Santa Marta and such So off we go to Santa Marta or better yet...according to my guidebook - El Rodadero, which is the touristy district close to Santa Marta. As the main bus drops us off at the bus terminal. We tell the cab driver to take us to Hotel Becoma...and he had no clue where that was. So I checked my book again and sure enough it says what I thought. So he told us it was Betoma!! SO THERE LONELY PLANET! The hotel was really close to the beach and it didn't seem that bad. As soon as we [View Full Entry]

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Barranquilla Tis time to write my blog so here I go. First comes the interrigation session as always when going through the lovely US of A. This time he wasn´t trying to convince me that I am a criminal. This time the moron was testing my patience. He was asking my why I went to Houston a year ago....to which I replied that I didn´t. Then I thought about it for a bit and realized that I was going to Rio through Houston...even though he already knew that because he had to have it in his computer. The he asked me [View Full Entry]

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Now some of you may be thinking, what the heck and why the heck is this guy writing a diary when he is at home for a couple of months now? Well, the answer is because he wants to finish his trip log and the stories. It's a Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood So I arrived into Quito from Lima and it was raining hardcore. I didn't want to get ripped off by bying a cab voucher so I went to the cash machine and paid for it in cash. As a beginner, I didn't know so I dished out $5 [View Full Entry]

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Good Times to be Had by ALL! To finish off my 4 month trip blog, I have committed to writing this Galapagos Islands trip. The reason I can still give details is because I actually kept a diary of my galapagos trip like a prudent scout girl. It might sound like a documentary a bit but I will try to spice it up. Just for the record, the trip took place May 15-22, 2006. So according to my journal...here we go: Day 1 - Lobos Island From Quito, I flew to San Cristobal island. It is one of the two populated [View Full Entry]

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Just When You Think You're Gone So here I am fresh from Cuzco and ready to fly to Lima. As I come to the airport I see the two french girls yet again excpet they are flying more north then me. We sit down, have some coffee and realize that our flight has been delayed due to bad weather in Lima. Apparently this is quite common as it is almost always foggy in Lima. I was not pleased with this news simply because I wanted 5 days in Lima and that would just cut more time from Ecuador. So we all [View Full Entry]

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Let the Journey Begin While in Cuzco, I just simply had to at least see the famous ruins since I opted out on the longer hikes. I thought I would be brave and take the local bus to Ollayntaytambo and then catch the train to Aguas Calientes and it is also the cheaper option. Of coures no can begin a journey on an empty stomach so I grabbed some ceviche (the raw fish marinated in lime juice) at the local eatery and it was very delicious. So the ticket was really cheap, it only cost me around 5 soles which is [View Full Entry]

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The Night Bus So I got into Cuzco at around 5am on the overnight bus from Puno. I was almost frozen because the bus was so cold despite me wearing a shirt, a sweater on top and then a raincoat. That is how freezing it was. I watched a movie called Full Metal Jacket in spanish with spanish subtitles. It was awesome. Just in case I did not understand what they said, I always had the subtitles to back me up. We all tried to tell the bus driver that we would not mind the subtitles in english and he noddes [View Full Entry]

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So after I left La Paz, I headed on a 4 hour bus ride to get to Copacabana which is on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. They told me that the local buses were brutal in Bolivia but I did not find that to be the truth at all. As soon as I got on, I met like 5 people from England. So much for being the only tourist on the bus. The bus was not bad except for the leg room. Since I am not a midget, I could have used a bit more. The bus ride was very [View Full Entry]

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I forgot to write about my day trip from Santiago to Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar. The bus takes about 2 hours to get there. Valparaiso is more picturesque while Vina Del Mar is more of a mix between the old and the new. As soon as I got out of the bus I got convinced into getting a daily tour and later got somehow tricked into getting the tour agent´s son to translate the tour for me from spanish to english. It turned out that buddy was actually quite eager and keen to share with me the details of the [View Full Entry]

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Oxygen Anyone? Being able to breathe is amazing. I love to breathe. However, in La Paz it is definitely a luxury. I flew from Santiago which is around sea level to the altitude of 3600m. Think about it...over 3.5 kilometers in the air. I noticed it right away as I got off the plane. After being severely ripped off with currency exchange at the airport, I checked into my hostel. I think the rip off stems from the fact that Bolivia hates Chile since they took their coast line in a war. I went to walk around the city and to [View Full Entry]

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