Life gets off to a slow start in this part of the world and Sunday is a day where life is leisurely. If you are a young person its likely that you only got home from going out around 6am so sleep until midday or more is common. So around 3pm we went to the San Martin Plaza to have a look at the markets. This plaza is one of the large ones, there is a huge bus interchange area here as well as government buildings. On Sunday there is a craft market. These markets are on each Sunday from midday until 10pm. The stalls are all set up by the council and the stall holders are of the alternative type, more dreadlocks here than at a Rastafarian festival. The stall holders given the well set ... read more

We played tourists on Friday, Hannah's day off and visited the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Building commenced in 1884 in an area that was the central plaza with the provincial government buildings on one side of the plaza and the new cathedral on the other. The story goes that the Masons were a very influential group around this time and no doubt this created some issues with such a wealthy and powerfull display of Catholicism in their midst. Rumour says that the Masons were invited to build some of the statues in the new plaza and one of them was of a warrior with a bow and arrow. The arrow seemed to point straight towards Jesus on the cross so now the statue remains minus its armoury. The cathedral was initially opened without the two ... read more

Cars seem to be neat and tidy or wreckars yard models which are still out and about. There are motorbikes and lots of bikes, no helmets of course, and no bike paths so they just take their chances. Indicating is not on the priority list of most car drivers, and giving way is sort of done by lets all approach and see who is going to go first. All quite gentle and calm. Parking is anywhere you can fit you car, so nose to nose, footpath, or even on the corner. Lots of scratches when buses have a little scrape as they try to get around corners. Police are not a huge prescence, but are around. Traffic jams involve lots of horn blowing and posturing. The city has tree lined streets, some cobbled areas and a ... read more

Hannah lives in an apartment with a another female in a really nice little place. Most apartments are at street level as far as the courtyard access goes. Then its down a corridor and up a huge flight of stairs. There are a huge variety of types of dwellings in La Plata i think Hannah´s place is quite typical but trendy. So its up a flight of outside stairs and then into the front door. Its 80 years old, wood floors, rough cast walls, nice mats and great little deorative touches. The house has a little kitchen, gas stove and gas hot water, small balcony, tiny tiny tiny bbq area and the top level divided into half with 2 bedrooms in each half of the loft. Indoor toilet and shower and dining area complete it. ... read more

Well it’s over; my time in Shanghai is finished as of 1600 today when I fly out with Singapore airlines. So to leave you all with a last blog here’s some random pictures and thoughts of my time in this are of China. People are so willing to help, anywhere anytime I have had a translating problem complete strangers will offer to assist. Issues such as pushing and shoving do exist but it’s not in a competitive sense it’s rather just to get things happening. When you line up at the metro and buses there is a massive race for seats, but then calmness descends and no one has issues if they miss out. You just hardly ever hear arguments or see fights, (traffic accidents excepted) The main streets are immaculate other than the spit balls. ... read more