Siobhs
Siobhan Buckley Joined: May 1st 2008
Logged in: January 15th 2009
Logged in: January 15th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
La Paz
9 Jan 2009: I can´t believe that I am nearly at the end of my travels...4 months in South America sure does go fast! One more week left which will be spent in Easter Island and then back to Sydney....so am trying to bring this blog back up to date...which means all these entries will be out of synch....so lets starts with dear ol´Bolivia first! This country is chaotic....I have never seen a border crossing in such disarray as the one between Peru and Bolivia. The day we picked to cross was also market day which could have had something to do with the chaos. People, carts, all types of food everywhere. Buses and trucks vying with pedestrians for a precious piece of real estate on a dirt road. Wasn´t uncommon for someone just to park ... read more
Christmas Mass at Salta
I crossed back into Argentinia to spend Christmas in Argentina use it as my launching point down to El Calafate...my entry into Argentinian Patagonia. Christmas in Salta, northwest Argentinia was good fun. The main meal is around 11pm on Christmas Eve and come midnight, piles of fireworks are exploded. I went to midnight mass in Salta and I pitied the priest...as he tried to vye with the noise of exploding fireworks and scared barking dogs as they ran down the main aisle of the church away from the fireworks! Ahh...you wouldn´t get this at midnight mass in Cork or Sydney....you may have to deal with the local drunks though...not sure what´s worse! After Christmas I flew from Salta to El Calafate which is way down south in Argentina and home of the Perito Merano Glacier. This ... read more
Sandboarding
Spend a very hectic 3 weeks in Peru. Did so much, saw so many things..I was glad when it was over so I could relax and get back into a more even pace. But it was a great 3 weeks...fulls of contrasts both in peoples and environments...and those Inca ruins are spectacular...they sure knew what they were doing, those Incas. Peruvian trip began in Lima...I also picked the weekend of the APEC summit to visit this city. On the down-side everything was closed in order to protect George Bush, Kevin07 and their various friends. On the upside I felt remarkably safe as I walked about the city as I have never seen so many police, military and US secret service guys in one place before. It became a game spotting all these guys especially the guys ... read more
Giant Turtoise
I can stop travelling now....in fact if I never travel again, I reckon I will be alright. I have been to the Galapagos and truthfully I don´t think anywhere else in the world will surpass this place. Am I talking this place up too much...don´t know...you better come here to judge for yourselves. But I know that I am so glad that I came here. I spent 7 nights on a boat touring the islands. I swam with gigantic sea turtles and the tamest sea-lions and even sharks. I have seen sea-lions giving birth, I have seen male and female blue-footed boobies doing their courtship dances, I have seen sea turtles mating, I have seen frigate birds dive from the sky to pick up and eat baby turtles (obviously not a nice thought but that what ... read more
Photo 1
Sitting here in a hostel in Mendoza with Baz´s "Romeo and Juliet" blaring away in the background. Today is my chill-out day..even managed to get my hair cut today without saying a word in Espanol...amazing how far sign language can get ya. Also got my legs waxed...that´s another story..all I can say is...girls, I don´t recommend it in this country...stick with shaving. Highlight of my trip to date has been the Iguazu Falls. Shared between Argentina and Brazil, the systems consists of (we were told) 365 falls along 3kms of the Iguazu River. The sound produced by these falls is thunderous...amazing. We viewed the falls from both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides. I think you can get a bit more up close and personal with the falls from the Argentinian side and certainly they have things ... read more
Eventually I am about to post to this blog!!! I have finally reached South America, a place I have been talking and dreaming about for nigh on 9 years now! Back in 2000 when I first took the plunge to give up my job and head away on a year's adventure, South America was always on the ticket following my "few" months stint in Australia-land. Well as you know my few months in Australia turned into 8 happy years. But then I got itchy feet again and hence I have taken another crack at this travelling lark. Be warned before you read this...I am attempting to capture the last 3 months in this blog so it will be VERY long. So go away now and get yourself a cup of tea or whatever takes your fancy ... read more
And so the trip is almost upon us....and we are almost packed. Don't ask me how but it has taken what seems like weeks for me to pack. Tom spends 10mins today and he has a perfectly packed ruck-sack...not fair. Anyways we're off tomorrow where our first stop will be London but only to catch a connecting flight to Istanbul. From there we will spend over a week touring the country seeing places such as Troy, Gallipoli, Ephesus. We then head back to London where we'll spend 10 days driving around the English country-side. Following that its Ireland for the sister's wedding and then we head off to France and Spain. Tom heads back to Sydney in mid Aug and I will move on into South America in Sept. So that's all for now...will be emailing ... read more
I have been told I need to at least have one entry in my blog even though I won't be posting actively for a while. Today is my last day with my job...I am sad but looking to the future...can't wait to get back on the road again. I hope you will all enjoy reading my blog as I will writing it. Siobhs ... read more
