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Claire & Dave's Big Adventure
This is 'the last minute update because we will never get the blog finished properly now we are home'.
We have to be realistic, there is no chance that we will get round to sitting down and finishing this blog in the detail that we have been doing it so far, so rather than worry about it we will simply post this shortened version of all the places we have visited over the last 2 months, but probably not give them the justice they deserve! We've simply been too lazy to keep it up to date unfortunately, so if you happened to enjoy these blogs... sorry!
Peru
Thanks to spending all that time in La Sende Verde with the wonderful monkeys we simply rushed through Peru! We spent most of our time either on buses or waiting for buses. We enjoyed what we saw in Peru of the people, the countryside and the food quality raised slightly from that of Bolivia but to say we know it well would be untrue.
Cusco
It is the main jumping point to Machu Pichu, the Inca Trail and lots of other main attractions in Peru, but the old town of Cusco itself is also a really great city to visit. We spent our time wandering the streets and drinking in the coffee shops whilst buying our tickets for Machu Pichu etc. It's also got a great market that sold amazing smoothies.
Machu Pichu
Definitley the most famous place we visited in Peru and added to our now near complete list of the 7 wonders of the world. We obviously tried to do it as cheap as possible so rather than paying 75$ each for an hours train ride, we took a small mini van to the nearest place roads can reach which is a small power station and then walked for 2 hours along some train tracks to the main town that serves Machu Pichu, Agua Caliuantes. Although it was cheap it was also the most scary journey of our lives as the minibus speeded round huge cliffsides on a tiny road with no barriers. It was so scary that we forked out the cash for the train on the way back!
The town of Agua Caliantes gets a lot of stick as being a bit **** but we actually quite liked it. Its purely been built by the tourism of Machu Pichu but we thought it was all right. Although the *******s try to always add 20% service charges to the bills in the restaurants. We made sure to tell them, in Spanish, how we wouldn't be paying it and for the cheek of asking they would now be receiving no tip at all.
We was up at 5am to get the first bus up to Machu Pichu and it was worth doing as the place filled up fast. We walked the mountain of Machu Pichu as well which overlooks the lost city and was the hardest walk we have had to make since the W trek in Patagonia but thankfully worth it. We were blessed with good weather and the view from the top was outstanding.
So, what did we think of Machu Pichu? The wonder of the world? The famous lost city? Meh... It was ok.
The setting was beautiful and the walk up the mountain has some truly amazing scenery but the actual ruins seemed a bit too 'looked after' to us. There was even a guy mowing a lawn whilst hundreds of tour groups wandered round looking a bit bored to be honest. There was no adventure to it and it certainly didn't feel like we were anywhere that was 'lost' for centuries, especially when one of the tour groups that was wandering around was actually from Disney! Still, it was somewhere we always wanted to see and now we have so there you go.
Lima
We stopped very briefly in Lima, the capital, but not enough to comment on anywhere other than two Irish bars. The first one we didn't go in because it was holding a Peruvian *************cert. The second one was very nice and we met some friends we made in Bolivia for several Peruvian beers
.
Mancora
Finally, we are getting far enough North now to reach some beaches and sunshine! Mancora is a surf town, but we don't surf. We do enjoy beaches though, especially Claire who used the visit to start to work on her tan.
Equador
Equador started off on a bad note. We got ripped off by 10$ on our very first bus ticket!
Its only a tiny country and we were still short for time when we arrived thanks to those damn monkeys but we managed to see what we wanted.
Quito
Quito was much larger than we'd imagined, for some reason we had it in our heads that it would be quite small a bit like La Paz but no. Its huge! It has a nice old town again and whilst we were there we managed to attract torrential rains. We explored a bit but mainly used it is a base to organise a few things.
The Amazon.
We couldn't visit South America without getting up close to the largest river in the world. Especially as there would be a good chance of seeing wild versions of all the monkeys we had worked with in Bolivia. We visited the area of Cuyabeno which we were a little unsure about as not too long ago a group of tourists got kidnapped at gunpoint. The UK government still advises against all travel though which negated our insurance but like we said, we really wanted to see the monkeys.
We caught an overnight minibus (not recommended) followed by a 2 hour bus to reach the jumping off point to explore the Amazon basin at the Cuyabeno reserve. Once there we had to board small boats to be taken 2 hours down the river to the jungle lodge we would be staying at. As we boarded the boats we were given mandatory lifejackets and each given a small automatic gun in case we were approached by enemy guerrillas. The advice given was to shoot back first and not get shot. Simple.
We reached the lodge without any incidents and all of us had to hand back the jacket and the gun once off the boat. Our lodges were surprisingly very nice aside from having no rooves and listening to the couple next door re-enact a hardcore porn film. No holes in the walls though, Dave checked.
We did several tours via boats exploring all the tributaries to the great river. Thankfully we had an excellent guide who was able to point out animals from such a distance that it was actually quite scary. In our time there we spotted capuchin monkeys, lukachis, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, wolf spiders, tarantulas, snakes, caimans, sloths, frogs and several birds we dont remember the names of. Other highlights of the trip included swimming in the Amazon water at sunset and paddling across a huge lake in the pouring rain.
The Equator
The only other places we visited in Equador were both the equators. That's right - both!
The first one is the original one worked out by scientists hundreds of years ago using the moon, the sun and mathematics. Unfortunately they were wrong, but only by about 100 yards where the actual Equator lies measured by GPS. The first one already had a monument built by the time science proved them wrong so most people still visit that one and Ecuador still happily charges people for the privelidge. The first one was ok as far as fake equators go but the second one was really interesting. There's loads of (very skeptical) experiments about balancing eggs on nails and water flowing in different directions in the North to the South. There were also displays of the original tribes that lived in the region who used to fasten their willys to their bodies with belts so that fish wouldn't swim up them and also displays of shrunken heads.
Colombia
Everybody says to go to Colombia. Everybody says it's been their favourite country of South America, which is why we always planned on spending at least four weeks here. Damn those cute monkeys and delaying our arrival here! We decided to skip a lot of the heart of Colombia and head straight for Carribean coast. We only had 2 weeks and Claire said we couldn't go home without a tan!
To get there we had to cross one of the most dangerous border crossings in the world and the drive 6 hours along a road famed for more highjackings and holdups than any other road in the world. We made the decision to do this journey in the daytime. Which also meant we got to spend a few hours in Ipiales which is a nothing town but does have a really cool cathedral set over a river that was used in the new Dracula film.
We also made a 12 hour stop in the city of Medellin, formerly the most dangerous city in the world. Its not dangerous anymore though, not since the death of billionaire drug lord Pablo Escabar. We wanted to do a 'Pablo Escabar tour' where you visit all his old houses, hangouts and even the rooftop where he was shot by the police. The tour ends with a visit to his brother's house who regales visitors in tales of the extravagant lifestyle of the Escabars in the 90s. Unfortunately we arrived on Easter weekend and everything was closed, including the tour. So on we went up to the coast.
Tagenga
Our first Carribean beach. It wasn't what we expected and it started with a problem. Despite booking our accommodation in advance when we arrived at our hostel we were told there had been an error and our room wasn't available. This isn't good news after travelling for approximately 40 hours without a bed or even a change of clothes! Still, we wandered around the hot little town with our backpacks and managed to find somewhere eventually.
Tagenga is a beach town very popular with the Colombians and as it was Easter weekend it was packed. We visited the beach and it was the most crowded beach we have ever set foot on. In the water, you couldn't even stretch your arms out without touching someone, god knows how much wee was in the sea. The water was nice and warm though. It was a strange experience to sunbathe in an environment that was similar to being back in Delhi, but nevertheless we managed it.
We didn't really like Tagenga as a town, we often felt a little bit on edge and heard so many stories about people getting violently mugged, especially backpackers that we didn't stay too long.
Tayrona National Park
We only spent a day trip to here to visit the beaches at this amazing park. Its a two hour walk from the entrance to get to some of the most beautiful Caribbean beaches we have ever seen. We spent our time at a beach with sea on either side and clear blue water. This was what we had come for!
Palomino
A little further east we stopped 4 nights in the really small village of Palomino. There was nothing here but another beautiful beach, secluded bamboo huts and plenty of relaxing.
There's never a lot to write about when we go to the beach...
We did do some tubing here too though. Not quite as exciting as tubing in Vang Vien 6 years ago where we got wasted, thjs time there were no bars offering shots just a long gentle ride down a river through the jungle with the odd bird making an appearance.
Playa Blanca
Continuing our beach theme we stopped another two nights on a more beautiful beach in even more secluded cabins just outside of Cartagena. This beach was the nicest one of the lot and the perfect end to our beachtime relaxation stint mainly used for Claire to work on the tan.
David spent his time sampling the fresh seafood and drinking the local beers. Until he ordered the snails by accident.
Cartagena
Our very last stop in South America. Our hostel treated us to a suite and a complimentary bottle of wine for our honeymoon. The first one to actually do this after mentioning it on every booking email we send! About time too! Cartagena is a colonial city famous for its old town and privateering history. It was the perfect place to spend our last few nights of backpacking. We spent a lot of time shopping whilst we were here in preparation for our much needed holiday as we return back to civilisation.
Fort Lauderdale
Another booking mistake meant we had no accommodation when we arrived! Fortunately this time we spoke to booking.com who upgraded us to a much nicer hotel one block away. Nice. Two nights in America meant eating ridiculously sized portions of food and yet more shopping for clothes for the cruise.
The cruise.
The only way to travel across the Atlantic these days is on a cruise ship. And if you are going on a cruise ship you might as well go on the biggest cruise ship in the world. We spent 12 days aboard the Allure of the Seas. 12 days of unlimited food, cocktails and sunshine. If you think people normally take advantage of all inclusive offers you should see 2 people who have been living off a backpacker budget and noodles for the last 12 months! The cruise was fun, we met some friends, saw some shows, sang karaoke and apart from one incident where David was asked to leave the nightclub for being intoxicated and then getting his alcohol privileges removed for 24 hours - the entire journey was a fun one (A letter of complaint is being drafted as we speak, regarding the incident - David drunk?? How ridiculous).
Llafranc
We spent our last few days of our trip in the Mediterranean Costa Brava. We splurged on a 4 star hotel and lived like kings for a few days.
And now we are heading home.
TRANSPORT STATS
Planes used - 11
Buses/coaches used - 116 (+22)
Trains used - 26 (+1)
Metros/subways used - 54 (+6)
Cars used - 14
Minivans/Collectivos - 27 (+4)
Russian Campervans used -1
Horses used - 1
Camels used - 1
Taxis used - 53 (+21)
Cable cars used - 1
Bicycles used- 3
Tuk tuks/autorickshaw used - 33 (+2)
Scooters used - 6
Elephants used - 0
Ferrys used - 8 (+1)
CycleRickshaw - 1
Bamboo HouseBoat - 1
Tour Boat - 2
Combi Van - 2
Huge 4x4 Truck Thingys- 2
Catamarans - 1
Kms travelled in campervan - 12298
Toyota Landcruisers - 1
Motorbike Taxis 2 (ne)
Canoe 2 (ne)
Cable Car 1 (ne)
Largest cruise Ship in the world 1 (ne)
We have to be realistic, there is no chance that we will get round to sitting down and finishing this blog in the detail that we have been doing it so far, so rather than worry about it we will simply post this shortened version of all the places we have visited over the last 2 months, but probably not give them the justice they deserve! We've simply been too lazy to keep it up to date unfortunately, so if you happened to enjoy these blogs... sorry!
Peru
Thanks to spending all that time in La Sende Verde with the wonderful monkeys we simply rushed through Peru! We spent most of our time either on buses or waiting for buses. We enjoyed what we saw in Peru of the people, the countryside and the food quality raised slightly from that of Bolivia but to say we know it well would be untrue.
Cusco
It is the main jumping point to Machu Pichu, the Inca Trail and lots of other main attractions in Peru, but the old town of Cusco itself is also a really great city to visit. We spent our time wandering the streets and drinking in the coffee shops whilst buying our tickets for Machu Pichu etc. It's also got a great market that sold amazing smoothies.
Machu Pichu
Definitley the most famous place we visited in Peru and added to our now near complete list of the 7 wonders of the world. We obviously tried to do it as cheap as possible so rather than paying 75$ each for an hours train ride, we took a small mini van to the nearest place roads can reach which is a small power station and then walked for 2 hours along some train tracks to the main town that serves Machu Pichu, Agua Caliuantes. Although it was cheap it was also the most scary journey of our lives as the minibus speeded round huge cliffsides on a tiny road with no barriers. It was so scary that we forked out the cash for the train on the way back!
The town of Agua Caliantes gets a lot of stick as being a bit **** but we actually quite liked it. Its purely been built by the tourism of Machu Pichu but we thought it was all right. Although the *******s try to always add 20% service charges to the bills in the restaurants. We made sure to tell them, in Spanish, how we wouldn't be paying it and for the cheek of asking they would now be receiving no tip at all.
We was up at 5am to get the first bus up to Machu Pichu and it was worth doing as the place filled up fast. We walked the mountain of Machu Pichu as well which overlooks the lost city and was the hardest walk we have had to make since the W trek in Patagonia but thankfully worth it. We were blessed with good weather and the view from the top was outstanding.
So, what did we think of Machu Pichu? The wonder of the world? The famous lost city? Meh... It was ok.
The setting was beautiful and the walk up the mountain has some truly amazing scenery but the actual ruins seemed a bit too 'looked after' to us. There was even a guy mowing a lawn whilst hundreds of tour groups wandered round looking a bit bored to be honest. There was no adventure to it and it certainly didn't feel like we were anywhere that was 'lost' for centuries, especially when one of the tour groups that was wandering around was actually from Disney! Still, it was somewhere we always wanted to see and now we have so there you go.
Lima
We stopped very briefly in Lima, the capital, but not enough to comment on anywhere other than two Irish bars. The first one we didn't go in because it was holding a Peruvian *************cert. The second one was very nice and we met some friends we made in Bolivia for several Peruvian beers
.
Mancora
Finally, we are getting far enough North now to reach some beaches and sunshine! Mancora is a surf town, but we don't surf. We do enjoy beaches though, especially Claire who used the visit to start to work on her tan.
Equador
Equador started off on a bad note. We got ripped off by 10$ on our very first bus ticket!
Its only a tiny country and we were still short for time when we arrived thanks to those damn monkeys but we managed to see what we wanted.
Quito
Quito was much larger than we'd imagined, for some reason we had it in our heads that it would be quite small a bit like La Paz but no. Its huge! It has a nice old town again and whilst we were there we managed to attract torrential rains. We explored a bit but mainly used it is a base to organise a few things.
The Amazon.
We couldn't visit South America without getting up close to the largest river in the world. Especially as there would be a good chance of seeing wild versions of all the monkeys we had worked with in Bolivia. We visited the area of Cuyabeno which we were a little unsure about as not too long ago a group of tourists got kidnapped at gunpoint. The UK government still advises against all travel though which negated our insurance but like we said, we really wanted to see the monkeys.
We caught an overnight minibus (not recommended) followed by a 2 hour bus to reach the jumping off point to explore the Amazon basin at the Cuyabeno reserve. Once there we had to board small boats to be taken 2 hours down the river to the jungle lodge we would be staying at. As we boarded the boats we were given mandatory lifejackets and each given a small automatic gun in case we were approached by enemy guerrillas. The advice given was to shoot back first and not get shot. Simple.
We reached the lodge without any incidents and all of us had to hand back the jacket and the gun once off the boat. Our lodges were surprisingly very nice aside from having no rooves and listening to the couple next door re-enact a hardcore porn film. No holes in the walls though, Dave checked.
We did several tours via boats exploring all the tributaries to the great river. Thankfully we had an excellent guide who was able to point out animals from such a distance that it was actually quite scary. In our time there we spotted capuchin monkeys, lukachis, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, wolf spiders, tarantulas, snakes, caimans, sloths, frogs and several birds we dont remember the names of. Other highlights of the trip included swimming in the Amazon water at sunset and paddling across a huge lake in the pouring rain.
The Equator
The only other places we visited in Equador were both the equators. That's right - both!
The first one is the original one worked out by scientists hundreds of years ago using the moon, the sun and mathematics. Unfortunately they were wrong, but only by about 100 yards where the actual Equator lies measured by GPS. The first one already had a monument built by the time science proved them wrong so most people still visit that one and Ecuador still happily charges people for the privelidge. The first one was ok as far as fake equators go but the second one was really interesting. There's loads of (very skeptical) experiments about balancing eggs on nails and water flowing in different directions in the North to the South. There were also displays of the original tribes that lived in the region who used to fasten their willys to their bodies with belts so that fish wouldn't swim up them and also displays of shrunken heads.
Colombia
Everybody says to go to Colombia. Everybody says it's been their favourite country of South America, which is why we always planned on spending at least four weeks here. Damn those cute monkeys and delaying our arrival here! We decided to skip a lot of the heart of Colombia and head straight for Carribean coast. We only had 2 weeks and Claire said we couldn't go home without a tan!
To get there we had to cross one of the most dangerous border crossings in the world and the drive 6 hours along a road famed for more highjackings and holdups than any other road in the world. We made the decision to do this journey in the daytime. Which also meant we got to spend a few hours in Ipiales which is a nothing town but does have a really cool cathedral set over a river that was used in the new Dracula film.
We also made a 12 hour stop in the city of Medellin, formerly the most dangerous city in the world. Its not dangerous anymore though, not since the death of billionaire drug lord Pablo Escabar. We wanted to do a 'Pablo Escabar tour' where you visit all his old houses, hangouts and even the rooftop where he was shot by the police. The tour ends with a visit to his brother's house who regales visitors in tales of the extravagant lifestyle of the Escabars in the 90s. Unfortunately we arrived on Easter weekend and everything was closed, including the tour. So on we went up to the coast.
Tagenga
Our first Carribean beach. It wasn't what we expected and it started with a problem. Despite booking our accommodation in advance when we arrived at our hostel we were told there had been an error and our room wasn't available. This isn't good news after travelling for approximately 40 hours without a bed or even a change of clothes! Still, we wandered around the hot little town with our backpacks and managed to find somewhere eventually.
Tagenga is a beach town very popular with the Colombians and as it was Easter weekend it was packed. We visited the beach and it was the most crowded beach we have ever set foot on. In the water, you couldn't even stretch your arms out without touching someone, god knows how much wee was in the sea. The water was nice and warm though. It was a strange experience to sunbathe in an environment that was similar to being back in Delhi, but nevertheless we managed it.
We didn't really like Tagenga as a town, we often felt a little bit on edge and heard so many stories about people getting violently mugged, especially backpackers that we didn't stay too long.
Tayrona National Park
We only spent a day trip to here to visit the beaches at this amazing park. Its a two hour walk from the entrance to get to some of the most beautiful Caribbean beaches we have ever seen. We spent our time at a beach with sea on either side and clear blue water. This was what we had come for!
Palomino
A little further east we stopped 4 nights in the really small village of Palomino. There was nothing here but another beautiful beach, secluded bamboo huts and plenty of relaxing.
There's never a lot to write about when we go to the beach...
We did do some tubing here too though. Not quite as exciting as tubing in Vang Vien 6 years ago where we got wasted, thjs time there were no bars offering shots just a long gentle ride down a river through the jungle with the odd bird making an appearance.
Playa Blanca
Continuing our beach theme we stopped another two nights on a more beautiful beach in even more secluded cabins just outside of Cartagena. This beach was the nicest one of the lot and the perfect end to our beachtime relaxation stint mainly used for Claire to work on the tan.
David spent his time sampling the fresh seafood and drinking the local beers. Until he ordered the snails by accident.
Cartagena
Our very last stop in South America. Our hostel treated us to a suite and a complimentary bottle of wine for our honeymoon. The first one to actually do this after mentioning it on every booking email we send! About time too! Cartagena is a colonial city famous for its old town and privateering history. It was the perfect place to spend our last few nights of backpacking. We spent a lot of time shopping whilst we were here in preparation for our much needed holiday as we return back to civilisation.
Fort Lauderdale
Another booking mistake meant we had no accommodation when we arrived! Fortunately this time we spoke to booking.com who upgraded us to a much nicer hotel one block away. Nice. Two nights in America meant eating ridiculously sized portions of food and yet more shopping for clothes for the cruise.
The cruise.
The only way to travel across the Atlantic these days is on a cruise ship. And if you are going on a cruise ship you might as well go on the biggest cruise ship in the world. We spent 12 days aboard the Allure of the Seas. 12 days of unlimited food, cocktails and sunshine. If you think people normally take advantage of all inclusive offers you should see 2 people who have been living off a backpacker budget and noodles for the last 12 months! The cruise was fun, we met some friends, saw some shows, sang karaoke and apart from one incident where David was asked to leave the nightclub for being intoxicated and then getting his alcohol privileges removed for 24 hours - the entire journey was a fun one (A letter of complaint is being drafted as we speak, regarding the incident - David drunk?? How ridiculous).
Llafranc
We spent our last few days of our trip in the Mediterranean Costa Brava. We splurged on a 4 star hotel and lived like kings for a few days.
And now we are heading home.
TRANSPORT STATS
Planes used - 11
Buses/coaches used - 116 (+22)
Trains used - 26 (+1)
Metros/subways used - 54 (+6)
Cars used - 14
Minivans/Collectivos - 27 (+4)
Russian Campervans used -1
Horses used - 1
Camels used - 1
Taxis used - 53 (+21)
Cable cars used - 1
Bicycles used- 3
Tuk tuks/autorickshaw used - 33 (+2)
Scooters used - 6
Elephants used - 0
Ferrys used - 8 (+1)
CycleRickshaw - 1
Bamboo HouseBoat - 1
Tour Boat - 2
Combi Van - 2
Huge 4x4 Truck Thingys- 2
Catamarans - 1
Kms travelled in campervan - 12298
Toyota Landcruisers - 1
Motorbike Taxis 2 (ne)
Canoe 2 (ne)
Cable Car 1 (ne)
Largest cruise Ship in the world 1 (ne)
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