The good, the bad, and the ugly

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin my last blog entry which I warn you now is a bit of a biggy! Prepare yourself for a rollercoaster ride of good times, bad times, romance, guns and partying...no wonder I am sleeping so much after such a crazy final 2 weeks!

Tango dancers in a pedestrianised street. I think I'll stick to Salsa!

Nicky and I had a nice time wandering around the shops and streets of Buenos Aires, choosing to pay little attention to the map and not worrying about whether we made it to all of the museums and sights. It's a beautiful city that we decided felt half European (like Paris with its old buildings and countless cafes) and half American (with its sky rise buildings). The docklands are gorgeous with their funky replica of the Sydney Opera House and you could spend days ooing and ahhing at the leafy plazas, man-on-a-horse statues and grand palacial mansions. It's a shame therefore that we found ourselves being held at gunpoint for Nicky's camera and wallet in the horrible area of La Boca. Recommended in the Lonely Planet and famous for the Boca Juniors Football Stadium and a colourful pedestrianised street, we didn't consider ourselves to be walking into such seriously grave danger, but even the 'safe' roads recommended by our hostel couldn't protect us from the watchful eyes of the desperate locals. It all happened so quickly yet so much was going through my mind. Shit he has a gun. Should I run away? No I should protect Nicky. But I have everything in my bag. They're going to start on me next. I'm going to lose everything. Should I shout for help? They're running away. We ran into the middle of the road to get a taxi and Nicky broke down into tears having lost all of her photos, her camera and her wallet. I wanted to cry but I also wanted to stay strong for her. We spent the next couple of hours being ferried between police stations in police cars (there was no way we were going anywhere unprotected, especially as they forced us to go back to a La Boca police station!) and sitting in those places was almost as bad as what had just happened. People were coming in to report robberies and one woman ran in huffing and puffing with cuts and blood all over her face. We were so glad to get back to our hostel that it didn't take long before we were dancing to drum and bass there and at a nightclub like a couple of mad girls on pills, celebrating the fact that we were alive. From that day, every time I left a hostel in Buenos Aires I was expecting to be robbed, which is such a shame because it is such a beautiful city with so many great things on offer.

Phil (my boyfriend) and Gareth (his friend from uni) arrived the next day and we took no time in introducing them to an Argentinian steak and the Buenos Aires nightlife. I hadn't seen Phil for 6 months so you can imagine how happy I was! They are on a year long trip, half of which will be spent travelling and half as volunteers developing a water system for an orphanage in the North of Bolivia. We spent a few days in Buenos Aires seeing some sights, playing/watching football and finishing many bottles of alcoholic beverages before catching a bus to Puerto Iguazu - our base for visiting the mind-blowing Iguazu Falls. Before this happy episode I did however suffer another spell of bad luck. Back in the sess pit that is Retiro bus station (remember the attempted stealing of the pink bag?) and fully aware by now of the dangers around us, our group of 6 (2 guys had joined Nicky, Phil, Gareth and I for our trip to the falls) thought we had the whole thing covered. We found an elevated spot in the station from which we could see the coaches arrive and thought we were doing a good job of looking prepared and vigilent. You have to remember however that the people out to get you in these places are professionals - this is what they do. When 3 of us were left watching the bags some men pulled a 'you've dropped your money' scam on us, distracting our attention for long enough to whip my small rucksack from behind me and make off with the goods. There is a silver lining to even the darkest of clouds - my passport, money, camera and MP3 player were in a different bag that I never lost. But the things that were stollen meant the world to me, especially my Moleskine diary which was a present from Phil and contained all of my thoughts and memories from Day 1 in Thailand, some of which I will never remember. Other diaries to which I had dedicated considerable time and effort, practical things that are annoying to lose and presents that I had bought for people were also lost, and the worst thing is that it was worth nothing to my thief, who probably dumped the bag only a few blocks away.

Our happy group of 6

By the following day I had accepted what had happened and was ready to enjoy our time in Puerto Iguazu. The hostel was more like a hotel with a huge communal area upstairs and a pool and social area at the front. We had booked a package deal from Buenos Aires which included one day seeing the falls from the Brazilian side (another stamp in the passport!), one exploring the park on the Argentinian side and a free bbq including free caipirinhas all night long (a sugarcane-based alcoholic cocktail). We partied through the first night with the Brazilian dancers and musicians, later making a very quick splash in the freezing cold pool (hats off to the skinny dippers!), then dragged ourselves out of bed for a day at the falls early the next morning. Unfortunately it was stormy the whole time we were there so my pictures aren't that great and we didn't see any rainbows, but the electrical thunder storms were incredible with lightning actually hitting the hostel several times!

It would be pointless for me to try to explain the enormity and grandeur of the falls in words, but suffice to say I have never been struck by a sight that made me stop in my tracks and stare quite so suddenly or with such impact. I was lost for words, and could have stood for hours listening to the thundering roar of the water and watching its continual pounding flow into the river miles below. The park is brilliantly arranged and we spent 2 amazing days seeing the hundreds of falls from all angles and various proximities, getting right into the thick (and wet!) of it in a speedboat on the second day. Three rivers converge at the meeting point of 3 countries to create this natural masterpiece, which is undeniably another of my favourite places in the world. Some crazy little animals and jungle walks topped off the experience - one that I will never forget.

It was sad to leave Nicky, Chris and Pete when Iguazu came to an end, and I wasn't looking forward to being back in Retiro bus station. Buenos Aires also spelled the end of my travelling and my time with Phil so there were lots of reasons not to want to go back. But we survived my last 24 hours there without any problems and at night Phil and I struck gold on the culinary front. I had read about a Japanese restaurant that we thought we couldn't find, when suddenly I noticed a discreet plaque engraved with Japanese writing on a building. We snuck around the corner to some sliding wooden doors which opened to reveal the cutest and smartest little restaurant I have ever seen, and the fact that it was so secret and hidden away made it all the more haven-like and special. We could even watch the football on the TVs opposite our chairs! We felt like such amateurs as they brought us what I now know is Japanese ommelette and hot flannels (we ate it with our fingers!) and some mismo soup (as we hadn't any spoons I asked the waiter how to eat it, to which he responded with a sipping motion...duh!). The sushi was first class and washed down with a pot of green tea I felt totally Japanese.

On leaving day I treated myself to a taxi to the airport and suffered a very uncomfortable 34 hours of being awake, before snuggling down into my own bed again for a nice long snooze. I was really looking forward to coming home but when I got here I started to miss my backpacker life, and I still really do. The rainy weather, slow (is it even moving?) pace of life and pile of things I had to deal with straight away (finances, insurance claim, car...) probably didn't help and now that I have got back in touch with some friends (including Ben and Jerry) and seen my Dad my spirits have lifted immensely. I'm even making some progresses on the career front (argh what a scarey word!) and hope to soon be moving into a place of my own to have a go at living in the Adult World.

I have no further plans to travel at the moment, but give me a few weeks sat behind an office desk and I might be singing a different song.

One word...STEAK

I had a great time in my first Argentinian city, Salta, in the North West of the country. I spent my time climbing the 1,070 steps (probably about 3,000 of my "shorty" paces) and 250 metres to the top of Cerro San Bernardo where some artisans, great views and religious statues and shrines awaited me, and wandering the pretty colonial streets. I was instantly struck by how rich Argentna is compared to the rest of my South American countries. Everyone dresses like theyre rolling in it, half of the cafes and restaurants are posh and there are even shops selling Gucci bags! Its still very affordable though, and Ive been picking up some delightful sweet treats and some out-of-this-world steaks to make the men among you buckle to your knees.

On my last day in Salta my reading was interrupted by a "Hello Miss Granville" from my English friend Nicky, and we spent the rest of the day together chilling in the Plaza and eating the best steak in the world, ever. It was huge, perfectly cooked, juicy, tasty, had not a milimitre of fat on it and the whole meal cost a tiny 3 pounds. Unfortunately we had booked buses for that night in opposite directions but we have hooked up again in Buenos Aires 5 days later. My bus took me to Resistencia, aka The City of Sculptures after the 300 or so works of art scattered around the pretty streets. Besides this there wasnt a lot else to see or do, the museums having all closed for renovations, and by now I was the only backpacker in sight, so I started a continuing habit of finding the perfect cup of coffee or tea and made a day trip to nearby Corrientes. Its much the same as Resistencia so I didnt hang around for long, but I met a sweet old man called Cesar who gave me a tour of his Museum of Artisans. He hardly speaks English and I hardly speak Spanish but we got along just fine, and he surprised me by asking if I was from Somerset! It turns out 2 other girls from the homeland had recently visited who he was keeping in touch with, and I have vowed to do the same.

The hole that is Santa Fe was my next stop but I quickly got the next bus to gorgeous Rosario, birth place of Che Guevara. I splashed out on a decent hotel (I was very much in need of cable at this point!) and spent a couple of days walking around the citys sights, drinking pots of tea and munching on medialunas (croissants to the less poetic amongst us). You may have heard a saying "Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a Knight and dinner like a pauper"? The Argentinians choose to do it in reverse and I soon felt like I was causing offence by not complying and not having the staple medialuna for my breakfast!

Desperate for Nickys company again and some capital nightlife, I hot-wheeled it to Buenos Aires last night. The 80 platformed terminal welcomed me with open arms...that were reaching for and carried away your pink rucksack Mum! Luckily my shrill screaming and pounding feet were enough to make the guy drop it and run, and I am still in possession of all of my goods. He was working with a girl who was pretending to ask me a question while I put on my big bag, distracting my attention from my handbags on the floor. The irony is the rucksack contained a load of worthless crap and I ran away from my money, passport, plane tickets, camera and MP3 player which were in my other bag, but the girl had scarpered before she realised this and somebody honest was watching it for me. How is it that people who try to mug me always fail?!

Nicky and I went wandering around our boho district of San Telmo last night and her obsession with food is already having a bad influence on me. She talked me into having a steak sandwich despite my having already eaten (and were not talking a few slithers of meat between 2 slices of bread here, I mean a really massive whole marinaded steak bursting out of a fresh panini!) and is suggesting a tried and tested tiramisu for breakfast. I may have to forgoe the fried breakfast I have been craving and was going to ask for when I get home! Failing to find any Tango we sat with some artesans and their musical instruments in a Plaza drinking some fine Argentinian wine, and I may have promised to play Alis violin tonight at gathering number 2. Today we will probably go sight seeing and I am in desperate need of some nice new clothes. All of these self-confessed snobby Argentinians are making me feel scruffy!

Could somebody pass the salt?

On Thursday I returned from one of the most incredible places on earth - the Salar de Uyuni and its equally fascinating surrounding landscapes. It´s the world´s largest salt plain at a mahoosive 12,000 km2, formed when the prehistoric salt lake Lago Minchin dried up. We had lots of fun messing about on the salar, climbing salt mountains and trying to create optical illusions with our cameras. I visitied a tiny salt museum and we stopped to see some bubbling thermal waters. There were even hotels made entirely of salt, from the walls to the tables and beds, one of which we were lucky enough to stay in. The salt plain consists of 5 cm of salt, underneath which is a shallow lake followed by a huge mass of even more salt allowing us to walk and drive all over it.

The jeep was really good and I made friends with an English girl Nicky and an Irish couple called Brian and Lorraine. Mario and Felicia were our guides (a cute married Bolivian couple dressed in the traditional clothes, and Felicia spent all of her time knitting a jumper!) and they cooked us some brilliant food including llama steaks and the best pancakes I have ever had.

Before the salt lake we went to a train cemetery where Nicky and I clambered over the rusting locamotives like a couple of kids. After the salt plain we drove to one of several islands covered with really huge cacti, sporting some incredible views over the salar. We visited a cave formed by fossilised algae and another containing the old tombs of pre-Incan bodies, and a pre-Incan house containing whole skeletons of the residents and a big collection of pottery and weapons. I have never been so cold as during the nights on the trip, but thanks to plenty of warm clothes and a ton of blankets we just about managed to keep our toes warm.

On the second day, away from the salar, the scenery began to change and resemble something more like Mars or the moon. One of the most impressive features was the famous Tree of Stone which defies logic as the base is so narrow and the top so wide. The road got progressively worse and we had to jump ship on the edge of the cliff when Mario got the jeep stuck! Boy was it a bumpy ride. We visited several lakes, all of which are inhabited by flamingoes, but the most spectacular had to be the Laguna Colorado - a mystifying blend of red, blue and white waters that I still can´t quite get my head around.

On the last day we visited a geyser basin and I´ve never heard anything quite like the hissing of the holes in the earth. We reached a thermal bathing pool in time for sunrise but all chose the warmth of the breakfast house over the biting cold and hypothermia. Our last stops were a couple more lakes before I endured an 8 hour drive all the way back to Uyuni - mentally draining and sore from the bumps!

A near death experiece come dodgy bus ride brought me to Tupiza where I shared a dorm with a German girl (Celia) and 2 French women (Stephanie and Gail). Celia and I went out at night then in the morning we filled up at an awesome market. The area was the final stomping ground of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and is blessed with landscapes of rolling red hills and cactus forests. We took a walk for a few hours around the town then chilled out with some more people and their guitars in the hostel. Dinner was enjoyed to the sound of fireworks as the locals celebrated the last day of Autumn and congregated around fires in the streets.

This morning I had a 3am start which brought me to the Argentinian border, where I met a nice Irish guy thank the lord! I was the only gringo on my bus and had heard horror stories about the immigration police. We breezed through and took a 7 hour bus to Salta where I am staying for a few days now, and hope to meet back up with Nicky, Brian and Lorraine. I am already falling for Argentina where the buses are warm and comfortable and have toilets and tvs! (non-existent in dear old Bolivia) The people seem really friendly and I have spotted a fair few steakhouses that are sure to help me build my strength up after my recent stint in hospital. Thank you all for your hopes that I am better - I am happy to say that I have fully recovered :)

Mmm, intravenous fluids

Most of you won´t have heard from me in a while and may be wondering what I´m up to, but I bet you didn´t guess I was in a Bolivian hospital fighting off salmonella, a parasite and bronchitis?! I started feeling ill in Copacabana, our first stop in Bolivia which is on the lovely Lake Titicaca (the highest lake in the world and the largest lake in South America). Karen and I missed out on visiting the islands in the lake for a day in bed and there we stayed until it was time to move to La Paz. I was feeling even worse in the capital and when the altitude sickness tablets didn´t help I called in the doc. He quickly diagnosed me with the above and I was ferried off to his clinic where they hooked me up to a drip for 4 days and pumped me full of fluids and antibiotics. It was a nice place where I had a private en suite room and 3 meals a day (force fed mind you!), but by no means was the place sterile like our hospitals. Still, I feel almost as good as new now and ready to carry on with my adventures. It´s put me behind schedule which is a major spanner in the works, so I´m missing out Brazil and taking my time here and in Argentina instead. Karen has flown home and Sian and Phil have gone to Peru, so it´s just little old me again for a wee while until I meet the group I shall be discovering the Salt Plains with. Now I´m off to finally discover the city I have already spent a week in, including the scarey sounding Witches Market where they sell dried llama foetuses! They´re supposed to bring good luck to a new home and do various other hokery pokery special things, but I´m still not convinced, and I don´t want to give customs any more reasons to have a good frisk!

Cusco

My last days in Lima were spent chilling out in Starbucks and the parks on the coast, and volunteering at a couple of refuges in the suburbs of the city. One was run by a Swiss lady called Doris who lives with 12 children who have come to her through social services, including 4 cute quadruplets and twin boys - bless their little alpaca woollen socks! I helped feed the littluns and played with the bigger children, then after lunch we visited another refuge. This is a day centre for the poorest children in the nearest shanty towns, which feeds them and teaches them various skills. Soon it will also be home to 2 young mothers and their babies. It hopes to give them the courage and skills they need to get back on their feet and support themselves and their children. The houses were brilliantly run and I was very impressed by the dedication of the people working there. These sorts of places are vital for Peru and its people and I´m glad I could see them and give a little support.

A 20 hour coach journey brought Sian, Phil, their friend Karen and I to Cusco where we have been for 6 days. I persuaded my Inca Trail company to refund most of my deposit and cancelled the trek, opting instead for the train, which by the looks of some of the trekkers at the site was the best move I have ever made! The air here is lacking in oxygen and so thin that I wake up most nights gasping and dehydrated. The city of Machu Picchu was an incredible sight to behold and our tour guide, though extremely annoying, helped us understand quite a lot about it. We had time to wander by ourselves and in doing so encountered lots of cute and fluffy llamas. I´m glad we went to MP but it was ridiculously expensive and a big hassle to get to it. The state of tourism in Cusco needs some serious rethinking too. It boasts about 500 tour companies, half of which are not genuine, making it extremely hard to find a good and trustworthy tour, and backpackers have been forced to get to Machu Picchu by a certain route leaving the government free to name a dishonest price. Even the official tourist information office with its uniformed staff and modern decor told us lies to get to our dollars.

We didn´t intend on staying in Cusco this long but it´s a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains and ruins and with a very Peruvian feel to it. Sian and I followed a huge and colourful procession around the city on Sunday and I managed a reunion with my Irish girlfriends last Friday. Tonight we head to Bolivia where Lake Titicaca and the salt plains await me, hopefully without any of the horror stories that some people have been telling. My friend Ellen witnessed a bus crash the other day in which a canadian girl died, so I´m staying well away from the night buses at all costs!

The city of the Incas - simple farming folk are believed to have lived here, but it is celebrated for surviving the invasion by the Spaniards who failed to discover the site

One of several llamas who inhabit Machu Picchu

Lima

It would seem I was never meant to learn Spanish here. I´m not sure what I did to put her off but my teacher stopped showing up! So I decided to use the book she had given me to teach myself and I already feel like I know a lot more.


I´m in Lima now to volunteer at a refuge run by a friend of a friend, but they can´t see me until Tuesday so I have some time to discover the capital. It´s a shame therefore that there isn´t a lot to do! Luckily I have randomly ended up in a hostel in the beachside area of Miraflores with an English couple I met on Fraser Island in Australia! The world gets smaller and smaller the more you travel. Yesterday we walked around sampling the cafes, parks and street entertainment, breaking up the day with a viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and now we feel ready to jump on a tin can (a rickety old public bus) and brave the big bad centre.


I was lucky to get a chance to volunteer in Arequipa as well, at a primary school in one of the new towns with some friends from my hostel who had been given the opportunity by their tour guide. I was really impressed by the school and most of the children seemed to be very keen learners. They were so cute but a lot of them were ill so I tried not to get too close. Luckily there have been no signs of the sniffles or nits! We were introduced to all of the classes then put to work. Dara and I helped Class 2 with their Spanish lesson (as well as we could!), I taught Class 4 fruits in English with Esther and Matt, then Dara and I made paper chains with Classes 2 and 3 and tried to teach them Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Sadly most of the children will not progress to secondary school, but it´s great that they can get a basic education here and learn how to behave with their peers and elders.

The other big event last week was my 3 day trek to the Colca Cañon. This is the world´s deepest canyon and for some reason I thought I and my gripless Diadora trainers would be able to walk all the way down into and back out of it! As soon as we started the big descent I knew I was in trouble, as I started to slip and altitude sickness set in. Amy was struggling too as her shoes were too small making her toenails lift and bruise - ewww!!! To cut a long story short, I passed out and chewed Coca leaves to settle my stomach before forceing myself to carry on. Thank god for the Irish girls Cathy and Coch who kept our spirits up! Amy and her man John stayed behind to catch a mule the rest of the way. Our guide could only show we 3 Cs some of the way to the village as he had to go back for the others, and by this time it was getting dark. I was sure we were going to be lost and stranded in the depths of the deepest canyon, but we eventually found civilisation, hot showers, beds and food (alpaca is yum!). The next day was easier, and at midday we relaxed for a few hours at a private oasis in the middle of an avocado grove. After lunch Amy and I faced the fact that we weren´t going to make it up on foot (by this time I was walking with a painful limp) and jumped on a couple of mules. It was the scariest but best horse trek I have ever done, as we were constantly in fear of the mules slipping but it was way more interesting than walking in a straight line down a country road. We whooped as we saw we had made it to the top and treated ourselves to some nice cold beer. The last day was trekking free and we went to see the famous Condor colony - loads of really huge birds soaring through the canyon and over our heads. My ancient Olympus brick wasn´t up to the challenge but some friends are going to email me some photos for you, Mum and Dad. The whole gang reunited again for a big night out in Arequipa, and as we´re all heading to Cusco I hope to see them all again for Part II very soon.

Arequipa, Peru

San Pedro de Atacama was far from what I imagined, but that´s definitely a good thing. It´s a dusty old city slap bang in the middle of the Atacama desert, with no tarmac, no pavements, and sometimes no electricity! It´s surrounded by volcanoes, some of which are active, sand dunes, and basically a whole bunch of nothingness. We hired bikes on our first day and messed around in the desert for 6 hours, finding an archaeological Inca site, an almighty canyon, and sunset at the Valley of the Dead (no corpses though, phew!). The next morning we rose at 4 o´clock for an excursion to the Tatio geisers and the surrounding area. The temperature was sub zero but we still managed to enjoy the geiser field (lots of gushing holes in the earth), the thermal pool (getting in and out wasn´t so much fun!), the native plants and animals (including giant long-tailed green and orange rabbits and lots of vicuñas and llamas) and a small village of about 20 people. Here we shared a nutricious and delicious llama kebab!

I almost cried when I had to leave Ellen because we became really good friends and I was petrified about being on my own again. With good reason too! The bus driver was very unhelpful, I temporarily thought my bags were being messed with or stolen when we changed bus, I wasn´t sure if my collectivo across the border to Peru was genuine (it was) and I was apprehensive about my destination, Arequipa. As soon as I arrived however all of my worries vanished and I have loved living in this city. It´s a beautiful place with a big square and lots of craft shops, I´m in a dorm with a nice Canadian guy who I´ve been spending some time with, our hostel has a rooftop (for sunbathing!), fluffy towels and a free breakfast and bottomless te de coca, and my spanish lessons are under way. They´re giving me a headache and I´m not that impressed with my teacher (who hardly speaks any English!) but I can always ask to change her and hopefully the lessons will become less painful. Time to catch some more rays!