It's HOT!

For the past few days its been about 32oC or in non technical terms, very bloody hot. As nice as it is I think I actually like the cooler weather but I don't have time to talk about the weather so here's a quick run down on what I've been up to.

Saturday 26/06 - I met Rebecca & Annette that were shearing the same room as me. They're form the north of England & here for the football - I've been told off for calling it soccer :) We went for dinner just of the main square with one of their friends (who's an Australian lad) then Becky was tired & went back to the hostel & Annette, Jordan & I headed out to Barrio Alto which is a awesome area with heaps of bars & restaurants. The streets were packed & it reminded me a little bit of Lapa in Rio but cleaner &... well, I can't really describe it, different. We were only going to go for one drink but that turned into several & we ended up leaving there about 3 or 4 ish I think... When we got back to the hostel it was thought to be a good idea to go somewhere else. We walked a few blocks to what we thought was a club but it turned out to be a brothel. It was so funny, Jordan said to the doormen, can we come in & the doorman is like, you can but they can't. It was rather amusing. After that we though we'd try the club across form the hostel, only thing been we weren't sure if it was a members club or not. We asked if we could go in & they let us through. The music was really cool & we had a good time. The reason we had thought it was a members club was cause we were the only lighter skinned people there. I think I got to sleep about 5am but 2 other girls in the room decided that it would be good to get up at 7am & be as noisy as they could & open & close the door as many times as they could while it took them 3 hours to pack & leave the room at 10am. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. In order not to waste the whole day I went with Becky & Annette to the Calousle Gulbenkian museum (its free on Sunday), they had some interesting stuff there, then we went & sat in the garden for a while. After going back to the hostel we went in to the main square & caught a tram up to St Georges Castle. It gives a great view of Lisbon & was pretty cool. I wasn't up for a night out so tried to get to bed at a reasonable time... Unfortunately I didn't sleep that well though.

Monday 28/06 - It was HOT, so we went to the beach. I actually think it was to hot for the beach but me been the sensible girl that I am I piled on the factor 30 sunscreen but managed to get a bit of colour anyway which is cool. The water was freezing though. It was so cool to lie on the beach & look around & go... I'm in Europe!
Didn't think I'd be up to going out last night, but well as always that changed. We were going to do the whole 'only one drink again thing' but decided that never works so set a time limit of 1am to leave... that apparently doesn't work either. We didn't do to badly & got back to the hostel about 3am. Cause Becky hadn't been to Barrio Alto we thought she should get to experience it. I was quite suprised cause there were quite a few people around for a Monday. It turned in to a really good night. I got taught a bit of, what I believe was, Samba form a Mexican guy which was fun too.

Tuesday 29/06 - I had to check out of the hostel at 10.30am. This sucks btw, if you're a hostel owner & read this, check out should be at least 12pm. I can usually pack in about 15min. I don't have 'that' much stuff & know where everything should go in my pack etc but I'm sure it took me over 45min this morning. I had to keep unpacking cause I'd forget to put something in. So I checked out a little later than anticipated :)
Which brings me to my next subject which I'm fairly pissed off about. I need US dollars for the kitti for my African trip so I went to the bank near the hostel & they said to go to a cambio. Cool, did that & said to the guy that I needed US travelers cheques change to US dollars & he was like ok. Anyway after I'd signed all the checks he goes, ok that's $350us & I'm like NO its $750us one of the cheques is $500us & he like checked it a million times & goes ok. So that's all good. Then he brings me the receipt & is like you'll get 600euros & I'm like - I don't want euros, you said when I asked that I could get US dollars. Then he's like oh if I give you US dollars you won't get the full dollar amount etc so pretty much I took the euros (cause the travelers checks had been signed & they charged me a huge commission so I was pretty annoyed. Basically I'm going to loose about $50us cause I'll need to change it back to $us. Doesn't matter really, just a tad annoying. Then I'd been given these 4 of these 1.50euro phone cards for free so decided to see if I could call Australia with them. I called my mum :o) It was so cool to hear her voice, don't think I've talked to her since Peru (we catch up all the time on yahoo messenger but its not quite the same).

Well I need to go now cause I've got a few more things to do then I have to catch a bus to the airport. Think I'm upto date now. The flight to Johannesburg is 15hours. Will try to update there but I'll see how I go. Africa, HERE I COME! :o)


Lisbon - Portugal, Saturday 26th June 2004, 1.40pm

This is going to be a real quick 'catch-up' on my last days in South America

Partly written Thursday 24 June 2004 Buenos Aries Airport - Argentina

Well I think its been ages since I've updated so I thought while I'm still in the country I better write down what I've been upto over the last few days.

First & foremost I've been relaxing & enjoying been able to chill out. Its been great eating proper meals, sleeping in, been lazy & watching TV :o)

I think that I needed the break before embarking on the next part of my trip. I figured that for the next 3 or 4 months its going to be pretty full on traveling.

Anyway the last week or so, I can't remember when I last updated... They've just called boarding for my flight so have to go...

Ok, Thursday 17/06 - I went shopping which was a pretty useless endeavor. I didn't buy anything... Oh, except for a lip gloss cause I couldn't find anything else. In one of the first shops I went in to I met Sophia. She was shopping too & also happened to speak English so we ended up spending the day together shopping. It was really nice to have some company & its really good when you just kinda click with someone straight away. In the shop we met in the shop assistant thought we were strange & I was telling her it was the first time we me & she's like no, you've been friends for a while, quite funny really.

Friday 18/06 - Honestly during the day I don't remember what I did. I didn't write anything in my pocket diary so I probably didn't get up to much. That night though Mora took me to one of her friends places in the suburbs. The house was huge & really awesome, it was a good night but a really late one.

Saturday 19/06 - I spent most of the day in front of the TV then Saturday night Mora, Nico (her brother) & I went to a live Argentinean hip-hop concert. It was awesome.

Sunday 20/06 - I met Mora's dad, & Mora, Nico & I went out for lunch to a really nice restaurant. Then that night Mora's mum had gotten us tickets to a awesome show called De La Guarda. It was amazing, the most unusual 'kind' of theater that I've been to, it's pretty much all going on around & above you as opposed to traditional theater which is in front of you. They use harnesses to swing form the ceiling (or where ever) & lighting to create the most awesome effects, very emotive music including drums, stages that wheel out into the audience which the actors dance on & there's also a liberal use of water :) I was soaked by the end of it. At one stage the actors roam through the audience & pick people up to be hooked up to another actor & taken for a flight. I got picked up but unfortunately didn't get to go up. I don't know if I've described it correctly but it was FANTASTIC!!!! At the end I was so wet & it just happened to be raining out side so I decided it would be a good idea to jump around in the puddles, that was fun too :) It took my sneakers 2 days to dry but I think it was worth it.

Monday 21/06 - I slept in & once again went shopping, this time on Florida (a more tourist type area) & managed to find some cords (pants), no jeans though. They're Levis and were quite reasonably priced, $119pessos ($60au) which isn't to bad. I also did a bit of the tourist thing & went to Plaza de Mayo & saw La Ccasa Rosardo, the main government building I believe & a few other awesome looking buildings. That night Sonia, who I'd met on Thursday was back form Igazu & called me & we arranged to meet up the next day to do some more sight seeing.

Tuesday 22/06 - I had such a great day, it was so full on but just FANTASTIC. I actually got out of bed at a decent time & met Sonia at 9.30. We caught the 152 bus to La Boca. La Boca is a suburb in Buenos Aries that has heaps of different coloured houses. I read why it was famous but at this point in time can't remember. The houses are cool though. After that we jumped back on the bus & got off at the main train station to catch a train to Tigre so that we could go & see the Delta. The Delta is quite different & really pretty & peaceful. Basically there are lots of rivers (Delta...) but people actually live on the little islands in between so the ferry goes form house to house as needed & picks people up form their private jetty's. There's also restaurants & parks & things, its pretty cool. We got off the ferry & had lunch at one of the restaurants then went for a bit of a walk & caught a ferry back. I can't even remember how long the train took now... I think at least a hour or maybe only 40min... When we got back to Santa Fe (street near Moras house) we had ice-cream. Sonia had mentioned earlier in the day that the ice-cream in Argentina was supposed to be one of the best in the world. I tell you, their Dulce de Lechie is to DIE for!!!! It's the best thing I think I've ever eaten & I'm glad I only tired it the day before I was due to leave or otherwise I think I'd be the size of a balloon. I no longer have any will power... After ice-cream, we'd both been saying that we'd like to try the tango, we went to a place where I saw a banner that said, of all things, 'TANGO' & thought we'd see if we could do a lesson. They had one starting at 8pm I think it was (once again brain not working & I can't remember & it has nothing to do with me getting a 'little'... tipsy last night. Honest!...) anyway, the whole thing was that we had 30min to get home shower & change. Plus I wanted to check my email to see if any of you actually love me enough to write to me ;) (I believe that's called a guilt trip, hehehehe). So all said & done we made it back to the tango lesson on time. I'd forgotten how much I LOVE to dance, like proper dancing (in this post I've noticed I'm quite fond of the whole CAPITAL letter thing... hmmm, interesting...). I had such a great time. The lesson was for 2 hours & tango is rather hard but I managed to pick up a bit & have a great time. After tango we went for dinner. In Argentina the eat really late so turning up at a restaurant on a Tuesday night at 10.30, 11pm isn't that unusual. We went to Grants buffet, the food was really good. After eating we decided that we had to top the day/night off with a drink. All in all it was a wonderful day, we both had such a good time & managed to fit so much in - god knows how we did it! :o)

Wednesday 23/06 - I had heaps of bits & pieces that I needed to do so I met Sonia about 11 & then set out to get the things I needed & also try & find a) a bed roll for me to sleep in on Africa & b) a marte cup. Of course me been me I didn't want a normal bed roll, one of the foam mats that's like 1 cm thick (I am going to be sleeping on it for like 4 or 5 weeks) I want a proper thermerst. None of the out door shops had one, so I didn't end up buying one. I also had this great idea to send stuff I didn't need at home. A little forethought here would have come in handy. I basically had to run round like a mad cow (not that I've seen a mad cow running round but you know what I mean) to try & find the things I needed then get moving to the post office before it shut. Plus cause I hadn't put any thought in to sending things home I didn't have time to get any presents for anyone... Anyway, I managed to get to the post office & it cost me $159pessos ($80au) to send 3kgs home. Its strange, at the local post office they won't take anything over 2kg's so I had to make a trip to the main post office. After the post office I stopped off at Moras mums gallery. It was really cool & they have some great pieces. I went home got changed then took Mora, Nico & their mum out to dinner. Then of course afterwards we went & had ice-cream. Dulce de Lechie for me of course.

Thursday 24/06 - my flight was at 13.20 so I had to be at the airport just after 11am so Mora drove me down to the airport bus & I caught the 10am shuttle. The flight was ok, nothing to exciting, saw a few good movies, tried to sleep but that didn't happen. I got maybe 2hours if that. I think I've been spoilt by the semi carma buses in South America :)

Friday 25/06 - It was so cool to get off the plane at heath row & get on the airport bus & read all the signs in English. I actually can't wait to be back in a English speaking country. Anyway I transferring to a different terminal & caught my flight to Lisbon, where I think I've already updated.

This was suppose to be a quick post but its taken me 3 different internet sessions to write it! :o) It's all good.

Lisbon - Portugal, Tuesday 29th June 2004, 12.40pm

I'M IN EUROPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How bloody cool is that!!!

Its strange though, it doesn't feel like I'm in Europe, more like a cleaner part of Brazil, same language & all. Oh, but lets not forget how expensive it is!!!

I'd looked up on the net for accommodation for Lisbon when I was in South America but the hostel was booked out so I rocked up to the airport yesterday & said... "I need a cheap hotel"... 70euro later ($122au) I'm staying in a very basic hotel. Needless to say this spun me out completely but what can you do, the Euro 2004 cup is on so here so things are a little crazy. Needless to say my first priority was to find cheaper accommodation so I surfed the net a little and found something for 50euro. Then I thought on the off chance I'd just turn up at the hostel about 11am (usual check out time) & see if I could get a bed. After getting a little lost & walking round with my backpack on for 20min in the heat (its 28oC - HOT!) I found the hostel (22.50euros, $40au)) & they have a bed for tonight but don't know if they will for the next 2 nights after that... Spose I'll just have to wait & see.

At the airport yesterday getting on the bus I met Yip, who's form England he'd come over to watch the footy. We met up at the Stadium before the game & its was a pretty cool atmosphere but not worth spending 135euros on a ticket to watch the game. After the game we met up & had some dinner & a few drinks at a place called Docks. It was pretty cool, heaps & heaps of people.

Well, better get moving. The flight yesterday was ok. I think I only had about 2hours sleep in 37hours but it was all good :o) It's amazing what your body gets used to. Maybe that's why I've still got a cough...

I've actually written posts about the last week in South America just have to type them up... Will try & do it in the next few days.

Lisbon - Portugal, Saturday 26th June 2004, 12.40pm

Stuff.

I started writing this on the 17/06 in BA but never got round to finishing it so I'll just post it & try & edit it later on.
I've finally got a bit of time so thought I'd write down some of the things that I've noticed while been away... Now that I've written that half the things I was going to write have now slipped my mind... Typical :o)

I keep forgetting to mention the whole turn style thing they have going on in the local buses in Brazil. Believe me they didn't think of people with backpacks when the installed them. Basically they have the driver then they have another person that sits behind the turn style & takes your money. It's... Different.

Have I mentioned the long distance busses before? Well if I have you can read it again :o) They're really comfortable, a lot of the ones I've been on in Brazil & Argentina have these foot rest things that come down that your legs rest on & the seats recline so you can actually get a decent sleep. On most of these busses the toilets suck though :)

When I was in Uruguay I noticed that heaps of people were carrying around thrermos flasks & mate cups. They have a special kind of tea leaf that they put straight into a wooden cup

I went shopping this afternoon, & I hate to say it but, I think its no longer one of my favorite pass times. How sad is that!!! I suppose its different when you can just buy stuff & it doesn't really matter if you use it or not. But when your thought process is "I only have 3 pairs of pants, do I really like the ones I'm trying on more than the ones I have?" Reason been, if I buy something new, something old has to go. Plus the clothes here are made for tall slim people... doesn't help!

Only 10 days left in South America!

Edit: I actually started writing this post on like Sunday or Monday... I've just been really slack!.

My god, where did the time go!?!?! I`ve been here almost 3 months. I kinda feel like I'm coming to the end of my trip but I suppose that there is only more to come :o) Next. Portugal (Lisbon) for 4 days then 6 weeks in Africa. I think that's plenty to look forward to. I kinda wish Id spent a bit more time in South America, there is so much that I haven't seen. Quick run down on what I've been up to as per usual.

Friday 11/06 - I was awake for a grand 26 or 27 hours. I think that this is a magnificent effort & maybe even my best yet. After updating I got ready to go out then we (Ben, Simmi & I) went to the supermarket & got supplies. Simmi had met another French guy (Sebastian) that was staying at the hostel but who had just moved into a house with a few other people so we were invited over. (A bottle of really good vodka only cost me $169 (under $10au) by the way). The house was really cool & so were the people living there, I had such a good time. We sat round drinking, talking & listening to music till 1am, I think, then decided to go out. This place is really awesome their are barely any tourists & the people here love to talk to you, more so than anywhere else I've been. We ended up at a Irish pub & then another club. Anyway ended up talking on the street for a while to a whole bunch of people (till 5am). Think I got to sleep at some stage after 7am but I have no idea. I woke up about 11am feeling quite awake. I figured out that in the 48 hours I'd had all of 8 hours sleep (all of which has been interrupted in one way or the other). I really enjoyed Montevideo & met some awesome people so decided to stay Saturday night too.

Saturday 12/6 - I was a bit of a zombie, but managed to wonder round the shops & do a few things that I needed to do. I had a sleep form 5pm to 7pm though which was good. Sebastian had invited us back to their place for a roof top bbq. It was pretty cold so I didn't stay on the roof top for long, the bbq was great but I cant believe how tired I was. I left about 1am, I needed sleep. At 5.30 in the morning the hostel owner comes into the room & turns on the light... & then brings 2 new girls into the room - um, I was very pissed off to say the least. I think I was one of the only girls staying at the hostel & there were at least 2 or 3 empty rooms so who knows what she was thinking.

Sunday 13/6 - I had to get up about 7am cause I was heading to Coloina with a few other guys form the hostel. It was a 2.5 hour bus trip, my last in South America! Coloina is such a pretty town. I really liked it. Ron, one of the guys I caught the bus with who also happens to be a kiwi, & I walked around the town for a few hours. I swear I was very much affected by sleep deprivation. For one my coordination sucked, I must of tripped over a million times & almost broke my ankle walking out of the bus station :o) It made me laugh so I'm sure anyone watching would have had a chuckle too. It seems Ron & I were stalking each other but we didn't actually meet till Montevideo. He was at the same hostel as me near Igazua & then in the same apartment block that I stayed at in Florinopolis very freaky! The ferry over to Buenos Aries didn't take that long & it was easy to jump in to a taxi to Mora's place.

It was so cool to see her & really nice to acutely know someone. I was a little hyped. Moras mum & brother are really cool too. We went out to dinner & al I can say is the meat here is WONDERFUL. We had 3 different types of Beef & one they actually cut with a spoon its so tender.

Monday 14/6 - I slept in. I think I was (and still are) recovering form a) my 27 hours without sleep & b) my cold, its still hanging round a little. I met up with Ron in the afternoon to do a spot of shopping. He brought a $1700pessos cashmere trench coat & I brought a $500pesso ($245au) Columbia jacket. I'm sure at home they are like $500au. I'm very happy with my purchase, its not a real trendy jacket but its still cool. Its a 3 in one with a interchange system & vortex waterproofing (kinda like gortex I think). So basically it has a fleece that sips in & out so you can 1) just have the waterproof / windprrof shell, 2) just have the fleece (which is black & quite decent looking) or 3) zip in the fleece & it becomes this super warm waterproof windproof jacket. The colours aren`t to bad either, black arms & a dark grey body. Can you tell its been a while since I've been shopping :o) Still need to buy some jeans & tops & are thinking of getting a new contact prescription here too.

Tuesday 15/6 - I seem to love sleeping in here, think its cause I actually have a room to myself & its so different form been in a hostel. I went for a walk down to Riecoleta & spent some time in the church & walking through the cloisters which have been turned into a museum. There were also quite a few market stalls which were pretty cool. For the first time in ages I watched TV & it was nice just to blob & relax. Moras best friend & Nicos (Moras brother) best friend came over for Moras mums birthday dinner. Its times like that, that I wish my Spanish was so much better. I could under stand bits but not that much of the conversations. I cant quite explain it but it was like one big family & the vibe was so cool! They all speak so fast! :o)

Wednesday 16/6 - Went back down to Riecoleta (a suburb) & this time went to the cemetery. Sounds weird but I tell you its fantastic! Tuesday there was a feurnal & I felt wrong going in but yesterday it was fine. It really is like a little city & so different to anything I've ever seen before. There are tombs some are amazing. I went to have a look at Evitas tomb too but there were so many tourists I couldn't take a photo. I expected something a little more grand. After the cemetery I went to the Art museum. There were some really cool pieces & I really enjoyed wondering around. Then I went to the cultural centre & took in another exhibition which was really cool. So many different styles. Yesterday afternoon, with Mora, I went to one of the biggest supermarkets I have ever seen. It was huge! Last night I met up with a friend I went to school with in Cusco. It was great to see him. It really doesn't seem like its was 2 months ago I was in Cusco.

Today (Thursday 17/6) - I got in just after 2 I think so once again slept in :O) I don't really feel like doing much so thought Id better update cause its been a while. Think some shopping is called for this afternoon :o)

Buenos Aries - Argentina, Thursday 17th June 2004, 2.35pm

I really like this place!

Well apart from getting here at 5am this morning & everything been closed & it not getting light till well after 7.30am its got a awesome vibe to it & I feel really safe here. Maybe I really am a city girl after all... Like I said I got here at 5am but it was a choice of staying in Floronopolis (Sp?) for another 5 hours in the rain, yes it was pissing down, or jumping on the next bus that left town & ending up in a different country at a strange time in the morning... We know which option I took :) I figured that the hostel would be open about 7ish so I spent 2 hours at the bus station here (which really isn't that big a deal & something I've really gotten used to) as opposed to 5 hours at the other one. The bus trip was good. The first 7 or so hours we were on a real fancy bus with leather seats! & for the whole trip they brought us snacks & drinks & oh get this.... THEY PLAYED ENGLISH MOVIES, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! Was very cool & I was a happy little bunny. The R$179 ($90au) ticket didn't include lunch like I thought it would but it did include dinner, a really nice buffet. Was good to have a bit of a treat, it was my last long haul bus trip in South America, only 18hours this time.

Anyway, got to the hostel about 7.30 & thought I was the only one staying there... I didn't want to go to sleep so I cleaned up, brushed my teeth & went exploring. Its actually a really pretty city with a lot of trees of old buildings. I really love autum & here the trees have dropped most of their leaves & they are lining the ground. Its prett cold though, thermal top, flece, jacket, gloves, scarf & hat kinda weather.

I got my other memory card put on CD too for $U120 ($6au). The exchange rate isn't to bad, $1au is $U20.87. I swear though that my brain is going to explode form the math I have to do when I buy things. The money differences is one of the things that sucks about traveling to so many different countries in such a short space of time, but its all good :) Anyway, got back to the hostel about 12pm & tried to figure out money & how much I would actually need for the next few days. This morning before I got to check the exchange rate on the net I took some money out, $U300 thinking it would be plenty - WRONG! I hate it too cause the banks gonna charge me $5au for the transaction :( Anyway got out $U3000 (approx $150au?) so that's gonna last me forever, Ill have heaps left over so will just change it when I go to Argentina, its easy enough to do.

I was so happy today, I walked passed a hairdressers & saw mouse, for like adding volume to your hair, so excited. The last 3 or so weeks I've been without mouse & have contemplated shaving my head, hence when you see photos note the bandana or hat :) I looked all over Chile & Brazil & couldn't find it anywhere. I paid $U273 so are sure I got ripped off but I don't care! I now have mouse or is it moose?? Today has been a wonderful day.

Oh, sorry got side tracked. When I went back to the hostel I met Ben form Belgium & Simmie form France. We went for a walk & got some lunch, so much meat! & only cost $U150 (less than $10au), it was a really, really nice meal in a nice restaurant. After lunch we pretty much walked around town till I came here to download some of the photos.

The internet is actually pretty cheap here $U15 (less than $1au) for a hour, its a bit solw though & is taking 50min to download only 40photos. But I wanted to check email & thought I might as well post so I might as well down load some of the photos too.

Tonight, I believe a group of us are going to a Irish pub. Its funny, I thought I would have gotten really tired by now but I'm fine. Gonna go back to the hostel & have a shower & use my mouse :)

Montevideo - Uruguay, Friday 11th June, 7.20pm

Finished loading photos

MP photos & Peru & Bolivia photos - done. I aren´t as far behind as I thought, still have 1 memory card to burn on to CD then download & thats it.

Wed 9th June 2004

The last few days have been interesting

Warning: spell check isnt working. You thought my spelling was bad b4? I´m sure you´ll be shocked now. Also the PC doesnt like it when i use ´ .

Up until last night I hadnt spoken english in over 48hours. This in its self is pretty tuff. I made a few intersting decisions too that once upon a time would have spun me out but I spose thats all part of the game.

I decided to stay in Paranagua Monday morning thinking that I could catch a 1pm ferry out to Ilha do Mel, which is a island 2 hours by boat form Paranagua. I thought I was so close I might as well go to a island. Problem number 1 was that I was told the wrong time for the ferry. The guy at the hotel assured me that the ferry left at 1pm (on the weekends maybe...) at 3pm when the engin started up I was like, ok must be local time... No big deal... Should have read my guide book a little better, had the correct times in there :) When I arrived as per usual there was a tout offering accomidation. I went & had a look & it was a nice enough room with a double bed, tv (with english movies!) etc but it was in more of a hotel so I opted for the hostle thinking Id meed some people... Wrong choice! Only 2 other people were staying at the hostle & I didnt even see them... The guide book also mentioned that out of season not much is happening on the island. By that I thought there would be a few travellers etc um, nope. I think I was the only person on the whole island that spoke english. The island was really pretty & I watched a beautiful sunset, however, been the only non local there I decided not to stick around. I got there at 5pm Monday night & left 9am Tuesday morning.

Tuesday 8/06 - I caught a ferry over to Portal do Sul then was going to catch a bus to Paranagua but couldnt find the bus stop so asked some people that were on the ferry where it was & it turned out they were going to Paranagua too & offered me a lift. I took it. Then when we got there the lady got out & the man said he was going to Curtiba, where I needed to catch my bus to Florinopolis from. I thought I might as well take the free lift. I can say though I was a little happier when we stopped to pick up his mother in-law. So instead of costing me R$15 or R$20 to get to Curtiba I spent nothing :) I tried to give him R$10 but he wouldn´t take it. Intresting really, we couldnt really talk cause he didnt understand spanish (or english) so I said like maybe 5 words to them but he was still happy to give me a lift. It saved me about 2hours travel time too.

I got to Curriba about 12.15pm & started the task of going to the differnt bus companies booths to try & find the next bus that was leaving for Florinopolis. In my guide book it said that it would take 4.5hours to get here... um.... WRONG. My bus left at 1.15pm (the ticket cost R$27) & didnt get here till 6.30pm. Im not a big fan of arriving anywhere in the dark. As always though things have a way of working out & there was a tout to meet me at the bus station. Things are pretty dead here this time of year too & there is only one hostle on the island in the city, not the beach. So I ended up taking the touts offer & staying at the beach in a apartment. Someone came & picked me up form the station & it was all very easy. It only cost R$25 so its not to bad plus it has TV, double bed & a kitchen. Its not flash by any means but its clean so its all good. Last night there were 2 german guys in the same complex so I got my fix of english conversation & we proceeded to get very drunk.

Today 9/06 - Well, for the fist time in ages I woke up with a bit of a hang over. I know I really should have gotten up & done the whole sight seeing thing but honestly, I couldnt be bothered :) I had NO clean clothes (had to wear my bikin & shorts today) so first thing I found a laundry then went for a walk on the beach. Had some lunch back at the apartment then grabbed a book and spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the beach reading & wathing kite surfers. Its really nice just been able to chil out. It so much harder travelling by yourself, quite tiring really. I really enjoyed today & I´m now looking forward to a early night.

The plan for the next few days... Tomorrow I´m going to try to catch a bus to Montevideo in Uruguay, supposedly its going to cost me R$179 - thats like the most I would have spent on any kind of transportation since Ive been here. Its a 20hour trip & they give you food & the bus doesnt stop & start so I suppose itll be worth it. Depending on if I like it in Montevideo I might stay there a few day or just go to a little town called Colonia. From Colonia I can actually catch a ferry over to Buenos Aries. So thats the plan, I´m hoping to get to Buenos Aries by then 14th so I can catch up with a friend I met in Cusco. Plus I can´t wait to see Mora, I´m actually really excited.

Ok, better go...

Keep in touch guys. xoxoxox

Ilha Santa Catilina (island) Florinopolis - Brazil, Wednesday 9th June 2004, 9.10pm

More photos :)

I didn't realize how far behind I was with down loading photos! Problem is it just takes so dam long (2hrs) I did most of one CD last night but didn't quite get to finish it. There´s just not enough time to do everything.

I still have to finish loading the MP CD & have another one that I need to load... I just finished another memory card to so have to find somewhere to load that on to CD too.

I've been just a little snap happy, that's the problem when you have a digital camera!

Off to Idha do Mel this afternoon & will stay there a night or 2 before heading down the coast a little...

Paranagua - Brazil, Monday 7th June 2004, 11.15am

Oi!

Been meaning to use that as a title for a while but keep forgetting. Oi is Hello in Portuguese :)

Was going to write a bit more tonight rather than the did this did that thing but I think that's all you're going to get... There's just so much stuff that I've seen/done that it'd be cool to comment on but I've just been chatting with mum via yahoo messenger so have already been online for about a hour...

Where am I now? God know :) haven't really explored yet as soon as I got here about 2pm this afternoon I went to sleep. The cold seems to have calmed down a little now, thank god.

Saturday 5/06 - Last night Niki & I caught the bus form Foz at 8pm & we arrived at Curitiba at 5.45 this morning. Managed to get a bit of sleep. The bus seats are really cool & recline back quite a way then you have this leg & foot rest thing so you're almost lying down (bus form Rio was the same). Would have had a good sleep if we didn't stop every 5 seconds.

When we arrived at Curitiba we asked a local for directions to the train station. Its kinda freaky, Niki doesn't speak either Portuguese or Spanish & so far I've been lucky & have been with someone who's spoken more of the language than me. Now its kinda up to me to make us understood... The cool thing is I'm doing a ok job at it too :) We made it to the train station. We had to wait a hour in the freezing cold till it opened then another hour before it left. Its a senic line that goes over the rain forest & you get some pretty amazing views. Sad thing was I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have due to feeling a) sleep deprived & b) still kinda sick. They are rebuilding the line so after a 2 hour trip with a group of rowdy Portuguese school children :) we had to get off & change to a bus that we had to wait till 12.25pm for (1,5 hrs). So all in all we started out at 8pm last night made 3 changes of transportation & finished up at 2pm. Not a bad effort :) When we arrived we got ripped off by a taxi driver R$6 for a 2 min ride but honestly I probably would have paid R$10 just so I woudn´t have had to carry my pack!

Need to write more but they are closing up the shop... Will update the rest tomorrow. Think I've figured out the plan of attack & added another country to my list of places to go :)

Paranagua - Brazil, Saturday 5th June 2004, 9.30pm

This whole remembering what day it is thing...

... is so bloody hard!!!

I know I left Rio on Tuesday, I think it was the 1st of June... My last night in Rio was Monday night & we went to a great restaurant on Copacabana beach & I had the best banana split - YUM! Then we walked around the night markets & I brought a great canvas painting of a Fevala with a the Christ statue in the background. I got it for R$20 ($10au) instead of R$40 so I was quite happy with that. After the markets we met up with the owner of the hostel & had a few drinks at what's kinda like a milk bar type thing but they sell alcohol. You pretty much just stand on the street & drink. I got talking to a couple of local ladies. It was quite cool, I was able to talk in Spanish & they could understand me. One of them spoke English so that helped too :)

Tuesday, well say the 1/06/04 - Had to say good bye to Louise. I had such a good time with her we got on so well! If your reading HI!!! & hope you made it home safe & sound, will email you soon. Its funny you meet so many people when you're traveling but its so cool when you really, really click with some one.
Was talking to one of the other girls at the hostel, Niki, Monday night & said I was going to Iguazu falls & she was saying that she was thinking about going too. She went & booked her ticket & we caught the 1pm bus together. Its always nicer to travel with someone. The bus trip took about 23 hours & suprisingly I spelt reasonably well. We got here about 12pm Wednesday. Its funny, you loose a day...

Wednesday 2/06/04 - didn't do much in the afternoon, just chilled out. The A/C on the bus didn't do much for me & was a little bit of a cold turned into my nose going form been blocked to continually running to been blocked again along with my ears blocking up & me feeling not 100%. But hey, its all good, at least I don't have to be at work :)

Thursday 3/06/04 - Caught a bus to Argentinean to see that side of the falls. We stopped of at a point where you can see the 3 countries divided. Argentina, Brazil & Paraguray (I cant spell). I thought it was pretty cool. After that we went on to the national park. I cant believe how big the park / falls area is. Its amazing. We would have got there just after 10am & didn't leave till 6pm & it was a pretty full day. So much to see. We also did a jet boat ride under the falls which was cool! You get soaked though if you're not prepared. Basically I had my rain coat & a poncho on then I rolled up my pants & put plastic bags around my shoes. When you only have 4 or 5 changes of clothes they become pretty dam precious :) Which also reminds me, all of my photos will look the same as I don't have any different clothes. I do make sure they are clean though... Well at least my underwear anyway :) I'm actually sitting here in jeans that need to be washed... At the next stop. Took way to may photos of waterfalls but they were so pretty so it doesn't matter. The hostel is in the middle of no where so just ate, didn't do anything.

Friday 4/06/04 (today) - we went to the Brazilian side of the falls. Didn't think that they would be anywhere near as good but man, the view was awesome! So different. From the Argentinean side it was more a close up look which was cool but form the Brazilian side you got more of a view of all of the falls, I really didn't realize how many of them there actually are. Totally breathtaking. After that we were going to try & go duty free shopping in Paragury but kinda ran out of time. Were going to catch a bus to Curitibia (don't know if that's how you spell it) tonight. Its a 10hour trip & is fairly close to the coast (still in Brazil). I was going to head down to BA but think I might take a bit more time to get there. I fly out on the 24 of June so still have heaps of time. Haven't decided where I'm going yet so if anyone has any suggestions let me know. Thinking of either a) going down the coast of Brazil then through Uraguray or b) going through Argentina & maybe stopping off a few places there before BA... Not sure. Maybe Ill meet up with some people that are doing something interesting. Nikis going back to Rio so that's not really a option.

Ummm, don't know if I've missed anything, I feel like crap but are ok & still enjoying been here which is the main thing I suppose. Think Ill spend a day in bed when or if I get the chance :) Oh I did go & get that massage & get my nails done. It was so cheap - R$20 for both hands & feet & the massage was R$40 for 40min. One of the most unusual massages I've had but it was still good :)

Foz (town near Igazua falls) - Brazil, Friday 4th June 2004, 6.20pm