Well Lynn and I are back in good old Scotland after a 50 week round the world adventure. It is time to think about going back to work, decorating our flat and otherforms of reality after a year of living the dream.

So this is our last blog. Our Bunch of Fives travel awards for the year 2007/08.

Ever since I was a kid I have enjoyed making lists of my favourite things - bands, songs, football players etc etc so this our list of favourite things from our travels.

Top 5 beers
1. Quilmes, Argentina
A cool label, refreshing taste and former sponsors of Boca Juniors
2. Chang Beer, Thailand
A wopping 6.5%, less than 50p for a 1 litre bottle and easy to drink, too easy!
3. Monteith Zesty, New Zealand
A lager with a dash of lemon twist to make it zesty and extremely refreshing on a hot day
4. Cusquena, Peru
A beer for drinking after a hard days hiking
5. Escudo, Chile
A nice colourful label and a lovely lager

5 Cool Cities
1. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Top steak restaurants, football, greta bars and shops. What more could you want?
2. Sydney, Australia
Jointfirst place with BA, Sydney is truly stunning.
3. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
This place goes nuts during carnival, the energy, enthusiasm and effort put into partying has to be seen to believed. Again truly beautiful with mountains, beaches, sea and rainforest all around.
4. Cusco, Peru
A small city but beautiful with fresh air aplenty and stunning old buildings
5. Auckland, New Zealand
A very relaxed city with very relaxed and friendly people.

5 cool towns
1. Lunag Prabang, Laos
One of our very favourite places in the world with old French colonial buildings, nice bars and restaurants, a brilliant night market and beautiful waterfalls and pools
2. Hoi An, Vietnam
The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site with great old buildings and lovely cobbled streets
3. Queenstown, New Zealand
Adventure capital of NZ set among jaw droppingly beautiful scenery
4. Siem Reap, Cambodia
Great town fpr spending 4 or 5 nights in as you tour round the Angkor temples during the day
5. Cafayate, Argentina
Small town with 10 wineries and a cheese factory. Very relaxed.

5 Great Places for trekking
1. Inca Trail, Peru
Jaw droppingly amazing scenery on the way to Machu Picchu
2. Torres Del Paine, Chile
Truly beautiful, fresh and at the end of the world
3. Blue Mountains, Australia
Again, amazing scenery to take your mind off your aching feet
4. Pucon Volcano climb, Chile
Climb and active volcano outside Pucon in Chile and take in 360 degree views of mountains, lakes and forests
5. Kings Canyon/Uluru, Australia
In the middle of a huge country is a huge barren landscape that looks amazing in the scorching sunshine

5 crazy things to do
1. River Boarding, Queenstown, New Zealand
Absolutely crazy and the hardest thing we have ever done, we were aching for 3 days afterwards after using muscles we didn't know we had. Throw yourself down grade 4 rapids on a body board!
2. Worlds Most Dangerous Road, Bolivia
Cycle down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road, keep your eyes on the road!
3. Canyon Swing, Queenstown, New Zealand
Jump off a cliff and swing through a canyon!
4. Hang Glide, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Jump off a cliff and soar like a bird.
5. Climb an active volcano, Pucon, Chile
Great views, sulphur smells and an totally fun slide back down

5 Great Places to Eat
1. Silver Elephant, Saigon, Vietnam
Exceptional Thai food with equally exceptional service
2. La Cabrera, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Unbelievably good steak, cooked with real care. So good we went 3 times.
3. Soul Restaurant, Auckland, New Zealand
Cool place where we spotted an All Black, great food and service.
4. La Tomat, Quito, Ecuador
Brilliant pizza, the best we tasted all year
5. Chaing Mai Nightmarket, Thailand
The best mussells ever

5 Great Football Matches
1. Boca Juniors 1 v 0 River Plate
2. Flamengo 1 v 4 Fluminese
3. River Plate 2 v 2 San Telmo
4. Japan 4 v 1 United Arab Emirates
5. Melbourne 0 v 0 Sydney

5 Great Beaches
1. Haad Yao Beach, Ko Phang An, Thailand
So nice we stayed for 9 nights in a little beach hut
2. Lopez Mendes, Ihla Grande, Brazil
You can only get to it by boat and then a hike through a rainforest
3. Little Beach, Augusta, Australia
4. Whitehaven Beach, Whitsundays, Australia
The real number one, white sands and crystal clear water
5. Boracay, Philippines

5 Great Places to get away from it all
1. Fiji
Remote, quiet, friendly, beautiful, sunny, unspoilt, clean...
2. Pai, Thailand
Little hippy town. Buy some books and rent a bamboo shack by the river for £1.50 a night
3. South West Australia
Rent a campervan and travel through picturesque small towns and have beaches to yourself
4. Ihla Grande, Brazil
Only accessible by boat, chilles with great beaches
5. Haad Yao Beach, Thailand

22 jaw droppinly beautiful places (5 wasnt enough)
1. Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, Peru
2. Iguazu Falls, Argentina
3. Great Barrier Reef, Oz
4. Angkor Temples, Cambodia
5. Halong Bay, Vietnam
6. Torres Del Paine, Chile
7. Whitsundays, Oz
8. Fraser Island, Oz
9. Franz Josef Glacier, NZ
10. Milford Sounds, NZ
11. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
12. Lake Titicaca, Peru
13. Salt Flats, Bolivia
14. Blue Mountains, Oz
15. Ihla Grande, Brazil
16. Lake Wanaka, NZ
17. Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
18. Sydney Harbour, Oz
19. Mount Cook, NZ
20. Great Ocean Road, Oz

All the best
Murray and Lynn

xxx

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Hello

Well we are in our final week of our almost year long adventure. We flew out from Glasgow on June 19th 2007 and on June 4th 2008, if flights go to plan, we will be touching back down on Scottish soil.

We are really looking forward to seeing family and friends and enjoying some bacon rolls!

The last week has been remarkably quiet as our trip to Iguazu was our last ´real´ bit of travelling and sightseeing. So I´m not going to do a day by day blog for this entry, I´ll just run through what we have been up to.

Stay tuned though as we intend to do two more blogs, one of our route and highlights and our last blog will be Murray and Lynn´s Bunch of Fives - our travel awards for the year 2007/08. So stay tuned to find our top 5 places to chill out, top 5 beaches, top 5 places to eat and the all important and hotly contested top 5 beers.

So what have we been up to in the last week.....

Boca Juniors Stadium tour - On Tuesday we went to Boca, a working class suburb of Buenos Aires to do the stadium tour and visit the Caminito area of Boca. The Caminito is a colourful selection of buildings made from corrugated iron, it´s a rough area but it has been transformed into a tourist attraction. The colourful buildings are surrounded by beautiful but slowly deteriorating old buildings that are bars, restaurants and tourist shops.

The stadium tour was pretty basic but well worth going on if you are a football fan. It started in the club shop before taking you round the stadium. We went pitchside and got our picture taken with a replica of the Copa Libertadores Cup and saw Maradonna´s box. The highlight of the tour was when we were in the dressing room and the guide took me to one side and asked if I had heard about the virgin that Maradonna once brought into the dressing room. My jaw dropped and before I could speak the guide showed me a small doll of the Virgin Mary!

The Caminito area is lovely. It is full of amazing Boca Juniors and Maradonna merchandise, restaurants, tango shows and bars. Sadly it is only safe to go there during the day and the restaurants and bars close at dusk as no tourists will visit Boca at night due to lack of security. We enjoyed a beer in the sunshine and bought a few tshirts.

Evita´s grave - Before the Champions League final on May 21st we visited the stunning cemetary where Evita Peron´s remains are housed. The cemetary is in the lovely area of Recoleta and the graves are absolutely beautiful. They are more like little houses and the cemetary is more like a little village. Worth going to but you only need half an hour max. Thankfully the pub we were watching the football in was right across the road from it. See the previous blog for details about that!

Evita Museum - The Evita Museum is good, but it is not really geared up to English speaking tourists. Still, you get a good idea about how important a role Evita played in the lives of Argentinians from that period. She fought for Women´s rights and stood up for the porr, campaigning for and succeeding in getting better housing. She was also a total babe and style icon and some of her clothes were on display. She was pretty cool!

Indiana Jones 4 - We went to see Indiana Jones 4 and laughed out loud. Classic. You cannot beat Indy.

Apart from that we have been very quiet, going to the gym, enjoying the odd beer, bottle of wine and meal out and also enjoying staying in our apartment watching films and saving money. As we don´t have a lot left.

Over the next few days we will be very quiet. We move out our apartment on Monday and will stay in a hostel/hotel on Monday night before catching our flight home on Tuesday!

What a year!

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxxx

Boca stadium tour, Evita´s grave and Boca remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well it is now 4 days after the European Champions League trophy was won by United in dramatic circumstances in Moscow. I am absolutely delighted for Alex Ferguson, his reign at Old Trafford deserves more than one European Cup, his ability to mould players, bring on youngsters and his thirst for success and attacking footall is unrivalled in the modern game. Another famous Scottish manager, Liverpool´s legendary Bill Shankly once said 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.' That may be taking things to the extreme but for supporters of Manchester United and Chelsea that quote must have rang true in the build up to, during and after the match.

Could either team handle losing to one of their fiercest rivals? I certainly could not begin to imagine Chelsea winning and then coming to Old Trafford next season and rubbing United´s noses in it. The thought provoked chills down my spine.

Thankfully, all worries were erased from my head after Edwin Van Der Sar saved former Arsenal and Liverpool player Nicholas Anelka´s penalty kick to take the trophy back to Old Trafford for a third time. For supporters of United around the globe there was sheer joy and exuberation, for Chelsea supporters it must have been a feeling worse than death. Refer back to Bill Shankly´s quote.

It was an excellent game, more open than most could have anticipated. We wathched the game at the fantastic Locos por el Futbol in Buenos Aires. A huge sports bar with massive screens and table service. Thankfully there were other United supporters in from Norway, Holland, Argentina and Manchester, including two season ticket holders in the Strefor End, Bernie and her daughter Catherine. There were a few Chelsea suporters in as well including two very mouthy Israeli´s at the table next to us.

Ferguson went for his strongest line-up, allaying any fears I had about him starting with one upfront. With Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo on the pitch United have the ability to beat anyone. Back up that forward line with a midfield consisting of the maestro Paul Scholes, an ever improving Michael Carrick, both offensively and defensively and the superfit and superfast Owen Hargreaves. Then you have the rock solid defence of Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra. A team worthy of Europe´s finest prize.

United started strongly and took the lead just before the half hour mark through a powerful Ronaldo header, after excellent work on the right wing from Scholes and Brown. United had chances to sew the game up before half time including a Tevez diving header after a breathtaking move involving Rooney and Ronaldo. Chelsea equalised before half time and it was all square at the interval.

Chelsea looked more confident in the second half, but both teams had their chances with Drogba hitting the post for Chelsea. Giggs came on for extra time and could have won it but for an excellent clearing header from John Terry. At that stage penalties seemed inevitable though and they were soon upon us, not before my most hated man in football, Didier Drogba was sent off. What a complete TWAT.

United scored their first two then the unthinkale happened, Ronaldo missed. The two Chelsea supporters next to us jumped up almost into my face and I had to bite my tongue and clench my fists to avoid a reaction. Chelsea scored to take the lead. Hargreaves and Nani scored under pressure for United, leaving the last penalty kick and the chance to win it to Chelsea captain John Terry. At this point I gave some money to Lynn to settle the bill and said that if he scored I would be making a sharp exit to get away from the Chelsea supporters. Instead it was my turn to turn to the two Chelsea fans next to me and scream ´get it right up you Chelsea´ and run to celebrate with the Norwegian reds. In the joyous scenes my glasses were knocked off and I was scrabbling about on the floor looking for them, only just getting them in time to see Anderson score the next penalty. Chelsea scored as well and then it was Ryan Giggs turn to step up.

Giggs was breaking Bobby Charlton´s appearance record for Manchester United and he tucked his penalty away. Next up was Nicholas Anelka. As if it wasn´t bad enough that this guy played for Chelsea, he has also played for Arsenal and Liverpool. Van der Sar saved and the place went nuts, with me shouting a few choice words at the Chelsea support in the bar.

We danced and sang with the Norwegian Reds and then ordered a bottle of champagne with Bernie and Catherine from Manchester. Bernie´s son was in Moscow and she got a couple of text messages as we sang United songs and had our picture taken by the local press. Bernie is 59 and she had been at Wembley in 1968 to see United win the European Cup for the first time and I had been in Barcelona for 1999, so it was quite fitting that we should meet in 2008. I am a great believer in fate when it comes to football, especially European Cup finals!

Bernie told us that her best friend was the former official photographer for the George Best fanclub. When I cheekily asked if he friend and George had ever, you know. She would only reply ´well George was a bit of a lad you know´ and wink at me.

We had a good chat about United and the history of the club and our love of it. After the champagne and a few more beers we waved goodbye and went back to our flat where I collapsed in a happy drunken heap and had a strange dream about being in a bar with my friends from the Glasgow Manchester United Supporters Club.

UNITED ARE THE CHAMPIONS, EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS, STRETFORD ENDERS SING THE STORY, OF UNITED´S PRIDE AND GLORY

The Champions League Final in Buenos Aires remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hello all

After the last blog this one is a little more exciting as we returned to travelling and sight seeing mode. It has been great chilling in BA though and having our own place after a year in hostels and hotels is just fantastic.

Since the last blog we have been to the amazing Iguazu Falls. Read on for more details.

Thursday 15th May
The alarm went off at 5am and we booked a taxi for 5.40am to take us to the domestic airport for our flight to Iguazu. The 7.10am flight left on time and in under two hours we were in Iguazu, a far cry from the 26 hour bus journey that was our other option.

We had checked into Hotel Carmen by 10am and as we didn´t have anything planned for that day until a boat cruise at sunset we decided to ge a taxi to the falls as there wasn´t a lot to do in the town. The falls are 12km out of the town and we paid the 40 ARG park entrance fee and went in. As we only had a few hours we decided to go to what many people refer to as the highlight of the park, Devils Throat.

We went on a little train and arrived at a walkway across the river. The scenery was already spectacular but nothing could prepare us for the sight just over a km away. The spray from the 75 metre waterfall rose in the distance and we could hear the water thundering down. Word cannot really describe how beautiful, powerful and stunning Iguazu National Park and the 275 waterfalls that are in it.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about them...
Upon seeing Iguaçu, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!"[1] Vastly larger than North America's Niagara Falls, Iguaçu is rivalled only by Southern Africa's Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe (this is excluding extremely large rapid-like falls such as the Boyoma Falls). Whilst Iguazu is wider because it is split into about 270 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria is the largest curtain of water in the world, at over a 1600 m wide and over 100 m (350 ft) in height (in low flow Victoria is split into five by islands; in high flow it can be uninterrupted).

The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has a surface area of about 40 ha (1.3 million ft²) whilst Victoria in peak flow has a surface area of over 55 ha (1.8 million ft²).[4] By comparison, Niagara has a surface area of under 18.3 ha (600,000 ft²).[5] Victoria's annual peak flow is also greater than Iguazu's annual peak—9 100 m³/s versus 6 500—though in times of extreme flood the two have recorded very similar maximum water discharge (well in excess of 12 000 m³/s). Niagara's annual peak flow is about 2 800 m³/s, although an all-time peak of 6 800 has been recorded.[5] Iguazu and Victoria fluctuate more greatly in their flow rate. Mist rises between 30 and 150 m (100 and 500 ft) from Iguazu's Garganta do Diabo, and over 300 m (1,000 ft) above Victoria (sometimes over 600 m).

Iguazu, however, affords better views and walkways and its shape allows for spectacular vistas. At one point a person can stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfalls. The Garganta do Diabo has water pouring into it from three sides. Likewise, because Iguazu is split into many relatively small falls, one can view these a portion at a time. Victoria does not allow this, as it is essentially one waterfall that falls into a canyon and is too immense to appreciate at once (except from the air).

We went snap happy with the camera and will update our flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn tomorrow

Friday 16th May
The alarm went off at 7am and after a buffet breakfast we were picked up by our tour guide for a full day exploring the Argentine side of the falls. We met a nice woman from Guatemala and 4 Argentine´s. We started off at Devil´s Throat again and despite being there the day before it seemed even more impressive in the morning sun, with the wind direction meaning that anyone who ventured out on to the viewing platform for completely soaked.

After a good 40 minutes admiring the power and beauty we got a train to the Upper Circuit and walked along, admiring the waterfalls and the greenery. After lunch we walked along the Lower Circuit and then got a boat across the river at the bottom of the falls to Isla San Martin and climbed some steps to get an amazing view of the San Martin waterfall. After a quick dip in the river we went back to the mainland and jumped in a powerboat for a brilliant experience. The boat takes you right up to the bottom of the falls and you get soaked. It was brilliant fun.

After that it was a 5km boat trip down some rapids to a 4x4 jeep that took us back to the park entrance.

I haven´t written a lot about this day, but I could have! The scenery is just amazing, like a film set, only real!

Saturday 17th May
The alarm went off at 7am again and after breakfast we checked out and got on the bus at 8.15am to Brazil to visit the Brazilian side of the falls. You can´t get as close to the waterfalls from the Brazilian side but the panoramic views were jaw droppingly spectacular. Sheer beauty. The world is a beautiful place.

We spent a good 3 hours going snap happy again, around 300 pictures from 2 days! After that we had an amazing buffet lunch on the way back to the border and then we transferred to the airport for our flight back to BA. At night we had a beer and sushi in the flat.

I have to say that if anyone has the opportunity to visit Iguazy Falls you should seize it. In 11 months of travelling it is definitely near the top, if not top, of our list of beautiful places in the world.

Thats all for now folks, I´m off to check on the latest CL final news. COME ON UNITED!

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

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It has been a while since my last blog so I will split our news into two seperate blogs, one for hanging in Buenos Aires and one for our trip to the simply spectacular Iguazu Falls.

We´ve been enjoying chilling in Buenos Aires, going to the gym, relaxing in the many bars and restaurants in Palermo, attending an amazing football game and loving having our own apartment.

Some of the diary entries may not be very exciting as we have been chilling quite a bit!

Wednesday 7th May
We went to the gym for an hour in the morning and then went to a funky New York style deli called Mark´s Deli for lunch. In the afternoon we wandered around Palermo Viejo and Soho areas and phoned a couple of friends before cooking in the flat and watching The Virgin Suicides on dvd.

Thursday 8th May
River Plate 2 v 2 San Lorenzo
We went to the gym again in the morning and we are already feeling the benefits of regular exercise. We had a quiet afternoon and then got picked up by Tangol at 6pm for the 2nd leg of the River v San Lorenzo match in the Copa Libertadores cup, the South American version of the Champions League. SL had a 2-1 lead from the first leg, so River were in the mood for goals.

The stadium was packed out, you could not move and God help you if you needed to go to the toilet, you simply couldn´t get out as people were standing and sitting in the isles. Every ticket was sold and a few people must have jibbed in. It was mobbed. The atmosphere was electric. I always like night games, the floodlights seem to enhance the occassion. It wasn´t just floodlights that enhanced the atmosphere, fireworks, flares and confetti went off as the teams took the field.

The game was pretty even until San Lorenzo had a player sent off and River took the lead. In the second half it started to get dirty and San Lorenzo had a second player sent off with River scoring the resulting penalty. The stadium erupted, it looked like River were cruising to the quarter finals. But San Lorenzo had other ideas. They had been playing excellent football all night and scored to bring it back to 2-1 on the night after sloppy defending by River. SL suddenly were on top and despite River having a 2 man advantage they could not keep possession. SL won a corner and scored, their fans went ballistic and the River end went deadly quiet.

Despite hitting the post and forcing several saves, River could not score and San Lorenzo went through. What a game, one I will always remember.

Friday 9th May
After a relatively long lie we decided to walk along Santa Fe Avenue to the Alto Palermp Shopping Mall. I bought a couple of Adidas tops and a pair of Red Converse. On the way back to teh apartment we stumbled across a funky dress shop and Lynn bought a dress for our friend Kenny and Marjories wedding on June 14th.

In the evening we ber hopped around the square and streets off it and had a few beers before getting takeaway Sushi and a dvd ´The Holiday´ to watch in. Also ended up getting a bottle of wine, so romantic!

Saturday 10th May
We got up at 10.30am and after breakfast we went to the gym for an hour and had leftover sushi for lunch. There was a market in the square and Lynn bought a couple of tops there. It is nice to be wearing some new and clean clothes after a year travelling! We did a bit of bar hopping in Palermo Soho and had pizza for dinner before another few beers on the way back to the apartment.

Sunday 1th May
Woke up at 10am and had breakfast in bed watching the Wigan v Manchester United game. United won 2-0 to win the league, full steam ahead to Moscow!

We had a nice wander around Palermo in the afternoon, we are still discovering new bars, shops and restaurants. At night we had booked into a local Parilla (steak house) called La Cabrera, one of the best in BA according to Time Out. We were not disappointed, the food was absolutely outstanding, washed down with a bottle of fine Argentine wine. The cost was under 30 quid, if we had been eating to that standard in the UK it would probably have been 70 or 80.

Monday 12th May
A very quiet day with not a lot to report. We are finally getting into the habit of relaxing and chilling after a manic 11 months travelling.

Tuesday 13th May
We got the subway into town after the gym and went to the Quantas offices to change our flight home to June 3rd, so we will officially be back in Scotland on June 4th, just under a year since we left.

We wandered around the Centre of town and bought a few presents to take home and then had a quiet night eating pizza in the flat and watching the Bourne Supremacy on TV.

Wednesday 14th May
We went to the gym in the morning and then went back to the flat for lunch. In the afternoon we went to a local Irish bar called Sullivans to watch the Rangers v Zenit St Petersburgh UEFA Cup Final. Rangers were poor and lost 2-0. The bar staff felt sorry for me as I am Scottish and gave me a free beer!

Read on for a more exciting blog about the amazing Iguazu Falls.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxxx

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Hello blog fans

It hasn´t been long since I last wrote but so much has happened I thought I had better start updating the blog. We have moved into a funky little apartment in the Palermo Viejo district of Buenos Aires. We are on a quiet street but only 2 blocks from a little square surrounded by cool bars, restaurants and shops. The whole area has more than enough bars and restaurants to keep us busy until we fly home.

Unfortunately I also got pickpocketed on the underground, ba**ards. It all happened so quickly that I didn´t realise my wallet had gone until after they had got away. How they managed to unbutton my trouser pocket and get it out so quickly I will never know.

We have also been the ´el classico´, Boca Juniors v River Plate, joined a gym and booked a 3 day/2 night trip to Iguazu Falls. Despite the pickpocketing we are loving Buenos Aires, it is a fab city.

Friday May 2nd, Carla Jennifer Easton´s 23rd birthday
The day started well. The sun was shining and we had lunch sitting outside a nice pub in Palermo and then checked out our hostel and moved into our apartment that we have rented for one month. We met the owner and the agent and all went well. I was literally skipping down the street in the sunshine as we were delighted with the apartment. Small, but spotless and modern. It is a great feeling to have our own place for one month after 11 fairly hectic months of travelling.

We got the underground to 9 de Julio and went to change to get the underground to Plaza San Martin. As we got on there was a scuffle with people getting on then deciding they wanted to get out. I was involved in the scuffle and after it finished I realised my wallet had been pinched out my trouser pocket. I had combats on and the wallet was locked in with a button, fairly safe I thought. Somehow one of the guys, I think there were 2 or 3 of them in the scam, unbuttoned my pocket and lifted my wallet without me even feeling it. As soon as I realised I erupted with a rage and barged my way out the train as the doors were shutting and dragged Lynn with me. But it was already too late, they had disappeared into the crowd. Probably a good thing as god knows what would have happened if I had caught up with them.

We immediately found an internet cafe and got the numbers for our bank and credit card and cancelled them immediately. Unfortunately there was also around 100 pounds in the wallet as we had lifted money to go to the BA office and change our flights home.

I eventually calmed down but was raging that I hadn´t noticed something suspect was up.

At night we had dinner in the apartment and a few beers to calm down!

Saturday May 3rd
Lynn´s Mum phoned our new flat at 8am and woke us up. My Mum also called and we chatted before watching the Manchester United 4 v 1 West Ham game with breakfast in bed! Top goals from Ronaldo and Tevez ensured an easy victory.

After the game we walked down to the gym that we have joined for a month, around 6 blocks from our apartment. We spent an hour running and doing some light weights to break us back into the routine. On the way back we stopped off at a nice local supermarket and bought some food for the flat and returned to have beefburgers for lunch and then a wander round the leafy streets of Palermo Viejo.

There are some cracking shops in the area and I boughta couple of tshirts, a shirt and a jacket. Lynn got a sripey crossover shirt and a vintage tshirt. Buenos Aires is a well dressed city and our old backpacking gear just isn´t in vogue!

At night we wandered down to a local sushi bar and got 40 pieces to takeaway and had them for dinner with a nice cold Quilmes from the fridge.

Sunday May 4th
Boca Juniors 1 v 0 River Plate
One thing I really wanted to do in BA was go to a Boca Juniors game, so imagine my delight when the fixtures came out and Boca were playing their arch rivals River on May 4th. Maradonna used to play for Boca, as well as Tevez of United and Gabriel Batistuta. They have a rich and interesting history, as do River.

We were picked up by our mini bus and guide from Tangol at 12.45 and driven to the game. Amazingly someone else in the bus had a bit of Scottish history, Duncan McPhee from Santiago in Chile has a Scottish Grandfather from Greenock! He is also friends with Seb Rozenthal who used to play for Rangers.

We got to the ground a full 2.5 hours before kick off and met some other people who had booked through Tangol and transferred to the areas of the ground we were all in. The guide didn´t want to hang around outside as he said there would be trouble between the two fans and supporters have been known to get mugged for their ticket! This is a game that the whole of Argentina wants to see and the streets were deserted on the way in. The country stops for this game.

We took our seats high up in the stand behind the goals, opposite from the stand where the River supporters occupied the third tier. We were high up in tier 2 and it was steeper than the North Stand at Old Trafford, which is saying something! The result of the steep stand ensures you have an amazing view and are almost on top of the action when the play is at your end.

The reserves played a 45 minute match to warm the crowd up. Not that the crowd needed much encouragement. The River end was already full and the rest of the stadium soon filled up. At the bottom of our stand a group of kids through rolled up ticket tape into the crowd, enough so that pretty much everyone had one. Behind us a group of supporters prepared a huge flag that would cover the whole stand!

As the teams came out the ticker tape throwing started, creating an amazing sight. Anyone who has seen footage of the Argentina v Holland 1978 World Cup Final will know what I mean. Then the flares started and then the flag was passed down over the end of our tier and into thetier below. Some amount of work must have gone into the creation of this flag!

The game was delayed as the stewards battled to clear the River goalmouth and Boca fans played at trying to hit the River keeper with ticker tape that wasn´t unrolled! The game eventually kicked off and River started brightly with their number 30 looking particularly skillful. Boca started to gain more possession and their number 9 was sent clean through on goal, forcing a good save from the River keeper. The resulting corner was headed powerfully into the net and the stadium went wild.

River never recovered and although they had a lot of possession I can´t remember them forcing a real save from Boca. Boca had further chances to score but didn´t take them.

We waited for the crowds to clear and made our way back to the bus and then back to the flat. We decided we couldn´t be bothered cooking and found a nice restaurant a few blocks away that I will need to go back to as I can´t remember the name of it. We had a delicious meal, I had an amazing piece of meat, a good 4 inches thick, while Lynn had fish and lovely creamy mashed potatoes, washed down with a bootle of fine Argentine win - Torrontes Vinci Domingo. Amazingly we bumped into Duncan and his girlfriend, and we thought BA was a big city!

Monday 5th May
After a light breakfast we headed to the gym where we had a medical test to ensure we are fit and healthy. After 11 months on the road you can´t be sure! Our heart and lungs were fine and we had another hour of exercise and then walked back to the apartment, picking up some laundry from a local laundrette on the way. 2 big bags of washing for only 3 pounds!

We then got the underground into Central and went to the British Airways office to change our ticket home but you couldn´t do it in person! We then walked to the Tangol office and booked a ticket for the River Plate v San Lorenzo match on Thursday night. Should be a good one as River are 2-1 down from the first leg, it is the South American version of the Champions League. We also booked a 2 night/3 day trip to Iguazu Falls for May 15th.

After a relatively productive day we had dinner in the flat, with me cooking some nice fresh noodles, chicken, veg and sauce. It is great having our own place to relax in. We have stayed in some cracking hostels, but also some that have been very noisy.

Tuesday May 6th
After a long lie we went to the Subway police and filed a report in case we can claim some money back through our insurance. After that we had a wander around some shops and found a Levis Outlet store only a few blocks from our flat and Lynn bought a nice top.

We plan to have a very chilled afternoon and evening, likewise tomorrow, apart from the gym and then go to the football on Thursday night.

Catch you soon
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Buenos Aires - an apartment, a pickpocket and Boca v River remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hey all

Well we have made it to Buenos Aires after a fairly hectic week of travelling down from Bolivia, stopping off at various places on the way to break up the long journey. As we have spent quite a lot of time on buses this may not be the most exciting of blog entries, but here goes.

We left you on Wednesday 23rd April and that afternoon United drew 0-0 with Barcelona in the Nou Camp.

Thursday 24th April
The alarm went off at 5.50am and after a shower and checkout we jumped a cab to the bus station for our 7am bus. It was goodbye to Salta, a lovely city with a beautiful square and lots of nice shops and restuarants. The bus journey was only 3 hours and we arrived in Cafayate bang on 10am. There was agirl with a flyer for El Balcon Hostel at the station and it looked nice so we went there.

After checking in we wandered around town and grabbed a bite to eat at the square before having a nap in the afternoon. We then walked to a winery called Bodega Nanni, which specialises in organic wine. We tasted their four wines and bought two bottles - Torrontes, a lovely white wine, and Malbec, a nice fruity red. We then went to the supermarket and bought some crackers and cheese and retired to the rooftop terrace of the hostel with the bottle of white.

Later on we had some lovely ice cream at a place called Helanderia Miramda and a light dinner at the square.

Friday 25th April
After breakfast we bought some food to make sandwiches and rented two mountain bikes with the intention of biking 6km out of town to a campsite and then going on a two hour hike to some waterfalls.

We started out, cycling out of town passed vineyards and wineries along a very bumpy and dusty road that was slightly uphill all the way. We made it to the campsite just after an hour and met some other people who had the intention of hiking to the waterfalls. We soon found out that it was easier said than done.

There is no recognised path and we met an Argentinian who recommended only doing it with a local guide and with hiking boots as it was quite a scramble to get there. As we only had our sports sandals on we decided to leave it and freewheeled back down the road into town.

After another ice cream we had a shower and a snooze (we are getting into the South merican lifestyle!). Later on we went for dinner at a restaurant called La Criolla and had steak with a nice bottle of Torrentes (Domingo Hermanos).

Saturday 26th April
We didnt sleep well as a club down the road played deafening techno music until the small hours. I still managed to make it up for breakfast at 8.30am, leaving Lynn in bed so I could watch the Chelsea v Manchester United game on cable in the TV room. United lost 2-1 thanks to a rather dubious penalty award 5 minutes from time to Chelsea.

After Lynn awoke we headed on a 2km walk out of town to a cheese factory, joined in the end of a tour and bought some nice cheese to take back to the hostel. We then went to an internet cafe and enquired and researched about renting apartments in Buenos Aires with a company called BYT Argentina that had been recommended to us.

We watched sunset from the roof with a bottle of red and some cheese and chatted to an English guy and a German guy about the Worlds Most Dangerous Road bike ride. Sadly some turists were killed the previous week, just after we had been down it!

Sunday 27th April
Another night of broken sleep due to the techno club blasting music until 5am, just when we had to get up for our 6am bus to Tucuman! It is a real shame as El Balcon is a nice hostel but I wouldnt recommend it due to the club down the street. Cafayate is a lovely town though, very relaxed with nice wineries, hiking, biking and a cheese farm, well worth a 2 or 3 night stay.

After 2 nights of no sleep we slept soundly for the first 3 hours of the journey and after that we dozed until arrival in Tucuman at 12.30pm. We did contemplate jumping straight on a bus to Cordoba, but that would have been another 8 hours, so we decided to spend the night in Tucuman and checked into the Garden Hotel after we found that the hostel we had selected from Lonely Planet had closed.

We had a wander around town and found a nice bar next to the square where Argentine indpendence was declared and had a meal with a few beers while watching the Boca Juniors game on TV. After that it was a quiet night in making the most of a quiet hotel with no techno club nearby.

Monday 28th April
It was a quick stop over in Tucuman and the alarm went off at 6am and we made our way to the station for our 7am bus. We watched a couple of films on our deluxe bus, one with Michelle Pfiffer that we didnt catch the name of and The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise. Both pretty predictable and nothing to write about but they passed the time.

We arrived in Cordoba at 3.30pm and checked into the Morada Hostel, run by a very friendly guy called Diego. We wandered through town to Plaza San Martin and ended up getting a McDonalds. We then had a quiet night and booked a bus to Buenos Aires for the following evening.

Tuesday 29th April
We made the most of our one full day in Cordoba by walking around all over. At 11am we arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage site that is a University/Mueseum/former Jesuit church and went on a 1 hour tour around the site. It was very interesting and we learned a lot about Cordoba and Argentina from our excellent guide. Cordoba is a University town and produced most of Argentina´s doctors.

We went back to the hostel at 3pm, in plenty of time for the 2nd leg of the United v Barca ECL semi. We ended up watching it with a nice Englisg guy from Bristol called Matt. It was a cracking game, very exciting and nerve wracking with both teams playing well. United took the lead through a cracking goal from Paul Scholes and defended excllently for the rest of the game, while still producing several more chances of their own.

Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Park and Tevez were particularly outstanding and I was quite emotional when the final whistle went. I am very pleased for Fergie that he has taken United to another European Cup Final and also for Paul Scholes who missed the 1999 triumph through suspension. I am also pleased for my friends from the Glasgow Supporters Club and know that a few of them will make it to Moscow for the final.

Later we went to the bus station and almost missed our 10.15pm bus by looking for the wrong one.

Wednesday 30th April
I found it hard to sleep on the bus, despite it being the most luxurious yet. Lynn slept well though and we arrived in Buenos Aires at 8.45am. We jumped a cab to a hostel in the Palermo Soho area called SOHostel. It was fully booked so we checked into one nearby for two nights before we move into our apartment a few blocks away.

After a shower we jumped on the underground to the 9 de Julio stop by the huge independence monument and had lunch in a cafe bar nearby. We then wandered around the shops in Central BA (very nice they are too) and down to Plaza San Martin and sat in a park for 20 minutes, basking in the sunshine. It is nice to be in a country where the sunshine isnt so fierce that you cant enjoy it. The weather in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia was nice but it was pretty much factor 50 all the way and it due to altitude you couldnt really sit in the sun for long.

We then found a bar to watch the Chelsea v Liverpool game. I really didnt know who I wanted to win but found myself applauding Liverpool´s equaliser. The scousers lost though due to Gerrard not playing well and Benitez strangely taking off Torres. Liverpool simply dont have enough quality in depth. Chelsea didnt play much better it has to be said and they have two of the football players I hate most on the planet - Ashley Cole and Didier ´diving b***ard´ Drogba. They both represent a lot of what is wrong with football these days, mercenaries and Drogba is such a diver and moaner.

COME ON UNITED IN THE FINAL

Thursday 1st May
We slept late until 10am and then wandered through Palermo to have a look at the building that will be our home for 1 month until 2nd June. We move in tomorrow and you can check it out at - Serrano and Cabrera III: www.bytargentina.com/re/propview.php?view

We got the underground into Central and then walked to the San Telmo neighbourhood for lunch at the leafy Plaza Dorrego. We enjoyed watching Tango Dancers dancing in the street before our very eyes and also an excellent funk soul band jamming in the square.

It is a national holiday today, so with a lot of places closed we may go to the cinema tonight and then we move into our apartment tomorrow at 2pm.

I will write again soon.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Salta-Cafayate-Tucuman-Cordoba-Buenos Aires remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Don´t Falter by Mint Royale

Hello from sunny Argentina. It feels like we are on the home straight of our travels, with around 6 weeks to go. This is what we have been up to since I last wrote.

Sunday April 20th
Our alarm went off at 8.30am and after breakfast at the restaurant next to our hostal we went to our tour office to meet Mario, our driver and tour guide for the day. We headed south of Tupiza to a narrow gorge in a huge rock formation, which had a tunnel passing through it. We then headed to Canon Del Duende and went for a quick walk through it. The scenery was very cinematic, total cowboy country.

We headed out to the river - Rio San Juan Del Oro, although the river was pretty dry due to 2 months of no rain in the area. We had a picnic lunch under beautiful old trees, gazing out at the stunning rock formations. After lunch we headed out to see 4 rock formations - Puerta del Diablo, Valle De Los Machos, El Canon del Inca and Valle De Los Machos, featuring phallic type rocks.

We had a rather surreal experience at Puerto del Diablo. We were driving along in the 4x4 with the windows down when I thought I heard someone shouting. Mario did as well and suddenly out of the desert ran a tall guy looking a bit battered and bruised. He came over to the 4x4 looking tired, exhausted and somewhat confused. He told us he couldnt remeber how he got here, how long he had been here or even where he was. He looked like he had been out hiking and fallen as he had cuts on his arms, legs and head. We took him back to Tupiza and dropped him at the police station next to the hospital. He obviously had concussion and temporary memory loss (in our opinion anyway). He didnt even know he was in Bolivia. We looked through his digital camera to see if there was any indication if he was travelling with anyone but the pictures seemed to indicate that he was travelling alone. He was from Switzerland and he was called Bernard. At first I was reluctant to leave him alone with the police, but later I realised there was nothing more we could do. He had no idea what hostal he was staying at, where he had been or where he was going. He could speak Spanish and we had to leave it to the police to see if they could find where he was staying and the hospital to calm him down and rehydrate him.

After that strange experience we headed out to some absolutely stunning rock formations called Quebrada Palala and Comino Al Sillar. The rocks were different colours due to the different minerals found in the area and looked fantastic from our high viewpoint.

At night we had a quiet one ahead of our 4am bus to Argentina!

Sunday April 21st
The day started at 3am as our alarm went off. We left at 3.15am and walked to the local bus station. It was surprisingly busy for the time of day and after a little confusion we got on a local bus to the border, where we would then cross to Argentina and catch a nice luxury bus to Salta.

It was cold, damn cold. Bolivia is so high above sea level that during the day the sun burns fiercely and you really have to cover up. At night, it is freezing and you really have to cover up for different reasons! The bus trip was just over 2 hours along a bumpy, dusty road. Along with the bumps the bus didnt have any heating, so we didnt get any sleep.

We arrived at the border town of Villazon and got out into the coldest temperatures we have experienced on our trip. We found our bus company and they sorted us with tickets from the Argentinian side to Salta. After exchanging what was left of our Bolivian currency we went through passport control and jumped a cab to the bus terminal. We thought we had 90 minutes to kill until our bus but someone reminded us that Argentina is an hour forward. We gor some snacks, checked in our bags and jumped on our nice warm bus with fully reclining seats and slept for a while.

We arrived in Salta at 4pm, an hour late due to the Argentine army stopping our bus to check for anyone that might have jumped the border or smuggled stuff in. We checked into the rather nice Plaza Hotel for 90ARG per night. After a shower, we walked round the lovely 9 de Julio Plaza, with streetside bars and cafes and settled in one bar for some classic Argentine steak and a couple of beers before an early night as we were exhausted from our travels.

Tuesday April 22nd
We slept late, until 10am, so we missed breakfast at the hotel. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Vang Gogh Cafe, sitting out streetside and watching the world go by in the morning sunshine. We wandered round the city centre and felt quite glad to be back in civilisation after the Salt Flats and the cowboy town of Tupiza. We took some washing to a local laundrette and wandered around some shops but decided not to buy anything until we got to Buenos Aires.

Late afternoon we went to a bar to watch the Liverpool 1 v 1 Chelsea game over a late lunch and beers. It wasnt the best game and Chelsea were very lucky to get an equaliser late into injury time through a Riise own goal, but then again Liverpool and Chelsea are not the most entertaining teams.

At night we picked up our laundry, under 2 quid for a big bag! We then had a hotdog and sat in the local square before going to bed for another early night, watching quite a good film called Cold Mountain on cable.

Wednesday April 23rd
We woke in time for breakfast and then took the cable car up the hill overlooking Salta and the surrounding valley. We then booked bus tickets for tomorrow to Cafayate. This afternoon we will be finding a nice bar to sit in and watch the Barcelona v Manchester United ECL semi 1st leg, billed in Argentina as Messi vTevez. Lets hope Tevez wins, although I think he may start on the bench for this game. Should be 2 classic games with some amazing talent on display for both sides. Barca have Deco, Henry, Eto and Messi (with Ronaldinho injured), while United have Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Nani and Scholes, not to mention Giggs and Anderson. COME ON UNITED!

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Goodbye Bolivia, hello Argentina remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sweet Dreams by The Eurythmics

Hola

We are now in the sleepy Western town of Tupiza in the south of Bolivia. Since I last wrote we have stayed in a hotel made entirely of salt and been on a two day tour across the magnificent 12 square km Salt Flats

Wednesday April 16th
Our overnight bus was a bumpy one. The bus itself was excellent, comfy reclining seats with a meal served as we left La Paz. The further we got away from L Paz the bumpier the road became as we transferred from smooth tarmac to a bumpy gravel/dirt road. Still, the bus arrived in Uyuni at 8am, only an hour later than scheduled.

We went to the company we had booked a two day salt plains tour through, El Desierto. We had also booked into the Salar Lunar Salt Hotel with them and they informed us that a jeep would transfer us there at 11.30am. We killed time by getting some breakfast and checking news and views online.

The Salt Hotel was absolutely stunning, probably the best place we have stayed on our travels and at $95US a night, certainly the most expensive. But hey, we wer never going to get the chance to do this again and it was something we really wanted to do after seeing it on Globetrekker. I´ll add photos to flickr in the next week or so but in the meantime you can check out http://www.boliviacontact.com/en_bolivia/LunaSaladaHotel_411.html

The Salt Hotel is around 200 yards from the edge of the Salt Flats and offers magnificent views out to the horizon. The walls are made of salt bricks, our bed had a salt base and headboard, the chairs and tables in the restaurant were made of salt and......well you get the picture. We had a nice afternoon nap and at night we met an English guy called Zak and his guide Wilbur. It turned out that we were the only 4 staying in the hotel that night. We had dinner and polished off 3 bottles of Bolivia´s finest wine between the three of us, with Wilbur sticking to beer. Needless to say we slept soundly and woke with fuzzy heads.

Thursday April 17th
We had breakfast and then had some time to kill before getting picked up by another jeep to join our tour for 2 days on the Salt Flats. We were due to get picked up at 11am but it was closer to 1pm when the jeep eventually arrived and took us toa small town on the edge of the plains to meet the rest of our group - Belinda from the Canary Islands, her smitten boyfriend Allessandro from Santiago and Leia and Mikel from France. Our guide was called Oliver and throughout the two days he provided an excellent soundtrack of late 70´s disco and early 80´s pop to keep us entertained in the jeep, made on old skool casette compilations.

We sped on to the salt and stopped at an area where the workers pile the salt into groups and then load lorries, backbreaking work in blinding sunshine. We then drove further to an old salt hotel that is now a museum as it was closed for sanitary reasons. Hotels are now only allowed to be built on the edge of the flats. After that we drove to a small village called Coqueza and stayed in the Tunipa Hostal for the night, hitting the sack early at 8.30pm as we were getting up in the morning to climb a mountain. I should add that we watched the sunset over the flats and it was absolutely beautiful, the whoe area is pretty mindboggling.

SALT FACTS
Some 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Uyuni is roughly 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States.

Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt, of which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually. All miners working in the Salar belong to Colchani's cooperative. Every November, Salar de Uyuni is also the breeding grounds for three species of South American flamingos: the Chilean, James's and Andean flamingos. It is also a significant tourist destination; highlights include a salt hotel and several so-called islands. As it is so flat it serves as a major transport route across the Bolivian Altiplano.

Friday April 18th
The alarm went off at 6.45am and I immediately went outside to catch the end of the sunrise. I prefer sunsets as you dont have to get up early for them! After a light breakfast we left the hostal in the jeep to drive to a car park up the hill before starting to climb a mountain to 5400 metres above sea level. The flats are around 3650 metres above sea level, so we had quite a climb ahead of us, especially at altitude.

Before we huffed and puffed our way up the mountain to the Mirador (viewpoint) to Vulcan Tunipa, we stopped off at an ancient cave full of pre-inca skeletons. After that it was onwards and upwards and it took us a good hour and a half to reach the lookout. We were rewarded with stunning views across the flats. They looked so pure and white from a distance, more like snow than salt. We also had fantastic views of the now inactive Vulcan Tunipa with it´s beautiful shades of red volcanic rock shining in the sun.

After a good rest at the top we climbed back down to the hostal for an early lunch, packed up the jeep and drove out towards fish island, rocking to a great tune called Born To Be Alive by a guy called Patrick Hernandez, that I had never heard before. We also had YMCA by The Village People!

Fish Island is an island shaped a little like a fish and allegedly home the the tallest cactus in the world. It is a tiny island in the middle of the slat flats and has a hill in the middle that offers spectacular panoramic views around the flats. We spent a good few hours there before saying goodbye to our new French friends who were joining another tour to go into Bolivia and picking up 2 Japanese tourists instead. We had gone pretty snap happy on our tour but these guys took it to another level!

On the way back we stopped to watch the sunset, the white salt turning orange and red before going dark when the sun went down fully. Be warned, there will be quite a few pictures on flickr soon!

We drove back to Uyuni and had pizza and picked up our train tickets for Tupiza. It was our first pizza since our food poisoning episode and we were relieved that it was OK!

The train left Uyuni at 10.40pm and our seats were comfortable and the carriage was warm. Lynn managed to get to sleep but I couldnt get to sleep so I listened to the genius of Marvin Gaye and the guitar pop brilliance of Teenage Fanclub on route.

Saturday 19th April
Our train arrived in Tupiza at 4am and we wandered sleepily to a nearby hostal and checked in, sleeping until around 10am. We had a wander round and booked on a day tour for Sunday, taking in canyons, mountains, waterfalls etc and also a bus to Salta in Argentina for Monday. We decided against the Butch and Sundance tour as we thought it was hiking, while it is actually two long days in jeeps to get to the sites where the robbed a bank and supposedly met their demise. We´ll watch the film instead.

After brunch we watched United sneak a point away to Blackburn, setting up a magnificent week of football. The first leg of the Champions League semi against the mighty Barcelona on Wednesday and a potential title decider against Chelski next Saturday. I´ll be making sure our room has cable for those game, or at the very least that we will be somewhere with an Irish bar!

I´ll write again when we reach Argentina.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

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Roadhouse Blues by The Doors

Hola from La Paz, the worlds highest capital city at a dizzying 3600 metres above seas level, a city where you have no excuse not to have shiny shoes, as shoeshine boys are on every street corner.

At the weekend I told our parents we were going mountain-biking yesterday. While that certainly wasnt a lie, I relented from telling them that we were biking down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road!

Check out the fantastic Kiwi owned companies www.gravitybolivia.com for full details and read yesterdays entry for our thoughts and experiences. I´m also in the middle of uploading some new photos to www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn

So what have we been up to..........

Friday April 11th
We got up and checked out, the room was only 240 BOL, well worth it for the amount of time we spent in it being sick and watching football!

We hung around Copacabana until our 1.30pm bus, killing time on the internet and phoning my sister Carla who had somehow managed to fall down an 8 foot hole at her work! It is not just her pride that is bruised!

After an hour on the bus we all got out to catch two wee boats across a river, while the bus went on a bigger boat that looked like it might sink at any moment. Thankfully it didnt and we rejoined the bus on the other side and sped towards L Paz. I listened to The Beatles on the way, what a band.

We arrived in La Paz. From the outskirts it looks a complete dump, as you pass through lots of mini-villages/slums that have sprung up around the city. You then catch a sight of La Paz nestling in the valley down below and begin a descemnt down into the heart of the city. After jumping out the bus we caught a short cab ride to Hostal Nairia that Lynn had discovered on the internet.

Rooms were a pricey $32, but after a few days of doing nothing we had saved money and checked in. The room we had was lovely, complete with private sparkling clean bathroom and cable TV!

Reception had a leaflet for ´the best burger in La Paz´, so with our appetites fully restored we jumped a cab and headed to the place called Mongos for a gorgeous burger and chips, washed down with our first beers in Bolivia - Pacena Gold, which may make an appearance in our end of trip top 5 beers from around the world competition.

Saturday April 12th
Woke up at 8am even though the alarm was set for 9am and Lynn was pleasantly surprised to find the bathroom had its own hairdryer! The cafe downstairs had a buffet breakfast that we got as part of our room, so we feasted on fruit, muesli, bread and jam, washed down with coca tea.

We went a walk round the neighbourhood and stumbled across the excellent Museo de la Coca. A museum dedicated to the coca leaf, which has played a major part in the history of Bolivia and continues ot do so until this day.

http://cocamuseum.com/

The museum tells of how workers chew coca leafs to put in extraordinary shifts, cocas importance in medical history, the history with Coca Cola and of course how it is manufactured into cocaine. It takes 328kg of coca leaves to make 1kg of cocaine. So chewing on coca leaves or drinking coca tea isnt like doing cocaine, but it is medicinal.

We booked in for a Mountain Bike trip down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road for Monday with Gravity and then continued to explore the area. We passed what is possibly the worlds most notorious prison at San Pedro Plaza.

One of the best books Lynn and I have read on our travels is a true story written by an Australian lawyer called Rusty Young about an English drug smuggler jailed in this prison. The book is called Marching Powder and is nothing short of extraordinary. It tells of Thomas McFadden being caught smuggling cocaine out of Bolivia and how he was literally thrown into this prison where prisoners have to ´buy´ their cells, some live like kings and others barely survive. Check out www.marchingpowder.com

At one stage Thomas McFadden was running guided tours of the prison for travellers but that has ´officially´ stopped, although allegedly you can bribe guards to let you in. I had no desire to go in, although Lynn was pretty curious.

Anyway we didnt go in and had dinner at a restaurant called Angelito Colonial before relaxing in our room watching a Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford film.

Sunday April 13th
Not a lot to write about today. We got up and had breakfast and then returned to the room to watch Manchester United 2 v 1 Arsenal. One of the best games of football I have seen in a long time and a fantastic result for United in the title race with Chelski hot on their heels.

Monday April 14th - The Worlds Most Dangerous Road!
Well, what a day we had yesterday. It started with a meeting in La Terraza Cafe with our guides and other crazy mountain bike buddies. There were 12 of us and we caught one mini bus with a nice Irish couple called Stephen and Sinead and a couple of young English guys that looked a tad hungover.

We sped out of La Paz and ascended to the start of our ride, La Cumbre, 4760 metres above sea level. It was pretty cold and misty at the start and we got kitted out in waterproofs, helmets, goggles, gloves and with a super duper $3000 dual suspension mountain bike.

Our guide for the day was a Kiwi called Matt, a top bloke with years of experience. We took 20 minutes to get to know our bike and then sped off downhill. The first part of the day isnt on the Worlds Most Dangerous Road (WMDR), it is on a nice smooth tarmac road where you can pick up great speeds and you dont need to pedal at all!

We flew downhill and had a great time, before eventually reaching the start of the WMDR. At this stage I should explain that the WMDR leads down into a valley, dropping from 3150 metres above sea level to 1100 metres. It is a single track road that was used by the villages in the valley for years untila new road was built going round the other way. The WMDR used to see an average of between 250-300 deaths a year through accidents, buses, trucks and cars going over the side.

Nowadays it is barely used by cars. It is now a tourist attraction for Mountain Bikers, thanks to crazy Kiwis! It is still dangerous though. You are cycling down a single track road that is very narrow at times, bumpy almost all the time and at times you have 600 metre plus vertical drops on your left hand side. It is definitely a case of keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.

We set off cautiously, a lot slower than the speeds we had been picking up on the tarmac. We stopped regularly so Matt could check how we were doing and for photo opportunities. As we had come down through the clouds we had experienced a bit of rain, but that only added to the excitement.

The longer we went on, the more confident we got. Well, the more confident I got, Lynn was always last but this was no race! It was great flying down the mountainside with mud splattering your face and cothes.

At 2100 metres above sea level we had to cycle under the San Juan Waterfalls. They were stunning and we stopped to admire them before carrying on. Near the finish we had to bike through a river and I fell in. At least it washed some of the mud off! We all arrived at the finish safely and enjoyed hot showers, a beer and pasta and veg.

I would thoroughly recommend the WMDR and the company Gravity to anyone up for a bit of excitement. We had a great day.

The bus journey back was long and laborious and after a sandwich we crashed out exhausted at 10pm. What a day!

Tuesday April 15th
Tonight we get a night bus to Uyuni where we will stay in the famous Salt Hotel before heading on a 2 day/1 night trip around the amazing Salt Plains.

After that we intend to head to a town called Tupiza, where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise before heading into Argentina where we will have to bring our trip to a close at some point! Our flight back isnt until June 10th though, although as we have a wedding on June 14th and Lynn returns to work on June 16th, we will probably bring it forward 5 days or so.

Speak to you after the Salt Plains.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

La Paz and the Worlds Most Dangerous Road remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hello from Bolivia

A week has past since I last wrote, we said goodbye to Craig, had a cracking couple of nights out in Cusco, visited floating islands on Lake Titicaca and crossed the border into Bolivia, our 16th country.

Wednesday April 2nd
We started the day with a fry up at The Real McCoy pub and then Craig and I went to watch the Arsenal 1 v 1 Liverpool game. It was a good game with both teams really up for it. After relaxing afternoon we went to the Hierasbuenos Bar for a few beers and a Connect 4 tournament before heading to the Pacha Paca restaurant at 8pm. We had pre-ordered Guinea Pig the night before and we were determined to try what is a delicacy in Peru, despite the fact my sister would not approve as she had 2 Guinea Pigs when she was younger.

The Guinea Pig was tasty, but it was pretty hard to eat, there was not a lot of meat and you had to use your fingers. Still, we enjoyed it and we went back to Hierasbuenos for a few more beers and games of Connect 4 before heading to bed at 11pm.

Thursday April 3rd
We had booked to go on a Sacred Valley tour with www.ecotrekperu.com the company that we booked our Inca Trail hike through. The company is run by a Scottish girl called Fiona Cameron and her Peruvian boyfriend David. Fiona is the sister of Lynn{s hairdresser back in Glasgow, small world!

David met us at 7am and we drove out of Cusco to the twon of Chinchero. We then headed to Ollantaytambo to visit a fantastic Inca site nestled on the hill. After that we visited a traditional Peruvian house complete with Guinea Pigs running around the floor. After lunch we visited a site in Pisac. The site was huge and we spent a good hour wandering around while David explained the history and beliefs of the Incas.

After a small snooze when we got back to Cusco we met David and Fiona in Los Perros for some food and beer, before heading to a club called Uptown to meet Chris, our fellow Inca Trail hiker. The music was blasting and there were a few people dancing, incredibly well, samba style. The music changed to pop and rock with crowd favourites including Queens I Want To Break Free and Aerosmiths Walk This Way. At one point Craig and I got up on stage to dance but I cant remember what song was being played! Lynn and I left at 1.30am and Craig rolled in at 3am.

Friday April 4th
We ended up back in The Real McCoy for another slap up breakfast to ease our sore heads. The afternoon was spent sorting out stuff to send home - rugs, material for curtains, hats, socks, etc etc.

At night we had a few beers and decided to go to the Cienciano v Sport Ancash game at the Estadio Garcilazode la Vega. Craig and I had bought football tops and were interviewed in our appalling Spanish live on TV. We kissed the badges and shouted for Cusco as we had forgotten the name of the team! We then stopped off in a dodgy wee bar next to the stadium for a beer and saw a guy being bottled by one of his friends! We left shortly after! For only 20 soles we had seats in the directors box! The game wasnt the best and finished 3-1 to Cusco.

We got a cab back into town and headed to a funky little club called 7 Angelitos that was advertising a live funk band. The band were excellent and we bumped into a Scottish guy called Barry and his girlfriend Sonia from NZ. The drinks flowed and we danced to the music. I left at 3.30am, determined to get some sleep before our 8.30am bus to Puno the next day, leaving Craig and Lynn still partying hard.

Saturday April 5th
I woke at 7.30am to find that Lynn was still out! She had said that she was determined to party until the sun came up! Lynn and Craig bounced in at 7.50am. They had left the funk club to go to Mama Africas and from there had somehow found an illegal all hours drinking den/club. Trust Craig!

We somehow got our stuff together, checked out and caught a cab just after 8am. Craig had seemingly learned Spanish overnight and attempted a conversation with the driver about the previous nights football game. We jumped on the bus and crashed out, arriving in Puno at 3pm and checking into Hostel Don Julio.

We booked on a 2 day/1 night trip round Lake Titicaca and the floating islands for nly 60 soles each and then went for food. Craig and I had lovely cerviche - Kingfish and Trout while Lynn went for chicken and chips that came very nicely presented. We crashed out early after 2 late nights in Cusco.

Sunday April 6th
We got picked up for our tour at 7.45am, leaving our big bags at the hostel. We got on our boat and sailed for 30 minutes out to the floating islands. We stopped at one island called Jiska Chaulla and got to wander around and then sit down to have the history explained bu our guide. The islands are remarkable, made from reeds and supporting several communities. The islands have a life of around 15 years, but a new island takes around 3 years to build. Words cant really descrive them. Do a google search or check our flickr site when we update it.

We then sailed for 2.5 hours to Amanti Island, a natural island, where we were met by our community leader and found out that Craig, Lynn and I would be spending the night with him and his family! Allexandro, Sonia and their sons Fernando and Ronald. We had lunch in their humble aboad and then had an hours snooze before heading to the islands football pitch to meet the rest of our group.

The pitch was set on a hill with Lake Titicaca shining and shimmering in the background. Some local kids were playing so Craig and I enjoyed a kickabout with them for 20 minutes before we all started climbing the hill to watch the sunset.

The sunset was lovely and we climbed back down to go for dinner at our hosts before meeting up with the rest of our group later for a fiesta. Lynn was dressed in traditional clothes and Craig and I got ponchos for the occassion. We danced and had a beer for an hour or so and then collapsed into our beds at 10pm after a long day.

Monday April 7th
We got up for breakfast at 7am and then said goodbye to our hosts, leaving them a little tip, some colouring books and pencils for the kids. We sailed for an hour to another island called Tequile and climbed for 45 minutes to the main square. We were told about the history of the island and then wentto a restaurnt overlooking the Lake for lunch before beginning the journey back to the mainland.

At night we had cerviche and steak for dinner before wisely deciding on an early night as Craig was leaving to return to Scotland in the morning and he had a long journey ahead of him.

Tuesday April 8th
The alarm went off at 6am. Craig was getting taxi to the airport at 7am with a Canadian couple wemet on our tour and Lynn and I had a bus to Copacabana, across the border for 7.30am. It was great to spend two weeks with Craig, we had such a laugh and he is a top friend.

Our bus arrived in Copacabana at 11.30am after rather shambolic border crossing that involved us changing buses. We checked into the Colonial Inn Hostel and then headed down the street for some food. We opted for Piza to stisfy our hunger and soon wished we hadnt!

We got back to our nice room with views out to the lake and settled down to watch the 2nd leg of the Liverpool v Arsenal game on ESPN. It was a cracking game. I thought Arsenal were going through after equalising to make it 2-2 with 5 minutes to go, but Liverpool scored 2 late on to go through.

Shortly after the game Lynn was sick, then I was sick. This pattern continued for a few hours and we can only asusme it was the Pizza. This went on for a while until we collapsed exhaused.

Wednesday April 9th
We woke feeling weak after getting rid of everything in our system through one way or another. I will not go into details. We eventually ventured out at 1pm and had a light lunch before returning to the room for the Manchester United v Roma 2nd leg. Unfortunately ESPN was showing the Barca v Schalke game, so we snoozed and woke at the end to catch the United highlights, United winning 1-0 to go through to face Barca in the semis. Liverpool play Chelsea in the other semi. 2 mouthwatering games, with the prospect of United playing Liverpool in the final a real possibility. We had a light dinner at night, making sure our stomachs were back to normal before having an early night.

Thursday April 10th
We both feel a lot better and managed breakfast with no problems. We intend to have a lazy day to fully recuperate and decide whether to do an Isla del Sol tour tomorrow or just head to La Paz.

Catch you soon
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Goodbye Peru, hello Bolivia remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Aren´t You Glad by The Beach Boys

Well.................

So much has happened since I last wrote. We are in the beautiful city of Cusco and have enjoyed an amazing 4 days hiking along the Inca Trail to the lost city of Machu Picchu. Yesterday I asked Lynn to marry me and she said yes. We are both incredibly happy and looking forward to sharing the news and plans with family and friends in person when we return to Scotland in June.

We have seen many beautiful sights and experienced some amazing things and places on our travels, but I think the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu might just be the best thing ever. It is a truly magical, mystical and memorable place, the scenery is stunning and the fact that it is so remote and up a mountain is just mindblowing. How and why the Incas built Machu Picchu and the other citadels on the way will never be known. The only thing I have seen to compare to it is the Great Wall Of China. The craftmanship, attention to detail and locations are just crazy. It really is quite insane to think of the Incas building cities on mountains centuries ago.

So this is what happened.........

Thursday March 27th
We did the city tour of Cusco and the surrounding Inca Ruins. At night we went to a pizza place near our hostel where the profits go to help kids in Cusco followed by a couple of beers at a great bar in the San Blas area of Cusco called Hierabuena.

Friday March 28th
We were woken at 5.30am, put our big bags in storage and jumped in our mini bus to the start of the Inca Trail. We met our guide Zac and fellow hiker Chris, from London. We drove 40 minutes out of Cusco to the town of Ollantaytambo and had a lovely breakfast in a great cafe called Hearts, run by a retired English woman. The cafes profits go towards the children of the valley and education and it is run in conjunction with the company we booked our trek through, www.ecotrekperu.com www.heartscafe.org

We started the Inca Trail 82km from Cusco, taking soem photos to mark the occasion. I will upload loads tomorrow when I find a decent internet cafe.

We walked to the Llaqtapata ruins and then on to our lunch spot at Tarayocquiy. The sun was shining and spirits were high. We sang songs, recited the script of Star Wars and marched on, keeping up a good pace that pleased our excellent guide Zac.

The afternoon was uphll all the way and the pace slowed and we were glad to arrive at our campsite at Aya Pata at 5pm. I had been a long and thoroughly enjoyable day. The site was 3300 metres above sea level. We celebrated our arrival with a Cusquena beer, looking out at some amazing scenery across the valley. Snow capped mountains, clouds nestling in the hills and paths leading onwards and upwards to Dead Womens Pass, where we would be hiking tomorrow.

Saturday March 29th
Everyone that we had met in South America that had already hiked the Inca Trail said that the second day was the toughest, they were not wrong. We were woken at 5am by two porters coming to our tent with some Coco tea and we had a nice breakfast of porridge and french toast. The team supporting us on our hike were fantastic. 10 in all - the chef Felix, the head porter, the rocket man (toilet man), and the support crew that carried tents, food and equipment, as well as our excellent guide Zac.

We left the campsite at 6.30am and walked through the twisted forest, winding upwards towards another campsite where we rested for 15 minutes, chatting to a group of Aussies before heading on. We climbed steeply out of the campsite to ´Dead Womans Pass´. The pass is a set of stairs that seems to go on forever. The stairs lead to the highest point on the Inca Trail, 4200 metres above sea level. The altitude along with the steepness insured that we were a little short of breath and we were elated when we reached the top. The view over the other side was cloudy, as we were hiking down to the cloud forest section. Still, when the clouds broke we were awarded with some memorable views and we stayed at the top for a while, taking it all in. You have to do that sometimes, the scenery is just too spectacular for words.

As we climbed down through the clouds it started to rain and by the time we reached camp it was raining heavily. We stocked up on soup and pasta and by the time we finished the rain was off and the sun started to break through the clouds. We climbed back out of the valley we had just climbed into, up our second pass of the day. We stopped at Runkauraqay Inca ruins, 3800 metres above sea level and headed on up to the top and then down the other side.

After a while we reached Sayamarca ruins (inaccessible point in English). The ruins were aptly named and the most impressive we had visited yet, set high on a hill overlooking scenery that appeared to be computer generated. We climbed up the steepest set of steps yet to reach the ruins and wandered around them for a good 30 minutes before heading on down to our camp for the night. The sun was shining and the views from the campsite across the valley at Quonchamarca were among the best. The clouds were pure white and it was hard to tell where they ended and the snow capped mountains in the distance began. We had dinner and admired the millions of stars shining brightly in the clear night sky as we wandered to our tents for a well earned rest.

Sunday March 30th
A day Lynn and I will remember for a long time, we saw Machu Picchu for the first time. At dinner the night before Zac had given us two options for the days hike. Option A - As we were hiking at a good pace we could make it to Machu Picchu in the afternoon, a day ahead of schedule. This would mean we could spend time there when it was quietest and then stay at a cool campsite down the hill from it, next to a river. Then get up and have a full day at Machu Picchu the next day as well. Option B - Do the usual hike to the busiest campsite on route and arrive at Machu Picchu the following morning with hundreds of other hikers.

We opted for Option A and it was one of the best decisions we ever made, giving ourselves extra time at the truly amazing Machu Picchu. We were awoken at 5.30am by Coco tea and had a breakfast of pancakes and honey before leaving camp at 6.30am. We climbed up Puyupatamarca hill to watch the sunrise over the valley, casting new shadows on the mountains in the distance. We saw Machu Picchu hill and knew we were getting close to the famous ruins. We carried on downhill to Winawayna ruins, a very impressive set of ruins, where we had lunch and then pressed on towards the Sun Gate, 6km away. This is the spot we should have stopped at for the night.

The path was narrow and the steps were steep but we reached the Sun Gate (Intipunku) in an hour and saw Machu Picchu down the hill. The site is set high up a mountain, surrounded by other hills, valleys and utterly breathtaking scenery. Craig had brought binoculars and we took turns at looking through them, making us all the more eager to get closer for a better view with our own eyes.

We wound down the hill to the terracing and marvelled at the ruins of what must have been the most spectacular city on earth at it´s time. The Spanish raided Peru, but they never found Machu Picchu or the other cities on the Inca Trail.

We also caught our first glimpse of Wayna Picchu, ruins perched high on an incredibly steep mountain next to Machu Picchu and vowed to climb up to them tomorrow. We went a little snap happy with ur camera and the results are ther on www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn but the truth is that photos can´t do this place justice. Still we have taken some good ones so check them out!

After sitting on the terracing and taking it all in we walked 15 minutes round the back to see an old Inca bridge. Again, you just had to wonder how they did it. After that we had a quick walk around the site and then down the hill to our camp for the night, tired and elated. We reached camp at 5pm and were awarded with a nice cold Cusquena beer and a basin of hot water for our aching feet.

It was our last night with our porters, so we bought all of them a beer and the four of us made sure they were well tipped for their hard work and care. After dinner we walked in the dark to the nearest town for a beer in a pub where Zac knew the owner and retired to bed around 11pm.

Monday 31st March
Our alarm call was at 6.30am but we were already awake as it was pouring with rain, thankfully it would clear in a couple of hours but at the time we were very glad we had got to see Machu Picchu in the sunshine the day before. We said goodbye to the porters and caught the bus up the winding road that measures 8km to Machu Picchu. We arrived just after 8am and the sun was starting to shine through the clouds and the rain stopped. Zac gave us a tour round the site. He was very informative, but funny, not boring and an all round great guy. We were very lucky to have him as our guide. He told us about the agricultural sections, the temples, the baths, the fountains, the temple of the condor and the ceremonial rock, before leading us to the gate to Wayna Picchu and asking us if we were sure we wanted to climb it. Check our flickr site to see how steep it is!

Of course we did! We waved Zac goodbye as he was getting the 2.30pm train to Cusco and then we set off. The sun was now out in force and the steps were the steepest yet, with ropes to help you up some sections and ensure your safety. It took us an hour to reach the top and we were awarded with absolutely jaw dropping views across Machu Picchu and the surrounding mountains and valleys.

After 30 minutes taking in the view, Reddy and Chris decided to walk down the other way to the Great Cave, while Lynn and I tackled the steep descent back to Machu Picchu.

THE PROPOSAL
We lay on a terrace, sunning ourselves and recovering from the climb up and down Wayna Pichu, before climbing back up to the top of the terraces for one last look over Machu Picchu.

Lynn and I have been going out for almost 7 years and we have discussed marriage on many occassions. In the last month or so I have given it a lot of serious thought and I had decided I would ask Lynn to marry me at the end of our trip in Buenos Aires. However, the day before I realised that Machu Picchu is an incredibly special place and a proposal there would be more memorable than in a bar, restaurant or football stadium in Buenos Aires.

I had a speech in mind, but how do you start such a thing? I thought about it 3 times, stopping Lynn each time to cuddle her but not quite having the courage or knowledge of how to ask. Then as we started walking back down I stopped her, hugged her, looked into her eyes and simply asked ´Lynn, will you marry me?´ My speech went out the window, but thankfully Lynn said yes and we hugged and told each other how much we were in love and we wouldn´t know what to do without each other. I couldn´t believe how happy I felt and I wondered why I hadn´t asked before. I guess I wasn´t quite ready!

We went to the entrance and broke the news to Chris and Reddy. Then headed into town for the train to Cusco. We played cards and drank beer on the train and chatted to a nice couple from New Zealand who were on honeymoon. We grabbed a quick bite to eat, checked back into our hostel and enjoyed a good nights sleep.

Tuesday April 1st
We don´t normally go to English or British pubs, but we went to The Real McCoy for a slap up breakfast after a nice long lie. In the afternoon Craig and I went to an Irish bar to watch United win 2-0 away to Roma in the first leg of the CL quarter final. United looked fantastic, with Ronaldo and Rooney scoring. When it comes to Ronaldo, I don´t think I have seen a player in such a rich vein of form since Cantona took United to the double in 96. His header was fantastic and if he stays fit he might just win United the European Cup this year. We wil see!

We were shattered at night and had an early one after I started on this blog, finally finishing it this morning. I hope you enjoy it and I will write again soon.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Inca Trail, Machu Picchu and a proposal remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We are in Cusco, a beautiful old city that has more of a town feeling to it. The streets are cobbled, the buildings are old and grand and tomorrow we start a 4 day hike along the ancient Inca Trail to the ruins of Machu Picchu.

Our good friend Craig (Reddy) has arrived and it has been great to catch up with him and all his patter. We have already had a good number of laughs. I thought I had better update the blog today as I´ll know doubt have a lotto write after the Inca Trail.

Sunday March 22nd
The day started well as I got up early to watch Manchester United stuff Liverpool 3-0. United looked comfortable and should have scored more. It was a day of football as after lunch we got a taxi out to Estadio Monumental to watch Universitario de Deportes beat Athletico Minero 2-1. The stadium was pretty impressive, although it looked like office buildings from the outside. The first half was non eventful until Minero scored before half time. 10 minutes into the 2nd half the floodlights and electricity got cut off. This sparked aparty among the home fans with flares and fireworks being fired and a huge sing song. Deportes hit back and should have scored at least 5. At night we went to a cracking Italian restaurant called Mama Lola´s and for once we didn´t have pizza!

Monday March 24th
After breakfast we took a big pile of washing around the corner to a local laundrette and then went for a walk around Miraflores. We confirmed our flights for Wednesday to Cusco and wandered around some markets before lunch. In the afternoon I went to a Western Union office to pay for Boca Juniors v River Plate tickets for when we are in Buenos Aires. At $200 each it is alot of money, but this will be a once in a lifetime experience. Football games don´t get much bigger or more passionate than this one.

At night we found a cracking Sushi restaurant called Magma in Miraflores. It was lovely inside, very cool and the food was just as good.

Tuesday March 25th
We had a lazy day ahead of our friend Craig arriving early evening. We went back to the old town and enjoyed a beer in El Cordano before heading back to Miraflores for a siesta. At night we travelled to the airport and met Reddy. It was great to see him, he is one of our best and funniest friends. We went back to Miraflores and caught upover a few beers and pizza.

Wednesday March 26th
We got up early - 3.15am as our flight from Lima to Cusco was at 5.40am. The flight was a little over an hour and after checking into our hostel. We wandered around the old town for an hour before heading back to the hostel for a 2 hour siesta.

We woke and headed round to the Eco Trek Peru office and met our guide and were briefed on our trek. After that we went to a cracking cafe/bar called Jacks for a slap up brunch. After a walk round town and some shops we went toan Irish bar called Paddy Flaherty´s for a few beers and we watched France beat England 1-0 in a very dull game.

At night we all bought Inca Cola tshirts and some cool hats to keep us warm on the Inca Trail before dinner and a relatively early night at 10.30pm after a long day.

Thursday March 27th
We woke early and had breakfast and a walk round the beautiful old town. We booked bus tickets to Puno for a couple of days after we return to Cusco. We´re booked on a city tour around Cusco and some surrounding sites at 2pm, so we are just about to go for lunch.

Speak to you after the Inca Trail!

Love
Murray and Lynn

Reddy arrives in Peru, travel to Cusco remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hey blog fans

It has only been a couple of days since I last wrote but we have travelled quite a distance since then and had great fun, so I thought I would update the blog while everything is still fresh in my memory.

We are back in Lima after an overnight bus to the famous and mysterious Nazca Lines, then another bus to Ica where we had great fun zooming up, down and over sand dunes and sand boarding down them.

Friday March 21st
After a meal at a nice sushi restaurant in the stunning city of Arequipa we boarded a night bus to Nazca at 9.30pm. We were travelling with the bus company Cruz del Sur, the pinacle in bus transport. The bus was luxurious, our seats fully reclined and as we opted for premium class we even got to go into an exclusive lounge at Arequipa bus station!

The bus arrived in Nazca at 6am promptly and we were greeted off the us by our tour company waving a sign with our names. Oh to feel important. Andrew from Sydney was also on our tour and we were whisked off to Nazca´s tiny airport in double quick time.

For those of you that haven´t heard of the Nazca Lines, and I hadn´t before we started researching Peru, the following description is taken from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines

The Nazca Lines are a series of geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert, a high arid plateau that stretches 53 miles or more than 80 kilometers between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana in Peru. They were created by the Nazca culture between 200 BC and AD 700. There are hundreds of individual figures, ranging in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fishes, sharks, llamas and lizards.

The Nazca lines cannot be recognized as coherent figures except from the air. Since it is presumed the Nazca people could never have seen their work from this vantage point, there has been much speculation on the builders' abilities and motivations.

At 6.30am we were on board our tiny 4 seater plane with Andrew in the front beside the pilot. The plane was even smaller than the one we got in New Zealand to visit Milford Sounds.

We got a 35 minute flight over the lines and we were both glad that we hadn´t had any breakfast as the plane banked left and right to allow us the best views. There is no denying that the lines/drawings are beautifully drawn and as they were created before air travel, you can only wonder how and why they were created. They are not all side by side and some are larger than others, there are spiders, monkeys and all kinds of stuff.

We decided not to hang about Nazca afterwards as it didn´t look like a happening place, so we got dropped back off at the bus station and caught the 7.40am bus to Ica. Nothing like travelling fast!

Within a few hours we were in Ica where we said goodbye to Andrew and checked into Hostal El Dorado. The prices had been doubled as it is Easter, but it was still only 15 quid a night. We booked in for a night, jumped under the shower and then walked round to the main square for some food. We booked on a tour to the sand dunes at the nearby desert oasis of Huacachina, booked a bus ticket for Lima for the following day and then went for a well earned nap.

We went back to the tour office at 5pm and were driven 4km out of Ica, through the desert to the small Oasis that is Huacachina. Bars, restaurants and tour companies are set up around the water in the desert and offer sand buggy and sand boarding tours. We got in our sand buggy with 4 others plus the driver and we were lucky enough to get a seat next to the driver.

We sped off into the desert and immediately started climbing a huge sand dune, skidding about in the sand as we did, the wind blowing through our hair and sand blowing into our faces. We got to the top of the dune and lurched down the other side, screaming and smiling at the same time.

The driver was first class and took us up, down and around sand dunes, stopping every 10 minutes so we could take photos. After the first stop we sped down a huge dune and up another one that was so steep that it must have been close to vertical. We got to the top and our prime seats allowed us a glimpse over the other side....it also looked vertical, a straight drop down. I managed ot let out a ´Holy S#@t´ before we went over the top and flew down the other side then up another dune to stop for breath. We all laughed and smiled, this was fantastic fun.

After another 10 minute session we stopped at the top of the largest sand dune and the driver took some snow boards (now sand boards) out the back. He showed us how to lie down on them, face first and motioned to a Columbian guy to go first. He lay down and the driver pushed him through his legs and he was off speeding down the hill, yelling as he went. I went third and it was a fantastic experience. Lynn went second last and received a cheer from our group and another group for going the fastest and getting the furthest.

After another 10 minute session and some photos of the sun going down we went back to Huacachina. We decided to go for a drink at a bar and get a taxi back rather than go straight back with the bus. We also had some lovely food before heading back for a good nights sleep.

Saturday March 22nd
WOW we got up to quite a lot yesterday! Today we got a bus at 11am to Lima, arriving just after 3.30pm and checking back into the Lion Backbackers Hostel in Miraflores.

We´ve just been for a bite to eat at a restaurant with views over a park and had a wander. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday so we´re not sure if anything will be open. There may be some processions and festivities so we´ll have a wander around.

On Tuesday our good friend Craig comes out to meet us and then on Wednesday we fly to Cusco to do the Inca Trail. It´s all go, but with only a little over 2 months left we want to pack a lot in before we reach Buenos Aires, where we intend to stay for a few weeks and watch football, eat steak and drink wine!

I´ll write again before we head off on the Inca Trail.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

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Hola

Hola from Peru

We are in the lovely city of Arequipa and yesterday we returned from a 3 day/2 night trek up and down the beautiful Colca Canyon. The scenery was stunning, the skies were blue and we really enjoyed trekking into the worlds deepest canyon.....and back out again!

Friday March 14th
A day of travel. We arrived in Piura in Peru at 7am after our border crossing in the middle of the night. The first half of the journey in Ecuador was bumpy and windy and we didn´t get any sleep. After crossing the corder at 4am the roads were smoother and we dozed until arriving in Piura. We jumped a cab and asked the driver to take us to an ATM and then a hostel. Our flight to Lima wasn´t until 8.40pm so we wanted to get some rest. We booked into the Hostal California and slept until mid-day and then wandered up to the main square for a bite to eat. We went to a nice hotel restaurant and started to feel human again after a nice lunch.

We had a lazy afternoon wandering around town, checking the latest news online and reading in our room before heading to the airport. The flight left on time and we arrived in Lima just before 10.30pm. We jumoed a cab into town and checked into the Lion Backoackers Hostel in the Miraflores area. After a day or two of travelling and hanging around we slept soundly!

Saturday March 15th
We started the day by finding a laundry near our hostel and outting just about everything we own in for a wash. We then caught a bus into the centre of Lima, only we got off a little early and had to walk a few blocks to the main square. The square was beautiful with the presidential palace dominating one side, a huge old church on the other and beautiful colonial buildings with arches the other two.

After a walk around the square and the surrounding blocks we stumbled across a magic old pub, that we latyer discovered to be the oldest in Lima. It was a block off the square down the side of the Presidential Palace and it is called Bar Cordano. It was still before mid-day but we ordered a beer each and ended up getting some great sandwiches and something called Cerviche (6 mussells with lemon sauce, pepper and spices), yummy. The bar staff seemed to be as old as the bar!

After a snooze we wandered around Miraflores,checking out some jewellery stalls and some paintings in the oark before stumbling across a street we had read was known as ´pizza street´. We had pizza and a couple of beers and then headed for an early night.

Sunday March 16th
We had breakfast, packed and checked out at 11am. We headed to the airport for our flight to Arequipa, which took a little over an hour. Arequipa is in South Peru and is known as one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the country. We quickly realised that this is true, the city is surrounded by 3 huge volcanoes and the buildings in the old town have been beautifully preserved.

We checked into the Colonial House Hostel and then went to their affiliated tour companies office to enquire about hiking tours into the nearby Colca Canyon, the deepest in the world. We booked on a 3 day/2 night trek leaving the next morning for only $53 each and also booked an overnight bus for March 20th to Nazca and then a 45 minute flight over the famous Nazca Lines.

At night we had dinner on a rooftop restaurant down a cobbled lane just off the main square. There had been a procession in the mian square earlier to mark the start of Holy Week. The square is dominated by a huge church and it may be the nicest square we have seen. We went back to the hosteland packed our small packs for the next 3 days, leaving our big packs in storage.

Monday March 17th
The tour bus picked us up at 7.30am and we headed out of Arequipa and up the hills towards the canyon. We would not actually reach the canyon until the next day, so this day was spent stopping at little markets, villages, viewpoints to Volcano Misti and taking a pee in the worlds highest toilet! This is a lovely part of the country, little towns that have hardly changed in centuries, apart from the odd tourist shop and hostel!

The altitude kicked in so we had some coca tea and chewed on coca leaves to ease our breathing. The highest point we got to was over 5000 metres. We had a late lunch in a town called Chivay and then had a 1 hour trek up a hill to marvel at the surrounding countryside.

At night we went to some hot spings in Chivay and then had dinner before collapsing into bed at 10.30pm, eager to get some sleep ahead of a 5.30am wake up call and a day of trekking!

Tuesday March 18th
We got our wake up call from our tour guide, if only she had given the kitchen staff a wake up call! The hostel staff were eventually roused and we had a light brekfast before heading off to the canyon, stopping off at a small village where the children danced around the square at 6.30am. Apparently it was traditional but I couldn´t help think that it was for tourists.

At around 8am we arrived at Cruz del Condor, a point in the canyon where there are several condor nests. The view into and along the canyon was spectacular and we didn´t have to wait long until condors were swooping down over our heads. Their wingspan was massive and they were an impressive sight.

At 9am we left our group of around 30 into a smaller group of 4, the only ones brave enough to hike 1,400 metres down into the canyon and back out again. We were joined by Andrew from Sydney and Vish from London, both good guys. Our guide was Ali (like the boxer) and we all piled in a small bus and drove half an hour to the point where we would begin our descent.

The sun was splitting the sky, one of the nicest days of our travels. We set off down a path that zig zagged down the hill, stopping every now and again for a rest, to marvel the views and to let donkeys pass! In the middle of the canyon there are small villages, with no road access, so everything is transported in and out of the canyon by donkey - apart from us.

It took us almost 4 hours to climb down to the foot of the canyon and we crossed an old foot bridge to the other side. We then climbed up to a tiny village and stopped off for lunch. Suitably refuelled we pressed on up the canyon and then wound down to the base again, crossing another bidge to our home for the night - a hostel called Oasis. It was more of a converted farm than a hostel and I think the room we had could have been a pig sty! It was a tiny building made fom mud bricks with a thatched roof. The bed was comfy though and we had some nice wam blankets.

Oasis did have a pool though, and after a day walking in the sunshine we all went in for a 30 minute swim. Dinner was served outside and we sat and chatted as the sun went down at around 6.30pm.

Our wake up call was due for 3.30am the next day so we headed to bed at 7pm. At around 9pm a water well sprang open and ran right past the side of our hut. Realising we would get no sleep we gathered our belongings and moved to another hut.

Wednesday March 19th
We woke to the sound of our alarm at 3.30am and met a very sleepy Andrew and Vish. We all put on our head torches and Ali led the way slowly out of the canyon in the darkness. We walked at a steady pace and topped to watch the sky gradually becoming lighter, the shadows changing on the hillsides around us. The sun was up at 5.30m and the sunshine seemed to wake us up a little bit. We pressed on up the canyon and enjoyed tremendous views. I doubt that our pictures will do the canyon justice but check www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn

We reached the top of the canyon at 8am, 4 hours after starting off. We walked for another 20 minutes to a small village where we wolfed down 2 scrambled egg rolls and a mug of coco tea. At 9am we jumped on a bus back to Chivay. We got there at 11.15am and we booked on to the 12.30pm bus back to Arequipa. With an hour to kill we all jumped in a cab to the hot springs to eases our aching muscles.

We all slept on the bus back to Arequipa and then agreed to meet up for pizza and beer at night. We went back to the hostel for a well needed shower and nap!

At night we went to a funky little pizza place near the square and enjoyed some well deserved ice cold beers. The Colca Canyon tour was excellent, the views are absolutely stunning and we enjoyed some exercise - training for the Inca Trail, which we start on March 28th.

Thursday March 20th
We slept very well after some broken sleep the previous few nights and some ealy starts. We´ve had a relaxing day wandering around the beautiful city of Arequipa and visited the Monasterio D Santa Caralina. A beautifully preserved nunery from the 15th century. Tonight we get an overnight bus ot Nazca and then tomorrow morning we fly over the famous Nazca lines. After that we head back to Lima to meet our friend Craig and then it is off to do the Inca Trail!

I´ll try and update the blog again before that.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Hello Peru - Lima, Arequipa and the Colca Canyon remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hola all

It has been ten days since last wrote so stand by for a quick update about our final days in Ecuador.

Monday March 10th
We caught the 9am bus from Cuenca to Vilcabamba, a beautiful town in South Ecuador, set among a stunning valley. The bus journey took most of the day, starting with a 5 hour bus ride to Loja along a very bumpy road with steep falls into the valley below. We then switched to a local bus for a 1 hour drive to Vilcabamba that was only $1.

We were delighted to arrive at our hostel Izhcayluma www.izhacayluma.com and discover it lppked exactly like the pictures on the flyer we had. Set 2km out of town it offered stunning views across the valley, a swimming pool, a restaurant and hammocks outside our room.

We read our books on our hammocks and then had dinner in the restaurant and started to plan our route through Peru.With only 3months left we want to make the most of our time.

Tuesday March 11th
After breakfast we decided to do one of the many treks available in the Vilcabamba area. We set off down the road from the hostel and cut on to a dirt road that led up the valley and offered stunning views of the countryside. It was nice to be out stretching our legs after considerable time soent in cities recently. The air was fresh and clean and we could see why the average local in this area lives to be over 100!

The hike took us around 4 hours. It wasn´t particularly tough and we enjoyed the walk and the views. We had lunch in the tiny town centre and then walked back up the hill to our hostel for a swim and a bit of reading time in the hammocks. We had dinner at 7om and went to bed at 10.

Wednesday 12th March
We got up for breakfast at 9am and decided to hire bikes for the day. We didn´t actually cycle much as the 2km into town was all downhill! We found a book exchange and changed a couple of books we had finished with for 2 new ones. We then had lunch in town and found an internet cafe and priced some internal flights in Peru, booking fliights from Piura-Lima and Lima to Arequipa. The first flight was $102 each, only $40 more than the bus which took 16 hours compared to the 16 hour bus! The second flight was $79 each and again saved us valuable hours.

Our plan is to go down to Arequipa then work our way back by bus to Lima where we meet our friend Craig on March 25th and then fly to Cusco for the Inca Trail.

We had to push our bikes most of the way back to the hostel and we discovered that the old Danish couple we had met in Cuenca on our Inca Oirca tour had checked in. We had dinner with them and loved hearing about all the places they have visited over the years and their outrageous plans to travel around the world in a jeep for 10 years when Erik retires next April.

Thursday March 13th
We got up at 9am for breakfast and then packed our bags and read in the hammocks until check out at mid-day. We then walked downhill into town and wandered around the small shops and had lunch before wandering back to the hostel to read for a bit before dinner.

We chatted to Erik and Marianne and then got a taxi at 7pm It was actually a oickup truck, so we threw our bags in the back and climbed in beside them and sped down to the bus stop. The bus to Loja left at 7.45pm and cost a dollar. We then waited at Loja for an hour or so before our overnight bus into Peru.

CONTINUED ON NEXT BLOG

Vilcabamba and goodbye Ecuador remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hello everyone

Just a quick update on our progress as I am not sure when we will next have access to the internet. Tomorrow we head further south in Ecuador to the countryside town of Vilcabamba. We are actually staying in a hostel 2km from the town, it looks fab. Lots of hiking opportunities, a swimming pool and a hammock outside our room. The website is www.izhcayluma.com for anyone interested. We have booked in for 3 nights, but may stay a night or so longer if we are enjoying it.

After that we head across the border into Peru and make our way down to Lima where we are meeting outr good friend Craig on March 25th. We´ll stop off at a few places on the way to admire some Inca ruins and hopefully do some hiking.

Tomorrow we have a 5 hour bus journey to the town of Loja, then another 1.5 hour bus ride to Vilcabamba. Pretty much a day of travel. Thankfully we have some good books to get stuck into and the nano is fully charged. We haven´t been up to a great deal since I last wrote, so here is just a quick update.

Friday March 7th
We woke at 9am and Lynn had a thumping headache and a sore ankle. On our way to dinner the previous night Lynn slipped in a pothole on the pavement and sprained her ankle. We had a lovely dinner at the Boca del Lobo restaurant in the new town area of Quito. We did have a bit of wine, but not enough to give Lynn the thumping headache she had.

We checked out around 11.45am and got a taxi to the airport for our 45 minute flight to Cuenca, instead of a 10 hour bus journey - the roads are not the best in Ecuador. It was a tiny plane and a fairly bumpy ride to Cuenca. We got our bags incredibly quickly and got a $2 cab into town and checked into the Hostal El Monastario for 3 nights, the total cost being $42! The room had cable and we had our own private bathroom - result!

We had a walk around town and grabbed a bite to eat at Cafe Austria, before having an early night as Lynn still wasn´t feeling too great.

Saturday March 8th
We got up and had a walk around Cuenca. It is a lovely small city full of old architectural gems. Our hostal is around the corner from the stunning Cathedral de la Immaculada and the main square. We grabbed some brunch at a lovely restaurant in a converted old townhouse. Then I got a haircut from someone who I am not sure if they were a man or woman. After that we walked to the bus station, 2km out of town, to book our bus to Loja for Monday, only $15 for the two of us.

We came back to the room and had a nap, waking to turn on ESPN to find that Barnsley had knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup. Sadly United had lost earlier that day to Portsmouth. At night we went to a bar called Monday Blue, hopefully a homeage to New Order and had a couple of beers and burritos.

Sunday March 9th
We got up at 7.30am as we had booked a day tour to the Incapirca ruins, around 80km outside of Cuenca. There were 5 others on the tour, an eccentric old Danish couple who intend to drive around the world next year, an American girl, a nice German girl called Peggy and a nice girl from Melbourne called Emma. Our tour guide Sonia was fantastic. We stopped off about an hour outside Cuenca at a small market town and wandered round the stalls, buying some banana´s for breakfast. We then bought some small and very tasty eggs for only 50 cents.

We then drove to the ruins. They were not the most impressive I have ever seen, but they are the oldest in Ecuador and due to the fact that the Spanish ransacked the country, there are not a lot left. If they were not visually stunning, our guide certainly made up for that with her history lessons about the area. They are certainly worth a visit if you are in Cuenca though.

We stopped off for lunch on the way back, arriving back in Cuenca at around 4pm. Lynn went for a nap and I watched the 2nd half of the Middlesborough v Cardiff game. Cardiff won 2-0, it has been a weekend of cup upsets, Boro looked a sorry bunch.

So we head to Vilcabamba tomorrow and should be in Peru by the weekend at the latest. Speak to you then.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Cuenca and the Incapirca ruins remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hola amigos

We are in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, around 3,000 feet above sea level. In the last week we have had 20 hours of Spanish lessons, 3 hours of salsa lessons and we have been to the centre of the earth. Above ground that is!

The lyrics for the current blog are provided by one of my favourite bands of all time, The Charlatans. I have seen The Charlatans on more than 20 occassions and they have never disappointed. They have consistently produced excellent singles and albums and their current album is available to download for FREE via www.xfm.co.uk or the bands website www.thecharlatans.net

The band have provided the soundtrack to many top nights out, especially at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, where I have danced and sung my heart out alongside my brother to The Charlatans on many occassions, including the night before his 21st. Check them out.

Anyway, I´d better update you on what we have been up to as that is the purpose of this blog. This might not be the most exciting blog entry I have written as we have spent a lot of the last week taking Spanish lessons, but today we went to the centre of the earth and walked along the line of the equator, it was quite an experience so read on to find out all about it.

Saturday March 1st
We woke up at 8am and went for breakfast on the roof terrace of our hostel, the Secret Garden in Quito. We gazed out across the rooftops of the old town and marvelled at the Basilican in the near distance. At 9am we met out Spanish tutor, Diana who is only 23. We had booked 20 hours of lessons for only $100 each. Diana was very friendly and professional and we went through greetings, replies, the alphabet, days of the week, expressions of time, months of the year and some grammar. It was quite intensive and the last hour or so felt like too much, but we wanted to condense the 20 hours into 5 days so that we were not hanging around Quito for too long.

At 1pm we finsished and got the trolley into the new town and had lunch at the fantastic Magic Bean Cafe. We then went to a book store and traded in ´To Kill A Mockingbird´ and ´The 60 Greatest Conspiracy Theories Of All Time´ for ´The Memory Keeps Daughter´ (Lynn´s choice), ´The Hobbit´ and ´Amsterdam´.We then discovered another bookstore and bought Dan Brown´s ´Angels and Demons´ and ´Deception Point´ as we both absolutely loved ´The Da Vinci Code´. If you have not read it yet, check it out, it is enthralling, we both couldn´t put it down. So we have enough books to keep us going for a while!

There was BBQ night on the roof terrace, so we went there for food and Lynn had a couple of beers but I felt a bit dizzy, possibly from altitude sickness. We had gone from sea level to 3,000 feet!

Sunday March 2nd
Bit of a boring day studying Spanish until 1pm. We phoned home in the afternoon as it was Mothers Day and spoke to Lynn´s Mum but my Mum was out with my brother and sister.

Went to the superb Tomato Pizza Restaurant in the new town at night for dinner.

Monday March 3rd
We got up at 8am for breakfast and then started our Spanish lessons at 9am. We looked at the joy that is irregukar verbs and more. After that we went to the Post Office in the Old Town to post a load of stuff home, things we had bought the week previously at Otavalo Market. After asking numerous people where it was we finally found it, bought a box and then we were told that we needed our passports. We were not amused!

At night we did our Spanish homework and then went back to the excellent Uncle Hoe´s Vietnamese restaurant in the new town for some nice healthy food.

That day we discovered that Ecuador may be on the edge of war with Columbia, due to Columbian forces entering Ecuador without permission to kill members of a Columbian rebel/terrorist group. We were in an internet cafe after dinner and a drunken young English girl came storming in to find her friends and announced that there was going to be a war and everyone should leave immediately. She then announced her parents had booked her a flight home for the next day. Everyone looked at her for a second and then went back to what they were doing online. She was a little hysterical to say the least.

On the subject of the tensions between Ecuador and Columbia, they are there. There have been numerous street demos against a war on the streets of Quito, but the President seems intent on causing trouble. Hopefully the situation will be solved diplomatically. As I write Ecuador has amassed 3,500 troops on the Columbian border and Venezuela (getting involved for some reason) has amassed 6,000. Thankfully we are heading in the opposite direction and have a flight booked to Cuenca tomorrow (7th March).

Tuesday March 4th
Spanish lessons started at 9am again after breakfast. We had spent the previous 2 days studying on the lovely rroof terrace with views across the old town of Quito, but today the full hostel meant that we spent the first 2 hours inside before surfacing to the roof for the last two.

We booked in for salsa lessons between 3pm and 5pm in the afternoon. Before that we went to the Post Office in the new town and sent our stuff home. It will be like Christmas when we get back!

We grabbed a quick KFC and went back to the hostel just before 3pm for Salsa lessons. The lessons were taught by a guy called Secunda. He is a super cool, super slick black guy, who can glide across the dancefloor like he is walking on air. He taught us the 7 basic salsa steps and we got on OK, deciding to book in for a further lesson at his school in the new town the following night.

At night we got a taxi to the new town and went for a nice Indian, complete with a lovely garlic nan. ´Garlic, bread that´s garlic!´

Wednesday March 5th
It was Spanish at 9am, our final lesson. It went well and although we knew we would never be fluent in Spanish after only 20 hours, we feel more confident and have picked up lots of tips and hints. We gave Diana a box of chocolates as she was a fantastic teacher and we were pleased to hear she may be coming to the UK later in the year. It would be great to show her around Glasgow, also slightly weird!

In the afternoon, after a heated debate, we booked a 45 minute flight to Cuenca for $69 each, instead of a $10 10 hour bus ride.

At night our salsa lesson did not go as well as the previous days. We each had our own instructor but both felt a little intimidated at their level of ability. Lynn was with Secunda and he spun her across the dancefloor, looking great but Lynn felt like she wasn´t learning anything. Meanwhile I was dancing with a Brazilian girl and she made me look like Peter Kay!

After an hour we retired and went for a beer in a cool bar called Strawberry Fields, complete with loads of old posters and newspaper cuttings of The Beatles on the walls. The bar staff played tunes from The Beatles, Stones and The Who and we had a few beers before going to our fave pizza place, Tomato.

Thursday March 6th
No Spanish lessons today, so we didn´t get up until 9am. We spoke to a nice English couple called Kate and Ben from England who produce comedy programs for C4! After breakfast we got the bus to the centre of the earth - the equator, otherwise known as Mitad del Mundo. The bsu dropped us at a massive monument, constructed in the 1930´s to mark the official line of the equator. Unfortunately for the builders, in the 1970´s advanced technology meant that the official line was confirmed as being 500 yards away. This hasn´t stopped the Ecuadorians for continuing to market the monument as ´the´ tourist destination.

We, however, went to the offical centre, the Inti-Nan solar museum. A lot less touristy and commercialised. For $3 we got our own guide to take us round the site and we got to do anumber of experiments that are only possible on the line of the equator.

1) We both managed to balance a hard boiled egg on a nail!
2) We watched water go straight down a plug hole on the centre, then anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the South.
3) We walked in a straight line with our eyes shut, arms out and thumbs up no problems on the south and north, but fell about while trying it on the centre.
4) You held your finger and thumb together on the line and the guide could not seperate them, but could north and south.

After that we had a tour round some indigenous buildings and had a go at shooting a blowpipe before getting the bus back to Quito. We are now in the new town and about to go for dinner at a nice Argentine restaurant. MMMM Argentine steak.

Tomorrow we head to Cuenca, catch you soon.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Spanish, Salsa lessons and the Equator remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hola

We are back in Quito studying Spanish after a 4 night/5 day tour of the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos Islands are historically, geographically and scientifically important. Unique, beautiful and expensive to get to. We had debated for a while about whether to go and how much we would pay,it is not cheap to get there. For the record we paid $900US each for our boat and hotel, $400US for flights from Quito to the Galapagos, $100US park entry feeand a new $10US charge for an ID card! Was it worth it? Well read on to find out.

Sunday February 24th
Before we went to the Galapagoswe had one more day in Quito.We had breakfast in the new town,suffering from a bit of a fruit overdose as I ordered a fruit shake,a fruit salad and muesli,not realising that the muesli came with it´s own fruit salad! We settled our bill at our hostel - Crossroads, a very reasonable $108US for 5 nights,laundry and one days breakfast.

We headed to the Old Town to check out the Secret Garden Hostel that Scott and Caitlain had been raving about the day before. It lived up to expectations, a beautifully converted old town house with a rooftop bar with splendid views of the old town. that also offered 20 hours of Spanish lessons for only $100US each. As the Spanish lessons also came highly recommended from Scott,we decided to book in for our return from the Galapagos.

After that we wandered up the hilly to the huge gothic church called the Basilica. We climbed the tours and took in the views of the old town and then got the trolley back to the new town and had a quiet night reading and eatingpizza in bed. We are so romantic!

Monday 25th February
Our alarm call at 5am consisted of the night porter knocking on our door. We ran under the shower and then into a taxi to the airport. Our flight was at 7.30am and flew to Guayaquil first and then on to the Galapagos. We got our bags and met our guide called Billy and the rest of our group. 3 Canadian guys called Trevor, Carson and Devon. 3 American girls called Felisa (your stereotypical loudmouth American), Della (very nice,like most Americans) and Laura who was very moody. 1 German woman called Ushi, 2 Japanese girls - Yoko and Marie and 5 Equadorans I can´t remember the name of.

We got in a bus and then a small boat to our bigger boat called Spondylus. We had lunch and set sail to a nearby island for some snorkelling. The visibility wasn´t great, so we spent most of our time on the beach. Saw sea lions and loads of bright red crabs.

We went back to the boat and headed to our destination for the night, having dinner on the way. The food was excellent,as were the staff,boat cleanliness and appearance and we were glad we didn´t go on a cheaper boat. The sunset and we watched the stars with a beer up top before an early night at 9pm.It had been a long day.

Tuesday 26th February
We sailed through the night to a small island in the north called Genovesa. Breakfast was at 7am and at 8am we were on a dinghy to the Prince Philip steps. We had an hour walk around the island catching close up views of red footed boobies, the odd blue footed booby and loads of masked boobies. After that we went back to the boat and got changed for more snorkelling. It was decidedly better than the day before and Ushi, Yoko and Marie were lucky enough to snorkel with 3 hammerhead sharks.

After lunch we had a siesta and at 3.30pm we caught a dinghy to Darwin Bay on the island of Genovesa and went on another bird watching tour.Not usually the thing we get up to but you can´t avoid it in the Galapagos. We saw more birds and got incredibly close to them, they are unbelievably tame/not bothered by humans. We went back to the beach to wait for our dinghy and watched sealions playing on the beach and in the surf.

We went back to the boat and set sail for Isla Santiago. We had dinner and then had a beer watching a stunning sunset from up top.

Wednesday 27th February
We had breakfast at 7am and at 8am we were on our way to Isla Santiago. One of the unique things about the Galapagos, and there are many, is that they were all formed by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, millions or hundreds of thousands of years ago. Isla Santiago has amazing flowers and flaura as a result and also has volcanic rock - baked hard lava. We walked over the rocks,marvelling at the patterns and saw the inevitable birds in the bushes - so to speak.

After a walk we got the boat to Isla Bartolome to climb up a hill that offered spectacular views across the island and down to Sullivan Bay, where we were heading to. We got our snorkelling and swimming gear and headed to the beach. The snorkelling was the best yet. A sea lion swam right beneath me at one point, but the best part was when a little penguin swam beneath Lynn and then popped up to the surface beside her. After lunch we snoozed and read as we sailed to Isla Santa Cruz. We had a few beers watching another gorgeous sunset and after dinner went on to the island for a walk about the shops, it is one of the few populated islands. We were pleased to hear from other people that our boat was a palace compared to theirs.

Thursday 28th February
The Americans and the Ecuadorians left early to get their flight. We had another day to look forward to. It started, after breakfast of course, with us meeting a new guide called Juan. He took us, the Canadians and Ushi to a beach. I decided to buy a football on the way as snorkelling was not allowed off this beach. After a swim in a lagoon we played football. It started with Scotland and Ecuador teaming up. Me and Juan against the 3 Canadians. We took the lead through me scoring with a Ronaldoesque flick after good work down the wing from Juan,but the extra man told and the young Canadians stormed into a 3-1 half-time lead.

After a refreshing dip we made a shock signing.Lynn was to be our keeper for the second half. Juan pulled one back instantly but the Canadians scored two,meaning they only needed one to win. Both sides had chances and Lynn made a great save to keep us in it. I set up Juan for one and then scored another,5-4 to the Canadians. Unfortunately the game ended shortly after with Juan stubbing his big toe. It was a great game, I have really missed my weekly five-a-sides. Lynn made three great saves!

We went back to town and checked into the Hostal Mainao Inn,a lovely Morrocan style building. After lunch we met Juan and got a couple of jeeps to the Giant Tortoise sanctuary in the Highlands,20 minutes drive. As I had a pet tortoise as a kid this was what I had really been looking forward to. I wasn´t disappointed,we saw several giants and got really close to them. Check the pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn

Tortoises are like dinosaurs. Their shells are beautiful and I still find it amazing that shells grow with them. They look like dinosaurs and watching them in the ¨wïld¨ was a great experience. On the way back we stopped to walk through a 500 metre lava tunnel.It was pretty cool. We have seen some beautiful caves on our travels.

At night we went for dinner and beers with the Canadians and Ushi. The Candians are only 19 and 20,what a great experience to be travelling at that age. They were a good craic and we had a great laugh with them.

Friday 29th February
We got up at 6am and Juan met us at 6.45am to take us to the Charles Darwn Centre. The Galapagos Islands are where Darwin came up with what would eventually be his theory of evolution back in the mid 1800´s. We saw more giant tortoisesand learned about how they were endangered but several successful breeding programs pointed towards a good future,all but for one.The most famous tortoise on the Galapgos - Lonesome George. George was the last giant tortoise tobe found on his tinyisland, surviving hunters and logging. Unfortunately George won´t breed with any other tortoises,despite plenty of opportunities, hence his nickname.

After a quick stop to buy postcards and tshirtswe were off on a bus, then ferry, then bus, then plane back to Quito. Due to severe weather our plane was diverted, we changed planes, waited on the runway and eventually got to our new hostel at 8pm, in time for dinner and a beer on the rooftop bar.

So was the Galapagos worth it? Yes and no. It is an amazing place with stunning scenery and wildlife, but it is also very expensive. If you like bird watching it must be like heaven. Still,typing this blog has made me realise that we had a good time and experieced a truly unique place. I would say that the snorkelling wasn´t as good as the Whitsundays or Great Barrier Reef in Australia and that you should think carefully before deciding if you really want to spend so much money. That said,if you are in Ecuador, when are you going to ever get the chance again?

Galapagos Islands remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hello from Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, almost 3,000 feet above sea level. Excuse me for the cheesey 80´s lyrics but we´ve just finished a tour and the car on the way back was blasting out some classic 80´s tunes.

We were quite sad to leave Brazil after a fantastic 3 weeks there, taking in the energy, excitement and passion of the Rio Carnaval, the majestic beauty of Ilha Grande and the old fashioned style of Paraty. We decided to only spend 3 weeks in Brazil for a few reasons 1) It is a massive country and to do it justice we would need to spend at least 2 months there 2) Accomodation prices are crazy during Carnaval month 3) Brazil is a country we will probably go back to, while we may never venture to Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia again.

So we are now in Quito and it is chucking it down with rain. On Monday we are going to the Galapagos Islands on a 4 night/5 day cruise. I have to admit that I had never heard of the Galapgos before we started researching our trip. It sounds like a magical place, truly like nowhere else on earth and it was where Charles Darwin started his theory of evolution. We are really looking forward to it as we had been quite nervous about coming to Ecuador and not being able to afford it. The cost isn`t cheap, $900 US each, plus flights at $400 US and a park entry of $100 US each, but the Galapagos is a once in a lifetime and in the future it may be closed to tourists or only available to the rich.

We`ve spent quite a bit of time travelling since I last wrote, so here is a quick update.

I left you on Feb 17th. That night we attempted to find a Thai restuarant in Paraty only to find that it wasn´t open on Sunday nights. Across the road was an Argentine bar, so we went in for a beer and ended up chatting to the owner due to the number of Boca Juniors pictures on the walls. It turns out that she is/was an official photographer for Boca. We chatted away and ended up ordering steak and she brought out a few picture albums. Her website is www.alearce.com.br

Monday 18th February
We got up at 7.30am and had time for breakfast before catching a cab to the bus station to head to Sao Paulo. The bus left at 9.40am and stopped a couple of times on route, allowing us to stretch our legs and grab some juice. As we approached Sao Paulo a torrential rain and thunder storm started, at one stage I thought the bus would have to stop, it was that heavy. Several cars pulled into the side of the road, but we motored on.

Thankfully it was off when we reached Sao Paulo and we jumped a cab to our hotel. Sao Paulo has a bit of a reputaion for being dangerous and ugly and we didn´t really see anything that first night to make us think otherwise. We got the Metro, very safe and clean, into the Central area and grabbed a bite to eat and a couple of beers before heading back for an early night. Pretty much a day of travel.

Tuesday 19th February
We got up and had breakfast and then jumped on the Metro to the MASP - Museum Of Art Sao Paulo. It was a beautiful building and we wandered around looking at some old Brazilian art before heading down to the modern section.

We absolutely killed ourselves laughing at a crazy exhibition by a Japanese ´artist´ called Tatsumi Orimoto. Orimoto is called the bread man as a lot of his art involves him strapping french bread to his head and swandering around cities taking pictures of himself. He also looks after his Mum, who suffers from Alzheimers and he involves her in his crazy projects, taking pictures of her with bread on her head and old car tyres around her neck. What a load of pi$h! We killed ourselves laughing while some serious looking Brazilians pondered over what it meant.

After that we had some lunch and wandered round a shopping mall, deciding to kill some time by watching the new Johnny Depp movie `Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street`. It wasn´t what we expected but we really enjoyed it. It is a musical and Depp turns in a sterling performance.

We went back to the hotel for a nap and then found a cafe bar nearby that was showing the Chelsea game. It wasn´t much of a game so we had a couple of beers and retired for an early night.

Wednesday 20th February
Another day of travel. We got up at 4.45am, got a cab to the airport and jumped on our 8.30am flight from Sao Paulo to Bogota in Columbia, where we had to wait for a flight to Quito. We had four hours to kill so we had some food and a few beers and then all of a sudden the Celtic v Barcelona game was on ESPN. Celtic played well and went in 2-1 up at half-time. I had to leave the game ten minutes into the 2nd half and found the full-time score was 3-2 to Barca when we got to Quito.

We arrived in Quito and jumped straight in acab to a hostel we had highlighted in our Lonely PLanet - Crossroads. They had a double room free at only $18 US a night, so we booked in and had a walk around the block before falling fast asleep, tired from a day of travel.

Thursday 21st February
We slept until 10am and got up for a walk. A tour agency across from our hostel looked very respectable so we went in to price up Galapagos tours and ended up booking one - easier than we thought! There are all kinds of Galapagos tours from the dirt cheap to the extremely expensive. You can go for 3,4,5 or 8 days. We opted for 5 days after initially looking at 8, deciding that 8 days at sea might be too much.

After that we went to a funky wee cafe called Magic Bean for brunch. We then walked around our area, in the new town, finding a Book Exchange shop where I bought ´The 60 Greatest Conspiracy Theories Of All-Time`. It is an excellent read.

We then jumped a cab to the old town and wandered around the beautiful squares, admiring the old churches and buildings. It started raining so we headed back to our hostel for a bit of reading and then went for dinner at night to a Mexican called Red Hot Chilli Peppers where they showed all the Champions League goals on ESPN. Ideal!

Friday 22nd February
In the morning we flitted between banks, lifting enough money to pay the balance of our Galapagos tour. We then had lunch and got the trolley (tram) into the old town and went to a couple of museums. The museum of the city was excellent and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Quito.

At night we went to a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant called Uncles Hoe`s run by an Irishman. Only and Irishman could open a Thai place in South America! It was quite busy and he told us it had only been open 3 months and that he was loving living in Ecuador.

Saturday 23rd February
We got up at 7.30am as we were getting picked up to go to Otavalo Market, a 2 hour drive from Quito. It was a small tour of 5, us, 2 Aussies - a brother and sister called Scott and Caitlan, and an older American called Richard. Our tour guide Felix spoke excellent English and was a great laugh.

The market is supposedly one of the biggest in South America. The variety of crafts and traditional clothes, rugs etc on display was fantastic and we ended up buying a few things - a woolen hooded top each, a scarf for me, a rug/wall hanger thing that might end up being a bed spread and some small bits and pieces. We will need to send them home.

On the way back we stopped to look out over a beautiful lake and then headed to a town that I can´t remember the name of for lunch. We had an hour to walk round the town, famous for it`s leather goods, and we resisted the temptaion to buy leather jackets, despite them only costing $80 - $100 US. We will wait until Buenos Aires. Lynn did get a nice shawl though.

On the way back Felix stuck on a cheesey 80´s cd and we all sang along. It is now 7.10pm and we are catching up on some research about Ecuador online before grabbing some grub and a beer. Good to see United stuffed Newcastle 5-1. Cheer up Kevin Keegan!

We are off to the Galapagos on Monday so I will update the blog when we return next Friday and also hopefully upload some pictures to flickr.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Goodbye Brazil, hello Ecuador remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Since I last wrote we have been hang-gliding above Rio, caught a ferry with some groceries, spent 3 nights on the tropical island of Ihla Grande and enjoyed the old town of Paraty. Stand by for an update.

Monday 11th February
We got up at 11am, which tended to be when we got up every day in Rio. We phoned Fraser and arranged to meet him at Copacabana at 2,30pm. In between we went to the bus station and booked a bus for Wednesday to Ihla Grande. We had a few beers at a bar on the beach and watched some Brazilians play foot-volley, got a bite to eat, had a few more beers and watched some more football. All in all a relaxing day.

Tuesday 12th February
Got up at 11am and decided we wanted to do a tandem hang-glide, something we had been talking about since we got to Rio. One of our favourite programs back home is Globetrekker and we saw Ian Wright, the presenter and not the irratating ex-Arsenal player, do a hang-glide over Rio and it looked fab.

We got picked up at 2pm and drove through the city to Sao Conrado beach, signed our waiver forms and drove up the hill to the take off platform high above the Tijuca Rainforest national park. Our training was brief - run with the guy, hold on and enjoy. Lynn went first and let out a scream as she left the platform and I watched her dip and then soar into the clear blue sky. I was up next, we ran down the platform and we were off. I felt butterflies in my stomach and pretty soon we were flying. The Cristo de Redeemer statue was visible in the distance, we soared over the rainforest, over some amazing mansions with swimming pools and out over the sea. We turned and came back, landing on the beach. We only had around fifteen minutes in the air, but that was about enough. It was an amazing experience, to fly and soar like a bird. We both got pictures taken and the event filmed. Fraser has taken the pictures and film home and will be dropping them at my Mum´s if anyone wants a look! We haven´t seen them yet, hopefully we don´t look too scared!

After our air adventure we headed to Fraser´s lovely hotel and enjoyed some wine on his balcony while watching the sunset. We then walked along the beach to a nice restaurant called Columbia and enjoyed massive portions of fish and chicken. It was then back to the Sheraton to say goodbye to Fraser, it was great to see him. We have been very lucky in meeting family and friends along the way.

Wednesday 13th February
Our usual wake up time was brought forward to 9am as we were checking out and catching a bus to Angras dos Reis, where we would then catch a ferry to Ilha Grande. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Casa Aurea Hostel and would recommend it to anyone going to Rio. It´s safe, quiet, in the funky area of Santa Teresa and has a cool owner who likes the odd bottle of red.

Our bus left at 11am and we dozed off pretty soon after, waking at 12pm to find we had broken down at the side of the motorway. We had to wait an hour for another bus to come along and we were back on our way. We got to Angras at 2,45pm and thought we would have plenty of time to walk around to the ferry port for the 3,30pm ferry. We were wrong! The sun was beating down and we quickly realised we had further than we thought to walk. With no taxis in sight we soldiered on, sweating buckets. We found the port at 3,22pm on my watch and then ran along the harbour to the ferry. With no seats left we sat on the floor among the grocieries being transported to the island!

The ferry took around 1,5 hours and our hostel was only a ten minute walk from the harbour. We had booked into the Colibri Resort , run by a guy from Sweden and the receptionist was a lovely and helpful blonde Swedish girl called Anika. I immediately thought of Lynn´s cousin Ryan, who has a bit of a thing for Swedish girls!

Check out www.ilhagrande.com.br for full details about the tropical paradise that is Ilha Grande. It´s a UNESCO biosphere reserve, so no new buildings are allowed, there are no roads apart from old horse and cart roads and we only saw two cars there, only allowed for transporting essentials from the mainland.

We had a walk round the lovely town and had prawn risotta for dinner. No alcohol!

Thursday February 14th
Valentines day. We decided to get a boat around the island to Lopez Mendes beach, rumoured to be Brazil´s best. It was certainly gorgeous and we only reached it after a 1 hour boat ride and a 30 minute hike through the rainforest. The sun was shining and only a few brave locals were out sunbathing, the majority sitting in the shade by the edge of the forest. We stayed in the shade but ventured down to the sea for a bit of wave jumping. The waves were fierce and made for excellent surf and we enjoyed watching some locals catching some waves.

We got the boat back at 3pm after feeling we had had too much sunshine for one day. We grabbed a late light lunch back near our hostel, had a nap and then a wander round town. We enjoyed some excellent ice-cream and had an early night at 10pm. Another night off the beer!

Friday February 15th
We got up at 9am for breakfast and decided to hike to a beach Anika had recommended. It is only accessible by foot and involves a hike through the rainforest and down an old dusty horse and cart road. We set off and were soon drenched in sweat. The humidity in the rainforest was intense and we were relieved to reach the top of the hill and find the open road. We carried along that before reaching a sign that said ´shortcut´. We went back into the rainforst and climbed down until we came across a natural swimming pool and I enjoyed a refreshing dip. We then went back on to the road and down to Dois Rios beach. It was pretty empty, with not many from the main town opting for the hike. It was partially cloudy so we lay on the beach and jumped in and out of the sea before the hike back. We rewarded ourselves with a nice ice-cream! Dois Rios beach is very remote and utterly beautiful. Two rivers converge and meet the sea admist a backdrop of mountains and rain forest. Ilha Grande is truly beautiful.

At night we went back to the sushi restaurant and enjoyed some sushi and fruit juice. A healthy day!

Saturday February 16th
We were up at 8am for breakfast and then walked round to the ferry, due at 10am. We were asked if we wanted to go on a fast boat instead, it would save time and it was cheaper. So we took this option and were certainly going to save time until we were pulled over by the police and the boat owner was made to give everyone on the boat a safety demonstration with life jackets.

We reached the mianland and wisely got a bus to the bus station rather than repeat the walk in the scorching sun. We found that there was a bus to Paraty at 1,20pm. The bus took around 2 hours and we booked into the Pousada Guarana, a lovely ´hostel´ run by a young American guy and his Brazilian wife. Our room was spacious and clean and there was a swimming pool round the corner - lovely.

We showered and walked into town. The old town of Paraty is another UNESCO World Heritage Site - all the best places are - and we enjoyed wandering round and down cobbled streets, with white washed houses, bars and restuarants. We treated ourselves to a beer after 3 nights off and then found a nice wee Argentinian restaurant and enjoyed a steak and another two beers before a lazy walk back to the Pousada.

I also went online to check the United score and found that they had stuffed Arsenal 4-0 in the FA Cup, with Wayne Rooney apparently in sensational form. Get in!

Sunday February 17th
We got up at 9,40am, only to discover that the clocks had gone back and it was only 8,40am so breakfast wouldn´t be ready for another 20 minutes. I killed the time by going for a swim and after speaking to the owners we decided to borrow their bikes and cycle to a waterfall and natural swimming pool about 6km from Paraty.

We set off and passed a 3km to Paraty sign. After another 5 minutes I realised we were on the wrong road. We stopped at a cafe to ask for directions and found that there was a game of football going on round the back - Brazilian Sunday League! We got some water and watched the last fifteen minutes and saw 3 goals, some crazy skill and also some crazy tackles. Brazilian Sunday League didn´t look that different from Scotland´s Sunday Leagues.

We got back on track and made it to the Waterfalls. We were boiling by this point and enjoyed a refreshing dip and I went on a rope swing that some local kids were on.

We then cycle back and chilled out for a couple of hours. We´re now back in the old town and about to go for some food.

Tomorrow we catch a 9,40am bus to Sao Paulo and on the 20th we fly to Ecuador so I will update the blog again when we reach there.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Hang-gliding, Ilha Grande and Paraty remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I´ve uploaded a few videos to YouTube, might as well make use of the free internet at our hostel! Check the following links.

Flamengo fans celebrate after they open the scoring in their match against Flamengo at the Maracana stadium.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqN4IM9PEXc

Flamengo fans party in a thunderstorm that at one stage threatened the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KZDkI5PTQY

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Maracana on YouTube remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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After a couple of days relaxing the last few days have been pretty busy and sunny until a massive thunderstorm interupted the Flamengo V Fluminese game we went to tonight. It was pretty spectacular and the teams walked off for 15 minutes while the fans did the conga in the rain. Fresh photos are on www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn

Wednesday February 6th
We had a very quiet day. Lynn was a little rough after our night in Lapa and spent most of the day in bed sleeping or reading. I went a little walk around town and watched the England game on satellite, flicking between that and the Ireland v Brazil game. We phoned a pizza for dinner and generally had a quiet night hanging around the hostel chatting to people.

Thursday February 6th
We got up at 11am and managed to have showers before the water in the hostel went off for no apparent reason. We jumped a cab to Ipanema beach and met Fraser. We had a pleasant walk along the beach and round some shops before buying some beers and heading to Frasers new hotel. He checked out of his central hotel the day before to move to the Sheraton 15km outside of town. We sat on Fraser´s plush balcony abd chatted for 6 hours, watching the sun set and the waves crashing on to the beach below. It was a great night, relaxed and lots of good stories from the past and present.

Friday February 8th
I got up at 9.30am and left Lynn in bed. I had to get up as tickets for the Samba Schools Championship Parade on Saturday were being delivered between 9.30am and 10.30am. The tickets arrived at 10am. Lynn got up and we had breakfast and hung around until 1pm when we were picked up by bealocal.com to go on a tour of Rio´s biggest Favela - Rochina. Home to an estimated 250,000 people and with a guestimated drug turnover of $1.5 million per week! The favela rises high up a hill in Rio and houses some of the poorest people in the city, along with some very rich drug barons. We arrived at the foot of the Favela and were quickly transported form our bus on to the back of motorbikes and driven up the winding main street of the Favela, hanging on to the back of a local as we weaved in and out of the traffic. We all got to the top and our tour guide wasted no time in taking us down a narrow lane. The main street was pretty much like a normal high street in a normal town, full of shops and people going about their daily business. Down the lanes was a little different, there was a bit of an edge but everyone smiled and kids seemed desperate to pose for pictures so we could then show them on our digital cameras. We visited an artists studio, a bakery where we had lovely doughnuts and a kids creche where bealocal.com donate some of their profits to. We passed kids playing samba music on makeshift instruments and two young girls each wearing one rollerboot and skating down the lanes. The Favela tour was worth doing. It made me appreciate how lucky I am.

At night we went for dinner in Santa Teresa at a funky little restaurant and enjoyed an alcohol free night.

Saturday February 9th
We got up for breakfats around 11am and hung around until Fraser came over at 2pm. We ordered a cab to take us up to the Cristo de Redeemer statue. The statue of Jesus that stands high on one of Rio´s hills at a height of almost 40 metres. We wound our way up the steep hill and got out at the top to marvellous views of Rio. We managed to get some good photos of the statue, despite cloud coming and going. One minute you had a great view and the next a cloud blew by and the statue mysteriously disappeared, reappearing a minute or so later. It was quite eery.

After that we headed down to Santa Teresa for some food and a couple of beers to prepare for the Champions Parade at the Sambradome that we had tickets for. The 6 best schools from the original 3 nights were performing. After a few more beers at the hostel we headed down and were blown away by the schools, 2 of which (including the champions) we had seen the week before.

We had better seats than the previous Saturday, although you tend to stand most of the time. The crowd was in good form and the energy, enthusiasm and excitement generated by the performers and the crowd has to be seen to be believed. Everyone is so proud to take part and the level of effort that goes into costumes, choreography and float design is nothing short of remarkable.

We headed home just after 3am with Santa Tersa being a convenient walk up the hill for Lynn and I, and Fraser having to jump a cab. We got home exhausted but in a great mood.

Sunday February 10th
My alarm went off at 11am and I was tired and rough, but got up for breakfast to watch the United v City game kicking off at 11.30am. It was great to see United playing in a 1950´s style kit in memory of the Busby Babes, with no sponsors, it looked great. Sadly City won 2-1 and United looked tired and jaded and lacking ideas.

After the game Lynn and I went for a kip until 4pm and then caught the end of the African Nations Cup final, won by Egypt. It was a day of football as after that 9 of us were off to the Maracana for the Flamengo v Fluminese derby. The sun was shining and the temperature outside the stadium registered 36 degrees. We were in the Flamengo end and their fans were all dressed in red and black, with Flamengo´s shirts resembling a Dennis The Menace jersey my Mum knitted for me when I was a kid. The first half was open but finished goal-less. Just before half-time the wind picked up and the high temperatures of the last few days brought in a thunderstorm. At half-time the heavens opened, thunder rumlbled and lightning crashed around us. It was spectacular and everyone ran to the back of the stand to shelter.

Flamengo appeared for the 2nd half in torrential rain, but Fluminese didn´t. Then the floodlights went off and after a couple of minutes the ref signaled everyone to go off. This promoted a part among the Flamengo support. People went back out into the rain, danced, sang and di the conga! It was great fun. After 10 minutes or so the floodlights came back on and the rain died slightly. The players came out and the game resumes with the fans still partying, flares going off and flags being waved. Flamengo took the lead with a volley from inside the box into the top corner. Fluminese equalised shortly after with a great free-kick from the edge of the box, curled in low by someone with a sweet left foot. Flumines then scored again from another free kick in a similar position. The game raged from end to end but Fluminese were in command and scored another after sloppy defending. We left as injury time was played and missed the last goal to leave it 4-1 to Fluminese, but we were glad to escape the main rush and get taxis in the rain. We got back to the hostel and ordered pizza and I think we´ll be having an early night!

We plan to leave Rio on Wednesday to travel to the paradice island of Ihla Grande where there are no cars, stunning beaches and rainforest trekking tracks. I´ll see if I can update the blgo from there, if not it may be a week or so until the next update.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Rochina Favela, Statue, Champions parade and Maracana again remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well we´ve been up to quite a lot since I last wrote, there is so much going on in Rio just now that it´s hard to keep up. The Brazilians just go crazy during carnival.

I´ve written a seperate blog this morning entitled ´Flowers Of Manchester´ as it is the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster that claimed the lives of 8 of the Busby Babes. It contains a very moving poem written in the aftermath of the crash, check it out.

But back to Rio where it is raining today! The weather has been very mixed since we arrived, blazing sunshine at times, thunder and lightning at others, torrential downpours at least once a day and light drizzle quite a bit of the time. But it has been dry during the important times and the weather has certainly not stopped us or the Brazilians from partying.

Sunday February 3rd
We got up at 11.30am for breakfast. We hung around the hostel for a few hours chatting to people - Greg from Aberdeen and his wife Georgina from Bristol, Mike who is volunteering in Rio, Stewart and Dave from Oz and Justin and Casey from Oz.

We eventually ventured out at 3.30pm and andered down to a shop in Santa Teresa and bought burgers and some salad and went back to the hostel and made some food before an an]fternoon siesta.

Fraser came to meet us at 8pm and after a few beers we decided to head down to the Sambadrome to see if we could get tickets outside for the big parade. We didn´t have any problems getting them. As soon as we got outside a guy came up and asked us if we wanted some. He originally tried to charge us $600 Brazilian for 3, but we got him down to $350 Brazilian, around 30 pounds each. We were in the cheap seats but we still saw everything and certainly got our moneys worth. We got in at 10pm and stayed until just before 2am. The floats, costumes, dancers, colour, passion and energy generated at the Sambadrome has to be seen to be believed. It was fantastic.

We left at 2am and wandered around the Sambadrome. I was immediatly struck at the poverty only yards from a multi-million pound extravaganza. People were watching the parade in the Favela´s (the slums that start on the outside of tha Sambadrome) on tiny TV´s, as they couldn´t afford to go inside.

We ended up walking back to the hostel and Fraser got a taxi. Santa Teresa is right next to the Sambadrome, so we had a 30 minute walk up the hill to our hostel and a good nights sleep.

Monday February 4th
We got up at 11am and had breakfast and then I went back to bed while Lynn pottered around and tidied up a bit. Fraser came to meet us at 2pm and by 3pm the rain had gone off so we went a walk around Santa Teresa and found a full on bloco (street party) happening. We got some drinks and stood and watched and danced to the band that were playing. They were a 5 piece playing Sax, Trombone and various items of percussion. Some of their friends joined in by banging their flip flops together or hitting a can with a stick. Soon there was a big crowd in the square and everyone was in full on carnival mode again. It very rarely stops, there is always something going on, whether it is an official bloco, the sambadrome, stages set up in Lapa or Central or an impromptu street party like this one.

We stayed for a few hours and then went back to the hostel before heading down to Frasers hotel in central. We had dinner there and then went across to Avenue Blanco, where there is always something going on. We ended up parading along the entire Avenue behind a Samba Band, dancing along and even attempting to sing! We got to the top of the Avenue where there was a stage and a band were playing some laid back samba music that had attracted an older crowd. We stayed there for a bit and bumped into Greg and Georgina before heading back down the Avenue. We were halfway down when we were approached from the bottom by another band. We waited in the wings to allow them to pass and then joined in with the crowd. The band had a leader that was showing the crowd what actions to do, so everyone swayed and clapped in time. It was great fun.

We didn´t stay out too long though and got a taxi back to the hostel at midnight. I think the last few days had caught up with us a little!

Tuesday February 5th
We got up at 11am and sorted out some stuff for washing. Fraser came to meet us at 2am and we decided that despite some cloud overhead we would go up Sugar Loaf Mountain. We got a cab to the foot and then paid $35 Brazilian each for two cable cars up to the top. The view from the top was excellent, although it would have been really spectacular if the sun was shining. Rio is such a unique city, in more ways than one. There is the coastline and beaches, and then hills and mountains with districts of Rio built in between, then the statue of Christ The Redeemer looms in the distance and Favelas are built up the hillsides.

We´ve still to go up to the statue, we´re holding out for a nice clear blue day. We had a couple of beers up the top and got a bite to eat before going our seperate ways for siestas. Fraser then came back to meet us at the hostel at 10pm and we had a few drinks with the Aussie´s. At midnight we decided to go down to Lapa, where there are always street parties and there is a stage with bands and DJ´s. There was quite a large crowd down there and we got some drinks and watched a couple of bands before heading home for 3am.

Today, Feb 6th, we have no fixed plans. Fraser is moving hotels today so we won´t see him until tomorrow. I think Lynn and I are going to have a quiet day and maybe plan a few things for when we leave Rio next Monday. We only have 3 weeks in Brazil and we won´t see much of the country at all. But we did decide that Brazil was going to be more like a holiday and we´re enjoying staying in the one place for a decent length of time and our hostel is the best we have stayed in. As Brazil is the size of the USA, we would really need to spend at least 2-3 months here to see a lot of the country, but maybe we´ll come back if Scotland gets to the 2014 World Cup!

Catch you all soon.

Murray and Lynn
xxx

Rio De Janeiro remains copyright of the author murray2701, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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