Victoria and Justin

The last post

2010-02-01T02:50:00.009Z

Our last stop together in South America was Buenos Aires. Victoria flew directly back to Sydney from BA and I stopped off in New York for a week before arriving home just in time for Christmas.

Our final days in BA were spent soaking up some culture, we did 'dinner and a show' at one of the famous tango clubs, walked the rustic streets of Boca checking out some of the local art work, some shopping in Palermo and of course we could go without a last supper at La Cabrera.

It was an epic journey, filled with adventure, excitment, some hard time but all well worth it. Your can check out our photos from Argentina, covering Patagonia, Bariloche, Mendoza, Iguazu falls and Buenos Aires.

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/lh/sredir?uname=justindiddams&target=ALBUM&id=5407331700675790305&authkey=Gv1sRgCP_npMjIopSgwwE&feat=email

We hope you've enjoyed the travels as much as we did. Now we're back in Australia and South America is almost a distant memory as we re-enter normal society. Our contact details are as follows, love to hear from you.

Wet and Wild

2009-12-20T16:45:00.004Z

As we're nearing the end of our trip some tough calls had to be made. The first of these was getting ourselves to Iguazu Falls, a 36 hours trip, including two back-to-back overnight buses, covering the 2,000km distance in one go, arghhh!

We arrived in Puetro Iguazu in the early morning. It was already hot and humid. As we stepped off the bus it hit us like a fan forced oven. I was sweating without movement......

After our recent disappointments due to bad weather we decided we'd head straight out to the falls given the current conditions were above average. We dumped our bags at the hostel, put on our swimmers (with clothes on top) and jumped onto the local bus (it was only 2 pesos vs the taxi option for 100pesos).

The first thing you notice as you approach the falls is the noise, the rumbling of water descending the 80metres and smashing into the river below. The next is the feel, the spray starts to sprinkling across your face as you head toward the edge. And then it's the visual, seeing the water glide over the top of the falls getting transformed into a twisted cloud of vapor, bouncing as high as the falls themselves. It's an epic experience.

The lookouts are accessed via walkways, suspended above the rushing water, given you amazing access to the best vantage points. It's an impressive engineering job. Once we'd seen the falls from above it was time to view them from the front.

A boat tour, how lovely.....no, how crazy! We headed down river to the launching point, as we walked we kept passing other tourists who'd just returned from their boat trip, soaking wet with smiles from ear to ear. We paid our money, we stripped down to our swimmers, got issued our lifevest and boarded the massive rubber ducky with twin 250hp outboard motors. And off we went into the water falls. The captain skillfully drove us towards the falls, with the motors on full throttle we moved into the impact zone, the boat getting smashed with water, bouncing over the waves, it was great fun (and a little scary).

After the boat ride we'd seen it all, we strolled back across the walkways toward the park entrance and with about 500m to the covered bus stop the heaven's opened and we're soaked again. We just made it.

The next morning was spend lounging beside the pool at the hostel (an old casino covered into accomodation) and then back on a bus in the afternoon, next stop Buenos Aires.

The first lookout - some serious power

covered in spray

The falls from one of the walkways

Just some of the 2.7km of falls

On route to the boats

One last photo before we head into the falls

You can see the other boats under the spray

still soaked to the skin

It's not about the bike

2009-12-05T16:44:00.007Z

From the Atlantic coast we headed West into the Andes mountains. The journey itself was pretty spectacular with the road winding long the valley floor, passing snow covered mountains and deep blue lakes. Let me just say it now, the buses in Argentina are an absolute pleasure (especially compared with the crap we've endured in the rest of South America). We took the "Cama" option (that's 'bed' in Spanish), the seats are like business class on a airplane and you meals (and wine)!

First stop was the alpine town of Bariloche, sitting along side Lago Nahuel Huapi and surrounded by a number of ski resorts. In winter the town is heaving with skiers and boarders but in summer it takes on a more laid back vibe (much like any other ski town). Our first afternoon was spent scoping out town and planning the next few days. We stayed at Hostel 1004, on the 10th floor of an apartment building, the views were sublime.

Our first adventure was the famous "Circuito chico", a 25km bicycle tour around the lakes and forest. We thought to ourselves "25kms, that's nothing, should be sweet". Well, once we got underway we discovered it was a little more hilly than we'd expected (not mentioned in the guidebooks). It ended up being pretty tough work but well worth it.

We woke the next morning feeling a bit tender, which was good timing for me as the Wallabies game (against Scotland) was being shown on TV but we lost 9-8, arghhh, which meant Victoria had to endure a pretty grumpy husband for the rest of the day.

The next day need to be more active as we had dinner at the local parrilla (Argentina steak house) and polished off half a cow and a bottle of Malbec. So, we hiked to the top of the local ski mountain. The views from the top were incredible, there's nothing quite like lakes and mountains.

We'd now overdosed on lakes and mountain vistas. So, we took an overnight bus North to Mendoza, the 'wine' capital of Argentina. It's a beautiful city, enjoying wide tree covered streets and plenty of green space, but once you've done the standard "walked around the old town" there really isn't too much else to do. So, the next day we headed out to Maipu, the wine growing region on the edge of Mendoza, for our bicycle wine tasting tour. We picked up some wheels from "Mr Hugo", an old guy who offers free wine at the end of your tour, and off we went in search of wine!

It was a fun day but not quite what we expected. The tour was actually just us cycling down a semi-main road (B-road in UK) stopping at the various wineries which offered tastings. it wasn't quite the same as the picturesque image we'd developed in our heads. Nevertheless, we made it five wineries, ranging from boutique labels (around 70,000 bottles per year) to the massive Trapiche operation (over 5 million annually). Although, after the first couple of glasses it all tasted the same.......

So, after a little over a week of mountains and boozing it was time for something special, next stop Puerto Iguazu.

Mountains, lakes, Victoria, Justin

Rollin' on my sweet ride

Dos águilas (Two eagles)

The view of Bariloche from our hostel room (seriously)

About half way around the Curcuito Chico

At the lunch spot

Victoria crusin' on our wine tour

Outside our favourite winery "Tommaso"

"mmmm, has this been aged in American oak?"

In the nerve centre

Glacier threat to Bolivia capital

2009-12-04T12:26:00.002Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8394324.stm

Fears are growing for the future of water supplies in one of Latin America's fastest-growing urban areas - Bolivia's sprawling city of La Paz.

A whale of a time

2009-12-01T18:40:00.006Z

Our next stop was Puerto Madryn, for some whale watching, after another 24hr overnight bus trip. We arrived in the afternoon with enough time to book our tour for the next day. The tours head out to the Pennisula Valdes, which is a protected animal reserve where Southern Right Whales come every year to give birth to their young, before heading south to Antarctica in December to feed on krill. We weren't sure what to expect as we'd heard you might (or might NOT) see any whale on the tour but we were blown away.

Our boat tour took us into the bay and immediately we came across a mother and calf (it was feeding time). Unfortunately they swam away from the boat, so we left them in search of more action. Before long we found a inquisitive and playful calf, about 4 months old and already 10 metres long. It was spashing its flippers (apparently signalling to its mother), showing us its tail and then it came within a metre of the boat. It swam underneath and around the boat for about half an hour, and as it swam off it jumped out of the water (called breaching) about 3 times into the distance. A perfect tour they say when it comes to whale watching. We were absolutely stunned with how many whales were in the bay, we could see lots of them also in the distance. A very special place.

After a short lunch stop, we continued north up the coast and spied on some baby elephant seals, not very interesting as they lay on the beach and did not move. We were hoping to see an Orca (Killer Whale) jump out of the water and feast on one of the seals but no such luck (Justin was very disappointed). We also visited a colony of Magellanic penguins, most of them sitting on their eggs waiting for them to hatch, we saw two tiny penguins no bigger than about 8cm´s tall, very cute.

What a day, we hit the jackpot. Another unforgettable experience.

The whale watching Boat

The whale calf showing off for the crowd

That's a flipper

(and yes, my camera lens now has dirt on the inside of the lens)

Some tail action

The calf breaching, just amazing

Excited about the whale show

Elephant seals (fat, lazy and stupid)

A couple of penguins (very cute)

.........and busting some moves

Going, going, gone to Patagonia

2009-11-26T20:12:00.010Z

So, after a great weekend in Buenos Aires, and a sad farewell to Alicia, we jumped on a plane to Patagonia, landing in the town of El Calafate. What a shock it was getting off the plane, it was only about 5 degrees with a pretty nasty wind chill factor. We checked into our hostel, booked a tour for the following day and went out for dinner. We went to a Parrilla restaurant called 'Don Pichon' overlooking the lake (with snow capped mountains in the background). A beautiful setting to polish off a kilogram of meat washed down with a local Malbec. NB; Patagonian lamb is by far the best lamb we've tasted, check out the photo below for how it's cooked!

The next morning we were on the bus at 8am to see the Perito Moreno Glacier, just spectacular. We had a little rain in the morning but it didn't ruin the day as the clouds help to highlight the cracks in the glacier. We took a boat trip to the southern face of the glacier, getting within about 200 metres. The glacier is huge, it measures 30km long, 5km wide and 60m high. A funny story on the boat, as you can imagine everyone is trying to get the best vantage point for their photos, well at one point an old lady almost pushed Justin overboard trying to improve her spot, which had plenty of the other passengers quite amused and the old lady just stood in front of us, oblivious of what had happened. After the boat trip we headed to the north face of the glacier, across the long boardwalk which ran along the side of the glacier. We could heard the glacier constantly cracking, but as the guide said to us, by the time you hear the cracking, the ice has already fallen. We didn't see much ice action unfortunately.

The following day we headed to El Chalten, a 4 hour bus ride from El Calafate, a base for hiking the local mountain range, which includes Fitz Roy and the Torre. We arrived on a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky, so the mountains were out in their glory, absolutely spectacular scenery. We planned to climb to the base of Fitz Roy the follwing day, but we woke to rain. Lucky for Justin Australia was playing rugby so we hung out in the hostel for the morning. In the afternoon we walked up to the mirador (lookout) in hope of a sighting of Fitz Roy again, but no joy, we would try again the next day.

We were up early the following day to cover the 25km walk we'd planned. This time we were going, rain, hail or shine. It was almost sunny, the clouds had lifted, however a single cloud sat on top of the Fitz Roy all day, so again no perfect sighting. Our walk took us past an amazing glacier, a few lakes and to base camp overlooking the valley and a frozen lake. There were a few snow flakes as we reached to base camp, a sign that more clouds were moving in, so we headed back to town quick smart.

Overall, an unforgettable experience in Patagonia, what an incredible place.

Aproaching the glacier

The glaicer from the boat

And from the viewing platform

(yes, i have dust inside the lens of my camera)

The Fitz Roy (the shark fin shape on the right)

and Cerro Torre (It's the pointy mountain on the left side)

One of the glaciers below the Fitz Roy

The lunch spot

The lake below the base of Fitz Roy (in the clouds, again)

Don't cry for me Argentina

2009-11-24T16:44:00.006Z

We made it to Argentina, the last country on our tour of South America, and it's arrived quickly (we can't believe we're already on the home stretch). Our month in Argentina started with a weekend in Buenos Aires (that's BA for short) and what a place to start. After months of travelling (and sometimes 'battling') through the rest of South Amercia, BA was a pleasure, it's almost like a European city (it's was like being in Barcelona). Of course, BA does have a dangerous side but it's well hidden from the nicer downtown areas.

We arrived around midday on a Saturday and headed straight to Palermo. It's the Notting Hill of BA, north of the centro, with plenty of cafes and boutique shops. The girls felt right at home. Our first meal was lunch, enjoying a massive steak and a couple of bottle of vino tinto. Now we'd really arrived in Argentina. The rest of the day we walked off the lunch, just window shopping.

Saturday night was a boomer. We'd pulled together a formidable crew of animals, including; Simon and Trish (Aussie mates from London, in BA for the weekend, on their own world tour) , our Florianopolis crew Omid and Paul and we still had Alicia with us. Fortunately, one of Simon's Argy mates had organised us a VIP table at the 'Asia de Cuba' club in BA. We arrived at 11pm, I think the sun was coming up when we departed, and the rest is a blur. Needless to say, Sunday was a write off.

Monday was much more productive. We took a bicycle tour around the older parts of BA, through San Telmo, Boca and downtown. The tour also took us passed the infamous Boca Juniors stadium 'La Bombonera' ( translated as 'the chocolate box'). Dinner was another steak and bottle of red wine, again, it was lovely! On Tuesday we checked out the Recoleta Cemetery, home to some of the most influential and important (dead) Argentinians. It's rather ostentatious and a little creepy but worth seeing.

Tuesday night was our 'La Cabrera' dinner, and we're still talking about it. The restaurant is one of the hundreds of steak houses in BA but this place was special. It could be one of the best steak i've ever had, which is a massive call, I know. I had the 'Bife de Lomo', an 800 gram filet steak which melted in my mouth, just awesome. And yes, i finished it all. It was also our last dinner with Alicia, Omid and Paul as we were all going our seperate ways on Wednesday. So, a fitting end to a great couple of weeks with the crew.

Wednesday we said goodbye to Alicia and headed to the airport. Our next stop was Patagonia.

There's a Nike store in Palermo

The P12 crew back together again

Victoria, Trish and Poo (aka: Simon)

Tori and Omid in the saddle

Omid, Alicia and Paul in San Telmo main square

(where the yellow fever plague started in the 19th Century)

Victoria in Boca

Meat, meat, meat (and Pedro)

Happy snaps from Brasil

2009-11-24T15:30:00.001Z

Check out our photos from Brasil, just click on the link (no log in required)

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=justindiddams&target=ALBUM&id=5407323174525894081&authkey=Gv1sRgCM2H8IHK0I3PpAE&feat=email

(NB: I've downloaded 'pixresizer' which means uploading photos takes 5 minutes NOT 5 hours, this would have been very helpful about 3 months ago......)

Florianopolis....a touch of paradise

2009-11-21T16:30:00.010Z

Another overnight bus and we were in Florianopoils. The trip itself was pretty uneventful, although Alicia wasn't too happy being stuck next to a 'smelly' man (who climbed over her each time the bus stopped, every 4 hours). We were staying near a beach called Praia Mole, at a hostel called Sunset Backpackers. It was one of the nicest settings, for a hostel, that we've seen on our travels. The place was perched at the top of a hill overlooking a massive lagoon, with a sweeping balcony and the sun shining, it was welcome to paradise! We booked two private rooms as Princess Alicia wanted her own room, fortunately both our rooms had little balconies overlooking the lake, so what a perfect setting for some relaxation.

We arrived on a Sunday of a long weekend, and on the Monday there was a big party at a club called P12 located at Jurere Beach, it's run by the same mob as Pacha. We weren´t too sure what to expect but decided to go, and aren´t we glad we did. The club had a massive swimming pool surrounded by white sun lounges, a huge dancefloor and plenty of bars. And as the place filled up with the local gliterati it started to crank up. We were there with a couple of guys from our hostel, Paul from Sydney and Omid for London. Justin was happy to have some 'man friends' after hanging out with Hannah, Alicia and me for the last two weeks. So, the drinks started flowing at 1pm and didn´t stop all day. The day went by in a blurr, definitely a highlight! Tuesday was basically a right off, although we did make it down to the beach.

And the rest of the week was 'mucho relaxo', spending most days at the beach. Our local beach 'Praia Mole' was only a 5 minute walk down the hill, a nice little beach with a few cafes but nothing too serious. Apparently it's also the local gay beach, although we had no confirmed sightings (they must have been hiding at the nudest beach just over the rocks). The other beach we enjoyed was Joaquina Beach, about a half an hour walk away, this is the local surf beach which spans some kilometres, it reminded us of Australian beaches.

Our nights were pretty casual, enjoying a few beers (and caipirinha) on the balcony at sunset followed by dinner at the hostel. Our low key approach was also partly driven by the cost of going out in Brasil. The prices in restuarants, bars and nightclubs are almost on par with some European holiday resorts. And we're travelling on the British Peso (previous know as the Pound).

A relaxing week in paradise was great preparation for the chaos of our next stop, a weekend in Buenos Aires.

The view at breakfast from the Sunset backpackers

Sunset from our private balcony

The girls enjoying the sun at P12

The happy couple (pool side)

Hitting the pool

The team (early days)

Smashing up the D-floor (much later)

Celebrity blogger - Hannah Diddams - My week in Rio

2009-11-19T16:02:00.007Z

I didn’t know what to expect as my taxi pulled up in front of the apartment in Ipanema Beach. Justin and Tori had been on the road for months – would they be different? My first thought was how much they had changed but after spending a week with my brother and his wife I was reassured to see that they were the same as ever under those layers of South American grim and beard (Justin anyway).

The first thing I noticed about the married couple was how thin they both are. The Diddams’ (yes Tors you are one of us now!) are not known for our slender frames but all that hauling of backpacks and dysentery must be working for them. They look great! Behind Justin’s ginger beard lies a very thin and prominent jaw line.

Our week consisted of healthy eating, sunshine (not enough of it though) and exercise. Yes, you heard right. Most days began running along the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema or around the Lagoon. After feasting on a healthy breakfast of fresh Papaya and bran (again, very healthy) we would head down to the beach. Tori and Justin looked a couple of hippies with their Peruvian hessian bags slung across their tanned bods. Definitely in stark contract to the somewhat pasty New Yorker stood beside them.

On the beach, it felt like Jonny D had been reincarnated as Justin lounged about ordering beers and snacks from the local vendors. These guys pace up along the beach selling their wares - everything from Bikinis to jewellery, beers to fried cheese on coals. The beach is definitely where Rio shines her best, as the clouds hover over the mountains behind and the Atlantic brings in a cool breeze.

Sadly the rains came for several days during the middle of the week, which forced us to leave the beach and get cultural. These trips included visiting the old colonial-style village of Santa Teresa and riding he tram back to hustle and bustle of the main business ‘Centro’. We passed the hours drinking coffees and beers and hearing all the amazing stories from J + Ts excellent adventures through South America.

Another afternoon we headed to the 'Rosina' favela, one of the famous favelas of Rio. This close-up and somewhat sanitised look into life in the Favela was an interesting intersection of touristic voyeurism and a Favela PR mission – we did not see any drugs, guns or crime. The only people we did see where the ”foot solider” with walkie talkies that called in our arrival into the Favela.

Whilst on the surface it appeared that Justin and Tori had become the hippy-loving Gandhis of South America, it was comforting to see the old habits never die. The hippy lifestyle did not extend far enough to food and booze. One evening we went for dinner at a Churrascaria restaurant. This marathon of meat eating began with the tastiest beef on a long metal skewer sliced off straight onto our plates. This we washed down with delicious red wine. We were given these little circular disks with green 'Go' on one side and red “stop” on the other. Believe me, by the end we made sure the disk was turned to “stop” as we could not handle another round of salted beef. Suffice to say that night we all had some crazy 'meat' dreams!

It was a very special week of catching up and swapping stories. I loved hearing the all the details of their travels. They seem to have taken to the backpacker life and I get the sense that this will not be the last adventure Justin and Victoria (and possible plus one?!!) will embark on in the future. And as for me…. It’s back to New York to dream of Caipirinhas in the sun for another day!

Lots of love, Hannah

We´re going to Rio.....de Janiero

2009-11-11T20:07:00.008Z

We finally arrived in Rio de Janiero on a Friday after our 2 day trek from Bolivia to Brasil, which had turned into a 'planes, trains and automobiles' mission (well, it was a bus not a train but pretty tough going). And expectations were running high. Rio would be our first taste of 'quasi' western civilisation in 3 months and we had some international visitors arriving, Hannah (my sister from New York) and Alicia (our mate from London). So, Victoria and I set about finding some suitable accomodation for these working girls taking a break from the hustle and bustle. We found a two bedroom apartment in Ipanema, one block from the beach, and right in the middle of the action.

And then there was three - Hannah arrived around midday on Saturday, we moved in the apartment, grabbed some lunch and headed straight for the beach. I'd say we had a 'semi-relaxing' day at the beach, as we were joined by a couple of thousand Brasilians and suffered the constant hounding of various 'beach sellers' offering everything from beers, ice tea, prawns on a stick, jewellery, rugs to cooked cheese (yes, cheese, and it was awesome). That night we decided to have a relatively quite night as Han had just arrived. We got home around 3am (opps), after plenty of drinks, a vigorous search for the local kebab shop and Victoria shouting 'hola' to all the street cleaners, classic stuff.

After a few days at the beach we decided it was time for some cultural activities, and the forecast was for rain from Tuesday to Thursday. We took a taxi into the centro, had a look around downtown and checked out the old neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, with it's cobled street and old tramway, it was all interesting stuff. That night we had dinner at the local churrascaria (it's one of those famous 'all you can eat' barbeque restuarants in Rio). What a meal, we tore that place up, there was so much meat! About half way thru my meal I suffered from a mild case of 'meat sweats', it was just to much protein.

On the Wednesday it was more culture. We went on a 'favela tour', a guided walk thru one of the 'safer' favelas in Rio (a favela is a shanty town in Brasil). What an eye opening experience, with the majority of people living in some tough conditions. The worst we encountered was the occasional menacing looking teenager, interestingly, most people we encounter were reasonably cheerful, although we did take the 'gringo' route through the favela. Later that evening we had our first taste of Samba, attending a 'carnival' practice session for the Salgueiro suburb of Rio (winner of 2009 carnival), the hall had over 100 drummers and another 500 people singing and dancing, they rocked the place.

And then there was four - Alicia arrived on Thursday night, we had a couple of drinks to catch up but nothing crazy. We woke Friday morning to blue sky! It was time to hit the 'Corcovado', the massive Jesus statue sitting above Rio. However, by the time we reached the statue some light cloud had come in obsuring the statue and the view of Rio, slightly disappointing but that's travelling. So, to ease our woes we headed to the beach for the rest of the day, enjoying the sun, a few beers and the cooked cheese, awesome. On Friday night we had our last dinner with Hannah (departing Saturday) and our first with Alicia in a nice little restaurant in Ipanema. After dinner we jumped in a taxi to Lapa (home to samba clubs and discotheques), our first stop was the 'Rio Scenarium' a multi-level club, needless to say, it ended up being quite a large night.

We woke up on Saturday, hung...... We hit the beach for a few hours, then cleaned the apartment and it was time to depart. And that was Rio. Next stop Florianopolis.

The girls rollin' on Copacobana beach

Meat, meat, meat and more meat! (check the waiter, what a prowler)

The view from the top of our favela tour

Salgueiro carnival rehearsal

Justin's Angels !

The view was promising on route to Jesus statue.........

......and then clouds at the top, arghhh

Too many words, not enough pictures........

2009-11-01T20:16:00.001Z

ARGHHHH, I've finally got these photos uploaded (on the world's slowest computers).

so, for those of you who haven't found time to read the blog (or just couldn't be bothered), check out the the kodakgallery links to our photos from Peru and Bolivia. (No login required, just click on the links)

For those of your falling behind, you can find our photos of Colombia and Ecuador on the previous blog entry called "A picture tells a thousand word" dated 26 September 2009.

Peru

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=688038345805%3A1532337217

Machu Picchu

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=549238345805%3A1468717047

Bolivia

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=869238345805%3A871862963

Brasil and Argentina - work in progress

Once the centre of attention

2009-10-29T18:00:00.003Z

The last leg of our Bolivian journey took us North East through Potosi and Sucre. At one point this region was the most powerful in South America but today......not so much. So, after another painful bus ride, this time only 7 hours of dirt roads, we arrived in Potosi.

Potosi is claimed to be the highest city in the world at 4,090m (i haven't had the time to confirm this fact but it certainly was tough walking around the streets) and was once the richest city in South America. We found this a little surprising given it's current state but there was some evidence of a once great coloniel town. The town itself sits below the 'Cerro Rico' (or Rich Mountain) which during the 18th and 19th Centuries supplied around 70% of the world's silver and thus providing the Spanish Empire with near unlimited resources. Sadly, once the volume of silver declined the mining slowed and the town suffered.

We decided a couple of nights in Potosi would be enough. We took a walk around the old town, checked out the main plaza and looked through a couple of catherdrals, it was all pretty standard stuff. The highlight of stay was the tour of the 'Casa de la Moneda de Bolivia' (or the National Mint), which given the silver mining was one of the biggest mints in South America. Overall, it wasn't the most exciting place we've visited but with such an amazing history it certainly made for a memorable stop off.

Next stop, Surce, only 3 hours on the bus, what a pleasure! Sucre is a beautiful city with white wash walls, bustling plazas and a few parks. The city was home to wealthy that benefited from the mining in Potosi, who preferred to live in the more furtile valley at 2700m. It's also rich in history, once the Capital of Bolivia (now La Paz) and also the starting point of the revolution that liberated Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina from the Spanish Empire in the 19th century. We ended up spending 3 days in Sucre, just soaking up the culture, and covering off the usual tourist sights (no, we didn't make it to all 12 cathedrals....).

From Surce, we took a flight to Santa Cruz (a hot and ugly city in Eastern Bolivia), spent 8 hours there and then jumped back on a plane to Campo Grande in Brasil, 'cause 'we're going to Rio.................de Janerio'

Todos posible, nada seguro

2009-10-20T21:23:00.017+01:00

'Todos posible, nada seguro' translated is 'Everything is possible but nothing is guaranteed', a statement which typifies the behaviour of a good number of South Americans we've met along our travels (particularly the Bolivians). They'll offer you the world to get you onto their tours, into their buses and in their accomodation but when it comes time to deliver they often fall short. It's certainly made us more cautious (and a little cynical). And our 'Salt Flats' tour, while an amazing experience, it was no exception.

Our bus arrived in Uyuni at 6am, after 8 hours of dirt roads (yeah, an overnight bus on unsealed roads.....arghh). Uyuni is the starting point for most tours into the 'Salar de Uyuni' (or salt flats) and 'Altiplano' (high planes) of south western Bolivia. The town sits at 3600m above sea level and is pretty much just desert, dust and tourist offices. We took one look around and decided to get straight onto a tour that morning.

We found a tour company leaving at 10am that day. We checked all the details; trip itinerary (3 days), food menu (pretty standard), type of 4WD truck (Toyota Landcruiser), number of guests (3 Slovaks, 1 American), guide (speaks some english, ok), it all sounded good. We also had time to stock up on the essentials, water and wine. So, we left at 11am, time is not that important in Bolivia and within the first 5 minutes of the trip it was pretty clear our so called 'guide' was actually just a driver, given his zero english skills (seriously, nada!) and we caught him reading a pamphlet with various facts about the region. We found out later he's been driving the tour for 4 years.....you can only laugh.

First stop, the train graveyard, home to the retired coal-powered steam trains which were replaced by diesel motors in the mid-1900's. It's an amazing sight, with around 100 engines and carriages all rusting in the desert. These were the trains that transformed the mining industry in Bolivia during the late 1800's.

We jumped back in the truck and headed to the salt flats. The flats cover an epic 10,000 sq km's and are the remains of a prehistoric lake which covered the majority of south western Bolivia. Driving across the salt flats was amazing (i've been using this word a lot recently but it's all true, Bolivia is a special place). On the flats you can see for miles, with an oasis (an illusion of water) in every direction. Once across the flats we arrived in San Juan, a small town on the edge of the flats, our accomodation was the local 'salt' hotel. The place was made entirely from salt bricks, it had 12 double rooms and one shower (and only cold water) and one toilet, which certainly made things interesting.

Next morning we headed south, driving higher into the Bolivian Andes, we passed five lakes, Laguna Cañapa, Hedionda, Honda, Chiarkota and Colorada (or Red lake). The lakes are home to Flamingos which offered up some great photo opportunities. We also stopped at the 'Arbol de Piedra' (or stone tree), a volcanic rock eroded over hundreds of years, and yes, it was also amazing. The second night was spent in "the refuge' next to Red lake, at 4800m above see level, the accomodation was a mud brick house with some rooms, pretty basic accomodation (as warned, with no showers). After a few beers and a chew on the customary 'coca leaves' it was time for bed. Our room was only 9 degree but fortunately we had secured 4 blankets!

We woke at 4:45am on Day 3, to see the sun rise above the mountains, the colours were spectacular. Before sun rise I also had my first glimps of the Southern Cross from South America, it was upside down, not sure why (need to check Wiki). Our first stop of the day was the Sol de Mañana (thermals blasting out of the ground, driven by the nearby Volcan Licancabur). We pushed on to our breakfast stop at Termas de Polques which included a dip into the thermal bath on the lakes edge, a toasty 37 degrees, very soothing. Next stop was Laguna Verde (Green lake) and Laguna Blanca (white lake), by this stage it was just another lake but still pretty impressive.

From here, it was back to Uyuni, and 5 hours of driving ahead of us. We passed the Valle de Rocas (more volcanic rocks) and San Cristobal catherdral, some impressive stuff. We arrived back in Uyuni at 5pm, headed straight to the hostel for a warm shower, followed by a couple of beers and dinner. We're leaving at 10am the next morning for Potosi.

......Two great powerhouses

On the 'Isle Pescali' surrounded by the salt flats

plenty of cracked pepper.....

The Salt hotel on our first night

At Volcan Ollague (smoking in the background)

The flamingos in Laguna Honda

Our transport

The stone tree and me

At Laguna Verde, with Volcan Licancabur in the background

Welcome to the Jungle

2009-10-19T21:56:00.020+01:00

Our journey to the 'jungle' started after 2 rescheduled flights (only one we were told about), two trips to the airport and one hell of a hangover. Flights often get rescheduled because the landing strip in Rurrenbaque (the entrance to the Bolivian jungle) is only grass, so when it rains the runway is too slippery for planes to land. We flew on a 19 seater plane, you could see straight into the cockpit. The flight to Rurrenbaque was uneventful, the flight back to La Paz a different story, lots of wind and the plane was doing crab moves in the sky. The pilots looked very relaxed whilst the passengers were holding on for dear life.

One thing that needs clarifying is, we didn't really go to the jungle (that is what people generally call it), we went to the Pampas (wetlands) along the Yucuma River that feeds the Amazon River.

We arrived in Rurrenbaque on Friday morning at 7am. We had 2 hours to find a tour, which we managed to do after visiting about 10 tour agencies, all with varying prices. It was very frustrating as it is hard to tell the difference between them all. Our tour group consisted of 4 other Aussies, a South Africian and a guy from Japan. We were in our jeep at 9.30am and on the road (a dirt road for 3 hours) to where our boats would take us up the river.

The boat ride to our accomodation was amazing, so much bird life but way too many alligators for my liking. We meet a troop of squirrel monkeys along the river, they jumped on our boat (no doubt looking for food) and put on a good show for us, there was about 20 of them in total, cute little creatures. As mentioned the bird life was sensational, to list a few, we saw: tiger herons, amazon kingfishers, flycatchers, great kiskadees, southern screamers, cardinals and a toucan. The boat ride took us about 3 hours and we arrived just in time for afternoon tea. The accomodation was pretty average, 8 of us in one room, but the food was pretty good considering we were in the middle of no where.

Morning of day 2 it was time to search for Anaconda's. We headed to the savanna and walked about 3 hours in search of what I thought would be a huge Anaconda (like the one you see in the movies). I was slightly disappointed when I only saw a 2 metres long anaconda which was very skinny. As it is the dry season, there is not a lot of food so they don't eat much and therefore get very skinny. The older they get, the longer and thicker they get. We headed back to camp and had a pretty lazy afternoon snoozing in hammocks, it is very hot, mid 30's.

At 3pm it was time to go swimming with the 'pink dolphins. Apparently the alligators don't like the dolphins, so it is safe to swim. Should we really believe the locals? Half of our group swam, I didn't, the thought of jumping into brown murky water and not knowing what was underneath was way too scary for me. Thankfully everyone survived! We then headed to a local football pitch, where the boys played football with the locals as we watched the the sunset. On our way back to camp, it was pitch black on the river, so it was time for some alligator spotting. With a spot light, the eyes of the alligator's light up, I lost count after the first 20. Another successful day.

Day 3 and our pampas trip was coming to an end, but one last activity, Piranha fishing, we baited up some fishing wire with meat and threw our lines in, incredibly the piranha's started biting immediately. Slippery little suckers, most of our bait was taken without catching one of them. In the end 3 people in our group caught 4 -10cm's long piranha's, so very small and they were all thrown back in to the river (no doubt for the next tour group to torment).

We then headed back down the river to be met by our jeeps back to Rurrenbaque. There was a Bolivia/Brazil football match on at 4pm so we made it back in record time, not necessarily a good thing. We headed to the 'Mosquito Bar', very suitable considering there were way too many mosquitos lurking around, and met up with some mates, got quite drunk (suprise suprise) and passed out in bed at 1am. Our flight out of Rurrenbaque was at 1pm the next day. An amazing 3 days and would recommend it to anyone coming to Bolivia!

Our plane landed at Rurrenbaque airport.

Travelling up the river on our motorised canoe.

Cheeky squirrel monkeys

Relaxing in hammocks, not such a bad to way to spend an afternoon!

A 2 metre anaconda.

A rather large crocodilian (alligator or crocodile we are not sure).

Our tour group at sunset.

Fear and Loathing in La Paz

2009-10-19T18:46:00.012+01:00

We arrived into La Paz late on Friday night, just in time for the weekend! The last few weeks have been pretty quiet on the party front, with plenty of early mornings and long bus rides. So we decided to stay at "The Loki", one of the big gringo party hostels in La Paz. And like all the big hostels there's never a shortage of people looking to party, and we bumped into some English guys we'd met along our travels, so needless to say, we shot the lights out on Saturday night, Boom! Our night included a few of the local discoteques, Ram Jam, Blue and Traffic (and no, these weren't 'gay friendly' venues). Anyway, Sunday was a write off.

Monday morning we headed for the Brazilian Embassy to organise our entry visas and like most thing in South America it turned into a bit of shit fight, requiring passport photos (at a moderate level of annoyance), proof of departure from Brazil (our documentation was questionable), payment (very annoying, having to cross town to the Banco del Brasil, then back again) and photocopies of everything (only slightly annoying). Anyway, our passport was held by the Embassy for 2 days, keeping us in La Paz until at least Wednesday. The rest of the day was spend ticking off some admin, checking out the sights, a few beers and into bed early!

On Tuesday we conquered the 'Death Road', once considered the most dangerous road in the world with over 200 people dying on the road each year when it was the only route between the Amazon basin and La Paz. Now days, it only claims on average 2 lives per year, with a new road built to take the trucks and buses, still it's pretty extreme with some 400m cliffs and narrow gravel road sections. The downhill ride covers 65kms, decending from 4600m to 1800m, on a mix of paved and gravy roads. Our tour company Vertigo provided us with all the kit, full suspension downhill bikes, full face helmets, body armer, gloves and protective clothing. On monday afternoon Victoria was still debating whether she was up for the challenge but after seeing the impressive gear and chatting with the owner she decided it was 'go time'! At one stage I was following Victoria down the gravel section thinking "Fark, she's flying!", I must say, I was a pretty proud husband at the bottom of the ride.

Wednesday morning was some more admin, we picked up our passports (visa issued, no problems), dropped into the post office to sent some gifts home (all the crap from all those markets) and booked our plane tickets to Rurrenabaque (the main Bolivian town in the Amazon basin). In the afternoon, we checked out the front of San Pedro Prison in the centre of La Paz (the prison reportedly produces the best cocaine in South America according to the book 'Marching Powder', we can't confirm this fact). We also took a look at the '2009 World Press Photo Exhibition' which was showing in La Paz. So, after a long day we had a few beers that night, then it was time for the jungle (Amazon Basin) on Thursday!

In front of the parliment house

Markets on the streets of downtown La Paz

Calling in an airstrike!

(at a street stall, it was only 0.10 Bolivianos a minute)

Front of San Pedro Prison

Locked and loaded at the top of the 'Death Road'

Still in one piece about halfway down

Victoria rippin' it up!

Lake Titicaca

2009-10-18T16:34:00.021+01:00

Lake Titicaca, one of the world´s highest navigable lake, sits on the boarder of Peru and Bolivia. We visited both sides, first stop Puno in Peru, famous for its 'floating islands'. The floating islands are home to the Uros people, an indigenous group which fled the mainland seeking protection from their more aggressive neighbours.

Our boat tour took us out to the islands, about a 30 minute ride from Puno. We stopped on one of the many islands and met a couple of the families living on it, they showed us how the islands are made and shared with us their daily way of life. They actually use the reeds that grow around the lake to make the islands, they tie the roots together (which are very boyant) making a base, then they lay reeds over the top of them, making the ground very soft and spongey! Pretty facinating, there are about 40 islands with up to 5 families living on each (and these islands are not big - you can walk from one side to the other in about 20 steps!). We took a boat ride on one of the local boats (made of more reeds), I even had a row - see photo below. After a few hours on the islands it was time to head back to Puno. We had a bus to catch across the boarder into Bolivia.

We got to the Peru-Bolivia border in the late afternoon where we had to get exits stamps on the Peruvian side and then an entry stamp on the Bolivian side. Pretty uneventful except for the fact the driver explained the details to us in Spanish and we all noded like we knew what he was saying. When we came out of the Peruvian immigration office, our minibus was gone, out of sight with all our bags. At first we thought he had taken off, until a nice guy on a motorbike explained to us that he has driven up to the border so we wouldn't have to carry our bags, what a nice thing to do, but maybe we should have been a little more cautious! There's always someone trying to rip you off in Peru!

An hour later we were in Copacabana, the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca (not the beach in Brazil). After each bus ride we are always glad to be alive, especially as most driver's make the sign of the cross around every blind corner and have no regard for the speed limit.

The following day we went on a day trip out to the Isla del Sol, the birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology. The boat dropped us off at the north end of the island and we walked 8km's to the south end. Although the walk was pretty spectacular with water surrounding us, there weren't any significant Inca ruins as we'd been sold by the ticket office. Amusingly, every town we walked through charged us a 10 bolivianos (US$1.20) entrance fee, not a bad racket!

Overall an interesting couple of days, but it was time to move on the bigger and better things, we headed back to Copacabana for a late bus to La Paz, big city here we come! Another interesting bus ride, this time our bus had to cross Lake Titicaca on a barge, all the passengers were thrown off the bus and told to cross the lake by boat! It was pitch black, the boat had no lights and it was freezing cold. Why didn't anyone tell us this before we got on the bus? Maybe they did (in Spanish.....)

On approach to the 'floating islands'

Some of the local ladies singing.

Giving it a go, it was bloody hard work!

View from Isla del Sol.

Our lunch spot on Isla del Sol, not a bad view.

Flight of the Condors

2009-10-13T13:54:00.010+01:00

It was time to leave Cusco, we took an overnight bus south to Arequipa, arriving at 6am. We went straight for the hostel, had a shower, a quick power nap and some breakfast, then headed out to explore the town centre. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru but has all the charm of a typical colonial town, with it's white wash walls and hosting about a dozen cathedrals.

The highlight of town was our tour of the 'Monasterio Santa Catalina', a catholic monestry established in 1580 which had remained shrouded in mystery for near 400 years until it was opened to the public in 1970. Now ordinarily walking around a monestry wouldn't rank that highly on our list of 'must see' places but this place was impressive, some of the buildings dated back to the 16th century and had remained largely unchanged all this time. The building also housed some interesting art works, including plenty of depictions of the baby Jesus holding council with his followers, a little creepy.

The next moring we were picked up at 3am for our day trip to the Cañon del Colca. The canyon is the second deepest in the world, at 3191m, second only to the neighbouring Cañon del Cotahuasi. The Canyon has been an important farming region for over 1000 years, well before Inca times, it's covered in terraces which help to maximise the farming land, trap water and heat to help grow crops. It's an amazing sight.

The canyon is also home to the Andean Condor, a massive bird with an average wingspan of 3-4 metres. The Condors fly up and down the valley in the early mornings (thus the early wake up) and typically only when the sky is clear, these birds fly for pleasure! We arrived at the 'Cruz del Condor' at 9am, the best place to see them 'buzz the tower', we jumped out of the mini van as two Condors approached. When we reached the edge of the cliff the two birds flew right above us, using the updrafts to cruise through the sky, simply magestic. What an impressive bird. About 10 mins later another Condor flew over head. It was starting to cloud over now and that was it, they we're finished for the day. Our guide said we were lucky to see any that day. Gravy!

The bus ride back to Arequipa took us over a mountain pass at 4500m, offering amazing views of the surrounding volcanos and plenty of Llama, Alpaca and Vicuña (the national animal of Peru). We slept for the rest of the trip back to town. Another amazing couple of days. Next stop Lake Titicaca.

taking a moment in the Monastery (surrounded by the holy)

Above the Caynon, at the Cruz del Condor

One of the Condor cruising over head

'Beware the Llama' on the high plane

Chachani Volcano looming above Arequipa

It's the big one, Machu Picchu!

2009-10-03T23:36:00.009+01:00

The most popular way to Machu Picchu is via the famous Inca Trail, a four day trek through the mountains, unfortuntely there's a limited number of people allowed on the trail each day which means it's now booked up 4 months in advance. We missed out on the trek but with Victoria sick in bed for 3 days it was proberly a blessing in disguise. So, we took the less adventurous route, the train.

The 2hr train journey takes you along the narrow valley floor, with pretty amazing scenery, and into the town of Aguas Caliente, at the base of Machu Picchu. It's an ugly little town, set up to exploit the millions of people coming to see the famous Inca site. We had some lunch, bought our tickets for the next day and got into bed early.

Friday morning, we wake at 4am and rushed down to the bus stop to get in line, you ask why? The first 400 people into Machu Picchu also get a stamp to climb 'Wayna Picchu', the mountain which rises above the great city (It's the big cone shaped one in all the photos). Anyway, I was about the 20th person in line, so we might have slightly over estimated the demand for these tickets but by 4:30am there were hunderds of people in line. Net/net, a good result.

It's 6am now, we're inside the Machu Picchu park, we're walking up the steps through some trees. Well, we reach the top, come out of the trees and there it stands, Machu Picchu, in all it's glory. At first, the size and scale of the site was breathtaking, it's massive! I kept wondering, how did these guys build all this, and at the top of this mountain.

At 6:30am the clouds (and rain) came rolling in, we couldn't see further than about 20metres. Damn it! Our day was potentially becoming quite disappointing. We decided to take cover under a rock and read our books for an hour. We then ventured out, trying to make the most of the day. By 9am, the clouds we're lifting, and at 10am it was all clear. We walked the entire site, checking out the temples, the stone work, the terraces, it's all amazing.

A little after 10am, we climbed Waynu Picchu, it was 40mins of steps heading straight up. Hats off to Victoria, she pushed on to the top despite suffering a mild case of vertigo. And it was all worth it, the view back over Machu Picchu was epic.

It was midday, we'd been up since 4am, Machu Picchu was now crawling with bus loads of tour groups, and we'd seen all we needed to see. We headed back down into town, had a shower, some lunch, then checked out the craft market (just more of the same old crap). Our train departed at 6pm back to Ollantaytambo, the last town serviced by road along the valley and the site of more Inca ruins (but nowhere near as impressive as MP). We stayed the night, walked around town in the morning, then jumped a bus back to Cusco. What an amazing experience.

The scenery from the train

Our first view of MP

The clouds start rolling in

some frustration starting to set in.......

nice stone work

and the clouds have lifted, amazing

MP from Wayna Picchu

Getting closer to the Inca's

2009-10-01T14:20:00.012+01:00

We arrived in Cusco on Sunday morning (and my birthday), after a 21 hours bus ride from Lima, fortunately we decided to travel with 'Cruz del Sur' (the Rolls Royce of peruvian bus companies, you pay a little more but you know where that extra money goes). Once we found the hostel, I went out and treated myself to an hour massage session, 'es mucho relaxo'.

That night we went out for dinner at one of the 'nice' restaurant to celebrate the birthday. It was a pleasure, after almost 2 months on the road, to feel normal for a night. We even ordered a whole bottle of wine, which was a treat as we've been drinking the 1 litre 'box' wine from Argentina (Imported bottle wine is really expensive in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and the local stuff is cat's piss).

We woke on Monday, with 3 days in hand before our tour of Machu Picchu started, unfortunately Victoria wasn't feeling too good but she pushed on. We walked around Cusco, checking out the sights and sounds, it's a pretty little town but vert touristy, with the locals touting for tours, restaurants, taxi, massages, you name it, and they're trying to hard sell it. And everything seemed to cost twice as much as the rest of Peru. Anyway, our walk took us past some Inca sites, including Qorikancha (or 'Temple of the Sun') where the Spanish had built a colonial church on over the site in the 17th century, which was later revealed during an earthquake in the 1950's , impressive.

Tuesday morning, Victoria has taken a turn for the worst, so off to the english speaking doctor (who spoke no english....). Victoria needed some rest (and medication), so we move from our hostel into a little hotel called 'Hotel Niños', an converted Spanish house around a courtyard. I put Victoria into bed and went off exploring. I hiked up to the Inca site 'Sacsayhuaman', which is pronounced 'sexy woman', which sits above Cusco, with an amazing view of the town and surrounding mountains. Back in town, checked out a couple of churches and the main square.

Wednesday arrived, and not much improvement for Victoria, so I booked myself on an all day motorbike tour of the Scared Valley. It was me and the guide, a 20 year old motorcross racer. We took off at 9am, after 30min it was all dirt roads and amazing scenery. I spend the next hour trying to keep up with the guide, and a couple of near misses, I decided that it was a good idea to slow down a little, after all i'm 31 now.... We got back about 4pm, I checked on Victoria, she was feeling a little better, we had 'pizza in bed' for dinner.

Thursday morning, Victoria was smiling again, and it was time to head for Machu Picchu.

Victoria over looking the main square

Inside the Inca ruins

Overlooking Cusco (with the 'Sexy woman' ruins on the right

Man and machine

Up and down to Lima

2009-10-01T13:33:00.010+01:00

So, it was time to leave the beach and head south. We decided to break up the trip to Lima with a few days in Huaraz, at 3100m above sea level, the hiking capital of the Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash mountain ranges.

Again another interesting bus ride, we caught an overnight bus to a town called Chimbote where we were told the bus ride to Huaraz would take 5 hours, we guess what...it took 10 hours. Firstly, we were on a locals bus so plenty of chickens, we were packed in like sardines. About half way through the journey the road was closed for road works and wasn't going to open up until 6pm that night, it was now 9.30am (classic South American stuff). Thankfully, as we had children on our bus we were allowed through at mid-day to continue our bus journey along a dirt road right on the edge of a cliff. A rather scary experience, to say the least, but we made it to Huaraz in one piece.

The highlight of our stop in Huaraz was the 'Laguna 69', a 6 hour hike upto a mountain lake at 4700m (it's the 69th lake in the region). The day started at 6am, we jumped into a minibus and headed to 3800m, we had an 8km walk ahead of us (at altitude). The scenery was amazing- snow capped mountains, waterfalls and massive rock walls all around. JD and I reached the lake first, in just under 3 hours , which was pretty good considering we were told it should take 4 hours. It was an amazing sight, when we reached the final crest the lake appeared, the water was bright blue against a massive rock wall with a waterfall flowing into the water. We heard the glacier cracking whilst we were there, it's an amazing sound. We had lunch by the lake and then it was time to head back down. On the way down we ran into a bull on the track, not sure who was more scared of who.

That night we were on an overnight bus to Lima. We arrived in Lima early in the morning and headed for our hostel in Miraflores (quite a nice part of town). We were glad to welcome some creature comforts of the big city. After a couple of months of eating bread and jam for breakfast the Starbucks next door to our hostel was very appealing. So we ordered a coffee and muffin each, it cost us 26 soles (equivalent to $10AUD, basically our daily food budget in one go) but it was worth it.

We actually had a really nice 36 hours in Lima, contrary to the reports we'd heard from other travellers about Lima. We visited the old town (more churches and old colonial buildings) and checked out the local shopping mall which had 'normal' shops and heaps of fancy restaurants. Probably the nicest big city we have visited thus far. Lima is set on the coast as well so we went for a run along the beach but unfortunately no swimming as it was pretty cold and overcast, apparently pretty standard for Lima most of the year.

Hiking above Huaraz

At the laguna 69

.......some freestyle moves

The beach in Lima

A picture tells a thousand word

2009-09-26T23:51:00.003+01:00

For those of you who haven't found time to read the blog.
I've attached the kodakgallery links to all our photos thus far.
(No login required, just click on the links)

Colombia - Carribean Coast
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=18yfen8h.2dipn6ml&x=0&y=8uvzop&localeid=en_US

Colombia - Coffee Region
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=18yfen8h.5ihoo3o5&x=0&y=-c373dn&localeid=en_US

Ecuador
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=18yfen8h.9r3n0plh&x=0&y=-5zrxna&localeid=en_US

Peru
Not yet, still more to come!

Mancora es de puta madre

2009-09-21T22:55:00.018+01:00

Mancora is an ugly little shanty town on the far North coast of Peru, not much itself but it does boost some of the nicest sandy beaches in Peru (and good surf, in summer). We arrived early on Wednesday morning, after our unusual border crossing (see previous blog). So, we got into one of the hundreds of tuk tuks already romming the streets and headed for the beach. We stayed at "The Point" hostel, which was right on the beach front about 1km down from the town centre. A welcomed retreat from the chaos of the town centre. We managed to book a private bungaloo about 100m from the sea, waking and falling asleep to the sounds of the ocean, something neither of us had enjoyed for quite some time.

On the first afternoon we meet up with the guys we partied with in Quito, James and Alan, and an English couple we met in Baños, Sam and Lisa. They were all staying at "The Loki", widely recognised as the "party hostel" in Mancora, which was good news for us. We could come and go as we pleased, party at the Loki and then escape for a good night sleep, which we only did a few times.

Now, spending a week on the beach doesn't really make for entertaining reading, most days consisted of "waking up, breakfast, beach time, lunch, pool time, beers, dinner, beers, sleep". So, i've offered up a few highlights from the week.

1. The infamous "Cinco alley", as we called it, was a dirt road running from the beach to the main street with about 6 restaurants each offering a "5 soles almuerzo" (or US$1.66 set lunch). The 'cinco' meal deal included a local dish called 'cevicha' (raw fish with lime juice and onion) to starter, followed by a main dish of either beef, chicken, fish or prawns with rice or fries. Top quality stuff. I must admit a few of the guys had a couple of difficult bathroom sessions but it was still great value.

2. Getting back on the wagon - One morning I got up early, left Victoria in bed, walked down the beach and rented a surfboard for a couple of hours. To quote the great George Costanza "the sea was angry that day my friends". The surf was at best 3 foot, nothing special, but great to get back in the water after 5 years away from a surf board. My performance was mixed, I caught (and rode) about 5 waves all the way in, not too bad. After about 11am the surf is gone, blown out by the onshore winds which are typical for this time of year.

3. The desserts - We found a little shop on the main street which made some awesome desserts, as quoted in the guide book. Well, we hit the place twice (i went 3 times...). The house speciality was the "Tres Leches" or 3 milks, you'd never think they could make a dessert from fresh milk, UHT milk and cream, amazing!

Anyway, that was Mancora, just a fun week at the beach. And for those wondering, yes, i'm still sporting the sluggos on the beach (and around the pool area).

p.s. "es de puta madre" is spanish slang for "awesome" but if literately translated it's rather offensive. It's just one of the many crap tshirts being sold in every shop in town.

The main street in Mancora

The pool at our hostel

In front our bungaloo

Sunset from our veranda

Serious dessert action (That's the Tres Leches in front of me)

From Quito to the coast

2009-09-21T21:53:00.017+01:00

So whilst Justin was battling the elements I was relaxing at a nearby mountain lodge, enjoying some ME time! It was a gorgeous old farmhouse with beautiful surroundings of mountains and volcancos, so plenty of reason to relax.

I went for a morning of horseriding with a couple I met from the Netherlands, Mike and Pauline. Before setting off we had some bonding time with our horses in the cow paddock (with the cow) for about 15 minutes. We initally followed a dirt road which was fine until a tractor came past us with a piece of white plastic which was flapping in the wind. Well, my horse 'Rudillo' didn't like it very much and started freaking out. He managed to back himself into the tractor, I think in an attempt to turned around and bolt, but there was not enough room, so instead he got his leg caught between the tractor body and the wheel. He tried to buck me off several times but I managed to hold on, before jumping off as the guide came over to help me. Thank goodness the horse was not injured so after some deep breaths and a prayer I was able to get back on and keep riding. Not such a good experience for the nerves especially when I hadn't horseridden for as long as I can remember. Anyway the rest of the ride was uneventfulbut it was great to go horseriding again, forgot how much fun it can be when you are not just following the leader!

With Justin back safely, after a successful summit of Cotopaxi, it was time to get on a bus and head to Banos. Before moving on, I have to say to Justin what a great achievement, as I have met a lot of people who didn't make it, turning back because of altitude sickness or tiredness.

On route to Banos we had another pretty interesting bus ride to Banos (as usual), with some local guy trying to rob us on the bus, he kept moving and sitting behind us, but we knew what he was up to, so we walked away unscathed.

Banos is a pretty town, set in a valley surrounded by mountains and volcanos. (Note: baños means "toilets" in spanish, it was a little confusing). The hightlight in Banos was our day mountain biking, we visited the local waterfalls of which there were quite a few. You really couldn´t call it mountain biking though as we were riding on a sealed road most of the time, but the waterfalls were amazing. Walked under a waterfall that was falling from about 100m´s above and got absolutely saturated at the same time. We also saw a condor, which was pretty exciting. And that is about it for Banos.

Next stop Cuenca, a small colonial town close to the Ecuador/Peru border, actually one of the nicest towns we visited in Ecuador. We went for a run one morning and couldn´t understand why it was so hard to run, until some one told us we were at 2800m above sea level. We had a couple of great dinners with Mike and Pauline who we had met in Cotopaxi. We also visited a museum which had a number of ´shruken heads´ on display, an indigenous ritual performed on ones enemies (after they've been killed). They cut the head off, take out all the brains & bones, boil the head in a concoction of herbs so it shrinks, sow the lips together to prevent the soul escaping and then they wear it around their neck for a year before putting it on display for all to see. Fortunately they don´t practice this on human's anymore, although they still do it to animals, so they don´t lose the skill.....

Next stop, Mancora in Peru! And crossing the border was going to be quite an experience. Knowing this we checked all the bus companies and timetables the day before we set off. Now, when we arrived at the bus terminal the following day, the company that ran the "border crossing" buses we wanted was closed, and their last bus had left at 9pm, not at 11pm as we'd been told. So, we found another company that would take us to the border town of Huaquillas, getting there at 4.30am, not ideal but we decided to go anyway as there was 3 of us, so it was safety in numbers. After what felt like only a few hours the bus stopped, it was 3.30am, I got off to use the facilities. I wasn't sure where we were but when i crossed the road I saw a sign saying "Officina Migration", which looked like a truck stop but it was the Ecuadorian border. No one from the bus had bothered to tell us, so who knows what would have happened if I hadn't worken up, we'd probably be back in Cuenca. Anyway, we all got off ther bus and luckily there was another bus company there which was going to Mancora, so we got our exit stamp for Ecuador, jumped on the new bus to the Peru Immigration office, a further 7km's down the road, we got our entry stamp and then back on the bus. This all happened in the wee hours of the morning, we got to Mancora at about 7am....

JD looking sharp in a horseriding helmet

Under the 'Pailon del Diablo'

The 'New Cathedral' in Cuenca (another church but still pretty impressive)

I´m 31 now, arghhhhh

2009-09-20T23:20:00.001+01:00

Just a quick thank you for all the happy birthday wishes.
I`m now established in the 30`s with not much to show for it but good times (and a gorgeous wife). So, It`s all good!

Cotopaxi Volcano - 5897m

2009-09-16T22:19:00.008+01:00

It's Wednesday 3rd September, after a nervous night sleep and a rather difficult breakfast to stomach, it was time for the challenge to begin. My mountain guide, Romal, arrived at Papagayo Lodge (located just outside the Cotopaxi National park, at 2800m), we went thru all the gear I would need for the summit climb; ice axe, crampons, harness, carabiners, helmet, head torch, gloves, and more. At this point I started to realise this climb could be a little tougher than i'd first anticpated.

We set off at 11am, by jeep, to "the parking lot" at 4500m inside the National park. From here we hiked up to the Refuge at 4800m, it took less than an hour, arriving with all our gear around 2pm. After some lunch, Romal took me up to the glacier at 5000m to practice moving across the ice. I was pleasently surprised how easy it was to get around with the crampons and ice axe, i was feeling much more at ease. After an hour on the ice, it was back to the refuge for some dinner and we were tucked up in our sleeping bags at 6pm. The alarm was set for Midnight, arghhh.

After a virtually sleepless night, it was midnight before i knew it, it was go time! Gearing up took me longer than usually, it was farken cold and i was still half asleep. Romal prepared us some soup, bread and coca tea. It was now 1am, time to go. For the first hour we ziz-zagged up the loose volcanic rock below the snow line. It was a beautiful night, the moon was near full (so no need for the head torches). I was feeling strong. We arrived at the snowline, attached our crampons and fixed up the rope lines, and headed up the glacier. It was pretty tough going from the start, walking straight up to avoid the risk of avalanche. We reached our first crevice after the first 30mins, it was about 40m deep and a half a metre wide, we jumped over it, fark, this is getting serious now! (It was the first of 4 crevices)

We stopped for break after the second hour, at about 5200m, we were making good time and I was still feeling pretty good. We moved forward, although during the next hour the weather started to turn, the wind was picking up. Looking back down I could see all of Quito lit up in the distance, it was pretty spectacular. The break after the 3rd hour was much needed, i was starting to feel the burn but still plenty left in the tank. Only 2 more hours i kept telling myself. During the fourth hour the clouds came in, the wind was howling, i was starting to wonder "what the fark am i doing up here". We stopped again after four hours, i pumped down the water and some Ecuadorian style wine gums (note: if you leave them in your pocket they will freeze, as had the wine gums....).

It was the last hour now, it's now snowing and i keep telling myself to "just keep pushing". It gets quite boring putting one foot in front of the other for over 4 hours, plenty of time for thinking, i covered lots of topics; where we might live in Sydney (North vs East), what car I'm going to buy next, the potential outcomes for Formula1 next year, the wallabies world cup strategy, the list goes on. Anyway, Romal notice I was starting to feel the pinch, he keep me updated with our progress, "only 600m to go"..."only 200m now". We reached the summit at 6:05am, after five hours of climbing. The sun was up but we could not see much thru the blizzard. I was broken but i still had to get down. It took us 3 hours to decent to the refuge. About half way down we came out of the clouds, it was a beautiful day (just not on the top, arghhhhh). An amazing experience!

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Cotopaxi Volcano (the day before)

The Refuge at 4800m (background is the start of the glacier at 5000m)

....... and at the top!

"Quito, Quito, Quitoooooo"

2009-09-14T17:04:00.005+01:00

We arrived in Quito, the capital, on Saturday afternoon. After 3 hours of listen to the bus assistant shout "Quito, Quito, Quitoooo" at just about every person standing on the road between Otavalo and Quito, we'd had enough of public transport for one day. We jumped a taxi to the "new town", found our hostel, checked in, dropped our bags and headed straight to the bar. It was "beer o'clock".

We hooked up with two guys we'd met on the bus from Popayan, Woodsy (Brit) and Ian (Ozzie). We headed out in the "new town", which was packed with Quitorians, all dressed up and looking sharp (and there was us in our jeans and hiking shoes). We checked out a few of the local discotheques, Bunglow6, Dobre Bar and Blue Bar. Needless to say, Saturday night turned into quite a large night. Nothing was acheived on Sunday.

Monday we woke up fresh and ready to tick a few sights off the list. After a heathly breakfast we headed for the Teleferico. It's a 2.5km chairlift that takes you up to 4100m above Quito (which is around 2800m), offering amazing views over the city. From there, we walked along the ridge line of the Pichincha Volcano to 4600m, not quite the top, with clouds preventing us from summitting (again....), but it was good training nevertheless. After the climb we found a little almuerzo (lunch in spanish) place in the "old town", the lunch is pretty standard, it's a soup, then chicken with rice and a juice, all for a couple of dollars. We had a walk thru the old town, with some grand colonial buildings and plenty of churchs (also, pretty standard). Dinner at the Hostel and into bed early.

On Tuesday morning, we dropped into one of the mountain tour guides and I booked my 2 day Cotopaxi summit climb for Wednesday/Thursday. The rest of the day was filled with nervous anticipation. Mid morning we jumped on a collectivo bus and headed for the Mitad del Mundo - the Equator. (FYI - Ecuador is spanish for Equator, an interesting fact I thought). Now, the official Mitad del Mundo site is in fact not on the real Equator (which is classic south american stuff....). So, there's another Equator site about 200m further down the road, at the actual GPS 00'00'00" location. The locals have built this quirky outdoor museum on the site with heaps of facts and tricks of the Equator (I balanced an Egg on a nail, and got a certificate!), which was much more interesting than the crappy touristo park built on the wrong site.

After all the fun at the equator, we grabbed our gear from the hostel and headed for Cotopaxi national park. And yes, there's another bus story, which included a 1.5hr cross town metro bus to the "south terminal", then we got sold a ticket for a bus that didn't exist, after plenty of shouting, we got it sorted. Then the bus ride was more stops, more chickens and more chaos but we got there. Classic stuff.

Victoria above Quito

The Basilica (another church)

the official "wrong" equator

the "real" equator

Otavalo markets, Ecuador

2009-09-08T22:59:00.005+01:00

Our first stop in Ecuador was the famous Saturday markets at Otavalo, rumoured to be the largest craft market in South America (not confirmed as yet). We experienced all the sights and sounds of a bustling market place with hand made crafts in every direction, herb and spice sellers, vegetable stands, food stalls, etc. The indigenous people come from all over the region, some travelling for hours to get to the markets, all wearing the traditional dress.

On walking thru the maze of craft stalls, with well over 50 stalls selling the exact same stuff (some crap), including alpaca rugs, larma jumpers and socks, woven bags, wallets and just about everything else. We decided an alpaca rug was required. We must have looked at every rug, in every colour, before deciding on our target item. Now, given the overwelming supply of craft, the bidding began, we managed to pick up the rug for 50% less than the asking price.

So, quite please after our little purchase (which i'm now carrying around), we headed for the food stalls. We picked out the lady who had a full roasted pig, she prepared a nice little plate of meat, crackling, rice and beans. Now, we we're a little concerned because this was our first experience of "street meat" but I can report a clean bill of health.

After spending a number of hours exploring, it was time to head off, next stop Quito. And our first bus experience in Ecuador was an interesting one (they always are). After loading our backpacks into the under carriage, we boarded the bus, sitting on the right side of the bus to keep an eye on the bags. As we're about to depart, Victoria said "Is that my bag on the ground over there?". ARGHHHH, some little local had dragged her bag off the bus. BOOM, i'm off the bus, shouting "Hey, Amigo, Hey Amigo, what the f*#k are you doing", my spanish was lacking at a critical moment. Anyway, I grabbed the bag, put it back on the bus, and off we went. A close call.

And to top it all off, the "direct" bus to Quito must have stopped about 50 times in 3 hours for every Juan, Pablo and Eduardo to get on and off the bus with all their chickens and potatos, classic. So, an interesting finish to a great day.

Heading for Ecuador

2009-09-08T18:43:00.006+01:00

After an amazing time around the coffee region, it was time to head south, into Ecuador.

On route, we stopped for a couple of days in Popayan, a well preserved colonial town in Colombia with traditional white washed walls and grand court yards. On the first night we were directed to the local steak house called "la vina", amazing food (and cheap). The following day we walked the streets, soaking up the sights, which included the usual dose of neo-classical catholic churches.

During our exploring we stumped on a beautiful courtyard which turn out to be part of the local english school (with around 700 students). We met one of the teachers who invited us back that afternoon to join her class and help the kids with their english. What an amazing experience, it was great fun. The kids asked us questions about everything, our family, our jobs, our travels, about Australia, you name it. At the end of the class, we reversed the order, with the kids asking us questions in Spanish. It got pretty ugly, with Victoria and I stumbling around on the simpliest questions, the kids thought it was very funny (and they all wondered how we could travel around colombia with no spanish). After spending over an hour with the class we departed, offering them our facebook details, we alread have a few "new friends".

The next morning we woke at 4am and headed for the bus terminal. Our journey to the border was tough, taking us on 8 seperate trips of different transport, including taxis, minibuses, collectivos and coaches. Our trip to the border took us past the "Santuario de las Lajas", a neo-gothic church built in 1926 to commerate the appearance of the Virgin mary herself. The church is built in a deep valley, with the alter set around the actual rock where the vision was seen. It was a pretty amazing sight.

The border crossing was relatively stress free (the guy with the rubber glove was surprisingly gentle, hehe). On arriving in Ecuador we headed straight to Otavalo, a market town 3 hrs south from the border. So, after 15hours of travelling we finally arrived.

The main square in Popayan

Our kids from the english school

Santuario de las Lajas

The alter at the site of the vision

Arriving in Ecuador

The Zona Cafeteria

2009-09-03T22:21:00.003+01:00

First stop Solento, a 6 hour bus ride south of Medellin. At the start of the bus trip we were handed little black plastic bags which we thought were for rubbish, but soon to find out they were vomit bags, as the road from Medellin wound up through the mountains rather quickly. Quite a few people on our bus were sick.

We made it to Solento, a small and picturesque village surrounded by coffee plantations. We stayed at a place called Plantation House which is a hostel on an actual plantation. The place is run by an English guy Tim who fell in love with Columbia many years ago. He was a source of knowledge on the local area which made our few days in Solento very enjoyable.

Our first evening we went to a local bar called 'Tejos', which was described by Tim as 'beers & gunpowder’. When we arrived we discovered the game of Tejo (a Colombian national sport). The game is a little like boules only you throw a metal disc about 20 metres at a target filled with gun powder set in clay. When you get a direct hit everyone knows about it. Only in Colombia!!

The next day we walked the Valle de Cocora, meaning 'Valley of Clouds', it took us 5 hours, we went with some people that we had met in the hostel. The walk took us through jungle and farmland and there was an amazing amount of Wax Palms which are 60 foot high. One of the stops on the walk was a nature reserve with 6 types of hummingbirds, fascinating and fast little creatures. We climbed to the top of the mountain and the clouds were kind enough to clear so we could see down the valley.

Our stay in Solento also included a visit to a working coffee farm and roasting factory. We drank some great coffee, majority of which is exported, most places in Colombia serve instant coffee..... and we ate some of the local delicacy 'Trucha' (Trout), in most places that is all that is on the menu.

After 3 great days in Solento it was time for a challenge, so we headed to Manizales with the plan to hike Colombia's highest volcano, the Los Nevado del Ruiz, 5300m. Our day started at 5.30am, we made our way to the town square and were picked up by a mini bus, there were 7 of us in total. The drive up was pretty amazing, different landscapes from lush green to volcanic rock. We stopped along the way to drink Cocoa tea (it helps with the altitude). We drove up to 4800m and we walked to the snow line, at 5125m. It was pretty tough going, not only where we at altitude but it was also snowing. We arrived at the top and could only see about 2 metres in front of us. Still a big achievement, our first time above 5000m. After descending the volcano our next stop was the thermal hot springs. The water temperature at the spring was about 60 degrees, the baths were chilled to about 50, so very soothing after our adventure up the volcano. On the return to town everyone fell asleep!

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The road south

2009-09-02T13:48:00.005+01:00

After spending a week at the beach, it was time to experience a little more of Colombia. So, after our 10th hour of Spanish lessons, we jumped in a direct mini bus to Cartagena.

The trip it's self wasn't without adventure! Apart from stopping just about everywhere (not so 'direct' as promised, which we have since discovered is pretty standard), the driver was overtaking trucks on blind corners (also, the norm for south america), the air conditioning was so cold your breath had mist and we drove thru a tropical storm which left a foot of water on the road.

After a grulling 5 hours trip, we arrived in the beautiful fortified city of Cartagena. Our hostel was within walking distance of the walled city, giving us easy (and cheap) access to the town centre. We only spent a night in Cartagena, given we covered most of the sightseeing in an afternoon and it was f#&king hot (39 degrees).

Now the real travelling begins. Our next stop was Medellin, a 14 hour overnight bus trip, departing Cartagena at 8pm. Again, it was an experience. Our bus driver appeared to be trying for a land speed record, with the cabin wildly swing around on the windy roads. Needless to say niether of us got much sleep. We arrived in Medellin at 10am, very weiry.

Medellin is another sprawling city surrounded by mountains. It's appears more cosmopolitan than Bogota but for us it was just another big city. Once you've seen all big churches, the Simon Bolivar Plaza (every town has one) and walked the shopping strip you've pretty much seen everything. Now, If you want to party, then the city's are great. We only spent one night in Medellin, deciding to head south to the Zona Cafeteria (Coffee region).

We finally downloaded our first round of photos from Colombia,
follow the link (no login required).
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A week in Taganga

2009-08-27T04:06:00.007+01:00

After 4 days relaxing on the beach, we decided it was time to brush up on our Spanish. We found a great place to stay called Casa Holanda, run by a Dutch guy, who also set up a language school. The school was actually set up as a charity to give money back to the community. Schooling is not compulsory in Columbia, and a lot of people can't afford it, so this language school gives 25% of the money it earns back to the community to sends local children to school, so we decided to support the cause and enroll in an intensive 1:1 Spanish course. We both had our own teacher so after 4 hours of Spanish (8 - 12pm) we were both mentally exhausted, so it was time for a beer on the beach or a siesta out of the hot sun. It was about 38 degrees most days we were there.

On the Friday night we went out on the town. We had a couple of drinks at a hostel called 'Mirador'. Whilst we were there, the D.A.S (Immigration Police) turned up checking passports to see if anyone had overstayed their visa, however half the bar didn't have their passports on them, so instead of escorting us back to our hostels, they sent us to get them on our own and when we finally got back to the bar, the D.A.S were gone. Not really a good system if they wanted to check everyone's passports.....

We had a great week in Taganga, here are a couple of other highlight worth mentioning (and of course they are about food)! If you are ever in Taganga you must go to Casa de Felipe, which is a hostel with a great chef. We both had one of the best Fillet Mignon's in a long time. You wouldn't think you'd have to go all the way to Taganga, Columbia for that. Also there was a great Baguette place, called 'Los Baguette de Maria', opposite the football pitch, where we ate lunch every day, they were large enough to share. A definite must!

The main street off the beach.

Our language school.

A few of the local fishing boats.

Tayrona National Park

2009-08-14T22:19:00.008+01:00

After leaving the big smoke of Bogota, we needed some down time. We caught a flight from Bogota to Santa Marta, a rather large shipping port in North Columbia on the Caribbean Coast. We met a couple from Brisbane, Tara & Al, who were on the same flight. We had all heard there`s not much to see in Santa Marta so we shared a taxi to Taganga, a small fishing village where we spent the night. We stayed in a local hostel and went out to the locals nightclub, El Garaje, (basically in someones backyard). There was lots of Salsa dancing and drinks flowing, so it ended up being quite a large night.

A little hungover, the 4 of us jumped in a mini-bus to Tayrona National Park. The bus dropped us off at the entrance of the Park and we had to hike 1 hour to the first beach. All very primative, we slept in tents, although we did have mattresses so we weren´t doing it too tough. We spent the afternoon on the beach and the evening with a few beers, playing cards, not such a bad way to relax.

The following day we walked a further hour to a beach called Cabo San Juan, with its picture postcard beaches - white sand, coconut trees and crystal clear water - although still doesn´t live up to Australian beaches!! We again slept in tents and there was one restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, quite a monopoly and the prices confirmed it.

We spent 3 nights in the National Park and then caught a hour boat back to Taganga, was pretty intense, the swell was quite large so the boat was moving around quite a lot. We made it back to Taganga in search of Spanish lessons and our next adventure.

First stop - Bogota, Colombia

2009-08-14T21:55:00.005+01:00

We touched down in Bogota, Colombia on 5th August 2009. The first stop on our South American adventure.

Bogota is a sprawling city, with a kind of organised chaos, as cars, motorbikes, buses and people move around everywhere (in all directions). On every street corner there is someone trying to sell you some crap, from knock off handbags, to tuperwear, cheap sunglasses, right down to individual cigarettes. It's not a beautiful city but it has a certain charm. We stayed in an area called 'La Candalaria', with cobbled streets and more of an old world feel.

Touring the city you see huge contrast with the nicer areas having all the latest shops (Prada, Gucci, Zara) and BMW's and Audi's rolling the streets, right down to shanty towns built from concrete and rusted steel (with most places looking half finished).

We checked out Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) and Museo Historico Policia (National Police Museum) which included a (very large) section on the tracking and killing of Pablo Escobar.

So, day 1 in Sud America, and our first obvious hurdle was Spanish, with the old "habla ingles" getting a pretty good work out. Definately more work required in this area!

We´re off to Northern Colombia, on the Carribean coast, in the next few days!

The city from the streets of 'La Candalaria'

Bogota has everything.....

New York City

2009-08-13T21:07:00.007+01:00

We stopped off in New York, on route to South America, for a week.

Our good friends The Doughty's (that is Alex and Clair of the Upper West side) kindly turned their daughter Chloe's bedroom into a guest room for the week (big thanks guys).

While both Victoria and I have been to New York before, it's always somewhere worth visiting again. We spent the week, catching up with family and friends, basically eating and drinking, with some sightseeing in between.

Our sightseeing included a ride on the "Circle line" (not the yellow underground line in London), it´s a boat cruise around Manhattan Island, starting at West 42nd Street wharf, going anti clockwise, pasting the lower west side, battery park, the Statue of Liberty, Ellse Island, East side, Yankee Stadium (New and Old). We hit the MET for some culture, cruised around SoHo and walked Wall Street.

A few dinners out at Dylan Prime (Tribeca), Double Crown (On Bowery), Morandi (West Village, run my Keith McNally of Pastis), Mizu Sushi (Gramercy) and a few drinks at Kingswood and Macao Trading Co. Alex and I also enjoyed an epic american BBQ ribs diner, called 'Rack and Soul' on the upper west side.

A couple of jogging sessions thru Central Park (to work off the dinners).

Check out a few snaps below (or click the link)

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Hannah, Alex and Victoria post dinner at Dylan Prime in TribecaJD rollin' Times Square

Greek Islands - July 2009

2009-08-07T22:54:00.003+01:00

We spent our first day in Greece touring Athens, we visited the Acropolis - to be honest it was a lot of rubble but worth the visit. Took a walk in the evening, had dinner at an overpriced restaurant, we witnessed some road rage which turned into a street fight, followed by some very expensive gelato. What a first day! The following morning we were up at 5am, and headed for the Islands.

First stop Mykonos where we spent 3 nights - beautiful sunsets, great beaches and very relaxing. We hired a scooter, the best way to get around the island and gave the opportunity to go off the beaten track. Our favourite beach was Elia, there weren`t too many people and the water was crystal clear. We also hit Paradise beach for some Euro-trash clubbing as the sun set. An afternoon trip to Super Paradise was rather confronting when we discovered full nudity was not only acceptable but encouraged! Needless to say we sat around in our speedos (people watching)!

Our next stop, Naxos for 4 nights, it was a much less touristy island, more authentic and easy going. We stayed in Agios Prokopios, a cute beach town 5km´s from the main town, our accomodation was rather family friendly (we were the only couple without children, good practice for Justin!). We again explored the island by scooter, looking for adventures (as one can only lie on the beach for so long), we tried to climb Mt Zeus but never quite found the right track, much to Justin`s disappointment or should I say annoyance, it was quite a defeat. We found a Greek restaurant on the beachfront, with great food and traditional live Greek music. Eating at 8pm we always found ourselves sitting amongst the young families, are we getting too old?

Final stop, Santorini for 2 nights - sunsets, sunsets and more sunsets. We stayed at a place called Remezzo Villas, in a little village called Imerovigli (3km´s from the main town). All the tourists go to Oia for the sunsets but our village gets the best view of the Caldera (with the same sunset). Most of our time was spent sunning ourselves by the dipping pool.

So as you can see, we had a very relaxing 10 days!

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Windsor Triathlon - 14 June 2009

2009-07-07T13:19:00.005+01:00

Finished Windsor Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) triathlon in 2:31:18.

I have so many questions.....

2009-05-22T14:39:00.000+01:00

Eton sprint triathlon

2009-05-21T22:43:00.004+01:00

I completed my first triathlon on 16 May 2009 at Dorney Lake in the UK. Finished in 1:12:37 for 400m swim, 20km bike, 5km run. A good warm up event before the Windsor olympic triathlon in June.
A couple of pics to set the scene

Lap 1 on the bike, feeling fresh after the swim

On the final leg of the run, pushing hard (and yes, that is a headband)

2009-03-14T22:24:00.001Z

Morocco, here we come...

2009-03-13T10:35:00.001Z

My first blog, and i'm lost for words
I'll ensure that I'm better prepared next time