TravelStream™ news feed for member vicky193 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/vicky193 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:11:07 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1256447528/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1256447528/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1256447528/tpod.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:11:07 -0400 Vicky's BIG Adventure 2009

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Gympie, Queensland, Australia

It's been almost 6 months since my last entry, and I've been getting grief from a couple of people about that, so here's how I've spent the last 6 months in Australia.

I spent a week in Sydney sorting out all the boring stuff (bank accounts, tax stuff, blah blah) and then headed up to Queensland to start my farm work. I wasn;t looking for a real-life country living experience, but to extend my visa from 1 year to 2 years, I had to complete 88 days agricultural work. What they call winter in Queendland is actually not that different to our British summer, in fact it's probably better all in all, so it seemed a good idea to head in that direction if I was going to be working outdoors!

I decided to do "wwooffing". Wwoof is a global organisation and stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms, and there are over 1600 farms in Australia that take part in it as Wwoof Hosts. When you join as a Wwoofer (yes, that's the actual term!) you get a book with the contact details of all the wwoof host. All you have to do is choose which part of the country you want to go to, then read the profiles of the wwoof hosts in that area and decide who you'd like to go and stay with, get in touch with them and take it from there. The work is unpaid, you do 4-6 hours per day in exchange for accommodation and food. I would have liked to have earned money while I was doing the farm work, but had heard some stories about commercial farms that put a few doubts in my mind. I just wanted to complete the work so I could get my visa extension out of the way, so I thought I'd give it a go.

The first hosts I stayed with were Graham and Margaret in a town called Widgee, about 17 miles west of Gympie. They were very nice and there was another wwoofer there at the same time, a Swedish girl called Lulu. We did all sorts of work around the property helping Graham; building barbed wire fences, feeding the cattle and preparing the calves for the sale yards, maintaining the irrigation systems, and generally helping out. They lived on a 700 acre property that they'd bought as a retirement project (!) after Graham's 35 year stint working on the prawn trawlers at the top end of Australia. He had so many stories from his days on the boats, I think he just really liked having people around to listen to him. They made us feel very wlecome there, but I already had another wwoof host to stay with, not too far from Gympie either so I only spent 2 weeks with Graham and Margaret.

The second wwoof hosts were Cheryl and Michael in Brooloo, about 28 miles south of Gympie, and about a 2 hour drive north of Brisbane. At this point I was thinking I'd stay about 2-3 weeks with each wwoof host and see how it goes. I ended up doing the rest of my farm work at Cheryl and Michael's place! They made me feel so welcome, and I was really immersed into their day-to-day life and their community activities. Most of the work I did there was looking after fruit and vegetable gardens, as well as the gardens around their property, where they planted only native Australian plants.

During my 2nd weekend, they hosted a Country Show Ball which I helped out at. Surprisingly, I didn't have a ball gown in my rucksack but managed to borrow one from a friend of Cheryl's, which also came in handy for the 2nd country Show ball I attended 5 weeks later, and was actually a judge in the Miss Show Girl and Rural Ambassador competitions. I also managed to squeeze in a couple of days at Rainbow beach, and a few days camping at Inskip Point. I had such a good time during my stay there, it's been great. Because I stayed with them for a while, I really got to know what it's like to be part of a rural community in Australia. And I met more Australians than I ever would have if I'd been working on a commercial farm and staying hostels. Most of the time, it was just me and Cheryl at the house, with the 2 dogs, Bam Bam and Flash. Cheryl and I get along very well, and I learnt so much from her about the Australian way of life and attitudes. And I think I've made friends for life. I've been invited back for Christmas, and I'm taking my Mum up to their place in March so she can meet the people who provided me with a home for my first few months in Australia.

When the work came to an end, I headed to Brisbane in the search for work. I had originally planned to head straight back to Sydney, but I was enjoying Queensland and had met a few people, and had Cheryl and Michael so close by that it seemed a shame to leave. I liked Brisbane, it's a very laid back city and Queenslanders strike me as very friendly, welcoming people. But the work just wasn't available there, and there seemed to be plenty of work in Sydney, and I hadn't had any wages since December, so after 3 weeks in Brisbane, I headed down to Sydney.

But not before I went to the Mary Valley Country Show with Cheryl and Michael. I'd heard so much about it, I couldn't be so lcose and not attend! Every Australian rural community has an annual country show, that is used to showcase the local community. There are all sorts of events and competions form art and crafts, and cooking, to wood-chopping and a rodeo. Cheryl entered the lemon butter I'd made into the lemon butter competion, and I won Second Prize, a total of $3! Not bad considering I'd only learnt how to make it a few weeks earlier, so if you're ever lucky enough to try my lemon butter, I'll remind you that it's award winning!

We wandered around before the rodeo started, and I was surprised to see real cowboys getting ready for the rodeo. I know that may sound strange, after all it's only cowboys that take part in rodeos, not accountants and lawyers, but they all take it really seriously. It was quite surreal, and I felt like I was on the set of a cowboy movie or something. Anyway, the rodeo was really good fun, although I don't think I know anyone who would be brave enough to take part. There were a couple of times I had to look away because the cowboy's hand got locked into the mould on the back of the bull, and in their attempts to get free, were being dragged around by the bull. The clowns would help them, but sometimes that wasn't enough, so all the other cowboys would run out to help. None of the cowboys had any serious injuries, but it was scary to watch. And they also had little boys (some as young as 6 years old!) taking part on calves. They had lots of padding and a crash helmet, but I still watched in awe!

Now I'm in Sydney and have been here for 2 months. I managed to get a job within a week, and moved into a house in Bondi Junction. I'm working in a call centre at the moment; it's really easy, and Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm and the company seems like a good company to work for. I can only work there for another 4 months due to visa restrictions, so I'm always on the lookout for other work, but this will do me quite nicely for now. We've entered spring and the weather is warming up nicely, but it's also quite changeable; it's been chucking it down today! All in all, I'm enjoying being here for the most part. I miss some things about home, and now that I've got a routine and a bit of normality, a little bit of homesickness has kicked in over the past few weeks. But I think I'm over it now, and am just really looking forward to my mum coming to visit at the end of February. Although that means that my 30th birthday will be imminent, so we'll see how I feel about that nearer the time!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1240414560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1240414560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1240414560/tpod.html Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:17:32 -0400 Vicky's BIG Adventure 2009

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Uyuni, Bolivia

So, my first bus journey after leaving the GAP tour group was not great. Back to unpaved Bolivian roads, and this time I had a big group of Ozzies narrating pretty much the entire journey: brilliant! I went to Uyuni, to see the Salar de Uyuni. Basically, there was a big lake and it dried up years and years ago, and all that's left there is salt flats. Sounds dull, but looks amazing. I was in a jeep with a driver that spoke very little English, a cook who looked after us all very well (thanks Maribella!) but also spoke very little English, 2 English fellas, an Irish couple and a Canadian bloke. It was a 3 day trip and it's up there with my highlights of South America.

Uyuni is a really dull little town in the middle of nowhere, and the only reason people go there is to see the salar. The whole town even shuts down (including internet cafes) for 2 hours every afternoon, so there is literally NOTHING to do there! We spent a lot of time in the jeep, just gawping at the scenery. As well as salt flats, there are also mountains (we were at a very respectable altitude), lakes, weird rock formations, flamingoes, and the trip finished by taking us to the Atacama desert in Northern Chile. It really was beautiful to look at. The Atacama is the driest desert in the world and you can tell. My hair was poker straight even when I let it dry naturally; not even a hint of frizz! The first night we stayed in a building made of salt; not only the walls, but also the funiture. We were treated to a rendition of god-knows-what traditional Bolivian songs by a group of kids, who we naturally had to pay money for the privilege. There was one kid that just had a shaker thing that was a bunch of bits of wood tied together with string. I think it was supposed to keep them in time, a bit like a tambourine, but even he was bored with their performance and chose instead to throw them up in the air occasionally; brilliant! The second night was in a hostel, in the middle of the wilderness, but at least there was a shop that sold alcohol so we played a few rowdy games of cards to while away the hours that night. Apologies to the other backpackers who had to put up with us! It didn't help that the electricity was switched off at about 8:30pm. But because we'd had a few drinks we all put our torches on and got even rowdier because we couldn't see properly. I blame Christine and Rory (the Irish couple) for leading us all astray, although we really didn't need much coaxing!

We finished the tour in San Pedro de Atacama, a lovely little town, if very touristy. I was planning to go to Salta in northern Argentina but was struggling to get a bus. So I took an unplanned journey south and stayed in Chile for a few days longer. I stopped for a couple of nights in a seaside town called La Serena, about 300 miles north of Santiago. There was nothing of any particular interest there, and because it was the Easter weekend a lot of things weren't even open, but it was good enough just hanging out at the beach. Then I managed to have a mini-reunion in Santiago with Rakinder, a friend I met on my way to Rio and with whom I spent most of my time while in Rio. We'd got on so well before and were crossing paths (me heading south-east, she heading north-west) and managed to make a reunion feasible. It was so good to see her and we had so much to catch up on, seven weeks worth of travelling, we didn't stop talking all day! It didn't really matter that we were in Santiago, we could have been anywhere for all it mattered. So we didn't really do very much of the typical touristy stuff that day, apart from go up the big hill in the park and get a panoramic of Santiago. It was a nice view, apart from the smog!

Because I hadn't planned on spending much time at all in Chile, I'd not done any research on the place and didn't have any expectations of it. I can honestly say I had a great time while I was there. The scenery I saw in the north was enchanting, the beach was nice enough and Santiago was a cool city. I stayed at a great hostel and had some really good company; all in all, a good result! It's the most expensive country I've been to in South America, and coming from Bolivia where everything is so cheap, took a little getting used to. That wasn't helped by the ridiculous currency they have; 1 Pound Sterling is 850 Chilean Pesos!!!!! But I'm glad I spent some time there on this trip and I'm sure I'll be back to see more of the country, particularly the southern end, which is very different to the north, but from what I've seen even more stunning.

I left Santiago on my last overnight bus journey in South America to Buenos Aires. I made it just in time to hot-foot it to the airport and get there 40 minutes before Jac's plane landed. Needless to say we've been having a great time since she arrived, and I'll be sad to see her leave tomorrow. But I've got lots to look forward to; 3 days till Oz!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1241081760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1241081760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1241081760/tpod.html Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:38:36 -0400 Vicky's BIG Adventure 2009

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Buenos Aires, Capital Federal District, Argentina

So I managed to make it to the airport with an hour to spare to meet Jac. She very kindly splashed out on a very swanky hotel in the centre of Buenos Aires for a few days, woop woop! I was so excited! And she brought me a goody bag as requested containing in no significant order: running trainers, a pair of heels, more clothes, some Dairy Milk Whole Nut (2 massive bars, one little one would have done me!) and a Daily Mail (3 copies actually). Additional to that I also got some Clarins goodies and a Green and Black's Butterscotch Easter Egg. Needless to say, I've put on a few pounds since Jac's arrival so the running trainers will come in handy. But big thanks to Jac, Mum and Karen; much appreciated!

Anyway, the hotel itself was ace, although I was impressed by the fact that I could have a bath for the first time in 3 months and wear a dressing gown when I got out of said bath, so I wasn't really setting the standard that high to be honest. But there was a really nice pool and a fitness room, which I did use, but didn't really make the most of. We had a great 3 days seeing some of the sights of Buenos Aires, some I'd seen before but we also did a tour ofthe Boca Stadium which was really good fun. When we were there I was really struck by how much they still worship Diego Maradona, I mean completely fanatical. I knew they still really liked him and the fact that there's a guy who spends his whole time in La Boca pretending to be Maradona and charging for photos says a lot. But he is God there.

At the weekend we went south to Mar del Plata. We were hoping for a bit of sunsoaked beachy relaxation, but since it's autumn, the weather had other ideas. It was still really nice though and very relaxing. We stayed there for 3 days and then headed back to BA. By then we were completely immersed in the BA social scene, which involves going to bars no ealier than midnight, going to clubs no earlier than 2:30am, and getting in no earlier than 5am. We stayed in a studio apartment in the Recoletta district and it really was a great end to my trip in South America.

After saying good-bye to Jac again, I headed back to the hostel I'd stayed in the first time I was in BA at the very start of my trip, the Milhouse Hostel. Upon arrival, the girl who checked me in told me of a big party they were having that night for a guy that was leaving and then they were all heading onto a club. It was going to be great I had to come. I'd just had 2 big nights out in a row and had got about 4 hours sleep the night before. But given that I had to be up early on Saturday to get my flight, this was really the last night I had to have a really big night in South America, it would be rude not to go! So myself and one of the girls in my dorm went out with some of her friends, drank plenty of cheap drinks at the party, headed out to the club and staggered back home jsut before 5am, as I was starting to flag a little. Friday morning was the first time since Rio that I had a proper hangover, but it was nothing that Burger King couldn't fix!

It was a strange feeling for the next 24 hours, I was in limbo a little bit and had a hangover to boot. I had nothing that I really wanted or needed to do in BA, and just wanted to get on the plane to Oz. But then I also didn't want to leave South America because I've had such an amazing 3 months, so I wasn't really feeling excited. That night, I was sat in the bar with my roommate and some others. They were all trying to decide whether they could face another night out or if they should take it easy and party hard on Saturday. I was trying to stay awake for as long as possible, because when I went to bed, that was the South America leg of my travels over. At 1am, I caved in and hit the sack!

Saturday morning was brilliant because I managed to have a skype reunion with Gill, Deb and Claire. Unfortunately, they couldn't see me, but we were online for over an hour and it was really great to see them. I had to rush to the airport (again!) but managed to check in with 20 minutes to spare. It was only when I was on the plane that it hit me; I was on my way back to Australia! That's when the excitement hit me. I was tired when I got to Sydney and it was nighttime os I showered, ate and went to bed. I woke up early and headed down to the harbour to look at the bridge and the opera house, as I had done when I first arrived in Sydney a little over a year ago. The sun was shining, there were no clouds in the sky. It was a little breezy, but nothing that a hoodie couldn't fix, and you could get out of the breeze quite easily and still have the amazing view. I just felt really happy!

Since my arrival, I've had pretty boring official stuff to do so that I can start working. Plus I've started the hunt for farm work so I can extend my visa, and proper work so that I can earn decent money and try to avoid my brain turning to mush. It's all quite dull, so this will be the last time you'll get a blog update from me for a while as sight-seeing is not on my priority list at the moment as I'm sure you'll appreciate. But you've all got my email address so please keep in touch. Until next time, ciao, see you later!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1238863980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1238863980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1238863980/tpod.html Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:35:16 -0400 Vicky's BIG Adventure 2009

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Ollantaytambo, Peru

The day before we set out on the Inca Trail, we headed through the Sacred Valley to Ollayantambo. It wasn't a great day for me; I'd spent most of the night awake suffering from food poisoning and I wasn't convinced I'd be fit enough to do the Inca Trail. But with a few pills from my personal pharmacist, Sam, some herbal tea and quinoia soup from the guide, I managed to shake it off and was absolutely buzzing with excitement on Sunday morning.

We met our guide, Abel (also known as Jose and George, but we can't quite figure out why) and the rest of the support team and headed off. Unfortunately, our tour leader, Lila, couldn't come with us because of lack of availability of permits, and one of the members of the team, Cynthia, also couldn't join us because of health problems But it didn't hold the rest of us back. Day 1 was a good day; we walked 12km, but there was nothing too strenuous, we saw some Inca ruins and the weather was good for most of the day. It rained a bit as we got to the camp site in the late afternoon, but that was fine. We were introduced properly to the 14-strong support team, which included a chef and assistant chef, and there was a good feeling amongst the team.

It rained pretty much all night, and I got only a little sleep, but by the time we set off for day 2, the sun was shining and we were still in good spirits. Day 2 is mostly uphill to Dead Woman's Pass, so-called not because women die there, but because the formation of the rock looks like a breast. Abel pointed it out to us 30 minutes into the hike and it seemed like miles away. Between the 8 of us there were various different levels of fitness, and just to spice things up, Bonnie was suffering from tonsilitis and Meg was recovering from salmonella poisoning. On the last stretch of the 4-5 hour climb, we really started to seperate into small groups. 16 year old Lorcan at the front, closely followed by Jungle Joe and then myself. Then it was Sam and Jo, who it has to be said weren't really loving the Inca Trail at this point. Behind them were Salmonella Meg, supported by loving boyfriend Jacob, and bringing up the rear was Bonnie, supported by Abel. The weather on this last part of the climb had deteriorated to drizzle, then full on rain, then hailstone, which really added to the challenge of the uphill climb at high altitude; Dead Woman's pass is 4200m above sea level.

I reached the top on alone, behind Lorcan and Jungle Joe, but being cheered on by them through the hail. I don't mind admitting, it got a bit emotional, but thankfully the boys were generous with the hugs which was greatly appreciated. We waited for half an hour for the whole group to join us for some celebratory photos, but we were getting cold by then and only Sam and Jo had made it to the peak The 3 of us headed back down the other side of the hill to camp for a late lunch and a well-deserved lie down. We'd hiked a further 12km and the majority of it was uphill; we were exhausted. The rest of the group were all back at camp within an hour of us and there were mixed feelings about the trail. I was trying to keep up the spirirts of the less enthusiastic by pointing out that we were past the half-way point, but it wasn't really having much effect.

Needless to say, night 2 was an early one. Luckily I got quite a lot of sleep (no wonder!) and woke up on Day 3 ready for another full day of hiking. It was 16km with some uphill and some downhill, but nothing as difficult as the day before. Lorcan and Joe were ready to go, but some of the rest of the group were experiencing a low point; mainly Sam and Jo. I won't put Jo's quote of the day on hear as it wouldn't be allowed on a family website, but she made her feelings clear! As we set off, Sam was struggling to get her head into it as well, and the rain started, it seemed like it was going to be a long day. Sam and I took the ups and downs particularly at our own pace and we got there in the end. It was a shame because we were in the clouds so we didn't even have a view to reward us for the hard work we were putting in. We stopped for lunch at the top of another pass and by then it had just stopped raining. Then, the clouds cleared and we had some awesome views. It was downhill for the rest of the day, and we were rewarded with a campsite that had a bar, woop woop!!! And the chef made us a cake and jelly as well, what more could we ask for?

Day 4 was a very early start, we had to get up at 4am! Then we queued at the checkpoint for 40 minutes before the final 6km hike of the Inca Trail. Our legs were aching so much, we were tired (not hungover!), but at least it wasn't raining. As the sun started to rise, the sky was clear and we had some brilliant views of the valley. We all seperated again, we had to go at the pace our bodies needed to go at, so we all reached the Sun Gate at different times, but the time difference wasn't that big this time and we all hung around for group photos, apart from Lorcan the Mountain Goat. I should probably explain, the Sun Gate is the point where you finish climing the hill, come through the gate and see Machu Picchu in the valley below. I've seen the image so many times, but it was breath-taking to see it in real life. And yes, I got a bit emotional again, but I had been hiking for over 3 days, and camped for 3 nights and not had a shoower or even a proper wash, so I can be forgiven!

We started heading down towards Machu Picchu and we were all in really good spirits. We met up with Lila and Cynthia and Abel took us on a 2 hour guided tour of the Inca Town. For those of you that don't know, Machu Picchu is an Inca community that was never discovered when the Spanish conquered Peru. An American called Hiram Bingham found it when he was looking for a different lost Inca city in 1916. He was taken to it by a boy from one of the local villages. It was magnificently preserved beneath a lot of vegetation. The authorities have tried to reconstruct parts of it, but in my opinion, they should leave it as it is. we stayed there for about an hour longer and then headed into the nearby town of Aguas Calientes where we had to wait for the train back to Cuzco. I wanted to spend more time there, but we were all very tired and very hungry.

After Cuzco, we headed to Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon in the deepest canyon in the world and it really is beautiful. It also has natural hot springs which are used in the thermal baths; that was very nice! And there are condors living in the canyon. we got up early one morning (5:30am!) to drive to the site where they glide up through the valley searching for food. That was quite an awesome site, but I'm not sure my photos do it justice yet again!

We had another night in Arequipa and then headed to Nazca, home of the famous Nazca lines. These are basically line drawings in the desert which date back to Inca and pre-Inca times. Nobody knows exactly why they are there, and what their purpose was, but the best way to see them is from the air, so that's what we did. We got into a tiny little plane, it was even smaller than the plane I got in to do my skydive last year. I'm not normally a nervous passenger on planes, but on this occasion I was. To fully appreciate the drawings, you need to circle them from the air, so there was a lot of tilting and spinning around during the 30 minute flight. I was coping quite well with it all, although I was starting to feel a little queasy. Then the pilot (Jose) decided that we should experience the feeling of zero gravity by doing a nose-dive, heading back up pretty much vertically, and then nose-diving again, despite protests from myself and Cynthia. I was not a happy bunny! I don't want to say it completely ruined the flight for me, but it kind of did! There were a few tears.

The next day we headed to Pisco and en route stopped off for some sandboarding. Now, I wasn't that fussed by the idea of sandboarding, but I joined in anyway and I was definitely glad I did; it was awesome! We got in a big dune-buggy and headed off on the dunes. I think the driver liked having girls in the car because we were screaming a lot! Then at various stages we got on our boards and slid down the dunes. We didn't stand up since it was out first time, we just lay down on the boards and slid down the hills. My board was particularly fast, and the rest of the group referred to me as the human bullet; I almost took Jungle Joe out I was going that fast; good job he moved! But I did get a war wound for my efforts. We were told to keep out elbows in, and on one of the dunes, mine slipped out. I'm now sporting a not very attractive, and a little uncomfortable, friction burn on my arm, and it's taking it's time to heal!

Pisco isn't exactly the centre of the universe, and it's not a very pretty town. There was an earthquake there a few years ago and there just isn't enough money to repair the damage caused. After Pisco, it was off to Lima for our last night on the tour. I didn't really get to see that much in Lima other than the area we stayed in, Miraflores. I didn't even go to the beach! We had a really good last night there, and Sam and I checked into a hostel with girl Jo and Bonnie. The tour was excellent, really good value for money, and the tour leader, Lila, was excellent. But we packed so much into 3 weeks, we're all exhausted now; I could sleep for days. I'm back in La Paz, Bolivia, now and am heading to Uyuni tonight. I've extended my stay in South America by 2 weeks as my old mucker, Jac, has decided to sample the delights of Argentina before I head off to Oz. I've been away for almost 11 weeks; I can't believe it's April already! I'll have to start working when I get to Australia (boo!, but in the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy my backpacker lifestyle, thank you very much!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1238363760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1238363760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1238363760/tpod.html Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:44:49 -0400 Vicky's BIG Adventure 2009

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Puno, Peru

I met up with Sam on 12th March and we met the rest of the tour group the following day. There are 9 of us in total, 7 from England and 2 from Ireland, and a Peruvian tour leader called Lila. Luckily, we've all been getting on well - no weirdoes and no miserable people. The first trip we made together was to cross the border into Peru to a town called Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Puno´s not a great town, you only really go there to visit the lake, which I believe is the highest navigable lake in the world. There are some islands you can visit, and we stayed with families on one of the islands overnight.

Once the formalities of the locals vs gringoes footy match were out of the way (the locals beat us, but then, I was playing so we were definitely at a disadvantage!), we were all assigned to our families. Sam and I stayed with a couple called Sixto and Rebecca. They were very welcoming, although we hardly saw Rebecca. Conversation was quite limited as they don't speak English and Sam and I only speak phrasebook Spanish. I think I did quite well for about 45 minutes, but I found it quite difficult to concentrate after that and my brain was hurting so much I was struggling to understand the more basic words. But by this time it was time to get ready for the party the village had thrown for us. This involved dressing in the traditional dress of the island, which for the girls involves wearing 5 skirts (yes, 5!), a belt, a jacket, a sash, a bowler hat and a dangly thing from the wrist. The locals did a demonstration of traditional dancing and then got us up to join in. For the most part, the girls had to swing our hips about to make the skirts flare up and display all 5 layers. We also had to swing the wrist dangly thing about. It was all good fun, but under all those layers it got a little bit hot!

Next stop on the tour was Cuzco, which where you go if you're going to Machu Picchu. It´s a lovely little town; very touristy but very pretty. Our first night there was St Patrick's Day and having 2 Irish people in the group, we were obliged to go to the local Irish pub! A good time was had by all, although Sam's night finished at about 9:30pm when she needed a MacDonalds and bed!

Also in Cuzco, we celebrated my birthday on the 19th. It was strange to celebrate my birthday with people I´d only known for a week (except Sam) and to not have my friends and family around, but everyone made a big effort and I was really touched. Most of us went horse-riding during the day, and we all went out in the evening together. It started with the rest of the group singing happy birthday to me in the lobby of the hotel (in front of lots of other guests), accompanied by a home-made "Happy Birthday Vicky" sign. Then we went to a very cool restaurant, where they'd put balloons out for us and Lila had got a birthday cake for me. After dinner, it was off to a club and we staggered home at around 4:30am! It was so nice that people made the effort; hair-straighteners were used, dresses were worn and the restaurant was more expensive than we would usually go for. It was a really good night!

It was a good job as well, because we had to start preparing for the Inca Trail. On Saturday (21st March), we made our way through the Sacred Valley to Ollayantambo, the starting point of the Inca Trail. We saw quite a few archaelogical sites and plenty of Inca ruins. We also heard a lot from our guide about the terrible things the Spanish did, you can still feel the resentment from the Peruvians towards the Spanish. But when you consider that before the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, the population of Peru was approximately 12 million, and by the time they'd conquered Peru, the Inca population was 1 million, you start to appreciate why there are still bad feelings.

By the evening of the 21st, we were all feeling a little nervous. I was worried that I would find it too heavy going. It's 45km across 4 days, which isn't that far really. But it's at high altitude, some of it is over 4000m above sea level, and there's a fair bit of uphill hiking. Then you've got the fact that it's approaching the end of the rainy season, and we'd be camping for 3 nights with no proper washing facilities, and I'm not a happy camper! I'll let you know how we all got on in the next installment!
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La Paz, Bolivia

The journey from Sucre was mostly pretty rubbish, until the last hour or so when I could see the countryside of Bolivia through the window of the bus and remembered why I'd decided to visit this country. There were rolling hills as far as the eye could see, and not just little hills. We're basically in the foothills of the Andes here. so we're talking big, steep hills. I think "rugged" is definitely the best way to describe the landscape here. I was already feeling much better about this leg of the trip, but then I got a pleasant surprise when I got to the hostel. Two of the girtls I'd shared a room with when I first arrived in South America 6 weeks earlier, Carly and Caitlin, were staying at the same hostel as me and we bumped into eachother as soon as I arrived there! We had a great time catching up on the last 6 weeks, and obviously had a couple of drinks that evening.

Later that afternoon, I had a wandered around the town of Sucre and my good mood improved further as I discovered how beautiful the town is. There are lots of old colonial buildings that are almost all white. They've been preserved really well, but are authentically a little rough around the edges. There are loads of little plazas dotted all over the town where you can just sit and hang out in the sunshine, and lots of little cafes and restaurants too. There's a decent-sized university population there, so none of these palces are particularly touristy or pretentious. It was warm enough for a tan, but not warm enough to be sweaty, so I celebrated by blow-drying my hair for the first time in over 3 weeks!

Sucre used to be a really important city in the government of Bolivia before it was decided that La Paz would be the capital. The only thing of importance there now is the Supreme Court, and the palenteological site. A few years ago, what turned out to be dinosaur footprints were discovered on the outskirts of Sucre when the land was being mined for resources. It turns out it's a really important site in the world of all things dino-related. A vistor centre was opened and the Lonely Planet recommends it as an activity for Sucre. I've got to say that must be a pretty sarcastic recommendation. I only hope that the English-speaking guide we had deals mostly with children from his presentation style; it was all I could do to stop myself laughing at him for the 45 minute tour!

After Sucre I headed to Potosi, which at over 4000 metres altitude is the highest city in the world for all you fact-geeks out there! I really felt the altitude there and felt a little unwell on my second day there, but I've had to adjust to it since the Inca Trail I'll be doing gets higher than that and it's a 3 day trek! Potosi is a ncie little town, but a little more urbanised than Sucre. What I mean is, there are some nice colonial builings and pedestrian areas in the centre, but it gets a lot less pretty fairly quickly outside of the immediate town centre.

Potosi is famous for it's silver mines, which are way behind the times with regards to technology, equipment, working practices, health and safety. It's like stepping back in time 200 years. I went on a tour of the mines, which was a bit of a big deal for me as I don't like confined spaces and at some points we had to crawl on all fours. I didn't think I was going to be able to cope with the full 2 hours but I did and was really pleased with myself for it! The mines have existed for hundreds of years and the HR side of the management of the mines left a lot to be desired; in the 1940s 200 miners were shot dead by the government when they asked for a pay-rise! Now, the mines are run as a co-operative, so the miners make the decisions together, and tourism helps a lot. It's still not a great life for them. There are around 30-40 deaths per year in the mines (around 5000 people work there) and the majority of the rest of the miners die fairly young from respiratory diseases. Although child labour is discouraged in the mines, it still happens, particualrly with poorer, or larger families, and in the school holidays. No women work in the mines. The miners don't worship the devil, but they consider all the minerals of the mines to belong to the devil, so they kind of respect him. They call him El Tio, which means "uncle", and they've got a weird-looking effigy of him that you'll see in the photos, as well as my very foxy protective clothing for the mines. There's a lot of banter between the miners, and the mining village was surprisingly colourful. We took standard gifts for the miners, coca leaves and dynamite. There are no age restrictions on buying dynamite and all the shops in the miners market sell it. When we were in the lowest level of the mines (level 4) there were 2 very small explosions, which was a little uncomfortable for me, but part of the everyday operation for the guide and the miners. We could even buy dynamite and light it ourselves if we wanted to. There was only myself and another woman in my group and we politely declined, but I know a lot of other people on other tours had a go!

After the tour I had a last minute dash to catch my bus to La Paz. Again, I was struck by how friendly, helpful and good-natured the vast majority of Bolivians are as I rushed around the bus station trying to find my bus which i caught with about a minute to spare! I spent 2 days there and met up with my friend Sam, the tour leader and the rest of my group with whom I'll spend the next 3 weeks. I'll be coming back to La Paz after the tour so just got myself acquainted with the city. It´s basically in as big valley surrounded by huge hills. There are buildings all the way to the top of these hills and only extreme cliffs stop them from building on the land. Since I left Santa Cruz, I can really see why people rave about Bolivia. It's a poor country so people have less to lose, which I suppose is why ther eis more tourist-related crime here; we simply have proportionately so much more than they have. Bolivia is the first place I've been where I've seen a type of "uniform" or dress style adopted by the people indigenous to the country. In a lot of places, there are a lot of women who wear the traditional dress of the country. It used to be compulsory, but now it's a lifestyle choice for the women. The sytyle of dress is a pleated skirt (lenght dependent on atitude, the higher the altitude, the longer the skirt), pretty blouse (usually with some form of embroidery), a pinafore, or apron, a shawl, and the look is completed with what looks like a bowler hat. From what i've seen, there doesn't seem to be a similar style of dress for the men-folk.

I've been on the tour for 3 days now and so far it's going well, but I'll save that for the next update. Hasta Luego!
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Quijarro, Bolivia

The day after my last entry, I headed into the Pantanal. As most of you will know, I'm not really a big lover of all things wildlife-y, but since the Pantanal was on my way, I thought it would be rude (and rather silly) not to stop off there. I stayed at the Posada Santa Clara, about 6 hours from Campo Grande, which is basically a big farm where they supplement their income by having tourists stay over and taking part in activities.

I got off the bus with an Aussie and and English guy and we got into the back of what I can only describe as a pick-up truck to get from the main road to the Posada. Already, I'd got 2 mosquito bites, this did not bode well! The Posada was in a lovely location, and the guides there were all really friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Almost as soon as I arrived, I was taken on a boat trip on the nearby river where we saw loads of wildlife; iguanas, monkeys, these giant rodent things that look a bit like Moomins, tons of different types of birds and plenty of caymans, which are basically dwarfy alligators! We even fed one of the older caymans right beside the tiny little boat we were in. (I've got a video of it that I'll try to upload, but I'm not promising anything!)

The next day I went horse-riding, which was quite relaxing really and in the afternoon, we went on a wildlife drive / walk. We saw lots of stuff, but I couldn't get many really good photos. The tucans were particularly camera shy! I spent 2 nights at the Posada and despite covering myself from head to foot in clothing and repellant, I still got eaten alive by mosquitoes! I had to give the last activity (piranha fishing) a miss as I was having a bad reaction to the bites and my left foot and ankle had swollen up so that it was quite difficult to walk.

I left the Posada on Sunday afternoon and hoped to cross the border to Bolivia, but it seems I was given duff information by the hostel in Campo Grande, so had to spend the night in Corumba. The next morning I got my exit stamp for Brazil and headed to the border on the back of a moto-taxi (a motorbike that provides a taxi service) with my 20 kilo ruck sack, 4 kilo hand-luggage and sleeping bag. I think the word to describe it is "exhilerating". Getting into Bolivia was fine, but getting out of the town of Quijarro was more difficult than I expected. I thought I'd be able to get on the overnight train to Santa Cruz, but there were no tickets left for that day, and the only tickets for the next day were in the cheap, cramped, non-air-conditioned seats. There's not a lot to do in Quijarro apart from sweat in the 40 degree heat, and embrace the griminess; there's only 1 paved road, all the rest are dirt tracks so there's a lot of dust!

The train journey to Santa Cruz was less than pleasant, but I made it in good time and headed straight to the hostel I'd made reservations for. Unfortunately, I got into a dodgy taxi and had a run in with the fake police I'd been warned about by the Lonely Planet. I'm fine, completely unharmed and have not lost any money or belongings, but it was unsettling; here's the short version. After agreeing with the "taxi driver" a price to the hostel we left the train station. Within 2 minutes we'd pulled over on the main road and a man claiming to be a police officer wanted to check my passport. He got into the taxi and produced "identification" which looked less impressive than a library card to be frank. He said there was a big problem with drugs coming over the border from Brazil and that he wanted to see my passport, then he decided he wanted to search my belongings. I obviously rejected his requests (I clung onto my handbag and my rucksack has 3 locks on it so he wasn't going to get them without a fight!) and requested that we go to a police station if any documents were to be checked or searches to be conducted. We repeated these exchanges and didn't seem to be making any progress and that was when I really started to worry about my safety as I couldn't see how it was going to end. I was understandably frustrated and my voice started getting wobbly but I stood my ground and eventually he gave up. He left the taxi, telling me I had to report to the Immigration Office the next day. The taxi driver then drove back to the main road and dumped me by the roadside in a strange town where I had no idea where anything was. I managed to flag down a legitimate taxi and got to the hostel safe and sound.

I was tired, sticky, upset about the run in with the "police" and had a migraine coming on. I was not feeling good! But the hostel was lovely, more like a hotel. I took a painkiller, had some sleep and when I woke up, United were on the telly against Newcastle; things were on the up! And a Skype conversation with Jac put me back on track. I stayed in Santa Cruz for 2 nights while I got over my migraine and headed for Sucre where I am now. The journey here was 15 hours overnight, 12 of which were on unpaved road so there was little sleep again. But as the sun rose, you could see the landscape and it was breath-taking! Needless to say, I'm feeling back to my old self and have only got a few days before I meet up with Sam and we start our 3 week tour together. I'm past the halfway point of my time in South America, which is pretty scary, but I'm still loving it!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1235667540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1235667540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky193/2/1235667540/tpod.html Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:46:56 -0500 Vicky's BIG Adventure 2009

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I had hoped to spend a couple of days in Curitiba on my way from Puerto Iguazu to Rio de Janiero, but the Gods (in the form of buses) conspired against me and I had to skip it and get to Rio a day earlier than planned. After a minor scare where I thought I'd lost my passport on the way to the Brzilian border, the rest of the journey passed without event and we arrived in Rio in good time. I made the journey with a girl I met in Puerto Iguazu (Rakinder, who you'll see lots of in the photos!) and I spent most of my time in Rio with her and her friends Nick and Cheryl.

I was a bit dubious about the hotel I was booked into because it was the same price as a hostel at inflated Carnaval prices), as in a non-touristy area of Rio, and everything I'd read and heard about Rio made me feel I'd be lucky to escape with my life and all my belongings! It turned out the worrying was for nothing, and after making sure I found the hotel and that it was habitable, Rakinder and some other English backpackers we'd clubbed together with for a taxi headed off to their respective hostels.

We did the main touristy things; visited Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer, and hung around on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, but didn't make it to a footy match at the Maracana Stadium. Carnaval lasts for 5 days leading up to the start of lent and is basically a load of parties all over the city. It kicks off on Friday night and we went to a bloco (street party), of which there are tons every day. On the Monday you couldn't wlak down the street after 4pm without getting caught up in one!

We managed to get tickets for the Sambodromo on Sunday night, which is the main parade you will no doubt have seen photos of somewhere. Sunday and Monday are the best nights to go to the Sambodromo, where the best Samba schools in Rio compete against one another. The show starts at 9pm and ends at 6am. we stayed for about 3 hours; after a while all the feathers and glitter merge into one! We were in the cheap seats and it was dangerously packed. I had expected craziness, but I'd taken for granted the health and safety regulations we have in Europe. Getting in and out of the seating area was a mission, and when we managed to find somewhere with a view of the parade, we had to deal with the locals who defended their space fiercely! I found that the best tactic was to smile, shrug my shoulders and play the part of the dumb tourist, otherwise I might have gotten more than a little agitated! It was fun trying to figure out what the hell was going on in the parades. It seemed that each school had a theme and they based their floats and costumes on that theme; some were easier than others to figure out, lets put it that way!

Mostly the evenings were spent partying, either at random blocos or in the many bars of Ipanema. I met up with a fellow passenger from my flight to Buenos Aires all those weeks ago; he was staying with a friend who lives in Rio so it was good to have someone who knew where to go, where to avoid and how to make the most of our evenings. Unfortuneately, I partied a little later than I probably should have on my last night in Rio and only got 3 hours sleep before embarking on a 21 hour journey that turned into a 25 hour journey, oops!

The first bus I got from Rio broke down less than an hour after leaving Rio. They managed to repair the bus, with the help of some of the passengers, but the air conditioning wouldn't work and the temperature was way over 30 degrees. It was so hot I couldn't sleep, despite being completely exhausted. After 3 hours we stopped at a service station and they managed to get the air conditioning working again for the last 2-3 hours of the trip to Sao Paulo. The cameraderie on the bus was unique and unexpected. I don't know if it was because of the breakdown or because of the personalities of my fellow passengers, but it was a little surreal. When we got to Sao Paulo, I was expecting to change buses at the bus station, but we changed at the bus company's depot. I was the only person to get on the bus to Campo Grande and had to wait 30 minutes on the bus on my own before we departed. It didn't feel quite right and I felt a really vulnerable. But it turned out my fears were unfounded and we set of for the bus station.

The bus wasn't to the same standard as the buses I was accustomed to in Argentina, but they're still better than National Express. On the way to Campo Grande, everything seemed to be going fine until 4:30am. I don't know how he managed it, or what he was trying to do, but the driver managed to get us stuck in the mud at the side of the road. We all had to get off the bus to help try to push it out of the mud, but that didn't help. It doesn't seem like the AA or RAC operates in Brazil, but luckily another bus gouing in the opposite direction turned up and was able to help us get out. So after an hour of being stuck we were back on the road.

By the time I got to Campo Grande, I was exhausted! I spent most of yesterday in bed and am feeling heaps better today. The hostel even gave me my own room for the price of a dorm room, result! My experience of Brazilian people has been a really pleasantly surprising one. They are all so helpful, I've not come across anyone that has made me feel threatened or in danger of any kind. The walk to the Sambodromo from the Metro station was the closest I felt to feeling in danger. It was late at night and you have to walk through an area that isn't quite a favela, but it's certainly very deprived. Once you get out of the Metro station there are lots of touts trying to sell you tickets and it's certainly intimidating. But in actual fact I don't think we were ever in any danger. My journey to Campo Grande and my experience of the people since I arrived here makes me feel bad about my original concerns over personal safety in Brazil. I did hear about other people's bad experiences, but I think if you don't look for trouble, stay fairly vigilant, appear confident and relaxed and smile a lot, you'll be okay wherever you are.

I'll be in Bolivia soon and won't have mobile phone access, so if anyone wants to reach me, it'll have to be by email or Facebook. I think I'm heading to the Pantanal for a few days tomorrow. It's a big wetland area with loads of wildlife, including mosquitoes, so I'm stocking up on extra insect repellant and bite cream and keeping my fingers crossed!
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Ushuaia, Argentina

After El Calafate, I headed to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world (as they really won´t let you forget!). I stayed the night in a town called Rio Gallegos on the way there. It´s a town that most people just change buses at, but to avoid a 3am departure from El Calafate, I opted to stay the night there. It was uneventful as expected, I spent 12 hours there in total.

Getting to Ushuaia by bus is a complicated process. Although the start point was in Argentina, and the destination was in Argentina, you have to pass through part of Chile to get there. It meant I got some new stamps in my passport, but I had to go through border controls 4 times for each leg of the journey. Argentina doesn´t seem to have much of a sense of efficiency, so in total I probably spent about 3.5 hours of a 12 hour journey going through border controls. It was very boring!

I arrived in Ushuaia to find that my Colombian friend from the Route 40 journey was staying at my hostel and that one opf our French friends was still in the city as well so that was niuce again to have some familiar faces. Ushuaia was the first place I´d been to where the living conditions for the locals was apparent, and that´s because it´s quite a small place I think. Some of the houses are really ramshackle and not made of suitable materials. It seemed really incongruous with the touristy nature of the town and the money being spent by tourists on activities and tours etc.

The hostel I was at had an amazing view of the bay from the lounge area at the top of the building, it was nice just to sit up there and look out the window. I went to the national park there, which was pretty but not spectacular like the Fitzroy National Park. I went with some Brazilians who went crazy when we saw rabbits in the wild there. It turns out the rabbits were introduced to the park from Europe and this isn´t their natural habitat. I´m assuming they don´t have rabbits in Brazil either judging by the way the Brazilians were taking photos. I didn´t have the heart to tell them my brother and sister have one in a hutch in the back garden!

I also went on a boat trip on the Beagle Channel, which I really enjoyed. We saw lots of seals on the rocky little islands in the channel; they didn´t do much apart from lounge around, and they smelled really bad, but they were cute to look at. We also saw a lot of birds called cormorants that look a bit like penguins, but unfortuneately I didn´t see any penguins. Ushuaia is where cruises to the Antarctic depart from; they´re quite expensive so I opted out of that particular trip!

Since I couldn´t go any further south if I wasn´t going to the south pole, it was time to start heading back up north again. I had a gruelling (and very dull) 33 hour bus journey to Puerto Madryn on the Atlantic coast of Argentina. I was rewarded with beautiful sunshine and temperatures of about 27 degrees, woop woop! There´s plenty to keep you occupied in Puerto Madryn, but for me it was a couple fo days of doing as little as possible and enjoying the sunshine. I started working on my tan but (surprise, surprise) managed to get a bit burned on my back, d´oh!

After 3 nights there, it was onwards and upwards to Puerto Iguazu in the very north east of Argentina and the last stop before I head into Brazil. It meant too nights on buises, with one night in Buenos Aires to breeak the journey up a bit. BA was hotter than when I was there 3 weeks previously (33 degrees), and lugging a rucksack about really didn´t help. Needless to say, it´s even hotter in Puerto Iguazu, where I´m currently residing. I think it´s pushing 40 degrees here, I don´t think I´ve ever sweated as much! The main attraction here are the Iguazu Falls which is where I went on Monday. That was one of the best days I´ve had since I arrived in Argentina 4 weeks ago, despite all the sweating! I´ve taken millions of photos of the falls but I´ll try to keep it limited on here, I don´t want to bore you too much! It just seemed that everywhere you looked, there was another amazing view that I just had to take a photo of.

So that´s me finished in Argentina for now (I´ll be back to fly to Australia). It´s been an awesome 4 weeks and I´m leaving on a high note. I´ve had some brilliant experiences and met some great people. I´m heading into Brazil to Rio de Janiero today for Carnaval, time to party! I got fairly giddy when I picked up my bus ticket on Sunday. I´ve been told to keep my wits about me and which areas I should avoid, but to be honest I think my biggest problem is going to be how to maintain foxiness in this heat! But if that´s my biggest problem, I think life is pretty good!

See you in Rio!
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El Chalten, Argentina

So we arrived in El Chalten at around 11pm that night. The drivers hadn´t been as nice on the second day as they were on the first day (we had a different set of drivers and guide), and they really didn´t give us any itinery, what time we could expect to arrive blah blah blah. The cheeseburger I had on arrival made up for the boring day we´d had though!

Lots of people from the bus went on day trips the next day, but 2 days on a bus had taken it out of me so I just hung around the hostel and sorted out my activities for the follwoing day. Turns out I did the right thing because the weather was so much better the next day; I´m not sure how I would have coped hiking for miles and miles in the rain! El Chalten is a tiny town in the Fitzroy National Park, set up just for people that are going hiking in the park. Apparently the government gave the land away for free about 20 years ago on the condition that people built on it within 10 years. Now the property is worth a fortune!!!

I got talked into a hike that I thought was a bit beyond me by a couple that I´d been with on the bus, but I was really pleased I did it (thanks Steve and Johanna!). It was a 32km hike that wasn´t too demanding for the most part to be honest, apart from some fairly steep ascents (being a shorty didn´t help). We had to cross a river using harnesses and a pulley system, and then we went ice trekking and climbing on the Cerro Torre glacier. It was awesome! I gave Calamity Clav and Kingy a run for their money while on the glacier; my boots came off when I was climing up an ice wall (thank god for the safety harness!) and I managed to give myself a rather nasty bruise from a crampon mis-hap. But I got back in one piece, aching a lot the next day, but thoroughly pleased with myself. The views alone were worth the effort, it´s a beautiful area. I would have liked to have hung around for a few more days to get over that exertion and do some more hiking, but I already had buses booked being little miss organised, so off I went to El Calafate.

There´s not a great deal to do here apart from eat, drink, shop (for tourist tat), oh and visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. I´d seen photos of the glacier before (courtesy of the Lucas´s) and it looked nice, but it doesn´t compare to actually seeing the glacier; it´s HUGE!!! According to the guide book, it´s 30km long, 5km wide and the walls are 60 metres high, it´s just massive. I know my photos don´t do it justice; it´s really something else. You can hear chunks of ice falling off the front of the glacier, it sounds like thunder claps.

I met up with some people I´d been on the Route 40 bus with in El Calafate and we all had dinner together a couple of times, which again was really cool. I tried to prove that the English can cook by making a Shepherd´s Pie for everyone (10 people in all); I think I proved my point since there were no leftovers!
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