TravelStream™ news feed for member clintonb on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/clintonb en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:51:49 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/backpack_europe/1156127700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/backpack_europe/1156127700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/backpack_europe/1156127700/tpod.html Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:51:49 -0400 Backpacking around Europe and UK for 3 months.

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Adelaide, Australia

Well here I am back home in our small little airport of Adelaide, South Australia... As I walked off the plane we saw everyone wait for us in the arrival gates. &nbsp; Danielle was over the moon to see her family once again, and sure I was happy to see my family once more - but any smile I put on my face took quite a bit of effort as I have never felt so nostalgic in my life as I was feeling right at that point. A thousand thoughts were running through my mind faster than my brain could process them... I wasn't ready for my adventure to be over...This&nbsp;chapter of my life may have finally come to an end. &nbsp;But are in no means the memories, and in every sense the journey is to be continued... :-)<i>"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old familiar pillow."- Lin Yutang___________________________________________________<i>Clint's Journey Continue's!Click here to view An Extract of whats to come... :<i>"In December 2007, I'll have quit my job, sold everything&nbsp;I ownand with a one way ticket in my hand and my backpack firmlyon my shoulders, I'll be taking off to travel round the world fora few years without looking back."
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204989900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204989900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204989900/tpod.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:26:08 -0400 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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Villa de Leiva, Colombia

The ride first started as we headed back to Tunja. The further south we got the higher altitude accompanied and the scenery got more and more beautiful. We drove through green valleys ascending up the Andes until we reached the capital of the region, Tunja, that sits at a height of nearly 3000m. Tunja is an old capital spanning back hundreds and hundreds of years and used to be a central point in the area for native Indians, which is obviouse by the amount here. Their faces and outfit are so solid, and I dont think anything puts across the true South American feeling more than them.The 4wd ride to Villa de Leyva, descended about 500m and was quite quick. We checked into the only hostel which was pretty clean and impressive and had hot water (unfortunately you had to pay for this...) We checked in and headed into town for a look around and a beer in the absolutely huge central plaza. Again this town had a similar colonial, yet more authentic feeling to it, as all of the architecture is painted white, which huge cobbled slabs for the streets. Except becaise this place is a bit bigger, it had alot more interesting craft stores we could browse. I bought myself a Bandana and a little present for Jas. However this night we had an early one, but not before the 3 of us having a few card games of Rummy and Shithead.The next day I awoke extremely early due to having to goto the toilet at a rediculous hour and then not being able to get back to sleep. However I find more and more these days I require less sleep, and my day goes completely fine with little or none. Today we did some more browsing of the local town before hiking half way up the enormous mountains behind us to a look out of the town. It took quite a while and was steep, but gave such a beautiful panoramic view of the town. We sat there for a while, discussing religions views (as there is a huge statue of Jesus up there), relaxed for a while in the serenity and then back down to cook up a huge fiest for dinner! We must of eaten alot because the next morning I woke up and was still quite full. But today we have a big 25km round trip to see some ancient statues that used to be used for ritual ceramonies in pre hispanic times. The map that the local council gave us was in summary; extremely undetailed and just wrong. We had to make our own way there via directions from farmers and a rouge taxi driver. We finally arrived 2 hours later to find it closed on monday, haha typical! However all the statues were right next to the barbed wire fence and frankly we all were very unimpressed. Was some comedy though, as all the statues looked like huge versions of the male genatalia. But thats really all we had to say about that. We headed off in search of the Dinosour fossils, remaining here from when this place was once a sea, countless of billions of years ago. Funny thing is, Latin Americans arnt the most organised, so there were no markingts or signs where the fossils were, and with our map being useless we walked right passed it. We couldnt be bothered back tracking, so we rested on a bench next to a trailor deli, in the middle of no where and made a sandwitch. The walk back was long, but the exercise was refreshing and welcomed by myself. We also were lucky enough to get flipped the birdie by a couple of school kids as they flew by in a bus, haha!Finally arriving back to town, we bought ingrediants for again, another fantastic rice and vegetable dinner, with myself saturating it with Colombians hottest Salsa I can find! Then proceeded to play more Rummy and Shithead with the English bloke for cash. I lost so badly as soon as money was involved. haha typical! But we were only betting a 1000 peso note (50c AUD), so it was just fun. But it gets so cold here at night in the crisp Andean air that we all have to rug right up.Lately I have been completely loosing track of what day or date it is. I think its because I have slipped completely into the relaxed life style, and taking everything in its stride. Its a really good thing, and I find myself really supprised when I find out what date it is. I dont complain though, as it just means its one day closer until I am with my partner Jasmin again! I miss her soo much! I dont mean to wish my time here away, but the day I see her again, April 4th, couldnt come fast enough...Our second to last day in Villa de Leyva, we hopped on the back of a ute and headed out of town through the hills to the countryside, where we got out and walked for over another hour through the scrub and forest to eat lunch and relax next to half a dozen different waterfalls. This area is also famous on the small backpacking circuit Colombia has, for Colombias finest magic mushrooms. So we hunted around and picked a couple to take back to the hostel. At night there was 9 of us (Including the 3 funny Irish blokes that finally rocked up today) that all played cards over a few beers till the wee hours of the morning. Bloody hell it gets very cold at night here!! Its good to finally get to bed under the 5 blankets that they provide for you here, haha!In the morning 2 of the Irish guys, along with a French bloke, a Canadian girl and us 2 Aussies went for another walk in search of who knows what. We found a few waterfalls in mountain gourges. We all climbed up the top of one of the mountains to get another view of the surrounding areas. The Irish and French went off in hunt for more mushrooms and didnt come back for sooo long, and we left before we saw them again, so they were either extremely successfull or extremely unsuccessful. But we put our backpacks on (Andy, Matty and I) and trotted off to the bus station to head to Bogota, the nations capital.Villa de Leyva has been great though. Every direction you look, you can see in the distance the towering Andes penetrating the clouds. With right next to us a few huge green mountains. There are virtually no tourists here at all, and I think between the 9 of us, we'd all would make up nearly 100 percent of the tourism here. This is typical throughout most of Colombia though. The locals are friendly and chatty, I found that quite a bit of Colombians here stop to take a picture of us. But the city definitely has a special tranquility about it, that makes you want to keep extending your stay, simply to walk the cobble stone streets.But its time to go! Hasta Luego!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204902960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204902960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204902960/tpod.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:17:28 -0400 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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Barichara, Colombia

On the 7th we rose early to meet Andy at the coffee place next to the big church in the main Plaza. We had a deliscious Colombian coffee in a shop before walking to the bus station to wait for a bus to Barichara. There we whitnessed a guy that parked his stationwagon on the side of the road, with 10 huge speakers on the top of his car powered by a generator. He then proceeded to get out, grab a microphone and start singing, all dressed in a bright blue cowboy outfit. ...Only in South America! haha - so hilarious. A bunch of girls were also looking at us through a bus window parked on the side of the road perving and giggling when we caught them. (This never happens at home, but seems to happen here all the time!) The bus ride there was extremely bumpy. We finally arrived though 45 minutes later to Barachara, to find a place similar too Giron, except here there is alot less people and the concrete houses are painted with the bottom half being green or brown. The surrounding scenery is nothing special, but the town iteself is quite pretty. We walked around to a few churches, a lookout and had lunch at a local bakery. Why I chose to have instant pasta in a tub I have no idea... I had to wash it down with a cinamen donut with dulce de leche (sweet of the milk, which is a sweeter form of caramel) inside. The town is quite small and easy to walk around. All the school children were walking the street when we were there, and atmosphere was very tranquil and pleasant. Definitely recommend a day trip here if you stop by in San Gil.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204642920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204642920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204642920/tpod.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:04:28 -0400 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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San gil, Colombia

The ride to San Gil was great! We left Giron after a quick bus terminal breakfast and in the Colectivo, drove us for over 2 hours through the Andes, and we would of climbed to quite an altitude. The Andes were very steep, about 2kms straight up with little vegetation baring only baron rocks and shrubs but still jaw dropping when you could see the enormity of these things! We drove from the valley, winding our way up for over an hour to ride across the top through semi alpine forests. Soon after we had stopped for a quick refreshment we then gradually descended a bit towards San Gil, but first we passed through a section of the country where signs were errected, warning people not to venture off the road because the area is a huge mine field. Im not sure whether its military or guerillas that are responsible, but when something like this occurs, you realise how far away from home you really are.San Gil, we finally arrived in the afternoon very tired and checked into Hotel San Carlos for only 10,000 pesos a night, with cable television and our own private bathroom. We immediately had a siesta for a few hours before awaking at 7.30 to get some dinner. We found a local restaurant that served up soup for an entre, a huge main course of chicken breast, rice, blackbeans, sweet potato, banana and lettuse, with lemonade for only 6,000p (3$ australian) - Bargain! We were stuffed and tired still, so retired to our hotel to watch some spanish television, which seemed every channel had news on reporting something big with the military on the Ecuadorian and Venezuelan borders! hmmm... BED!!Waking up on the 5th was easy, as we had slept alot in the last 15 hours. We immediately got up, showered in the only option of freezing, but we are getting used to it now, and headed out to the closest bakery. After finding the main square, exploring the church that looks the same as every other in these towns, finding the hygenic (sarcastic by the way) meat market, and taking a few photos... We took an offer to do some white water rafting for the day.The rafting started at 2, and a Van picked us up traditional Latin American style (late) and we headed off upstream to our starting position. Our team consisted of a couple of Colombians and an older Swedish couple visiting family here. The rapids weren't the biggest, however on one or two occassions we had a couple of metres drop and in one of them I came flying out as the boat tipped up! I and the other 2 blokes on the left hand side of the boat also came flying out. We floated down stream and all managed to get back in the boat before the next set of rapids. Most of the rapids were pretty easy though and at times we got to jump out and have a swim. It was great fun and we got some good photos. Next time I will definitely be doing the hardest class possible.The rest of the day we did nothing except pig out on some badly cooked chicken at some American Roasted place and looked for some more thongs as Matty managed to break his that he got from Jamaica. We fell asleep watching Godzilla in Espanol, ahha!The following day we took a stroll through the park in San Gil that is unique for tree's that grow these long dangly silver things all over them. Its really wierd and would be great for a horror movie! There we met Andy (The Austrian from Parque Tayrona). We walked around town a bit before heading back to his hostel ...meeting the 3 Irish blokes! hahaha... Not much of a coincidence though as there really isnt more than 1 or 2 hostels in the town, and Colombia isnt touristy at all, so bumping into the same people can be common. Matty, Andy, Paul and I went down to grab a absolutely huge pizza ... It must of been good because 2 of the guys were vegetarian and still ate it! haha. Then us and the 3 funny Irish blokes went out drinking to suss out the local pubs in San Gil before retiring to bed.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204469460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204469460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204469460/tpod.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:53:15 -0400 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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Giron, Colombia

The ride to Giron took quite a while, about 13 hours. The scenery during the day was unimpressive with dry shrubs and relatively small mountains. The heat on the window made me sweat excessively for a large part of the trip. We did get a good price through as we bypassed the ticket office and paid the driver directly, a cheaper fair for us and more money for him. The scenery got a tad better as we rose higher up through some mountains, but was too dark to appreciate anything. Upon the taxi driver dropping us off at a "borato" hotel (cheap), as he told us, we were soon to find out it was 60,000 pesos! HAHA! Dont think so! We slunked our packs on our shoulders, and walked in a direction where there supposidly was a cheaper hotel. We couldnt find it, so asked this guy on a corner at this little bottle shop where we could find one. Before we knew it, he had baught us both a beer, and the rest of them consisting of Fernandez, His cousin from Bogota Jaquie, Larry (another cousin) and the bottle shop owner, were all out in the street drinking with us. Only Jaquie spoke just a tad of English, so we conversed very successfully in Espanol that night! They were fantastic people, so very friendly. They told us that this is the very first time any of them has ever spoken to someone with white skin. The bottle shop owner invited us to keep drinking with them, so we dropped our backpacks in the cheap hotel they showed us too. The only room left had one double bed left, that Matty and I had to share! (...the things you do to save a bit of $$)! We met them back at the little shop where we attempted to buy them a beer back, however they refused and kept telling us that they invited us to drink, so we are not allowed to pay. A couple of others rocked up on moto's, this extremely funny gay couple. One of them owned a very small local casino down the road that they invited us too after the guy closed up his shop. The small casino was only the size of my lounge room back at home, with about a total of 15 ancient poker machines! It was a classic! It was 12.30am so he opened up especially for us. There he gave all 6 or 7 of us one beer after another and wouldnt let us pay a cent. The night was fantastic and Fernandez got extremely drunk and passed out in the back room on the concrete floor. The toilet was hillarious here. Its next to one of the poker machines, it is only 1x2ft tiled hole with a peice of cloth infront of it where you just stand over. haha! The night kicked on till about 4am before we all retired to bed. I hadn't yet paid a cent for a beer! 11am came all too quick and we were up, showered to meet them all at a restaurant Larry's family owned. There for lunch they fed us traditional Colombian stle food of sweet potato, rice, fried banana, marinated chicken and this delicious ball with melted cheese and sweet red fruit that grows locally. We also got a deliscious vegetable soup for an entre, and lots of soft drink! Once more, because he invited us, they refused to let us pay! Such genorocity from suh beautifully kind people. It didnt just stop there. They then gave up their day to show us around the town (Larry and Jaquie did). The town has picture perfect white washed buildings, with brown rooftops, windows and doors. The roads are entirely made up of huge round cobble stones with not one bit of rubbish in site. It was truley stunning and far exceeded my expectations. The big church, built 380 years ago was closed, however Larry was a politician and knew someone with a key to allow us in especially. Inside it was quite big, with decorations lining the altar. Its crazy to think this place was built before Australia was even discovered by the British! They then showed us a few other historic places that were once the backbone of Giron's construction and formation. We soon met up with a hungover Fernandez at his work (looking after a carpark). We relaxed for a while before heading to the local primary school, where they do volunteer work in the little canteen area for the kids. As I walked around inside, the princible and teachers greeted me with much welcoming and offered me refreshments and too wonder around. The little kids in school ranging from 6 to 12 years old, stopped what they were doing and staired at me with much curiosity and then immediately giggle to their friends. This would of been their first sight of a westener for most of them. The experience was quite extrodinary actually. Fernandez then took us to his house, where we met his sister, mother, father and grandma that had dimensia and kept saying over and over that we were no different to a book if we dont believe in souls or a god, then continued to crack up laughin histerically to her self! It was absolutely hilarious! The sister spoke quite good english, so I had a good chance to learn a bit from her about the Colombian way of life. Fernandez and Jaquie then bought us all more drinks before taking us to this Arepa place that had unbelievably deliscious Carne Arapes!! (Arape's is a traditional meal, made up of corn bread, and filled with cheese, and other sorted carne's). It filled me up quite alot, for only 4000p! I paid for their meal that night, along with Ice cream after, as there was only so much generocity from them I could take before my guilt started taking over! As it was our last night in Giron, they all got together to wish us fairwell at a local pub, where we had many laughs till 2am. It also rained that night for the first time in our entire trip! It was very hard saying goodbye to them all at the end of the night, but had definitely given us an amazing cultural experience! Such genorocity from people that barely knew us, in such a picture perfect little town! I love this place!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204209240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204209240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204209240/tpod.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:35:23 -0400 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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Cartagena, Colombia

The trip to Cartagena was long. After everything attempting to prevent us from leaving Santa Marta and Taganga, we finally made it out! We hopped on a bus to recieve yet more forms of racism found in lots of places in Latin America because of the colour of our skin with being made (even after intense bartering) to pay more than everyone else to get on a bus, even after they quote a cheaper price just to get us on the bus without hassle... Then we found out that the bus was only going half way to Baranquilla, but still trying to take our cash for the full distance to Cartagena. It really annoys me at times when things like this happen! Some people Ive found will do anything to get your money, even if it means your misfortune. Our other bus from Barranquilla dropped us off randomly outside the town and we had to catch a taxi to the towns centre where the hotels were. Before we went anywhere though we bumped into the crazy Italian guy again Mirco! haha, and not supprisingly he had another Colombiana tucked under his arm, haha! The place we were recommended was full, so we took a cheap alternative some guy on the street showed us too. It had blue square concrete rooms with espestas for a ceiling. The rooms floor was littered with condom wrappers, cigarette butts, and other rubish. The walls had who knows what splattered over then, and the sheets were used, tattered and disgusting... - Good enough for us, haha! That night I had a fantastic sleep in my sleep liner, which is only the 2nd time Ive ever felt the need to use it. On the 29th of Febuary (leap year by the way), we woke to explore the town. We immediately headed for the centre of the old town and the moment I set eyes on the place, I fell in love with the vibe! The town is unbelievably beautiful, with the most amazingly colourful colonial architecture that one could possibly see! The streets are littered with colourful buildings that all have balconies over hanging in true colonial style, decorated with flowers. Not only did it look fabulous, the houses and streets are perfectly clean and vibrant. The plaza's we walked through were lush with green trees and centred with white foundtains with running water. The streets filled with people selling their own crafts they make. There is cafe's and traditional restaurants on every corner, with tables and chairs spilling out onto the street with locals sipping slowly on beverages. The sun beats down in flawless caribbean style, lighting up the towns atmosphere. The thing here is that every street is worth seeing that it doesnt really matter what direction you head in to explore. The town is surrounded by huge thick concrete walls, named Las Murellas. It was built in the late 1600's to protect the city from Pirate sieges that constantly had fallen upon the city previously. We walked ontop of the wall, around the entire town before grabbing a bite to eat at one of the many scrumptious bakeries throughout the town, for under 1000 pesos! As per normal, locals walking around selling deliscious coffee, which I regulary took advantage of for 200p. The coffee in Colombia is unbelievably tastey!!! The end of the day came around, and matty and myself joined with one or two locals sat out at the back balconly of our hotel and drank a few Cuba Libre's for a while. While we listened to Colombian Salsa we noticed that this hotel was not exactly normal. To put it straight - we realised that we are staying in a brothel! A different woman would come in with a man behind a closed door, come out every 30 minutes, followed by the hotel owner to clean up. All of a sudden everything makes sense! haha, i guess it was a good decision to sleep in my sleep sheet last night. We laughed our heads off! The next morning I was up to find our shower was littered with 2 or 3 new condom wrappers - again! Today we walked down to the big fortress called Castillo de San Filepe de Barajas, thats littered with cannons in its high impenetrable concrete walls that face the sea entrance to the city. Inside there is an elaborate complex tunnel system which we walked around. We ended up going to ddep that there was no more light, and left the unknown of the eary darkness. We had no way to light it up, so we bailed and turned around to head back up to the surface, which was very slippery. Up at the surface I found a nice little spot to have a quick kip (aussie slang for 'short sleep') ontop of the fortress. Up here, there is a great arial view of the entire of Cartagena. The new, more modern section looks shabby and unfinished and from what I have seen and heard, not really worth wandering into. However, the old section is where you need to spend your time wandering the streets. After a while of relaxing, I headed to the internet to write to my old Boss, Don, who plans on sailing to Cartagena in the next couple of months! I had to tell him how beautiful the place is. And ofcourse, to write my partner a big email, in which I miss sooooo much! But I'm definitely getting excited about seeing her very shortly, when she joins me on 4th of April!! For the rest of the day I hung around the Plaza Bolivar in the old town centre with Matty, watching a couple get married and listening to the calm drum beats for the reception. Once again our famous bakery made an appearance for dinner, before soaking up the contrasting colours of the night as they fell upon the town and it became alive. Theres some cinema festival happening in one of the plazas, so all the Colombiana's get dolled up in fancy dress for the night. We arose early in the morning after a night of hearing doors repeatidly slam shut next door, after each customer comes and goes, to find that the damn hookers had drank most of our orange juice and all of our water we'd bought and put in the fridge for our long journy ahead of us.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204050360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204050360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1204050360/tpod.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:27:53 -0400 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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Parque Tayrona, Colombia

At the first camp, we met this really nice Colombian bloke, which told us about another 'ciudad perdida' (which directly translates to 'lost city' by the way). It was only 2 hours hike from the very last camp we were previously at, and told him we would take him up on his offer to show us, early tomorrow morning. He knows about it through some contacts he has, and apparently no one hardly knows about it as its fame hangs in the shadow of the well known Ciudad Perdida in the Sierra Navada. The next morning on the 27th we arose to meet our new friend, and headed off to the Tayrona Parque lost city. The trek was about 3 hours total, and we went through some pretty jungle. The actual hike was quite sweaty,m but a walk in the park compared to our Sierra Navada trek a week and a half previouse. The ruins were quite spread out in similar format to the Sierra Navada Ciudad Perdida, and constructed in simlar time, around 400 AD to 1,200 AD. So far 200 plus terraces have been uncovered, but estimated over 100 are actually here. We walked around the ruins, which were quite beautiful but not quite as fantastic as the Sierra Navada discovery. However there were wild horses throughout it. While relaxing one of the German guys noticed ticks crawling on him, so the rest of us looked at ourselves, and every single one of us had them making their way up our legs. They are so tiny that if you dont look properly, youll look straight passed em. A few of them were right up near my thaighs... I'll check later my other regions, haha! When the suckers bit down through they are bloody hard to get off. Apparently you have to twist them in an anti clockwise direction or something to prevent leaving their sucking heads in your skin still. We werent too fond of sticking around so we high tailed it out of there passing some native indians, and towards the exit trail, only to discover loads of more ticks crawling over us everytime we stopped too look. SHIT!! We ended up walking down a steep and slippery track towards the beach we camped at the first night where when we stopped found ...more ticks! It was about 3.30 in the afternoon so 3 of us quickly ran back to camp to get a meal in before it closes at 4pm! I had the cheapest meal on the expensive menu, a spaghetti Napolionata. Turned out quite nice and filling though. As usual I put the Colombian Aji Picanti Salsa on it to boost its flavour :-P The day so far has been long, hot, and tick infested, which means its a perfect reason to climb some rocks and jump in the water! haha. It was quite refreshing as its the first time Ive been in the water for a week and a half now. We headed back to camp in bear feet to relax, have a quite night before returning to our hammocks for sleep. The next morning I awoke with what looked like measels! Fleas in the bloody hammock had made a meal of me during the night. They took to my forehead and arms! Matty and I said our goodbyes to the others and headed off back to Taganga as we wanted to reach Cartegena before night fall. Only problem was that our bloody bus broke down half way back and we ended up sitting on the side of the road for 45 minutes until we were picked up by another bus heading to Cartagena, via Santa Marta. As we got close to Santa Marta all the roads were blocked from the locals in their civil dispute over electricity and water, so no one could get in and out! Our bus diverted to avoid the blocks but before we knew it, we were 25km out of Santa Marta! We immediately got the driver to let us off, so we could head back. We ended up on the side of the road, along side a military checkpoing where they just gazed at us endlessly like we are a freak show or something, a lone service station and dusty fields that blew with intensity everytime a truck would pass. The heat was scortching for the half an hour we stood there waiting for some form of por puesto to hopefully pass. Finally we got back to Taganga, to find our bags were behind lock and key... without the key! (haha, its clear that we are not getting to Cartegena during the day anymore). I had to get the guy to call the owner to return home to open the door to our bags. During that time, I had my last baguette and one last farewell to our Amigo's at the juice place. Very sad, once more! But we got a juice on the house, haha! Time to head to Cartagena...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1203946980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1203946980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1203946980/tpod.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:46:31 -0400 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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Parque Tayrona, Colombia

Well interesting news... Just as I was leaving Taganga I found out that the trek to the lost city has now been closed because Guerrilla groups have been found in large quantities in that area, and the risk of kidnapping is high. *gulp* I was only in the area one week ago! Also heard that Fidel Castro has now officially anounced his retirement in Cuba. I hope the place doesnt change to much, as its another world there. But Im happy to say that I've known the Cuba in Fidels time... We were up on another sunny day in Taganga to have our last fruite juice with our local friends we made there. As well as saying goodbye to Yushi and Shinook, our French buddies we made while on the hike to Ciudad Perdida. 2 Germans by the name of Stephan and Andy, a French girl, a Swiss girl and us 2 Aussie blokes hopped in a taxi and headed for Santa Marta where we baught enough food supplies from the outdoor markets littered with raw meat stagnating in the sun, supermarkets and more, for 3 days we are about to spend in Tayrona Parque. We hopped on a local bus and took of up the road, struggling to get out of second gear, escaping the locals that try to sell you anything and everything as they run along side the bus windows. An hour later we were at the national park entrance. Parque de Tayrona covers hundreds of square kilometres of the coastline, preserving a large section of Colombias Caribbean coast that holds some of the most beautiful beach environments in the entire continent. We payed our steep entrance fee of 25,000 pesos and got in a Jeep to ride 25 minutes to our drop off point, where we then had to walk an hour through the jungle to get to the coast. There are a chain of absolutely stunning beaches that hit you when you exit the jungle. The less touristy one that we are aiming for is yet another hour hike along the coast. The beaches we passed were quite extrodinary, as the light coloured golden sand rose from the light blue water to the wild palm trees that line the beach numerously, creating a seclusion from the outside world. Each beach being segregated from its neighbouring beach by huge big smooth grey boulders that have been sanded into giant round balls from millions of years of wind erosion, adding to the picture perfection of the scenery surrounding me. Arriving at our beach, we found out that it was 15,000 pesos (8AUD) for a hammock and 35,000 (19AUD) for a tent that holds 2 people. Absolute extorsion, seeming though we already paid to get into the park. Nup, not putting up with that, so we spoke to a couple that had been here for a week, and got knowledge of a secluded beach 25 minutes walk away with no one on it at all. We headed off through the jungle again to get to this beach with intensions of spending the night on the beach under the stars, next to a camp fire to keep us warm. Thats exactly what we did! Thge beach was nearly perfection! (I have to say nearly, because its no Cuban beach, haha). There wasnt a soul around and it had a beautiful setting on a curved C shape with white golden coast accompanied with the jungle rising above to the mountains in the background. The sun soon set, and a fire we got started! It gets really dark quickly here, so we all circuled the fire with our 4L container of Rum, and puffed slowly, burning the joint as it went around. The night passed quickly due to the intense drinking game the Swiss taught us. At one stage me and one of the German guys shit ourselves as our small torch we had, lit up an absolutely huge spider, larger than my hand, on the sand right next to our bloody legs!! We didnt kill it (Jasmin, you'd be proud, haha), but made sure we moved it far enough away that it wouldnt be tempted to return during the night. Later on at 9ish, these guys that owned the previouse expensive camp said we had to come back before 10 or they will call the police (its illegal to light fires and camp out of designated areas here). We know they were bluffing, as we all know people in Latin America too well, they just want money! We called their bluff, as them or any police never showed up for the rest of the night. However, time kicked on and at an unknown hour it all came to and end as we headed off to bed. I rested my head back on my only bag I had with me and gazed up at the billions of stars that stare down upon me. I stared endlessly at each one, attempting to imagine what each was and how beautiful it might be. The night was a little cold, but I managed to get a few hours sleep in between all the crabs that crawled over me during the night. I was soon awoken by the same bloody guys that found us last night, haha - they were shitty that we called their bluff. That morning and afternoon I spent it in solitude, by myself on these rocks around the coastline, which took quite a bit of effort climbing to get too, in which looked like no one else was willing to make. It works for me through as Im all alone, sitting high up away from site on these big round boulders, facing my own section of sea as the waves beat repeatidly below making a relaxing and calm setting where I can think, write, read and siesta. Eventually pulling myself away from my own little world, I met up with Matty and the Swiss to walk back to the 'cheaper' first camp where we will spend the next 2 nights. (Seriouse threats about calling the police now... hah!).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1203900900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1203900900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1203900900/tpod.html Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:14:24 -0500 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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Taganga, Colombia

Taganga...In the last week and a half since I have returned from the jungle trek to Ciudad Perdida, I have relaxed in the little fishing village Taganga. Here life goes by extremely slowly with complete disregard for time, and its fantastic! You couldnt find a clock or a watch if you tried here. Everyday the same process occurs, rise out of bed to get in a quick revision before I head off to get private tutor lessons on Latin Espanon, with my teacher Carmen. It only costs 14,000 Pesos an hour, and some of that goes towards helping the local children in the area. 3 Hours later at noon, my head is absolutely scrambeled from an overload of language information, so I retire to our favourite baguette place, that has a range of huge and delicious baguettes. Im trying to knock off everyone on the menu. So I eat my baguette as I swing in a hammock drinking my fruit juice for an hour or two before I wander down to the beach in the harbour and stare aimlessly out at the sun setting, alone with my thoughts. I eventually drag myself out from the trance I easily slip into to walk down the road to meet my friends Ive made at the juice stand, in which I sit for 45 minutes drinking my huge juice, while I chat to them in bad Spanish, and they help me improve (with quite a few laughs I might add).During day here in Taganga, it gets extremely hot from 9am till 4pm, when the heat disapears and the wind picks up, leaving a warm temperature which lasts all evening when the sun sets beautifully over the water in the harbour, leaving a beautiful scarlet sky before disapearing into the night. Then the sun rises again in the early hours of the morning and heats up the valley. As a result, I literally havnt worn a shirt in about 12 days.The last few days, we have made so many friends here, that we are starting to feel like locals. We cant walk down the street without running into a local yelling out "Hola Amigo!! Como Esta?" Its fantastic... Even the Policia stopped us, wandering where we are going to be drinking tonight for one of our parties, as one of them had a crush for this girl we know, haha. Our Amigo's that sit on the side of the road who we get juice off of. We walk passed local kids that all greet us with smiling faces as they run along the beach splashing in the water. Our local drug dealer doesnt ever let up trying to sell us coke and gunge, but he's a great laugh to chat to as he's so quirky.One of the days, I took the time to trek for a couple of hours right around the coastline on the grassy hills to get alone and write in my diary. There I discovered little groups of families that live in hammocks, and survive on the fish they catch for the day. Other days I climbed as high as I could on a mountain, to watch the sun melt into the silky smooth sea as another beautiful day disapears.I also sit there in solitude at times and think quite abit about my partner Jasmin back home, which I miss so so much. I long for the day she arrives in Peru and we travel together... Love you lots Jas!!Its going to be sad to leave this place when the time comes tomorrow...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1202389200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1202389200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/clintonb/round_the_world/1202389200/tpod.html Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:11:23 -0500 Everything I own on my back with a one way ticket in my grasp. Time to travel round the world!

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Ciudad Perdida, Colombia

DAY 1.........We were picked up traditional Latin American style, late, and driven to the take off point where we finished the formalities and squeezed in the back of a 4WD jeep and headed off. 30 minutes later we started hitting the jungle and a very bumpy track. Military checkpoing of course accompanied. We went off road for over 2 and a half hours, and over the time it got really, really bumpy inside the car to the point that everyone was laughing because all our heads had hit the roof several times and must of pushed rolling point atleast a couple of times. Finally reaching our drop off point, we all were on mates terms already. We hopped out and were immediately attacked by Mosquito's and bloody Sand Flies which took quite a big chunk out of your skin upon biting. We had a fresh salad sandwitch manually made before heading off on our trail. The trail wasnt quite so difficult yet. We were about a kilometre up and we could see the clouds lining the side of the mountain valleys. We descended down a track a couple of feet wide through those clouds, that turned the forest very mystical as we could only see 10m infront of us. The vegetaton was dense and beautiful jungle. Its difficult to imagine how remote we would be in 4 days time when we reach Ciudad Perdida. We regulary went over waterfalls and walked alongside 100m drop offs along the way to our first came. We descended alot today, so was pretty easy going, however I definitely dont think it will always be like this, haha!We arrived just as night fell at our camp. We were situated right onthe top of a mountain, that will provide a fantastic view in the morning when the sun rises and lights up the jungle. Our stay was in hammocks for the night, which Im looking forward too! For dinner the guides made us this awesome chicken and rice salad, over a fire stove. All of us warn out hikers sat there on the wooden table, lit up by candle light to eat our meal, with the sounds of the jungle making all sorts of unfamiliar noises in the darkness surrounding us.Just before we went to bed I was whitness to fireflies! This is my first time I have ever seen them, so was quite amazed and curious as I sat there watching them all light up in the black night sky.DAY 2..........We awoke early on the 8th and ran down to where we consumed our meal in a mater of 2 minutes! The morning was clear, and demonstrated how beautiful and remote we were getting. Thick jungle covering every inch of the mountain, in which we were about to trek through. And just as fast as we awoke, we were off again with my shirt still soaked with sweat from yesturdays hike. As we lowered into valleys, we filled our water bottle up with fresh mountain streams. If the river was big enough, we would strip down and head for a swim. The water was freezing, and felt like pins stabbing you all over upon jumping in. Needed a wash though so it did me good, haha! After stopping at the valley rivers, we always had a steep hike up the next mountain that always lasted hours. The humidity made all of us sweating again within a couple of minutes, however the coolness of the jungle made it more bearable than when in the sun. The walk went on forever and the group of us 12 split up into 3 or 4 different groups. Matty and I was hanging around one bloke Eddie, from Alaska, that twisted his knee on a descent, which was a bummer as he had to fall back to the guide. After taking several stops to admire the magnificent view and guzzle from our water bottles, we arrived half way there for the day, and rewarded with slices of Pinaple growing locally right up ontop of a mountain, that seemed to take forever to ascend. Towards the end of the day, a few of us that were trekking by ourselfs stumbled upon a little hutt that had stuff that the muel was carrying, as the track gets more difficult the next couple of days and the muels will be unable to come. We opened one of the bags and found a bunch of oranges that we stole and hoed into! haha... The clouds descended on the night sky, putting another end to a very long and tiring day, as we enclosed on our sleeping spot for the night...The hike today really was rewarding as we passed indigenous villages and people imbedded deep in patches of the jungle, hidden away from the world living completely dependant with their own banana plantations grow for food.Our camp tonight is fantastic. We are purchased on the end of a mountain ridge, with multiple valleys descending below. We all were very sore, so after an awesome cooked meal we listened to Manwell (our guide) tell us the story of how he was kidnapped by Guerilla groups a couple of years back on this exact route. The guerillas armed with automatics and machette's tied the hands and feet of all the guides, tourists and even some of the indigenous people up with rope. He managed to get his hands and legs free, to rescue a few tourists before fleeing into the jungle for days trek back through the jungle to Santa Marta to raise help. The military and Paramilitary worked together on this occasion to rescue some of the others. Unfortunately one girl was held hostage for 74 days before she managed to get out. Amazing, and alot of respect to Manwell our guide for doing what he did.Tonight I tried my first coca tea, which was quite deliscious actually, and gave a relaxed and numbing sensation. I sat in solitude after, mesmorized with the fireflies flikering in the darkness with my thoughts, before I went to sleep, sharing a plank of wood with Carsten from Denmark and Milrco the crazy Italian.DAY 3..........An early and crisp morning presented itself to us, and I had a really good sleep which is a supprise with sharing a bed with those 2, haha! Unfortunately the sky was completely covered with low cloud, only revealing a patch of the jungle every now and then. Breakfast consisted of toast and deep fried eggs, with coffee and chocolate milk. (if you call powder milk, milk that is)! I put on my sweat soaked shirt and shorts and headed off. I first attempted to keep up with the front guide, but he was too much of a machine and hiked down steep slopes like it was nothing. haha! So us guys at the front followed the track at our own pace, which we thought was fast enough haha. We now have a total of 3 injuries on us, which Manwell will hang back with and make sure they are ok for the slow, long walk ahead. It was so moist and slippert the path, not to mention steep with little place to put your feet, so alot of people ended up ass up on the ground! I would of done some serious damage to myself upon tripping up on one slópe if it wasnt for the tree next to me I could grab a hold of.Upon hitting the valleys riverbed, we all had a bit of a swim, wash and headed back up to ascent the mountain above us. This was no easy task as the path pretty much became verticle and we found ourselves using both our hands and feet to climb. Times there was barely a square inch to place your entire body weight onto, combining with a near verticle drop below us if we slipped. Was quite scary at times actually! Im supprised they dont give you a warning on this trek before we head off, as you have to be very fit and able to do some sections of this! I have no idea how the injured people are gonna make it up here... This ascent continued on for aproximately 45 minutes, and when we reached the top we would had of lost litres of water by sweating. The others were too slow and resting to much, so I took off ahead in the jungle by myself for a couple of hours to gain some ground on a couple of the Irish guys that took off infront. Treking in the jungle you are in so much solitude, and have so much time to think about everything. A river crossing eventually made an appearance where we had some lunch and jumped of high rocks into the water for fun. After lunch, there were a couple of banana plantatinos where the indigenous people lived. Eventually we arrived at another river that we had to cross, and cross it several times. Once when I was walking on a small path above the riverbed, it collapsed and I would of plumetted 30m straight down onto rocks in the river If I hadnt grabbed a conviniently placed vine dangling near by - phew! The scenery was beautiful, with the thick lush green jungle rising up each side of the crystal clear water that flows in between them. After a few more crossings, we came across a small opening in side of the jungle on the riverbed with primative stairs leading up, - WE ARE THERE!!! We are so buggered and so relieved that finally we are there, onlyh to find out that there is over 2000 steps to walk up... These steps arnt exactly easy to walk up either, as they are so small, on random angles and have moss growing on them all for us to slip on. The stairs extended furthre and further up as we ascended, lit up by only small gaps in the trees above. We climbed all the stairs after several rests and moans finally reaching the top. The central area in Ciudad Perdida is so beautiful and tucked away from view from the river. No wonder why they only found this 30 years ago. I was standing on the edge of the thousand year old ruins gazing mesmorized at the huge beautiful mountains that extend into the distance completely covered in thick lust green jungle. The mist rolled in and blanketed the sky turning it a light grey colour just above our heads. It was all worth it, what we were seeing was so amazing! In the distance we could see a small wooden structure with a fire, which was our camp. The trek was so bloody hard, especially todays, but seeing such beautiful ruins hidden away from the world is definitely worth it. We all were pretty stunned with what we were currently experiencing, as its just so surreal! Everyone was dead quite just taking it all in, as words cant express the feeling we are all getting from being here after days of hard trekking through thick jungle.In the night, we showered from close by running water that was freezing, ate dinner that our guides cooked over fire that felt like the biggest reward, and sat there in the pitch darkness, except for our faces lit up only by 2 burning candles. We headed off to bed around 7.30pm... Happy times!!!DAY 4..........10th of Febuary sounded and I woke next to Eddie, which arrived last night around 11pm. Manwell (our guide), Eddie from Alaska, the old German and his young Colombian mistriss which shouldnt of even come on this trek, had to hike for hours on end in complete darkness, that would of been absolutely scary out there!! We were worried a bit last night as no one had any idea what had happened to them, and a few of the guides went out looking for them without any luck. Manwell the champ, got them through it with only a few cuts and bruises.We arose early today and ate our Pampas that our Amigo Pipin (2nd guide) cooked. Pipin is so funny, he keeps yelling out "amigo amigo" to us - so friendly. Manwell then took us around the lost city for a couple of hours and explained a few things about them and the native Tayronas that used to and still do live here. The tayronas used to be very nomadic but 1500 or so years ago settled in this location and this was formed as a result. This place originally had alot of treasures and gold here, as the natives used to bury their loved ones with valuables to take with them into the next life. Unfortunately when the Spanish entered and invaded South America, they tortured these people for information on the whereabouts of their gold. Many Tayronas committed suicided, instead of being tortured to tell the Spanards where their loved ones was burried with the gold. The city was soon forgotten and lost in the dense jungle for centuries after and only discovered by wondering hippie nomads that floated through the Sierra Navada region, trading with indigenous people. Then it wasnt long until tomb raiders heard about this and robbed the majority of artifacts that was here. However there is a few in the Santa Marta museum if anyone wants to look. Here there are lots of coca plants and some tobacco plants that the indigenous people use for not smoking, but trade with other communities..After the mini tour a bunch of us just relaxed on the ruins and took it all in. When we got there, there was a bunch of local Indians with their kids, obviously teaching them about their ancestory history. Then 14 of them walked passed, we were all just amazed. It was like I was zapped back 700 years!! - they look at me with the same curiosity as I look back at them. They are only about 4ft (max 5ft) tall, and all have long jet black hair and dress in white cloth in which they have died from jungle material.A few of us took in the scenery before leaving back to camp as it was getting later. I stayed behind so I could have the ruins all to myself and take it all in, in solitude. It was the most surreal feeling, being the only person here amongst the ruins in dead silence! The mist moved along the mountains, fading the ruins as I looked up at the ascending stone structures into the mountains. I was completely mesmorised and found it very difficult to pull myself away, as the beauty of the ruins and environment made me feel as if I was in another world. An experience like this surely has to effect me in some way!!At night our usual shenannigans took place, as we ate copious amounts of food, then laughed ourselves to sleep by 8pm.DAY 5.........In the morning we were leaving the campsite, so we were up and ready a little earlier than normal. I put on my blue shirt again, that is still saturated in sweat! I have another shirt thats dry that i wear at night to keep me warm. We headed of walking back to the way we came for a while, except this time we diverted off to another track for different scenery. A sectino of this track we had to walk steeply up was a muddy hill, and lasted for 45 minutes!! I made myself hike up the entire thing without stopping, an only just managed to pull it off before nearly collapsing with exhaustion. I was hurting so much after. The trek continued until we reached a little village with about 20 people living here. They had some electricity, from a hydrogenerator that gave fluctuating power to the village depending on the flow of the water. In this town they also had a huge rock pool and waterfall that we were jumping off. Stupidly I decided to do a flip off the bloody high rock, which I only just pulled off. They also had beers here which we all kinda went wild on, because we had been busting our guts the last few days, and the sight of a beer was too good to resist! haha. Sleeping in a hammock was fantastic that night. I swang myself to sleep with the biggest gring on my face, as Im doing what most people only dream about, and I am making this a reality for myself!DAY 6..........Breakfast, and off we went! Some of this journey was extremely difficult as the ascents that we have to climb test your fitness to an extreme extent, while the downhills test your knee joints and ability to balance on unstable ground. We reached a larger town where we had refreshments, chatted with the local military that seemed over eager to let us know they have very powerful automatics slung over their shoulders. Here we met our jeep ride back to Santa Marta. Hasta Luego to a very memorable 6 day treck through the jungle. I had the time of my life!!
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