http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Mikey-M/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Mikey M en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:00:46 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:00:46 +0000 So before leaving La Paz the plan had been to go to the san pedro prison with colin and alan these crazy irish guys or to go with these kiwiw guys i met neither pair turned up and so i did not end up going although im not overely bothered to be honest and in the end the money i would have used there i instead used at the witches market and got myself some bits and bobs and some gifts for my girl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-274825.html So i was knackered when i got up and i grabbed my stuff and made as much noise as possible as i was well pissed off from my lack of sleep i headed down to the cafe and sat with Andre a swedish guy and two aussies and we ordered breakkie and we all had omlette sandwiches.After a little while Matt our guide and several other guides turned up and checked people off and assigned them to a group we h http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Coroico/blog-273822.html So the night before i met Jimmy this english guy and his friends and they were planning to go to the San Pedro prison the next day and id invited myself along...lol.I was up fairly early and spent most of the morning waiting for the internet and then followed by waiting for the travel desk so i could book the Gravitiy Assisted mountian bike trip down the worlds most dangerous road.I finally got to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-273814.html So the group i joined was Mark an Irish guy working behind the bar in Loki hostel and lives in Oz then the was Anna a German girl and two Canadian sisters Carly and Nic. We checked out various agencies and plumped for one called wonderland and we gave Ripley's a wide berth after hearing not so good reports back about them.The price for the tour was 85 dollars and we were promised the earth and we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-272731.html So after my rude awakening i did not get back to sleep and instead stayed in bed for a while longer and then went to have a shower and the water was freezing which was fun as i was full of snot and a sore throat. I then went and grabbed a new deorderant and grabbed a bottle of water and when i got back to the hostel Soren was there and he was the Danish guy i had met in Patagonia and he was looki http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-272722.html So i wasted some time at the loki hostel and then i picked up my washing which was a task in itself as the were items missing and i eventually got it sorted and got to the tourist agency were i purchased my ticket and i was taxied to the bus station and given my tickets and left.I then looked at my tickets and noticed that my ticket to puno and from puno to La Paz totalled 45 soles and i had paid http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-271319.html So again when leaving Cusco i had to pay a departure tax and to be honest im getting pissed off that im paying so much for flights and its not included and also having to pay to use bathrooms that worse than some found in Asia well rant over i landed at Puerto Maldonao and no gap representative and then i was met by Fernando a guide for Amazona Rainforrest and apprently they do the trip i had bo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-270983.html So i went to bed early as i had a 5.30am start and joy of all joys the new inhabitants of my room were a bunch of teenage or twenty something gap yearers who were hellbent on getting pissed and coming into the room frequently to put the lights on and make as much noise as possible and so i did not have the best ever nights sleep and note to self when i travel again im having a better budget and i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-269933.html So today i got up feeling a little worse for wear and the swedish girls from my room were moving out and the danish guys i grabbed breakkie and then packed my daysack and packed up my rucksack to store at the baggage store in the hostel during my trek.I skyped my parents which was cool and i checked my emails and nothing of interest i got some biscuits fr the hike and paid up my accommodation an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-268457.html So i had an earlish night and woke up refreshed and grabbed breakie with Ian and the Irish boys and then we checked emails and stuff and Ian checked out as he belived his trek was on the 18th and on checking his emails he realised it was the 19th and so he had to recheck in and he luckily got the same bed again.The Irish boys headed off to get there hire gear for the trek as they are hiring small http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-267769.html So i grabbed some beans on toast and fixed up my cv and emailed a few agencys in Oz and put up an ad on gumtree.Then me Ian and Chris oz guy and the irish boys headed down down in the afternoon to get an Inca massage the irish boys went to one place and they only take three at a time and so we left them and arranged to meet later at jacks cafe.Then meian and chris headed further into town and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-267361.html So after my last blog i went and got an omlette and then sat in the cafe reading for two hours and so that was two hours down and then i went for a walk and met Carolina a danish girl from the previous hostel.We sat and chatted about our mutual trips and she was killing time till her bus at 8pm to Cusco and she is from Cophagen and i told her about my danish girlfreind and then we went to the park http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-263737.html So i have time to kill so i go up and sunbathed and read most of the day grabbed coffee with an aussie girl amanda and her friend luce who is dutch they met in Boliva and have been traveling together ever since. Then i grabbed dinner at a pizza place with thes US guys sam and mark who i met yesterday and shared beers and pizza with yesterday evening aswell.Then today the 4th im round the pool an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Huacachina/blog-263026.html So i did not have the best of nights sleep as i was kept awake by the bar playing music full blast and the bar was empty and then dogs barking etc etc and so when i get home im going to sleep for a month to catch up on this sleep im missing.So last night me and the US guys went to our usual haunt and i had a veggie sandwich and chips and they had a burger and chips between them as they were feeli http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Nazca/Nazca-Lines/blog-263342.html So later that night me adam and ed and tany met up and went to a cool and cheap veggie place 8 soles fior three course and a tea.Me and adam had decided to do a one day hike in the colca canyon the next day and we decided to go and do it at Cabaconde.We headed to bed early as we planned to get up early and head to the local bus terminal as appose to the national terminal. We got there and the wa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-264849.html So after finishing off my last blog i made myself a massive 6 egg omlette with vegggies so my mum does not worry...lolwhich was scrummy if i do say so myself and then followed up doing a pub quiz in the bar of the hostel i joined a team called as good as it gets and this team consisted of me a peruvian guya Candian girl and two Dutch couples.It was fun and we ended up third im afraid no priz http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Huacachina/blog-262676.html So i woke up before everyone and got my stuff together and then walked out with Cinita and managed to get to the bus terminal just before 9am and went for the ultra cheap bus which is 55 reals and it took over 6 hours and stopped at an expensive service station and stopped by the police and it seemed like forever as i was trying to read my book and i was permantely disturbed by this foul old witch http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Copacabana/blog-260317.html So i got up and some of the guys from last night are heading to Ill Grande today however its 70 reals just to get there and then get accomodation and i have already paid an arm a leg for my nights here so im just going to do Rio......they have a decent brekkie here which is a suprise and i met up with an Irish fella and an Aussie girl and we are considering doing the christ redeemer today.So i hu http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Copacabana/blog-260319.html So i was up early for the favella tour and it turned out that bed bugs had entres brekkiedinnerlunchsuper and light snacking on me during the night as my back and smaller areas were covered in bites the most expensive hostel of my trip so far and i get eaten by bed bugs.....lol.So i went downstairs and complained and i was moved to another room got a free meal and two drinks and i was told http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Copacabana/blog-260934.html So this morning i woke fairly early although the baby screaming next door the early church bells and the dogs barking did not make for a great nights sleep me and adam risked our lifes in the shower with the dodgey bolivan electrics not together though......lol.We grabbed breakie at a nice little place and looked round the local church which was cool and then we looked round the shore which was http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-265090.html