Nov 1, 2009 I expected to wake up late since we didn’t go to sleep around 3:30AM, but when I looked at my watch, it was only 7:00AM. We only slept for 3.5 hours but we both slept well and were wide awake. We were still in awe and partially in denial that my pack got stolen the night before. Since my clothing didn’t take up too much space, I had all of our toiletries and other items we used daily, such as our toothbrush, toothpaste, face soap, lotion, sunscreen, make-up, bug spray, plug adapters, sleeping bag, fleece blanket, and Justin’s [View Full Entry]

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Oct 31, 2009 We don’t like early buses, but because we wanted to squeeze the silver mine between our trip to Uyuni, we scheduled the earliest ride to Potosi. We prearranged a taxi for around 0630 from Wasi Masi and headed to the Sucre bus terminal. I was more initially affected by the incline to the highest city in the world. Upon arrival I felt very weak and had problems breathing. Rumi had no complaints and said she was fine. We were told that there would be someone waiting for us with a sign to go on the tour of the [View Full Entry]

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Oct 29, 2009 We arrived in Sucre around 0730 after our very adventurous first experience in Bolivia. Despite the stress and lack of sleep, we both seemed to be rejuvenated by finally arriving in Sucre. We initially opted to go to a hostel right across the bus stop, but the lack of foreigners, WIFI, and free breakfast influenced us to go to another hostel. We had done some research and found a great hostel, Wasi Masi. Fortunately the hostel we initially went to was nice enough to call us a cab and do the price negotiation for us. Since we arrived [View Full Entry]

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Oct 27, 2009 Our flight from Brasilia didn’t depart until early afternoon. Additionally, we had a five hour layover in Sao Paulo so we did not arrive in Santa Cruz, Bolivia until around 0100. Through our research we knew that taking a taxi cab from Bolivian airports was dangerous; especially Santa Cruz and especially in the middle of the night. We planned to stay the night at the airport if possible and we had a back-up hostel address and phone numbers. Upon arrival to Santa Cruz I was graciously welcomed with being secluded from the rest of the passengers, set aside [View Full Entry]

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Oct 24, 2009 We realized that Brasilia, Brasil was not a normal tourist destination, especially a backpacker destination, while looking for accommodations and info. We went to all of the normal hostel sites and discovered that no hostels existed. There was a “guest house” that’s prices rivaled those of a midrange hotel. Slightly concerned, we asked our hostel in Rio for assistance. They found one cheap alternative, but the prices were higher than a hostel (we would later find out that it was simply someone’s home that was trying to make extra money - probably ill [View Full Entry]

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Oct 19, 2009 Waking up super early to catch our flight meant that we wouldn’t be indulging in our delicious breakfast at Hostel Bambu. We were quite disappointed but catching our bus to the airport was more important. The buses in South America were pretty much on their own program so none of the locals knew what time the airport bus came. That meant that we would be leaving our hostel really early to catch a bus that came at a random time. It was pouring with rain and after waiting 40 minutes, we were on our way to the airport. [View Full Entry]

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Oct 15, 2009 We had a very early morning flight to Foz do Iguaçu, Brasil out of Buenos Aires, so we decided that a taxi would be our best option. Taking the advice of some tourist information centers, we walked to a main street nearby and caught a taxi. Worried about being scammed, Rumi was very careful to ask the right questions and ensure we were getting a fair deal. Everything worked out beautifully and we were able to catch the flight with no complications. We had to connect in Sao Paulo before continuing to Foz do Iguaçu. As we flew [View Full Entry]

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Oct 12, 2009 We woke up rather early in the morning to catch our flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires. It was kind of a relief that we’d be flying our way up instead of bussing this route. We tried to be as quiet as we could to not wake anyone else up from our dorm, said our goodbyes to the hostel workers and stuffed the VW with our packs. It was convenient to have a car this time and we were glad that we would be driving to the airport instead of taking a bus. Unexpectedly, we were unaware that [View Full Entry]

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Oct 9, 2009 Traveling from Punta Arenas, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina is much more difficult than we predicted. The distance between the two depicted on a map looks like one could just ferry over a short channel - its only about a millimeter! Well that observation is not quite accurate. First off, like described before, obtaining a bus is not easy. A few companies leave on specific days and they fill up quickly. Additionally, the cost is high - 60USD per person. Furthermore, the bus ride takes 12 hours. You drive N in Chile until almost the top of the small [View Full Entry]

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First: Origins of the title - I am still mixing my limited Japanese with my even more limited Espanol by asking Doko (where in Japanese) instead of Donde when asking Where something is....sounds the same, right? Another tip for those that aren't use to fizzy or gaseous water...don't buy the blue capped water...its agua con gas. When you are in a rush and quickly buy water, forget that South Americans like water with gas, it makes for an interesting introduction to your neighbor on the bus after the bus has shaken the bottle up a bit! Oct 6, 2009 We arrived [View Full Entry]

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