Rotorua, Wellington and the South Island

It's been a long time since my last update- i guess i have just been having too much of a good time. And the fact that all the hostels in NewZealand charge a hefty fee for using the internet. I am writing this update from my hostel in Sydney where someone has left enough credit on the internet for me to fill in the details of the last few weeks travel.

After the adventures in the cave we headed to Rotorua for a relaxing bath in the natural thermal mud baths. Whatever about relaxing, it was smelly. This small town is surrounded by thermal mud holes that reach a really nice temperature but also emit a noxious sulphurous smell. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, the place can smell pretty nasty. We knew we had arrived quite a few miles before hitting city limits. Apparently the mud is good for the skin so we gave it a shot. 20minutes in the mudbath (i couldn't take anymore) followed by 20mins in the spa pool was great. The only problem was that weeks later anytime we opened our rucksacks the noxious sulphur smell would hit us hard. In the end several items of clothing had to be dumped. Despite several washes the smell that has made Rotorua famous had become engrained in our clothes.

From there we made our way down to Wellington which is at the southern tip of the north island and is the country' s captial city. A nice city on the coast, we spent a few days relaxing before heading to the South Island. The South island is reputed to be more spectacular than the north and it did not disappoint. The easiest way to get from one to the other is the interislander ferry across the Cook Straits. This Strait is supposed to be one of the worst ferry crossings in the world on a bad day but we were lucky and had fantastic weather. It is a beautiful journey with great scenery. As we approached Picton Port, the sun was setting and the colours were wonderful. Picton is a small town that survives on the tourist hiking and kayaking in the surrounding Marlborough Sounds. We did an afternoon of kayaking around the many small inlets, what a great day. Although initially after 15mins in the kayak i had had enough as my arms were aching and had thought about abondoning ship (well kayak!!) when a few useful hints from our guide transformed it completely.

By this stage we had lost Emma as she had gone from Wellington on to Christchurch to meet up with her friend. They were going to do a weeks driving further south. We must have been good company in the north island because we were invited to join them on the roadtrip. We met up with them at Franz Josef glacier. New Zealand has two glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. Both are usually accessible to the public but the day we were visiting, the access path to Fox was closed due to bad weather. We managed to see Franz Josef. Usually one can get close to the glacier face but due to that bad weather the path was blocked. I have already been up close and personal to Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina so i wasn't too disappointed!!!

The rest of our roadtrip brought us down to Milford Sound, one of the highlights and must sees when in New Zealand- well it would have been if the weather was good. Technically it should be called a Fiord because of how it was formed and its main attraction are the fabulous views. On a great day, the Mitre peak is visible and if the water is calm the mountain ranges are reflected in the water. Many famous pictures of this have been taken.There is very little else in Milford Sound- two hostels and a cafe. The day we arrived was miserable; cold and wet like a winters day at home. We had booked a cruise on the Sound for the following day and had slightly better weather. But despite the bad weather the trip was wonderful and the views were great. However, i don't think the photographs will portray much of the beauty.

Our next stop was Te Anu, a small town further south where Emmas friend was participating in the Kepler Challenge- a 60km mountain run- not for the fainthearted!! While Ricardo prepared for and took part in this challenge the rest of us enjoyed the surroundings (while the challenge went along a great mountain trail, it would be about 59km 200m too long for me!!). The weather was fantastic and we managed to get some sun. From there it was onto Queenstown, the hotspot for all sorts of extreme sports- there are more than 350 companies offering every sort of extreme activity. I wasn't persuaded to bungee jump, to skydive nor to zorb down a hill- Waitomo caves was enough adrenalin for me. The girls did go for the skydive though, 12,000ft out of a plane!!

At this point we said goodbye to Ricardo who returned to Christchurch. We continued on further south. I think the remainder of this trip was the highlight for me. We visited the Caitlins which is the coastal area running from the bottom up along the East Coast to Dunedin. The best part is that it is home to all sorts of wildlife that are so accessible and easy to see. We stayed Curio Bay, in a hostel by the sea. From the living room window we could see Porpoise Dolphins swimming and playing only metres from the beach. On our second day there we took a surfing lesson and were swimming only 20m away from the dolphins. Coupled with the fact i managed to stand up on the board several times, it was an amazing experience. A further 500m down the road from this hostel was an area of petrified forest, fossilised forest. It can be difficult to spot unless you know what to look for- rock formations that look like tree stumps and trunks. But scientific research has shown that the types of tree that formed the petrified forest are the same species as that found in Southern America; which is one piece of evidence proving that New Zealand, Australia and South America were once joined together in a massive continent called 'Gwondanaland' . This piece of land also acts as an access point for yellow eyed penguins to come ashore and return to their nests in the scrubland that surrounds that petrified forest. We managed to spot a couple of these endangered species.

We continued on up along the coast, spending a weekend in Dunedin. The area and coastline around Dunedin is packed full of more wildlife. There is a fantastic visitors centre for spotting Albatrosses- these birds have huge wingspans and you really appreciate it when you see a regular sized seagull flying beside it. Sandfly beach is a prime location to see Elephant seals, seals and sealions co exist. When you walk the length of the beach, stepping over the seals as they bask in the sun, you reach a wooden hut, strategically placed to allow viewing of the yellow eyed penguins that nest there without disturbing them. It was great as we watched several of the penguins return from an afternoon fishing and make their way up the rocky cliff to their nests. The highlight of Dunedin for me, was watching the smaller blue headed penguins return to their nests in the evening. Of all a sudden there is a ripple on the surface of the water that would disappear almost as soon as it had appeared. But several seconds later it a further ripple could be seen nearer the shore. This was the penguins making their approach to the beach. Then all of a sudden, a crowd of penguins (not sure what the technical name for a group of penguins is, will have to look that one up) would emerge from the surf. The blue headed penguins are only 25cm tall, they are tiny. But to see them waddle up the beach together, looking like mini Charlie Chaplins, was hillarious. The beach is cordoned off from the public so as not to disturb their return to the nests. It is amazing to watch as they know exactly what route to take. What is more amazing is that some of them will waddle several hundreds of metres up through scrublands to reach their nests. There are about 150 blue headed penguins nesting there but we only managed to see about 50 return as the fading light forced us to call it a day.

Our final part of the raodtrip brought us up to Christchurch. On the way we stopped at the Moreaka Boulders- stone boulders sitting on the beach that are bigger than humans, have a rotund shape and topography that would remind you of a tortoise shell. Interestingly, there are similar rocks at the same latitude in Chile, further evidence that Gwondanoland previously existed.

Our tour of New Zealand ended in Christchurch and it ended with a bit of excitement as our rental car got stolen. It was parked outside the hostel and on the morning when we were due to return it, it wasn't there. Instead of visiting the Antarctic museum that i had wanted to see, i spent the afternoon in the police station filling out an incident report form. Luckily we had insurance to cover theft and were not out of pocket; in fact we think we saved a bit of money as the car had only a quarter tank of petrol and we would have had to return it full!!!

New Zealand was fantastic and i can't believe this part of the trip is over. Lorraine has headed home to Ireland for Christmas and i am spending my final 6 weeks in Australia. While i have a few days in Sydney i am heading to Perth for Christmas with relations. I am sure by the time i write the next blog, the new year will be well in full swing. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

North Island

We had met an Irish girl, Emma, in the hostel in Santiago who had an intinerary similar to ours and who was heading to New Zealand. After a couple of days in Auckland the three of us rented a car and began to explore the North Island. We got a Nissan Sunny that had 253,000 kilometres on the clock! And it showed. The roads in New Zealand are quite windy and everytime we went up a hill, we had to hold our breaths and push the accelerator to the floor. And still only after awhile did it hum into action. The Kiwi drivers are known to be agressive drivers and 100km/h is the minimum speed they travel at, even if the speed limit is less. Our Nissan Sunny can barely hit the speed limit and we are causing alot of traffic lines as we make our way across the country.

Well what a beautiful country it is. Our first stop was in the Bay of Islands, a seaside town on the north coast. There are all sorts of sailing tours offered to see the bay. We just wanted short jaunt out onto the water. Chatting to the girl in the tourist office we managed to catch a bargain. There was a Tall ship, the ' R Tucker Thompson' that did daily trips around the bay but included showing you how to sail the boat. The evening sail had been booked by a school to bring 30kids out. But half of them had gotten in trouble earlier in the day and were punished by not being allowed on the boat. So the three of us got tickets onto the evening sail at a bargain price!! The ship sailed the bay for an hour and a half and we all had to coil the ropes, open the sails, climb the mast etc. It was great fun.

From there we drove down to Hot Water Beach. So named because there is a fault line that runs through New Zealand. And on this particular beach there is couple of metres of sand that sits on top of hot thermal water that rises to the top from the rock beneath. When the tide is out, you can dig a hole and sit in the thermal waters. What a nice way to start the morning!! The local shop rents spades but we were lucky and managed to get find a hole that had already been dug and was full of really hot water.

To date the best experience i have had was the black water rafting we did in Waitomo Caves. These caves are home to countless numbers of gloworms and have even been featured in David Attenboroughs Planet Earth. There are a number of options to see them but we picked on of the more extreme. A 27m repel down into the cave, followed cave hiking, floating on inflatable tyres led us in to gloworms. Living in the darkness these creatures use their light to attract prey. It is like watching the stars on a really clear night. As well as the gloworms the caves have some fantastic stalagmite and stalagtite formations. We got a taste for caving as there were plenty of options to squeeze through tiny cave holes. It is amazing how small a hole the human body can actually fit through!! The icing on the cake was the 30m rock climb to get back out of the cave. What an adrenalin rush that tour was.

Kia Ora New Zealand

From Santiago, we had a 13h plane journey that brought us across the international dateline to Auckland. The flight began on a Saturday night and we arrived early Monday morning. So we lost Sunday November 16th. I wonder if that means i am technically a day younger??

After the first view hours in Auckland, i had a nice vibe about the country. The people are so friendly and so laid back, that nothing is a hassle to them. Catriona from work had arrived in Auckland a couple of days before with her friends. We managed to meet up with them and headed down to the Sky Tower. It's the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere and here was our first taste of the extreme sports that the Kiwis are famed for. If you so wished you could get harnessed to the outside of the building, 220m in the air. You are strapped in so you are horizontal and facing the ground. The harness is lowered and you approach a platform on the ground at a rather fast speed. None of us were brave enough to try though we did take the elevator up to the viewing deck at the same height. The floor at the edge of this deck is made of glass and you can see all the way to the road below. A very funny feeling! There is a ticker tape that operates in the viewing deck to notify the viewers when a jumper is about to go. Suddenly you see a person in a blue and yellow jumpsuit passing by the window, that's quite surreal.

Santiago, Chile- Last stop in South America

From Mendoza we made our way over the border into Chile. I have to say that this bus journey runs along the most impressive landscape i have seen. Its a couple of months into the spring and while most of the snow has melted from the mountains there were many places where thick slabs of ice still scatter across the land, it is a very impressive view. Getting through the border went without issue, just had to wait for a couple of hours. Everything was offloaded from the bus, put through the xray machine. Some bags were picked for random searches but luckily none of ours were chosen- not that i was bringing anything dodgy across the border, just had a heap of dirty laundry in the bag!

The concesus on Santiago from other travellers wasn't good so i wasn't expecting very much from the city. But i have to say after spending a couple of days there, i am very impressed. It is one of the city's that i really liked. This was probably helped by the fact we were staying in the bar and restaurant district of the city. It had quite a bohemian feel to it and was surrounded by many theatres. As we were only spending a couple of days in this place, we did a bus tour of the city. One of the stops was in the city park that has a small garden dedicated to a Benjamin Vicuna MacKenna. Well once i saw the surname, my interest was piqued. It turned out he was a Chilean historian and journalist in the 1800s who was sentenced to death for his part in the revolution of 1851. Escaping death he lived in exile for many years before unsuccessfully running for presidency in 1875. His greatest achievement was the 100 volumes of Chilean history that he penned. In this particular park they have a hermitage dedicated to him and there is even an avenue named after him. Good to see the MacKenna's up in lights!

Sun, wine and cycle

From El Chalten we had a long bus journey to Barlioche. Eventhough Barlioche is located north of El Chalten, the direct bus route from El Chalten to Barlioche did not open til Nov 15th, well after we'd be gone. So we had to head down south east to a town called Rio Gallegeos to catch a bus all the way back up to Barlioche. We were pretty much travelling for 24h. We have done about 4 overnight buses in total and even at that we didn't get to the southern most point in Argentina, Ushaia. That would have taken another 16-19h and we just couldn't face it.

Instead we opted to head for Barlioche, a town famed for its hiking and water activites on the lake. But unfortunately for us the bad weather followed us and for a couple of days we were restricted to watching DVDs in the hostel. When we did manage to get out, we went on a cable car up to the summit for an amazing view of the surrounding landscape. Described in national geographic as one of the top 10 views in the world. Well it might have been if it wasn't cloudy!!.

After a few days we headed to Mendoza, further north again. This is the wine making region of Argentina and gets mostly sunny weather. What a nice change as we had sun for the three days we spent there. It's funny but since we are following the tourist trail we are constantly bumping into the same people. On a bus or on a hiking trail you come across friends that you met in a bar or in the previous hostel. The same happened in Mendoza where we met up with a Portuguese couple we had gotten to know. They had arranged to do a cycling tour of the wineries and we joined in. It had been recommended to them to rent the bikes from a 'Mr. Hugo' in Maipu town. We were given a map of the area with 5 wineries highlighted and set off. We were a group of 11 and after a few kilometres cycling we arrived in the first vineyard. Wine tasting is the proper thing out here, known of that 'spitting out of the wine' when you have tasted it. You down it all. As you can imagine the cycling got easier as we visited each winery. In addition to the wineries we visited an olive factory and finished off the tour with a visit to a chocolate liquer factory. On return of the bikes to Mr. Hugo, we were invited to sit down in his garden and he proceeded to open 6 bottles of wine for us over the duration of the evening- that is why he comes highly recommended!!

Wind and rain in El Chalten

After the glacier trek we said our goodbyes to Rachel and Noreen who were heading back home. We continued on further south to El Chalten, a two street town that was only founded in 1985. This town has no banks nor ATMs and has developped as a result of fantastic hiking that can be done in the nearby mountains. On the day we arrived the weather was so bad we were restricted to staying in the hostel all day, no hiking possible. The following day it was somewhat better and we headed out on a 3hour hike to a viewpoint of Mt. Fitzroy. Unfortunately the clouds were out and the view of the peak was totally obscured, nonetheless the hiking was good. And on the third day we managed a hike to Cerro Torre, again another fantastic view of mountain peaks if the weather had permitted, but it didn´t. Directly below this mountain peak is a lake into which a glacier feeds. We were able to see the glacier which we hadn´t expected so that was a nice surprise. We were leaving the next day and just as we were exiting the town the clouds cleared and Mt. Fitzroy was visible in all its glory. The bus driver stopped to allow us to get photos- i may have seen the mountain from a distance but it is impressive nonetheless.

Glacier Trekking

From Puerto Madryn we made our way to El Calafate, right in the centre of Patagonia. It is a small town built around the Perito Moreno glacier. This is one of three Patagonian glaciers that are not receding and the experts don't know why. It advances into Lake Argentino and forms a dam with the land on the other side. When the pressure builds up enough, the face of the glacier caves, creating a spectacular big event. The last big rupture was in July of this year. The tour we did brought us to the national park where we got quite close to the glacier. It is addictive as you watch the glacier, waiting and hoping for a big chunk to fall off. We managed to see some small parts calve, nothing spectacular, though the noise would make you think it was a catastrophic collapse. The remainder of the tour brought us to the west side of the glacier where we did trekking on the ice. We were all given crampons, very basic metal spikes tied onto the foot with rope. It was a bit unusual to walk on at first but totally necessary if you wanted to be able to climb the ice. The bedrock underneath the ice is bumpy and the glacier follows that topography so the top of it is also bumpy, giving lots of wonderful shapes. The ice reflects the blue colour from the sun so the ice has an amazing blue hue. The trek lasted for 1.5h. It was great and for a few moments i imagined something of what Tom Crean and his fellow explorers must have experienced as they set off on their explorations. Needless to say i didn't discover anything new but was nicely surprised when we rounded the last corner and were greeted with a glass of whiskey- on ice!!!

Whales, Elephant Seals, Penguins and Welsh Tea

Puerto Madryn is a 15h bus ride south of Buenos Aires. This is the starting point to see the huge array of wildlife that Argentina has to offer. We headed out on a whale watching trip and i am glad to say that this time round we saw plenty of them. It is the breeding season for Southern Right Whales and they spend several months along the Atlantic coast of Argentina. For two hours we watched as they surrounded the boat and performed for us, it was fantastic.

Further down the coast there are colonies of elephant seals that come to the Argentine coast to have their young this time of the year. The adults are huge, ugly and awkward and seem to just lie on the shore soaking up the sun. Their predators are the Orca whales, who have a fancy for the young pups and i was secretly hoping we would see a shoal of whales appear out of the blue ocean looking for a spot of lunch. Alas it was not meant to be- at least the young pups were safe for another while!!

Another day we took a trip to see the Magellan penguins, the second largest colony after the Empire penguins in Antarctica. This time of the year they are nesting and incubating their eggs. The tour allowed you to walk among the nests, which span for miles, and watch them go about their business. They are a protected species and in this colony they have the right of way. It was amazing to see all these animals in their natural habitat.

There are a couple of towns outside Puerto Madryn that have a strong Welsh heritage. In the early 1900s 153 Welsh made their way to Argentina on the promise of land and set up home in Trelew and Gaiman. Today, they are still very proud of their heritage and many speak Welsh. One of the main tourist attractions in Gaiman is Welsh Tea- I didn´t know such a thing existed but it is very big in Gaiman. The four us stopped in for a cup of tea, scones and cakes, cakes and more cakes- it was the biggest afternoon tea i have ever seen, it was great.

Tango in Buenos Aires

It was straight to Buenos Aires after Peru where we met up with Rachael and Noreen, two friends over from Dublin who were going to travel Argentina with us. We spent 5days in Buenos Aires; called the ´Paris of South America´, it is a nice city though personally nothing can compare to Paris. The architecture is definitely European in style but it is quite a dirty city, a bit shabby, it still hasn´t fully recovered from its economic crash in 2001.

Tango is alive and well in the city and on the weekends restaurants put on free shows to enjoy with your coffee and dinner. We did an all in package, tango class, dinner and a show. An hours class and i am able to say i can do the basic tango step- i have the certificate to prove it, see the photo above!!! It was good fun and the dinner and show were excellent.

There is quite a bit to see in BA and there are plenty of walking tours to show you around. One of the main attractions is Recoleta cemtery where Evita is buried. When you arrive in the cemetry you just need to follow the crowds to find her tomb. This cemetry is full of fancy mausoleums, where the rich and wealthy are buried- we managed to find two Irish tombs- Admiral Brown, a native of Mayo, the founder of the Argentinian navy and Father Fahy, an Irish priest who helped alot of Irish immigrants when they arrived in Argentina, are both buried here.

The Irish who did settle here would have fitted in nicely- good steak and beer and nightlife that starts late and goes on til the early hours of the morning. We were often eating dinner in an empty restaurant simply because we couldn´t wait any longer!!!

Machu Picchu

This time last week we had just set out on our 4day hiking trip to Machu Picchu. A 42km hike over 4days doesn´t sound too bad until you start climbing- i don´t want to see another mountain step for a long time- it was hard but well worth it.

We met the rest of the GAP group on the Thursday- 16 in total- 6Irish, 4Ozzies, 1Canadian, 1Norwegian, 4Americans. We transferred to Cusco, a city on the outskirts of the starting point of the hike. Had Friday to explore the city and the hike started on Saturday morning. The team consisted of us 16, 2guides and 22 porters. We could only bring 6kg each packed into a duffel bag. The porters carry our things, a max of 25kg and they pretty much run all the way so that by the time we reach the camp, everything is set up, our tents, basin of water ready for us to wash. It is amazing to see them run up those mountains especially at altitudes as high as 4200m. And it isn´t only the young guys, one guy on our team was 65 years old! The record holder for the fastest time to complete the trip was part of our team- he has done it in 3h45mins. And we took 4days!!!!

We were really lucky with the weather as we got 4 beautiful days- it made the trip so much easier and the views so spectacular. Day 1 was an easy introduction to the hike and wasn´t too taxing. We reached camp about 4pm and by 6pm it was dark and really cold because of the clear nights but they were a stargazers dream. We were in bed each night by 8.30pm wrapped up in thermals, hats, sleeping bag- i can´t remember the last time i was in bed on a Saturday night that early!!

Day2 is known to be the worst and i knew this before going on the trip. But boy did it hurt. We pretty much spent the first 4h climbing up steps, some almost at 90degress. The following 2h were spent going downhill, not very good for the knees. After the 4h uphill you reach the highest point on the hike, 4200m, known as ´Dead Womans Pass´ - named because the mountains give a profile quite like a woman lying down and not because a woman has died at this point; though a few of us felt lying dying by the time we reached it. I was lucky enough to only suffer some headaches from the altitude but others were quite sick over the few days. The high altitude takes awhile to get used to- eventhough i wasn´t sick, i was moving alot slower than at sealevel. The locals have evolved to deal with it- small feet to be able to manage the steps, big hearts and lungs for the thinner air. Even the wildlife is affected by the air. Parts of the trail are home to 12 or 13 species of humming bird. They cannot continuously fly like they would at sealevel, but must stop every few minutes to take a rest. This meant we were able to get photos of alot of them and appreciate their wonderful plummage.

Each day on the trip we got breakfast, lunch and dinner cooked for us by the porters- it was 5star quality-luxury camping i think!! 3course meals each time: soup, dinner and desert, fantastic.

The final days hike started at 3.30am- up for breakfast and to pack our stuff. At this point of the trail there is a checkpoint we have to go through. The hike consists of two parts- a 6km hike to the sungate, which are ancient ruins that look down on Machu Picchu. From there it is another 3km to the site. The earlier you get up the higher you are in the queue to get through the checkpoint. We were the second group in the queue. When the checkpoint opened at 5.30am it was as if it was the start of a race. There was an air of anticipation and everyone started increasing their speed to make it to the sungate as soon as possible. Most of this part of the trek is flat and it was great to get a good stretch in the legs. Rounding the corner for the last part of the first stage we faced a 90degree wall. Usually i would take forever to climb such a thing as i am not good with heights, but in this case nothing was going to stop me making it up the wall and i wasn´t going to let anyone pass me!! At the top of the wall you enter the sungate- wow, the view of Machu Picchu was spectacular. It was a beautiful morning and not a cloud in the sky. After we had all reached the sungate and taken time to cool down after our charge, we made the final 3km hike to the site. We were there by 8.30am and spent the next couple of hours touring the site. By 12pm the site is jam packed with daytrippers who take the easy option and get the train. By then we were making our way back to Cusco. What a fanastic few days.

Welcome to Miami

From Cancun we flew to Miami- when booking the trip we couldn´t get from Cancun to Peru directly and had to go into USA for the connection. So we decided to spend a weekend in Miami and meet up with Lorraines friend Lanette who is from New Mexico. On Friday we had an early flight and got to the airport at 5.30am in Cancun. When we arrived in Miami, Lorraine got pulled over in customs for possession...........of 2 red mexican apples that had to be disposed of. From there we rented a car and went to meet Lanette who had arrived the previous evening. We had booked into a hotel for the weekend- luxury for a second time for us backpackers which was located on Collins Avenue (which was funny for me as my parents just live off Collins Avenue, Dublin) and which is miles and miles long. After settling in we headed to Cuban district to sample authentic Cuban food. The restaurant the taxi driver recommended was packed- i got fish and rice for dinner, wasn´t too impressed as it was quite dry but the fried bananas served alongside were great. We asked the waiter to recommend a club for drinks and music and he pointed us to one across the road. A live band was going to be playing. But when we entered at 11.30pm we were the only ones in the place. The band didn´t start playing til about 1.30am but by then the place was jammers. It was a fantastic night, i think we were the only tourists in the place.

Next day we hit South Beach Miami, famous for the art deco district. There is a tour of the area available when it isn´t raining but just our luck, it rained all morning so we had to make up our own walking tour. The buildings are impressive and are in very good condition. The rain continued for pretty much most of the day and that night it turned torrential. Nonetheless we headed back to South Beach for dinner. There was no let up and by the time we finished the roads and sidewalks were flooded- now if i was at home and it was raining this hard i wouldn´t venture out but when you are on holiday you are in a different mindset. From the restaurant we headed down a few blocks to a popular club ´Mango´s´where we danced the night away. We met some Canadians who were down for the weekend to watch the the Miami Dolphins play. One of them turned out to have neighbours in Ontario who were also McKenna´s- Rose and Kieran- so they may very well be distant relations!!!

I was very impressed with Miami, has a great atmosphere and is very well laid out. Aswell as the beach (which we managed to visit several times), the clubs, there is a lot of nature to see aswell. We managed to drive down to the Everglades National Park but got there just as the sun was setting. It was too late to do any hiking but definitely is a must do when i go back.

Arrived in Lima, Peru, yesterday evening. Not much to see in the city. Are due to meet the group we will climb Maachu Pichu with tonight. We head for Cusco tomorrow and start climbing on Friday. I am bit wary of this as i have heard loads of stories of altitude sickness etc. We get as high as 13,000ft at some points during the 4day hike. Next time i blog, i will have plenty to tell i am sure.

Adios Mexico

It´s been awhile since my last update- just been too busy lazing by the beach and partying!! We spent 4 nights in Playa del Carmen in a really good hostel. The weather finally improved and we got to get some sunbathing in. First time in the Caribbean and it was beautiful, so clear and warm. On the Sunday we went on a snorkelling trip and this time did see plenty of marine life. Had about an hour swimming around the reef and while the coral was quite dull in colour, did see loads of colourul fish- bright yellow, rainbow coloured, black dotted fish- on a couple of occassions came across shoals of fish maybe a hundred in number just hanging about together- it was fantastic. In general Playa is full of tourists on a two week trip that have taken a day trip down from Cancun or are staying in one of the hotels for the length of their trip. So its a bit more built up and resorty than some of the places we have been. I really liked this place, many good restaurants and plenty of clubs- have really gotten into the latin, salsa music over here, just have to learn how to dance to it properly!!

One of the afternoons we made our way to Tulum, another set of ruins right on the ocean about an hour outside of Playa. These ruins are not so decorative as previous ones we have seen but their location makes up for that. Eventhough the day was a bit dull, the turquoise colour of the ocean still shone bright and irradiated the ruins- they were beautiful. There was a couple of metres of beach on the site that were cordoned off as a reserve for turtles. During May-September the females return to the beach to lay their eggs. It would have been fantastic to see them but i think it happens usually at night. Further down the site, there was public access to the beach and we spent the afternoon in the water- history, culture and beach all in one afternoon- a perfect way to spend the day i think!

From Playa we made our way to Isla Mujeres (Womens Island) for our last few days in Mexico. At this stage the English girl went on to Guatemala to continue her trip. The best to see the island is by bike so one of the days we rented them from the hostel but when we went to collect them not one of them was in working order- some had pedals missing, others the saddles, still others had no chain. So we got our money back and rented bikes from a local shop instead. We spent the morning cycling all over. The island has a turtle reserve where it protects eggs from predators and keeps baby turtles for up to a year (during which they are most likely to die) before releasing them into the wild. It was impressive. Further on up the coast is a lighthouse which you can climb and you get the most wonderful view of the island. Cycling back along the East coast you can see where a lot of damage has been done by the hurricanes, some of the coast has just disappeared over the last few years. After all that cycling we just had to lay on the beach for the afternoon. We rented sunloungers but within 15mins of getting them the heavens opened and we had to run for cover under the palm trees. We tried to argue with the guy who rented them to us and get our money back but no luck- so when the rain stopped we sat on the loungers for the rest of the afternoon eventhough it was cloudy, just on principle!!

We only spent one evening in Cancun, the night before we were due to fly out. Have to say getting the taxi from the ferry port to the hostel, i didn´t feel i was missing out on anything. And according to the Lonely Planet, Cancun is mainly a resort full of hotels.

Can´t believe our journey through Mexico has come to an end- have enjoyed it so much and seen so many different things. There is so much culture and nature to see. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.....just make sure to bring your raincoat!

Merida-Chichen Itza-Playa del Carmen

In the hostel in Campeche we met an English girl and German girl travelling together who were heading in the same direction as us so the lot of us headed to the bus station and went to Merida. Since we were 4 we managed to do a bit of bargaining and got a 4bed air conditioned room in a guest house with tv for little more than the price of a bed in a hostel....great result! We ended up staying there 3nights.

Merida is about 1h inland and is a stop for the Cruise ships that dock in Progreso. All the locals think you are a rich tourist with loads to spend and get quite upset when you don´t buy any of their wares. Its a busy town with some nice buildings but mainly its used as a starting point to see the surrounding areas. The main thing i wanted to see were the cenotes (underground sinkholes full of freshwater)- ever since i saw the film ´Journey into Amazing Caves´ i have been fascinated by them. There were plenty of tours available to take you to them but we got chatting to some locals who told us how to get there ourselves. We took a collectivo (hi-ace van type bus) to the town of Cuzama where the cenotes are located. From the main street we had to get a bike taxi (two seats for passengers in a cart with a bike at the back to push you). The guys cycling had to take us 4km up the road and it turned out to be a really hot day so boy did they work! 4km in we arrived at a stop where we changed to horse and cart that took us the 7km in to the first of 3 cenotes. When we arrived all i could see was a hole in the ground not more than 1.5metres in diameter. There was a wooden step ladder leading into the black abyss...thats all i could see when i looked in. It took alot to get me down the ladder (i´m not that good with heights) but it was worth it. Inside was a cave full of the brightest turquoise blue i have ever seen. There was a one other small hole in the roof that allowed the sun to beam in and light up the cenote....it was fantastic. We swam in the water surrounded by stalagmites, stalagtites and some bats who roost in the roof of the cave- wonderful! We had about 30mins in that cenote and then back onto the cart to see two others- they were good but not quite as impressive as the first one.

That evening we wanted to go to Uxmal ruins, Mayan ruins, where they put on a light and sound show when its dark. Again there was the option of a tour but was quite expensive so since there were 4 of us we managed to bargain with a taxi driver to take us there, wait for us and bring us back to Merida- Uxmal is about 1.5h outside the city- we got it for a good price. On the way to the show, there was the most torrential rain, thunder and lightening i have ever seen. The show would get cancelled if it was raining so we feared our haggling may not be rewarded. But luckily it stopped by the time we got there. The show was great, the majority of these ruins are set in a square and over the 45mins different ruins are lit up in different colours while we listened to an English narration on our audio set. The Mayans relied heavily on the rains to bring them plentiful corn harvests, often chanting to the rain gods and it was a drought that brought an end to their civilisation many hundreds of years ago. But many of the buildings are so well preserved. They also introduced the idea of decmilisation by discovering the number zero and created the 365day calendar.

From Merida it was onto Chichen Itza (without the German as her trip was finishing and she was flying home), probably the most famous set of ruins in Mexico and has been voted the 8th wonder of the ancient world apparently. We tried to go to the light and sound show here but the torrential rain put a swift end to that. Instead we got to see it in daylight, very impressive again.

Then yesterday afternoon we packed up and headed for the beach. We are now at the Carribean, Playa del Carmen, about 2h south of Cancun. Unfortunately we are not getting Carribean weather, it has been raining all day and the forecast doesn´t look much better for the next few days- the rain gods must have heard the chanting at the light and sound show!!!

San Cristobal-Palenque-Campeche

Ola- from the Gulf Coast. Have finally gotten past all the mountains and bendy roads and reached the Campeche, a small colonial town on the Gulf Coast this morning. But let me back track a little to last week as quite a bit has happened since the last update.

Last Monday night was independence day and there were celebrations everywhere. We just headed to where the crowds were on the streets and watched some live bands and dancing while drinking beers-at less than 1euro a can, not bad. It seems to be quite a family occassion with kids out til all hours with their parents. In general family life seems important to Mexicans and they seem to do things as a family unit. So far the places we have visited have been quite poor- the kids don´t have any toys and the youngest children are being carried in slings and no sign of any sort of prams or buggies.

San Cristobal is another colonial town up quite high so it wasn´t too hot and you needed a jumper in the evenings. It is the heart of Mayan culture and we visited the Mayan Traditional Medicine Museum- it was brilliant. If you are suffering from whooping cough, an armidillo shell should do the trick and if someone is giving you the evil eye, then a ritual with a rooster (or was it a chicken?) should sort them out quick smart!!! Joking aside the Mayans still believe in their traditions but have somehow mixed it in with the Catholic religion the Spanish brought over. Because the following day we were visiting one of the many churches in the area and came across a ritual in the auxilary atrium where a healer was cleansing a local woman from some illness. Surrounded by candles (the number and colours of which determined by her illness), the healer was brushing her down with a bunch of basil leaves. Trying not to invade we respectfully watched for a couple of minutes and then left.

In total we spent 4days in San Cristobal, took a day trip to Canyon del Sumidero.....where we got great photos and saw crocidiles and monkeys. One of the nights we met up with a guy from work who is doing 30,000miles on a motorbike from top of Canada to the tip of Argentina. It turned out he was passing through San Cristobal on his way to Guatemala on Thursday night last and we went out for some pints. San Cristobal is a great spot for live music and in particular the reggae scene is alive and well. Really liked this place but by Friday it was time to move on.

6am Friday morning and after a few too many drinks the night before we were on a bus to Palenque, one of the finest ancient sites in all of Mexico. The tour included a stop at Agua Azul, a series of waterfalls and pools that are supposed to be the most amazing turquoise colour. But because we are in the rainy season they are just muddy brown! Although since there is alot more rain, the waterfalls are really powerful so much that even some of the walkways have been flooded. The next stop on the trip was to Misoh-al waterfall, 35m high....not too impressed with that considering Multnomah falls in Portland is much higher, but good to see nonetheless. We were about 20 people on the trip and were transported on a hi-ace van type bus. We ended up in the back row and these roads around the mountains were the worst we have been on. Made worse by the fact they have speed ramps almost every 100m.....the van´s suspension wasn´t very forgiving!!! I could only stomach the trip by half lying down and closing my eyes. The final stop was definitely the best- we had 2hours in Palenque archaelogical site with a guided tour in english. This ancient civilisation was only discovered in the mid 20th century and to date 33 out of 1481 buildings have been excavated. The remaining buildings are still covered in rainforest- there isn´t the money in the country to support further work on this. The Mayans believed the circle was a sacred shape and as a result never used the wheel. When you see the architecture of the buildings they built it is hard to imagine how they could have managed it all....apparently they had hundreds of slaves. That night we stopped off in a campsite nearby to the site and got a cabin in the rainforest. Now i am a fan of all things natural, especially when it is on the tv and David Attenborough is providing the narration but wasn´t overly keen on sleeping in a room with corrugated iron roof and all the possible creepy crawlies that might appear. But a couple of pina coladas in the local restaurant and a mosquito net draped over the bed meant i got 40winks.

Saturday was spent making our way to Campeche. Though only 6hours away, the buses didn´t leave til midnight. So instead we went halfway to Villahermosa and spent the afternoon in the local zoo, getting to see jaguars which are very sacred to ancient Mexican culture and then caught the night bus to Campeche. Because it wasn´t too far away we got in about 4am. Chanced our arm and got a taxi to a nearby hostel. Luckily they had space and got some sleep. Campeche is beside the sea and even still, the humidity is really high here. So not doing very much today. Plan is to head off tomorrow and hit the Yucatan.

From Oaxoca to Puerto Escondido

Last week sometime (can´t remember days anymore!) we left Mexico city and made our way further south to Oaxoca city. City full of churches mainly, we just spent a couple of days there. There is alot of poverty there and loads of vendors selling everything. After awhile you can get complacent and just brush them off with a polite ´No Gracias´. It gets really hot during the day and one of days we went into shop to get some drinks and there behind the counter, a mother was washing her newborn daughter in a bucket. When she saw us she just wrapped up the baby in a towel and started to serve us, the baby was tiny and couldn´t have been more than a couple of days old- no such thing as maternity leave here! We continued one to a shaded tree in one of the many squares to cool off. When we left we unknowingly left behind our shopping from the market earlier that day. We only realised it a couple of hours later and when we went back of course it was gone. But it turned out a local artist selling his art in the square had found it and was keeping it for us. We were given directions to where he was teaching an art class and when we found him he had our things- we left Oaxoca the next day with a very good vibe for the city.

Our next stop was Puerto Escondido, a beach town famous for the Mexican Pipeline. The bus took 6h and was pretty much on mountain bends for all the journey. Spent the days just chilling out on the beaches and while i think i am a dab hand at surfing (down on Lahinch and Strand hill when the tide is calm) there was no way i was attempting to catch any of these waves- i think they would have made mince meat of me. Some of them must have been 20ft high. It was just fine to sit back and watch the pros do it. We did muster up a bit of energy and do a boat trip out to see the dolphins- well that was how they sold it to us.! We did not see hide nor hair of a dolphin. However, the skipper managed to spot an adult turtle beside the boat and got it on board- have some good photos of that-will try and upload them next time. And we also managed to catch a big fish- called Mahi Mahi- it was a fiesty thing as it took three attempts to kill it- poking its eyes out didn´t do it, nor did slitting its throat but finally mashing its head with a blunt object knocked the life out it!!! Spent last night on the night bus for 13h journey to San Cristobal. Today is a national feast day, independence day. Apparently big celebrations everywhere. So we are off to take a look!

Adios Mexico City

Planning on leaving Mexico city tomorrow morning- spending today booking accommodation and bus tickets- great fun when you have very little spanish. The last few days have been great. On Sunday we went to Xochimilco, a network of canals where you rent a boat and go sailing for the afternoon. As well as a must see for the tourist families rent boats for the day and bring lunches and picnics and spend the afternoon on the river. The boats are decorated with so many colours and designs. Vendors on smaller boats sell their wares, everything from crafts, to corn on the cob, tacos, tortillas etc. Even Mariachis will come to your boat and sing you a song! We got a lift to the train station that morning with Gaby´s mum but were caught doing an illegal U-turn and 150pesos bribe got us out of paying a 1000peso fine. Sunday night we went to Mexican Folklore Ballet (same idea as Riverdance though this has been running since the 60s) which was brilliant. We got the cheapest tickets, for seats in the gods, but for 50pesos more (paid to the ushers) we were moved down one level to much better seats (tickets that would have cost a furhter 100pesos if bought at the box office)- bribery is alive and well in Mexico city!! Monday night we stumbled upon an Irish pub (Celtics) but have to say it didn´t have the ´cead mile failte´ that one would expect. The bouncer on the door made us wait outside for ages eventhough the place was empty and we couldn´t sit where we wanted- had to sit at a table for 3 because the comfy chairs were being kept for larger groups altough no groups appeared. They got the message when we didn´t leave a tip- definitely would not recommend this pub.

Buenos Dias

Ola from Mexico. What a huge city. Population is 20million and everywhere is always busy so much that i nearly got squashed a couple of times getting onto the metro, i am learning though, you just have to push your way on. Friday night we headed down to the Mariachi square where all the Mariachi bands gather and play their music. After awhile its a bit of a Mariachi overload but good fun nonetheless. Yesterday did a tour out to Teotihucuan, Aztec ruins just outside Mexico. Part of the tour stopped off at Basicilia Guadalupe, site of Vision of the Virgin centuries ago. It has become such a popular pilgrimage place that there have been 3churches built to accomodate the numbers. Yesterday the biggest church was packed to capacity, 40,000 people- that´s the biggest crowd i have ever seen (as you know i am not a GAA fan so have not had the pleasure of being in a packed Croke Park!). Teotihucuan is impressive and the pyramids can be seen for miles around. We were the only two english speakers on the tour, the rest spanish so i think we got the shortened translation always!!! Plan is probably to head off south Tuesday. Weather has been mixed, not too hot and alot of rain- though you can set your watch by it. Torrential downpours from 7pm til 8pm and within 15mins it has all dried up.

Hola from Mexico

We arrived in Mexico city last night. The flights went off without a hitch and passed through customs and immigration no bother. We met up with Gaby who will put us up for the week and hopefully show us around all the tourist spots. She lives abot 10km outside the city beside the university and on leaving the airport we prepaid for the taxi- a good idea as it must have taken us about 40mins to get to her place and that was because off the traffic. 9.30pm at night and it was hectic. I dread to think what rush hour is like over here. As soon as got onto the motorway we could smell the smog and pollution. Lorraine and myself have been sneezing ever since. Last night wasn´t too warm so we didn´t have to have the windows open- just as well as the mosquitos are huge over here- just aswell i brought 95% DEET!