Unwanted attention

Well here's what you get for wearing a steelers jersey in Dunedin
http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/other-spor...
It was also in the print version.

For the record, I thought I would be fitting in. I was the only person wearing a jersey. Which made me a target for our american friend and also the photographer.

Dec was just out of shot btw, not important enough to make the cut:)

Christchuch and Dunedin

Just a quick summary of what we've been up to so far.

Arrived in Christchurch last friday, no hiccups on the journey but was ridiculously tired. Journey took about 38 hours from start to finish. We spent the day on Saturday on the Christchurch Gondola, which has really nice views over the city and also over Lyttleton and the harbour there (photos should follow shortly). We did a lot of walking there which was enjoyable but tough beacuse of the heat (30C). One positive effect is that the walk seemed to get rid of any jetlag.

On Sunday we drove to Dunedin. It seems to be a lot nicer than Christchurch, which felt like a overly planned city without a proper centre. Today we did a tour of the Cadbury's factory and myself and Dec watched the superbowl. I wore my Steelers jersey which got me some unwanted attention in the pub we were in.

Anyway, we are off to Te Anau in the morning which is our base for Milford Sound. It'll be the first trip where ill be driving.

South America Guide

So I am back home now. 3 months and 8 countries after leaving Australia! Here is my summary of things that we saw and did in South America. Anybody thinking of doing it, stop thinking and just do it. You won't regret it...

Firstly is Buenos Aires. We stayed in the Centro area but the main party area is Palermo. Its a great city and very European. Kind of like a mixture between Madrid and Bangkok. We spent 4 nights there and that is enough there. We walked around a lot but there is a metro system there if you get lazy. Things to see are the Bombenera where the Boca Juniors play and Caminito area in la Boca which is beside the stadium. There are tango dancers in cafes and plenty of other things to do and see around the city. We just wandered around aimlessly for most of the time.

After that we flew to Rio. This is my favourite city in the world. There is so much to see and do or if you are lazy or hungover you can just chill at the beach. We spent some time in Copacobana but mostly in Ipanema. If you are going there I'd recommend Ipanema. Christ the Redeemers statue is one of the wonders of the world now and you can make your way up there on your own. For a similar price though you can get a city tour which takes you there and other places so we did it that way. Try and get to the statue early though because it gets very busy and hard to take photos although if you are patient you will get the photos you want. When in Rio dont miss sunset on the Sugar Loaf. Everyone claps when the sun goes down but not sure what else they might have been expecting. Games are on in the Maracana most Wednesdays and Sundays and if you are lucky you might get to see a local derby. Flamengo games are meant to be the best because most people in Rio support them. You can go on your own and buy tickets there or for 3 times the price you can go with a group (bealocal.com). Lapa is the going out place on Fridays and Saturdays where there are street parties. That is really cool. The favela tour is good too. Its a little voyeuristic but it gives you a better understanding of what goes on there and is definitely worth seeing. Rio has a bad reputation of being dangerous but if you have common sense, dont walk too far at night, dont carry around more money than you need and dont give money to muggers unless you are sure they have a gun/knife, it isn't bad at all. No worse than any city really.

From Rio we went to Ilha Grande. There are no cars or ATMs on this island but its worth chilling out there for a few days. Ferries only go once or twice a day and leave from Angra dos Reis (there is another town too but I forget the name of it). The last one at 4.30 when we were there but there are other boats that bring you to the island for a bit more money. On the island there are plenty of beaches and walks you can take but there are lots of mosquitoes so bring repellent.

After Ilha Grande we went to Paraty. This is an old colonial town between Angra dos Reis and Sao Paulo. We were meant to spend 2 days there but spent 5. Our hostel was called Sierra del Mar and was probably the best place we stayed in. It was cheap too for what you got. Maria runs it with her boyfriend and both were really sound, Maria is hot too! There are waterfalls outside the town that you can cycle to or get a bus, don't try to walk it. We did and were walking for 4 hours and barely saw a river. Was nice to walk around the smaller towns around it though. Paraty itself is a class town and really beautiful. There is a beach across the road from the hostel too for chilling out on and you can rent kayaks etc.

We left Paraty and got a bus to Sao Paulo and then on to Iguazu. Book the Sao Paulo to Iguazu bus in advance. Its about 100 euro. In Iguazu the most popular place on the Argentinian side is Hotel Inn. We stayed in some little shitty place though nearer the town. The falls are better to be seen from the Argentinian but people say to see it from both. On the Argentinian side you can take a boat under the falls, bring spare clothes, you get wet!! You can also do a day trip to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay for some cheap shopping and black market goods.

Salta was our next stop, where we stayed for a weekend. I cant tell you too much about it coz I got the worst hangover of my life here and spent a full day in bed. Its a university town and as you can guess, really good to go out in! From Salta we went to Bolivia. The border crossing is a pain coz Bolivia dont open their border til 8 am. Its cold there and finding the border walking isn't too easy either.

On the Bolivian side we got the bus to Tupiza. We started the Salar Tour from here. It cost about $100 for 4 days. You spend an awful lot of time in the jeep and it gets to about -15c at night. After that there is nothing bad about the tour and is well worth it. The food they give you is good and considering where you are you are well looked after. Have a look at the photos for yourself to see just how good it is. The tour stops in Uyuni and the best advice possible is get out of there ASAP! Its a shit hole. We had problems because the election was the next day and no buses were running. We eventually paid a guy from a tour company to drive us to Potosi. Potosi is the highest city in the world. The main attractions there are the mines and a huge mountain (about 6300m I think). We didnt do either, walking up a hill at 4800 is though enough never mind trying to climb a mountain. The mines are full of asbestos too so didnt want to take the risk.

Sucre was next up and we stayed here for 3 weeks. 2 weeks to learn Spanish and 1 week because we got blockaded in. This is a common occurance around Sucre so if you are tight for time don't go there. There was no trouble inside the city itself. We spent 2 weeks doing Spanish with Aida Rojas. Shes was really good and cheap and I have her email, etc if anyone wants lessons in Sucre. Her parrot is cool too. Sucre is a great town. Its really small and all the people there are really friendly. We even took in a soccer match while we were there. The shisha bar is good for drinks too.

From Sucre to La Paz we went by plane because of blockades but they were of course lifted the day we booked our flights! We stayed in the Wild Rover hostel. Its a bit of a party hostel and sells Barrys Tea!! Excellent. From there we organised the bike ride with Gravity and our trip to the midget wrestling. Also our bus out. La Paz is a big city and isnt much different from any other big city. Do the bike ride dont bother with the wrestling and probably get out of there soon after. We visited San Pedro prison, the one from the book Marching Powder. It was expensive and not that great but we had to see it after reading about it. Read the book if you are going to go. Stuart is the guy you go to see in there. Stay away from Jacques, he's meant to be crazy. If Stuart is gone, try looking for Daniel. There is a big cocaine culture in La Paz if you are into that too but I have no info for anybody on that.

The bus from La Paz to Cusco is fine. No dramas. Cusco is where you do the Inca Trail from. If you want to do the original book it at least 6 months in advance to be sure of a place. If you dont want to be tied by time then you can do an alternate trek when you are there. Matt did one but I didn't so cant really advise people much about it.

While Matt was on the Inca trail I headed to Trujillo in the North of Peru (this will be new to anybody who has been reading the blog). I spent a couple of days there and waited for Matt to catch up. It is Perus second biggest city which I didn't realise until afterwards. There is Chan Chan, an old archaeological site and the temples of the sun and the moon. I didn't visit any of them! I stayed in Casa de Clara which was a nice hostel but a bit weird. Judging from the look of the rest of the places though was the best pick.

After Matt met back up with us we went to Huanchaco. This is a nice little beach town. Its quite the whole time but there are more people around at the weekends. It is very popular for surfing. I am told that it is unique because the surf is so consistent. Basically you can surf all day every day. Not that I did. I spent most of the time lying down and drinking. It was the first place that we had been able to wear shorts since Sucre! We stayed in My Friend hostel. It was very cheap and the food there was class. I would definitely suggest it. For a little bit more, hostel Rubalong looked good too. It has a class view of the beach.

What I dont recommend is a bus from Trujillo to Quito! 29 hours on a bus is too much. It was very tough work and painful. Have money to buy stuff at the stops or it is awful. I can't give much advice on Quito because we didnt stay there very long.

That is about all I can think of about South America the way we did it. Any specific questions, just ask!! :)

Spanish, Biking and San Pedro

So it has been a while now since the last post and a lot has been going on. Well not a whole not but enough. There was Spanish lessons, a graduation party, blockades, the Worlds Most Dangerous Road and San Pedro prison.

Spanish lessons is probably the place to start. Me and Matt got to Sucre and the next day started Spanish lessons. We had a class of just us with Aida Rojas. If anybody is doing Spanish in Sucre then I would definitely recommend doing it with her. I have her details so if anybody wants it, send me an email. She has the coolest parrot too by the way. It talks... a lot! She is good teacher and does a lot of grammar too so it basically gives us a basis to start off.

In Sucre we stayed in hostel Cruz de Popyan which is a great hostel. There was a cool common courtyard where people sat out, talked and studied Spanish most of the day. There was always a good group of people to go out with. Niamh, who is a friend of the girls living across the hall from us in Sydney, came and stayed a week too. We had a real good laugh with her. After 2 weeks of Spanish then we had a graduation party. 8 of us rented out graduation robes and had a night on the town. Sucre is a really good place to go out and by the end of my time there I was a fan of the Shisha bar.

After the graduation party we were meant to head to La Paz but because of blockades we had to wait there another week. Blockades are common around Sucre but it was hard enough to fill the days without having Spanish classes.

Finally on Friday we arrived in La Paz. Then Saturday we went cycling on the Worlds Most Dangerous Road. It got its names in the 90's after a study on the amount of deaths on a road per km. Nowadays there is very little traffic on it though. The road is 3m wide at the narrowest point with cliffs of 60m to 600m normally inches away from you as hurtle down hill. It was really enjoyable though.

Today then was San Pedro prison. It costs 300bs (€30) to do the tour. After reading the book Marching Powder, it was somewhere that me and Matt both had to see. It is an actually prison and the tour is given by one of the inmates. The tour is in the Posta section of the prison. To understand this you have to realise that there are 8 sections in the prison. When a prisoner is arrested they have to pay an entrance fee into the prison. After that they have to buy their own cell!! They actually own the deeds to the cell. When I say cell, they have cable tv, mobile phones, and pretty much anything you can buy outside the prison. There are shops take-aways recreation rooms all available to the inmates. Even the prisoners families live in the prison. In fairness, the tour was only ok but it was worth a look.

Tomorrow, we head to Cusco so the Bolivian adventure is almost over.

Spanish lessons with Aida

Graduation night in Sucre

Jamie Matt Carolyn and Catherine

A few squares didnt dress up! ;)

Aida came for a drink and drank of her own accord!

Behind the bar in Joy Ride

Some people were better than others at drinking games!

The important thing is that everyone was having fun

Mick was a great a laugh and always up for one! Una mas!!

La Paz has taken a more literal meaning to a zebra crossing

Me, Matt and Jamie get ready to tackle the worlds most dangerous road

The Universitario mask gets an outing at midget wrestling!

It's Life Jim, But Not as We Know It

We left Salta and headed for the border with Bolivia. After a 7 hour bus journey the first thing you notice is the freezing cold. After that the border with Bolivia doesnt open til 8, not that we had a clue how to get from the bus station to the border. When we finally walked there, the difference between Argentina and Bolivia was obvious. Much more Indigenous people and much poorer. The bus from Villazon to Tupiza showed some of the country side, barren and as one of the lads put it, like the moon. Nonetheless, it was amazing to see and the scenery was class.

One night in Tupiza then and it was off on a tour of the salt flats, Salar de Uyuni. This was a 4 day 3 night tour which we spent most of in a jeep, starting in Tupiza and ending in Uyuni. we were in a group with a French couple on their honeymoon. They were a good laugh but I think Anna wanted some nicer places than the ones we stayed in! On the trip we saw geezers, boiling mud, giant cactai, red lakes, green lakes, white lakes, flamengos and some of the most amazing views you could imagine.

On the first night we stayed in a small village up in the mountains. The altitude was about 4200m and the town had a population of about 250 people. The temperature we were told was about -7 that night, with the second night promising to be colder again, staying at an altitude of 5000m. Our room for the first night had no glass on the window, concrete floors and a corragated iron roof. Insulation obviously not a concern here :) Thankfully on the second night there was a more sturdy structure so the extra few degrees didnt harm us too much. It was said to be -15 degrees but it was cloudy that night so not sure if it got down that far.

On night 3 we stayed in a hotel made of salt. Basically it was blocks of salt carved into the shape of bricks, with salt on the floor. Chairs and tables also made of salt blocks. It was much warmer there as we were back down to about 4000m and the hotel itself was kept warm.

The final day was the highlight of the trip. Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flats in the world, containing 10 billion tonnes of salt! It is a flat and white and after that, there is not much else that can describe it apart from pictures.

After finishing the tour, we arrived in Uyuni. General advise was get the f*** out of there as soon as you can. It didnt take long to see why. It really is not a nice place. There is nothing to do or see there apart from the salt flats and train cemetry which we had already seen. The only problem, no buses leaving to Sucre for 3 days because of elections! After some asking around we managed to get a guy with a jeep to bring us to Potosi which is where we are now. Its only 3 hours from Sucre where we hope to get to tomorrow. The jeep journey started off eventful with the driver crashing 2 minutes into the trip. Thankfully it was only a small tip and no damage was done. After that, it was plain sailing.

Potosi itself is a mining town and is also the world's highest city. Think it is about 4800m. The main attraction here are the mines but after hearing that they are full of asbestos we will be giving them a miss.

One last little thing, altitude makes it near impossible to climb small hills and you get sunburnt when it is 2 degrees!

Til Next time

Brian

I have over 200 pictures from this trip so I have only quickly took a small sample

The women all wear bowler hats here and are very aged. The cook on the trip was 32, looked 52!

Evo Morales has a lot of support in small towns for the up coming elections

On the second day we were up at 5:30

At this point we are higher than Mt. Blanc, Europes highest mountain. Higher to go!

Mud boils at 200 degrees

The smoke is full of sulphur. Basically, the place stank of rotten eggs!

Unfortunately it wasnt particularly nice weather. The lake was red. From algae and sediment apparently

Me at a big rock thing

the big rock thing on its own

Candles light the room in the salt hotel. Electricty is off at 9:30

This train has died!