WEEK TWELVE

Monday we hired speed boats for the day that took us to two beautiful lagoons; a blue lagoon and a green lagoon. When we arrived at the greeen lagoon we were all extremely excited as the sun was finally shining and it looked as though the weather was clearing up. The lagoon was appropriately named, as the water was a beautiful clear green colour and you could see all the way to the bottom and all  the fish and coral around. We spent a good two or three hours, snorkeling, swimming and sun baking. By the time we got to the blue lagoon it was starting to get very over cast and in the end it started to rain. We still fitted in a swim but had to wrap it up early before it started storming down. That evening the 6 of us headed out to an all you can eat where you pay by the weight of the plate! This is pretty common in the areas we've been to. 

Tuesday we caught the first ferry back to the mainland and then a van that took us to Rio! Coming in to the city, we all had our eyes peeled keeping a close eye out for Christ the Redeemer, which turned out to be very easy to spot! From almost any angle you could see him. Coming through, there was a lot of general clean up and construction happening in and around the city for the upcoming world cup and Olympics; which appears to be a god send, given conditions of some areas. 
I unfortunately only had a day and a half in rio so the girls suggested we quickly drop off our stuff to our hotel in Copacabana and head straight for a guided city tour - which we did. We got picked up by 'Usher' at 3pm where he took us straight up to Christ first off. Standing 38m high, on top of a 700m high hill, it was no wonder you could see if from anywhere! Approaching the area, we had to drive through a lot of narrow, cobbled, windy streets. There were hundreds of people in the area when we reached the top so photos were painful at times, but the views of the entire city was amazing.  
Following this, Usher took us down to the area of saint Teresa; historically habituated by the rich, now over taken by artists and hippies. The area is also in the hills, with narrow windy roads and aging mansions. We did a short walk through the streets which are filled with colorful restaurants and bars and lots of graffiti - which is legal in Brazil. 
From st Teresa, we headed to the famous steps (it's killing me that I can't remember what they're called!) lined with hand painted tiles made by tourists and put together by the artist.. We spotted several aussie tiles. Unfortunately only a week or two earlier, the artist actually died; reportedly burned alive AT the stairs.. None of us have had a chance to read or look into it further, but the exact details are sketchy. However, Usher did point out the area where he apparently was burned and several tiles had ash all over them.. Like I said details are sketchy so I can't be sure what it right! 
We then made a quick stop off at the cathedral metropolitana - a cathedral holding 20 000 people! Stepping inside was breathtaking.. The ceiling height was unbelievable and the glass windows were beautiful. 
Usher then drove us to the base of Sugarloaf, an iconic 400m mountain which would offer breathtaking views of the entire city - on a Nice day! Of course, our luck, just as we were rocking up it started spitting and by the time we had caught the two cable cars to the very top, it was pouring. The cloud was closing in but underneath it, the views were quite clear. We managed to gab a couple of quick photos before it starting bucketing down ; thunder and lightning too! So we bolted back to the cable car, only to discover that it had to be closed as it was too dangerous. So we were stranded in this big shipping container  -type room for about an hour! Us 6 managed to keep ourselves entertained with some stupid games; which also appeared to entrain others around us! When it finally reopened, there was still thunder and lightning but not directly above us.. We rode the whole way down in the middle of cloud. 
We didn't get back home till after 830 and I was stuffed.. So instead of going to the group dinner, ash and I grabbed a take away pizza and watched the Simpsons in Spanish. 

Wednesday (officially our last morning on tour) morning, ash and I were on a mission .. We were ready and checked out of our hotel by 9am and by 910 we were in heaven - a havianna store just a couple of blocks away! It was extremely overwhelming as there was just row after row of haviannas with different colors, styles and patterns. As we were very pushed for time, I only bought 3 pair for myself, which cost $45 altogether. 
We rushed back to our hotel just in time to leave for the famous Favela tours - which is a tour of one of the 700 slums (known as a favela) that inhabit Rio state. Traditionally these tours were run by the drug lords that once (unofficially) had power of these suburbs, but this particular one was now under police control (only as of 18 months ago). The most noticeable thing on arrival was the large amounts of live wiring just above our heads and pipes along our feet. There is literally home on top of home and majority look extremely unstable, not to mention tiny. There was sewerage water, rubbish, stool, dead rats, crumbled homes and wild dogs all over the place. The smell in some areas was VERY overpowering. We were stopped by a group of young kids who put on a small performance for us in the street. We visited a really funky art studio selling graffiti. We stopped off at a little bakery for morning tea and then into a child care centre. It was quite an overwhelming morning, that reminded me of how lucky I am. 
After about 2 1/2 hours here, we were dropped back off at our hotel, where the other girls were keen to take a visit to the havianna store! So back we went. Between the 6 of us, $600 was spent on haviannas that day. 
We checked into our hostel in Ipanema, next door to Copacabana, and went for a short stroll along the lagoon before dinner. This was my last night with 
the girls, which really didn't seem real. The 3 weeks had flown by and it was hard to believe that in 3 more weeks I would be home back in aus! So we said our final goodbyes and had a reasonably early night.

Thursday, the day I had been dreading since I booked the trip.. My long trip through to  La Paz, Bolivia, via Lima with a 13 hour stop over. I was up at 3am and at the airport by 430 for a 630 flight. I managed to sleep for most of the 5 hour flight to Lima, thankfully. And surprisingly, the 13 hour wait was quite pleasant and actually relaxing! The airport had a lot more shops than I expected so I browsed through them for a long while. I finally replaced my broken digital camera with a funkier one, so I played with that for about an hour. I had an early lunch at one of the restaurants. I had over 500 photos to sort through and a week worth of journal to catch up on. I got a 30 min (awesome) massage and made friends with a 8 year old Colombian girl who didn't speak a word of english. We hung out for about half an hour, drawing pictures of what we were trying to say.. She tried to teach me some Spanish and regularly ran back to her mum for some help! It was lots of fun but I think she got a little frustrated at times with me! I arrived into la Paz at about 1am and it took me about an hour to get through immigration and customs.. As you can imagine I was stuffed and itching for a bed. I also hadn't really thought through my attire - I was in a singlet and thongs, while everyone else was in beanies, puffer jackets and boots! It was freeeeeezing. 

Friday morning was an exciting time, as I was finally reunited with my tent buddy from Africa, Carolyn! It was SO good to see her again, with so many stories to swap from our adventures over the past two months. I unfortunately woke up with a killer headache due to the dramatic increase in altitude, but I soldiered on with Carolyn and a few other girls that were starting the same tour through the witches market just around the corner from our hotel. It appeared that I brought the weather with me, as it rained on and off for mot of the time we were out! My main reason for wanting to come to la Paz, was to visit the San Pedro prison, which was in the book marching powder. I was starting to feel more and more ill but was determined to pay the prison a visit - conveniently, it was about 15 mins from our hotel. It was just how the author described it in the book, which was a little confronting - a long line of women and children waiting to get inside (the family of the prisoners are actually allowed to live in the prison with their partner/father), we could even see through the gates to where the prisoners were sitting outside and they began yelling out to us, before we got ushered away by the guards. It was pretty full on but so interesting to witness. 
We then headed to a nice cafe close by for lunch, intending to then go on the city tour bus.i ended up having to go back to the hotel because I was feeling pretty nauseas. I spent the arvo in bed, and then went to meet our tour guide, Rudy, and the rest of the group. 
That night we went for dinner at a really cool restaurant, which was decked out in kind of medieval decor. I tried a traditional dish of llama with sausage.. It was a bit chewy but was marinated pretty nicely. 

Saturday we were on the bus by 730 to make tracks to Puno in Peru. It took us the majority of the day to cross the border and get to our hotel, but the scenery along the way was so interesting; so different to the rest of south America I have been too.extremely poverty stricken, and the people look very different.. Not to mention the dress. 
Once we were settled in our hotel, Rudy took us on a walking orientation of the town. He was extremely informative and so very passionate about everything he was explaining. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side as it began absolutely pouring down while we were out. Luckily most of us had our Parker's with us but it was bloody freezing cold rain! Following our orientation, Rudy took us to a restaurant for dinner which was popular for guinea pig - a popular meal within Peru. We shared 3 between the group, mainly just to try it. Our guinea pigs were not very plumped so we literally got a mouthful of meat.. But it was great to be able to say I've tried it! 

Sunday was a big day. We caught the local 'taxi' (similar to a tuk tuk but it was a bicycle) to the warf of lake titicaca, where we jumped on board a boat to visit one of the many floating islands on the humongous lake. The lake is the largest in the world above 2000m above sea level. It was incredible to hear the way in which these man-made islands are created; it takes up to 12 months with a large group of males working on it full time. We spent an hour or so on the floating island with the locals dressed in their bright coloured outfits - we even had the chance to dress up and be a part of it too. 
We then had a 3 hour boat ride to the island of amantani, where we were split into groups and then would be spending the night with a local family. We met our 'mamas' and were escorted to our home for the night. Once we were settled in our room, we then headed off to the local football stadium for a game of soccer with a team of locals and us! We then got dressed up and went to a 'disco' to learn some local dance moves, before heading back home where our mama had our dinner ready for us on the table. Peruvian meals always consist of potato, rice and something else! And that is exactly what we got.. Rice with a vegetable mix. It was surprisingly quite nice.
We were in bed by 920 that night - absolutely freezing! With no electric heating and 3000 plus metres above sea level, I was dressed in a singlet, thermal long sleeve, jumper, thermal pants, cargo pants, beanie and scarf for bed! 
Xx