http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/weena/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from weena en-us Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:12:38 +0000 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:12:38 +0000 Next up was an overnight bus from Bucharest to Istanbul to meet Katherine and Justin. There were some fairly dodgy deals going on in the bus with passengers and the stewards exchanging inchthick bundles of 50 euro notes. The Romanian man sitting next to me didnt speak any English but was up for a chat. He knew about 50 words in Spanish Italian and French and seemed intent on sharing them all w http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-446115.html A few photos of Budapest and Bucharest...It's only taken me an hour and a half to upload these probably a new record Enjoy xo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Muntenia/Bucharest/blog-441324.html From Zakopane in Poland I headed across to the Slovak side of the Tatra mountains and stayed in the very small town of Zdiar just on the edge of the mountains. I spent a couple of days there doing some more much more leisurely walking. As with the Polish side I managed to avoid all forms of snakes bears and avalanches which was a good outcome. I stayed in a really nice hostel there with some http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-437990.html From Prague I got an overnight bus to Warsaw which took an hour and a half longer than expected due to a large number of stops and some mysterious bus problems which required us to change buses at 3 o'clock in the morning. I'm pretty sure the second bus had bigger problems that the first. All very interesting when you can't speak a word of Polish I have since picked up a few words but it hasn' http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Zakopane/blog-434046.html Yo peepsJust a quick update because I'm being lazy this morning as opposed to every other day of my life. Since Joey's departure nearly a month ago I've spent a bit of time in England Wales Prague and am currently in Poland for a week or so. In England I was very cultured and attended such places as the National Gallery the National Portrait Gallery the Tate Modern Museum Buckingham Pala http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/London-City/blog-433886.html While I'm on a roll I might as well get up to date.From Paris we got the train to Bruges which is a beautiful place thanks Fi for that tip. We spent a day and a half there doing all things Belgian. Or at least drinking beer and eating waffles. Around this consumption of Belgian finery we did find time to see the sights. We did a canal tour walked around town wandered through the two main squ http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-427033.html In Paris we continued our musical tour in style. The first night we were there we saw a very energetic performance of gospel music in the oldest church in Paris. The following night we went to the beautiful Saint Chapelle for a Vivaldi performance. Over five fantastic days in Paris we visited the following places Notre Dame the Louvre couldn't match Stevie's six hours but four hours wasn't a b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-426766.html Next up we got the ferry to Belfast with the Neesons and stayed with them for a few nights. Joey and I had a great time doing a city tour of Belfast and seeing all the historical sights. We walked the entire length of both the Falls Road Catholic area and Shankill Road Protestant area to see all the murals. We also went to a photographic exhibition of the last 40 years in Northern Ireland whic http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/blog-426487.html Yikes I think I may now be seven weeks behind in this travel blog so there could be a fair bit of catching up to do. That Joey is a bad influence on me My sincerest apologies to those who have had to find other ways to procrastinate. Well after finishing our South American trip with a week in Brazil we flew to London where I spent four days before meeting up with mother dearest. Highlights in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Glasgow/blog-426442.html Next stop after a very slack border crossing in which we didn't even have our bags checked was back into Argentina. We got the bus to Salta for a couple of days relaxing and some slightly for one person in particular not mentioning any names wild nights. After Renee had sobered up long enough to get on another bus we had a 20 hour trip to Iguazu where we met up with Rod. In Iguazu we enco http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Copacabana/blog-412269.html The Rules of South AmericaPoints of InterestRoad Rules If a road isn't dirtmudgravel and doesn't have at least a 200m sheer drop it isn't a proper road. Always overtake on blind corners. Always implement a departureentry tax on any location possible. Nothing ever runs on time there is always some delaysomeone to pick upsomething to drop offan unexpected river crossing. Red lights mea http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-412270.html Another quick update...Weve just arrived in Iguazu Argentina and are waiting for my uncle Rod to arrive so this one will be brief. Our next stop in Bolivia was Salar de Uyuni to do a three day tour of the salt flats and surrounding areas. Day 1 involved a trip to a train cemeteryjust outside Uyuni a visit to a hotel made entirely out of salt climbing up a coral island in the middle of the d http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-408132.html After a couple of days in La Paz Tucky and I headed to Sorata a very pretty town three hours away. We left Susie behind as she is not as keen on walking as us. Evans had stayed behind in Rurrenabaque to do a jungle boat tour back to La Paz. It was a really nice couple of days of walking and relaxation. We almost didnt get there as the road out to the hostel was blocked due to some sort of landsl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Sorata/blog-404997.html Well I think Im almost a month behind in my blogs so there might be a bit of catching up to do From Cusco we got a bus across to Copacabana in Bolivia. As far as South American bus rides go this one was pretty standard apart from a freezing three hour wait in the bus terminal at Puno on the Peruvian border. Upon arrival in Copacabana we checked into a hotel as there were no hostels lured http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-402781.html Day 1 12 kms. Km 82 2600 metres above sea level to Wayllabamba 3100mOur Inca trail began at 6 am without Evans who did a different trek when we were picked up from our hostel and almost ended half an hour later when our bus broke down. I dont think there was much car knowledge amongst our crew as they seemed to think throwing buckets of cold water at the bus was a good solution. Fortuna http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-398414.html Next up we had about five days in Cusco about 3800 metres above sea level to have a look around and to help us prepare for the high altitude of the Inca trek. Cusco was the centre of the Inca Empire and is therefore a major tourist attraction on the way to the Inca trail. It is surrounded by Inca ruins five of which we visited Saqsaywamn which sounds suspiciously like Sexy Woman Qenqo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-398399.html Sorry in advance the photos are a bit grainy think because I saved them to my USB and didnt put them on straight off my camera but youll get the general gist.Since my last blog weve moved on to Peru and have been here for about two weeks. First stop was the capital Lima which is on the coast of Peru. We had two days there to relax and meet up with Susies brother Andrew. He was a day l http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-396211.html Next up we headed to Chile. It was a very impressive trip to get there with some spectacular scenery driving through the mountains. There were also some pretty dangerous roads. Just after entering Chile we went from the very top of one mountain all the way to the bottom on a road with about a hundred corners and no guard rails see picture. It had to be done very slowly on a double decker bus http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-393274.html Bike riding in Bariloche turned out to be a big day. After negotiating the bus system and arriving at the bike hire place we set off me on my junior sized bike with three other travelers and began the Circuito Chico. The circuit was only 25kms but had some bloody hard climbs which required a small or large towards the end amount of walking. The hard work was worth it though for the very http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/blog-392080.html Hola AmigosWell weve just arrived in Bariloche which is in southern Argentina near Patagonia after a 21 hour bus ride gross Actually the bus wasnt too bad despite the lack of scenery given that we had recliner seats movies and three meals even if the meals were based around tuna tuna and more tuna it took us a while to realise it was Good Friday. We also did have some classic m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-389585.html