Hey everyone, Finally i can write an postcard from different country instead of Guyana all the time!! Here i am in Trinidad and i will tell u my amazing experience in Trinidad alongside with Joanna Raper who came to visit me for 2 weeks so decided to have a week break in trinidad before continue another week in Guyana. I decided to go to Trinidad as i have always want to go there one day as it is good place to go and explore especially the excitment of the World Cup as Trinidad & Tobago first time in the world cup. So good timing to go there as i am exhausted and worn out from work placement and of course for Joanna to visit two different countries in one go! :D I arrived the airport first before Joanna, as i suppose to arrived half hour after her but her flight got delayed for 2 hours, so i had to wait for an hour and half. during that time i explore around the airport, it is totally different from Guyana airport, full of shops and restaurants while Guyana have only 3 shops. :S but i spend good time looking around the place and they are much more advance than Guyana. never mind as seeing that i am actually working in poor country. Finally Joanna arrived, but her first words to me was "I need the hotel address!" cos she need it for visa permission! lol but we hugged and speak for few moment before she got dragged off to get her visa sorted out, meet again moments later and it was great to see her. It have been 9 months since i last saw her. long time and we chatted a lot about everything!! I tried to use BSL and i think i did well considering using ASL for long time!! anyways i grabbed KFC and got taxi to take us to the hotel. On the way to the hotel, i was gobsmack what i am seeing in Trinidad, everything are so modern, i keep telling Joanna, it is very similar to England in many ways, but she tell me that it is not!! seeing that i was away for too long and am feeling some culture shock in some way :S But i still awe in places and everything are modern and i enjoyed the ride to the hotel, looking out the window and see the places and chatting to Joanna! Arrived the hotel but the manager say that we havent booked at this hotel, but reassurance us that they have another hotel that they link with, based in the mountains, few minutes drive so they will take us there and are sure that they got a room for us. we got in pick up truck and drove all the way up the mountains, very steep i am telling u that we feel that we are going to toppled over! Finally arrived another hotel and they got the room for us, relieved for us! :D she took us to the room but the key wont opened the room :( she changed the rooms for us and we got lovely room with not bad view, some trees blocking but still really nice views! :D The room are luxury and wonderful, u can see it in the photos! We made ourselves comfortable and chatted all night long until 12am as i worned out from travelling and chatting!! lol went to bed and slept at 12.30am looking fwd to long day tmw. We woke up at 8.30am and had a breakfast, it was really nice, then got ourselves ready for a trip to the town! we asked the manager how to get there by foot, she look at us that we are crazy to do so!! she offered a lift but we declined cos we want to walk as the view from the hotel is amazing and we want to make most of it! she accept it and told us it will take around half hour to get to town. we set off and walked down to the bottom, chatting and enjoying the view! arrived to the bottom of the mountain in 45 mins! long time as u know what deaf are like when chatting!! lol From the bottom of the mountain to town, there are thousands of routes that possible take us to the town :S we dont know which one but decided to set off one route and hope we got the right one! lol we saw the white house and the queens royal college on the way, nice buildings, then we got stuck in maze!! stopped at the cafe for refuel as we drank a bottle and half of water! all in an hour and 15 mins. we set off again and walked for half hour, we still havent seen town yet! :S stopped at african shop and have a look around as try to shade ourselves from the sun. good shop, finally we walked again and finally arrived town via help from crowne plaza! total walk took us nearly 2 hours!! but we sure did enjoy the wak as it is different and we explore the place well! :D Arrived in Town and it was nice place, lots of banks bulidings and shopping malls! we make ourselves comfortable in town and explore the area, we started at sounveir shop, Joanna want the flag and some models of trinidad bands, but will buy it on last day as easier to sort out that way! we went to shopping malls, it is similar to england in many ways, :) i enjoyed the place, we had lunch at subway! Guyana dont have one :( then it is my dream come true!! A HUGE sport complex, 5 floor pure of sport equipments and clothing. I went in and spend half hour there. pure sport shop.. i really gutted when i had to leave the shop :( i bought swimming goggles there as i lost mine a week before coming to Trinidad. I cant wait to go back to England and visit to sport shops there as Guyana dont have ANY :( then we look around bit longer before catching taxi to go back to hotel. I agrued with the taxi driver because i feel he ripped us off when he asked for 60 TTD, (10USD) as he might see us as a tourist. But he showed us the fare bill, it say 50 TTD, i told him that i am paying that amount not 60TTD.. still try to rip us off... cheeky b*****! lol At hotel, we had a relaxing swim in the pool but unfortuntely it is covered with leaves so joanna had a fun cleaning the pool with net full of holes in it but it still do a job cleaning the pool! :D then we relax for a while, it was good to cool down after long day in the sun! :D In the evening, we went to Chinese restaurant, on recommendation from teh hotel manager, but to our disappointment it is not up to our standard as the noodles are not cooked at all!! but still we eat it and enjoy the conversations about england and guyana!! then we went to trotters bar, it is very similar to walkabout in england and it is full of tourists!! but we enjoy the atmosphere and had one drink each before the taxi came back to pick us up at 10pm. Back to the hotel and chatted until 12am as we are worn out from walking and sun. slept at 12.30am and it was so beautiful sleep! :D Next day, suppose to have car hire but i got rejected because i am not 25 years old :( it is a policy that i must be over 25 to drive, never mind but the hotel manager say that we can have a personal taxi driver to take us anywhere we want to go for the day. We took it and he arrived at 11am, he introduce us as Derek. he is really nice and friendly man. We get on well and we told him to take us to famous landmarks and of course sport staduims! :D he drove around and tell us the places, with slow driving and he is really patinet to talk to us as he repeat and make sure that we understand what he is telling us. nice of him. he took us to football and cricket stadiums, brain lara's house, magnetic 7 places, top of hill watch tower, lunch at trinidad cafe, and took us to the beach. The beach are beautiful but are crowded because of trinidad national holiday!! but still it is really beautiful place to relax and to enjoy the sun! we plunge in cold and blue sea! :D i swim in the sea twice and soak up the sun for a while before returning to the hotel but got detour to see the deaf school! it was great to see deaf school in Trinidad, am sad that Guyana dont have one as it is important. we looked at the place despite it is closed, but we had a good look :D Then went back to the hotel and paid him 100USD, it is good price considering he take us to everywhere and are making effort to make us understand what he say. worth it every penny! :D chill out in the pool before getting ourselves ready for night out to Trotters bar for meal and drinks. we enjoyed the meal as it was really nice and we had few drinks and a shot. i drink 4 beers and a shot which it is a lot for me considering i havent really drank much since i came to Guyana! no surprise that i got bit tipsy!! lol but we enjoyed the night and chatting along all night before went back to hotel at 11.30pm and carry on until 12.30am as i was worn out. went to bed then. Last full day in Trindad, so we went to zoo, and the animals are not looking good as they are thin according to Joanna as she complained that the animals should not been kept in the cage which it is filthy and small. :( but nothing we can do about it right. then we went to botanic garden for a scroll before catching taxi to Caribbeans largest shopping mall, but to our disappointment that it is not big than we expected!! but still very modern and new which it is really nice palce to shop. we explore the place and went in the cinema! it got exhibitions of hollywood pieces and they decorated the place to look like hollywood! really nice and i hope u can see it in the picutre as it might not be clear enough. we enjoyed the place as we got a bite from Burger King!! Guyana dont have one! :( then we got taxi to take us back to town centre to do some serious shopping!! bought lots of gifts for friends and families! :D then back to the hotel for more swim in the pool. In the evening, went to TGI friday for a huge meal but to our horror, we got starter and got full already!! with a huge main course on the way, oh dear!! lol but I managed to eat half of my main course but for Joanna, only few chips and a bite of beef burger is all she can manage!! :S but we enjoy the meal tho and company of the night, we had one cocktail at the bar before taxi arrived to take us back to the hotel. talk more and more before hitting the hay at 12am. In the morning, got taxi to the airport and was surprise to see Derek coming to take us, it was nice to have him and we chatted to him before he dropped us off at the airport, i was sad to leave trinidad as it was beautiful country but happy to take Joanna to Guyana to show her the places. :D I really love the country and i wont mind to go back there one day in the near future with friends or families. I would recommended to anyone who want to come to caribbean to go to trinidad. ok Hope u enjoyed the postcard and the picture as much as i did in personal experience of trinidad! Love u all always Steven/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx P.S. Bloody hell, it is 4 pages worth of writing!! hope it dont make u sleep at all! lol xxxxxxx