I got a little telling off today regarding the need of an update of the blog from a friend that shall remain anomalous.I also got a very nice email from the legend of the Niagara Falls and owner of the fantastic ACBB Hostel Patrick suggesting an update. They are both right and since its 4:30 am and my half assed attempt to get to sleep has failed (might as well get myself prepared for the 6 odd hour time change for when we go to French Polynesia) I thought I would crack on.So here I am in my luxurious basement pad complete with slate bedded pool table, table football, table tennis, darts, and gym, nursing my rusty nail (a drink in case you are worried), in front of a 60" TV I shall make a start.Naturally I am watching Top Gear which is a little distracting so it might not be that great.On the other hand at Uni I wrote some of the best of my quite frankly brilliant essays at this sort of time so it might balance out.

We got to DC at about 8:30 on Friday evening and tracked down the first of the hostels we had written down addresses for.We got there just before 10pm and luckily a guy called Kevin was still there to let us in and sort us out with a room.It was quite a change from the hostel in New York as we didn't instantly cook and also the rooms were spacious.Beds had not been crammed into every inch of spare space.We even had an attached empty room which could have had another 4 bunks in.Kevin suggested the only thing we could do in it was hold wrestling tournaments.

On Saturday we spent most of the day wondering around DC.Everyone says the Whitehouse is small but I thought it was pretty good for a pad that is a perk of the job which comes free with a job.The monument on the other hand is far bigger then we could have possibly imagined.

This hostel had a kitchen which was nice as it meant we could eat cheaply for a change. I went back to 1st year at Uni and had pasta with tinned sausagy cost 60 cents which is pretty blinding.

On Sunday we slept in a little longer then we a meant too which was a shame but we still got to chuck the disc around a bit in front of the capitol building and go to the Smithsonian science museum before heading back to the hostel to collect our bags and then hoofing it back to the station.Things were looking tight when we remembered that it was not the train station we needed to go to but the bus one so we had to grab a cab.Extra charge for having bags, tax on top - next time I shall just miss the bus and catch the next one.

This bus would eventually (over 16 hours) get us up to the Niagara Falls. However an hour out of New York we pulled over on the hard shoulder and were eventually told that we had no rear lights and another bus was on the way to pick us up.This far I have been very good and not got on my high horse about public transport but its time to start.Have you ever seen a train in the UK leave and arrive on time?No you have not.And you certainly have not seen one leave on time,break down for over an hour and then still pull in early at the final stop.Well the buses here do….

At about 7am on Monday morning we got to the Canadian border control and the last thing I wanted to do was get out of the bus in -22c to be asked by Mr "I'm on a power trip" Customs Officer why I was visiting the Niagara Falls.s*** does he know something I don't?Should I not be going there? Does the water stop flowing in the off peak season?We eventually pulled into Niagara and got a bus to the hostel where luckily the owner was already up and took us poor, weak, hungry, dishevelled - in words "Washington refugees" in.

Patrick was a fantastic host and he runs a bloody brilliant hostel.We thought we would only stay there a one night which would give us time to see the falls.We looked at Patrick like he was mad when he said we would need at least two nights there.He took it fairly well as everyone looks at him like that when they are told this but he was certainly right.

While we sorted ourselves out and had breakfast Neil, a New Zealander from Australia (that upset customs a bit), showed up. He had been on a 4 night train from Vancouver yet within minutes of arriving he was standing at the door ready to go.

We went down to the falls and hung around there for a few hours.As you can see from the pictures on facebook it was absolutely stunning.We went down into the tunnel behind the falls which was pretty cool because the viewing windows into the water fall were completely frozen with the river still running on the outside.Miles you will be pleased to know I spent a bit of time wondering around in my swimming shorts.It was about -25c with the wind chill factor.Your challenge is to beat that or you shall never be "a real man" again.

We headed back to the hostel in the afternoon but not before finding that Neils camera had a rapid fire mode and could spent the next 20 minutes behaving like children, making still frame movies of us jumping diving about.It was so cold that the melted snow on my hand started turning into ice on the skin on the back of my skin so we decided it was time to head back snappish.We spent the afternoon in the hostel watching films and chatting to Patrick.

That evening we went out to grab a meal and we bumped into Patrick and his son Sawyer who both came along.He came with us to a place called Kelseys where we bumped into a French couple he had met earlier on the bus.They posed for photos with him and got him to sign their guide book. It turns out he was featured and contributed quite heavily to it.He had been arranging for a taxi tour around the falls for Tuesday so he paired us up to save some money.Mills had an early night and me and Neil ended up in Niagara casino in what became a fairly heavy night.

On Tuesday morning we woke up to the sound of Neil cursing.Due to excessive consumption of bourbon and coke in the casino he had accidentally turned off his alarm and had 8 minutes to catch his bus.Needless to say he decided to stay an extra night and go on the tour.We met the French couple at about 9 and Bruno took us off too see the stuff you don't normally see or even knows exists in this area.

We saw the whirlpool and also got down to the edge of Lake Erie.It as only when the snow beneath my beat started to give way that I realised is was no longer standing on the bank but on the lake itself...We went to a town called Niagara on the lake and eventually wound up at Jackson Trigs winery.There we were kindly given a free tour of the place and taught how to taste wine.Without a doubt the best wine was Niagaras famous ice wine. Essentially the grape is harvested at about -15c making it very sweet and concentrated.You can even put it on ice cream.

When we got back to the hostel Neil announced that he had never built as snowman before so I got very excited and we headed out with Patrick's snow shovels.Neil has still has not built a snowman because under the direction of Sawyer we built a snow Jabba the Hutt.

Once we had warmed up inside again we went out for dinner.It was an interesting experience because the person who shows you to your seat, waits on you, cooks the food and works on the bar was the same person. That night we went to a local bar called jacks and hung out with the locals until closing time.

Niagara Falls was bloody fantastic and not even slightly over rated.Obviously most people go in the summer when it is of course beautiful and naturally when all the expensive attractions which spoil the place are open.You can see from my photos a lot of places only open at the weekend in winter.Regardless we were really pleased we went in the winter.With everything iced over it was stunning.The most important things were still open and guess what? We didn't have to queue.

As Patrick showed us even in the winter there was plenty of us to do spread over two days and we could have gone for longer.There is more to Niagara then just the falls.And if you want a really good hostel with an owner that really does take an interest in what he does then definitely check out the ACBB hostel. http://www.hostelniagara.ca/

After dosing around watching films and looking for new and more efficient ways to pack my bag we both left on Wednesday afternoon arriving 24 hours later in Madison.This has definitely been by far the most weird bus journey so far.By weird I mean several people on the bus were clearly fresh out of prison (they give passes to ex cons so they can get home), and several other were completely f-ing insane.One had enough KFC with her for everyone on the bus and thought she might have known Olli.Another ones only visible possessions was a large bag filled with more bags.It was very funny when one sat behind Olli but not so funny when she decided she would come and sit behind me so she could pear over the seat and watch scrubs.Olli has a theory that the state gives the mad and homeless people these tickets so they can be shipped off to which ever other state they dislike the most at the time.

Anyway I digress.We got a bus in Madison to where we thought would closer to Gregs home.For those of you who do not know Greg we both stayed at the legendary X-Hostel in Bulgaria.I emailed him at Christmas suggesting we meet for a drink and he offered to let us stay at his for a bit!Anyway on the bus Ollie started getting chatted up by an old lady (or maybe he started chatting her up first?) who had absolutely no idea that London and Moscow were two different places.We were very grateful upon getting off the bus to be greeted by Greg in his tank of a Chevrolet in which we finally felt safe!

Madison has been great fun as it's not on the tourist trail.This means we just get to hang out in local bars and clubs without the label of tourist.In fact most people do not even believe we are from the UK! Some of the stuff we have got up to is certainly not going in print and now that we have extended our stay here to five nights it is difficult to pin point what happened when and where!

Greg has ensured we have seen a little of everything in madison.We have drunk good beer from local micro breweries but also been introduced to such beverages as Colt 45 and Steel Reserve.I won't go into details over the racial connotations attached to these drinks but maybe Google them a bit or listen to the song "colt 45" by Afroman.We have been to Hodys were we could watch insane old people dance whilst cougars preyed on the young.We have been to a belly dancing Hookah lounge in the middle of a trailer park and to the student area down town.We even went to the Eco Tapp because it was where we were most likely to see a fight and sure enough within two minutes of Olli getting up to go to the toilet his bar stall disappeared in the middle of a brawl.

All in all Madison has been great.We have been able to just chill out with Greg, who has been the perfect host, and go out with him and his friends.Two who nmust be mentioned are Dan and Sue for the suggestion of the fried fish (a specialty of the area) and for also coming around and cooking up an amazing grill.

We are supposed to leave for Memphis this evening but there are been about two feet of snow here and the worst hit has been Chicago where we are supposed to transfer.Patrick up in the Falls has emailed me and they have 50cm there and there are hurricanes and tornado warnings in the south so who knows maybe there is time for some more adventures here!