time travelling overseas, he is 29 going on 18, quite awkward and unconfident. Oh god the humiliation, anger and embarassment!!!!! He awkardly leaves the room while i scramble to pull down my t shirt and put shorts on.
The girls in the group had a big belly laugh when i told them though.

The one where travel isnt always fun

One minute Im snorkelling down a Brazil river full of fish, the next Im on an overnight mini bus trip. Thats right ... a mini bus with no reclining seats and 14 people packed in like sardines.
Ahhh...the joys of South American travel on a budget.

So everyone goes to Bonito to snorkel this amazing river. Its on a giant cattle farm, and Brazil tourism officials convinced the farmers to turn it into a tourist destination. Theyve done it really well, its ecologically sustainable. Limited numbers of snorkellers per day, even per hour. You cant wear suncream or insect repellant so there are no chemicals in the river.

The water is 100% clear, its shallow too so all the fish are up close to you. We spent two hours floating down the river, seeing giant fish. It was fantastic.

But then we had the overnight mini bus to Iguazu Falls. Not much sleep, and arrived at the hotel at 6.30am so we had 3 hours sleep then before heading to the Brazil side of the falls. It was pouring rain, misty and foggy.... so the views were limited. But oh my god the water was incredible. So much water, even Mimi our tour leader was amazed. Its been raining there for 2 months straight, so the volume of water is 3 times what it is normally.

And the buffet lunch at the falls was amazing too. Brazil loves their buffets, and the food is sensational. I wont be coming home any skinnier. Fruit, vegies, meat, desserts...
We had dinner at a cool restaurant that night where I discovered a Brazilian beer called Brahma which is my new fave. Very sweet.

The next day the rain cleared ...YAY!!!! for the Argentinian side of the falls. Thats where you go on the boat right up to the falls, and you can go on lovely walks with amazing views. So we all got some great photos and the boat ride was heaps of fun.

But that night meant ANOTHER overnight bus. Thank god this one was a proper coach with reclining seats. But it broke down at 2am and we had to wait for a new one to pick us up. All up we travelled 24 hours on the bus, with a 5 hour stopover in Sao Paulo. I was always afraid of Sao Paulo ... a city with Australias population and a bad reputation for crime. But Mimi is from Sao Paulo, and took us to a great part of the city where there was an amazing food market. I could have eaten there all day. Meat sandwich, incredible fresh fruit, ice cream, chocolate... you get the picture.
I liked Sao Paulo. Its the kind of city where one block is a crazy market place where you hold onto your bag tight, and next is the financial district where the rich do their business.

Finally we reached our destination of Paraty. A lovely town on the coast with cobbled streets and cool architecture.

The one where Lynne nearly missed the Death Train

Bear with me, this is gunna be a long blog, so feel free to log off at any time!
Mimi, our tour leader, held a briefing on our final night in Bolivia. We were staying in a cool town called Santa Cruz. She told us to be ready to leave the hotel at 10.45 the next morning, because the train departs at midday, and we have to be there an hour early.
So I wake up early the next morning. ´Cool, be ready at 11.45´ I think to myself as I head out alone to explore the city on foot.
You can see where this is going.
So at 11.15 I arrive back at the hotel, ask the manager for my key and go upstairs to pack. I look at my watch a little later. ´Oh crap my watch has stopped´. I pelt downstairs and ask what the time is. Its 11.35. `No problem, Ive got another 10 minutes´. But then start to wonder where the other 10 people in my tour are....oh they must have just left early or gone to Santa Cruz Zoo I thought.
Back upstairs, my room phone rings and the manager is saying something in Spanish I cant understand, so I walk down with my backpack, ready to leave.
There is a taxi waiting for me. He knows my name. No one else is around. That´s a bit weird, but oh well, whatever.
I get taken to the train station, arriving a couple of minutes after midday.
Mimi comes rushing towards me, Lets Go Lets Go Lets Go.
What´s the rush, I ask, the train doesnt leave till 1pm, I say,.
Áre You Crazy, she yells, ITS MIDDAY!!!!!
So then its a sprint to the train, the luggage area has closed, I have to remember which of my 3 bags has my passport, all the while hearing the train´s horn.
We run along the platform and jump onto the carriage. I made it by 2 minutes.
The group is cheering, having been stressed for the past hour wondering where the hell I was.
Mind you, I had a lovely morning. Bought 2 new white tops, walked around markets....
Anyway, we are on the Death Train for 24 HOURS...... we travelled 600kms!!!!!!!!!!
The time it takes to fly Sydney to London, I travelled on the worlds slowest and bumpiest train, to get to the Bolivian Brazil border.
So I had plenty of thinking time. As a perfectionist, I dont like to make mistakes, and that was a pretty big one for me. I pride myself on being an organised tourist who never runs late.
Then I came up with an idea for a book. It will be called Perfect Timing, and based on this trip and blog.
It will be about a single woman in her 30s, and how all her life she has aimed for a Perfect Life. Perfect Job, Perfect Man (hence why Im still single) etc.
And the book will be about the search for imperfection across South America. Lisa, can you pass this on to your friends at HarperCollins, Im sure they will agree its the next Eat, Pray, Love.
The other idea I came up with is to extend this Life Break of mine with a month in the US, via Miami, New York and LA....hmmmm...... will have to see if the jigsaw pieces fall into place.

So anyway, after a long long trip we eventually made it to our destination, the Pantanal in Brazil.
It is wetlands the size of France. We stayed in a lodge, in hammocks, for 2 nights.
We saw caimans (small crocodiles), weird wombat sized rodents, macaws, tucans, a rare nocturnal jaguar-type animal, and lots of bugs and mosquitoes. Oh, and two giant 3 metre long white cobras!!!! Which we chased through mud!!!! i hate snakes, I hate em!!!...as Indiana Jones says.

You can imagine the 3 days on the Pantanal put me well outside my comfort zone. Im a city girl. The rest of the tour group (we are a diverse bunch, and Im not really clicking with anyone in particular, but thats ok) seemed much more at ease. So after a day of horse riding, snake chasing and bug ducking and pihrana fishing, I had had my bravery quota filled ... and was dreaming about a 5 star hotel with a fluffy dressing gown and a champagne in hand.

The other hard part was the heat. About 35 degrees. So hot, hot hot. But there is no pool, and you cant swim in the river because of the caimans and the piranhas....

But im now in Bonito, a lovely little town with mod cons. Its still hot though...

The one where Lynne loses altitude

Thank god to be over the high altitude part of the trip. After leaving Uyuni, we spent two nights in Potosi, which is 4100m above sea level, the highest city so far. It was really hard work. Hard to breathe, like your chest was constantly tightened. I spent one sleepless night tossing and turning feeling short of breath, then got a fever the next night.
It wasnt helped by the fact I spent 3 hours underground visiting a silver mine. Wow. I did it to challenge myself, but kinda wished I hadnt. It was horrible. Potosi used to be incredibly wealthy from all the silver it mined in a mountain which looms over the city. 8 million miners died working in terrible conditions over 400 years.
You know the Indiana Jones movie where they ride in those mine trolleys? Well its kinda like that, only really really cramped, and the place is full of asbestos and not much silver these days.
We walked through tunnels, sometimes having to stand up against the wall so miners could push heavy trolleys carrying rocks past us. The highlight (note the sarcasm please) was when our guide tells us to crawl through a one metre high space, for 5 metres, without touching the walls cause they have asbestos. The Scrivens family isnt renowned for its flexibility, so yes, I touched the walls.
The guide then showed us this statue deep inside the mine that the miners pray to for safety. Its very very well endowed, and the guide tells me all Bolivian men are like that, and asks would I like a Bolivian husband.
I tried to think happy thoughts but was really glad to see daylight again.
Thankfully our next stop was here in Sucre. Its a lovely Spanish colonial town, the official capital of Bolivia. And its only 2500m above sea level, which has made the world of difference to our energy levels and capacity to breathe. I might as well be walking on the beach. The climate is awesome, shorts and t shirts from here on in.
Its a great town to get lost walking around in. We went out last night too. Mimi our cute little 23 year old Brazilian tour leader taught me to dance salsa in a nightclub. I felt like a 200kg uncoordinated gorilla next to her. I think Brazilians are born dancing. I wasnt.
Me and a couple of others kicked on at a couple of more nightclubs. The last one cost guys twice as much as girls to get in, and there were a lot of local women in their finest trying to pick up drunk gringo men. As you can imagine, many succeeded because Bolivian women are mostly very beautiful.
Losing more altitude tomorrow, when I head to Santa Cruz.

The one where Lynne hit a Bolivian roadblock

So much to update you on! The roadblock is a great travel story (although not as good as my being held at gunpoint on a Guatemala bus). But first....

So Paul went back to London and Rena went to the Galapagos Islands, and I joined my new tour. 26 days La Paz to Rio, with Intrepid. There are 11 of us, mixed nationalities, mostly women travelling on our own, and Im median age.

But the first day I sulked, because Paul and Rena werent there. I made no effort to make new friends, and let myself be grumpy. We travelled 3 hours on a bus, then a 7 hour train ride to Uyuni, arriving at 2.30am!!! It was a freezing 4 block walk to our hotel.

I got over my grumpiness the next day, and made more of an effort with the group. Thats because we were going to the Bolivian Salt Flats, which have been in my top 3 travel destinations for the past decade, since people like Katie and Mossy went there when we were living in London.

And they didnt disappoint. Oh my god, the surreal landscape was photographic heaven. We were in 4wds, 8 people per vehicle, no seatbelts of course.

The first day was driving across blindingly white salt plains, as big as Northern Ireland. Salt as far as you can see, and on the horizon were island-looking mirages, one of which turned out to be catcus covered oasis where we stopped for lunch.

You take perspective defying photos because its all white. Amazing. We kept driving to a salt hotel, made of salt obviously. Its seriously in the middle of nowhere. The desert gets to -8 degrees at night, so its warm days and freezing freezing nights.

The next day we drove through a different landscape, with volcanoes, a red lagoon, pink flamingoes, and lots of bumpy roads. The drivers were great, we would go off off road and just make our own path across the desert.

The next night was in another basic hotel, with 7 to a dorm. I didnt sleep well. The altitude makes me short of breath at night. We went as high as 5,000m on this trip. Plus I was sleeping with a beanie, socks, 3 tops, 3 blankets, a sleeping bag and sleeping liner on!!!

It was a 5am start, and we had to put swimmers on to go to the hot springs! Was so bizarre, but great to get in hot water. The final leg of the 4wd trip was a full on travel day, after seeing a beautiful blue lagoon.

But when we got back to Uyuni, there was a truckies strike blockading roads into the town! We tried to go an alternate route, but were stopped by them. A giant bus was blocking a level crossing, stopping cars from entering town, and trains from passing.

The chef on our tour came up with a plan... pretend one of us is sick and we need to go to the hospital immediately, so we have to be allowed through. No one would volunteer, so I did. So there I am imagining what Cate Blanchett would do, thinking how am I going to look sick, when all I am is dusty and unwashed. But then they decided it was too dangerous, because the truckies might just take me to hospital themselves, and leave the others stranded. Imagine me turning up to hospital going ´ha ha....just jokes...im fine...¨with angry truckies looking at me.

So our drivers spent about 2 hours negotiating with the strikers, all the while the sun is fast disappearing and its getting cold.

Finally, the strikers agreed to let the tourists into town, but they were going to drive us in on the bus that was blocking the road!! As 25 tourists were loaded onto the bus, all I could think was how much of an international incident they could create with all us foreigners taken hostage on the bus!!! I told everyone to get cameras out if something happened cause we could make money! I was imagining my phoner to Roscoe, and thinking how I could call Ric Carter to give 7 the scoop.

Anyway, the strikers were quite lovely, despite their apparent tendencies for violence, and we were dropped off in town without a problem. But our poor drivers spent a cold night at the blockade, and now there are no buses leaving Uyuni today, so we have to hire 4wds again to take us the back route to get us to our next town of Potosi!

The escape from Uyuni (its a crap town, hence our eagerness to get out) was very funny. We left town via a bush-bashing fire trail, and spent over an hour 4WDing to get back onto the main road. It was all very exciting. We were the only tourists getting out. Everyone else had to stay till the strike ended, and that may not be for a week!

The one where Lynne turned 35

Yes the big birthday that was one of the catalysts for the trip arrived while I was in Puno. Woke to open Katie´s present which she´d given me before leaving. Thanks!
We headed by bus to the Bolivian border. Oh my god it was the craziest border crossing Ive ever seen. It took 3 hours. It was market day, so there were thousands of people selling stuff and walking around. Our bus was driving through crowds of people.
Thankfully our border crossing was only 3 hours .. the locals were in for a much longer wait. Being tourists meant we were fast tracked.
It was then another couple of hours drive to La Paz. The scenery was surreal. It was like Dubbo meets the Canadian Rockies. We were driving through barren land, then in the background were huge snowy mountains.
La Paz rocks. Crazy, chaotic, no road rules, people everywhere. Very different to Peru. I love it.
Being my birthday, we took guidance from the Lonely Planet and headed to a bar restaurant called RamJam and had huge meals for $7. Its so cheap here.
Paul, Rena and I stayed and drank Pisco Sours, then moved to a bar called Mongos. It didnt get going till about 1am, but when it did there was lots of dancing, chatting to drunk tourists (well Rena did most of the talking, and convinced one guy to a dance off. She does Running Man very well).
Then that place closed and we headed to one of those cool underground places where you go in via an unmarked door. Was lots of fun. When we wanted to leave the bouncer wouldnt let us out cause the cops were outside!!! But we managed to make it home (thanks to a 100m cab ride cause we had no idea where we were in relation to our hotel. Turned out to be very close).
Yesterday we slept, Paul and I had pizza for lunch and headed up to the top of the city for breathtaking views. La Paz is in a valley.
We had our final group dinner then it was time to say goodbye. Agghhhh I hate goodbyes. Cant believe Paul and Rena have gone! I just wanted to smuggle them into my backpack and make them come on the rest of the trip with me. We became such good friends and Ill miss them heaps. Who will I have bitchy banter with now Pauls not here????

The one where Lynne played dress ups

More on the dress ups in a minute, first a re cap of the past few days.
Paul, the Australian living in London, and his English friend Rena and I decided to have a big night out for our last night out in Cusco. Was heaps of fun. Went to a bar called Fallen Angel which had fish aquariums for tables and amazing art on the walls. Then went to Mama Africa, another bar, where the music ranged from salsa, to bad 80s, to techno. Stumbled home at 3am, to be up again at 6am for a bus to Puno. Thank god for travel sickness tablets to help me sleep on bus.

Puno is on the shores of Lake Titicaca. By now our group is down to 5 people. An Australian couple in their 50s, and me, Paul and Rena. Thank god us 3 get along really well cause id be struggling without those 2. Paul has had me laughing for nearly 2 weeks now.

Our first chance to play dress ups was on a floating reed island, where a family got me and Paul to wear traditional costumes. Ill post the pictures on facebook some time. They are hilarious. That started a full day of giggling for me. I cant believe i turn 35 tomorrow. So mature.

We travelled by boat to Amantani Island, to stay with a family. Now these people live without electricity or running water. Im talking no flushing toilets, no mobile phones, no internet and no tv. Amazing to think they still do that in 2009.

Paul, Rena and I stayed with one family, who didnt speak English so we got by on my limited Spanish. They cooked us lunch, which was potatoes and soup, and dinner, potatoes and rice. More giggling.

Then it was our second time to play dress ups. Rena and I wore lovely black ruffle skirts, embroidered shirts and cumberband style belts that made it hard to breathe. Especially when we are 4,000 m above sea level.

Im sorry but i cant figure out where the exclamation point is on the keyboard, so the writing may seem a little dull.

Then it was Pauls turn to start the giggling because he only had to wear a colourful beanie that covered his ears, and a big woollen poncho.

Then came the time when we put dignity aside. Us 3 professionals in our 30s were taken to a local hall and shown how to dance the Armantani Island way, with men playing local instruments. They got us each up to dance, and the whole thing went for an hour. We were glad when it was over. Included was a locomotion style bop around the hall. As Paul said We Shall Never Speak Of This Again. That set my giggling off again.

We are glad to be back on the mainland now, with flushing toilets and showers.