Ah, I cannot believe how long it has been since I have written a blog. I have sooo much to catch up on and now seems like the perfect moment. We are currently in Cuzco Peru, it is 8:00am in the morning, Joel is actually up watching the football and I am upstairs in the computer room in our hostel. So I will try and fill you in as best I can on everything we have done since Columbia.
After Cali, we got onto a 15 hour night bus to head to Quito in Ecuador. We had a little trouble crossing the border as the immigration officer typed in Joel´s name and said he was only allowed 10 days in the country :s eek Fortuntately though, Joel started speaking in his charming spanish ways and the officer decided he liked him and he could have 90 days instead :s...not quite sure how that one worked! So we finally got to Quito, checked into out little hostel in the old town, got very excited at the sight of KFC, especially for a meal for $2, woop, and had a little wonder. The old town seemed very pretty, with a stunning Cathedral but not much seemed to be going on there. We did however find some excellant DVD shops where I bought about 10 Disney DVDs (including Toy Story 3) for $9. Lets hope they work at home!
The day after we went to the middle of the world to the equator line. You can stand with one foot in the Northern and one foot in the Southern hemisphere. There are also lots of other cool experiments you can do there to prove the different forces of being either side of the Equator. Unfortunately I had allitude sickness that day, and spent most of it sitting on the floor in the shade. Finally after a horrible cramped metro journey, we got back to the hostel where I could lie down, and Joely brought me chocolate and crispies all afternoon :)
After Quito, we got on a 3 hour (very windy) bus to Banos. Banos means bath in spanish and there in the little town there are natural hot baths that you can go and sit in which are heated by the surrounding volcanoes..amazing. I don´t have anything bad to say about Banos. We had such a great time there. It is a beeeautiful town, quite touristy as that where the Ecuadorians go on holiday as well. But it is still stunning, in a valley and surrounded by mountains. We stayed in a great hostel, which has a glass roof top terrace with a panaramic view where they served delicious breakfast every morning. Here we also met up with a great group of English guys, who we spent a lot of time with there.
The first day in Banos, we all took dune buggies out, so there was a long like of us, all following eachother, along the mountain side roads. The view was amazing, however a slightly terrifying trip, being part of a load of silly boys, all trying to overtake eachother on these ridiculous roads.
The second day we all went out on Quad bikes. We sat for ages sorting out a quads with the compnay. The got all the boys a quad each and said mine was coming. I was very dissapointed, when mine came and it was the smallest one of all. I asked the quide why I couldn´t have a big one like the others, where he snapped at me and said they were all the same. So we all went off me pissed off because I assumed that the guy thought a girl couldn´t handle a big quad like the guys, but nope...I was soooo wrong. We got to the bottom of the mountain that we were racing up and began to climb. Turns out I had the fastest quad by miles and the boys where all very pissed off that they couldn´t overtake me. I guess they didn´t want a silly boy with the fastest quad, hhahaha! So anyway, this experience wasn´t actually the most pleasant. The mountain paths were terrifying as they were dusty and slippery with shear drops either side. We finally got to the top and carried along the path,where one of our friends went through a pile of cow sh*t right in front of me and COVERED me in it. Not only did he cover me, but a piece went straight in my eye...eeeeeeew. So covered in cow poo and half blind we then went past the bucking cow (who obviously left the horrible smelling poo for us) then a house where 2 viscious dogs ran out and chased us, trying to bite our legs to the point where one of our friends went up on 2 wheels and almost came off. So all in all in was pretty scary!
The last day, the guys decided it was my turn to pick, and we all went horse riding, woo! A lot of fun as we galloped up another mountain to see an amazing waterfall. It was great to see some of them terrified as the horses started to run, as opposed to me on a speedy quad, covered in cow poo and almost legless!
Cuenca was our next stop, where we checked into a rather grotty looking hostel and went for a walk in the evening. After being followed we decided we didn´t want to stay in Cuenca long, and spent a total of about 12 hours there. So the following morning, we headed to Vilcabamba.
Vilcabamba!!!!
I looove this place. It is quiet, stunning, relaxing and just all round lovely. We stayed in the most amazing hostel which was more like a hotel but the same price as a hostel. The restaurant there was cheap, with some of the best food we have eaten yet, and looked over the whole of vilcabamba, where in the evening you could watch the sunset. There was a great bar and a tv room, and the owners had 2 adorable puppes -which as most of you know, totally won my heart. But to my surprise, won Joel´s too. He is now going on about how he wants a black lab pupppy...and he doesn´t even like animals!!!!!
I can´t even say enough about this place...I just loved it and could have spent a lot longer there!
While we were here we did meet some strange characters though, including an american astrologist who insisted on reading mine and Joel´s stars. Hmmm...still not sure how I feel about the whole situation, as he said some rather strange things which I will tell you about when I am home!
We also went horse riding again here which, didn´t turn out to be quite as successful as the others. Joel, as always before we go horse riding, asked for the smallest horse so he can "step" off if he gets scared. However it backfired this time, as he had a very small yet VERY fast horse, who likedto be right up at the front. Not only that but his horese was afraid of backpacks...BACKPACKS!!! Not the best thing when your in a town of backpackers and your walking along extremely thin mountain paths. Well Joel has now sat his first buck...poor Joely. Obviously he was terrifyed, and went very quickly from being Robin Hood on horseback to Mr Bean on horse back!!! He did really well, I even offered him my lovely, calm yet huge horse, and he stuck with the little crazy one. I think that might be his horse riding days over :( It was fun while it lasted!
Peru to come......
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Taganga, Medellin,Salento and Cali
Joel and I have just checked out of our hostel in Cali, and are waiting around in the sunshine to catch the long bus of 20 hours to Quito overnight, so I thought I would do a little update on what we have been getting upto in the last few weeks.
After the Jungle trek, we stayed in Taganga for about 4 nights to recover from our blisters, pulled muscles, exhaustion, and stomach problems from drinking the river water (actually we are both still suffering with that). Taganga is a very cute, very small fishing village with not much to do but relax in the heat, swim in the sea and drink the delicious watermelon juice...yum yum! So it was the perfect place for us to be after our week in the jungle. The sea there is probably the nicest sea I have ever been in, crystal clear, and warm as a bath. Apparently the sea here never goes any less than about 26 degrees. We would sit on the beach all day and read our books while people stroll around selling coconut cookies, and avacado (random mix) and trying to get you to go to their beach restaurant for lunch. We went to one one day, they look like tiny little shacks, and just cook on woodfires, they are not very aesthetically pleasing but serve amazing food. Joel went into the "kitchen" with the chef where she showed him about 6 different fish to choose from. He came back to our table with a very cheeky grin, saying he had chosen the biggest, most ugly, bright red and blue fish they had because it was funny. I was very worried, but thank goodness, it was delicious. They served it with rice and salad...everything pretty much comes with that here. Taganga is very funny as its not unsual to be sitting, relaxing enjoying a coffee while a very large heard of goats will just run down the street, or a donkey followed by 15 children trying to catch it...random but very amusing!
After Taganga, we headed to Medellin which is a very happening, cosmopoltian town. Unfortunately we didn´t do much going out here, as we both had very bad bugs (we think from the river water) so we spent almost all of our time there in bed. Thank goodness, we had a very nice hostel room, with a television and big bathroom- Phew!
Once we got over the most of our illness we went to Salento which has to be one of my favourite destinations so far. Being in Salento is like stepping into an old western movie. It is in the mountains and is part of the coffee region on Columbia. Old men sit in old style salloons playing cards and pool. Everyone goes quiet and stares at you when you walk in which is very funny. The only odd thing is they look like big men who should be drinking beer all day and throwing chairs around the saloon, instead they are all drinking the delicious Columbian coffee out of tiny english tea cups..haha! Being up in the Mountains it is a very mild temperature in the day, but sunny, and freeezing at night. On our second day I managed to get Joel to come on a 4 hour horse riding trek with me. He was petrified at first but soon started to love it. It was the hardest riding I have ever done, so I think he is a natural. We galloped up and down mountain paths, jumped rocks and logs and crossed rivers. We took the horses to a waterfall there, I don´t think I have ever seen such beautiful landscapes, its breathtaking. We had an amazing day and I couldn´t believe Joel loved it so much. He even wants to go again in Ecuador and now thinks he looks like Robin Hood on horse back!!!
So we are now in a city called Cali which is our last stop off before Ecuador. We visted the Zoo yestderday which was pretty cool, but they barely have anything between you and the animals here, which is a bit scary when you get to the bear part :S
So we are shortly getting on a very long bus ride...blerugh! But I am very excited about getting into a new country.
After the Jungle trek, we stayed in Taganga for about 4 nights to recover from our blisters, pulled muscles, exhaustion, and stomach problems from drinking the river water (actually we are both still suffering with that). Taganga is a very cute, very small fishing village with not much to do but relax in the heat, swim in the sea and drink the delicious watermelon juice...yum yum! So it was the perfect place for us to be after our week in the jungle. The sea there is probably the nicest sea I have ever been in, crystal clear, and warm as a bath. Apparently the sea here never goes any less than about 26 degrees. We would sit on the beach all day and read our books while people stroll around selling coconut cookies, and avacado (random mix) and trying to get you to go to their beach restaurant for lunch. We went to one one day, they look like tiny little shacks, and just cook on woodfires, they are not very aesthetically pleasing but serve amazing food. Joel went into the "kitchen" with the chef where she showed him about 6 different fish to choose from. He came back to our table with a very cheeky grin, saying he had chosen the biggest, most ugly, bright red and blue fish they had because it was funny. I was very worried, but thank goodness, it was delicious. They served it with rice and salad...everything pretty much comes with that here. Taganga is very funny as its not unsual to be sitting, relaxing enjoying a coffee while a very large heard of goats will just run down the street, or a donkey followed by 15 children trying to catch it...random but very amusing!
After Taganga, we headed to Medellin which is a very happening, cosmopoltian town. Unfortunately we didn´t do much going out here, as we both had very bad bugs (we think from the river water) so we spent almost all of our time there in bed. Thank goodness, we had a very nice hostel room, with a television and big bathroom- Phew!
Once we got over the most of our illness we went to Salento which has to be one of my favourite destinations so far. Being in Salento is like stepping into an old western movie. It is in the mountains and is part of the coffee region on Columbia. Old men sit in old style salloons playing cards and pool. Everyone goes quiet and stares at you when you walk in which is very funny. The only odd thing is they look like big men who should be drinking beer all day and throwing chairs around the saloon, instead they are all drinking the delicious Columbian coffee out of tiny english tea cups..haha! Being up in the Mountains it is a very mild temperature in the day, but sunny, and freeezing at night. On our second day I managed to get Joel to come on a 4 hour horse riding trek with me. He was petrified at first but soon started to love it. It was the hardest riding I have ever done, so I think he is a natural. We galloped up and down mountain paths, jumped rocks and logs and crossed rivers. We took the horses to a waterfall there, I don´t think I have ever seen such beautiful landscapes, its breathtaking. We had an amazing day and I couldn´t believe Joel loved it so much. He even wants to go again in Ecuador and now thinks he looks like Robin Hood on horse back!!!
So we are now in a city called Cali which is our last stop off before Ecuador. We visted the Zoo yestderday which was pretty cool, but they barely have anything between you and the animals here, which is a bit scary when you get to the bear part :S
So we are shortly getting on a very long bus ride...blerugh! But I am very excited about getting into a new country.
Monday, 9 August 2010
Ciudad Perida
So we are finally back from the 5 day trek to the lost city, covered in blisters and 128 mosquito bites but wow it was worth it.
Joel did this trek 2 years ago so before we left I asked him a little about it seeing as I haven´t done any hiking before. He said it was very enjoyable, you walk for maybe 4 hours a day, have a few pineapples along the way, and jump in the rivers for a swim with your treking buddies in the group. Well, I soon found out this wasn´t exactly the case. Either he had forgotten a lot of it,or he was worried the truth might put me off.
It had been raining a lot the week before we left and the tour operator informed us that there had been an avalanche at one of the camps, and so seeing as that was not there anymore, we would camp actually at the lost city instead. We questioned this and they said it was still very safe...eek. The trek was not exactly what I would call safe but definitely exciting!
The first 2 days were the hardest. We set off in the pouring rain climbing, crawling in the knee deep mud. I kept sliding back down the cliff face all the time and the guides would grab me and drag me back up. We crossed waist high rivers flowing must faster than normal due to all the rain. We had ropes or the guides to hold on to so not to get swept away.We slept in hammocks surrounded by mosquito nets outside under the stars, watching the fireflies. We played cards and were fed very well. I was exhausted after the second day and was worried how hard I was finding it not only physically but it was terrifying everytime we had to shimmy around a cliff face with a sheer drop into a waterfall. The cliffs edge had broken away from all the rain and the guides kept shouting at me tranquillo tranquillo and would give me their hands so I didn't fall.
They said on the third morning that the rain had been so bad that they next river was too fast and furious to cross and even they would be in danger if they tried. So when we reached it and saw the water gushing through, they pointed 60 feet up to a very rickety looking open cage for one person consiting of 4 metal poles and a wooden bottom. They said we had to climb in carefully off the cliff one by one and hold on and not move while they pulled us to the next ledge with rope... Probably the scariest thing I have ever done!
So over the course of the 5 days we climbed, crawled, swam, got very very muddy ands very wet. It turns out that. No matter how hot the jungle is, nothing ever dries there so we atYed in the same wet, muddy, sweaty clothes for 5 days...
Joel did this trek 2 years ago so before we left I asked him a little about it seeing as I haven´t done any hiking before. He said it was very enjoyable, you walk for maybe 4 hours a day, have a few pineapples along the way, and jump in the rivers for a swim with your treking buddies in the group. Well, I soon found out this wasn´t exactly the case. Either he had forgotten a lot of it,or he was worried the truth might put me off.
It had been raining a lot the week before we left and the tour operator informed us that there had been an avalanche at one of the camps, and so seeing as that was not there anymore, we would camp actually at the lost city instead. We questioned this and they said it was still very safe...eek. The trek was not exactly what I would call safe but definitely exciting!
The first 2 days were the hardest. We set off in the pouring rain climbing, crawling in the knee deep mud. I kept sliding back down the cliff face all the time and the guides would grab me and drag me back up. We crossed waist high rivers flowing must faster than normal due to all the rain. We had ropes or the guides to hold on to so not to get swept away.We slept in hammocks surrounded by mosquito nets outside under the stars, watching the fireflies. We played cards and were fed very well. I was exhausted after the second day and was worried how hard I was finding it not only physically but it was terrifying everytime we had to shimmy around a cliff face with a sheer drop into a waterfall. The cliffs edge had broken away from all the rain and the guides kept shouting at me tranquillo tranquillo and would give me their hands so I didn't fall.
They said on the third morning that the rain had been so bad that they next river was too fast and furious to cross and even they would be in danger if they tried. So when we reached it and saw the water gushing through, they pointed 60 feet up to a very rickety looking open cage for one person consiting of 4 metal poles and a wooden bottom. They said we had to climb in carefully off the cliff one by one and hold on and not move while they pulled us to the next ledge with rope... Probably the scariest thing I have ever done!
So over the course of the 5 days we climbed, crawled, swam, got very very muddy ands very wet. It turns out that. No matter how hot the jungle is, nothing ever dries there so we atYed in the same wet, muddy, sweaty clothes for 5 days...
Yu
mo! Everything was so worth it after the climb of 1800 steps to the lost city. The view of the jungle from up there was unbelieveable and the history is pretty spectacular too. We did however have a few too many encounters with a particar species of snake which coincidentally was the only one the people here have not yet found an anti venom for. They seemed to like it up there but thankfully our guide was very good at getting to them first and killing them, phew!
The way back was pretty similar to the way there although thankfuly a little less wet. The only major hurdle was comming across a bull blocking the mountain path. Joel and I were at the head ofthe group. He said he didn't want to pass first so I thought I would.. Surely it will just carrying on eating grass right??? Wrooong!!! It prompty stars to charge at the two of us with it's head down, waving it's horns around a in a very agressive way. Joel then hides behind me and grabs my shoulders using ME as a human sheild. Yup that's right, joely pushed my into Charging bull!! Not having a choice I ran past as fast as I could just scraping it's horns. So in this ridiculous game of bulldog with an angry bull, the rest of the group still had to get past and the bull definitely was not happy about it but the bull kept walking toward them so another girl tried to follow what I had done but wasn't quite so sucessful. The bull pushed her up against the bank with it's horns and kept pushing until luckily our guide saw what was happening and threw a massive rock in between it's eyes.
It was a scary, thrilling, exciting week. I have never done anything I have loved and hated so much at the same time and I am so pleased with myself for completing it. It wasn't the relaxing stroll through the jungle I had imagined but certainly an amazing experience.
mo! Everything was so worth it after the climb of 1800 steps to the lost city. The view of the jungle from up there was unbelieveable and the history is pretty spectacular too. We did however have a few too many encounters with a particar species of snake which coincidentally was the only one the people here have not yet found an anti venom for. They seemed to like it up there but thankfully our guide was very good at getting to them first and killing them, phew!
The way back was pretty similar to the way there although thankfuly a little less wet. The only major hurdle was comming across a bull blocking the mountain path. Joel and I were at the head ofthe group. He said he didn't want to pass first so I thought I would.. Surely it will just carrying on eating grass right??? Wrooong!!! It prompty stars to charge at the two of us with it's head down, waving it's horns around a in a very agressive way. Joel then hides behind me and grabs my shoulders using ME as a human sheild. Yup that's right, joely pushed my into Charging bull!! Not having a choice I ran past as fast as I could just scraping it's horns. So in this ridiculous game of bulldog with an angry bull, the rest of the group still had to get past and the bull definitely was not happy about it but the bull kept walking toward them so another girl tried to follow what I had done but wasn't quite so sucessful. The bull pushed her up against the bank with it's horns and kept pushing until luckily our guide saw what was happening and threw a massive rock in between it's eyes.
It was a scary, thrilling, exciting week. I have never done anything I have loved and hated so much at the same time and I am so pleased with myself for completing it. It wasn't the relaxing stroll through the jungle I had imagined but certainly an amazing experience.
This blog was a nightmare to write on Joel's ipod. I could only see 3 lines at a time and It keeps deleting so I apologize for all the mistakes. XXX
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Sailing to Columbia
Ok so I have a hell of a lot of info to squeeze in in not very much time, so I will try to get as much in as possible. I am sure that most of you have heard from me that are sailing trip was not as good as we had hoped. I do have a lot of funny stories from it though so I might have to fill you in on that when I get home. So here we go....
Joel, Myself, and are two aussie friends travelled with us to Portobelo in Panama to catch our boat. We met up with our Swedish Captain who was 73 and his 24 year old Columbian girlfriend... slightly odd. We followed them to the jetty to get the dinghy over to the ship. First impressions...the boat was smelly, damp, and there were 3 beds between 6 of us. hmmm....This should be interesting. He kept telling me that one of the beds was a double and I kept asking if it folded out....it didn't and was broken so it sloped toward the ground. Joel and I had to squeeze in top to toe and hold ourselves in all night.
The Captain then told us that we had to do nightwatch. We kinds though he was joking so just laughed, but he shortly said that we would be operating a warm bed policy. Basically, we all share beds... pretty disgusting when you want to get into bed and its soaking wet because the Captain has been sleeping and all the alcohol he has consumed is seeping out of his pores....yummo!!! He then tells us we cannot have our luggage in the cabin so he puts them in bin bags and straps them to the front of the boat, and tells us to keep an eye so that they don't fall off...riiiight. So we all try and ignore the smelly, dirty, damp, alcohlic captain, no bed thing and go and see what food he has bought for us and he tells us its the first time he has included food on a trip. So we rummage through the bags only to find 50 packets of Oreo cookies...thats it!!!!!
So we set sail, a little uncertain, but keen to get to San Blas, and lets face it we don't really have a choice as we have paid him already. He shortly explains nightwatch to us. In pairs, we will take 2, 2 hour shifts a night and sail his boat ALONE through thr night while he sleeps. Again a little baffled, a ask him how and he just says, follow the compass and watch of for boats, storms, and clouds. So I ask him.. "what do I do if I see a boat" and he just says "avoid it" ahahaha, and oh dear all at the same time.
Ok, so we get to San blas, its INCREDIBLY beautiful, just like in the pics. We spend 2 nights there and have a great time swimming with the dolphins and snorkelling and pretty much spending as much time away from the Captain and the boat as possible.
Right so we shortly run out of oreo cookies to eat, Joel and I are very seasick and we find out the only water we have to drink is discolured with big black bits in it. Even the captain says not to drink it as it will make us sick!! So basically from the on, no food, no water, shit captain who won't stop talking about Jesus, Prositute girlfriend who is weird, so beds AAAND he gets us lost out to sea! No No, that is not just it...we hit probably the worst storm I have ever seen in the nightime. No joke at all there was it was pissing with rain, lighting, waves crashing into the boat and the boats sail was not far off horizontal to the water. The Captain then throws a tantrum and says he is tired of sailing so if we don't go up there he will just turn off the engine, out to sea and we will drift and hit a barge!!!! AAAAAHHH, by this point I am pisssssed off, I scream at him to give me a rainjacket then and I will bloody well sail us to Columbia. He says he doesn'y have wont so I go up there in my bikini and do my best to stay standing, let alone steer the bloody boat. I sit there f-ing and blinding as loud as I could.
So the whole trip is meant to take 5 days. 8 days later we finally pull into Cartegena, about a stone lighter in weight and extremely dehyrdrated. I am actually surprised we could go that long without water. WE get in juuust at immigration is closing, so he tells us we have to spend another night on that shitty, smelly, no food, no water boat which we would be more than happy to burn right now...along with the captain. Oh yes, also our bags strapped to the boat were drenched...nic3e!
Anyway we are finally in Columbia, loving it. It seems like such a luxury to be on land. We have been to Cartegena which I loveeed and are now in Santa Marta and will be walking, crossing rivers through the jungle for 5 days tomorrow...eeeeek!
I hope your all en joying reading my blog and get a good laugh out of it!
Lots of love xxxxx
Joel, Myself, and are two aussie friends travelled with us to Portobelo in Panama to catch our boat. We met up with our Swedish Captain who was 73 and his 24 year old Columbian girlfriend... slightly odd. We followed them to the jetty to get the dinghy over to the ship. First impressions...the boat was smelly, damp, and there were 3 beds between 6 of us. hmmm....This should be interesting. He kept telling me that one of the beds was a double and I kept asking if it folded out....it didn't and was broken so it sloped toward the ground. Joel and I had to squeeze in top to toe and hold ourselves in all night.
The Captain then told us that we had to do nightwatch. We kinds though he was joking so just laughed, but he shortly said that we would be operating a warm bed policy. Basically, we all share beds... pretty disgusting when you want to get into bed and its soaking wet because the Captain has been sleeping and all the alcohol he has consumed is seeping out of his pores....yummo!!! He then tells us we cannot have our luggage in the cabin so he puts them in bin bags and straps them to the front of the boat, and tells us to keep an eye so that they don't fall off...riiiight. So we all try and ignore the smelly, dirty, damp, alcohlic captain, no bed thing and go and see what food he has bought for us and he tells us its the first time he has included food on a trip. So we rummage through the bags only to find 50 packets of Oreo cookies...thats it!!!!!
So we set sail, a little uncertain, but keen to get to San Blas, and lets face it we don't really have a choice as we have paid him already. He shortly explains nightwatch to us. In pairs, we will take 2, 2 hour shifts a night and sail his boat ALONE through thr night while he sleeps. Again a little baffled, a ask him how and he just says, follow the compass and watch of for boats, storms, and clouds. So I ask him.. "what do I do if I see a boat" and he just says "avoid it" ahahaha, and oh dear all at the same time.
Ok, so we get to San blas, its INCREDIBLY beautiful, just like in the pics. We spend 2 nights there and have a great time swimming with the dolphins and snorkelling and pretty much spending as much time away from the Captain and the boat as possible.
Right so we shortly run out of oreo cookies to eat, Joel and I are very seasick and we find out the only water we have to drink is discolured with big black bits in it. Even the captain says not to drink it as it will make us sick!! So basically from the on, no food, no water, shit captain who won't stop talking about Jesus, Prositute girlfriend who is weird, so beds AAAND he gets us lost out to sea! No No, that is not just it...we hit probably the worst storm I have ever seen in the nightime. No joke at all there was it was pissing with rain, lighting, waves crashing into the boat and the boats sail was not far off horizontal to the water. The Captain then throws a tantrum and says he is tired of sailing so if we don't go up there he will just turn off the engine, out to sea and we will drift and hit a barge!!!! AAAAAHHH, by this point I am pisssssed off, I scream at him to give me a rainjacket then and I will bloody well sail us to Columbia. He says he doesn'y have wont so I go up there in my bikini and do my best to stay standing, let alone steer the bloody boat. I sit there f-ing and blinding as loud as I could.
So the whole trip is meant to take 5 days. 8 days later we finally pull into Cartegena, about a stone lighter in weight and extremely dehyrdrated. I am actually surprised we could go that long without water. WE get in juuust at immigration is closing, so he tells us we have to spend another night on that shitty, smelly, no food, no water boat which we would be more than happy to burn right now...along with the captain. Oh yes, also our bags strapped to the boat were drenched...nic3e!
Anyway we are finally in Columbia, loving it. It seems like such a luxury to be on land. We have been to Cartegena which I loveeed and are now in Santa Marta and will be walking, crossing rivers through the jungle for 5 days tomorrow...eeeeek!
I hope your all en joying reading my blog and get a good laugh out of it!
Lots of love xxxxx
Monday, 19 July 2010
Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama
Wow, a lot has happened since I wrote my last blog so I will try to include as much as I can remember. First of all I will tell you that the keyboard I am typing on has very little punctuation keys, but I am sure you will get the idea.
The last time I wrote, we were in Antigua where we didn´t do much other than eat a lot! We were going to go horse riding, however every day we went, the horses were sick or all booked up. We decided when we were there that we really had very little time to get through all the countries that we wanted. And that it would probably be ncie to be able to catch ourselves up, and spend a little more time in the nicer, hotter, and cheaper countries. So in Antigua we booked ourselves a flight all the way to San Jose in Costa Rica. It was so nice to jump on a comfy plane where you get a meal and be somewhere in under 2 hours. These 30 hour buses are getting a little tiring, ha...all part of the experiece I guess.
So we arrived in San Jose very early in the morning, and caught a bus all the way to the Southern Carribbean coast to Puerto Viejo. This is town is very remote with not a lot going. However it is smack bang in the middle of the rainforrest and has some unbelievably beaches. The people here seem mainly Jamaican and speak very odd spanish, with the odd word of English and Jamaican twangs thrown in there...very off! Joel had a job trying to understand them! You walk down the street and there is reggae beats, tiny stools and wildlife everywhere, howler monkeys in the trees, wild horses walk on the beach, and sloths everywhere to.
It does all sound amazing and it was, but it the food is strangely very expensive for such an undeleloped place. Joel and I stayed in a hostel called Rocking J´s, which is like a tiny hippie village with treehouses and tents, and painting and mosaics done by guests everywhere. We slept in hammocks for $5 each! An interesting experience, but not the most comfortable.
After our second night there, we headed to the border to try and cross into Panama, but found out evry quickly that it was not possible. The whole of Panama´s Bananna and canal workers were rioting, and it was not safe for anyway. I have heard that trees on fire were blocking the roads, 2 people got killed, and 4 police where taking hostage. So we were stuck in Costa Rica for another week.
It seemed that lots of people at Rocking J´s were also trying to get through the border, so Joely and I met up with 4 Australians, and we decided that when we could get through, we would all go together, as this was probably safer. After a week, we were told we could go so we all made our way across the weirdest border I have ever since. It was a bridge, if you can call it tha, that connects the two countries. It was veeery long but not safe at all. It looked as if any the wooden planks would give way at any time. You had to constantly look down as there were planks missing and planks moving...not fun. I have a picture to prove just how weird and scary this was so I will get that up when I can.
Uploading pictures his is still pratically impossible. It seems that everyone has the same problem with the internet being too slow. However one of the guys I have met says he has a special program and I can use his laptop, so I will try that today.
Once in Panama, we headed to a little Island called Bocas Del Toro, it was very very cute, and we did lots of partying, still with our aussie friends.
We are now in Panama City awaiting a Sailing boat to take 4 of us to Cartegena in Columbia. It stops in the San Blas Islands, which are meant to be amazing. We can snorkel, and fish on the way. The boat has Dingys for us to use and they catch us lobsters to eat! yay.
Heading to the Panama Canal today so will probably update again after our week of sailing. Hopfully in columbia I will have the internet a little more than I have over the last few weeks.
I hope that you are all well, I am missing you all looots! xxxxxxx
The last time I wrote, we were in Antigua where we didn´t do much other than eat a lot! We were going to go horse riding, however every day we went, the horses were sick or all booked up. We decided when we were there that we really had very little time to get through all the countries that we wanted. And that it would probably be ncie to be able to catch ourselves up, and spend a little more time in the nicer, hotter, and cheaper countries. So in Antigua we booked ourselves a flight all the way to San Jose in Costa Rica. It was so nice to jump on a comfy plane where you get a meal and be somewhere in under 2 hours. These 30 hour buses are getting a little tiring, ha...all part of the experiece I guess.
So we arrived in San Jose very early in the morning, and caught a bus all the way to the Southern Carribbean coast to Puerto Viejo. This is town is very remote with not a lot going. However it is smack bang in the middle of the rainforrest and has some unbelievably beaches. The people here seem mainly Jamaican and speak very odd spanish, with the odd word of English and Jamaican twangs thrown in there...very off! Joel had a job trying to understand them! You walk down the street and there is reggae beats, tiny stools and wildlife everywhere, howler monkeys in the trees, wild horses walk on the beach, and sloths everywhere to.
It does all sound amazing and it was, but it the food is strangely very expensive for such an undeleloped place. Joel and I stayed in a hostel called Rocking J´s, which is like a tiny hippie village with treehouses and tents, and painting and mosaics done by guests everywhere. We slept in hammocks for $5 each! An interesting experience, but not the most comfortable.
After our second night there, we headed to the border to try and cross into Panama, but found out evry quickly that it was not possible. The whole of Panama´s Bananna and canal workers were rioting, and it was not safe for anyway. I have heard that trees on fire were blocking the roads, 2 people got killed, and 4 police where taking hostage. So we were stuck in Costa Rica for another week.
It seemed that lots of people at Rocking J´s were also trying to get through the border, so Joely and I met up with 4 Australians, and we decided that when we could get through, we would all go together, as this was probably safer. After a week, we were told we could go so we all made our way across the weirdest border I have ever since. It was a bridge, if you can call it tha, that connects the two countries. It was veeery long but not safe at all. It looked as if any the wooden planks would give way at any time. You had to constantly look down as there were planks missing and planks moving...not fun. I have a picture to prove just how weird and scary this was so I will get that up when I can.
Uploading pictures his is still pratically impossible. It seems that everyone has the same problem with the internet being too slow. However one of the guys I have met says he has a special program and I can use his laptop, so I will try that today.
Once in Panama, we headed to a little Island called Bocas Del Toro, it was very very cute, and we did lots of partying, still with our aussie friends.
We are now in Panama City awaiting a Sailing boat to take 4 of us to Cartegena in Columbia. It stops in the San Blas Islands, which are meant to be amazing. We can snorkel, and fish on the way. The boat has Dingys for us to use and they catch us lobsters to eat! yay.
Heading to the Panama Canal today so will probably update again after our week of sailing. Hopfully in columbia I will have the internet a little more than I have over the last few weeks.
I hope that you are all well, I am missing you all looots! xxxxxxx
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Week 2
So the last week has been a very interesting one indeed, with some great times and some not so great times.
We were very sad to leave the beach in Puerto Escondido last Monday evening. We really did love it there and we made some great friends, but we were excited to get to Guatemala and see what it was like (also hoping it was a little cheaper). So we hopped on the 15 hour bus to the border. However things did not go quite to plan. To cut a very long and painful story short, it went something like this...
1. Terrible rainstorms caused bridge to be very flooded which left us in the middle of nowhere on a night bus, delayed for 6 hours, one side of the bridge.
2. Jumped into a collective taxi to take us to the bridge which was packed with a stupid amount of people. Joel was clutching onto our stuff for dear life and I have a Mexican man sitting on my lap as they had run out of seats...yes thats whats happens here.
3. Got charged a blatently illegal leaving tax fee.
4. walked straight across the bridge (massive mistake not taking a bus) straight into the middle of a slum.
5. peed our pants a little.
6.Got sold a very questionnable bus ticket.
7. Got taken to the worng place (Guatemala City- one of the most horrible, dirty, DANGEROUS cities ever)
8. Had to stay in a prison like hostel
9. Had to get two more "chicken buses" with more people sitting on my lap, 3 hours to the right place in the morning.
So all in all the journey ended up taking us 45 hours, in which we didn´teat the whole time. You can imagine we were rather grumpy by the end of it. But thankfully we did get to the right place and it was absolutley breathtaking.
We stayed in the "most magical hotel in Guatemala" which is only accessible by boat. Its perched on a cliff face and it surrounded by volcanoes. It must be the most amazing place I have ever stayed, and only $25 dollars for a room.
We are now in Antigua, which is a really cool place. Lost happening and lots to do. Today we are going on horse back to a coffee plantation...very much against Joel´s will. Ha...I will tell you how he gets on in my next blog.
I am having trouble backing up all my photos onto the net, as the computers here are so slow. I have tried, zip files, you send it, facebook, photobucket, flickr. Does anyboday have any suggestions for me?
We were very sad to leave the beach in Puerto Escondido last Monday evening. We really did love it there and we made some great friends, but we were excited to get to Guatemala and see what it was like (also hoping it was a little cheaper). So we hopped on the 15 hour bus to the border. However things did not go quite to plan. To cut a very long and painful story short, it went something like this...
1. Terrible rainstorms caused bridge to be very flooded which left us in the middle of nowhere on a night bus, delayed for 6 hours, one side of the bridge.
2. Jumped into a collective taxi to take us to the bridge which was packed with a stupid amount of people. Joel was clutching onto our stuff for dear life and I have a Mexican man sitting on my lap as they had run out of seats...yes thats whats happens here.
3. Got charged a blatently illegal leaving tax fee.
4. walked straight across the bridge (massive mistake not taking a bus) straight into the middle of a slum.
5. peed our pants a little.
6.Got sold a very questionnable bus ticket.
7. Got taken to the worng place (Guatemala City- one of the most horrible, dirty, DANGEROUS cities ever)
8. Had to stay in a prison like hostel
9. Had to get two more "chicken buses" with more people sitting on my lap, 3 hours to the right place in the morning.
So all in all the journey ended up taking us 45 hours, in which we didn´teat the whole time. You can imagine we were rather grumpy by the end of it. But thankfully we did get to the right place and it was absolutley breathtaking.
We stayed in the "most magical hotel in Guatemala" which is only accessible by boat. Its perched on a cliff face and it surrounded by volcanoes. It must be the most amazing place I have ever stayed, and only $25 dollars for a room.
We are now in Antigua, which is a really cool place. Lost happening and lots to do. Today we are going on horse back to a coffee plantation...very much against Joel´s will. Ha...I will tell you how he gets on in my next blog.
I am having trouble backing up all my photos onto the net, as the computers here are so slow. I have tried, zip files, you send it, facebook, photobucket, flickr. Does anyboday have any suggestions for me?
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