Poorly Planned But There She Goes....

This will be hard (and possibly long) as I havent written forever (again)!

I landed in Madrid on the 28th of July after an awesome time in New York with Shamus, he spoilt me a lot. I even shed a little tear as we said goodbye. It was so nice to be able settle even just for a little while.

When I got to Madrid after a pack of restless and noisy Spanish school kids kept me awake on the plane, I decided it was too hot so I left my bag at the train station and went to the Gallery. I ve been on a roll with them lately, Guggie x 2, MOMA, The Met, Natural history museum. Saw Picassos Guernica which was damn impressive (there was also air con so that sweetened the experience a little!). Caught the train to San Sebastian and spent a night on the Sangria with a pack of Bus About Aussies. Next day Prue and Danni arrived with Charles in tow a couple of days later. Bacically we ate a lot of tapas (San Seb had some of the best Ive found) and lay on the beach, excellent.

Prue and I headed off to Bilboa to the Guggeheim which was very impressive from the outside but lacked anything too interesting on the inside. A lot by a guy called Anslen Keifer, maybe too much by him. After 2 nights there we were off to Santiago de Compostela, again, excellent tapas and a gorgeous town. Surrounded by fields and fields of sunflowers in bloom and farmers on their tractors, quaint little streets and cosy cafes, good seafood too! (there seems to be a common theme of food in my travels...mmm)

Then to Portugal (in brief):

Porto, cute streets and we did the train around town, tasted some Port and checked out the huge amount of bridges they have there, outrageous!

Lisbon, had a few Caprihinas in Barrio Alto, climbed the stairs a lot and basically just wandered. I love all the blue tiles in Portugal, one church had an entire wall covered by these tiles, very impressive to look at. Also, a lot of plain houses are made to look gorgeous, just by the tiles. Favourite foods of Portugal: Portugese tarts (which I guess are just called tarts there) and chicken!

I left Prue, Charles and Danni in Lisbon and headed to Cas Cais on the beach where I literally did nothing but sunbake by the pool and on the beach, have a few drinks, read a trashy novel and swim when it got too hot in the sun. Bliss! Got a pretty decent tan but this EuroTan makes me look orange and fades faster than even a QLD tan. Bugger.

Met up again in Lagos, where we found a little secluded beach (that other people had found too) where we were to spend the next few days. Lagos is FULL of Aussies and English (like a lot of Portugal and Spain maybe), the backpackers work here to get enough to stay around longer. They pull you into their pubs and clubs and make you drink fishbowls of punch. Dangerous. Also, try to avoid night swimming here as the sand is rather course.

Then to Sevilla, my favourite city of Spain and Portugal. (Yes, again, good tapas) a huge catherdral (another, I have left out many of the cathedral descriptions as Im a little over them, they´re everywhere!) Sevilla is quintessentially Spain I think. Bulls, flamenco and beautiful buildings. The river runs alongside the city and along the edges are men sitting on their little eskys fishing or people riding bikes under the shade of enormous trees, pretty sweet.

Everything moves slowly in Spain, even in the centre of big cities. They seem to sleep in and then sleep all afternoon and besides that they eat and chat and go out. I could definately get used to that! However it can be frustrating when you need something done.

From Sevilla Prue and I were spoilt as a friend of hers has a house he is renting in Arcos de la Frontera, south of Sevilla. Tiny town on a cliff that is packed with whitewashed houses and the smell of garlic. It was here we realised we were yet to go a day without olives in a long time, we may have a problem. Simon and his gorgeous fiancee Ellen has us stay for the weekend, we basically ate a lot (Simon cooks a mean Paella) and drank Sangria on the roof, perfect relax!

The 4 of us went to Cadiz on the coast for a night and after we farewelled Simon and Ellen to Morocco for a week Prue and I headed back to Arcos to housesit, where we baked and preserved goodies for a week (between mas Sangria!).

After realising that we were unable to get to Valencia in time for La Tomatina (one of the most ridiculous festivals going around where you basically just throw thousands of kilos of tomatoes at strangers) as all transport was booked, we hired a car and drove drove drove. 700km from Sevilla to Valencia in about 7 hours. Met Ross in the van and headed to Bunol where the festivites were the next day. One word: CHAOS! My Mum said she thought it looked like an orgy on the TV and judging by the Spanish boys wandering hands, they thought so too. It was one of the strangest things Ive even been a part of. 40,000 people crammed into one tiny street as trucks come along and dump enough tomatoes to satify Italy for a few years. They burn the eyes (deep burn) but its fun, we got out of our festering clothes more than 5 hours later and threw them away, the stench of Prue, Ross and I was rank. It stays in your hair for days and the gunk is still ocassionally coming out of our eyes.

After we spent 10 days on the beach from south of valencia to Cadaques 20km south of the Spain-France border. Included in our choices of places to crash were: Peniscola (yes, Peniscola!) which is near Tossa and Old Tossa. We stayed at Callela De Palafrugell a gorgeous little place with tiny coves and amazing little beaches. We bought snorkells and goggles which entertained us for days.

Ended up in Cadaques for Ross´s b´day on the 8th of Sept then parted ways as Prue and I came back down to Barcelona.

I was less than impressed by the city everyone raves about. It is jamm packed with English tourists and Euro Trash. Too busy and expensive and the shopkeepers can often be rude to foreigners (in my opinion!) often when we spoke to them in Spanish they would just bark back at us in English ¨What do you want?¨. It has some decent bars and the market was amazing. They have everything and all presented in such an awesome way. The baby octupus was the best from a little bar in the market. Oh and I especially love that you can buy Estrella Damm (beer) anytime of day or night for one Euro from a Pakistani man on the street.

Stayed in a huge hostel of 400 beds. The highlight was for sure the Cathedral, Sagrada de Familla, designed by Gaudi, very impressive. Its not finished yet but it `s predicted the first mass will be next year and the construction will be done by 2020, Id like to come back just to see it, its supposed to hold 13,000 people when its done. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia has some pictures.)

Prue left for France last saturday and Im in Madrid, getting to the point where Im ready to go. I met 2 gorgeous chicks from Milan when I was in Cas Cais in Portugal and Im heading to Italy tomorrow, will stay with one of them for a little while before Mum and Dad come over in a week or so, I hope to do a little bit of sightseeing elsewhere as well in that time, will try to be more up to date with this next time!

Hope all is well! Bec.

P.S. If anyone wants to text, I now have a new phone, same number as before.

Just follow these links for the truck load of photos Ive put on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20472&l=1e22e&id=741335836 for Spain

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20484&l=f9bcc&id=741335836 For La Tomatina

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20475&l=ef286&id=741335836 for housesitting in Arcos de la Frontera

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20480&l=68c16&id=741335836 for Cas Cais, my little holiday in Portugal.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20478&l=37553&id=741335836 for Portugal

Sorry I havent written for a lifetime, just a reflection on how busy and important I am these days!!

xoxo.

I'm currently staying in New York with my brother, all is well. Danni and Prue headed up from Miami to have a cocktail party last week, we went to Chigaco on Broadway, checked out that big statue, wandered through central park and relaxed at 'Strawberry Fields' - I love that so much space has been dedicated to a park, it's huge!

Shamus and I and a few of his friends went to a 'Strange Fruit' performance last saturday. They're this acrobatic thing from Australia, very entertaining and odd. It was in the Brooklyn Bridge Park under the bridge on the Brooklyn side. Right on sunset, an impressive backdrop looking back over Manhattan!

Other than that theres been a little bar hopping (by the way, I discovered this city does sleep. It can be impossible to wake up again too!) and a lot of wandering. Included in the wandering is a (lame) attempt to get a normal wardrobe and some attention to the 'beauty' things that have been missing out in South America.

Off to see Neko Case tonight in Central Park, perfect weather for it, warm and a little humid. Sunday in Central Park again off to see Brazillian Girls (music not porn) and wait for it.... Cat Empire, a few bevvies in the sun. As I'm 'Errand Girl' for Shamus during my stay here, I'm in charge of buying a picnic rug, I have a busy schedule these days.

Meat Challenge Update

Apparently in Miami its morally acceptable to eat Dolphin, so I'm behind in the challenge stakes. In search of something to top it here, no luck so far.

More soon. xo.

P.S. The simple things are still exciting me, for example the perfect recipe for relaxation, dvd + couch + pizza + a house to myself = something I missed in hostels. Love it!

I'm in New York and yes, I agree with all who have come before me. This place is great! Only got here yesterday morning but so far, very good. Love it. Also, very suprisingly, the American accent isn't as painful as anticipated!

After we left Cusco, Danni, Prue and I caught a bus to Ica. Danni and I got off at the end of the earth - Nazca. Thisplace is actually a spitting image of the surface of Mars. It seems like a breeding place for depression. We spent half a day there and did the 2 things that anyone goes to Nazca to do. We went to the middle of the desert (fearing for our lives as the taxi sped further and further from civilisation) to see ancient tombs and mummies, was pretty rank but really interestiing. The photos are at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12924&l=ccb5a&id=741335836

The other crazy thing we saw was the Nazca lines. Ancient lines made with perfect precision. On the ground (Mars ground) in the shape of crazy lines and also animals. The plane was nuts and its clear that the term 'Public Liability' is not a concern in Peru. The "pilot" used the tip of the wing to point out the lines (ie, the plane was as far as I'm concerned, the wrong way around and spiraling in a downwards direction for most of the time!). Due to the fact my ears were completely blocked from a nasty sinus infection and the noise of the plane was intense, neither Danni or I really understood what we were nodding yes to when the "pilot" said "Rollercoaster???Yes??" Next thing our legs flew to the roof and I had to catch my camera as it flew up up up and almost away. The poor dude in the back was an odd shade of yellowish green and vomiting his life away-so i suppose it could've been worse.Interesting experience. The lines are among the most bizare thing I think Ill ever see, really worthwhile.

After this we got the hell out, asap. What a hole.

Off we went to Huacachina, the so-called 'Oasis' - bullshit! There was a pot hole out the front of my old house that was more of an oasis. You can go sandboarding there but the weather was so bad we were forced to spend a lot of time indoors at Casa De Arena 2, where the Israelis run the show and the thick smoky atmosphere houses a lot of very relaxed and hungry people. Strange strange place.

2 Days and the 3 of us had had enough! Off to Lima. lima is a big, smoggy city with a huge crime rate. Not my favourite place in the world. It was odd just having the 3 of us travelling together after so much time as a gang of 6, but much to our surprise (and his) Rory was still in the country. We were all in the same hostel in Lima...ahhhh, good times.

Went to the market and ate and drank, that was Lima in my experience. Not in a rush to get back.

I am now in NYC, Godbless it! Shamus's place is in the West Village of Manhattan, I think I'll be very comfortable here for a few weeks!!

Until next time,

Mmmwah!!!!!

In short, we spent some quality time in Araquiepa as there was a transport strike, nice little place. The main problem was that the hostel we were at ran a tab system so after 4 or so heavy nights, it was a little more pricey than planned. Nice place to chill out on the hammocks for a few days though.

Before this we were in Puno, a short stay was susfficient as this place was a little bit of a hole. Nothing particulary bad about it but it was a little cold and boring. Spent a day out on the lake checking out the floating islands, they were pretty amazing. The people that live there have to build a new island every few decades as it gets all rotten and stinky. Extremely touristy, too much so. Also, Peru seems better equipped for tourists than Bolivia. Probably because theres so many middle aged Gringoes here.

Before that we were in Copacabana, Bolivia. A quaint place, with good trout as its right on the lake. We did the day trip over to Isla del Sol (island of the Sun) and trudged our way from the north to the south. Pretty cool views of Lake Titicaca, but again, a day trip was enough.

Finally we ended up in Cusco on the 21st of June, a very cool little city. Heaps of night life and all the fun revolves mainly arounfd the main square so its easy to navigate too. Played rather hard for just under a week and then it was off on the trek. Five days, four nights up to Salkantay Mountain (camped in the freezing cold at 4200m alt in ¨SLAKANTAY PAMPA¨). It was damn hard going for the first couple of days, 10hours walking one day, 7 or so the on before. 51kms i think but the distance wasn´t the problem, it was the altitude and the mountains. Amazing trail, from snow to jungle, hot springs, and finally to Machu Picchu.

To add to the aquired diseases: I got mauled but some Peruvian jungle bug and had festering blisters seeping down my legs for a day or two. They then became raw leisions of which I still have. Also I managed to lose all definition between the foot and the calf due to some serious swelling (check the face book photos to see photos of the famous elephantitis of the ankle region, aka kankles).

Leaving Cusco (12hr bus) this afternoon to fly over the Nazcar lines tomorrow and chill by the beach somewhere along the coast until I fly out of lima on friday night. NYC. BRING ON COMFORTS OF HOME (ie. toilets and clean sheets!!).

Photos at

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12658&l=a6879&id=741335836

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12669&l=e75e6&id=741335836

xox.

Try these 2 links for more photos.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10551&l=4142b&id=741335836

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10548&l=d8324&id=741335836

xo

I've given up using the travellerspoint photo gallery as its too much hard work. So you all have to join facebook to see my photos i think.

Its easy and free and just do it cause the photos are good. Please. That includes computer illiterate friends as well.

Try these links and you may be able to see the photos without signing up -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10525&l=c79ef&id=741335836
and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10531&l=06959&id=741335836

www.facebook.com

By the way, I'm in Puno, Peru and have come from Copacabana, Bolivia yesterday. Went to the Isla de Sol (see photos) and did a really hard walk. Would be nice if not at altitude but it just makes any physical movement difficult.

From Puno we plan to go to the floating islands then to Araquiepa and then on to Cusco for Machu Pichu. More soon.

Ta!!

Mmmwah!

P.S. Meat Challenge, Alpaca last night, tender but a little tasteless.
Also the add to my diseases and Bolivian hurdles - Stolen hiking shoes and phone, mild dog bite, severe drink spiking, bee sting and sunburn.

From last I wrote I've experienced probably one of the best and most realxing highlights of my trip. The Pampas tour to the Amazon basin. Heres the itinerary:
Short (but loud and dodgy Bolivian military) flight to Rurrenbaque, straight away at ease when we breathed in the tropical warm air...bring it on after cold and bustling La Paz. After being issued with our regulation old mans work shirt to protect from mozzies, we were on a 4 hour Jeep trip, dusty as all hell to the river and Frank (a name given only because the man nevetr spok a word to us). After an hour and half boat (driven by our new best friend- Ronaldo) along the river at sunset to our home for the few days we were there, mozzie nets and right on the water.

That night after eating excessively, we went Alligator hunting, next day more eating followed by a cruise down the river and Anaconda hunting. Was crazy and Ronaldo got bitten but trapsing though the mangrovey sluge may have been easier with boots that sealed. All sorts or crazy things live around there.

After more food and a long siesta in the hammocks we went Pirhana fishing (caught the first one, of course!) Nah, we got 10 decent sized ones all together and ate them for tea, not he tastiest or meatiest things Ive seen but those teeth really are like in the cartoons! That night after again, more food (God Bless Rosa the cook!) it was beers and whisky with Ronaldo on the guitar.

The next morning we went out on the river again and saw some more pink river dolphins, went for a swim with them (and evidently pirhanas and alligators...), its a spin out to see dolphins in a river, they were pretty amazing.

A lazy trip back to the jeep after lunch and we were in Rurrenbaque again, tiny town, unorganised airport and hitch hicking played a part in our depature. It was a perfect break but were back to La Paz now.

La Paz so far

I´m being booted off the computer but here whats coming:

Yesterday I rode a push bike down the most dangerous road in the world, scary, more so with my uncoradinated riding style.

Today a Dr. visited my bedside, put an injection in my bum cheek and told me I have Selmonella and Ameabic Dysentary. More antibiotics and another depleted diet.

Next week, to the amazon, pink river dolphins, snakes, pirhanas...

The Meat Challenge - Update
Unfortunately Prue didn´t make it down the mines but at the market Dani and I ate...ANACONDA. Its upped the challenge a bit!

Adios.

Post Salt Flat Traumas
There is so much to include but my health is at an all time low (read on to the end for more details) so no promises on quality.
Left Uyni (possibly the coldest place on earth) quicker than we even thought possible. The one saving grace of that place was "Minute Man" a pizza joint run by a true blue American, good service, awesome Sangria and great food (massive pizzas omlette breakfasts etc), sufficed after the lack on food and showers of the salt flats.

Uyuni to Potosi
A ´chicken bus´, complete with non-opening windows and crowded isles took us the supposed 6hrs that inevitably became 8. It was so cold outside I had thermals on and Goddamn was that a bad move (also, no toilet, oh, one stop, pissing behind things is an art you know. One must master this before entering Bolivia).

Then to Potosi, cute little town with heaps of bizzare costume shops and masses of cakes "Feliz Dia Mama", it was mothers day.
We spent a night in a ´pub', wandered the markets and street parades, saw some sights and then....Cerro Rico (rich hill).

The most horrific experience I've ever had. I´m sure others deal with it differently but the Silver Mines of Potosi are not a place I ever want to see again. Awesome day and glad i did it but never again. First we got into huge outfits to keep out dust, complete with gumboots, hard hat, head torch (with huge battery pack strapped to our backs) and bandanas to keep dust from our mouths which was suffocating enough. They took us to the Miners Market where I purchased dynamite (fun!) and drank a 96% alcohol (keeps the miners going apparently) also bought cocoa leaves, softdrink and cigarettes all for the miners.

So there goes my career as a miner
From there we drove up the massive mountain that towers over Potosi, it has up to (if you want more info, google it, really interesting history). Then into the mines we go. Someone told me there was about 5 meters where you have to crawl, they lied. It was dusty and dark and at times I was squeezing my body through the tightest little burrows inside this enormous mountain. The men working there have a very short life expectancy and after seeing them in action its obvious why. Two words: HARD LABOR. They work up to 12 hours a day 6 days a week, hardly see sunlight and many believe it is their purpose. As their fathers have done, as will they. Our guide worked in the mines from age 10 to 15 and luckily someone plucked him out to run tours.

Anyway, there were 3 levels in the mine we were in, by the end of level 2 I was crying uncontrolably and found it hard to keep my shit together. Friends with me were great and the guide made jokes to help pull me together (to no avail). Five words: GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE. Chewing cocoa leaves and now with unfamiliar company, speaking minimal English, I made the accent back to daylight and air (anyone who knows me well knows my issues when theres a lack of fresh air, well, demonstrated again!).
Its an odd feeling I can´t quite name, it didn't feel like claustraphobia, I wasn't particularly panicking, but I just couldn´t control my tears and continually thought, "WHY would anyone come down this mine of their own free will??" I didn´t enjoy it at all but am glad to have seen what some people have to do for a living. Rory's little OHS brain nearly exploded so he had to turn it off. Oh, and finally we blew up our dynamite, we made them up and I was actually holding one when the guide lit the fuse, mmmmmmm, safe. The conditions are below poor and way below illegal. These men are now paid quite a bit by Bolivian standards, but its not a trade off I´d like to make.

Potosi to Sucre
I forgot to mention, we´re still with the Aussie girls and have now made our group 6, Amy from Wales and Andy from England. So together, all shaken to our cores and exhausted we got on a bus to Sucre. It said 3 hours but allowed 8. Miraculously, it took only 3 hours!! Sucre is the Colonial capital of Bolivia so has some pretty amazing buildings. However, all the hostels were booked out and wandering the streets of Sucre at 10pm, homeless isn´t much fun. One thing I will say is that there was an eery likening to the hotel in ´The Shiníng´ and even the guy who owned the first one we saw was creepy. We didn´t stay there as to avoid waking up minus organs or being the subjects of backyard medical experiments (not an exaggeration!)

Ended up in the best room in town, the 6 or us in the HI hostel (besides the fact they took my phone from the room-dodgy circumstances) and the massive hangover obtained from the Joyride Bar, Sucre was kind to us. Rory and Dani went Paragliding and had a ball, we drank the best fresh squeezed OJ form the little man on the street. Had the best chocolate I´ve found in South America and spent a lazy homeless and hungover day waiting for the bus to La Paz.

I´m sitting in an internet cafe in Uyuni, Bolivia, wearing my new Llama gloves, the ones that double as fingerless and mittens and I can´t write a whole blog but just wanted to let you know a few details of the past four days.

Jeep across the southwest - Tupiza to Uyuni.
Starting with the fact I just had my first shower in 5 days. Fact 2: tuesday, wednesdays nights were spent in mud huts, then one in a hut made entirely of salt (yes, I licked it to make sure) no electricity or fire, MINUS 15 DEGREES (okay, jump forward 2 days, I just found out it was in fact MINUS 25 DEGREES!!! I definately deseve a holiday in the Bahamas when i leave South America!)!! Fact three: I´m not a cold weather girl. BUT, the most important thing is this: today I had a breakfast to rival any eggs benedict on Lygon, Brunswick or Smith st. We got up at 4:30am and 2 Bolivians drove us across Salt Crops that stretch further than I could possibly see. Its like hard, cold snow, but its salt. Completely flat and a perfect blue sky, no horizon. They took us to the only thing that breaks it up, i tiny ísland´ almost completely covered in cactus. There we watched the sun rise and ate pancakes with Dulce De Leche on them, cold and so amazing. The strangest place I have ever been.

I also saw Gyesers (sic) (steamy puffs that spew out of hot earth like sulphery steam), Volcanoes, Laguna Verde (a green lake) the awesome mountains that Salvador Dahli painted (the red ones, and they actually look surreal in real life!!), I´ve gotten sick again (short lived this time thankfully) from deep fried Llama and spam and much more bizarre stuff. Bolivia really is nuts, from the first bus ride after crossing the border (which was easy, not like we were told. But really, who brings drugs IN to Bolivia??), its proven to be a most interesting place!!

Will write more asap, but the net here is rather shithouse, no promises when.

Love you all,
Bec.

Blog from May 16 to May 21
BsAs to Iguazu
From Buenos Aires we caught a 20hour bus to Puerto Iguazu. This is the town on the Argentina side of the Iguazu Cateratas (falls). The hang over both Brazil and Argentina. Just quietly, they blew my mind. A jeep through the jungle (that had ucalypts...crazy!) and then so much damn water, we were soaked (seemed we were the only under prepared ones) after the boat ride underneath them. Spent a day wandering around the trails that lead in and out of the falls and along the top. Awesome butterflies and the sun even attempted to come out a few times. Sorry again, photos are on the way, computers here in Bolivia aren´t quite ready for such technology.

Iguazu to San Miguel de Tucaman
From there we planned to go straight to Salta more north west in Argentina but instead I suggested to get off the bus after 20 hours (no food bar one ham and cheese sanger and the man had a very unfriendly disposition. Not to mention the todler who yelled Mama for 8 hoours!) and hang out in Tucaman, Argentinas equivalent to Seymour (immediately after getting off the bus we booked a way out to Salta at 8am the next day)! Alright, not that bad, but we did stay in a place that would´ve fallen down had it not been for the thick layers of mould on the walls! Good empanada, good wine and a massive hamburger (see i told you, Seymour!!) sweetened the stay.

Tucaman to Salta
Then it was 5 hours to Salta. nother bus, but five hours was a power nap after the past few trips, and they put us on the wrong bus so it was like 1st class QANTAS. No complaints!

Salta was cute. We met a couple of Aussie chicks and an English chick who´d hired a car so set off on a 12 hour day trip. Saw some amazing tiny towns nestled in the sides of rainbow coloured mountains in the middle of absolutely nowhere. The wind and cold is unbearable and gee, I never knew you could make so much out of Llama, as well as eat it!

Of course we got a flat on the way back and as much as I fancy myself as a bit of a handy man the jack wouldn´t stay grounded in the shit gravel and rocks. So after the car tumbled down 4 times we flagged down some local men who ´just hapened to have a crow bar and other tools´in their car, handy! The put the bung tyre unber the car and dug around it deep enough to put the new one on, no english here folks, great photo ops though! So I´ll spare you the rest but we got back late and proceeded to consume a lot of the most spectacular pisco sours (pisco, lemon and egg whites Leish!!). Had the best meal too, Locro, traditional Andean or Argentine (not 100%) stew. A very wide variety of meats (and fat and organs, I just didnt ask...) and legumes all stewed to perfection, tastiest ever. Very similar to Dads cassalette with the 8 different types of (quality) meats. Estaba Buenisimo!

The Meat Challenge
Prue and Dani, (two gorgeous ladies from Melbourne) and I have begun the meat challenge, a more updated version is till to come but a brief overview is: All the normal meats, chicken, beef, pork, other cuts of the same meat etc. Also, stewed and deep fried Llama, deep fried Spam, Goat, Intestines (probably cows), blood snags (all squishy, nothing like the ones at home, not that I enjoy them either). So I´ll keep you posted.

Found Rory a massage in Salta (the one place that didn´t do happy endings) to get rid of the head ache from all the buses and stayed in a great hostel that gave us clean towls EVERY DAY!!! I really enjoyed Salta but as it was not a huge place, we exhausted most of the activities and...

Salta to La Quiaca, walk over to Bolivia to Villazon mad bus to Tupiza and 4 days in a jeep (minus 25degrees, see next blog!)

Okay, by ´long stay´I mean it felt like an eternity at times.

So, from when I last wrote, I have done a fair bit, so sorry if it lacks detail (again) but heres the BA stay in a nutshell (a biggish nutshell). I think I can see a blog pattern emerging here...

We met up with cousin Brendan, top bloke. Showed us some local watering holes and shared our frustration with public transport, the busses here actually are trying to kill the public with no apologies. This city is MASSIVE. My head had some issues getting around the fact that every view from the 12th and 20th floors (i will elaborate soon) consisted of buildings, buildings and more and more buildings. Its a very different view to the one i had in Docklands just before I left Melbourne thats for sure. So many people and all in tiny tiny apartments EVERYWHERE! Also, when you get an address to go to it doesn´t say which Barrio (suburb kind of area thing) it just has a street and a number. Muy confundida for the newcommers from Melbs! Although points to the Argeninians they have one street with one name, not a hundred Victoria streets for example.

Anyway, thats all raingauges and shovels. We managed to get an apartment in Palermo at 1709 Medrano by answering a few simple questions via email:will there be children, how many occupants, do you need a lift from the airport? It was cute, in a perfect spot close to our favorite heladeria etc-we dubbed it the nth Carlton of BA. On the 12th floor, tiny (one room, actually only one room that was lounge, bed and dining etc) and a tiny bathroom with no hot water! This is where the trouble started. Our stupid landlord decided to fix it himself (while we were out, nice surprise to come home to) ending with the entire building devoid of ANY water. After 50 strange men who spoke no english wandered in and out of our apartment and various hours of the day and night (the fact I was alseep in my undies didn´t deter them) and 3 more days with no water, they moved us. To the landlords other apartment in the bronx of BA, awseom apartment, piso 20 (20th floor) but shithouse area, I wasn´t game to head out at night alone. Bars on the front of all kiosks and the subte stop smelt really really bad. From there I got sick (had to run out of a pub after drinking only half of my G&T so theres a gauge on the severity of the problem).

Buenos Aires Belly-Week 2 in this cazy city.
This bit I will try to keep short. After three days of bathroom ridden fun, I went to the Dr. At home he´d of said something like ¨No dairy or meat, only bread and dry biscuits¨ alas, not in Buenos Aires. Eat cheese apples dulce de leche (a milk jam, like a caramel condensed milk, Argentinas vegemite....). The next day I was 10 times worse so went to another Dr. Again, no english told me to eat grilled chicken and a steak with mash (what tha?). In tears I tried to convey the problem (you can imagine the charades). Then I finally worked out I had to give a ´sample´ at a pathology place in the hospital around the corner. NO ENGLISH, tired overwhelmed, crying with frustration and being asked in Spanish to compromise my dignity. I had an idea what they wanted me to do but the whole waiting room new exactly as they heard it 28 times said v-e-r-y-s-l-o-w-l-y and loud. So, I jumped that hurdle.

The next day, no improvement so I thought bugger this, went out ate an awesome meal of chorizo, Argentine Saganaki (provoleta), steak and amazing dessert (you get good desert if you say its someones birthday I learnt) and copious amounts of the best vino tinto-Malbec.
And, hey hey, the next morning-better than new (almost). Worst part about being sick-missing the soccer (see www.myspace/rorystories.com for the details)and going back to the Recoleta market to buy up big!

The Place
Although the illness thing really ruined my time in BA (we left 2 weeks before we planned to) I really loved the city. We went out a lot, gee they do stuff late here (again). Pre drinks at 11pm, dinner 12-1am and by the time you have a few at the pub, the sun comes up, weird but I think I like it. Brendan and a new friend Magic Ian (his name ís actually Kieran and hes from England but Magic-Ian stuck after a story he told us early on) we all went out a bit, met Brendans ´Boys´ and experienced their way of courting (see the photos).

one of my favorite things was the cemetary. Evitas grave was less than I expected, very unassuming and not a massive production but all the others basically were. Bigger than the houses here and so well maintained (again, see the photos). we accidentally crashed a funeral thinking it was a crowd gathering for the grave of Eva Duarte, but no, we were just insensitive tourists, cameras and all. Quickly faked tears and ran from that one.

The women here are stunning and the men are generally very metrosexual. Getting to know people beyond names and the general chit chat is near impossible as the language barrier is massive, not to say I haven´t been getting attention. Í found the attention a bit frustrating at first but have now learnt to ignore it. The frustration is not being able to tell someone off in a language I have a grasp on, so I ignore it now, the kind words of two chicks from Uraguay helped me....get over it, its the arrogante way they are, we all get it, you´ll get used to it!

Theres awesome grafiti everywhere and the politics of this country are sprawled on every spare wall or path, pretty impressive. Went to a lot of different areas, out in San Telmo, A BBQ (Parilla) in Martinez, job interview in Las Canitas (actually got a few jobs but all 1 or 2 hours a week, not worth our while) and checked out La Boca, the home of the team. However, I am now apparently a River Plate supporter (Rory bought me a guernsey and all!) ast they are the same colour as St Kilda! I did some Spanish lessons which helped heaps buts its all about practice, my memory for languages is shit I have learnt so i have to work extra hard (although it gets better when I pissed off, tired and/or drunk...helpful at the bar, not so much with important things though).

Theres so so much more but I can´t bore you much longer this has bee a bit of a lacklustre blog effort I can see. We are now in Iguazu, saw the most spectacular falls today and went practically under them in a boat, saturated an completely breathtaking (cliche I know, but I can´t find the words),walked around them and it blew my mind. They´d end our drought in a few seconds! I really like Iguazu, great locals and good food (yes, I´m loving the fact I can eat again!). But I´ll fill you in on that next blog. Time for a shower and a siesta, they all siesta in the country areas, God Bless´em!

Hope all is well back home and to you wherever you are, friends!

More soon I promise. By the way, as expected I´m having issues getting photos on this thing, so hang in there they´re on the way!

Okay,

So I'm finally in Buenos Aires after a 14 hour overnight bus, semi carma (semi sleeper) alright for me but glad I'm not as tall as Rory-he's planning a massage tomorrow.

I've got a fair bit to catch up on so sorry if its not really detailed.

Santiago, Chile (April 13 - 16). Cool city, great place to land and get my feet but a few days is sufficient! I got here on a dangerous lack of sleep and God Bless Rory for finding me a clean and comfy bed. The hostel was cute and homely, clean sheets and my bed was actually comfortable. All well and good, if you manage to find time to get in to your bed! We spent the afternoon, wandering and tasting the mirriad of new and exciting cervezas (okay, we sat in the sun and drank long necks!). The price of everything was fantastic and the continual reminder that its all cheaper in Argentina was even better. 1lt of Heiniken (cerveza of choice, certainly not Escudo as I hear its as good as overdosing on laxettes) $2 Aussie, not to mention the ever anticipated steaks (and meat in general) all awesome quality food and cheap cheap cheap!!

Useful sentence #1 "Dos cerveza por favor, shopp por favor??"
Useful sentence #2 "Agua, por favor, sin gas" pronounced 'Awa porrr favorrrr si ga'

Mendoza, Argentina (April16 - 22) After a few days, it was off to mendoza. A 5-8hour (can't really remember) bus, best view of the Andes, from a comfy warm seat! They{re pretty impressive mountains and its quite strange actually as theres no real homes along the way, just huts occasionaly that the guys who work up there stay in i guess. Lots of crosses and memorials dotted along the side of the road (I was glad ours was a bust taken in daylight, lots of hairpins).

Our hostel Indepencia was like cramming 6 people in a matchbox with a ceiling fan the german chick wouldn't let us use and a serious mosquito issue (its easier to pretend all bites are mozzies as the alternative is much more worrying).

So we moved. To Hostel Lao, further down the road, with a pool! Swanky!! Then off we trundled on bikes (yes pushies) to see the beautiful sunny countryside, full of vineyards, olive groves and glorious fun to be had. Yes all this was true, except the sun thing (and 30kms on a push bike, in thongs...not so good. Really bad seat too-you get the idea). The lovely lady at one of the wineries proudly told us 360 days a year of sun in Mendoza....sure, we had 5 cloudy ones!!

The wine and olives were fantastic and guilt free due to the mode of transport. So good infact we went back on saturday on the bus and had an anti-pasto to rivial any in Melbourne in the one sunny afternoon we got since day 1, with a beautiful local Sav Blanc. How sweet life can be!!

Then basically theres been a lot of wandering, absorbing the beautiful surrounds (yes they are) the city id full of tranquil parks with tiled fountains and towering statues and (if you can kick a lovesick couple off) heaps of benches to park on to!

Buenos Aires, Argentina (April 23 - )

We have really good job prospects with an interview tomorrow at a translator company. If it all works out Rory and I plan to stay here a month or so, fingers crossed. If no jobs by friday we book a ticket outta here! The weather is cold but this a bloody crazy amazing looking city on first impressions - nearly as big a popultaion as the whole of Australia.

Metting up with a 2nd cousin I haven't seen since 1985 tonight, nice to to share a bottle of vino with a relative so far from home. I start Spanish lessons tomorrow which will ease some frustration I hope and in turn, ease the expectation Rory orders anything harder than beer, steak or water.

Theres much much more so heres a short list of likes and dislikes to bring you up to speed:

DISLIKE: That I wrote heaps of likes and dislikes and left them at the hostel.
LIKE: The way everyone says "De Nada" like no worries, my pleasure.
DISLIKE: Never getting used to looking left, right then left again when crossing the road (i'll try harder Mum!).
LIKE: EMPANADAS (South Americas answer to the humble meat pie)!! Little pastries filled with all sorts of goodies (not usually made for vegos though, they don't fit in here) jamon y queso, carne mmmm.
DISLIKE: Clafarte (the man, not the place. Long story, stinky man in La Chimba, Santiago, made it hard to sleep and breathe!)
LIKE: Siestas!
DISLIKE:Waking up after a siesta.
LIKE:The way Argentinans speak slower than Chileanos
DISLIKE: Packing my damn bag - I officially have 7 times more stuff than any traveller who has gone before me.
LIKE: Travelling here, its been awesome so far and I expect it will only get better!

Miss you all like my left arm thats been lost in thewar (wrong city and country oops) but I'd rather you were all here right now than I came home for winter thats for sure!

Becxo.

P.S. Some of you are having trouble finding my photos, go to bec3688 under authors on the right hand side of this page...you'll see.

As above (see photo gallery for visual blog - press on bec3688 under authors on the right side column of this page or http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/gallery/users/bec3688/
Bec xo.