the world as i see it

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Fun in Hollywood

So after enjoying myself in San Diego I then hit the glam and smoggy LA, I was able to get a bed in the same hostel as Jon and Sam so we had a bit of a night out even though it was a monday. Saw a band and then went to another bar till that closed and then some guys who want to be actors invited us to go to this place called Mouses. It was this really cool old black dudes place, we hung out there till the sun came up and then made our way back to the hostel for some sleep.
Tommorrow I'm going to Las Vegas and the grand canyon for a few days, then I'll end up back here in Hollywood for a bit longer.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

San Diego

So she crossed the border into the US of A. Let me tell you how long it took...only 3 hours! Apparently that is a long time, especially when I had over 20 kgs strapped to me, and it was rather warm to top it off.
San Diego is a really nice place, the hostel I'm staying at is in the heart of the historic Gaslamp quarters, very busy but fun. I decided to stay here for a few days before heading up LA to meet up with my aussie buddy Jon.
Did a few touristy things, not much though because I can't get around as easy. Did go and see my first baseball game, the SD Padres got thrashed by Seattle.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

the last of Mexcio

So we last heard from me in Oaxaca, I'd been on a day trip, very nice, that night I went out with a few people from the hostel-before I go any further I was not wasted drunk, slightly inebriated-yes, so when I returned to hostel and was about to hit the sack I managed to trip down some stairs and hurt my ankle, kinda badly. Some basic first aid followed and then I went to sleep, hoping that it would be all ok the next day.
Saturday morning I awoke to a very painful ankle so I decided that I should go get it x-rayed. The first hospital I found could not find anyone who spoke english so a really nice taxi driver found me a small private hospital where one of the doctors daughter just happened to be visiting and was able to translate for me! X-ray proved it not broken, just a bad sprain, which the doctor decided still needed to be immobilised-ie a half cast and crutches and rest-for 2 weeks, I don't think so! Got rid of the crutches after the 2nd day, and by the end of the 1st week off came the cast. (I'm strapping it like I've had to do before, not the first time I've sprained my ankle)
I did not want to change my plans for Mexico so I continued on, after a nights stop over back in Mexico city I hopped (ha ha) onto another bus to the less than exciting town Guadalajara. Nice hostel, great bunch of people. I went on a day trip to the town Tequila, which was one of the reasons I headed to Guadalajara, it was cool, we visited a local distillery, which was interesting, and got to sample a lot of tequila. That night it was back on the bus to Mexico city again for a couple of days, which were a time for me to catch up on some washing and a bit of rest.
Thursday saw me arrive at the airport for a flight to Tijuana that I'd booked over the internet, or so I thought, turns out that there was no ticket for me, it had been cancelled! Nearly freaked out but the nice lady at the counter was able to get me another ticket for the same flight, and I arrived in Tijuana as scheduled.
For those of you who don't know what Tijuana is like, lets just say that unless you're a bit of a trash bag it's not a place you'd spend more than one night in. I was even more reluctant to stay even the one night when the taxi driver finally found the hostal I'd booked, over the internet (there's a lesson here folks*) which turned out to be the top floor of this guys house converted into like 8 rooms, with a couple of skanky bathrooms. I was the only guest, he the owner was a bit creepy and it was in the middle of the suburbs, nearly half an hour away from the centre of Tijuana! Was already feeling fragile from the muck up with the flight and the long and frustrating drive from the airport, (the driver had no idea where to go) so to arrive at this place, well I felt like losing it completely. Instead I got on a bus and headed to the centre and had a wander around the main trashy strip that is Tijuana for a few hours, then returned to the suburbs and found a really nice restauraunt where I treated myself to a lovely meal. I started to feel a lot better. The fact that I was also scheduled to cross the border into english speaking USA the next morning was also probably a helpful factor.
*The lesson for today is-don't reley on the internet to plan your life!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Me-hi-co

Amigos, well I´m here, been so for a few days actually, in the big and wonderous Mexico. So far I´ve spent 2 days in mexico city, the first was spent in front of the computer for the greater part organising what to do in mexico, the second I hopped on a mini bus with others from our hostel (which, apart from being a bit noisy is right in the zocale/city centre, right near the Catedral) to visit a few sites just outside of the city, including the aztecs Teotihuacan pyramids.
We also stopped at an artesian shop where they introduced us to the different drinks of mexcio and the plants they come from, pulque, metzcal and tequila.
Yesterday I dragged myself out of bed early to get a bus to the town of Oaxaca, south east of the city. 6 hours of sleep and I arrived in a very pretty town, which at the moment is quieter than usual due to teacher strikes, the streets near the government buildings are filled with people just hanging around sheltered by tarpaulins hung in the street, you have to watch that you don´t coat-hanger yourself on the strings that cross the middle of the street. Aparently the teachers can strike for up to a month, there are peacful protests in mexico city too but asides from some bored looking riot police you wouldn´t realise what´s going on.
There are some amazing pieces of architecture around Oaxaca, I went on another mini bus tour today, travelling to more ruins, this time the site known as Monte Alban, we also stopped in on the workshop of some people who produce really bight colourful animals and nicnacs, the area is renowned for them. A church which was never finished properly apparently due to a witch´s curse, the locals wouldn´t go near it after. We dined in a very noisy restaraunt (the locals were watching mexico in the world cup) on some local food, very yummy and then finished off stopping by another place who´s craft is special to the area, Doña Rosa, high gloss black earthen ware.
Tommorrow will see me head back to mexico city.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

San Jose

So I'm starting to get sick of the weather here in Costa Rica, I enjoyed my time on the Carribean coast, very hot, very humid and heaps of mossies.(which I'm sure I've already mentioned, oh yeah and the rain, showers and thunder just about everyday) I was going to meet up with Dan and Mario from the south american tour in Panama, but I've decided not to now, cause I've changed my flight to Mexico so I fly out this monday instead!
My original plans for Mexico are probably changing now too, cause I've done some sums and it's going to be really expensive travelling the west coast by bus like I planned. Flying is much cheaper but I'll still see stuff.
Happy birthday for monday Dad.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Tortuguerro

As I mentioned before, its a lot warmer here in costa rica, and I´m starting to get over the humidity (and the mozzies!) I joined another small group tour in San Jose, no jock to carry us around though, we get to slum it with the locals on pt. The first bus was ok, no aircon but nice scenery and after a couple of hours a we arrived at puerto Limon. We then taxi´d it to the local docks and hopped on a 12 seater open boat and cruised on down the rivers and canals of the tortuguerro park. We were staying in little villa´s on the river with this great guy called Willis. He took us around in his boat spotting animals and birds. There were a few croc´s and caymans, iguanas, lots of birds like egrets, herons, kingfishers and other I can´t remember the names of. We also got to see a 3-toed sloth and some howler monkeys.
The next day we went out early and got to see more of the same, but also some toucans, a small freshwater turtle, and some white-faced monkeys, like the one that Ross had on friends. It also started to pour with rain and despite a canopy over teh boat and wet weather gear we all still got really wet. Later in the day we went for a walk through a bit of the park, there were heaps of beautiful butterflies and little lizards and the likes. Unfortunately we didn´t get to see any turtles on the beach which one of the reasons for the trip, normally this time of the year the greenback turtle is coming in to lay but its been really quiet, so that was a little bit disappointing.
I´m currently staying in a little coastal village called Cahuita, there´s not much to do except go snorkelling or horseriding, So I´m thinking of going to stay in an other place not far away called puerto viejo.
The rest of the tour group return to San jose tommorrow but I still have nearly 2 weeks before I fly out to Mexico so I´m gonna stay on here for a bit longer and get a tan.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Costa Rica

Just a quick one, arrived nice and easy, San Jose is a bit warmer than the last 6 weeks, kinda humid but not unbearable. May have to acquire some more attire.

the last bit of that trip

So after Cusco-a long drive and then a short night in a small town called Chivay and an early rise so that we could visit the Colca Canyon and see some condors. After waiting a for over an hour some condors did appear, swooping up and back along the canyon. They´re quite amazing birds, but unless you have them flying directly above your head or a really good camera it´s hard to capture it.
The next stop Arequipa, a larger town, almost a city I guess, but quite pretty with some impressive architecture. We camped in the back yard of a hotel, some people paid extra to stay in the hotel, but it was a nice place. I had a really yummy pork dinner that night, you don´t find much pork on the menu´s. We spent two nights in Arequipa, some of us went shopping in the new mall which was kinda fun, first time in ages we´d seen kfc and burger kings! Sad I know.
Another day driving, this time we hit the coast, back down to sea level, no more altitude problems! We got to see some local dolphins enjoy themselve´s in the waves and a dead whale stinking up the beach. That night we camped in a little bay called Puerto Inca, there are paths that the inca´s used to courier fresh fish from, they could be at machu picchu in a ridiculously short time. Our tour group has two ´bands´ so we were treated to a performance which was unforgettable, and another group who stayed the same placed aswell had a great fireworks display. And then there was a fabulous karaoke machine-which I really enjoyed (not).
More driving, we had the Nazca lines to do this time, our last night camping but before that the small plane flight over the vast dry flood plains that are the home to some curoius images said to have been created by the inca´s, their purpose is debated. Some belive that they were used for things like ceremonial dances others think that they are related to constellations and can help people find their way. Here´s a photo of the humming bird, and our plane load pretending to be different character lines. I´m being the hands, then there´s Pam the monkey, Brooke´s being the condor I think, Krissy is the spider and Gabby in front is being a dog.
Huacachina followed Nazca, a little oasis in the middle of big sand dunes. Our hostel was cute, with a pool, it´s been getting hotter during the day the further north we travel (duh) but the nights can still be cold. Sand dunes means sand buggies and sand boards, the buggies were great, 6-9 seaters, basically just an engine, seats and roll cage. We had some fun the drivers would take us for a bit of a cruise to the top of a dune and then we´d get to board down, on or tummies, then they´d come and pick us up at the bottom and drive us to the next dune. We got to see the sun setting too which was a rather spectacular orange.
Our final destination Lima. Some of the group were leaving that night so we all went out for our last dinner together
, some people were pretty emotional but it was a good night, we got to go to Hooters. Very pretty girls but no idea on how to be efficient waitstaff.
Lima is a big city, the nearby town Miraflores is much nicer though. Couple of extra nights in Lima and that´s the end of South America!