TravelStream™ news feed for member pauly_ontherun on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/pauly_ontherun en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:56:17 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1153870320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1153870320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1153870320/tpod.html Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:56:17 -0400 South and Central America

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Belem, Brazil

After a sad farewell to the little lug we flew via Panama to Manaus in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. The descent into Manaus was incredible, amazing waterways and jungle everywhere! After clearing customs we caught a bus into the city. As we had all our bags and surfboards we knew we were back in Brazil when we couldn't get everything through the bus turnstiles!! Luckily everyone was very helpful so we had various people holding our bags! As usual Pauley had befriended a guy on the bus and he kindly told us where to get off and found a cheap hostel for us! We were ready to explore Manaus.

In the rubber boom days Manaus was referred to as the Paris of the Amazon due to the wealthy families that came to live there and who subsequently built grand houses, a stunning Opera House called Teatro Amazonas and a market place based on the Les Halles one in Paris. These days the city is a thriving, smoggy metropolis in the middle of the jungle and most of the old architectural delights are in disrepair due to poverty. Luckily the Teatro Amazonas has been restored and is quite beautiful. The Brazilians love their flag and if you look carefully at the dome of the Teatro you can see a mosaic of it! The market place was also semi restored and it was fascinating to wander around checking out the plethora of fruits, veges and fish that were being sold...there was one fish that was the size of, and looked like, a reef shark! There was a jazz festival held at the Teatro Amazonas while we were there, so one night we holed up at a street bar across from the Teatro and listened to Jazz, drank Antarctica beer (!) and ate these delicious skewers of grilled cheese (it tasted like Haloumi) that are sold by vendors and served with lime! Mmmmmm!

Our next plan was to head to a city called Belem, on the Atlantic coast, by river boat. Boat is the main means of transport in this part of the world so the port located on the Rio Negro is an unforgettable hive of activity. As the river rises and falls twenty metres between seasons the dock is floating and there are people everywhere. You have to weave your way between hundreds of dock workers stacking the boats with produce, families getting ready to board boats to places like Tabatinga or Santarem and entrepreneurs standing under umbrellas trying to sell you boat tickets. We negotiated a deal for a boat leaving the next day. As we had all our bags and the surfboards, we decided to get the cheapest cabin instead of having to sleep in a hammock with our bags at our feet. As our boat turned out to be quite small this was a wise choice! Our friendly umbrella entrepreneur promised that by sunset the next day we would be at the meeting of the two rivers, where the "white" Solimoes River meets the "black" Rio Negro and they run alongside each other without mixing for a few miles.

After breakfast the next day we headed to the dock excited about our boating adventure. Of course we arrived and were told that the boat wasn't ready yet! We waited on that dock for the next eight hours (luckily we could sit under an umbrella!) not knowing what was going on (as usual) and were repeatedly told soon, soon, tranquilo! He he! Needless to say by the time we boarded the boat it was sunset and when we reached the two rivers we couldn't make out any colour difference with our tiny petzel torches! He he! Luckily we have learnt to not be surprised or bothered when things don't work out as planned and decided that it meant we would have to come back another time to see the rivers meeting!

We settled into our cabin which was to be our home for the next four days. It was great despite the fact we were next to the bar which played two Samba CD's non stop from 7am until midnight at full volume! All part of the experience no doubt but we could have wrestled that CD player and thrown it over board after four days going to sleep and waking up to the same songs!!

The boat trip was a great experience and we spent our days reading or watching the scenery from the top deck. The jungle was very different to what we had seen in the Amazon in Bolivia and we were further away from the bank than we had been in the pampas but it was an interesting contrast. This area is inhabited by Indian descendants and there were settlements all along the banks. Most of the settlements had churches, indicating the spread of Christianity via missionaries, and every house was on stilts. It is tradition for these families to paddle out in their canoes and either catch 'care packages' that are thrown by people on board the boats or lasso the boat and come on board to sell their produce, like Acai or prawns. It was humbling to see these families risk losing their produce just to get on board and sell a little of it. Luckily there was only one close call but due to a young boy's agility his family canoe didn't fall under the river boat and he could sell his prawns.

The sunsets were magical and we met a lot of very interesting people over sunset beers. There was a charismatic Venezuelan who was starting up an eco tourist lodge in some of the oldest rainforest in the world, a fascinating sixty five year old French woman who had traveled everywhere and a Uruguayan man taking photos for a United Nations magazine, so we answered some questions on world peace and posed for a photo!

After four days messing about on the boat, we arrived in Belem and immediately decided to leave the next day. It is a city with a bad reputation and we were warned by the hostel that every third tourist gets mugged! It did have a funny vibe but luckily we had a great day and night there! For breakfast we found a bakery that made delicious guava jam scrolls...mmmm! And at night we went out with some of the boat people and stumbled across a free Samba concert! It was fantastic! Pauley and I attempted to dance Samba style and even when it started pouring with rain everyone continued dancing so we had fun dancing in the rain together until the electricity went out! On the way home I found a street stall that was selling tacaca the local prawn soup that I wanted to try as it is a delicacy in the area. Turned out to be one of the strangest things we have both ever eaten and although we told the cooking ladies that it was lovely, once was enough! He he! Next day we bid the jungle farewell and hopped on the 35 hour bus ride to Fortaleza! See you there!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1153178640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1153178640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1153178640/tpod.html Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:51:10 -0400 South and Central America

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Guayaquil, Ecuador

We left sunny Mancora and set off for the Ecuadorian boarder crossing which, as we´d been informed, was notoriously dodgy. Fortunately we had no dramas and arrived safely in Ecuador´s largest city, Guayaquil. We needed a few days here due to our fairly large change in plans.

Originally Katie and I had planned to end our adventures by heading up into Central America. After doing some research we realised that this wasn´t going to be financially feasible as we fly home from Buenos Aires, so we decided that we would head back to Brazil (where we started our South American travels) and basically end up doing a huge circle path of the continent by heading through the Amazon and down the north coast of Brazil. This meant that I needed to organise a visa for Brazil and we needed to get some flights sorted out. Also we were obligated to watch the World Cup Soccer final. We couldn´t find the bar where we´d intended to watch the final so we ended up at a tiny ´hole in the wall´ bar which had enough space for us three, the bartender and his family. Even though this bar was tiny it still had a massive flat screen TV. Perfic!

Once organised we set of for a small (Ecuadorian) coastal town called Montanita about three hours from Guayaquil. This place was a real backpackers haven and apparently was supposed to have Ecuador´s best surf. Hmmmm...well, Montanita´s surf was disappointing and to make things worse the town was held under a constant fog. Having left sunny Mancora hoping for more sun and sand, all we got was sand. No....it wasn´t that bad. We stayed in a sweet bungalow right on the beach and the town had lots of excellent restaurants with a great night scene. One night, while we were sitting down for a meal, two small kids came to our table wanting to sell us sweets. Instead of buying sweets we didn´t want, we offered to buy them some dinner (an empanada). They told us they were brother and sister, as they eagerly gobbled down their empanadas. The following night they returned with their other brother. The night after that they returned with the other brother and their other sister. So for our entire stay we avoided being talked into buying sweets by bribing four small children with empanadas. We were also fortunate enough to meet lots of other really lovely people who were staying at our bungalows, who made our time there much richer. One night we all headed out to see what Montanita´s nightlife had to offer. A good night was had by all and Katie even received an invitation from Montanita´s shortest local, to dance. She excepted and was given a thorough lesson in how to move, South American style. See photo.

After a week at the foggy beach it was time to head back to Guayaquil, where we all were flying out from. Katie and I had organised a flight to Manaus, Brazil in the heart of the Amazon jungle. Ryan sorted out some flights to Granada and then we had to prepare ourselves to go our separate ways. Our little threesome would soon be no more, How sad!

Anyway we all headed out to the airport together (even though Ryan´s flight left three hours after ours!! We appreciated the company!) and said our sad goodbyes. We´d been travelling with Ryan for quite a while and we knew it would be a shock to the system not having him around. Ryan, thanks for all the amazing memories. You´re sorely missed and we hope you´re having an absolute blast.
Stay tuned for tales from the Amazon!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1151622240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1151622240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1151622240/tpod.html Sun, 13 Aug 2006 18:08:10 -0400 South and Central America

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Mancora, Peru

So after our superb time at Machu Picchu, Katie and I took one of the scariest overnight buses we´ve been on, from Cusco to Lima. We left in the afternoon so we were able to experience our bus driver almost getting sideways around corners with sheer cliffs into huge valleys. We sunk, scared, into our seats as darkness came and the swerving persisted. Happily we arrived in one piece in Lima.
One of my priorities in Lima was to get my hands on a surfboard. This wasn´t too difficult. Our friendly hostel owner sent me down the road to see Senor Magoo (Yep...his name is actually Mr. Magoo). Magoo sorted me out with a new kit and also told me how he was about to take a young Peruvian to the Gold Coast for the Grommet surf comp and how he´d coached Sofia Melanovich (Womens world Champ) for five years when she was younger. Cool Magoo!
Not much else to report from Lima other than having had a nice meal with Ryan and his friend Vic, from home, one night. Next we hopped on a bus north to a town called Pacasmayo on Peru´s coast, to catch up with one of our best mate´s (Moggy) boyfriend, Tim. Katie had met Tim in Indonesia and spent some time with him in the UK and I met him briefly in London, so it was excellent being able to catch up with him again.
Pacasmayo was a funny little town with little to offer unless you surf. Surf we did (Tim and I anyway while Katie and Ryan spent time in hammocks and watching random television shows!). Peru is famous for it´s long left hand points. Unfortunately, while we had fun surfing Pacasmayo, it was a bit of a slow and full wave while we were there, so we moved on. We headed right up to the North of Peru to a town called Mancora. Mancora is a nice little resort town with good restaurants and nightlife but sadly not much surf.
Tim had heard about a place just to the south of Mancora called Lobitos with supposedly great surf. Lobitos didn´t disappoint.
Tim and I headed off as soon as we arrived in Mancora, leaving Katie and Ryan to enjoy Mancora´s sun and beach life. The trip to Lobitos involved an hour bus ride followed by a forty minute bounce along a dirt road in a ´collectivo´(mini van). Lobitos is a classic town with even less to offer than Pacasmayo. If you aren´t a surfer, fisherman, oil worker, missionary or in the military, you probably would find yourself quite bored in Lobitos. It´s a real desert fishing town with a huge oil refinery and military base. The town in divided into ´New´ and ´Old` Lobitos. ´Old´ Lobitos is scattered with old vacant American style houses. The whole place is basically deserted, aside from the fishermen etc. Tim and I decided to stay at `Don Luchos Restaurant´ in ´New´ Lobitos. Don Lucho and his classic wife took us in and treated us like their own kids. Mrs. Lucho (not her real name but what we called her) took to calling me Pablo and Tim was called Tito, because it was easier. She was a chatty lady who enjoyed having a bit of a boogey around the restaurant and with Tito on occasions. Good value.
Anyway the surf in Lobitos was amazing. There were five left hand point breaks within walking distance of ´The Luchos´ place, which we took advantage of. One of the more notable breaks was actually in the Army Base where you needed to leave your passport or I.D. to be allowed to enter. Once you were granted permission, you had to either paddle around the headland or climb up and over a cliff to access the beach as the guards wouldn´t allow you to cruise through the camp. The last time Tim and I surfed this break it was too big to paddle around the headland and too dangerous to climb down the cliff so we just walked through the camp back to the guard post to collect our driver licences and were effectively banned from surfing the break again. Whoops. A good time was had in Lobitos!
We headed back to Mancora to be reunited with Katie and Ryan. We had a big night out at our favourite beach bar, ´Point Place´, to belatedly celebrate Tim´s birthday which was a lot of fun. We spent the next few days hanging with Tim and relaxing at the beach. Mancora had a great Mexican restaurant and probably lots of other good restaurants too, but we wouldn´t know about them as we couldn´t tear ourselves away from the Mexican, which we frequented nightly. Yum!!
Anyway Mancora was a lovely spot with great sunsets and good weather. Finally back at the beach!!! So good! It was awesome to spend time with Tim and we look forward to more shinanigans with Tito back in Oz.
Next stop Ecuador.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150676760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150676760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150676760/tpod.html Wed, 02 Aug 2006 10:25:02 -0400 South and Central America

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Cusco, Peru

After leaving Puno we headed by bus to Cusco, which was the capital city of the Inca empire and one we wanted to explore before doing a hike to Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. We arrived into Cusco at night and luckily (it was a first!) had booked a few nights at a hostel called Loki´s ,which we had heard was a great place to stay. It is set in an old historic building and they have done it up beautifully! Great hostel complete with comfy beds, hot showers, cool bar, awesome breakky and a massive screen to watch the soccer world cup on! The boys were stoked!We met some fun people so we had a few nites out with them and it was Adam´s 30th birthday as well, so we celebrated in fine form at a local club called Mama Africas!

Cusco is a beautiful city with an amazing central square that has two beautiful old churches around it. You can also see evidence of the Inca´s intelligent building style in walls throughout the city and in the foundations of some old buildings, which the Spanish built on top of. It was festival time when we were there so that made the whole experience even more special, with dancing, floats and parades in the square to mark the start of Winter Solistice. On one of the days there was an entire street lined with foodstalls preparing the local specialty, cuy or roasted guinea pig!

After finding out that the Inca trail was fully booked for months (of course, we are so disorganised!) we decided to use the same great agency that Andrew and Kat (our buddies from Copacabana) had used and recommended. This agency offered a trek through the scared valley (where the Inca trail starts) and into the Lares valley, where communities still live like their Inca ancestors used to. The hike takes four days and you end up at Macchu Picchu on the last day for sunrise. The trekking agency we used was community based and had various projects designed to enable the communities in the Lares valley to maintain their traditional lifesytyle. Perfect agency for us!

Our group included young and old from all over the world and there were twenty of us in total. We were accompanied by three excellent guides who we became great friends with and who all spoke perfect English, seven porters (man are they strong), three cooks, four donkeys and even a herd of llama for some of the way! We began early with a four hour hike through the Sacred valley, which the Inca´s so named because you can grow any type of crop on its fertile hills and it has a river that runs through the entire valley. After lunch and a dip in the hot springs of a little town at the beginning of the Lares valley, we began the real trekking!

Luckily we were used to the altitude coz we reached heights of around 4400m and it was a struggle up those steep valleys regardless of the fact it was even harder to breathe than usual! After three days of seeing the amazingly steep paths they navigated through the valleys, we had taken to shaking our heads and saying with much respect ´oh those crazy Incas´. Incredible! The valley environment changed as we got higher and parts of the lower region reminded me of The Shire in Lord of the Rings....just beautiful!

The camping we were treated to after a day of walking was excellent.....we were greeted by hot milo (!) and popcorn on arrival into camp! Our tents had been set up already and dinner was always excellent! On one of the nights we were able to stay with a small community and were invited to see inside one of their houses. The house was made in the Incan style, a stone upon stone structure with no windows and a thatched roof made of a type of grass particular to the area. Inside was very basic and the family sleep together on the dirt floor with a woolly llama skin as their bedding. They all keep guinea pigs and that is the reason for the lack of windows as the guinea pigs are a precious food source and if they are exposed to extreme cold they instantly die, so they are kept inside until eaten. Another example of how life is a reflection of how it was in Incan times is the manner of dress. The women dye llama wool and use backstrap looms (Mum and Katie R I thought you would appreciate this so Pauley put a photo on for you both! xo) to make their colourful clothes. They all wear hats that signify their age and marital status and everyone wears the same style of sandal the Inca´s wore. It was so freezing and there were little children running around in sandals!

Another special experience was visiting a local school further down the valley. The agency asked us to help by donating pens and paper to the children. We met two classes and we sung songs with them! The schools in that area have decided that they want to continue the Quechuan language, so classes are taught primarily in Quechuan not Spanish. It was nice to see this and although the Peruvian government are not particularly helping the community do this they are not hindering their efforts either. Seeing the school and exactly how people live is one of the highlights of this particular trek and we loved it! Along the way we also saw many little known Incan sites, such as watch towers, produce storage houses and a terraced side of a hill that highlights their ingenuity in building irrigation systems. Imagine what they could have acheived if it hadn´t been for Spanish colonialism!

On the third afternoon we arrived in Ollantaytambo, where after walking 45kms over the three days, we were greeted by the train that took us for a scenic ride to Aguas Calientes, a small town at the foot of the valley which Machu Picchu sits atop. We were certainly in need of a shower by then! We woke up on the fourth day at 4am to get the bus up to Machu Picchu to see the sunrise. We made the second bus and were one of the first thirty into the site that day! It was just AMAZING! One of the best things I have ever seen and it will stay with me forever. The lost city of the Inca´s was well worth the walk!

Upon arrival you can see how the town was divided into Urban and Farming sectors with a gateway dividing them. After walking through the gate, we saw the sun rise through the Temple of the Sun and shine directly on the rock where they used to place offerings. After this, our guide Jose, took us on a fascinating tour of the site and we marvelled at everything! Especially the Sundial that helped them work out the seasons! Incredible stuff!

After the tour we decided that, as we hadn´t walked enough in the last few days (!) we would climb to the summit of Waynapicchu, the famous mountain, to see the site from above. The climb was steep and once again Those Crazy Incas came to mind...the ancient stairs were so narrow but it was worth it when we saw the view! Machu Picchu is meant to resemble a condor (surprise, surprise!) from above! And it was just spectacular!

After a few more hours of exploring and just sitting and comtemplating how amazing Machu Picchu is, we headed back to get the train to Cusco. After a four hour journey, we were back in Cusco and ready for bed! Next stop is Lima and the coast! Can´t wait for a swim! xo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150237140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150237140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150237140/tpod.html Mon, 31 Jul 2006 16:53:38 -0400 South and Central America

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Puno, Peru

From the depths of the Amazon we flew back to La Paz after a long wait for our delayed flight. We spent a few days shopping and decided that it was time to move on. Our next stop was the small town of Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titikaka. The bus ride there was pretty uneventful until we were told to get off the bus and leave all our belongings behind. Being the savvy travelers that we are, we took our important stuff and were herded on to a little boat. Our bus was rolled onto a large barge with a tiny outboard motor and we slowly made our way to the other side of the lake. Once back on our bus it was a short ride to Copacabana, a nice town fully equipped to handle tourists. Here we were able to watch Australia´s first world cup game with a bunch of rowdy Aussies and one elderly Japanese man who accepted defeat in a humble manner.
Copacabana wasn´t all about the soccer though. Incan legend says that the sun was born in Lake Titikaka which is 3,820 metres above sea level and apparently the highest navigable lake in the world. Whatever that means. I guess there are higher lakes that are not navigable for one reason or another. Anyway, we organised an overnight trip to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun)with our new Aussie friends Andrew and Katrina. We spent the day hiking to the Rock of the Puma where the Inca believe their first Emperor rose from. We arrived at a rock but didn´t realise until a local sheep herder informed us that we were at the Rock of the Puma. It seems that everything apparently resembles either a puma or a condor or a snake which are the three revered creatures in Incan belief. Lake Titikaka itself is meant to be in the shape of a Puma eating a rabbit but one would need a fairly creative imagination to spot that one!! Anyway having seen the Rock we sat and rested in some beautiful old ruins nestled on a hill overlooking a beautiful lake beach and the amazingly blue waters of Lake Titikaka. After a while we headed to a small settlement where we negotiated (poorly) with a 10 year old to take us in his boat back to the side of the Island where we were staying so we could enjoy sunset beers. A necessity.
The next morning we woke to a noisy donkey outside our window and decided it was time to head back to Copacabana on the mainland. Shortly after we arrived back there we planned to head into Peru to a nearby town called Puno. Puno had little to offer other that the obligatory trip out to the reed islands on Lake Titikaka. We went out there with another new Aussie mate, Adam, who we met in Copacabana.
As was explained to us when we arrived at the reed islands, after a short boat ride, the people living here basically lasso various floating roots, pull them together, tie them up and lay reeds over the top to make a nice soft ground on which to build their houses. The floating town we visited had around 20 or so islands where people live. There was a school for the kids and the people live off the fish from the lake and make occasional trips into Puno for supplies. We were able to take a ride in a traditional reed boat constructed entirely of.....you guessed it....reeds. The reeds are used for pretty much everything from house construction to food. Amazingly some of the inhabitants of the reed houses had installed solar panels for power. Times are changing!
All in all an interesting experience was had. Next stop is Cusco (once the Capital of the Incan empire) and Machu Picchu...can´t wait.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150062900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150062900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1150062900/tpod.html Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:56:06 -0400 South and Central America

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La Paz, Bolivia

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1149103200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1149103200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1149103200/tpod.html Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:43:54 -0400 South and Central America

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Ruerrenabaque, Bolivia

Well, we left Uyuni and arrived in Potosi, the world´s highest city, a UNESCO world heritage site and a city that in colonial times was one of the world´s wealthiest cities, due to mining. Now you can still do mine tours but the miners work in terrible conditions and although very poor, the town itself has retained it´s old ambience. We planned to stay two days but unfortunately I got pretty bad food poisoning so after a midnight trip to the local hospital (an experience in itself) I was confined to bed for a few more days! The boys were lovely and looked after me so once I started feeling better we caught the night bus to the Bolivian capital, La Paz.

La Paz is the world´s highest capital city and although we were getting used to the altitude, walking was still a struggle and it was pretty cold! We explored this fascinating city, complete with witches markets and loads of ice cream bars (!) and booked our flight to the Amazon, as we were keen to get to the jungle! The little plane we caught was a small eighteen seater and it was a beautiful forty minute flight over the Andes to the main settlement in Bolivia´s Amazon basin called Rurrenabaque.

Rurrenabaque is a tranquilo (chilled) little town that reminded Pauley and I of somewhere in Asia, we felt at home immediately! The temperature was in the 30´s and there we heaps of little bars, restaurants and hammocks to relax in! We booked a five day jungle and pampas tour, two days in the jungle followed by three days in the pampas, the Amazonian wetlands.

To get to the jungle we caught a canoe down the Beni river for two hours and then turned into the Tuchi river for another two hours. It is a pretty fast moving stretch of water so the local guide navigating the boat certainly knew what he was doing! We arrived at our camp, had lunch and went on a three hour trek through the jungle. We were provided with white long sleeve shirts, covered the rest of ourselves in insect repellent and the guide made us vine water bottle carriers! Perfect!

It was fascinating walking through the jungle listening to all the birds and hearing what all the medicinal plants were for. There was even a tree that tasted like chocolate and another that smelt exactly like garlic! Apparently the Indians used to strip some bark off the garlic tree and cover themselves with it to protect themselves from mosquitoes! We found out how to find water from certain trees and which plants could be used as bandages. There were also poisonous ants, huge butterflies, beautiful macaws and bambi like deers, unfortunately (unlike Katie and Mog) we didn´t see any jaguars!

After dinner we went for a night walk to spot the alligator´s red eyes, look at the stars and listen to the jungle sounds, amazing! We all had the best sleep we have ever had and woke up early for another walk followed by the boat trip back down river!

The following day we set off towards the pampas in a four wheel drive with a group of four fun kiwi girls and a lovely Israeli couple. After four hours and a stop at a wildlife cafe for lunch, we arrived at the river where the canoe was to pick us up. We had to wait a while for the boat but were lucky enough to see pink dolphins swimming past...nice! They are fresh water dolphins that have a long nose and are a translucent pink colour on their underbelly. Beautiful!

After our guide arrived with the canoe we embarked on the journey up river to camp. It took over four hours and although it started raining, we were pretty excited to be in a canoe in the Amazon checking out alligators, cute little yellow monkeys, capybaras (they look kind of like a pig/wombat type creature), amazing birds (one of whom looked like it was ready for tribal warfare!) and lots of turtles! It got dark three hours into the trip, so seeing alligators red eyes next to you and picking up the little jumping fish that would land in our canoe was pretty crazy!

When we arrived we played cards, had dinner and settled into our mosquito netted beds! We had a big day ahead of us! First thing the next morning we headed to the swamp area in search of anacondas. We were given gumboots and a large walking stick for the journey! The plan was to scout around and find one. That didn´t happen although we did find a four month old alligator which is what the anaconda´s feast on. It was interesting to see the environment the snakes live in and to see their homes made out of grass.

After that it was time for lunch followed by beers while piranha fishing....nice! We caught quite a few and ended up eating them for dinner. They are actually quite small fish but their teeth are certainly nasty! After dinner we went on a night tour in the boat and it was unforgettable to float down the river listening to the nocturnal birds and animals while looking at the stars! The night ended with a bonfire back at camp.

On the last day we woke up early enough for sunrise, to the sounds of howler monkeys. They sounded to me like ghouls walking the forest...scary stuff! Sunrise was lovely and then after a pancake breakfast (they love pancakes here...excellent!) we packed the canoe and headed down river. We stopped along the way to swim with the pink dolphins which was a great experience especially as you could see alligators sunning on the bank near us! Apparently the dolphins protect you from the alligators! Excellent! Once back in Rurre and after warm showers we all met up for dinner and drinks in celebration of our trip together, fun times!

We had the weekend in Rurre to relax by the local pool and soak up the sun. Of course the day we were meant to fly out it started pouring with rain and as the runway is grass, the plane couldn´t take off! Welcome to the world of manana´s, all the tourists that were stranded had to hang out near the flight office waiting for updates and always hearing ´tomorrow, manana you will be able to leave!´. We didn´t mind coz we loved the town but after almost three days of waiting we left for La Paz. It was definitely sad to leave but the next adventure is the Island of the Sun, birthplace of the Inca empire, so see you soon! xo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1148497740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1148497740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1148497740/tpod.html Fri, 09 Jun 2006 16:19:18 -0400 South and Central America

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La Paz, Bolivia

From Uyuni we hightailed it to Potosi, a town known as being the highest in the world at 4060 metres above sea level.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1148151900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1148151900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1148151900/tpod.html Sun, 04 Jun 2006 12:45:22 -0400 South and Central America

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Uyuni, Bolivia



From the Iguazu falls we headed off to Salta in Argentina´s Northwest. This was a 26 hour bus ride which we were glad to see the back of. Salta turned out to be a great little town. We´d only planned to stay one night but ended up staying four. The hostel we chose had a lot to do with this! Cosy rooms, lovely rooftop terrace including bar and restaurant, friendly staff who had us play soccer with them on two occasions (once after midnight!!!) and they also hosted their very own meat feast BBQ!!! I was a happy carnivorous backpacker! Fortunately the hostel´s chef cooked up some delicious veggie options for those less carnivorous backpackers i.e.. Katie!

While in Salta we sampled various tasty restaurants including a great vego place and an excellent Italian place which we attended twice respectively. Also we made pigs of ourselves (well I did anyway) at a yummy middle eastern restaurant. We also had a good night out at a Simpson´s themed bar called ¨Barney Gomez¨.

The town had some beautiful old architecture and a large hill with the obligatory statue of Christ overlooking the town. Katie and I walked up the hill one day to get some exercise and to check out the view. The following day Katie, Ryan and Dave (a mate we made at the hostel) did the same walk again while I caught up on some e-mailing.

Though Salta was lovely, we needed to move on to dustier pastures. Bolivia was next. A five hour bus ride took us to the border town of La Quiaca. Crossing a bridge and passing through Argentina´s and then Bolivia´s immigration we found ourselves in Bolivia´s border town, Villazon. We had decided to take the train to our next port of call, Tupiza. After waiting a while to buy tickets an official announced that there were no train tickets left. So Ryan and I rushed down to the bus station to purchase some bus tickets for us while Katie looked after the bags in the train station. After successfully buying bus tickets, Ryan and I made our way back to the train station to collect the bags and Katie, only to be stopped by two plain clothed ¨policemen¨. They insisted that we accompany them to their ¨office¨ for a drug search. When they attempted to get us into a car we knew it was time to get out of there. It was as easy as saying ¨no!¨ firmly, turning and walking away. The dodgy coppers didn´t even try to stop us. Welcome to Bolivia!

Note: Beware fellow travellers. This is a common scam. There are no plain clothed police in Bolivia that deal with travellers.

With that behind us we got back to the train station to find that there were, in fact, plenty of seats left on the train! So instead of bumping into our friendly ¨policeman¨ again we forked out (so cheap here!!) and bought train tickets to Tupiza.

Once in Tupiza we had to arrange our four wheel driving adventure to Bolivia´s famed Salt Flats. After a bit of searching around we found a suitable tour company and set off the following day.

The tour was a four day, three night four wheel drive adventure. Ryan, Katie and myself were assigned a Landcruiser, a driver/guide (Samuel), a cook (Matilda) and two other traveling companions (Brian and Sivan) who had to put up with us for the next three nights.

The first day was a long one with lots of driving and even more Llamas. Not only did we see plenty of these funny creatures, who stroll around almost arrogantly, we also got to taste them. After winding our way through the mountains (pretty freaky) we stopped for lunch where we chowed down on sandwiches and Tamales. Tamales are commonly found parcels of rice, corn and meat. In our case it was dried Llama meat. Good stuff. The only real action for the day was dropping in on the town where Butch Kassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise. We visited the cemetery where they were once buried before the US government allegedly removed them and whacked them in a museum somewhere in the States. Exciting stuff!

Our overnight accommodation was ´basic´ and it got pretty cold at night but we coated ourselves in blankets and sleeping bags which helped.

The second day we drove to an amazing old ruined city which had been abandoned some 25 years earlier (by the inhabitants of the town where we´d spent the previous night) due to a belief that the Devil had entered the town and decided to call it home. Spooky stuff!

Next we drove on to the natural hot springs (Aguas Termales) of Quetena Chica where we braved the cold outside wind and dunked ourselves in the 30 degree plus waters. It was our first bath/shower of the trip. Nice.

After lunch we drove past the ´Rocks of Salvador Dali´. Beautiful desert landscapes with large eroded rock formations which did indeed look like something out of a Dali painting. We didn´t get close enough to take any decent photos though. Next stop was Laguna Verde or the Green Lake. It´s name told no lies! Quite spectacular. Our last sight for the day were some Geysers. These bubbling mud pools reminded me of Rotorua and we were able to get pretty close....not sure if this was a good thing or not.

That night we stayed in a town called Huayllajara (ooayeyahara or some such tricky pronunciation) and after getting to bed at 9pm we were permitted to sleep in until 6am. The previous mornings start was 5am. So we set off and arrived at a large lake which was home to thousands upon thousands of Flamingoes. I took way too many bad photos of them and so will only bore you with the better one/s. Quite an amazing scene in general though.

Next was the Arbol de Piedra (Tree of Stone). I´ll let the photos explain that one.

After driving past numerous lakes and yet more flamingoes we arrived at a viewing point of a large and active volcano. More amazing than the volcano itself was the hardened lava formations surrounding the volcano for miles from an eruption ages ago.

That night we were to stay in a town called San Juan which had an interesting museum with information about the area and its people. Also not far from the town was its ancient Necropolis (cemetery) which housed a bunch of mummies in old rock formations. Most of which had lost their mummy clothes and where merely freaky skulls and bones.

The final day started at 4.30am. This is what we had come for! The mighty Salt Flats. Driving through the dark we arrived on the flats and drove to a spot where there was a small lake and waited there for the sunrise. There´s really no way to describe the scene when the sun started coming up and I doubt the photos will do it justice but check it out anyway. Just beautiful. The colours and landscape was perfectly reflected off the still water.

After mucking around with silhouette photos for a while we drove through the immense vastness of the Salt Flats. It´s such a foreign and amazingly beautiful landscape. A long time ago the flats were a huge salt lake which now, obviously, has dried up.

Next we were headed to an ´Island´ called ´Fisherman´s Island´ in the middle of the Flats. I suppose there was once good fishing from this Island. We arrived and had breakfast and then went off to explore. This crazy place was completely covered with cactus. The largest of which was 12.3 metres high and 1203 years old!!

Leaving ´Fisherman´s Island´ in our wake we headed to a Hotel that was built on the Salt Flats constructed entirely out of Salt. Interesting place.

Finally we stopped by the area where the salt is collected for treatment and eventually sold and consumed. Looking at the Flats one would imagine that Bolivia certainly has sufficient salt to supply the entire world with their salty needs but amazingly Bolivia does not export any of its salt to other countries and instead has chosen to maintain the flats as the natural wonderland that it is. Good on you Bolivia!!!!!

Finally we were dropped in Uyuni. No sooner had we arrived, we were keen to leave. Not much to keep us there except a good pizza restaurant called Minuteman!! Next stop is Potosi.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1147048500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1147048500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pauly_ontherun/kandpdostham/1147048500/tpod.html Thu, 25 May 2006 11:16:50 -0400 South and Central America

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Puerto Iguazu, Argentina




Back on the road with yet an other incredible experience ahead of us we reluctantly left BA on a plush deluxe bus which provided tasty meals, wine with dinner and a whisky night cap to help you pass out in the comfy seats which reclined pretty much the whole way. We were headed to Puerto Iguazu. A small town on a point of two rivers which boarders both Paraguay and Brazil. We were headed here to witness the amazing Iguazu waterfalls and after 18 hours we arrived.

We quickly found ourselves a comfy little place to stay and sussed out how we were going to get out to the falls the following day. All pretty easy. We went and checked out the point where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet and then got a relatively early night.

We got out to the falls late morning and spent the rest of the day checking out all the different view points of seemingly hundreds of waterfalls. I´ll let the photos do the talking.


We also arranged to take a speed boat out to get a closer look at some of the falls. We were told we may get a little wet....yeah right! We got dunked under one of the bigger falls three times and were completely saturated. All in the name of fun! To keep things short (for once) it was great seeing the falls. As Katie commented they are a spectacular mix of beauty and power. Nature truly is incredible and there´s so much more of it that awaits us!! Can´t wait. Next stop is Salta in North western Argentina which will probably be our last hurrah with Argentina...for now anyway.
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