daRuss

All The Buildup And so as fate would have it, here I izz in Brazil for the third time. My partner in crime is, under the nickname Hans, (alternate spelling could be used), and later Chob but we'll build those bridges when we get there. Once again, I am making this up and typing fast so if there are any spelling/grammar/punctuation errors, well we are just going to have to deal with it now aren´t we. =_) This time around, my bag actually showed up so I was fairly pleased already. We did not have any trouble at the airport, but someone from the airplane stole a subscription report I printed off for reading. What is the airline world coming to? Anyway, as soon as we landed, we tried to look for some cheap flights to ... read more

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 got out of the cab, some guy approached us like I thought would happen and asked us how much we are going to pay for the hotel. We tell him 120,000 COL pesos which works ... read more

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 to the hostel..however, later I learned that it is possible to go there for $3 or $4. It is not exactly a big budget but haggling is half the fun. I went to the recommended ... read more

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 herded towards the customer service desk where they hooked us up with a nice hotel and free food for the that day and the next morning. At least that I did not mind. That afternoon ... read more

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 then locked the door to his cabin and the discussion was over. Anyway, as we got off the bus, THE LOKI seemed to be a choice of hostel for most so I joined them. It ... read more