http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Sandra-and-Stephen/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Sandra and Stephen en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:12:46 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:12:46 +0000 Oi gente We made it to Brazil.. Actually about a week ago And now we are happily relaxing at my grandmothers house in my birth city Londrina that means little London. Its not that little though and not really like London either for that matter. I may be biased but I personally love it here. My family is enormous and in line with the Brazilian stereotype they are all incredibly welcoming a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Paran-/blog-415903.html Hello againI am going to try and make this blog happen tonight but I am uncertain if it will because the internet connection here is very sloooow. Anyway we just got done with our long weekend of rural tourismat the La Quinta farm set in the hills of Paraguay. As I suspected it wasnt so much rural as it was a resort but no matter We still had a good time. Heres the skinny The grounds are http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-413496.html Buenas DiasWe have just spent 5 very full days in Asuncion. From the brevity of the Paraguay section in our travel book one would think there isnt much to this place but thats definitely not true... We have been livin it up in the city for sure. We are staying at the resonably priced Pension Da Silva run by a very cute and friendly old lady. The place is centrally located right off Plaza Urug http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Paraguay/Asunci%F2n/blog-412336.html Bueno Well we are in Immaculate Concepcion Paraguay right now. Ill get back to talking about that in a second but first I want to discuss a couple other things1. Bus from Santa Cruz to Filadelfia After our experience with the wayward bus to Samaipata we wanted to make sure we would get to Filadelfia. So I asked all of the bus guys multiple times made sure our ticket said Filadelfia on it http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Paraguay/Concepcion/blog-410587.html YoOk this is a quick special report especially for VLM. We went to the Santa Cruz Zoo this afternoon. This is a seriously wacky zoo. For instance there were almost as many animals roaming freely about the grounds as there were safely in cages. Among the animals that scampered accross our footpath were a sloth well it more slothed than scampered a capibara and an alarmingly large monkey o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Santa-Cruz-Department/Santa-Cruz/blog-409267.html Que PasoSo we survived the 18 hour busride from La Paz to Samaipata.. Wait did I say Samaipata What I meant was the busride from La Paz to SANTA CRUZ Although the guy we bought the bus ticket from claimed that the bus went to Samaipata it did not and in fact never does it even pass Samaipata. WOW.. Can you imagine outandout lying to someone like that So we took a taxi from Santa Cruz http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Santa-Cruz-Department/Samaipata/blog-408853.html Hi again allWe are back in La Paz and have been for a few days that last blog was a few days late in publishing... Long story short we almost bought a car to drive back to California and decided not to at the last minute. I admit at first it was MY idea. I had secret visions of rescuing a puppy and bringing it home with us. We looked at the car several times and I was dubious whether it would http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-406976.html Hello everyoneThis ones coming at you from Oruru Bolivia. La Paz locals who heard we were traveling there usually wrinkled their noses and said something to the effect of ohhh... its dirty little mining town Well it isnt that dirty but its not much to look at either. It is also very cold We can see our breath in our unheated hostel room. Besides cold I can declare Oruru to be an oddly in http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-406558.html Buenos DiasWe are still in La Paz 8 days later.. We had planned on leaving this morning but upon learning that tickets for the World Cup qualifier match of Bolivia vs Venezuela go on sale TOMORROW morning we decided to stay another night. Everyone wish us luck getting tickets. The box office opens at 9am and we are going to be there at 7 sharp. Speaking of event tickets since we now have so http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-404604.html Hola beloved friends This ones gonna be a doozy because there is lots to say about La Paz.. Weve been here for a solid 3 days now and we are loving it It is a quirky city of many many hills and contrary to what we have heard from other travelers it isnt really all that noisy or chaotic in my modest opinion. It does help that the hostel we are staying at Hostal Republica is pretty nice and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-403307.html Hi again We have been waiting in this small town of Copacabana for 3 days for a bank to open. There are no ATMs to speak of so we have been surviving on the good will of the hotel manager and the pittance we were able to change at the pervian border. Luckily things here are about half the cost of what they were in Peru so we arent suffering too much. This place is really small quiet and cu http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-401983.html Hola amigos We got to Copacabana Bolivia this morning.. Despite some teensy issues at the border that may have necessitated a kickback or two in the form of cashmoney we made it.. We decided to stay here for 3 nights instead of 1 as originally planned. Then its off to La Paz and back to hectic city life.Anyway since I wasnt able to include much in the last blog besides Machu Picchu this o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-401534.html Buenas Tardes mis amigosOk whew... wow wow wow... Where to begin with this one.. Well right now we are sitting in a tiny internet cafe in the tiny town of Ollantaytambo.. Google it seriously. This place is tiny but enormous all at the same time youll see why. We are supposed to be back in Cusco but thanks to a farmers strike over privatization of water rights here we sit. And no better p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Ollantaytambo/blog-400351.html I knew it was bound to happen I just didnt think it would happen so soon SFIn Mexico its Montezumas revenge in Morroco its Muhammads right Erin... and here in Cusco it is their meaner cousin who I Sandra have dubbed Hiram Bingham. All of our adverterous eating in Lima caught up with us and much sooner than I expected. But after an uncomfortable evening we did what any hardcore foodi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/blog-399276.html BuenoSo here we are in Lima Peru.. It is noisy foggy and smoggy. But also vibrant. Navigating the streets is like playing reallife frogger. We have decided that this blog will be focused on our favorite thing food. Were still working on a good name.. Maybe Comida Etc In any case this will be an account of our gastronomic adventures and anything else we think is cool. As many of you mig http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/blog-398765.html Yo.. Sanfar here Smott will most likely be a silent partner in this blog. Just trying to set this thing up right now and seeing if I have the technological prowess to pull this off. I will try to update it when we find internet connections that work. We're still in good old Woodland just getting ready to leave for Peru on Sunday evening.. Wish us luckSS http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-397136.html