http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Barrie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Barrie en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:05:11 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:05:11 +0000 50509 We arrived in Quito by 6am and were amazed by the size of the bus terminal. its huge We jumped into two taxis and headed to our hostel Central Del Mundo Hostel. Its situated smack in the middle of the nightlife but the only problem with that location is that its not exactly safe. The hostel is about twenty feet away from 'Muggers corner' All exhausted from travelling overnight we hit http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Quito/blog-423438.html 270409 Walking around Cuenca looking for somewhere to have breakfast we soon noticed a few things. The beauty of the city. Its such an historical city lined with pebbled streets and old buildings. But that wasn't the first thing that came to our attention. We realised within seconds of leaving our hotel that it wasn't a destination used to seeing travellers. The amount of attention we were gett http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-423432.html 190409 So Mat Mike and I arrived in Trujillo around 6am and we had already read that its not a great place to stay. Its not the prettiest place in the world and seriously lacks things to do so we got a taxi straight tothe nearbye beach town of Huanchaco. We found a lovely little family run hotel and slept till midday. Overnight busses really do take it out of you. After grabbing lunch from the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Trujillo/blog-423424.html 80409 Its an automatic reaction for your eyes to open when the bus stops and the bus stopped in a shanty dirt town for about an hour around 6am. I have no idea why We all woke up looked out the window and then looked at each other with confused expressions on our faces. It wasn't long till they started playing movies so the movie marathon had begun. Looking out the window all you could see was http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/blog-391319.html 310309 We finally arrived in Cusco by 4.30am after a journey that threw many suprises into our faces. It was still pitch black and according to the Lonley Planet Cusco wasn't a safe place to be walking around in the dark with all your bags. So we decided to stay in the terminal till the sun started to warm our shivering bodies. It was a lot colder than i thought it was going to be Within secon http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-399198.html 280309 Mike and I were at the bus station by 7.30am to catch a bus to Copacabana and luckily both of us were feeling well. The first time for quite a while. One girl wasn't so lucky. She was throwing up in the bin just next to the parked bus. I think La Paz takes a lot of victimsha We were the last ones on the bus and Mike ended up getting a broken seat. Not only that but we were sat about two http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-399195.html 180309 We arrived in La Paz at 5am after a trouble free bus journey. We reserved two beds in Arthys guesthouse the day before as we didnt want any hassle trying to find somewhere at that time in the morning. Arthys Guesthouse was suppose to be very close to the terminal and quite. Mike and I both agreed we wanted to chill for the next week and concentrate on Spanish. The taxi took about ten minu http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-384432.html 160309 So Mike and I left our hostel and headed to the travel shop from where we booked our salt flat trip through to pick up our bus tickets. We had an extra spring in our step after an amazing few days on the salt flats. Either that or it was because we had hardly any clothes in our backpacksha We walked through the doors and we could tell within a split second by the mans face that he had fo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Potosi/blog-384439.html 110309 We arrived at the border town of La Quica by 6am. We knew we were arriving early in the morning but we were hoping it was going to be after sun rise. So you can imagine the look on our faces when we got woken up looked out the window and realised it was still pitch black..great Within seconds of stepping out of the bus to collect out backpacks we felt unsafe. The fact that there were lo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-384441.html 60309 We got woken doing the border to crossing over to Argentina at four in the morning to where we had to stand in a queue for about an hour. It was freezing cold but even in those tired and cold times i knew it was going to be worth it. Mendoza for the weekend. It was going to be good I was gutted we couldnt get into the hostel i stayed in last time for a week but we booked ourselve into a q http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-383072.html 10309 I shared a taxi to the main bus terminal with a few people from the hostel and got to the terminal for 6.45am. I stood in the queue waiting to get on the bus checking out the other passengers. Everyone does this. You look around and thinking to yourself i wouldnt mind sitting next to heror really hope im not sitting next to himWell there was one man in the queue that i really didn http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-382920.html 200209 I arrived in Mendoza at 8.30am. A place where i as planing to spend a week before heading to Chile to pick up my friend Mike. After hearing so many good things about Mendoza i had very high expectations which is always a dangerous thing. I got a taxi to my hostel my new home Indepencia Hostel whish is located right next to the main centre plaza. Some places you can tell straight away if http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-377334.html 170209 One of the many things i love about travelling. I arrived in Cordoba around 10am and got a taxi to my hostel Baluch Backpackers. The taxi driver and i laughed all the way talking about the beautiful Argentinan girls and pointing them out along the way. To be fair we both shared the same taste pointing out the ones we were not to keen on as well. Wow that makes me sound really bad I jus http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Cordoba/Cordoba/blog-384041.html 110209 I arrived in Salta around 11am after a very long bus journey from Iquazu. I knew the hostel that i wanted to stay in and thought it would be a good idea to try and the place on foot. It was a scorching day and i walked around for about an hour trying to find the place. I failed big time. I didnt even have any water since i gave it to an old lady who asked me for it. I changed my plan and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Salta/Salta/blog-373319.html 80209 We arrived by 7am and got a local bus to our hostel Hostel Inn. The scenery was that of Vietnam in the way it looked so tropical. I could tell i was going to love my short stay here. The town itself was small and simple so you can see why people say two nights at Iguazu is ample. I really enjoyed the 15 minute bus journey to the hostel though. I had forgotten how much i missed being in an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/blog-373313.html 10209 Andy and I arrived in B.A by 11am looking forward to the buzz of the big city. We got a taxi to the hostel we were hoping to stay in which was in a different area to the last time we stayed in B.A. We were closer to the area of San Telmo. We walked in and there were lovely ladies every where so imagine our disapointment when we got told they had no space. They told us about the hostel St N http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-370702.html 250109 I got woken up in the early hours of the morning on the bus to Peurto Madryn by Andys head bumping into my ribs. The roads are quite bumpy and when your fast asleep your head goes all over the place. Not exactly the waking up i had in mind in Latino Argentina but im glad he did. I got to see an awesome sunrise over the desert like horizon. We arrived in Puerot Madryn about 9am and walked http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/blog-367446.html 1718.01.09 So a new journey always has to start with one of the hardest things you will ever face. Saying goodbye to family and friends. But after all that was done Duncan drove me to the airport and sat with me till it came to the time where i had to book in my luggage. We said our goodbyes and then i was on my own. Which i have to say was a strange feeling. Last time i had my good friend Matt b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/blog-365694.html 220308 110408 By this point in Honduras I has settled into my house got to grips with working at the UDC dive centre which meant that life was as normal as life can be living on a small tropical island. So for this reason i didnt write anything into my diary. I had a daily routine which was something i hadn't had since i left home. Wake up in the morning do my exercises on the balcony sit http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Utila/blog-357282.html 70308 So we were on the small ferry to take us to Honduras by 9am after buying snacks for the journey from the small shop at the dock. Luckily we did as it took about an hour to leave by the time they filled the boat to the top with cargo and by the time the grumpy boarding officer looked through everyones passports. We met two blokes on the ferry i keep calling it a ferry but it was a small fi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/blog-314347.html