Buenos Aires and beyond!

Welcome one and all to the last instalment of my South American blog.. I am writing this from the comfort of my parent's house where I am eating 3 meals a day and sleeping in my own bed and best of all no more bus journeys from hell!!!!

Valledupar - Not many travellers come here, but its a pretty big city with a lot to offer - friendly people, nice attractions, and rum!! I am never going to drink Old Parr rum again, it's the devil I tell ya! I passed out in my friend Juan's car at 1am while the others continued to get smashed. I spent the next few days in a hungover haze, I also made the decision to extend my visa and spend the last month being irresponsible in Colombia!!

San Andres - Next stop island paradise! I caught a bus to Cartagena, spent a couple of days mooching around then took a flight to San Andres via Bogota. Its an island closer to Nicaragua than Colombia if you really wanted to know! Not many hostals here and not many travellers either, mainly Colombian holiday makers, hence it was a bit of an expensive trip. I tried not to spend too much money here so sunbathing and eating 2 meals a day was the agenda for a week!! Main highlights were cycling round the entire island (37km) on a crap bike, doing my 1st open water scuba dive in crystal clear waters (great experience but developed a bit of mask squeeze and had a headache for the next 2 weeks!!), and trying to sleep in unbearable heat with a tiny ceiling fan!

Palomino - Back to Cartagena for a night then zoomed off to Palomino for more beach time! Again, not many travellers come here.... Or are people now getting forewarned of where I am going to be!! Had a great time in Palomino and the hostal was awesome too, even though I had to sleep in a hammock (money was tight), and ward off killer chickens in the night... well maybe not "killer" but really annoying and one of them actually tried to jump in my hammock with me in it, I nearly strangled the sodding thing!! 1st night in Palomino was a hoot with some stoner Austrians, we played poker and smoked cigars... travelling can be very hard sometimes! I made friends with the owner Chris, who is even more chilled than me, met a lovely Irish girl Called Paula, read a few books, swam in the sea, and watched some amazing storms!

Minca - On the way to Minca my bus started going back to Palomino, hence a relatively short trip was made a lot longer because of some retarded bint who sold me the wrong ticket... I have had it with buses!!!! The owner of the hostal in Minca was actually born in the same hospital as me, which is bizarre!! The hostal itself overlooked Santa Marta, a popular city in Northern Colombia, and met some very nice people there, and visited a very nice waterfall. Got attacked by more sandflies, another thing I won't miss from South America!

Santa Marta - Couple of nights here in a mega hostal "La Brisa Loca" which means "crazy breeze". Paula worked in the bar here so, obviously I got trashed!! Went to the beach the next day for my last dose of sun!!!

Girardot - Stayed with my friend Nini for a few days... again, no travellers come here. This is good actually, you get to see parts of Colombia off the normal Gringo trail and you have to speak Spanish, which again is a good thing!! Nini was a great host, she showed me around town and was introduced to her lovely family, we spent a very nice couple of days together before I headed back to Medellin for one final party!!!

Last bus journey!!! - I saved the best journey until last... a routine 5 hour trip ended up taking 10 hours, I was not a happy bunny upon arriving in Medellin!!

Last night in Medellin - I spent the day buying souvenirs and went out with the hostals resident party organiser Felipe - just to mention Felipe doesn't work at the hostal, he just likes getting smashed with travellers in Parque Lleras!! Needless to say I got very drunk with my old friend Aguardiente with assorted travellers and had a cracking night. Upon returning to the hostal me and the receptionist had a drunken smooch ( I was drunk, she was not!)... I had fancied her for some time so it was a great end to the trip!!

The journey home - Arrived drunk at the airport and had to perform various tasks which were not easy during an Aguardiente-fuelled hangover. I had a good laugh with an airport worker while we tried to fill out a form I needed as I had no idea what I was doing/saying!! I slept all the way to Miami, watched american football in the airport for 5 hours, then endured the slowly encroaching depression of returning to English soil!!

So that's it, journey over, had a blast. Big hello to all the lovely traveller people/hostal staff/stray dogs I met in South America. I hope to meet you all again some day... maybe not the stray dogs though.....

Things learnt during 7 months - I can now communicate in Spanish, endure horrendously long journeys and sleep in a hammock!!

Also, hope you have enjoyed the blog.

Mike

Hi everybody!!

Sorry its been a while since the last blog, but I have been having a blast in Colombia and havent had any spare time, and I am notoriously lazy!

Quito - After arriving in Quito with my French pal Julian, we decided to head on up to Cali in Colombia as it was too blooming cold and we needed some hot weather, sorry Quito!

Cool Cali (the Salsa Capital of Colombia) - We stayed in the best hostel in town, made some great friends, and had the pleasure of meeting Sergio, an absolute hoot/hypocondriac/mentalist!! We went to an amazing pool party and spent the rest of the time drinking coffee... how cultural! The week after I went to stay with my friend Chris (who I met in Buenos Aires at the beginning of the trip) who happens to have a very pimp apartment. We had a cool camping weekend away with some fellow couchsurfers, eat a lot of mango and watched La Copa America!!

Stunning Salento - I met up with crazy Paula (from Bolivia) in Cali and we headed off to Salento for some relaxing times in the coffee region... yes more coffee!!! I rode a horse through a stunning valley, learnt about how coffee was made, learnt how to play the stockmarket (its well easy), played lots of backgammon and drank my bodyweight in coffee!!!!

Mega Medellin - Lovely lovely Medellin!!!! Spent a few days here with my assorted crew of travelling companions visiting the Botanical Gardens, taking the cable car up through the poor district, partying in El Poblado and discovering a new drink called Aguardiente which is pretty lethal stuff and pretty cheap too... BONUS!! I also met the love of my life on countless occasions whilst wandering the streets, there are a hell of a lot of beautiful women here, cold showers are a must!!

Colonial Cartagena - Bloody hot!!!!!! Impossible to do anything here as you need medical attention if you walk more than 2 blocks!! Went to a mud volcano and got covered in mud, it was a waste of time, even the mud was hot. Visited the beautiful Playa Blanca for a few days, snorkelling, lobster and Backgammon was the order of the day here. I also bumped into Henrik The Swede who I randomly met at a party in Cali!!

Toilet Taganga - Too many hippies, crap beaches, massive Israeli hostal complex...... However, my hostal did have table tennis and there was a Michelin rated chef working down the road, so it wasnt all bad!

Mega storm and flood - Arriving back in Cartagena from Taganga there was flooding all over the streets and I very nearly missed my connecting bus to Medellin, luckily the taxi driver was related to Juan Pablo Montoya (but slightly faster in the wet) and we made it just in time! The storm itself was incredible, sheet lightning and thunderous thunder, I nearly pooped my pants...

Medellin again - I arrived back in Medellin for the start of the Under 20 World Cup and the very famous Fiesta del Flores. I wished I had missed Englands 1st game against Korea, apart from my very cool face paint it was a pretty awful game. Highlights of the next 10 days in Medellin was a mixture of football, Aguardiente, attempts at salsa, a 10 minute version of the birdie song at an outdoor fiesta, more Aguardiente, more Salsa, swimming in a freshwater lake and climbing up a big stone in Guatape (very cool), and la piece de resistance was the Sunday festival where all the neighbouring villages of Medellin come down with massive flower arrangements on their back!! Of course I forgot to take my camera as I had an Aguardiente shaped hangover, sorry!! My last day in Medellin I went to the Velodrome and cycled around for an hour, cool experience and it was free!!

Bonjour Bogota - I stayed with my French friend Eli in Bogta and his hilarious flatmate Francois Drelon who has developed the same taste for Aguardiente as me!! Met some very cool people, went to a Mexican girls birthday party (who I had met on the bus going to Quito), had a cool night out with Francois, note to self dont drink tequila after aguardiente.... Unfortunately, Bogota was too cold for little old me, so I went in search of sunshine!

Villa de Leyva - Lovely part of Colombia, spent a nice couple of days there cycling around, visited an ostrich farm, watched more Under 20s World Cup.

Manizales - Did nothing for 2 days apart from watch DVDs, might have had something to do with excess Aguardiente in my system.

San Gil - After a brief stop off in Medellin (again), I find myself in San Gil. Yesterday I abseiled down a waterfall, and today I Hydrosped down some rapids (its a floaty board and you get flippers) which was very cool indeed!!!!

I really need the toilet now, I have been typing for quite a while!!

Hope you enjoy reading it, as there will probably only be one more in this extremely interesting, edge of the seat, yet informative cultural study of South America......

Hasta luego!!!!!!

A big kiss to all the lovely people I have met in Colombia and all those at home that I miss (except you Danny B!!!!)

Hola chicos!!

Last time I wrote I was in the sand dunes in Huacachina in Peru sandboarding, buggying, and even getting mega cultural by doing some wine tasting which turned into a very messy night!!!

Bus to Trujillo - I took a bus to Trujillo in the north of Peru in search of sunshine and beaches. I would just like to mention now that my name is a source of hilarity amongst most South Americans. I showed my passport to the ticket guy to board the bus and he said to the lady behind me "I present to you Michael Jackson... he is not dead!" It pretty much happens everyhwere I go... the best one was the taxi driver we had from Chile to Peru who just kept cracking up every time he looked at me!!!!!!

Trujillo to Huanchaco - I met a nice Chileno guy, Christian, off the bus and we stayed in a crazy hostel for a week in Huanchaco with 2 very loud parrots, and some very lazy hostel workers... I think I did more work than them and I was laid up in bed for a few days with a dodgy stomach!! I did a couple of days of surfing, and played football with the locals, but unfortunately I missed out on the hostel party because I was so ill, and had to move to a different hostel for some peace and quiet and more importantly a private toilet!!!!

Montañita - Overnight bus to Montañita in Ecuador with Christian. Unfortunately lost (or had stolen) my Ipod and dictionary on the bus, 2 of the most important things I own!!! Stayed a week in a beautiful hostal on the beach. Mostly partying, playing cards and lying in a hammock here as it is cloudy every day. Met some great people and some very strange people too and it really is Hippy Central here, no I do not want to buy any sodding jewellery, bugger off!!

Gay - My 2 gay friends from England, Matija and Stewart showed up for a few days, we hung out with Cartoon Josh and went to a Reggae party on the beach. I learnt how to play a didgeridoo from a Chilean girl who could play it just as badly as I could! Also, the food here is good which is a bonus as the weather sucks!!

Tonight I am off to the capital Quito where I will stay for a few days before heading off to Cali in Colombia!!! I´m on my own again as Christian went off in search of more parties in Mancora....

I have just read this back and it is really boring, sorry!!!! That is what happens when you are beach bumming it, every day is the same!!!

I promise to do some more interesting things but in the meantime I have to psyche myself up for my 12 hour bus trip to Quito tonight!!

Suerte!!!

Sanchez

Hola chicos!!!

It´s been a long time since my last blog so here it is in all its regal finery!!

Samaipata - In between playing darts at the local watering hole I did a trek into the jungle for 5 days with a great guide and a rowdy rabble of travellers. Apart from macheteing my way through the jungle and seeing some amazing insects and plant life my personal highlight was the french hippy girl hugging a tree... literally... what a nob!!

La Paz - The day before my birthday I decided to go down the infamous DEATH ROAD, which was a great day out with some fantastic scenery and a few minor scares, but personally I think cycling round London is far more dangerous. The following day I celebrated in style with some pals, a fancy restaurant followed by a bar crawl, and an impromptu dj set from yours truly and didnt get home until 830 which wouldn´t have been so bad but I had booked a bus to Copacabana leaving at 1pm, needless to say I felt like death warmed up for the entire day!!

Copacabana/Isla Del Sol - Arrived in the not so beautiful town of Copacabana but I left the next day and spent 2 days on the beautiful Isla Del Sol chilling and doing a bit of strolling around and happened to meet some nice people there too.

La Paz (again) - I lost my entry stamp to leave Bolivia so had to go back to La Paz and sort it out, met some dutch guys on the bus and we had a good night out before I left for Sorata the next day. Sorata itself was a really scenic place, I pretty much did nothing there apart from get bitten by sandflies 24/7, annoying buggers! Hitched a ride back to Copacabana on the back of a truck with a few other people which was good fun, then attempted to leave in a boat for Puno in Peru the next day.

Closed borders - Well, the boat to Puno was a no go but luckily met some nice girls from Barcelona, some groovy Dutch guys (who are rubbish at ping pong), and Yukari (a Japanese maniac). We travelled back to La Paz (I don´t even like La Paz but somehow keep going back!), and just managed to get on a bus going to Arica in Chile. Also bumped into Stephen and Romany from my death road/birthday extravaganza and we all went on our merry way to Arica...which is a shit hole... However, we made the most of it - it was Rob´s birthday (one of the Dutch guy´s) and we went out to celebrate until the early hours. We stayed in a hostel, which looked as though at had been built by a drunk, blind man with no building experience whatsoever, so we moved to Arica Surf House, which was very nice indeed, and it had a ping pong table too!! We watched the Champions League final, cheering on Barca. Luckily they won, so the girls were happy!!

POLICIA!! - Next stop was Arequipa, a beautiful city in the South of Peru. We had to wait around for a bit as there was still trouble at the borders so we decided to hire a car, big mistake!!! Bart (the other Dutch guy) jumped a red light, and a cop pulled us over. Luckily, the girls got us out of trouble, but we were told that we were not insured so we headed back to the car hire company to sort it out. Confusion reigned and neither side willing to budge over who was right or wrong (apparently this was the only traffic policeman in Peru who doesnt know anything about insurance.. beard!), we managed to pay half price for the car, and hopped on a bus to Cusco!!

Cusco - Arriving in Cusco in my flip flops, shorts and t shirt and jumping out the bus for a quick ciggie after 11 hours turned out not to be a great idea. The altitude and coldness hit me, luckily they had a nurses station at the bus terminal and "The White Angel" made me down some coca tea and put on some warm clothes and I was as right as rain again, what a plonker! After saying goodbye to the Spanish and the Dutch, who are now addicted to a card gane called Yaniv, it was time to get the hell out of Cusco and haul arse up Machu Picchu!!

The Trek - I went with Steve and Romany on a jungle trek to Machu Picchu. Day 1 - downhill cycling, rafting and a game of football in the evening, Saffer Craig scored a blinder to beat my team, bugger!! Day 2 - Lots of walking, which involved part of the original Inca Trail (very narrow with a sheer drop). Steve and I were clinging on for dear life as our vertigo kicked in. The evenings festivities were hilarious, it turns out I am pretty flexible (email me for further details!) Day 3 - ZIPLINING!!!! The term "shitting myself" applied to both myself and Steve as we flew across canyons on a steel cable, what an experience plus it cut out some walking, bonus!! In the afternoon session we walked to Aguas Calientes along the train tracks, Steve treated our group to a rendition of Stand By me with his guitar, awesome! We all got a good nights kip before heading to Machu Picchu in the morning!

MAC PIC - Awake at 4 to clamber up 1600 steps to the amazing, beautiful, jaw droppingly awesome Machu Picchu to get our stamps for Huayna Picchu on the same day. We arrived in time for sunrise and had a nice tour around before clambering up Huayna Picchu. I took my friend Danny Bent´s book up to the summit of Huayna Picchu and took some photos for his website. We had decided before I came travelling that I would distribute some of his books around South America and this was the last one, so my bag is a bit lighter now, but it was totally worth the effort, love you Danny Boy!!!! You can see the pictures here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Where-are-Danny-bents-books/192172690804058

Knackered - Arrived back in Cusco extremely knackered from the trek, spent a couple of days recovering and after a very luxurious bus ride to Ica I am now staying in a hostel nestled amongst sand dunes and an oasis, nice! Buggys and sandboarding are all you can do here, so thats exactly what I am doing. Also, the owner of the hostel left me and a few others in charge of the bar last night...big mistake!!!!!!

Next stop, not sure, but heading vaguely north to beaches and sun, had enough of walking and altitude for the time being!!

Hope you haven´t fallen asleep yet, I promise the next instalment will be shorter!!!

Hast pronto chicos!!!!

X

Hola chicos!!

The last time I wrote I had just arrived in Sucre with the motley crew. I now find myself in Samaipata, how the heck did that happen I ask you?!

Let me begin.... the 1st night in Sucre was a...mazing, it involved some crazy Bolivian dancing, very weird infusion food, a sexy Gandalf and some pretty awesome dancing from me and John at the end of the night, as we were whisked off our feet by some Bolivian beauties and joined in the fun!

WASI MASI! I moved to a new hostel called Wasi Masi, which was a good choice, met some great people, had many barbecues and it even had a dog named Balou, a real sweetie!

ESPANGLISH!! The lessons I continued to take with the beautiful Abi on her rooftop terrace bordered on the insane, maybe I am drinking too much coffee in the mornings! After dissecting my shoddy homework we talked about things ranging from what I would do if the chinese mafia kidnapped me to becoming Lord of dead fish island!!

QUIZ NIGHT!! The 1st quiz night ended in a shambles, my team finishing dead last and as it was a tie for 1st place a Reggaton dance off ensued, they should do that on Eggheads, just a thought! The 2nd quiz night we fared better, coming 2nd and getting some free beer, not bad I tell you!

SOCCER & SALMONELLA!! I went to a football match with Bristol Dave and Conflicted Jenna. I think even Southend would have beaten these clowns!! However, the ice creams were great and Dave bought an umbrella, we went out to celebrate the away team´s victory and whaddya know, old greedy guts has a bit of Jenna´s omelette and the following 3 days ensued horrible gut wrenching pain and a body temperature on a par with the centre of the sun! Stumbling to my school, I managed to enlist the help of Abi to take me to a private clinic and after the interrogation was over I was taken to my new room for the night with round the clock attention, a drip and a cocktail of drugs, not to mention severe hilarity from the hospital staff at my name!!!!

MIDDLESBROUGH!!! James from Middlesbrough arrived and lent me a book called Amarillo Slim, a famous gambler from Texas. We then proceeded to bet on pretty much everything from how long a candle would burn, to injury time in footie matches. He still hasn´t won a bet, Slim would be proud of me!

MOUNTAIN BIKING! A nice day out with JimBob, the downhill bits were great, the uphill bits not so great, altitude is not condusive to doing any exercise! A lovely barbecue was had, thanks to Suiss Sylvia and her Argentine boyfriend. We then had a walk to the 7 waterfalls, we couldn´t find the 7th one, false advertising me thinks, but we did see some kids sniffing glue on the rocks, so they probably saw it!!

ABDEL!! Abdel, who works at Wasi Masi introduced me to Futsal, mini 5-a-side on an outside asphalt pitch. Me and a few other Brits went along and sure enough it was Bolivia vs. England and the crowd was very excited! We eventually went down fighting 5-4, but it was at altitude and that should have given us at least a 1 goal handicap, so we´ll call it a draw!!

QUEENS DAY!! It just so happened that it was the Dutch Queen´s birthday so I managed to find a Dutch Wesley Sneijder shirt from a shop and went out for the evening in my orange attire! We ended up in a club called Mitos, and apparently an orange shirt is not condusive to pulling but is great for talking to Dutch people!

ARRIVAL OF KOEN! James´s friend Koen arrived and we all went out to celebrate my last night in Sucre. Proceeded to get smashed, then didn´t know where else was open. Cue Koen and his ability to find a bar in the early hours, by hammering on a door until they let us in for drinks! We then went to a Karaoke bar and surrounded ourselves with Bolivian beauties. One of the guys who played futsal was there too, he was a professional football player in the Bolivian 2nd division, not FAIR!!!!!

SANTA CRUZ/SAMAIPATA!! Only spent a day in Santa Cruz, the bus journey there was hideous as the roads were pretty cruddy, but I survived and now find myself in Samaipata, a nice little sleepy town with lots of tours available and plenty of time to soak up the rays! Also encountered a tarantula on the patio, eek!! Not sure where to next but not La Paz, as it is miles away!!!!