Hi All,

Hope you are all well. As mentioned before we`re a bit behind with the blog updates, we`re currenlty in Argentina but still have to add the Brazil pictures etc, so here you go.

So, after the Inca Trail, and can i just say i actually loved it, Andy was just making things up about tissue up my nose and hissy fits, i mean can you really see me doing that!!!!! ha ha. After our luxury night in the 5 star hotel in Lima, (we slept for 15 hours!!) we caught a flight to Rio. It was a late night flight so we arrived at around 6am. We had been extra organised and pre booked a taxi with our hostel to collect us, but it didn`t turn up. We were hounded by taxi drivers trying to get us to take their taxi, but they were all charging more then double what we had been told it would cost. After talking to one of the taxi drivers he allowed us to use his mobile (for nothing) to call the hostel, who told us the car they used for transfers had broken down and that we needed to get a taxi!!! So we had to go back to the taxi drivers and ask for one! We arrived at the hostel and when we pulled up we were a bit worried about getting out of the car it was a bit of a dodgy area and our hostel was down an alleyway. When we got inside though it was lovely. We were not due to check in until 12 so we asked if we could have a room until then to get some sleep and he said that would be fine for a half day fare (7 pound for an en suite!). When we got up we headed out for a look around and found Copacabana beach a stones throw from where we were staying, at last i would get a chance to relax and do nothing, it was all that got me through the Stinka Trail. We went back to the hostel to finish unpacking and fell asleep, right through to the following morning. We were surprised as the hostel had a BBQ party that night but we slept through the whole thing (16 hours!)

We got up for breakfast which was really nice and booked a trip for that evening, a traditional Brazilian Samba night. The trip started at 11pm and finished at 4am!! It was quite strange going out that late, considering we were sleeping at 8.30pm every night on the Inca Trail. Anyway we had quite a few Capriani`s in the hostel bar (Brazilan cocktail) then headed out. It was an amazing night, big drums, dancers (wearing very little), cool music and great atmosphere.

The weather was quite bad so the next day we went to see a football match, Flamingo Vs Fluminese, appartently rival teams in Rio which was fun, (ended 2-2 - kleberson ex man utd scored in the 89th minute for flamengo) then we headed back to the hostel where lots of new people had arrived. We got chatting to some people, from Bromley, Croydon (it was like home from home!!!!) and also had dinner. Every night a chef cooked up some authentic dishes for R$10 each (3 pounds all you can eat!) Andy was in heaven, and by the end of the trip he was on first name terms with the chef!

We decided to do some sight seeing the next day and booked onto the `Big Dude Tour`, showing us Christ the Redemmer, Sugar Loaf mountain, Santa Teresa and the Lapa steps. The pick up was really late so we asked the hostel to call to see where they were. They said the pick up had gone to another hostel (with the same name) we then looked at our itinerary and realised we should have booked into the El Misti hostel a few blocks away - typical!! One of the representatives of the tour had to pick us up in his jeep and take us to where the coach had been waiting for us for 30 minutes!! (not the best way to make friends on a trip) The tour guide then asked the group if we wanted an optional 2 hour trek through the jungle to the top of a mountain with panaramic views over Rio - i started hyperventilating and shouted out "no thanks!" Luckily a few others said no too so we did not do it. The trip was good and included a stop for lunch, (R$6 = 2 pounds) in santa teresa - a lovely quaint village on the side of the mountain. We also saw several favelas (shanty towns) as we drove around, it`s amazing how some people live. We were advised not to go into them at night, even the children carry guns!!

Next day the sun was out so we chilled out on the beach, and decided where we should go after Rio. After talking to a few people we heard that Ilha Grande was nice so asked the hostel to book accomodation for the next day. We then caught a bus to the port and got a ferry over to the island. It was like paradise, a small town, but no road or transport just a long stretch of beach with Posadas running along. Our room was on the sea font and we could hear the waves as we slept. We were staying in a lively hostel and had a few late drunk nights. A few people from our hostel in Rio came too so it was a good laugh. Unfortunatley the weather had turned bad so we only got one nice day out of 4, but we didn`t mind and spent our days in hamocks reading and playing games. On the one nice day we took a boat out to one of the nearby beaches and spent the day chilling out.

We had got talking to a guy from New Zealand who informed us of another place down the coast (3 hours away) called Paraty. That was to be our next stop. We got the ferry back then took a local bus. Paraty was lovely and actually better then Ilha Grande, may have something to do with the sun coming out too. The hostel was nice but we got badly bitten and also had a woodpecker that came to our room every morning arround 6am to peck on our window for 2 hours, very annoying!! Again the hostel was overlooking the beach it was beautiful. We were staying near the historic centre and also near lots of restaurants and bars. After a few more drunken nights we decided to head to Argentina to see the Iguazu waterfalls. We couldn`t get there direct so we had to catch a bus to Sao Paulo, then get a connecting coach to Iguazu. We debated about staying a couple of nights in Sao Paulo to break up the trip, but two people who used to live there told us not to if we didn`t need to, and that made up our minds. The coaches in south america are amazing, full beds, with dinner and breakfast, films and a bar, it was better then flying just took a bit longer (23 hours!).

Anyway better go, hope everyone is well and not working too hard! We`ll be back in touch soon with the Argentina blog, which will hopefully include some pictures of us skiing if there is still some snow there.

Missing you all.
Love V & A.xx