One Big Adventure

The Last

peteandchloe — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:23:06 +0000

Chloe Writes: After leaving the paradise of Playa Blanca we made our way to another beach, Tagenga. A tiny fishing village set in the hills with lovely views and cheap diving. We stayed here for a few days so that Pete can do his advanced course. Deciding not to hang around we made our way back to Cartagena for a trip to the mud volcano. Not quite what i was expecting, it was tiny (not the kind of size you would think caters for bus loads of tourists a day), along with a very small pool of mud at the top… Yuck yuck yuck!!! the feel of the mud was disgusting and it smelled really bad, i was trying my hardest to keep my hands out. It is the strangest feeling (a bit like being in the dead sea) as you cant stand up, you just seem to float at the top. Good for the skin though.. It was then back to Playa Blanca for a few days (my favorite beach in the whole world, so far!) then off to Bogota to catch a flight to England.

Pete Writes: So we headed to Tagenga and i managed to do my Diving course which was great, especially the night dive where all you can see is where the torch beam shines, and if you turn the light off and wave your hands you can see all of the plankton light up which is a really eerie feeling. I manged to borrow a camera whilst I dived so there are a few shots for you to look at, I really like the octopus hiding under the coral. After Tagenga we headed back to the relaxing beach of Playa Blanca via the mud volcano which I thought was lots of fun, especially as you can´t really control your body so I ended up with a face full of mud several times. Playa Blanca was not quite how we left it as there were storms most days which bought some big waves YEY!! So I hired a rubber inner tube and entertained allot of the locals with my wave surfing. We finally said our farewells and headed to the Capital for our final leg of our journey HOME!!!

A Little Reflection

Pete Writes: I am so happy that I have been lucky enough to visit so many Countries with such a vast number of cultures and foods. I know that we have had some rough times, long bus journeys, challenging times but it has all been so worth while. I feel that I now have a better understanding of the world in which I live in, and I feel that I have changed (not loads) as a person and would recommend an extended trip abroad to anyone!! DO IT, expand your mind.

Chloe Writes: I can´t believe our travels have come to end. I can´t say i´m not gutted but we have had the most amazing time. I’m going to miss the freedom of doing what I like and when, having to make important decisions such as what to eat for lunch and where to visit next. I’m going to miss trying the most amazing food, good and bad and so different from what we eat at home. I’m going to miss experiencing the different cultures, even when we have had a bit of a shock such as landing in the heart of Delhi or getting of the bus at the Bolivian border. i´m going to miss meeting new people from all over the world, travelers and natives and using sound effects and actions to get your point across when words have little meaning. I’m going to miss seeing the most spectacular sites such as the sun rise on poon hill in the Himalayas, the glacier in Argentina and the stars in Australia and all the amazing wildlife, such as the elephants in Nepal, the penguins in New Zealand and live coral in Thailand. I’m going to miss living out of a bag (yes i have got used to this and love not having to spend hours choosing what to wear or getting ready). I’m going to miss reading the guide book and getting excited about the next place. Speaking Spanish, although still very basic i hope i can keep it up and not forget and I’m going to miss having the time to read tons of books, play cards or just spend hours chatting to people.

I’m not going to miss getting ripped off and scammed, sleeping on a 50 year old mattress with bed bugs and minging sheets. I’m not going to miss wanting to cry for and take home every starving and miss-treated animal i see on the streets, or the shocking displays of poverty in places like India. I’m not going to miss overnight bus journeys (except maybe the ones in Argentina), feeling travel sick or desperately needing the toilet after half an hour of getting on the bus. I’m not going to miss being starred at in Asia or being called a gringo in SA or the times (although few) when i have been so bored I have wanted to scream.

I have on the other-hand missed you all and cant wait to catch up.
See you soon,
Lots of love,
Chloe xxxxxxxxx

Page Gallery

View of Tagenga

Taganga by night, from our balcony

Sunset in Tagenga… the last one for our sunsets and boats publication

Our friend Pete gets harrassed by lots of kids for Halloween…. he did have the sweets though!

Pete in all his diving finery

Shawl and coral

Trumpet fish

Fish

And another

Coral

Box fish

Octopus

Mud Volcano

Us in the Mud

Pete loving the mud

Trying hard to de-mud

Pete catches a wave… a real one this time!

Chloe enjoying the last of the hammock time…… until England (yup we brought one!)

Pete and Mirlanda

Chloe, Mirlanda and perro

Riz and Kiarra

Pepe in Petes now former hat

Our friend Edgar

Chloe and her friend the Cow

Cartagena and Playa Blanca

peteandchloe — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:21:30 +0000

Pete Writes: Having arrived into Colombia first thing in the morning with a plan to head straight up to the beaches via bus we ran into a slight problem of a road block. There were no buses heading North so after 30 Min’s of uming and arghing we decided that we would splurge and get a flight all the way to the Caribbean coast. As soon as we stepped off the plane we could feel the heat and it felt good to have warm bones again. We jumped into a taxi and headed into the City of Cartegana, who’s old city was built for photos! It has been carefully up kept and still has a magical charm about it.

After spending 2 nights in the City we decided that we really needed to be by the beach enjoying the sun and sea. After not much sleep, we headed to the port expecting to get a quick boat to Playa Blanca and catch some Z´s on a hammock. So we boarded the boat and were slowly beginning to fall asleep waiting to depart when one of the crew jumped on a microphone and started to jeer up the passengers (NOOOO…… We had only got onto a party boat!) Our nightmare lasted about 1 hour until a group of Colombian students offered the 3 of us a beer (at 9am), we thought why not and got involved, and the rest of the journey flew by with lots of laughing and random games involving removing items of clothing!!

5 hours later we landed on the beach and were instantly surrounded by hawkers trying to sell us anything they could, after 30 Min’s of refusing and trekking up the beach we had found ourselves at Miranda´s house. Miranda was the most friendly lady we had met on this trip and had a very infectious laugh, although our Spanish is still not 100% and her English was non existent we managed to spend 11 days having lots of fun and eating some really nice food. I even gave Miranda some basic English lessons and taught her a couple of Western dishes that she picked up really quickly. The rest of our time was spent swimming, swinging (in hammocks!) snorkeling and even a little bit of sailing, it was paradise. We found it really hard to leave, but I wanted to do my advanced diving course so we had to tear ourselves away… Although we are going to go back in a few days for some more relaxing times.

Chloe Writes: What better way to spend the end of our trip but in Paradise. Beautiful warm Caribbean waters, friendly locals selling prawns, coconuts & massages, amazing local food of fresh fish, plantains and coconut rice (and some French food courtesy of Gilbert), no electricity or running water (i could happily get used to washing my hair in a bucket of rain water) and in general no worries ….. apart from some friendly mozzies and a mild chest infection when we arrived.

Miranda, our adopted Colombian mum, looked after us well with food, medication for me and lots and lots of laughs. We all even managed to improve our Spanish. After 11 days and a few tears when we said goodbye, we had to literally drag ourselves away so Pete could do some very cheap diving. But there is still time, we may even go back before home.

Page Gallery

One of the buildings in Cartagena´s old town

… and another

Car, Cartagena

Lady and Umbrella

Miranda

Sunset on Playa Blanca

Hammocks… we spent a lot of time in these

Gilbert´s sail boat… lots of fun… when you have some wind!

Pete sleeping in a Hammock.. it was way cooler

The local friendly crab

Us on the beach

Alfred climbing a tree to get the coconuts down

Pete trying to open a coconut… I think he should leave it to Alfred

Miranda and her new children

Quito and Montanita

peteandchloe — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:42:02 +0000

Chloe Writes: Ecuador was most definitely a short but sweet visit. Desperate for some sun and a beach, after over 24 hours on various buses, we started off in the touristy surfer town of Montanita. Big waves, lots of bars and restaurants, the most amazing chicken, rice and beans…… but no sun! We met some friends there so stayed a few days but decided to keep moving and head north to Quito.

Quito, a modern city with an interesting old town as well as electric buses, shopping malls and lots and lots of torrential rain. We did enjoy the best football match.. Ecuador vs Chile in the world cup qualifiers, although we got soaked waiting for the match to start (we were advised to get there 3 hours early to get a good seat), it was definitely the best fun I have had at a game and will probably remember Quito for this reason.

The Mitad Del Mundo (middle of the world) was also only a couple of short bus journeys away, so we couldn’t´t resist the opportunity to stand on both the Northern and Southern hemisphere at the same time. Unfortunately the line was plotted with help from the stars a couple of hundred years ago and is therefore off target by a few hundred meters south, not a bad guess though to be fair. But go north to the Museo Solar Iti Nan and you can stand on the real equator line, plotted with the modern technology of the US military GPS. There we had an interesting tour and was shown a few tricks and demonstrations to do with gravity… such as balance (as its supposed to be easier on the Equator) and water being poured down a sink swirling the way the earth spins, so anti-clockwise for the southern Hemisphere, clockwise for the northern and straight down for the equator line.

Had it not been for the weather we could have stayed longer as there was so much to see, beautiful landscapes and some fantastic food… but the sun beckons in the last month of our trip so heading up to the Caribbean is at the top of the agenda.

Pete Writes: Ecuador was lots of fun, it was just a shame that the weather did not stay on our sides. Whilst we were on the coast I managed to grab a few waves and felt like it had been a long time since I had been in the sea.. So I am really looking forward to the Caribbean (although there are not as many waves!) but I am sure it will be a lot warmer than the Ecuadorian coast. Although there was a big fiesta on the weekend coming up we decided that we would rather catch the International game in Quito so we hopped on another 12 hour night bus (which I believe was driven by Nigel Mansels twin brother) thus dropping us both in the Capital at 5am with approximately 2 hours sleep (who said traveling isn´t hard work).

We arranged to hook up with Pete (one of the guys from our trek) before the game and then proceeded in waiting for over 3 hours for the kick off. Being hawked to buy plastic ponchos on the way to the ground in the bright sunshine seamed like another waste of money, however we were proved wrong an hour later when we were forking out 3 times the original price to keep ourselves slightly dry!! So the game ended up with 3 red cards and 1 goal to the home team so everyone was happy, and it was the best atmosphere so far!

When we were at the equator Chloe managed to show me her blow pipe skills by hitting a target smack in the middle with a dart. I am definitely feeling at ease that we could survive in the jungle, what with the fishing and poison darts!! so now we are off to Colombia for hopefully some heat and sunshine :o).

Sorry about the lack of photos but due to the grey weather we werent overly inspired… maybe next time!

Page Gallery

Still before the game… Soaked!!

Just before the game

Standing astride the equator line!

Now for the real one…

A real head, shrunken using steam to preserve the soul of the deceased

Cusco and Machu Picchu

peteandchloe — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:00:43 +0000

Pete Writes: Heading into Peru was relatively painless and after catching 3 buses over 9 hours we arrived at Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu. As a City Cusco is probably the most beautiful one we have seen on our trip, especially the view we had from our guest house, although a good view does not come without a little climb up a steep cobble street which had us out of breath more than once!

We spent a couple of days wandering around the City enjoying the buildings and the laid back atmosphere, and we even stumbled upon a woman walking a Lama which we decided would be a great photo opportunity. After the lady posed for photos she asked for some money, I then realized that it was a definite tourist trap and she must just walk around every day with a Lama in tow, it did give me an idea for some extra cash when I get home, (all I need is a cow, straw hat and a glass of cider).

After a lot of debating over whether or not to do a Trek we decided why not and booked ourselves onto a 5 day trek (which we later found out was the hardest of all the treks) to Machu Picchu via a pass of 4600m and then down into the jungle. Imagine our concern when we started to pick up the rest of our group and they all looked like they climbed mountains on a weekly basis

The trek was one of the hardest things I have ever done especially when we had to climb over the pass stopping for breath every 5 meters but when we reached the 4600m sign I knew that it was all down hill from there :o) Four days after we set off we reached Aguas Calientes ready to head up to Machu Picchu the next morning. So at 4.30am I joined the rest of the lads to climb 600m with the aim to beat the first bus that arrived at 5.50am, I did it with not long to spare, and it felt so good I decided to trek up another 500m to Wayna Picchu and get a great birds eye view of the ruins. Machu Picchu did not fail to impress and I can see why it is one of the 7 wonders of the world, and I am glad I walked the long way round as I really appreciated the beauty of the Inca ruins and also made some good Friends along the way.

Chloe Writes: Cusco is a really vibrant city, completely tourist orientated but amazing none-the-less. The city has so much character with its cobbled steep streets and beautiful buildings with old-style wooden balcony’s. Theres a real party atmosphere, with something going on each night in the Plaza Del Armas, whether its live music or dancing in the streets. All for the benefit of us tourists as the gateway to Machu Picchu.

After saying for the last few weeks (mainly due to my struggling with the altitude) that i didn´t want to trek to Machu Picchu, upon arriving to Cusco we got caught up in the buzz and ended up booking a 5 day trek witch takes us up over the Salcantay pass at 4,600 meters. Not that high for those hardcore trekkers out there, but plenty high enough for an unfit traveler with dodgy lungs.

After struggling and feeling like giving up before lunch on the first day, especially when we were picked up in the morning with a bus load of young fit lads, who by the sounds of it had extensive experience in climbing mountains a lot higher than the one on our trek, and the 3 hours sleep I had the night before certainly didn’t help with my Positive attitude, I eventually made the 4 day, 80k walk to Aguas Calientes (the town-ship at the base of MachuPicchu), although mostly at the back of the group trying to catch up. The first 2 days were very difficult and getting over the pass was taken very, very slowly as due to the altitude, breathing alone was hard for me, let alone climbing a very steep mountain.

From there though, it was mainly down hill and on the third day we ended up in the jungle. That afternoon we all made our way to the hot springs and had a well deserved 2 hour soak in the hot water…heaven!!. At our camp that evening we were entertained by the antics of a squirrel monkey who took a bit of a shine to me and snuggled up on my lap for half an hour. By bed time I tried to put the monkey down and it got very upset and wouldn’t let go of me. It latched on to me with its arms leg and tail and tried to bite any one who tried to remove him. In the end I had to take my jumper off and make a run for it. When i went into the bathroom before bed, he somehow knew i was in there and waited outside for me. What a cutie, I could have taken him home.

The 4th day we arrived in Aquas Calientes in a cloud of biting sand-flys, knackered, with swollen feet and ankles. By the 5th day and our visit to Machupicchu I was so tired and sore I couldn´t face the 600 meter 4.30am climb up to Machupicchu so I opted for the bus instead. I also opted not to climb the steep mountain of Waynapicchu and to save what little energy I had for the walk around the Inca ruins. Although very tired I really enjoyed the day and walked down the mountain instead to appreciate the boy´s effort getting up there.

After the trek it was back to Cusco for some well deserved “tranquillo” & “Un Poco fiesta” to celebrate the end of the trek.

Page Gallery

Cusco from our guesthouse

Thats one way to get around

Women walk around the town with their Llamas hoping an unsuspecting tourist will take a picture….. She wanted 5 soles for the privlidge

A classic bettle chugs its way up the hill

Cusco in the morning

Pete treks with A DIY walking stick

Amongst the Clouds

Morning in the Mountains

At the top of the Salcantay Pass

In the jungle

Halo of the sun….a rainbow the whole way around the sun, never seen that before

Waterfall

Our guide John had had enough

Chloe with her DIY walking stick

Machupicchu in the morning

A postcard picture of Machupicchu

View from WaynaPicchu

Some brick work of the ruins

Our group minus Noah who was ill on the last day

Mucho Fiesta at the end of the trek

La Paz and Lake Titicaca

peteandchloe — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:38:58 +0000

Chloe Writes: La Paz is the highest capital city in the world at 3,660 meters, nestled between two mountains, (it kind of sinks between them into a valley) and surrounded by the Andes the scenery is beautiful. The streets are steep and narrow with cobble paved with very colorful shops and eateries. It is very diverse city and the contrast between tradition and modernity, rich and poor is apparent. From the witches market (where we stayed) you can buy an array of superstitious paraphernalia such as a llama fetus which is said to bring luck to the house if buried out side. There is also the “Mercado Negro” or the Black Market where you can buy just about anything, not off the back of a lorry though as its name suggests. There are lots of expensive, bars and restaurants where you could easily spend the price of 4 meals on one drink, so we only had one proper night out as we are on a very tight budget now and met up with some friends we made in Argentina.

After La Paz we went to Rurrenabaque so the timing is a bit out for this entry. Upon returning to La Paz by plane we went straight to Copacabana (not the one from the song), a colorful city on the banks of the gigantic lake Titicaca. And after being almost at sea level in was a shock to be back at an altitude of 3,800. We did manage a 200 meter climb to an ancient Inca site to watch a beautiful sun-set but it took us a while to get up there. We did a small day trip to Isla Del Sol, The island of the Sun, to see some more Inca ruins and look at the sacred rock that gives lake Titicaca its name. Titi meaning “wild cat” caca meaning a type of “rock”. I couldn’t see it myself but we touched the sacred rock which is said to give you energy. After a 2 hour walk around the Island, and at over 4k meters I ended up with one of the worse headaches I can ever remember having and had to lie down for the rest of the day. Copacabana is also the place to party, in just a few days of being there we saw a couple of wedding parties (presents can be purchased just outside the wedding venue, not sure what the newlyweds do with hundreds of identical plate sets) and pleanty of dancing on the streets, even at 10am on a monday morning.

Pete Writes: We spent most of the time in La Paz wondering the streets (which in some places are virtually vertical) catching our breath and sampling the local foods. We missioned it up to a view point which gave us a real insight into just how steep and vast the Capital is. The city is built in a massive valley with the poorer people living at the top of the hill with the business district sitting at the base of the valley. Its a shame that the photos do not really do it justice.

Copacabana was really hard work at first as we gained over 3000m in altitude, so we spent the few days walking (very slowly) around the town trying to find the best Cena (set dinner of soup, meat and rice) in town. Imagine my surprise when being told that the soup was vegetable, finding a whole chickens foot resting at the bottom of the bowl (fowl, pardon the pun) I found it hard to finish my first course and promptly moved onto the main!

We were heading back to our guest house one afternoon when we noticed several cars outside of the Cathedral with flowers on their bonnets. We questioned the reason for this and found out that twice a day one of the monks comes to the outside and blesses the cars and drivers with Holy water, and then (the bit I liked) they crack open the Cider :o)

So its now time to leave Bolivia behind and head towards Peru for some more high altitude training! We have had lots of fun and met some really cool Gringos, and even eaten some reasonable Cenas :o)

Page Gallery

La Paz

A Street in La Paz

Socks anybody….Socks!!

Colourful Bus

Chloe shopping again!! Cant afford to buy anything though!

Our coach crossing the river to get to Copacabana

The sunset point over lake Titicaca in Copacabana

Ladies on their way to church

The hall of a thousand candles in the church

Cars in all their finery awaiting the blessing

The people are blessed as well

View of the lake from Isla del sol, you can see the Andes in the background

Reed Boat, the children try to sell you miniture versions

Woman and a donkey on the beach

At the Inca ruins on the island

Dinner….yummy!

The Amazon Basin

peteandchloe — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:01:21 +0000

Pete Writes: After traveling around at high altitudes for a few weeks we decided that it was time to get down to a more breathable level and try and find some warmth. We ended up in the little town of Rurrenabaque which lies in the Amazon Basin and has a couple of tours that let you experience jungle life.

We arrived with the mind set that we would lie around in hammocks for a few days before booking ourselves onto a tour. During our horizontal chilling the whole of Bolivia decided that it would be a good idea to have a political situation, meaning road blocks across the whole country and the whole of Bolivia came to a stop (which included our tour to the Pampas ). So we thought we would book ourselves onto the Jungle tour instead…. Although due to the blockades there were not enough people to make up the numbers ARRGGHHH!!! So we chilled some more :o)

The blockades were finally lifted 2 days later and we managed to book ourselves onto a 3 day tour through the pampas. The wildlife we saw was unbelievable. There were more Alligators than I could physically count, loads of birds, snakes and capibaras (the biggest of the rodent family). We even went Pirana fishing which Chloe well and truly showed us all up with her fishing skills (we would have had no dinner if it was not for her!!) At one point in the river there are pink dolphins, and our guide told us that it would be safe to swim with them as the alligators do not come in the water when they are around… I had a little think and thought why not!! And I am still here!!

Chloe Writes: Chilling in the jungle was just what the doctor ordered after the altitude of the salt flats and trip to Potosi, the highest city in the world of its size at 4,200 meters where we didn’t do much unfortunately as we were both unwell, then La Paz (blog to come) the highest capital city in the world (but what an amazing city). Anyway we were both suffering a bit from the altitude and lack of warmth so where better to go than Rurrenabaque in the Amazon Basin, where when we landed it was 32 degrees. Shoes off, flip-flops on, Heaven!! Our guest house was muy barato (very cheap), by the river with lots of hammocks, and the home of 3 dogs, 2 parrots, 2 chickens, one spider monkey and a squirrel monkey (who also rides on the back of the spider monkey and is best friends with the dog).

Our trip around the Pampas (meaning plains) started off after a bumpy and dusty 3 hour jeep journey, on a 3 hour boat trip along the river with our guide Negro, where we saw hundreds of alligators and black caimans (same family but they eat the alligators), the capibaras were cute but as much as I love rodents, far too big for a pet, some were bigger than me :). We saw Paradise birds with beautiful feathers, the Jabaru a giant of birds (which nests cover a space of about 2 meters square) and even a few of the rare Toucans. There were many squirrel monkeys which we fed a banana or two (maybe ecologically questionable), howler & spider monkeys, plus some big red ones but I cant remember the names. We also saw beautiful pink dolphins and lots of turtles.

The second day we went hunting in the pampas for Anacondas and Cobras. We saw many anacondas and although huge in size and could take your head off they were very docile and non-poisonous. It wasn’t pleasant to see them poked out of the tree with a stick and the treatment of them by some of the other tour groups who wanted their photos taken with them wasn’t that great to watch either. The cobras were rarer and when one was found (these are poisonous but not deadly), it was very agitated and made increasingly angrier by being man-handled that it kept trying to strike. One tourist blatantly thought he was Steve Irwin and was egged on by the others in his group and by some of the guides. Knowing that our group was not happy with this our guide took us away and left them to it.

I was not looking forward to fishing due to the hooks and thinking its a bit cruel and the fact that i am squeamish. But i do eat fish and I didn’t think I would catch anything so i thought i would give it a try. Fishing with Llama meat was also something a bit different and in the end realised i had a bit of a knack for it. I caught lots of piranhas with big teeth and also lots of sardines which i had to throw back, really cruel to un-hook them though and i did feel very guilty. I also couldn’t do it myself. Maybe fishing isn’t for me after all.

The third day was swimming in the river with pink dolphins PLUS the piranhas, alligators, black caimans etc… We had also heard from most of the tourists who swam that they ended up with ticks. Having ended up in the hospital from a tick bite in India un-beknown to us at the time (see India blog: jaisalmer), and being a complete wimp I decided not to go in the water. We also had a strange encounter with Fidel Castro the alligator. We pulled up on the back with our guide calling “Fidel” “Fidel” and along swam this giant alligator. Apparently tame Negro encouraged us to go over and stroke him. As Negro has a missing finger, I was very reluctant (looking down at an Alligators jaw is also very very scary) and was waiting to have my hand snapped off. I’m still in one piece though. Overall the trip was amazing and being stuck in the jungle wasn’t so bad. We did celebrate being on the first flight to actually leave Rurrenabaque for over a week, but got of the plane in La Paz totally un-acclimatised, cold and wishing we were back in the jungle.

Page Gallery

Rurrenabaque Airport

Sunset from our guest house

Best mates and Chloes hand…sorry

Child in bin…no idea!!

Kitten and Parrots

Jabaru

The boats for the Pampas tours

Pete and Monkeys

Capibaras

Turtles

Toucan

Pete risking his life to get the British flag

On the way back to camp on the boat after the sunset, we saw all the alligators eyes glow red in the touchlight

Negro looking for Snakes

Annaconda, please note we have a very crap zoom on our camera…well done Pete!

Alligator

Pete swimming with the Alligators

Fidel Castro

Dinner…. I didnt catch them all..

Spider and Squirrel monkeys, the later being more of an annoying accuaintance

We managed to feed the both of us, 2 dogs and a street kid all for 2 pounds

Salar De Uyuni

peteandchloe — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:59:36 +0000

Chloe Writes: We started our Bolivian adventure being woken up on our cama (meaning bed - essentially first class) bus a few hundred yards from the border, freezing cold (as mentioned in our previous blog Iguazu was very hot and I still had my flip-flops on), with a headache and struggling slightly to breathe due to the altitude and reduced oxygen. I’m not sure what we expected to wake up to after our overnight bus journey but it was still a bit of a shock. We made our way puffing and panting to the border and wow!!!, the next shock had nothing to do with the climate but the culture. Short women wrapped in many colorful blankets with knee length wide pleated skirts, long woolen leg warmers, with flat shoes, two very long black plaits tied together at the ends, black bowler hats on their heads carrying big bundles wrapped in blankets on their backs (some-times babies, you cant always tell) with very dark Andean colorings, all chewing on Coca leaves.

The climate in southern Bolivia is very dry and dusty and the country very poor. Our first stop was to be Salar de Uyuni (the salt flats). In order to get to Uyuni we embarked on a 3 bus/10 hour very very bumpy (I wouldn´t even go so far as to call what we were driving on “roads”), dusty and stomach churning journey, leaving the distant memory of a modern & well developed country well and truly behind us. We spent the next day or so trying to acclimatise to the altitude by buying lots of warm woolens (its amazing what the locals make and at a ridiculously cheap price) and chilling out to try and get rid of our headaches.

After having mildly acclimatised, we started out on our tour of the mountains and salt flats with a jeep full of Irish, Scottish and English. Needles to say we had a lot of fun, and hosts Teo (our very safe and excellent driver) and his Wife (oops i forget her name) was an excellent cook and kept us well fed and entertained for the whole 3 days. You will see from the pictures the places we visited but it included a trip to the vast salt flats where you can take some comedy pics, an island in the middle full of cacti (some over a thousand years old), many lakes at over 4k meters with beautiful colors (blue, red and green), and flamingos braving the icy waters and freezing winds, a cave with coral and seaweed calcite’s from the ceiling instead of stalactites (very strange), a pre-Inca tomb eerie and full of bones, we saw some volcanic activity and took a dip in the hot springs at 5k meters at 7 in the morning where it was freezing cold with a very icy wind, i didn´t want to get out. We spent one night in a salt hotel (yes a hotel made from salt) and one night at 4, 800 meters, in a tin shack where the howling wind sounded like it could take off the roof. The noise at night made me feel like a penguin in the Antarctic, although i was toastie in my 6 blankets and sleeping bag.

Pete Writes: Bolivia is definitely a developing country which means old buses, dirt roads and long painful journeys (although it also means that it is cheap!) I have spent many hours chewing Coca leaves which apparently helps you to deal with the altitude and also helps to numb the mind! A must when your bum is bouncing along a rutted track with a 500m drop to your side with not even enough room to overtake a Lama!

The tour was lots of fun especially with the mix of nationality’s in the car, although my Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman jokes did not quite hit the mark! We started by going to the train graveyard, which apparently has a train that ´Billy the Kidd´once robbed, not knowing which one it was I decided to clamber around to look for bullet holes but to no avail :o( So onwards to the Salt flats for lots of photos and a quick game of Frisbee.. Note to self do not throw a Frisbee into a strong wind, you don´t know where it will end up!!

The 2nd night saw us all playing Yahtzee and drinking Whiskey (I think it was Irish?) and after the bottle was finished we hit the absinthe… Not a good idea at 4,800 meters above sea level when you have to be up in 4 hours but hey when amongst friends SALUT!!! The next morning as expected was painful but the hangover was soon forgotten once we plunged into the hot springs, where I decided to dip my head under… big mistake… my hair decided to freeze in the wind! After Breakfast we headed back to base playing a few games of ´ I went to the shop´ and ´the rizla game´ trying to disguise the 7 hour drive through no-mans land!

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Little boy on the bus

Trains used over 100 years ago

Us & Jamie on the train

And Pete

Colorful stall, but Chloe, you don´t need any more woollens!!

Catus Island

Hut on the Catus island

We thought we were on a film set for a western

One of the many tour group jeeps

Comedy pic no 1… us on an apple

All of our group in Petes shoe.. it was a bit smelly!!

Chloe in hand… not for long though!

Pete picking up his wife!

Chloe jumps!

The Salt hotel

Sweet little girl

Some of the rocky landscape

Pete on a rock

Volcano

Tree rock

Pink Lake

We saw hundreds of flamingos

In the hot springs

Our group, it was freezing, you may be able to just make out Chloe under her many layers

Llama

Nice, can´t wait to try that one… we didn´t incase you were wondering!

The Iguazu Falls

peteandchloe — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:35:29 +0000

Pete Writes: Our next stop was to Iguazu Falls, we decided that we would not only visit the Argentina side, but we would take a day trip into Brazil to see what their side had to offer as well. We were not disappointed, the Brazilian side has a panoramic view of the falls and we also had a lovely sunny day, which meant that the butterflies and rainbows were out in full force. We managed to get allot of great photos and even managed not to get too wet!!

The second day we found ourselves on the Argentina side which gave us more of a close up view of the falls. The weather unfortunately was not on our side and the heavens opened just after we got up close and personal with one of the falls. We ended up going under one of the falls in a boat which absolutely soaked us, but it was great fun.

After another 24 hour bus we ended up in our final Argentine city (Salta) where we enjoyed our last steak supper (probably the best yet!) and met some Irish lads who we would travel to Bolivia with!

Chloe Writes: The first day in Brazil was hot (I almost got rid of all my winter gear) and as we were in the Jungle the wild life was as magnificent as the view. I felt like i was visiting a butterfly farm and as Pete said, due to the spray of the water and the lovely sunny day we had the most amazing display of rainbows. The second day was wet and to top it all off we got on a boat which took us under one of the waterfalls, having forgot to buy a plastic poncho I was told that i wouldn´t need it as i would get soaked anyway… and that i did. It was great fun though. The view from the Argentinian side gave us a much closer look at the falls which was very impressive.

Its time to say good bye to Argentina, which has been really impressive. I will miss the food and the amazing buses (especially since i know what they will be like in Bolivia), but will not miss having clothes and food pinched from the hostels.

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First stop Brazil

Cute.. not quite sure what he/she is but looked rather Badger like

Panoramic view of the falls

Butterflys at the falls

…and another

There around 250 waterfalls at Iguazu

One of the rainbows

… and another

..oh and another

Day 2… Argentina

Us at the Agentinian side

The falls behind the trees

Vulture like birds that live at the falls

Rocky Fall

Pete

This is the one we went under

Soaked

A car in Salta

One of the buildings in Salta

Petes last supper, Chloes wasnt much smaller

Onwards…

Buenos Aires

peteandchloe — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:21:08 +0000

Chloe Writes: My first impression of Buenos Aires was not a great one. For a city named “Good Air” I didn´t feel it lived up to it´s namesake, with massively polluted and dusty roads and dog do covering the pavements, and after the first day or so, I thought that i was going to be Bored. But how wrong i was, How can you be bored in Buenos Aires!!. What a colorful and unique city it is, from the old style and truly eye-catching buildings, to the tango and dancing on the streets, the wonderful hippy, craft and antiques Fayre’s, amazing restaurants, dog walkers with 6 or so dogs on one lead and the delightful myriad of people entertaining the crowds on every street corner. I could have stayed for at least another week.

Tango shows are everywhere and in a neighborhood called Bocca, you can sit and enjoy a decadent lunch on the street while being entertained with music, shows, and generally soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the old style buildings and markets. In the more upmarket part of town (definitely less dog do on the floor here), we visited one of the most impressive grave yards in the world, full of hundreds of amazingly grand shrines where the wealthy and famous (including the nationally treasured Eva Paron) are buried. On a Saturday the park here turns into a very colorful and interesting hippy/craft market with an array of the most unique creations, it was difficult not to spend the rest of our travel money here, I think we were very restrained.

Dinner is eaten very late here in BA, and at around 10.30pm you can go out and enjoy dinner and a show (tango of course), but there is also flamenco, Reggae and others I’m sure. Sunday we enjoyed a rather lively and packed futbol match and since we had the cheap tickets and were in the “Mosh pit” as we called it, we also decided to wear the colors of the local Bocca team, another one to send home and for me probably never wear, well its a memory isn’t it! i was definitely feeling the “good air” by the end of the trip and would recommend the city to anyone.

Pete Writes: As Chloe mentioned we have had a great time here and it just goes to prove that first impressions don’t always count! We have been controlled enough not to experience too much of the night life as apparently Buenos Aires never sleeps, but I know that I certainly have had my fare share, although I think the bed I had was one of the worst yet!! We have spent the last few days wondering the streets and playing dodge the dump! Which believe me is quite a challenge when you are admiring the architecture up high!

So we had a tick list, and top of my list was eat a steak and I have managed to every night so far :o) at 5 pounds it is a total bargain and tastes sooooo good. Couple it up with a few glasses of vino and some good company and you are on to a winner. Spending the morning wandering around the cemetery was a little eerie, although some of the tombs were amazing and probably worth more than our house! We spent a couple of mornings wandering around markets keeping our hands well and truly in our pockets and not buying anything, although Chloe did a good job of touching everything!

Finally I persuaded Chloe into coming to yet another live sports match! I think she is becoming addicted! It was to see the legendary Bocca Juniors (of whom Maradona used to play for) We ended up in the standing area with all of the passionate fans and even got involved in a couple of the chants! It also ended up being a good result for the home team so everyone was happy although our feet were throbbing from standing up for over 2 hours, next time we will get seats! So we say Adios to Buenos Aires and head towards another 17 hour bus journey (via the post office Mum and Dad, well you couldn’t´t expect us to buy nothing could you).

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Colorful shop, but typical in BA

Cat grafetti

Argentinian stall

Dog walker

Another typical building

There are many charactures of people all over the city

Tango and lunch

Guitarist

Street in bocca

Infamous Caminito building in bocca, it stars in many pictures

Classic lamp post

A shrine in the cemetery

The Cemetery was vast, you could wonder round for hours

Shrine of a woman

A colourful stall in the hippie market

Tango and dinner

A very enthusiastic old lady drumming and singing

Woman and wine

Tango for all at anytime of the day

Who said Empanadas dont have feelings

Futbol shop

Futbol field, people throw paper areoplanes at the opposition

Bocca fans at the game

Reggae for a change

Patagonia

peteandchloe — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:52:47 +0000

Pete Writes: After a grueling few bus journeys (50 hours in total!) we ended up in El Calafate, which is famous for the Perito Moreno Glacier. We decided that we would book a tour which would include a 2 hour hike over the Glacier wearing crampons. We had heard lots of reports about the glacier, however nothing could prepare us for the sheer size of it! It measures 5 km in width, 80 meters high (above the water) and 30 km in length. It is bigger than the capital Buenos Aires! We were both in ore instantly! The hike over the Glacier was lots off fun, although it did get a bit cold but we were given a nice shot of whiskey Over Ice (pardon the pun!) which soon warmed the cockles :o)

Next mission was to get back on a bus for another 17 hours (glutton’s for punishment) and head North to Puerto Madryn to do a bit of Whale spotting. As we walked along the beach front you could see at least 6 mothers and their calves in the sea. Again we booked onto another tour to go out on a boat to get up closer look at these massive mammals. I was not disappointed as we spent a good 30 Min’s floating next to a courting couple, the female had to be at least 15 meters in length. Amazing!! We then proceeded to the Edge of the Peninsula to see few elephant seals just lazing around on the Beach waiting to conceive and to give Birth. There were only a few on the Beach, but according to our guide in a month there would be 1000´s of seals on this stretch of Beach!

Chloe Writes: The last week has been amazing. Like Pete said the Glacier was breath-taking and one of the most spectacular landscapes I have seen on this trip so far. The sheer size and magnitude was immense and unfortunately the photos do not do it justice. The glacier is one of the few in the world that still advances and every few years it reaches the side of a mountain, which when the water level in the lake rises, this part of the glacier starts to melt, creating an arch which eventually crashes into the sea. Unfortunately we missed this spectacle by a matter of weeks.

The whale watching also made the long bus journeys worth while, they put on an amazing show for us from the boat. The Sound of the female expelling water from the blow hole at the top of her head made me feel like i was watching first hand an extract from David Attenborough´s Planet Earth.

Its back on the bus for another 17 hours (we shouldnt complain as the buses are some of the best in the world), heading North to Buenos Aires. The South was freezing but it´s getting warmer with every bus we take.

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The first of many glacier pics, sorry but we took so many it was hard to choose.

This is the remains of the fallen arch

A view on our walk to the glacier

Pete on the Glacier

Wisky to warm the cockles

Chloe in front of an ice cavern

Our tour group

A hole caused by receeding water…. not one you want to fall in

View from the Glacier

Jagged peaks caused by the advancing (2 meters per day) of the glacier. You can also hear the lound rumblings it makes

View from the ground

The pics do nothing to emphasize the scale of it

The view from our hostel in El Calafate, cant complain!

The beach in Puerto Madryn where you can spot whales

Pete in is whale watching finery

And Chloe in hers on the boat.. the gear was a god send as it was freezing

The male Whale was alot smaller than the female

The females tail

The females head

This beach on the peninsula will be covered with thousands of Elephant seals in a couple of months

Here are just a few of the smaller females