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Published: October 11th 2015
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The original plan was to go to Sri lanka and india before coming home, but after thinking about it and after much deliberation (and partly by being reminded of south america whilst being in the phillipines) we decided that south america was really where our hearts lay, and that you only get to do the trip once, so why not go back? The flights were prettymuch the same as what it wouldve cost for india plus our visa, so it was a no brainer. We decided on colombia and mexico, just leaving out peru and ecuador, and some of bolivia from mainland SA. In order to get there, the cheapest flights were via NY and its much cheaper flying back from cancun, so colombia was first. But why not visit new york rather than just pass by in the airport? Immediately the plan seemed very exciting.
We flew with Norwegian airlines on a dreamliner, it was like a futuristic plane, very comfortable, evrything done through the computer and super fancy windows which you could dim. Flught was bangkok to Oslo, then onto NY. Flight time total about 23 hours. LOngest of my life to date, essentially going half way round
the world. I think we probably underestimated how tiring it was flying against time, and just how tiring long distance plane travel could be. We decided on 5 days 4 nights, but we arrived in the eveninng. Looking back, we wish wed´stayed longer, as we were very tired from the flight and there was just so much to see and do! However with funds being tight we didnt think we could stay much longer. Accomodation was pricey, (though apparently $100 a night in manhatten is nothing short of a miracle!) but the city was surprisingly not so. Of course there are expensive areas but if you want to do it cheap, you can. I was a particular fan of the delicious street stall bagels and iced coffees, which i could get both for $6. Bargain and delicious.
We stayed in Mnhattten, in an area called Bowery which was just between China town and little italy. The room was like a box, with no window, but the facilities at the place were decent and the location central and near metros. You can imagine after 5 months in asia not being particularly keen on more asian food, so being near little
italy suited me down to a T. There was a weekend long market on when we were there in little italy with all maner of delicious food which was right up my street. Such a welcome change!
By sheer luck, my old friend from Italy who i met in spain, Novella, was also there. I hadnt seen her in 4 years so it was amazing to get to meet, Lucky for me, she had been before so seemed like a whizz in getting me around the city! After a quick look around Soho and a customery Bagel and iced tea, we went off to the staten island ferry. Not much on the island but the views of manhatten are impressive. YOu could see the statue of liberty and all the famous sites it felt surreal to see it all. We had lots to catch up on so spoke non stop! We then went to various tourist places - the 9/11 memorial grounds, wall street, broadway, times square and so on. It is really such a huge place and there is so much to see. You could spend weeks there I´m sure. But we got a great quick tour around
the main sites.She had an event to go to, so we went to buy her a dress and after seeing times square at night, said our goodbyes. she flew out the sunday and I had plans on the saturday.
On the Saturday unfortunately slept in until 1pm! The plan had to be to get up early and see things before going to a festival we had planned, but that kind of fell through and just became going to the festival. However, this gave me the chance to see Brooklyn which was cool. It felt like stepping into South america, as i was speaking spaish to the local shopkeepers and people at the park. Brooklyn was very much more normal and almost (almost!) suburban in comparison. Life was slower. We sat at a park and drank and took in the srroundings, lots of cool street art and nice bars and cafes. The weather was also amazing while we were there. About 26 degrees daily. The coolest since we left Aus! The festival was lots of fun, we met up with Garys mate and his friend and we all got on well. Met lots of latinos from all over SA so
got practicing my spanish even mroe! Went to a club afterwards, as experiencing NY nightlife was a must! Drinks were quite expensive, but hey, didnt expect much less. The weird thing was having to give tips all the time, a bit annoying as i feel it should be optional but that is the culture over there, as they underpay their staff so much which is shocking.
The rest of our time was spent exploring areas, hanging out in central park, and just taking it all in. As i say, we couldve spent much longer there but you cant have it all. I am just lucky i got to go period, as it was never planned. Can definately say i will go back when i can as i really loved it there and felt i couldve seen so much more than ust the basics. New yorkers were super friendly, i couldnt beleive it. I hd tarred them with the london and paris brush but you cant compare them. Loads of folk helped me out and chatted away, always interested in where i was from and definately didnt treat me like a pain or an annoying tourist.
10 out of
10! Take me back!
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