MikeandHelen

Cartagena After spending 5 days in the cramped conditions of the sailing boat, we were glad to finally stretch our legs and have some space to ourselves in the beautiful colonial city of Cartagena, where the temperature was hot, hot, hot. We stayed just by the old town walls, in the backpacker enclave of Getsemani, and spent many of our waking hours in the historic old cobbled streets, soaking up the atmosphere. Cartagena is situated right on the Caribbean coast, the old town being surrounded by 13km of old colonial walls. These were built by the Spanish to try to prevent the successive pirate raids on the town which, despite being the storehouse for the vast South American treasures which had been forcibly removed from the indigenous populations (the Incas in particular), was initially undefended. Those ... read more

Throughout Central America, chicken buses have been ever obvious, decorated to greater or lesser degrees as they chug along roads and through towns, conductors shouting from the doors s they pass, trying to entice people on board. Many of these buses have been changed from the standard yellow American school bus style and given a more Central American style! When we arrived in Panama City though, we realised the obsession with decorating buses has been taken to a whole new level. Buses are decorated in incredibly ornate styles with intricately designed murals covering the buses. The skill of the artists is really quite amazing. Neon lights are often fitted around the edge of the buses, one bus we saw even looked like the Coca Cola "Holidays are coming" advert as it was so covered in strips ... read more

Sardines in a bus It's a hot day, the temperature around a humid 30 degrees, and we are wedged onto the rattling, old bus as tightly as sardines. It feels like we will have to be peeled apart eventually, as limbs slowly stick to those next to us. A sign at the front informs us this school bus was built in Ottawa in 1986, designed to hold 86 school children. There are at least 250 people on today. Three local people hang out the front door, holding on for dear life as the bus chugs on over the potholes in the road. With each stop for the first hour, another few people manage to squeeze on, until, eventually, people start to get off at the larger towns we pass through, creating much needed space so we ... read more

Chicken busing it towards the Caribbean The gaudily decorated bus chugs along the smooth asphalt road, the azure blue Caribbean Sea to our left, while the tree covered hills rise to our right. The speakers that line the carriage strain from the levels of bass of the Latino tunes that pump out at high volume, while in front on the windscreen a large signs tells us that "God is my guide". With each gear change a black cloud of diesel smoke puffs out from the side of the bus and at each stop, many people get on, selling fried plantains, sweet breads, fruits, or giving a speech on the benefits of purchasing some new miracle cream or pamphlet on alternative medicines to make you slim. This is our first chicken bus experience in Central America. The ... read more

Time travellin' to the USA Anyone who loves '80's pop trash will know that Cher once wanted to turn back time. Well, we have discovered that you can take back all of the bad things you said on the flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, where time travel becomes a reality. After taking off from Japan at 16:30 on a Tuesday afternoon, and flying for 9 hours, we managed to arrive in LA at 09:00am the same Tuesday morning, allowing us to relive most of the day again in another city. Admittedly, the reliving part is slightly slower and more dopey than the first time around due to jetlag, and the culture shock of arriving in the US after so long in Asia is pretty dramatic, but still we stumbled our way through Tuesday for a ... read more