Day 104 to Day 129 (10.04.07-05.05.07) To see the photos better, double click on them to view them bigger Argentina ranks as the world's 8th largest country, and was once the 7th richest nation before the 1929 Wall Street Crash, which was the first of a series of big blows, resulting in Argentina falling to a third world power, their past wealth is evident in the streets and styles and within the people themselves. What sets Argentina apart from the rest of South America is its overwhelmingly European population, representing all 4 corners of the old world. Argentina...had b [View Full Entry]

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Day 92 - Day 103 (28/03/07 - 09/04/07) Our Bolivian adventure began as we crossed Lake Titikaka, from the Peruvian side to the Bolivian side, a 20 min boat ride for the passangers and a rather home-made raft ride for the bus. The first place we came across was a little lake-side town of Copacabana (although a charming town it is without the attractions of its more famous namesake in Brazil - rather it is named in honour of its virgin stature of Copacabana held in the towns cathedral). Having been impressed by the Peruvianside of Lake Titikaka, although the [View Full Entry]

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Day 76 - Day 92 (11/03/07 - 29/03/07) Arriving into Peru late at night, we were excited but unprepared for what to expect in the second country in our South American tour. Separated by only 4 air miles, we found that Peru and Brazil couldn´t be more different, needless to say it was quite a culture shock! Although in 2 and a half months we hadn't picked much portugese expect the niceities, we found it hard to adjust to spanish speaking ways and customs, well much harder than we'd imagined! Two months living the Brazilian lifestyle had rubbed off on [View Full Entry]

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Day 31 - Day 46 Natal Natal, the capital of Rio Grande de Norte, is a modern and clean city in the north of Brazil, famous for its sand-dunes, with the main attraction being beaches rather than museums! It is a 22 hour bus ride north of Salvador, and the people and culture differ greatly. We stayed in Ponta Negra, the tourist area of Natal where most people stay when they visit, 10 km from the centre of Natal. Natal translates as Christmas, and the city is characterised by statues of the three wise men on every corner. They have good [View Full Entry]

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Day 25 - Day 29 Lencois is the prettiest of the old diamand mining towns in Chapada Diamantina, six hours inland from Salvador. It is a mountainous wooded oasis in a dusty landscape. The little town is charming with cobbled streets, brightly painted 19th C buildings in between lush green hills. The surrounding area is full of caves, waterfalls, and amazing views - a perfect place to see the opposite of surf-sand Brazil!! Arriving in Lencois at 5am, we were picked up by a friend of a friend and driven to the pousada which was surrounded by flowers - and loads [View Full Entry]

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Morro do Sao Paulo - known as Bahia´s best beach town! Perched on top of rocky island, Morro´s charm stems from its unique geography with jungle-topped hills and mangrove lined canals, in the perfectly clear Atlantic. The Lonely Planet informed us that a colonial history aswell as steep hills has led to the wheelbarrow being the primary mode of transport on the island. The few roads, were sandy - literally just an extension of the beachs and locals walked barefoot. We were warned by 3 people that the 2 hour catamaran journey over to this lovely little island was rocky to [View Full Entry]

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After relaxing in Porto Seguro, we were prepared for city life again, and had heard many many good things about Salvador from lots of people but mainly from Mateus and Claire. Arriving at 6am, after an 11 hour bus ride, we woke up in a big city, with the mission of finding ourselves somewhere to stay. After an hour or so of walking around in the quite shady area of Pelourinho, 2 taxi rides later we found The Nega hostel, which was laid back and hippyish! Pelourinho is the quaint historic centre of Salvador where most tourists visit, and because of [View Full Entry]

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Leaving Rio behind, we weren´t sad to say goodbye to the rain, but a little sad to leave Copacabana and the friends we had made here, however we know we will be back in 6 weeks for Carnaval - so not too sad!! 18 hours later and our first experience of Brazilian bus journeys, we were in the state of Bahia! The journey was an experience - quiet rough - not only was it pouring down most of the journey but the driver was a loon (quite the norm here in Brazil we heard) and was overtaking at ridiculous speeds on [View Full Entry]

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Finally, the long wait was over...we pulled up onto Copacabana beach! The drive from the airport was an interesting welcome to Rio, we saw many strange and shocking sights of favelas, bare footed children - that were more than happy playing football in the streets. Our home for the week was Copacabana Tropical Hostel, just 5 mins from the famous beach. After a bit of exploring we saw the white sanded beaches, the toned brazilian bodies and both sexes who wore minimal clothing! Day 1 - joined the locals in jogging along Copacabana beach, and drank Coconuts on the beach in [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone This is just a test for us to learn a bit about this website. The real thing will be much better (hopefully) We are leaving for Brazil the 26th of December and then we're gone for a year, but will update all our friends with some lovely pictures [View Full Entry]

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