Well, by this point we'd been travelling for nearly 11 months and had come to regard ourselves as pretty experienced travellers as we'd managed to get by without any major mishaps - but was it really wise to turn up in one of the world's most dangerous cities without the address of our hostel??? The answer to that we found out was No!
It meant an hour driving around Rio in a cab with a driver who was starting to get pissed off and in the end just pulled over and looked like he was going to cry! Luckily at this point we were only a few doors up from the hostel - someone must have been watching over us :)
We were relieved to eventually check in. But we thought we'd been driving for so long we'd ended up back in Australia!!!! I kid you not! Australia must have been empty as 85% of the folk staying at the hostel were Aussies.
So on that basis we'd say Brazilians are at the top of the partying league, followed closely by the Aussies! Although Brazilians are hard to beat - they can only be described as close to crazy!!! They can party on buses, trains, beaches, and in the street pretty much 24/7 for a week!!!
And the Sambadrome has to be the most colourful party of them all - 2x nights, 12x Samba schools, 100's of dancers, and 1000's of spectators - oh yes, and lots of half naked Brazilian ladies shaking their booty!!!
But with any good party comes a really bad hangover and this is where Rio's darker side comes to the fore. As the week progressed it seemed the locals were starting to loose it a little - feeling rough, getting paranoid, running out of cash and picking fights :( Unfortunately some of the folk at the hostel came out worse because of this as they were robbed - we were really lucky not to be!
And when we took a walking tour through one of the Favelas we realised Rio is one scary place! The poverty there is pretty extreme and the Mafia are the boys in charge - we guessed they were the one's on the motorbikes with the guns!! You're supposed to be okay when on the tour as the Mafia have given their approval, but there's no way you can go into a Favela on your own - there were some really mean looking dudes who looked like they really didn't want ANY Gringos on their patch!
During the tour we were told by our guide that Adriano (famous Brazilian footballer), still has a house in the Favela and parties with the Mafia every Sunday! I suppose it doesn't matter how rich you are - you still want to keep the Mafia on side!
So that was it !!!!! .......the party's OVER!! .... and we were heading home :(
AN AMAZING END TO AN AMAZING YEAR!!!!
(Although, perhaps its not quite the end just yet? We still have a night in the Mal Maison to look forward to for our anniversary on the 21st of March! This will take us full circle back to the start! We'll be thinking about you all and the good times we had when we were there last year :)
p.s. Don't forget we've still got some Aussie photos & 3 months in South America to show you. I'll be posting these in the next couple of weeks - something to keep me amused while I'm getting over being back at work :(
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
30/11/09 - 07/12/09 & 10/01/10 - 11/02/10, Argentina
We first arrived in Argentina way back at the end of November but we were only able to stay a week before we had to pop back to Chile. We must have been impressed though as we came back on the 10th of January for another month! Maybe it was the tasty food and drink which enticed us back ...... hot chocolate ..... fondue ...... steak ...... fast food trout! (beats the McD Hamburgers we've been consuming elsewhere) ...... and of course the Vino Tinto :)
Talking of "el vino", I'm not one to ever condone "drinking & driving" but "Mr Hugo's Cycling Wine Tour" in Mendoza was a highlight ....... 2x rickety bikes, 10x miles of cycling, 6x refreshment stops (at conveniently located Wineries), 1x police escort and 6x hours later we were wobbling home!!!
Don't worry, the police escort was after only one glass! And it was very amusing when the police officer jumped into his car, switched on the blue flashing light and drove round the roundabout the wrong way - there was nothing for it but for us to dutifully follow as it was all just to help us find the next winery :)
It was also quite ironic when we found out that Mr Hugo has a party in his garden every night at 6.00pm. But he's not intimidated by the fact that his clients have been spending the day sampling some of the best Vino Argentina can offer - he just serves up some "vinegar" which I think he may have brewed himself. To be fair, I didn't see any backpackers knocking it back - he knows his market well !!!
Oh, there was one downside to the whole thing - we think we now know a bit about wine :( ....... "if its not been aged in oak it's a young wine and it isn't going to be so good......."
Now our return visit to Argentina was a totally different experience! We rented an apartment in Buenos Aires and put our feet up for a while. This turned out to be a very good call as we had a chance to relearn the old unused skills of cleaning up after ourselves, cooking, shopping, and as we were in South America emptying the "jobby pot" (don't worry, this was only toilet paper but trust me that was bad enough :().
But it meant we could also indulge in a bit of entertaining when Suzi & Eric came to stay. How cool was that!! - we had a great time seeing old friends, having barbies, drinking more Vino and catching up on all the news from back home.
They then headed off on a jet plane to places where us skint backpackers can only dream of :( We were also giving them a head start so our 24 hour bus had time to catch up! Sadly though it wasn't long before it was also time for us to leave Buenos Aires, which was no easy task as it's a really chilled out city with a very enjoyable cafe culture :)
When we caught up with S&E again we spent another crazy few days at Iguazu where we gawped at the magnificent Falls (much more impressive than Niagra), walked across them, round them and got totally, completely, and utterly soaked on the boat which went under them!
We had been prepared for getting a little wet on this occasion, although we hadn't realised quite how much. However, it was amusing to see how others had prepared themselves. In response to the sign which said "there is a constant drizzle when up close to the Falls so we advise you to wear a raincoat" - was it really necessary for the old guy to walk about all day in just a pair of speedos?????? (still having flashbacks from that sight!). And maybe the blue shower cap that the Japanese bloke wore on the boat wasn't really worth it - he must have ended up being drenched from the ear down!!
So alas this takes us up to when we had only 7 days left!!! ....... saying that, at this stage we hadn't quite realised what we'd saved for last - we were really going to be going out on a high :)
Talking of "el vino", I'm not one to ever condone "drinking & driving" but "Mr Hugo's Cycling Wine Tour" in Mendoza was a highlight ....... 2x rickety bikes, 10x miles of cycling, 6x refreshment stops (at conveniently located Wineries), 1x police escort and 6x hours later we were wobbling home!!!
Don't worry, the police escort was after only one glass! And it was very amusing when the police officer jumped into his car, switched on the blue flashing light and drove round the roundabout the wrong way - there was nothing for it but for us to dutifully follow as it was all just to help us find the next winery :)
It was also quite ironic when we found out that Mr Hugo has a party in his garden every night at 6.00pm. But he's not intimidated by the fact that his clients have been spending the day sampling some of the best Vino Argentina can offer - he just serves up some "vinegar" which I think he may have brewed himself. To be fair, I didn't see any backpackers knocking it back - he knows his market well !!!
Oh, there was one downside to the whole thing - we think we now know a bit about wine :( ....... "if its not been aged in oak it's a young wine and it isn't going to be so good......."
Now our return visit to Argentina was a totally different experience! We rented an apartment in Buenos Aires and put our feet up for a while. This turned out to be a very good call as we had a chance to relearn the old unused skills of cleaning up after ourselves, cooking, shopping, and as we were in South America emptying the "jobby pot" (don't worry, this was only toilet paper but trust me that was bad enough :().
But it meant we could also indulge in a bit of entertaining when Suzi & Eric came to stay. How cool was that!! - we had a great time seeing old friends, having barbies, drinking more Vino and catching up on all the news from back home.
They then headed off on a jet plane to places where us skint backpackers can only dream of :( We were also giving them a head start so our 24 hour bus had time to catch up! Sadly though it wasn't long before it was also time for us to leave Buenos Aires, which was no easy task as it's a really chilled out city with a very enjoyable cafe culture :)
When we caught up with S&E again we spent another crazy few days at Iguazu where we gawped at the magnificent Falls (much more impressive than Niagra), walked across them, round them and got totally, completely, and utterly soaked on the boat which went under them!
We had been prepared for getting a little wet on this occasion, although we hadn't realised quite how much. However, it was amusing to see how others had prepared themselves. In response to the sign which said "there is a constant drizzle when up close to the Falls so we advise you to wear a raincoat" - was it really necessary for the old guy to walk about all day in just a pair of speedos?????? (still having flashbacks from that sight!). And maybe the blue shower cap that the Japanese bloke wore on the boat wasn't really worth it - he must have ended up being drenched from the ear down!!
So alas this takes us up to when we had only 7 days left!!! ....... saying that, at this stage we hadn't quite realised what we'd saved for last - we were really going to be going out on a high :)
Thursday, 18 February 2010
All good things come to an end!
Our trip is nearly over and we'll be home in a matter of hours!!!! .... where has the time gone? .......was it worth it?....... what would we do differently? ........ what was the best bit? ...... questions ....... questions .......and that's just in our heads :)
So to avoid us having to uneccesarily refer to our trip when we get back (our plan is only to mention it if you actually ask as we've now got plenty of other things to focus on like coping with work/finding work!! - and we don't want to be accused of boring you :) So we thought we'd put a few answers up here for those that are interested.
But before we do, we'd like to say a big thank you to those of you who have stuck with the blog, sent us messages about it and commented on our photos - it's been great to know that a lot of you have been travelling round the world with us!
Not much time left to waste so here's some of our thoughts on the whole thing - maybe some of you will be thinking about going on your own trip now and we can follow your adventures :) - eh, Ian?) -
Q: Which was our favourite country?
A: There isn't one as we loved different bits of all the countries. Saying that, we found India & Japan to be the most fascinating countries but for very different reasons.
Q: Did we miss our own bed?
A: No, this is an urban myth, however, every day we missed our own toilet!
Q: Was it worth it?
A: Yes most definitely - perhaps not in £'s sterling as it was not the cheapest time to travel, but as an experience we'll remember for ever - and hopefully share and reminisce about in our old age, it was the best and we feel very lucky :)
Q: Where are we planning to go next?
A: Not very far, for 2 reasons :-
* My Mum's likely to consficate our passports when we land at Glasgow Airport :), and
* We've missed loads of folk, so we want to make the effort to catch up, especially with those who travelled so far to come and see us off at our wedding last year. Su & John, David & Irene, Eric & Suzi, Neil & Clare (to name but a few) - you can all expect a visit sometime soon :)
Q: What was the most amazing sight we saw?
A: There's been a few, but Annapurna Base Camp at sunrise is probably No.1, but Machu Picchu is somewhere we'd like to see again.
Q: Cheapest country?
A: To be honest with the british £ its hard to find anywhere that's cheap these days but pound for pound with endless things to see and do - has to be India.
Q: What did we learn?
A: You don't have to be rich to be happy, "you can be rich on happiness instead"
Q: Best piece of advice we were given?
A: From Suzi - " do something every week that we've never done before as we'll never get the chance again - enjoy every minute." We tried to do this as best we could!
Q: Would we live abroad now?
A: Maybe one day, but as yet we've not found anywhere where we'd rather be than dour, miserable, rainy Scotland - sad to say "home is where the heart is" :)
Q: Will we miss the sun?
A: We sure will - a good blast of 30 degree heat cheers up any day :)
Q: Will we be bored when we're back?
A: Maybe sometimes, like day 2 back at work! But we appreciate what we have in life so we have lots to look forward to - like a Sunday afternoon in front of the coal fire and TV :)
Q: Biggest cock up we made?
A: Thinking our flight from Christchurh to New Zealand was leaving at 3.50pm, when that was when it was arriving - also the most costly mistake :(
Q: Has travel changed us?
A: You tell us in 6 months - perhaps a little :)
But don't run away just yet, as this isn't the end of the blog - I've still to actually tell you all about Argentina and the crazy week we've just spent at Carnaval in Rio, which I'm hoping to get round to in the next couple of weeks. We were saving the most insane bit for last - don't miss it :)
So to avoid us having to uneccesarily refer to our trip when we get back (our plan is only to mention it if you actually ask as we've now got plenty of other things to focus on like coping with work/finding work!! - and we don't want to be accused of boring you :) So we thought we'd put a few answers up here for those that are interested.
But before we do, we'd like to say a big thank you to those of you who have stuck with the blog, sent us messages about it and commented on our photos - it's been great to know that a lot of you have been travelling round the world with us!
Not much time left to waste so here's some of our thoughts on the whole thing - maybe some of you will be thinking about going on your own trip now and we can follow your adventures :) - eh, Ian?) -
Q: Which was our favourite country?
A: There isn't one as we loved different bits of all the countries. Saying that, we found India & Japan to be the most fascinating countries but for very different reasons.
Q: Did we miss our own bed?
A: No, this is an urban myth, however, every day we missed our own toilet!
Q: Was it worth it?
A: Yes most definitely - perhaps not in £'s sterling as it was not the cheapest time to travel, but as an experience we'll remember for ever - and hopefully share and reminisce about in our old age, it was the best and we feel very lucky :)
Q: Where are we planning to go next?
A: Not very far, for 2 reasons :-
* My Mum's likely to consficate our passports when we land at Glasgow Airport :), and
* We've missed loads of folk, so we want to make the effort to catch up, especially with those who travelled so far to come and see us off at our wedding last year. Su & John, David & Irene, Eric & Suzi, Neil & Clare (to name but a few) - you can all expect a visit sometime soon :)
Q: What was the most amazing sight we saw?
A: There's been a few, but Annapurna Base Camp at sunrise is probably No.1, but Machu Picchu is somewhere we'd like to see again.
Q: Cheapest country?
A: To be honest with the british £ its hard to find anywhere that's cheap these days but pound for pound with endless things to see and do - has to be India.
Q: What did we learn?
A: You don't have to be rich to be happy, "you can be rich on happiness instead"
Q: Best piece of advice we were given?
A: From Suzi - " do something every week that we've never done before as we'll never get the chance again - enjoy every minute." We tried to do this as best we could!
Q: Would we live abroad now?
A: Maybe one day, but as yet we've not found anywhere where we'd rather be than dour, miserable, rainy Scotland - sad to say "home is where the heart is" :)
Q: Will we miss the sun?
A: We sure will - a good blast of 30 degree heat cheers up any day :)
Q: Will we be bored when we're back?
A: Maybe sometimes, like day 2 back at work! But we appreciate what we have in life so we have lots to look forward to - like a Sunday afternoon in front of the coal fire and TV :)
Q: Biggest cock up we made?
A: Thinking our flight from Christchurh to New Zealand was leaving at 3.50pm, when that was when it was arriving - also the most costly mistake :(
Q: Has travel changed us?
A: You tell us in 6 months - perhaps a little :)
But don't run away just yet, as this isn't the end of the blog - I've still to actually tell you all about Argentina and the crazy week we've just spent at Carnaval in Rio, which I'm hoping to get round to in the next couple of weeks. We were saving the most insane bit for last - don't miss it :)
Saturday, 30 January 2010
The Wonderful World of Oz!
The first half of our trip round Oz - your chance to meet some of the lovely people who looked after us so well and to see some of the weird and wonderful creatures who lurk in the watery depths off these sandy shores:-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=189234&id=810223271&l=a991626952
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=189234&id=810223271&l=a991626952
Monday, 25 January 2010
Cantonese Style!
Now Hong Kong is a whole different kettle of fish (quite literally as you'll see later :)
We were enchanted by HK and we'd definitely recommend booking it in as a stop over if you're going further afield, or even for a few days as Elaine & Manuel did - if you don't mind a bit of jet lag from the return journey!
It has some great food (so much better than its Big Brother), is relatively small so it's easy to get around (it even has a subway that goes under the sea!), there's lots to do and some pretty countryside too. Have a look if you don't believe me :)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4636287&l=93c435db13&id=810223271
We were enchanted by HK and we'd definitely recommend booking it in as a stop over if you're going further afield, or even for a few days as Elaine & Manuel did - if you don't mind a bit of jet lag from the return journey!
It has some great food (so much better than its Big Brother), is relatively small so it's easy to get around (it even has a subway that goes under the sea!), there's lots to do and some pretty countryside too. Have a look if you don't believe me :)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4636287&l=93c435db13&id=810223271
Sunday, 17 January 2010
A Taste of Thailand!
First up, these aren't the best of photos for a couple of reasons:-
1) My camera was in 'intensive care' being brought back to life, so some of the best bits of Thailand are only engrained in our minds for posterity :(, and
2) Thailand is pretty much what it says on the tin - lovely beaches, cheap beer and a great place to party, but it's not really much more than that (unless you're into its darker side!). Apologies if we've offended anyone :(, but I'll reiterate it is a great place to party and we did do plenty of that :) And that's not to say we wouldn't go back!
Have a wee look for yourself :-
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4623255&l=f9b0985af9&id=810223271
1) My camera was in 'intensive care' being brought back to life, so some of the best bits of Thailand are only engrained in our minds for posterity :(, and
2) Thailand is pretty much what it says on the tin - lovely beaches, cheap beer and a great place to party, but it's not really much more than that (unless you're into its darker side!). Apologies if we've offended anyone :(, but I'll reiterate it is a great place to party and we did do plenty of that :) And that's not to say we wouldn't go back!
Have a wee look for yourself :-
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4623255&l=f9b0985af9&id=810223271
New Year Photos - Nepal!
Well last May's actually!
But I've got round to them eventually - and these bring back some great memories for us :) Our trek to Annapurna Base Camp was our No.1 highlight of the whole trip.
I think maybe the fact it has "base camp" in the title, which is not somewhere with my athletic abilities I thought I'd never make it to, perhaps had a little to do with it too! Oh yeah, and the scenery was out of this world!!
Enjoy! -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187651&id=810223271&l=499b3c9b26
But I've got round to them eventually - and these bring back some great memories for us :) Our trek to Annapurna Base Camp was our No.1 highlight of the whole trip.
I think maybe the fact it has "base camp" in the title, which is not somewhere with my athletic abilities I thought I'd never make it to, perhaps had a little to do with it too! Oh yeah, and the scenery was out of this world!!
Enjoy! -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187651&id=810223271&l=499b3c9b26
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