(Nick) Monday 23rd July - The other Nick had booked us into more of a tourist hotel than a hostel for the last few days, and I experienced things that had been practically unknown over the last 3 months: a very comfy bed, CNN, putting toilet paper into the toilet instead of a bin, chubby middle-aged tourists etc. One of the best things about the hotel was the breakfast spread, and the great view from the tables over Ipanema beach. It was at breakfast that I met Nick´s nice Brazilian friend Ana-Paula, who also works at the British Council. The weather [View Full Entry]

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(Nick) Monday 16th July - we left on another overnight bus, this time to Salvador. We had heard a lot of good things about the place, not least that it is the ´Soul of Brazil´, so were really looking forward to it. Tuesday 17th July - arrived at 07h00, hooked up with some other gringos off the bus and bargained for a ride into town in a battered old minibus, listening to AC:DC (let´s rock!)on its battered old stereo. Salvador is divided into the Upper Town and Lower Town, and the highlight is the Pelourinho area, which is in the Upper. [View Full Entry]

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If you are not one of our family and friends, we would be really interested to know how you found our blog - please email us at olarse@hotmail.com - many thanks! (P) Due to a long-standing arrangement with my schoolfriends, I left the balmy climes of Rio de Janeiro for London (raining upon arrival, surprise!), enroute for a week in Villa Linda in Punta Prima, Menorca, to drown our sorrows or jointly celebrate the first 30 years of our lives, depending on your outlook. An overnight stop followed at Ramona’s London penthouse overlooking the Thames (I never reali [View Full Entry]

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If you are not one of our family and friends, we would be really interested to know how you found our blog - please email us at olarse@hotmail.com - many thanks! (N) Firstly apologies to those expecting Paula to be writing this week; for some reason, she decided that it would not be fun to spend her final couple of nights in Rio on the computer, so I am doing it. Because we are spending so long in Rio, I thought it would be good to describe the area around the hostel. Up on Santa Teresa hill, it enjoys a good [View Full Entry]

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(Nick) Thursday 21st June - the Uruguayan town of Fray Bentos is on the must see list of any wandering lover of meat pies. Unfortunately I missed the place last time, with Richie in Jan 2005, due to time constraints (though we did consider hiring mopeds to get there). The second time I missed Fray Bentos was in the early hours of this morning, where we dropped off some bleary-eyed passengers around 03h30 before arriving in Montevideo around 07h00. Having checked into our hotel, we went on a day trip to Colonia del Sacramento, one of the key places of interest [View Full Entry]

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(P) Fri 15th June Stranded in Valpo yet again but it was sunny for the first time since our arrival so we took advantage by walking over the Cerro Alegre and Concepcion (hills), taking in the views and having a sunset coffee overlooking the bustling port. Prayed for smooth departure once more before we slept... Sat 16th June Another 6.30 a.m. start, loaded ourselves up and walked (hoping and praying) to the bus station - our prayers were answered! Left on 8 a.m. bus and climbed the Andes (4000m at the highest point) to the border crossing with Argentina. As [View Full Entry]

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(N) We will miss the exuberant chaos of Bolivia and Peru, having now traded them for Chile and Argentina, a couple of nations where - as symbols of sophistiation - a seat comes as standard on a toilet, along with toilet paper, taps give forth water and even a towel is often provided. Thurs 7th June - In Salta. The highlight of the day was the view of San Francisco church against the bright blue sky ("an extravagance of Italianate Neocolonial exuberance", whimpered the Rough Guide). Shortly after, The Locro Incident occurred. The Locro Incident: at the small eaterie [View Full Entry]

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(P) Thurs 31 May - To Uyuni town, ready to embark on a three day tour that would involve "being the coldest you´ve ever been in your life", "experiencing the most beautiful sight in South America", among other predictions. Settled on pizza for the pre-departure meal, ahead of the "very basic" hotel we would stay in while away. Fri 1st June - Bundled our rucksacks on the roof of Alexandro´s 4WD and piled in with 2 fellow poms, and Aussie and later Iwao-san from a salt hotel along the way. We soon realised why the car looked a little less than [View Full Entry]

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We have now added photos to previous entries. Click on "Read full entry" for each entry to see them all. We hope you enjoy! P&N. [View Full Entry]

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(N) 24th May - Copacabana to La Paz Delighted to finally be on the 08h00 bus to the capital, didn't quite believe it till we left. The old bus rumbled to the petrol station round the corner, found it wasn't open, so siphoned some fuel from a barrel down a sidestreet and trundelled back to its starting position 15 mins later - but soon we were off for real. If you look at a map of the route between Copacabana and La Paz (for example, at http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/samerica/lgcolor/bocolor.htm), you can see that a body of water - often quoted as the [View Full Entry]

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