Thursday 14th October 2010 Managed to check our baggage on the ferry to Buenos Aires so we didn’t have to lug them around which was handy, but we still had to put them through a scanner when we arrived at the other end. Joanne spent the entire crossing in duty free putting various moisturisers on her neglected traveller’s skin. On arrival at the port, Tourist Information gave us the wrong directions to the metro. We walked for what felt like an eternity with our heavy backpacks, only to encounter a ‘closed’ sign when we finally did find the station. We hopped on a bus towards San Telmo, but couldn’t pay for it as the machine didn’t take notes (even though a 2 PESO note is the equivalent to about 30p). The bus driver must have taken ... read more

Tuesday 12th October 2010 23 hours on a bus later we arrived in Montevideo. Hunting out the plainest, ugliest building around we checked in (it was the closest hotel to the bus terminal). It took all of 2 seconds to hit a language barrier again, facing a large, old, scary looking woman. However, ‘Una noche’ & ‘¿Cuánto cuesta?’ just about got us through. Dumping our bags we headed into town to stretch our legs and make the most of our lone day. Montevideo has one long main road which connects the new and old town with an obvious cafe culture. It ends at a port to the sea with shipbuilding on one side & pathway to the beach on the other. After wandering around the town for a while we headed to the beaches, but the ... read more

Tuesday 5th October 2010 15 hours on a bus later, we arrived at Foz do Iguacu. It was a cold and uncomfortable journey with the AC pumping out all night, especially when we appeared to be the only people who hadn’t bought our duvets along for the ride. Our hosts from the Klein Hostel picked us up from the bus terminal and on arrival we asked about tours. We were told a group of Germans were heading to the Argentinean side imminently. We’d planned to do this the next day, but there was a clear blue sky and you can’t rely on the weather lasting out here so we decided to take the bull by the horns. A quick change, some breakie in a bag, rucksacks into storage, and we were off 5 minutes after our ... read more

Tuesday 28th September 2010 An early start to check out of our Pousada and catch the 10am ferry to Angra. We found our bus to Paraty (Pa-ra-chee) easily with helpful directions from the girls at the Pousada. We jumped on and grabbed two empty seats at the front and 2 bumpy hours later we arrived. After a brief chat with Tourist info, we followed a guy called Rogeiro (who turned out to be mad) to the Che Lagarto hostel. Once settled we went for a wander around the historic old town, which is the oldest example of colonial architecture in Brazil. Very pretty and full of nick-nack shops Richard thought his wallet might take a caning and be carrying lots more stuff, but luckily Joanne was restrained. Dinner at the hostel was cheap, just R$10 ... read more

Monday 20th September 2010 Arrived in Rio late on Monday and got the bus to Ipanema (the trendy & expensive part of Rio, a bit like Chelsea). We didn't have anywhere booked to stay - Organised as ever - so we wondered a little and tried a few hotel/ apartment blocks, but they wanted between R$350-R$795 (around £140-£310) a night. Obviously, this was a little over our backpackers budget so we continued trudging through the streets with our backpacks until we came across "The Girl from Ipanema" hostel, at a bargain R$80 a night for a private room (although this meant a twin roon so we spent the first night of our honeymoon in bunk beds!). Tuesday 21st September 2010 The sun was out so we had a lazy first day. Breakfast included a cheese & ... read more