29th-31st July, Miami, USA.

29th-31st July, Miami, USA.

We were flying out of Baranquilla in the north of Colombia, as it was cheaper than flying out of the capital. We'd arrived in the town the day before we were leaving, to make sure we werent late getting to the airport. What a mistake that was! It is an awful place! There is literally nothing there except for dirt, pollution and prostitutes.

We had walked around looking for a cheap hostel, and made a mistake by walking into a place with a naked woman painted on the wall of the reception. We were approached by a dirty old man asking us how many hours we wanted the room for! It wasnt quite what we were looking for! We left the dirty little motel and stayed in a hostel a few doors down. We spent the entire day walking around wishing the time away! That night was hilarious! I had gotten quite a lot of itchy insect bites the previous few days, so remembering some advice a guy in Parque Tayrona had given me, I thought I would buy some limes and rub them on the bites! Delighted with myself I covered my entire legs in lime juice saying to Jake 'they wont go near me now!' What an idiot I was! Jake burst out laughing and said 'arent insects attracted to sugar and the smell of the sticky lime juice??!' Realising what a stupid idea it had been, I ran to the shower to get it off! We spent the rest of the night boiling hot, tossing and turning and pealing ourselves off the horrible leather mattress, with the sheet which kept coming off as it was 2 sizes too small for the mattress!

After 8 months in South America we were heading to the states the next morning! We were so excited for the Miami beaches (Jake was probably more excited as he thought it might be like Baywatch!!) and also for the food! The flight from Barranquilla into Miami International Airport took almost 4 hours.

Once we landed I thought that I wouldnt have to struggle with asking somebody questions with my broken spanish anymore, but I was stunned when I asked an airport cleaner where to get a bus from, and the response I got was 'no entiendo'! It was surprising just how many spanish speakers there were! We sat at our bus stop for ages waiting for the bus to our hostel, which we were told was miles away, with me dying with the humidity and also embarrassment as I lay on a luggage trolley. The young and rich drove past me in huge gas guzzlers or ferraris. They made me sick! It was strange to see after the small only fools and horses style mini vans throughout Colombia.

Finally our bus came. It took a long time before we reached the hostel, after having to walk the last 10 blocks with our backpacks at 1 in the morning. We arrived and I couldnt care less about having to wake up some randomers at the hostel to help us out, as there was no reception or anyone to show us to our room. Walking into the room, I was suddenly freezing with the air-conditioning! I loved it! After the humidity in the rooms in Colombia, I was definitely not going to miss the dreaded ceiling fan and us having to manoeuver our sponge mattresses on the cockroach ridden floor to ensure we got some of the air being blown around. I dont know why we'd bothered. It was only blowing hot air around anyway!

The following 2 days we spent on Miami's north beaches. Some of the women looked like they'd just stepped off the stage of Baywatch. They had been nipped and tucked all over! Miami is all about image. The city is beautiful with the palm tree lined streets, but we wanted to see the 'real' states! The greasy fast food places and the people who you'd expect to see on Jerry Springer! Thats what I'd come to see!

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