http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/mjist/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from mjist en-us Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:41:51 BST Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:41:51 BST Well here we are very thankful to be sitting on a bus pulling out of Boston South Station. We were still catching our breath as we sat down on the couple of spare seats not quite used to dashing madly across from the other end of the station where we had arrived on the Amtrak train only a handful of minutes before our bus departed. I suppose it's all part of the normal travel experience of http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-309896.html I know it is a big call but I've come to the conclusion after a month of pondering and reminiscing that out of all the cities in South America Cartagena is my favourite.After getting in rather late the first night because I couldn't get a direct bus from Santa Marta I realised that I didn't have much energy. To be brutally honest even I spent most of my time in Cartagena doing absolutely n http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-301514.html Warning This blog is about me doing nothing for a couple of days on the Colombian Carribean. After a pretty tiring 18 hour drive from Bogota we arrived in Santa Marta to be greeted by heat and humidity. With the temperature in the mid 30s and humidity pretty high the dusty city of Santa Marta was a bit of a shock after coming from Bogota in the mountains and off the air conditioned bus. At l http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/Taganga/blog-287318.html Colombia has been rico. Countless days ago I caught a bus from Otovalo to Ibarra and from there on to the Ecuadorian border town of Tulcn. I caught a collectivo to the border crossing a bridge over a deep gorge and a river. After waiting for quite some time to get my exit stamps from Ecuador I walked over the bridge to Colombia waiting for a while more while the man at the immigration office t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/blog-287301.html Im ashamed to report that my blitzkrieg of Ecuador has been so far sadly successful. It saddens me how fast Ive been travelling in the last few days. Im not even sure if its just been a few days it seems like Ive been going to town on the buses literally for longer than Id like to remember. You probably know at least because you might perhaps know when I was in Huaraz and when I was h http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/blog-284098.html Amazing things happen in the mountains. After writing my last blog entry in Lima I waited a few more hours before catching my bus to Huaraz 8 hours NorthEast of Lima. Naturally my bus took 10 hours but I didnt seem to mind so much because I ended up having an amazing sleep I dont even remember half the people getting on the bus. I arrived here in Huaraz on the Monday morning quite early http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/blog-282306.html All in all Cuzco is a pretty rad place. After Bolivia Cuzco was a lovely refreshing breath of Spanish air with cobbled streets and little twisting roads that actually lead to somewhere my hostel. My few words on Cuzco in my last blog to no extent give the place justice. Sure its full of tourists but the architecture and the city itself Plaza de Armas and of course the churches give it s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-280156.html After being in La Paz for the good part of 5 days doing a lot of not much I was pretty keen to jump into the wilds of Bolivia. On the Thursday evening I was pretty set on the idea of getting up really early on the Friday morning to be on the bus to Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca at around 7 or 8 am so I could start my hiking adventure that afternoon. This was all very good in theor http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Isla-del-Sol/blog-278452.html Spectacularly set between two walls of a canyon La Paz takes your breath away.I left Antofagasta on Sunday night at around 9 which was a little heartfelt as Sandy came to the bus station to wish me well and encouraged me onto the bus both of us a little teary. The bus was to Arica a city in Northern Chile on the Peruvian border. Strangely enough I couldnt sleep very well at all perhaps bec http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-276726.html Antofagasta is 19 hours from Santiago 11 hours from Peru and 8 hours from natural vegetation. Stuck between the extremes of the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama Desert the driest in the world Antofagasta has been said to be the ass end of the back of nowhere. Although that may be quite true Antofagasta is quite an enjoyable town. Back in the day when nitrates used for fertilisers were found i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Antofagasta-Region/Antofagasta/blog-275215.html Well I left Cordoba on Saturday evening with Eileen and Rob on the overnight bus to Santiago. We got to Mendoza by 6 in the morning before crossing over the Andes arriving in Santiago at around lunchtime on the Sunday. The Andes were absolutely spectucular almost like a different world. There was no foliage on them whatsoever once you got up past the scrub line their surface was solid brown http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-273958.html What a lazy week Ive hadI arrived here in Cordoba on Monday and today is Saturday. I realised yesterday that guess what Ive only got another 6 weeks in South America and I really need to get a wiggle on if I want to do everything that Id love to do in Bolivia Peru and Colombia. Quite a scary thought really having so little time. But I still find myself in Cordoba on a sunny Saturday af http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Cordoba/blog-272493.html I really should write blogs more frequently before I forget everything that happened. Here goes. Canadian Judy the independent and mysterious traveler and I did meet up Hungarian Krisz and Mindy on Sunday after we had accidentally fallen asleep instead of going to Kriszs birthday party. Every Sunday there is a large market in San Telmo which is Buenos Aires old part of town with cobbled str http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-270916.html Well I got to the bus station in Puerto Iguazu after writing my last blog at the internet cafe down the hill only to find Canadian Judy waiting for the same bus to Buenos Aires as I was. Mindy Judy and I all hung out for the 22 hours that it took us to reach Buenos Aires. It was supposed to have taken maybe 16 but due to protesters on the outskirts of Buenos Aires who have set the vast agricu http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-268279.html Well I wanted this entry to be called Curitiba and Foz do Iguainsert c with the thing hereu but since my Argentinian keyboard is xenophobic I had to call it Curitiba and Puerto Iguazu instead.When I had last written I was in Curitiba a beautiful city full of universities and culture and fun. Well after a beautiful nights sleep in the university dorm I got a days full of cultural analysis http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/Iguazu-National-Park/blog-267469.html What a place.I boarded the bus in Rio de Janeiro at about 715pm for an 11 hour bus trip to Curitiba the capital of the Brazilian state of Paran. And damn was it good. The two seats that I enjoyed reclined to just above horizontal with footrests and calf rests and blankets to keep you warm and snug. I knew that I had had a bloody fantastic sleep when I woke up and felt the dried saliva on my c http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Paran-/Curitiba/blog-266546.html I mean I always err on the side of optimism.I am writing this from the Rio de Janeiro bus terminal the Rodoviaria Nova Rio rather unsure what to do with myself. My last few days have turned out like thisSince I wrote last after a lovely day lying on the beach I really havent done much. Last night I was feeling rather tired after my whole four hours of shut eye though it was a Saturday nigh http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ipanema/blog-266089.html Ah yes. I spent my last 3 days in So Paulo having all in all a very good time. On the Monday I think I cant quite remember seeing as it was a few days ago I went to USP University of So Paulo to the Instituto Butanta which was and is a herpology centre and a centre for microbiological research and vaccine development and all that kinda shiz back in the day when Paris had the only supply http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/blog-265800.html So Paulo continues to amaze. The evening after I wrote my last blog entry Marcos invited a couple of friends around and throughout the course of a delicious dinner a fish called Pescada Branca and thereafter a lot of beer was consumed. Since my trip could be classified as a beer tasting tour of the world I should also comment on the beer drinking nuances of the Brasilians here in So Paulo. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Sao-Paulo/S-o-Paulo/blog-263656.html WoweeI arrived in Sao Paulo yesterday to be greeted at the airport by my sisters friend Marcos and a bolt of electricity. This place is absolutely amazing pulsating with energy and activity and people. You really can sense excitement in the warm air. I got into Marcosfriendscar after groping my way through immigration and customs at the airport rather less thorough than I would have imagine http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Sao-Paulo/S-o-Paulo/blog-262483.html