Mind the gap

I am in London town. Damn it is cold! I have borrowed clothes from Sam’s flatmate as I don’t have enough warm ones to make enough layers.  Nice of her. I had Spikes camera (the one I broke up the mountain biking in La Paz) but it turns out after all that it doesn’t work at all. I discovered this after I had taken a lot of photos of Big Ben, parliament, guards on horses, the subway, London eye etc...

This is me in London. As I can't take photos here is a drawing.

I arrived at 1pm London time. Managed to grab a shower and was taken to a pub where I meet all Spikes friends who live in London. Turned out that pubs close at 11pm on Wednesday and clubs close at 2:30am. But don’t worry... I still managed to get home at 6am! (it’s a long story involving 3 hours in the cold). My body clock is messed up and I haven’t been able to sleep properly since being here.  It is weird as the time difference is pretty much nothing between here and Rio. I think that first night probably has something to do with it.

Back to my last couple of days in Rio. The sun was shining and I enjoyed the beach and books and did jack all to be honest. The umbrellas on Copacabana beach changed prices on me. One day they charged me R.4 and the next R.5. Crack up. And the lady that came into the room on my last night. SO annoying! She didn’t stop talking, was the oldest person in the hostel, left the bathroom door open while she peed and showered. Some people in hostels are just so annoying. If I haven’t made it obvious I am a bit over hostels and sharing at the moment. Sometimes you just want (need) your own space and to be comfortable.

There is a lot of pressure to see and do touristy things when you are travelling somewhere. When in reality you just want to say and read or watch TV. For example, I have really enjoyed what I have seen in London today but was just so tired and didn’t have a camera. Basically I did it as I don’t have much time here and I know I ‘should’ (and I want to before I leave). Although I am being selective now when/if I do touristy things. I have little desire to see anymore churches etc.

Oh,  and for those of you that don’t know, mind the gap is what the tube says very regularly (warning you not to fall between the train and the platform when getting off).

A quick update

I am chilling out at the hostel this morning thanks to what I am assuming is a nice spider bite between my big and second toe. Meaning basically I am stranded and can’t walk.

Spike left for London this morning and I leave at midnight tomorrow. I have done pretty much everything there is to do in Rio so I am just going to chill out for the next couple of days, try get a bit of sleep and generally catch up on myself.

The only really touristy thing there is to do here is the Big Jesus (Christ the Redeemer), which we did on our first day. It is nice to feel not rushed in a place and that I have done what I want before I leave. The big Jesus trip was expensive, but made all the easier by going with a guy we met in the hostel who had already been (when the weather wasn’t so good) so he knew all the buses and things to get there. It was a bit of a mission and took about four hours, one bus ride and two shuttles. They had flights you could do which are 6-7 minutes long and cost R.180 – such a rip off!

It was a pretty warm day, up above 38 degrees. The hottest one we have experienced while in Rio. Although the days tend to be about 37 and nights 27. It is nice though. Will make London that much colder, which I must admit I am really not looking forward too. I am much much more a warm summer person.

Luckily I got a girl in my room tonight, was worried there for a while that I might be stuck with guys (not that I have a problem with guys!)

The beach at Copacabana is nice, and really crowded on the weekend. It didn’t totally live up to expectations of the ‘beautiful people’ however. There was a reasonable amount of poser guys but also a lot of overweight and confident people. There is no shame here (I think I talked about being overdressed last time). We have a lot to learn from the Brazilians!

I miss my bed. Life on the road can be tough at times. Mum asked me today what I miss and it got me thinking. Up there on top of the list are my bed and my space (e.g. my own room). Sharing gets tough, as does moving rooms all the time. A camper van would be very handy! But of course there are many many MANY fantastic things about travelling too!

(Beach photos to come!!! - they are on Spikes camera)

Goodbye Floripa. I miss you.

The other day the rain set in. Big time. Typical considering we had rented motos for 24hours starting from 2pm yesterday (the rain started about 4pm).  So we braved it and hit the road again, only for it to clear up so much I am nursing one of the worst sunburns I have ever had. The beaches were amazing though. Sadly there was just not enough time in Floripa.

The parties are like R.100, it is totally crazy (and what is also amusing are chicks are ALWAYS cheaper). Needless to say we didn’t attend P12 or any of the ‘top’ parties while in Flopa. A samba party was as far as we got and it was hot and crowded, so I didn’t last long. After I sweated so much in BA that I lost my belly button bar I think being in bed by 2am was probably for the best.

The hostel in Floripa was absolutely amazing. The main deck and bar area had a beautiful view over the lagoon and the rooms were spacious and nice. The staff were friendly (even if often slow, forgetful and not all the brightest of people). Most days the power went out (normally during the evening rain) and the water went out too one evening. Always good fun. 

Back to the motos. On the walk down through Lagoa to hire some we stopped to take a photo where people had put rocks in the water spelling out ‘Brazil’ and (being who I am)I dropped my camera in the lagon. Ivan jumped in after it, but 24 hours of drying out proved yet another camera to be destroyed by me. The motos were great fun through. We hired them with a Canadian couple (Michelle and Ronaldo) and a friend of theirs Ivan. The bikes lead us to the manager of our hostel’s (Junior) favourite bar with post it notes all over the walls. We decided it exceeded the budget and headed down the beach a little and found an amazing place where the crew got a massive feed (no less than 10 plates of different seafood, chips, salad) all for R.75 total. Spike put this down as the best meal of his trip. It was followed the next day by the best drink of his life (a banana based cocktail at the beach). Clearly the hiring of motos was well and truly worth it on the food front for Spike. 

So many notes!

The crew at lunch

Each morning during breakfast there was a giant lizard that came to chill out (which we could see from the deck). Apparently they are called ‘teal’, but my google seach of this has left me confused. On the last morning I also saw a MASSIVE spider in the dorm. Probably around 15cm long. A couple of Brazilian guys were packing to leave and warned me about it, but I was pretty interested in taking a closer look. I think they had more of a fear of spiders than the average female. 

Our last night in Floripa was a good one. Making more new friends. Having good chats (and beers of course), another good feed and more sharing of music. It was sad to leave.

Apparently in South America you can get 50% off boob jobs. Whether that is true or not, there is still an incredibly high amount of fake breast around. For a country where all people, of all sizes strut their stuff on the beaches almost naked, it was interesting to see the amount of plastic surgery that goes on too. We are the most over dressed at the beaches. No bungy smugglers and g-sting bikinis. 

We went to book our bus to get up to Rio. Having left it too late, we also found out that you have to go to the bus station to book buses in Brazil (which was an hour away). There was only 7 seats left and it was a conventional bus. I was not keen for 24 hours on a bus which isn’t even semi cama! After much debate (and with the help of Lukas – fantastic guy who worked at the hostel) we booked plane tickets up. This meant: an expensive trip and an extra day in Floripa. The plane rides were not bad at all. Lukas booked us on a newest airline called Azul. On the second leg of the journey the flight attendant loaded us up with snacks. It was awesome. She gave us one of everything each. We looked like total pigs. I wasn’t feeling too well at all (this was all yesterday) so I took them with me to the hostel. I am feeling a bit better today, so hopefully we will get to see a bit of Rio today.

Brazil is amazing. It is fantastic to always have toilet paper supplied again.

Day 60 of travelling

Backpackers Sunset

I have been slack at these. I blame the fact that in BA one can do is party, so you are partying, sleeping, or dead tired. In BA you don’t go out until 2am and party all night. The first club we hit on Monday was great fun. Lots of songs to sing along to and ice blocks were sold (required, as I have NEVER ever sweated so much in my life). Put it this way, one of the boys went to the bathroom and literally wrung out his t-shirt he was sweating that much. I am still pretty tired and this is our second night in Flopa. It may have something to do with the dinner being so late at the hostel last night and the free drinks. There is a kiwi tender working in this hostel, which is pretty sweet. He is always the first to find an excuse for a free drink. 2 minute power cut, sunset or arrival. Pretty much anything will do. 

On the downside, I was scammed big time over this hostel. Booked online and paid a deposit to my credit card. We arrived and were told they don’t work with that company and that we weren’t booked in. Evidently this means we change rooms each day for our first four nights as they are full as. Plans have also had to change due to the flooding near Rio. We had hoped to get out to an island, Grande, but will just extend our stays in Rio and Florianopolis instead.

Back to BA. After being at the hostel for three days we finally discovered the kitchen on the third floor. Totally guttering as I had been struggling for food and it was really expensive too. We even took a half hour taxi across the city to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch one day. Granted it was well and truly worth the extra money! The walk back took about 2.5 hours though. We walked a lot in BA. 

The latest on the injury front is I cut my hand with my pocket knife trying to cut an orange. It was a pretty good jab, but is healing well. I don’t think there had been any other decent ones.

Here is a little quiz thing I did the other day when I was bored:

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Quit my job with no intension of getting a new one and left the country.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I have no idea what I set last year. I think it was to do with travelling. So yeah I guess I did keep then. I haven’t really made more, other than to live somewhere other than NZ for a while and/or volunteer or teach. Basically just do something different. I think new years just reminds you that you should constantly be setting goals, not just once a year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope, no one close to me had a child this year.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
in 2010, luckily no.
5. What countries did you visit?
Australia, Peru and Bolivia.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
More confidence and strength.
7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
New years (those who need to know why), Easter weekend (same again), August 18^th, when Spike left for his trip and November 15^th, when I left for mine.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Quitting my job. Oh, and going to the gym for some crazy amount of days straight (over 30).
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not having my detox week before I left New Zealand, as there was no way I could give up chocolate. I made plenty of mistakes, but wouldn’t really say I failed.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Had a few colds as always, many stomach issues, a couple of knee injuries, infections and a few other things. Always something.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My notebook to take away travelling. Godsend.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
So many people that I can’t name them all here.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
My old flatmate who let her insane side out and has so many lovely people brainwashed. Reminded me to be careful.
14. Where did most of your money go?
After rent, plane tickets and travel gear.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going away on my OE and catching up with Spike again.
16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Manu Chao. It reminds me of the summer. I first heard it over the new year period so it brings back good memories.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or sadder?
Overall much happier.
b) Thinner or fatter?
Probably currently about the same.
c) Richer or poorer?
Much poorer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Reading and going for walks to relax. Hanging out with friends/catching up with people.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Stressing out over things and less eating of junk food (of course).
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
In 2010 I spent it in Boliva with Spike and two other friends having a BBQ, it was nice. First Christmas away from home.
21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
;)
22. What was your favourite TV programme?
Outrageous fortune.
23. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn't dislike this time last year?
Yes, they know who.
24. What was the best book you read?
Right now I am too tired and cant think what it would be. I haven’t read a really good book in a while to be honest.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Probably Manu Chao again.
26. What did you want and get?
Lots. I was very blessed in 2010. Plane tickets, to stay on in my role at work, and numberous other items and non material things....
27. What did you want and not get?
Many things, but hey, that’s life.
28. What was your favourite film of this year?
It wasn’t a year where any film really stands out for me I don’t think. 2009 was “This is it”
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 24 and I had the flu. My friends came over and went out, but I went to sleep.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Nothing.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Anything without holes got worn and very little was purchased as I was saving for my trip.
32. What kept you sane?
Downloaded TV, chocolate, the gym and my mum.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Pass
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Like I can remember that off the top of my head.
35. Who did you miss?
Right now, my parent, Gary and my friends/family back at home.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
Possibly Susan, one of Spikes friends. Great girl.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Don’t be afraid. What is the worst that can happen.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I can fly!

We arrived in BA before 7 yesterday morning. Bus rides are so much easier in Argy, much less windy. The weather is pretty average and we are both really tired. 2pm before we can check in.

Sex really sells in South America. All the billboards are complete with almost naked blonde, large chested women. Rather entertaining and uncreative. It also reflects the decision making role in a South American relationship. Males making all the decision. :p

We finally brought some Mate cups in Villa Carlos Paz, where we stopped on the way to La Cumbre for paragliding and horse riding. Totally wicked by the way. 

Maxi, our guide (who drove us to La Cumbre and took the horse riding) was really awesome. He shared lots of facts with us along the way and had a good laugh. Some interesting facts from Maxi:

• -          The ratio of men to women in Cordoba is 1/5. Men have it good here. Lots of women come to study university here and take the majority of the professional roles (unlike BA where it is mainly men).
• -          People were scared of the first car
• -          Inflation has been 53% over the last 2 years, 33% in the last year. For example in one day Maxi would drive through the checkpoint in the morning and it would be 3 pesos and in the afternoon it would be 4. This has happened twice in the last few months.
• -          1200 pesos per month is the average salary (and a city apartment costs 1500). Lots of shared homes.
• -          When you have had enough Mate you say grassis and pass it to the next person to indicate you are finished and don’t want anymore.
• -          There are Walmarts in Argentina.
• -          In Argentina you learn English in the last three years of high school and only for three hours per week. Almost everyone who can speak decent English thinks their English is bad.
• -          There is a Krusty burger and Duff beer in Cordoba (we forgot to go).
• -          40% of the coins in Argentina are fakes (coins are 10c, 25, 50 and 1 peso)
• -          The title for the song The final countdown gets translated into Spanish but the lyrics remain in English. This is very common in South America.
• -          A popular (and expensive sport) in Argentina is pato (literally translates to duck). In this game they ride horses and throw a duck around (the duck is alive when they game starts). These days it is legal (animal cruelty) so most people use a ball with ropes attached rather than a real duck.
• -          Every city seems to have a 25 De Mayo street. On the 25^th of May in 1810 Argentina gained independence.
• -          Huerta Grande, a town we passed through has a hotel where Albert Einstein and Hitler (1941) stayed.
• -          A church on our journey was nick named the ‘church of fuck you’ as from the road it looks like someone pulling the fingers.
• -          ‘Che’ (as in Che Guevara) is used as an informal greeting, kind of similar to ‘bro’.
• -          Driving through check points with drunk and drinking gringos is really funny for Maxi and he kept warning us to hide everything and calling the guards stupid for not noticing.

I got an extra long flight paragliding. The guy said the wind was great and the flight was going really well, so did I want to fly to La Cumbre. Of course I wanted to fly longer! I ended up getting 37mins (were told 20-30). The fasted we went up was 4.3m per second and the fasted we descended was 5.5m per second. Well at least I think that’s what the numbers he was trying to explain to me in his limited English. We had to wait about 10mins after we landed for the guys to come pick us up. It is a really easy sport to set up and pack up. It took all of 30 seconds to put the shoot away and be all packed up. The whole thing was much less scary than I expected. I was only slightly nervous waiting to run off the cliff as the wind was too strong and it felt like we were waiting 20 minutes to take off.

I have most defiantly put the weight back on I lost. Everything in Argy contains duche de leche (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-dulce-de-leche.htm) which is incredibly sweet. Amazingly I am well over this already. There is also lots of bread and seems to be very very little vegetarian options close to our hostel in BA (there was an amazing buffet in Cordoba... which also led to increased eating). I have also forgotten what exercise is. It is so much harder to do anything travelling than I realised it would be.

Business Class!

I had never flown business class before, but an upgrade from ‘coach’ to ‘u’ class was just what we got on the second leg of our flight. Sadly it was only an hour 10 from BA to Cordoba. But all the same it was great fun. THE way to travel, without a doubt. Lots of room, nice seats, great food and service. Thanks expedia.

The Spanish here in Argentina is slightly different, both in dialect and accent. It is much harder for me to understand. I am even playing guessing games with a lot of the numbers I thought I had down pat in Bolivia.

Steak time - luckily he had shaved!

Spike and I headed out the night before last on the hunt of a big steak for him. We got recommendations from the hostel for the locations for the best (and most expensive) steaks. Needless to say we were significantly under dressed for the restaurant. The waiter was incredibly nice all the same, bringing us free bread and water. Spikes steak was ‘the third best he has ever had’ so that’s pretty up there. Only beaten by two T bones at home. It was a good evening, where we first realised we don’t really like Melbec (which is the Argentinean speciality). 

Last night there was Brazilian music in the hostel. It was a duet and they were fantastic. The chick had the most amazing voice. They also had maracas, a guitar, flute and chime. Who knows why they had Brazilian music in Argentina. But hey. 

I went to a cathedral yesterday. I must admit, I always feel moved when I visit places of any kind of religious significance. It was the most beautiful cathedral and lots of people were praying.

It was pretty exciting to get into BA airport and see that they had Maccas and were selling Mc Flurrys. One of my faves. I know they have them at home at the moment and I was super jealous. Not anymore :p

Now that it is the New Year I have been considering (as I do every New Year) what my resolutions will be for 2011. I always find this task harder than anticipated and I always end the year wondering about the next round of resolutions to be set and what the hell I set the year before to achieve for the year which is coming to a close. I have come to a conclusion that New Years resolutions are somewhat a waste of time for me as I just forget and I should just constantly set resolutions. Possibly the concept of a new years resolution is a way for people to feel better at the end of the year, when we feel like we haven’t achieved a lot and the time has just whizzed us by... “but don’t worry, next year I will achieve more”.

Travelling makes you so sceptical of people. Take for example when we arrived in Oruro at 3am and wanted to take a bus straight to Cochabama. There was a chick on our bus who woke us up, waiting for us to get our luggage. Helped us find the bus station, attempted (and then succeed) in buying us bus tickets and navigated us to the correct bus. She was just generally a very kind person, but on the road so many bad things happen to tourists that we are forever second guessing people and their intensions. It is really rather sad. 

Plaza

It's 2011

It has been a while since I have written, as we have been taking some time to relax in Samaipata. Camping was fun, minus the rain and the pain from sleeping on the ground. I didn’t really make it sound too appealing did I. But it really was. There was still a lot of fine weather and the location was amazing, the people who ran the place were friendly and we had a lot of space. And of course the facilities were well beyond anything I had ever had camping in the past – flushing toilets (and toilet paper!), hot showers and a small kitchen.

One down fall was I was bitten by ants. I sat on the concrete in shorts and ended up with the most painful insect bites/rash I have ever had. It burnt and stung all day – no matter how much hydrocortonzine I put on it or antihistamines I took. Luckily they were pretty much 100% better by the next morning. So not so bad after all. 

Campsite at Samaipata

I also fell over again. It had been raining pretty heavy and the road into town (a 15min walk) is a very muddy track. On the walk home on new years eve, armed with supplies (fresh veges, water, wine and the likes) I took a spill onto my ass. I stunk from the mud (lots of animals walk down the road) and twisted my wrist. All was ok once I had showered and popped open a bottle of bubbly (15Bs sounded cheap for a bottle of bubbles... it tasted just like grape juice and turned out to be only 4%, which explains the price.

The water in Samaipata was nothing short of disgusting. Not that you can drink the water anywhere in South America – but it is another thing when it comes out of the tap a yellowy brown colour. At least you had the visual reminder not to drink it. 

The boys (Sam & Matt) arrived on the 29^th, which lead to all the boys having a big night cooking and drinking around the fire. This also meant I got my camera with Gliberts (Matt) arrival. It is really awesome to have a camera again. I just need to spend some time playing with it so I can get my head around all the settings. 

Our tent

New years eve started out with some bubbles around a camp fire, a power outage (throughout the whole town – we suspect it can’t handle the number of stereos and the fact that all the shops were open at once – you could never tell what would be open and when, they seemed to open and close as they pleased) and then a trip into the village to celebrate the new year with some people from Santa Cruz in the park. Needless to say a few members of our group were rather festive for the evening.

We said goodbye on the 1^st and headed into Santa Cruz for a flight on the 2^nd to Cordoba, Argentina. I am sitting on the plane to BA right now writing this. It is kind of funny. Flights to BA cost the same, yet this flight goes via BA anyway. It just means we get to see more of the country this way. Oh, and it also takes longer. But even 8 hours of travelling is a lot less than two days of buses to Cordoba or 3 to BA. 

The drug check at Santa Cruz airport was pretty funny. They just had a quick look through our bags. Needless to say this had me considering how easy it really would be for people to drug smuggle in South America and that maybe the officials are well aware of this and maybe it even benefits the economy somehow? Who knows. Of course of bags were still scanned, so maybe not so easy after all. 

I also have come to realise how amazing South Americans are at travelling. They are efficient in the fact that maybe don’t have cars (collectives and buses are very popular). But mainly how well they sleep. The roads are (especially in Bolivia) nothing short of terrible. Most are dust, mud and horrendously bumpy. All the locals seem to have no trouble sleeping, on any types of roads, in any type of vehicle, at any time of the day. It is really impressive. 

I have another aspect to add to travel kudos which I discussed earlier. There is a large amount of travel kudos to be gained from partying and drinking the hardest. Being the latest home, doing the most crazy thing, drinking the weirdest drink or partying with locals. 

Gilbert and Spike on NY in the park