Bogota - Medellin - San Andres

Posted on December 13th, 2007 in Travel by Sinead
So after the football we didn´t stay long in Bogota but headed on to Medellin to the west of Bogota. This is were the famous escobar lived (big drug lord!!). We stayed in the Black sheep hostel which had a fantastic all you can eat barbie on the Sunday night - Garrett was in heaven. We went on a cable car up one of the mountains in Medellin to get a view of the city, all the kids up there had a great time surrounding us asking us questions - there was a big crowd of us so they were in their element (its kinda weird as although they´ve seen foreigners before its only recently there have been lots of people coming to Colombia).
On our first night we went to a pub called mangos (after a very funny drinking game called yee ha! at the hostel). It was a really strange night club decorated in a western theme - cowboy hats, bathrooms with horses heads as taps!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyhow on entering we encountered a number of small people (dwarfs) dressed up as cowboys, there were nurses going around with syringes filled with drinks (tequila), there was a guy (amputee - had no arm) attached to a drip in a hospital gown, and on a stage there were dancers (no not that kind - they were dancing salsa and rumba etc). The music was good and we had a good laugh trying (emphasise trying) to salsa ourselves.
As we´d been to an international match we decided to go to a club soccer match in Medellin between Medellin nationale and a team from the south. It was good fun if not boiling hot (cheap seats faced the sun so it was really warm - is it raining at home???). So Nationale won and the place went mad pretty average game only excitement was when the lines man got nailed with a bottle from the crowd - they didn´t appreciate the corner he´d awarded the other team. The robocops just weren´t up to the job (well we named them robocop cause they seriously looked like them all dressed up in plastic armour they were supposed to protect the players and lines people for corners (cause that was the easiest point to reach people with weapons!!!).
After having some street food outside the stadium while checking out the entertainment on the stage beside the main supporter entrance to the stadium (mostly nationale songs etc.) we headed back to the hostel for a few beers. We took a trip into the centre where we walked around and checked out the statues in the square (famous colombian artist paints and sculpts large people).
We decided we could do with a mini-holiday (well my birthday was coming up) and as we were so close to the Caribbean we decided to head to some Caribbean islands.San Andres and Providencia are two islands that are part of Colombia (even though they´re actually closer to Nicaragua) so we decided to go there on a package deal (all food and drink included yipee!).
We went to providencia first (via San Andres) almost missed our flight as the taxi we got was about to fall apart - tracking was non existent axle kept rubbing off the car frame going round corners and it also had a wobbly tire at the back, all in all it didn´t go faster than 30km/hr so our 30min trip took an hour!!! Providencia is a protected island so no sky rises or big hotels, we got a really nice room with balcony overlooking the Caribbean sea, the weather was unbelievably warm so we spent the second day on a beach near the hotel - no one there except us. The first day was almost gone by the time we arrived so we had a look around and then played dominoes with the hotel owner before an early night (had a really early start).
The next day we rented a motorbike and took a spin round the island (took 20min its tiny..) we visited Catalina a small island connected to providencia by a floating bridge (its made from plastic barrels and wood - very safe) were we went snorkeling for a while. Then it was off again to a  deserted beach for the rest of the day (extremely stressful  two days).  
After three short days we were back to San Andres to a resort hotel only to be told our rooms were not available due to a maintenance problem so we got upgraded to a 4star hotel - huge room. This time instead of a deserted beach we had lounge chairs around a pool with a cocktail bar in the corner so spent a few hours lying out sipping pinacoladas…….
We happened to be in San Andreas for my birthday so we treated ourselves and went diving - amazing  reef life on the first dive with lots of fish we hadn’t seen before  which was great. The second dive was around a ship wreck which was different although there wasn´t as much marine life did get to do a swim through one of the portals  of the ship.  We topped of the day by  going for dinner ( well after i had a trip to a spa for a massage well it was my birthday!!!).
 We kept ourselves entertained  by going to some of the shows the hotels had on mostly dancing and singing but were good all the same. Most nights we were just full from all the free food and drink (it was all included in the price). So that was our Caribbean trip after only a week we had to say goodbye and fly back to Medellin.
S&G
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Santa Martha & Tyrona national park - Bogota

Posted on December 10th, 2007 in Travel by Sinead

Our main reason for heading to santa martha was a five day trek to the lost city, but i wasn’t up to the hard slog so i decided to dump Garrett for a few days and head to Tayrona national park. It felt strange heading of on my own trying to find the bus that would take me to the park entrance but everyone looked after me - the guy next to me even woke me up when the bus came to my stop (almost missed it!!). From the entrance i bought a park ticket had a chat with the local guerrilla’s!!! and then hopped in a small truck which took me and some others 20mins into the park. I needn’t have worried bout being on my own once the other people (Colombians) on the little truck realised i was on my own they invited me to walk through the park with them.

So an hour and a half later (fairly muddy and humid) finally reached the sea, got to see some monkeys and lizards along the way - oh there were donkeys and horses too (they carried food and stuff to the people living along the beach). Had a quick snack and then walked another half hour along the beach to Cabo san Juan (don´t worry i wasn´t alone two Colombian students and a french guy asked me if i wanted to walk there with them - i was well looked after). Once there i rented a hammock and went for a much needed swim. That evening i met Jenny - an Aussie i met in Cartagena so we had a few drinks to catch up.

I was truly in lazy mode and spent the next day lying on the beach, but i did practice my Spanish with the Colombian guys - i now know how to curse in Spanish!!!! The following day i headed back to Santa Martha as Garrett was due back from his trek - i´d spent a day or two just chilling around Santa Martha. When i got back into town the skies had opened and the streets weren´t just rivers they were enormous rivers coming up almost to my knees as i walked from the bus stop to my hotel - taxis were going nowhere.
The race back to Santa Martha was so we could leave the next day back to Bogota in time for an international soccer match. We thought it was on on the 21st but luckily we arrived in Bogota on the 20th to be told that the game was that evening so it was a quick taxi ride to the stadium were we bought tickets on the black market. Also ran into our friends Itay and Annabelle (from the jungle trip in Bolivia) so headed for dinner with them before heading back to the stadium to claim some seats (5hours before kickoff).
Although we had tickets it only guaranteed a seat within a specific stand and cause i´m so tall we thought we´d go early so i could hopefully get a good view off the pitch. After 3 security searches (including looking for identification we had none with us of course but we played dumb ie couldn´t speak Spanish worked a treat), we got to the ticket gate and after a few heart stopping minutes while the ticket collector and myself thought i´d a fake ticket (luckily it was genuine) we walked into the stadium. We found pretty good seats and joined in the chants and cheering which had already started there were loads there and it was only 3o´clock (game started at 8) .
Unfortunately around 5o´clock it down poured for an hour so the last 2hrs we were soaked waitin on the game to start. And then the crowds really went crazy as the Argentinian team came out on the pitch - the jeers were unreal (football is more important than religion here). Listening to the entire stadium sing their national anthem (trust me they were booming it out nearly went deaf stranding beside a Colombian guy).
The game itself was fantastic Messi (he plays for Barcelona ) scored a great goal beating four defenders and the goalie, got sent off Tevez, but the best bit was Colombia won 2-1. The crowd went mad hugging and kissing each other it was great being in the middle of it. We only sat on our seats during half time like everyone else we used them to stand on during the match. Was definitely worth the trip back to Bogota.
well that’s all for now
S&G
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Cartagena

Posted on November 26th, 2007 in Travel by Sinead

So we arrived in Cartagena on holloween night so all the kids were dressed up to the nines going around trick or treating (i think its more popular here than in the US they go all out). We wanted to stay around Cartagena for a festival that was coming up the following weed (stayed almost two weeks here in Cartagent), so to bide a little time we visited the mud volcano - this is were you get into a liquid mud pool kinda thing which is feels really weird cause you can´t sink and if you loose your balance your feet come flying up so that your lying on your back. It was good fun though got a massage and then ran down to a lagoon to wash off. We also walked around the old town in Cartagena which had loads of narrow streets with old colonial buildings on either side with balconies full of flowers.

The weekend before the Carnival there were some festivities one of which was formula colombian which we went to. It started off with kids in go-karts going crazy speeds round the circuit, next it was 125cc go-karts with 12/13 year olds driving again crazy speeds (and the noise was getting louder and louder), finally there was the main event formula colombia cars (a smaller version of formula 1 cars) with 18year olds driving. There was a cicane (made up of car tyres) in the circuit to make it more difficult but they never increased the size of it as the cars got bigger so that in the last race with the large cars it was impossible to get round the corners without taking out some of the tyres so that after 10minutes the cars were no longer trying to take the tight corner but instead just driving straight through the tyres - the guys whose job it was to maintian the cicanes just gave up even trying to fix it very funny at the time.

As we´d already been in Cartagena five days at this stage we decided to go to Playa Blanca (an island 40min boat ride away). It was a nice beach and it was nice being able to jump into the water (you couldn´t really do that in Cartagena as the water wasn´t very clean) and we also slept in hammocks which was a nice change. So all in all we just relaxed for two days reading a book going for walks and eating fish.

Then it was back to Cartagena for some craziness.

The evening we returned was the opening of the carnival and a big stage had been put up in front of the old town. The carnival is based around a beauty pagent but also celebrates the anniversary of the cities independance so there was a dancing performance - with some really cool acrobatics and the costumes were amazing, followed by the beauty pagent contestants being introduced. The following day was a small parade (again the contestants were present) but for a couple of hours leading up to the pagent people gathered along the route and threw water and flour at people. There was also a paste which you rubbed on your hands and added some water - you then smeared a passing victim in paint. After being attacked once or twice we decided to arm ourselves (there was myself and Garrett, Robert an englishman, Jamie scottish and Darragh from Dublin versus a couple hundred locals).

Needless to say once it was obvious we were up for some fun we ended up getting destroyed - mostly in blue that day. Great fun though and we made some friends we´d meet over the next few days including a colombian selling water who would leave his gear with us to mind, while he salsa´d. We finished off that night with a couple of bottles of rum back at the hostel.

The one drawback to the whole thing was the pickpockets - luckily nothing serious was taken only a few dollars but as myself and Garrett had stumbled upon the parade we had our credit card with us and during a bit of a crowd push someone took it out of Garretts pocket. We went to cancel it straight away only to find it lying on the ground a few feet away - very lucky but it seems they only wanted money. Some colombian women saw us checking our pockets and told the boys to give me their money so i could put it in my bra which was their safe hiding place.

The next day there was an outdoor concert but the weather wasn´t great and the music was mostly regaton - a weird mix between carribean rap and rave music? So we went to the little bar on the corner up from the hostel and had a few mohitos (havana club rum with mint leaves and

lemon) instead. The following day was the bikini part of the contest which the guys of course had to go see. So we headed off to the harbour where we lined up to watch the boats with the contestants on board row by. A lot quieter in comparison to the day before although there was a guy pretending to streak wearing a dildo running around!!!

It was again back to Club Havana but was a slightly quieter night.

To end the carnival there was a masive parade (it lasted 3hours) lots of costumes (really colorful) with detailed makeup and dancers, people on stilts and others doing acrobatics, bands and old style costumes it just went on and on… but at the end a lot of the parade carried on throughout the town and ended up at the square just down from the hostel so we went down to take a look. Got totally destroyed in red paste - i was still washing it out of my hair 3days later, but so it didn´t dry too much on me someone kindly threw a bucket of water over me - i was that bad i had colombians stop and ask it they could take a picture of me. Rum was being handed around and the beer men were doing great business - it was a great night (you really need to see the pics to understand how red i was) and a perfect way to end our time in Cartagena.

The next day we got up early and took a bus up the coast to Santa Marta - in hind sight probably should´ve waited a couple of hours as we were fairly hungover and it was one of the windiest roads we´ve been on in a while.. needless to say we were glad to get to santa marta so we could pan out on a bed for a few hours.

S&G

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Journey to Cartagena

Posted on November 15th, 2007 in Travel by Sinead

Our first destination from Bogota was a small town called Villa De Leyva, it can be quiet busy as it is a big weekend destination for the people of Bogota. We were lucky as it was quiet while we were there so we could wander the cobbled streets only bumping into locals. Its a preserved colonial town so the houses all have balconies and indoors theres a courtyard (usually without any sort of ceiling) with all the rooms of the house surrounding it. We went for a bike trip around the surrounding area visiting a local archaeological site (which the guide book compared to stonehenge - yea right) which was a little disappointing but the scenery was fantastic green hills with white houses every now and then with their brown/orange roof tiles.

After a very stressful bike trip (hit a few hills on the return

journey) we decided to go for an ice-cream. Of course we picked the worst possible time -siesta so everyone was asleep!! We found a really nice home that had been renovated - complete with a grassy courtyard and was now been used as a restaurant. As we were drinking our juices (no ice-cream!!) in the open area what buzzed by but a humming bird (really wanted to see one of these so was delighted when we found one without even looking) they´re unbelievably fast birds they never stop zooming from one place to the other a greeny blue colour. This of course made my day and i was happy enough to move on to our next destination the following day.

Another bus trip later we arrived in San Gil again very popular tourist spot lots of adventure sports etc. We arrived on the friday leading up to local elections and as its not advised to travel during that period we decided to stay put in San Gil. There were only a few of us there but that in itself was nice as we had the hammocks all to ourselves and as there were no bars open (they ban alcohol over the voting weekend) we played boardgames most nights (drinking game jenga is really good fun!!!). San Gil itself is a lovely little place with a shady plaza (well you need shade here as its warm - yes were back in the sun). I really enjoyed the fact we found the local markets were you could get fresh fruit juices in the morning.

In San Gil itself theres a lovely botanic gardens definately worth a trip. Theres a pool which is fed by the local river and there are lots of walkways and benches to sit and read a book at - i especially liked the trees which looked like they were from a fantasy novel like never ending story or Harry Potter. We went to go paragliding on the sunday

- voting day but the weather wasn´t the best so it was canceled. On Monday (which was another bank holiday they love their hols here) we went to a small town we´d been told was really nice, called Barrichara, (of course everything was shut as it was a bank holiday) it was a lovely little place sent with forest encircling it. All the buildings were colonial style there were at least three churches. From here we headed on a tourist walk we´d been told about to the next little town, Guane. It took us three hours but the scenery was lovely and we were walking around 3o´clock so the weather wasn´t as hot and there was a nice breeze.

When we arrived at Guane an even smaller little town - people were just hanging out in the square catching up on the local gossip which was really cool to see. Just a sleeply little village that was mainly supported by farming you just knew everyone knew everyone. The kids were running around the square safe and sound we had a paper airplane throwing contest with one little guy before Garrett got dragged away to play football. I think the only thing with a motorised engine we saw while there was our bus - which arrived 2hours late which in turn meant we missed our connecting bus from Barrichara to San Gil.

Again our spanish was excellent as we tried to organise a taxi (no other buses that day) back to San Gil (would´ve stayed in the town except we hadn´t checked out of the hostel in San Gil. We were directed to a call centre at the top of the town and i have to say what happened next is one of the reasons i really like Colombia. The guy in the call centre contacted the local taxi service for us when we explained what we were looking for unfortunately the guy was sick which meant we had to get a taxi from San Gil to come out and get us.

Again the owner of the call centre rang for us with a massive discussion taking place while he was on the phone with the two other people in the shop a really friendly woman and an old man. We were later to discover that the taxi tried to charge extra for the trip when he found out we were foreigners so the kind people of Barrichara canceled the taxi and then rang up again pretending the woman needed the taxi herself - let me tell the taxi man was not happy when he arrived and we hopped into the car.

After a pretty relaxed trip in San Gil we decided to head on to Cartagena for holloween so it was back on another bus (again 20hrs). I will recommend the hostel we stayed in Maconda which was run by an aussie called Sean who was really helpful.

S&G

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Quito - Bogota Colombia

Posted on November 12th, 2007 in Travel by Sinead

okay so after or trip in the Galapagos we flew back to Quito but didn`t stay there long as we decided we`d go to Colombia. So we booked a bus and after a small delay (of about four hours) we got under way to the border between Colombia and Ecuador. So after a short five hour bus trip we reached the border town of . Four of us hopped in a taxi me, Garrett, an ecuadorian girl and a colombian girl named Ellie (who traveled with us all the way to bogota) which brought us to the border and immigration. After the easiest border crossing of our entire trip - seriously no bag searches noone looking for a payoff we didn´t even have to fill in a form entering colombia (it was great) we got a minibus into the first town in colombia Ipiales.

In Ipiales we had some lunch and decided we`d just head to Bogota (a twenty two hour bus trip!!!). The scenery was amazing on our way up and we sort of regretted not seeing some of the south before heading to Bogota but our decision was made so a day later we arrived in Bogota. Ellie who we`d been chatting with on the bus trip was returning home after 7months travel so her family were there to collect her at the bus station and they very generously gave us a lift to our hostel (our first introduction to colombian hospitality!! unbelievably friendly people). Anyway we were a bit dismayed by the fact there was a massive storm - raining so heavily the roads had become rivers so we were extremely glad of the lift.
Once settled in Bogota we took a walk around the town - plaza boliviar (were i got surrounded by pigeons) and a market or two. We couldn´t get over the halloween decorations everywhere its a big thing in Colombia (not so much in other South american countries). We went on a trip to the police muesum were we got to see Pablo Escobars (he was a big drug lord over here until they killed him that is) motorbike (with gold plated decorations) and his two hand pistols made completely out of silver….. I also took a trip to the docs were i got to try out my fantastic spanish again!!! Don´t worry not to big a deal well nothing an antibiotic won´t fix.

We decided after spending a few days doing nothing but walking around the city we´d go and see the famous salt Cathedral (built in a salt mine) outside the city. So a two hour bus trip later we arrived at a little town Zipaquira not far from Bogota. It was a real nice place there was a market in the centre of town - all types of vegetables and meat. We of course got lost but got to wander around an old plaza and wind our way through some cobbled streets before eventually finding the entrance to the salt cathedral. Its all underground in the tunnel on the way in they´ve got the stations of the cross with little areas to kneel (salt platforms) until you reach the main area which is a massive tunnel which is divided into three sections - birth, life and death. In the first chamber there´s a baptismal fountain and a nativity statue - fantastic detail (made out of sandstone not salt though). The centre chamber has an alter and reportedly the biggest cross in the world as a background (the area is huge you can barely see the ceiling). The last is a simple chamber with rows of seats. There are statues in different areas again all beautifully detailed - it was definately worth the effort.

After a week in Bogota having beers with fellow hosteliers we decided we´d better move on our we wouldn´t have time to see the rest of the country.
S&G

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Galapagos Islands

Posted on November 2nd, 2007 in Travel by Sinead

okay so we headed off on a Monday to the Galapagos (well almost 4hrs later then expected due to plane delay!!) and we got there around midday. we were met off the flight by our guide for the week Cesar who was a 68 year old Ecuadorian who’d moved to the Galapagos islands 30 years previously and had been a guide for most of that time - so we had landed on our feet as he was a fantastic guide with fantastic English (some people aren’t as lucky). So once all the guests were assembled - 7 of us in all ( Ben a kiwi, Dave an Aussie, Pete a Californian, ourselves and a Dutch couple Bas & Maartje) we hoped on a bus which took us 15min down the road to the harbour. Here we were greeted by some lazy seals relaxing on some benches which we had to walk around to get to the ramp where we hopped on a dingy that took us to our boat.

On reaching the harbour we had a good joke amongst the seven of us that the smallest boat in the harbour would be ours a sailing boat which was tiny in comparison to any of the other boats and as it happened yes you’ve guessed it that’s the exact boat that turned out to be ours. Even being a small boat it turned out as good and better than we expected as the crew were fantastic and the food excellent (we heard some boats didn’t provide enough or very nice food but we often couldn’t finish ours we got so much :L) On arriving on the boat we met the final and last passenger Anica a Canadian - another advantage to our small boat only 8 passengers which meant we had no hassle getting on and off the boat.

Our crew consisted of three people the captain (who we called el capitan cause we could never remember his name - i know we’re geniuses!!!), lenin the sailor dingy driver and Jimmy our cook (who I’ve mentioned was excellent but have to do so again because we’d been eating a lot of chicken and chips so his food was a welcome change). So once introduced and assigned rooms we headed off to our first destination, a slightly rocky trip, to a bay off Santa Cruz island. We hopped in the dingy again to get to land and along the way we spotted our first sea turtles - who were busy getting it on!!! A great start to our trip and a bit of a theme as later in the week we saw two seals busy at it too…

As the Galapagos are so unique your only allowed access to limited areas and only with a qualified guide but even so you get to see loads from really funny blue footed boobies doing their mating dance (Garrett thought they were doing sumo wrestler imitations) and their kamikaze fishing technique, to cuddly baby seals (you get up real close too cause the animals aren´t afraid of people), giant tortoises and baby ones too, to thousands of marine iguanas. There are loads of other birds like the Galapagos mockingbird which drank water from my hand, frigate birds with weird red necks, red footed boobies and mas boobies and large albatrosses (there babies look like huge bundles of candy floss!!).
You see thousands of seals and when you go snorkeling they love nothin better than to swim right up in front of you and blow bubbles in your face kinda scary first time round cause they move so fast underwater but its a great feeling when you realise they´re playing with you. Also got to swim with sea turtles and white tipped reef sharks. We got to see loads of stingrays and all the fish here are bigger (Garrett reckons they were on steroids). Garrett was really lucky and got to swim with a penguin (i´d chickened out as the water was so cold).

For those interested in the itinerary here’s a quick run down: our second day we visited a small island north of Santa Cruz which was covered in sea lions and baby sea lions (some were only a day old - i know really really cute) and then of course there were the bull sea lions which weren´t too bothered with us except when one thought Garrett was chatting up one of its ladies - then it came charging up the beach but they´re quiet slow so had loads of time to move out of its territory. Then it was back on the boat for a four hour trip or so to Santa Fe island were we jumped into the water for the first time it was freezing and i had to do with out a wet suit - cold…. but got to see sea turtles. Then it was onto land were we say a huge land iguana only found on that island. On the way back to the boat we passed over a massive group of white tipped sharks playing with the stingrays and sealions.

Third day we were at Espanola when we woke up (traveled there during the night), were we were tripping over marine iguanas, they were everywhere. Again sea lions (started to become complacent about the fact we could walk right up to them!!!) and red crabs, this is were we got to see the blue boobies mating dance, albatrosses nesting and also were the mocking bird drank water from my hand. Did some more snorkeling (water wasn´t getting any warmer unfortunately) but was great as the sea lions were out with us again playing it was really funny when one woke up the shark sleeping under a rock (it wasn´t interested in playing and was annoyed it was woken up so he swam away!!!).

Fourth day we visited Florena and its unusual post office (were you pick up mail from people in your own country and post it when you get back). We also visited a beach on Santa Maria were young manta rays like to play in the surf so you could see them from shore. Afterwards we sailed back to Santa Cruz and its main town Port Ayora. On the fifth day we went to the Charles Darwin station and checked out their giant land tortoise breeding system (so got to see baby tortoise - unbelievable how much they grow they can live to over a hundred) got to see adults too which were huge. Poor lonesome George was there too - he´s called lonesome George as hes the last of his species, he´s over a hundred so talk about being on the brink of extinction!!!!!!

At this stage it was time to say good bye to all of our group except Pete as they were only there for a five day trip, so while they went to the airport we checked out Port Ayora until the next group arrived - a kiwi couple and two finish girls. So we headed into the highlands of Santa Cruz were we saw the giant tortoises in the wild and got to check out lava tunnels. It was then back to the boat and off to Rabida island were we woke up the next morning. Got to get some really nice snorkeling done as the sun had come out at last givin us great visibility. Then it was off the boat for a walk were we got to see flamingos.

That evening we sailed to Bartolomeu island to see the penguins heading to bed after feeding - they´re really really small and look like ducks when they´re chilling out on the surface of the water. The next morning we walked on a newly formed island next to Bartolomeu so got to walk on cooled lava - nothing grows there except lava cactus, cause it doesn’t contain any minerals or water. Then it was across to bartolomeu were Garrett swam with the penguin, we also climbed the hill there to get an over view of all the islands. Our last night we sailed to the islands to the north of Santa Cruz again so we could set out early that morning but this time went to Seymour north were we got to see the frigate birds with their big red bills and got lucky and also saw a red footed booby (which is only occasionally seen on this island) and another type of land iguana. That was the end of the trip and it was off to the airport for us and hail to almighty Cesar our guide  we got on an early flight which left about twenty minutes after we arrived (instead of us having to hang around the airport for two hours hehehe!)

So that was our trip the weather wasn´t clear skies and sun but it didn´t affect our walks just made snorkeling a bit cold but with so much to see (and as i had also managed to get my hands on a wetsuit) it didn´t stop us much.
S&G

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Ecuador Guayaquill & Quito

Posted on October 27th, 2007 in Travel by Sinead

We arrived in Guayaquill at the weekend so things were fairly quiet but had a walk around all the same. We didn´t stray too far from the center except to walk along the riverfront boardwalk. We did get to see election voting - couldn´t figure out the voting system though seemed pretty random to us - a street was blooked off and there were loads of tables with numbers written on paper taped to the wall behind….We wanted to go on a trip to the Galapagos islands (seemingly a must see place although a tad more expensive than anything we´ve done to date) so decided to try and get it out of the way and book something. After checking out a couple of travel agencies (there weren´t that many in town that dealt with the galapagos) we realised we had a limited selection and decided to try our luck in Quito. Probably didn´t give the place much time but the most notable experience was we met two Johova Witnesses who were there working on behalf of their church (really nice people but definately were not expecting to be run into them). After an uneventful bus trip (which was a nice change) we arrived in Quito in the early morning so headed straight to a hostel were we slept for a few hours before heading out to sort out our Galapagos trip. After some research we realised our only real option was a boat named the Marek, for an 8day trip, leaving in five days time. It took us two days in all to get all sorted for the Galapagos - after having to wait and sort out flight tickets, but as we were flying out of Quito we had plenty of time to check out some of the sights before leaving. We went for a walk around the old town - which had some really nice colonial buildings surrounding a huge square and some small streets you could wander around. Had to drag Garrett for a coffee in one of the little coffee shops (hey it was raining and i mean it was a downpour - arrived everyday at 3o´clock almost like clockwork). Went to the irish bar just around the corner from the hostel were Garrett got to buy a 3litre glass of beer - it was huge and yes he was in his element. The following day we decided to try out the towns bus system, actually managed not to get lost, and travel to the center of the world - the equator. Had great fun me in the northern hemisphere with Garrett in the south!! We had a beer just to say we had a beer on the equator. After a few pics and a wander around it was back on the bus (tried to time it so we would reach the hostel before the rain came) of course this time got slightly lost but found our way eventually. On our last day in Quito, before flying to the Galapagos, we visited the Basilica which is a massive cathedral in the old district. It was fairly big but what was really brilliant was you could walk to the top of the steeple, which we did but as it started to thunder and lightening appeared we didn´t stay too long - we headed up the clock tower instead (well it was higher up). The church had been destroyed by an earthquake and fire but was rebuilt by the locals some of the pictures of the reconstruction were amazing (very few safety laws here). Well thats it for now - its off to the Galapagos (seemingly the no.1 holiday destination although we are visiting in the off season) S&G

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Huraz - Trujilo - Thumbes & Ecuador

Posted on October 8th, 2007 in Travel by Sinead

 okay so after a day recuperating - where i never left our hotel room cause i looked like a swollen tomato… we decided to head on to Ecuador. Rather than backtrack to Lima we took a bus to Trujillo. We arrived there the following day fairly rested, well our sleep was interrupted once or twice!!! First we had to change buses (second one definitely wasn´t as nice plus it was colder) and only an hour or so after changing buses we had a tyre blow out - smoke everywhere etc etc - beginning to become a bit of regular thing when we travel by bus!!!! Anyways arrived a little late to Turjillo which wasn´t exactly a bad thing as the only connecting bus to Thumbes (on the border between Peru and Ecuador) was at nine that night. As we had a day to kill we did a tour - there are loads of ruins around Trujillo from pre-inca times.So we visited Chan Chan, which is the largest mud city in the world and as the the area has a relatively dry climate being on the coast and all a lot of the ruins have survived. It was a really interesting tour and a good way to pass some hours. After a very healthy fried chicken and chips dinner we headed to the bus terminal where we had our finger prints taken along with a video of all the faces of the people on the bus - i unsuccessfully tried to hide due to my still red face…We guessed it was due to our traveling to a border town although while traveling through all Peru a record of our passport numbers has always been taken!! It was a fairly uneventful trip, no tyre blow outs (I know surprise surprise but the rest of the day was eventful enough…), to Thumbes a border town between Peru and Ecuador, which is notoriously known as the worst border crossing in ALL of south America (we off course had done no research and didn´t realise that so if anyone is reading this and traveling in south America avoid this border crossing by all means possible!!) Here´s what happened; First off we were met at the bus station by a taxi driver who offered us a connection to the border and having done a bit of traveling we asked how much it would cost (we didn´t have much money on us 20dollars in all so pretty money conscious) to which he replied connection (Repeated this three times same answer). I believed him - Garrett as ever was more sceptical, but didn´t mind if he decided to charge us something at the end so off we went the four of us (he brought a friend - protection he said). We traveled 24kms to the border so realised at this stage (too late) the taxi man would definitely be expecting money still figured we´d have enough to cover it!! Got stamped out of Peru no problems and got back in the taxi - between the Peru border and the Ecuadorian border there is a no mans land in which exists a pretty dodgy town so we were advised to take our taxi to the Ecuadorian border. So off we drove navigating narrow streets and markets - this is were the “protection friend” came in handy directing the car through narrow streets and removing obstacles, until we pulled into a parking area surrounded by galvanised walls and the river. It was here everything turned sour - a security guard arrived demanding 40dollars each per person to leave the taxi in the parking lot???? At this stage the taxi man told us (with a huge smile - he was being so helpful in his mind protecting us from the riff raff in town!!!!!) that all he wanted was 130dollars (thats each) but this included everything - our bus to Guayaquil, the security guard, the taxi fare and for our security (the taxi man and his friend!!!). Needless to say our 20dollars felt small but we were furious and demanded to be returned to Thumbes. Everyone got a little nervous then, the security guard brought his price down to 20dollars each and the taxi man said okay 80dollars each. Needless to say we were still furious especially as we had specifically asked how much the taxi would cost before getting in!!! A fantastic argument ensued helped along by our perfect Spanish of course but i think our faces said everything. Firstly we informed them we only had 20dollars - easily overcome they offered to accompany us to the bank mmmm. Anyway to cut the story short we gave up trying to get back to Thumbes - we had been naive didn´t research the border crossing and so had landed ourselves in the situation. So we cut our losses and paid 40dollars each (a far cry off 130 but still 40dollars to cross a border even Cambodia wasn´t this bad). Of course our haggling had meant we got the cheapest bus possible so we were left at the bus (have to admit got no trouble although once or twice had people come up when they didn´t see our “bodyguards”). We got on our bus hoped off at the border to get our passports stamped then proceeded to a check point were we all got off the bus and had our identification and bus thoroughly checked (they even checked the toilets) we passed through several checkpoints identification and bus checked at all. Eventually after about two hours we passed our final checkpoint. We stopped at almost every town and intersection to pick up more passengers. Five hours in (we were meant to be at our destination at this stage and were pretty hungry as hadn´t eaten all day) the bus is packed to the hilt I mean it you couldn´t have squeezed an orange in and our luck kicked in yep another tyre blow out. It took them over an hour to change the tyre, well the jack didn´t lift the bus high enough!! stones came in handy though!!!, so didn´t get to our destination till 4 (we left Thumbes at 8) . So needless to say once we got into town found a bank and somewhere to eat and sleep and then we just crashed out. So in Ecuador now and first impressions - the border incident, have a lot to make up for. S&G

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Cusco - Lima - Huraz

Posted on October 6th, 2007 in Travel by Sinead
After recouperating in Cusco we decided to move on to Huraz but discovered we´d have to go via Lima (the Capital). We got an overnight bus to Lima that left at 5 but got nowhere fast - we were still in Cusco 3hrs later…. We were quick to discover that traffic was going nowhere all streets had been closed for a car rally!!! This along with the fact our bus didn´t move very quickly meant we didn´t arrive into Cusco till midday the next day . The bus also drove the long way to Cusco through the area recently affected by the earthquake which was interesting to see even if it was from a bus. Most places were in ruins and people were living in tents but from what we could see people were getting back to everyday life kids flying kites small restaurants selling breakfast etc.
Lima didn´t really appeal to us so we decided to head straight on to Huraz that night but we did get to visit the San Martin square. We also called into a pub famous for wax works of great soccer players. Garrett can now proudly say he had coke (coca - cola don`t panick) with Maradona. So off we went again on another overnight bus and again our luck was out just as we were drifting into a lovely sleep we were woken and told to move to a new (not as comfortable)  bus. Two hours later we were parked up on the side of a road after the tire blew out (don´t seem to be having much luck with buses lately). We eventually got to Huraz were we decided we were due a treat so we booked ourselves into a really nice room complete with a Jacuzzi (pretty cool).
The following day we looked around to organise some ice climbing in the nearby mountains we found a company we were happy enough with so arranged to leave the next day on a two day trip. We left around 9 the next morning on a tourist bus heading to the same glacier ( Mt. Pastouri ). We arrived around 12 with a stop at a site or two - cactus valley and naturally formed carbonated water (there were some really cool llamas here that you could have photos with, they were wearing hats and sunglasses and shawls!!!). We picked up an additional traveler who was only there to try climbing for the day so once the bus parked up we headed off in a quieter direction to everyone else where Christian could try out his ice climbing skills. Slightly boring for us as we had to sit around and watch him for 2hrs!!! At two it was time for Christian to catch the bus back and time for us to set up camp. We had two guides with us Walter and Hindi (that was his nickname) and between the four of us we had the two tents up in no time. One tent directly behind the other and both put up real close to the hill to reduce the wind attacking us during the night. Our camp was right beside a small lake (the glaciers are melting and the lake was formed from the meltwater) with the glacier in the background. Garrett headed off to try some ice climbing for an hour after we´d had lunch and they were just finishing up when it decided to snow - heavily. We all climbed into our tent (which was the bigger of the two) to cook dinner. When the two guides opened the outside door to leave all you could see was white it was brilliant until we tried to sleep - me being the eternally cold person i am woke up a couple of times in the night due to the cold or it might have been from the noise of some of the glacier falling - eerie when there is no other sound to be heard….
It was up early only to discover that the sky was overcast so delayed our departure time from camp till nine at which time we put on the really awkward snow shoes and crampones for a hike to the summit which is a lot tougher than one would think as the boots are heavy and you are at 5000ft. Eventually got to the top where we had a nice view (it was still fairly overcast) and also another hilltop - no snow here so my big boots hindered me and after a slight slip i decided (very wisely) to stay put while the three boys walked to the top. A half hour later they returned and we headed back to camp. 
A snowfight, snowman and some sliding later we arrived at the base of the glacier were it was time to do some more ice climbing again. Garrett of course got straight into it and got to the top of the rope, i on the other hand got to the first peg (rock climbing and ice climbing are out for me i think i just don´t have the arm power). After this it was a quick rush to pack up and get back in time for the return bus to Huraz. As the bus trip wore on our faces started to get redder and redder oh yes!!! it had been so cold and overcast we´d forotten about sunscreen can only guess what little sun there had been had reflected on the glacier.
We woke up the next day both with sore faces but as usual i was worse my lips had doubled in size and were blistering - Garrett thought it was hilarious (I secretly think hes trying to kill me.) 
S&G 
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Cusco - Machu Picchu

Posted on October 3rd, 2007 in Travel by Sinead
Well headed to Loki in Cusco to meet up with Rob (from Bolivia) and Vinny (Chile - Bolivia) they showed us some of the best places in town to eat as well as filling us in on some of the crazy nights out we´d missed. Unfortunately they were leaving Cusco the following day so only had a few quiet drinks to easy us into the hectic nightlife in Cusco.
After some dinner and saying goodbye to Rob and Vinny we went for a few drinks with our Cork roommates (4guys & 1girl) and also a girl from Navan. A few drinks lead to a few more which in turn lead to 9 of us trying to squeeze into the tiniest taxi in the world (seriously sober i couldn´t figure out were we´d all fit!!! We only managed to get the door closed because the security guard at Loki (who was in fits of laughter at us) pushed Garrett in with one hand while closing the door with the other. We then rolled down the hill (thank god we didn´t have to go up any i think the car would´´ve passed out..) to the main square were we headed to a nightclub. Having been out of the going out scene for a while we only stayed till four before going home - a great night though.
After a few days enjoying Cusco we decided it was time to go see what we were there to see the all famous Machu Picchu (Inca ruins discovered in the mountains surrounded by jungle). As its such a famous sight the entrance tickets are a little expensive but the real killer is the train from Cusco to Agnes Calientes (the town at the bottom of the mountain). The backpacker train is still expensive unless you take the night train which is still 50dollars per person (wouldn´t have minded that as much but that money goes straight to chile as the owner of the train is a business man from Chile). So we decided to go the back way to Macchu Picchu by taking a bus for 8hrs to Santa Maria (got delayed as well due to a flat tire) where we waited to get a connecting bus to Santa Theresa which took 3hrs with 27passengers in a hi-ace van (this guy couldve thought Micky Clarke a thing or two).
We got dropped off at the Hydroplant outside the town at 6 in the morning and started our 3hr walk from there to Agnes Calientes along the railway track. Needless to say hadn´t gotten much sleep on the buses so by the time we got to town i was exhausted so after some grub and sorting out tickets for the following day we took it easy.
It was up at five to catch the first bus to the ruins (I talked Garrett out of walking up to the ruins and was i glad i stuck to my guns - 1000meters of a climb it would´ve taken me all day to get up there). The other advantage to the bus was we were one of the first through the gates so got to see Machu Picchu with only a few people there which was great - the guy playing traditional pipe music at the top of one of the temples definitely added to the eerie atmosphere as the clouds rolled by. It was an amazing site definitely worth the visit and we got a fantastic view from Waynu Pichu the mountain behind the ruins (there are also ruins on the top of this mountain) it took about 30mins or so to climb. From the top of Waynu Pichu we took an alternative return route to see a cave but this trek took 2hrs and i was exhausted after it - the Incas are definitely on my hit list along with the Chinese (I don´t know which one of them invented steps first so they´re both on it!!!)
After getting a quick bite to eat we headed back to have a better look at some of the temples as well as do some of the alternative treks - to see an Inca bridge and the sun gate. We also made some friends with the llamas they keep on site to keep the grass from becoming over grown. We didn´t leave till 5 and then we still had to walk down the mountain back to Agnes Calientes - talk about being tired.
The next day it was up early again and a quick 3hr walk (not my muscles were all seized from the day before) back to Santa Theresa. From the hydro station we got a lift into town and a minibus straight away to Santa Maria. In Santa Maria the bus due at 1 didn´t arrive till half 3 and to top things off 2hrs further on we got stopped for an hour - the road was closed for road works….
We eventually got back to Cusco extremely tired and hungry but it was another adventure to add to our tales.
S&G
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