Right, well it's a year later and I've finally got round to editing all of the video footage. For those of you not on Facebook (and those of you who are and who missed it) It's here:
This'll be the last post then I guess. Unless myself and the Trickster decide to bugger off again sometime.
It's been fun. Enjoy!
Tuesday 16 November 2010
Sunday 11 October 2009
appendix - the foot incident
hey all :)
ok....so i wasnt sure about putting this in but as far as im concerned its part of the trip and has been a really interesting experience so im gonna. but not till now after we're home and theres no way of worrying people in england. i got a skin infection from a mosquito bite and ended up in hopsital for a couple of days - this section might not be a fun read for all, so skip if you arent interested or might get upset. it ends well, im totally fine now and i had an AMAZING time :)
part of travelling id assumed was always gonna be about taking the rough with the smooth and this definitely showed to me the dark side of what can happen when overseas. the day we got back to cuzco from macu piccu was wicked, and we had a great night out but my ankle had been feeling a bit odd after a lot of bites to it - it swelled up and was pretty sore. i was told not to worry though so just carried on and elevated it thinking that it was a simple case of a bit of bruising from so many bites in a located area.
but by about 3am on the 23rd (having got home from the town) the pain was unbearable and i was running a fever so tricky (being the star that he is) went and sorted out a doctor who came out and ive been in hospital since (its now 6am thurs 24th) the doctor seems to think that itll take a good few more days before im functional.
this has meant a few things - firstly, calling in the insurance which has (fortunately) seemed to come through ok. theres a nice room and an extra bed for tricky and theyre fine with our bags being in here so that we dont have to pay for a hotel room. we'd already booked the extra night in the hotel with the intention of laying in and getting a 19 hour coach to lima for our flight across but that money (plus a bit more) has now been spent on a flight instead meaning an extra night in hospital at the doctors suggestion. ive apparently gotta rest a good couple more days when i get to salvador too. hopefully it wont eat into our brazil time too much.
its clearly a full-on private place that few of the locals would be able to afford so im seriously bloody glad i got the insurance. bless loads of our tour-buddies for coming in to see me yesterday too - brightened up a dull afternoon! the hospital/nurses and doctor are very nice, though the nurses have this wierd thing of making the bed obsessively with you in it and not leaving the room till its fully tucked in with both your arms under the covers. the language barrier means its often easier to just let them do this, theyre all very sweet :) theyve got me on a consant drip of saline and 2 antibiotics (which leave a wierd taste in the mouth, makes your wee smell wierd and gives you incredibly scary nightmares) to get rid of the infection and seem fairly optimistic that itll be gone in a few days.
personally though, ive not been that scared in a really long time. all i could think about was that i need my foot for my new-found career and the idea of having to do something desk-based or not being able to do certain stuff again had me crying like a baby. the fever wouldve contributed to this and made it feel a lot more serious through the slight delerium but theres an odd humble clarity in feeling like that and i wont forget it in a hurry. i guess its a reminder of how fragile the whole thing really is and one thing can change overnight that alters everything. being reasonably able-bodied for my whole life and not having that much go wrong physically up to now is definitely something i appreciate all the more now.
overall, i think ive been pretty lucky. im an insured, rich foreigner and ive been treated like royalty since i got to the hospital. but as well as the sense of mortality it also makes you think loads about those who arent in my situation who this happens to. specially those around here who live off the land or need to drive or anything like that. ive never been that good with the povery gap when ive travelled and peru is no exception. there are little 6 year old kids in these mountains tending flocks of sheep. wearing sandals. in the snow. mental. but like i said before, this is the stuff i came here to see and to be made more aware of. in a way im definitely glad of the experience. plus, check out the pyjamas - havent worn pyjamas in years!
its also prevalent to say at this point what a star trickys been throughout this entire episode. he kept his head and got me in here, went and sorted out the flights having gone to the bus station to no avail and on no sleep and has now finally managed to get that lie in we both wanted all week - bless him, hes been out for like, 15 hours. im really lucky to be travelling with him and have him as a friend, i knew there was a reason we planned to do this together and this whole blip has really solidified that for me. makes me wonder about travelling on my own though, what would happen? would i be more careful? is that safety net being there affecting how im acting or the precautions im taking? i certainly dont think i couldve done more and i guess if it came down to it i couldve sorted myself out. probably. im really not sure. but ill maybe find out one day i guess.
so yeah, 3 flights starting at 5am tomorrow to get to brazil. interesting times.....
ok....so i wasnt sure about putting this in but as far as im concerned its part of the trip and has been a really interesting experience so im gonna. but not till now after we're home and theres no way of worrying people in england. i got a skin infection from a mosquito bite and ended up in hopsital for a couple of days - this section might not be a fun read for all, so skip if you arent interested or might get upset. it ends well, im totally fine now and i had an AMAZING time :)
part of travelling id assumed was always gonna be about taking the rough with the smooth and this definitely showed to me the dark side of what can happen when overseas. the day we got back to cuzco from macu piccu was wicked, and we had a great night out but my ankle had been feeling a bit odd after a lot of bites to it - it swelled up and was pretty sore. i was told not to worry though so just carried on and elevated it thinking that it was a simple case of a bit of bruising from so many bites in a located area.
but by about 3am on the 23rd (having got home from the town) the pain was unbearable and i was running a fever so tricky (being the star that he is) went and sorted out a doctor who came out and ive been in hospital since (its now 6am thurs 24th) the doctor seems to think that itll take a good few more days before im functional.
this has meant a few things - firstly, calling in the insurance which has (fortunately) seemed to come through ok. theres a nice room and an extra bed for tricky and theyre fine with our bags being in here so that we dont have to pay for a hotel room. we'd already booked the extra night in the hotel with the intention of laying in and getting a 19 hour coach to lima for our flight across but that money (plus a bit more) has now been spent on a flight instead meaning an extra night in hospital at the doctors suggestion. ive apparently gotta rest a good couple more days when i get to salvador too. hopefully it wont eat into our brazil time too much.
its clearly a full-on private place that few of the locals would be able to afford so im seriously bloody glad i got the insurance. bless loads of our tour-buddies for coming in to see me yesterday too - brightened up a dull afternoon! the hospital/nurses and doctor are very nice, though the nurses have this wierd thing of making the bed obsessively with you in it and not leaving the room till its fully tucked in with both your arms under the covers. the language barrier means its often easier to just let them do this, theyre all very sweet :) theyve got me on a consant drip of saline and 2 antibiotics (which leave a wierd taste in the mouth, makes your wee smell wierd and gives you incredibly scary nightmares) to get rid of the infection and seem fairly optimistic that itll be gone in a few days.
personally though, ive not been that scared in a really long time. all i could think about was that i need my foot for my new-found career and the idea of having to do something desk-based or not being able to do certain stuff again had me crying like a baby. the fever wouldve contributed to this and made it feel a lot more serious through the slight delerium but theres an odd humble clarity in feeling like that and i wont forget it in a hurry. i guess its a reminder of how fragile the whole thing really is and one thing can change overnight that alters everything. being reasonably able-bodied for my whole life and not having that much go wrong physically up to now is definitely something i appreciate all the more now.
overall, i think ive been pretty lucky. im an insured, rich foreigner and ive been treated like royalty since i got to the hospital. but as well as the sense of mortality it also makes you think loads about those who arent in my situation who this happens to. specially those around here who live off the land or need to drive or anything like that. ive never been that good with the povery gap when ive travelled and peru is no exception. there are little 6 year old kids in these mountains tending flocks of sheep. wearing sandals. in the snow. mental. but like i said before, this is the stuff i came here to see and to be made more aware of. in a way im definitely glad of the experience. plus, check out the pyjamas - havent worn pyjamas in years!
its also prevalent to say at this point what a star trickys been throughout this entire episode. he kept his head and got me in here, went and sorted out the flights having gone to the bus station to no avail and on no sleep and has now finally managed to get that lie in we both wanted all week - bless him, hes been out for like, 15 hours. im really lucky to be travelling with him and have him as a friend, i knew there was a reason we planned to do this together and this whole blip has really solidified that for me. makes me wonder about travelling on my own though, what would happen? would i be more careful? is that safety net being there affecting how im acting or the precautions im taking? i certainly dont think i couldve done more and i guess if it came down to it i couldve sorted myself out. probably. im really not sure. but ill maybe find out one day i guess.
so yeah, 3 flights starting at 5am tomorrow to get to brazil. interesting times.....
Saturday 10 October 2009
Last day. booo!
ello!
so, that time has come. the time for us to come home, we leave BA in an hour for the 20 or so total hours its gonna take us to get back. last few days have been superb - once again we´ve lucked out massively with the hostel that weve ended up in. aussie run place with great staff and plenty of advice on what to do.
we took some of their bikes out for a day to see the city from a bit of a different perspective and also realise that there arent that many cyclists in this city for a reason. not exactly considerate, the motorists.....great day though and i got to ride this
is that the most gorgeous bike youve ever seen or what??
so the bike tour took us first to the cemetery which was very impressive indeed - all the rich families in the city have like, these private crypts for their dead relatives but the levels of opulence are like nothing ive ever seen. some of them were the sizes of small houses! lots more pics of that to follow.
i also discovered that if you say "streetperformer" too quickly then you can sound like youre saying "stripper" to someone who doesnt have english as a first language. with hilarious consequences ;)
onward took us to the japanese gardens which were gorgeous. im a amssive fan of bansai trees and there were loads of them to look at plus gigantic koi carp in the most immaculately maintained setting. not exactly what i expected to see in argentina but completely beautiful. again, lots more pics to follow.
yesterday involved going out with tricky and puddin (guy from the hostel who really wanted to give it a try) to busk a bit and try to flog some origami to passers by. basically, i stood on his shoulders and juggled while tricky made coloured paper models.
seemed like the thing to do and was muchly well received by the people here. didnt exactly make a pile of cash but we definitely raised more than a few smiles. saw a tango streetshow too, theyre quite into it over here...might have to learn to speak spanish properly i think.....
last night was the last night of the trip so we decided that only a proper argentinian steak would do. recommended by the hostel, we found an awesome place. 800g ribeye between the two of us and more sides than you could shake a stick at. just the job.
got mostly very drunk last night while studiously expanding the bar´s collection of origami and playing jenga.
so yeah, thats about it. if you wanna get a link for the rest of the pictures then just drop me a line, ill be whacking them up on some webspace and boring you all to tears about them for the next 6 months or so im sure ;) its been utterly amazing, ill be back here i reckon. massive thanks to anyone who might read this who was part of making this month so awesome. not least tricky - you rock!
so, that time has come. the time for us to come home, we leave BA in an hour for the 20 or so total hours its gonna take us to get back. last few days have been superb - once again we´ve lucked out massively with the hostel that weve ended up in. aussie run place with great staff and plenty of advice on what to do.
we took some of their bikes out for a day to see the city from a bit of a different perspective and also realise that there arent that many cyclists in this city for a reason. not exactly considerate, the motorists.....great day though and i got to ride this
is that the most gorgeous bike youve ever seen or what??
so the bike tour took us first to the cemetery which was very impressive indeed - all the rich families in the city have like, these private crypts for their dead relatives but the levels of opulence are like nothing ive ever seen. some of them were the sizes of small houses! lots more pics of that to follow.
i also discovered that if you say "streetperformer" too quickly then you can sound like youre saying "stripper" to someone who doesnt have english as a first language. with hilarious consequences ;)
onward took us to the japanese gardens which were gorgeous. im a amssive fan of bansai trees and there were loads of them to look at plus gigantic koi carp in the most immaculately maintained setting. not exactly what i expected to see in argentina but completely beautiful. again, lots more pics to follow.
yesterday involved going out with tricky and puddin (guy from the hostel who really wanted to give it a try) to busk a bit and try to flog some origami to passers by. basically, i stood on his shoulders and juggled while tricky made coloured paper models.
seemed like the thing to do and was muchly well received by the people here. didnt exactly make a pile of cash but we definitely raised more than a few smiles. saw a tango streetshow too, theyre quite into it over here...might have to learn to speak spanish properly i think.....
last night was the last night of the trip so we decided that only a proper argentinian steak would do. recommended by the hostel, we found an awesome place. 800g ribeye between the two of us and more sides than you could shake a stick at. just the job.
got mostly very drunk last night while studiously expanding the bar´s collection of origami and playing jenga.
so yeah, thats about it. if you wanna get a link for the rest of the pictures then just drop me a line, ill be whacking them up on some webspace and boring you all to tears about them for the next 6 months or so im sure ;) its been utterly amazing, ill be back here i reckon. massive thanks to anyone who might read this who was part of making this month so awesome. not least tricky - you rock!
Wednesday 7 October 2009
iguaçu falls
morning!
so we´re now in argentina - another country, another passport stamp. mines starting to look a little bit less embarassingly empty now. which is nice.
anyhoo, final day in Brazil saw us visiting the Iguaçu Falls, which has two sides to it as the border runs down the middle of the river. day one was the brazillian side and it was a lovely, lovely day to be out.
23 hours on a coach and we were glad to find the hostel and chill out for a couple of hours before heading off to the national park. the falls are utterly spectacular. spread out over a load of space and lots of different actual falls to see.
am very glad that tricky suggested seeing it. plus we found the only hostel ever with an ´honesty policy´ bar which meant i was feeling slightly the worse for wear. plus they had like, 4 types of gin and rasberry bacardi. yum.
the next day was slightly different. itd been raining solidly all night and morning meaning a very different experience. the falls which (on the previous day) were bloody noisy and very cool, had changed to flat out angry and just awe-inspiringly huge.
the noise was unbelievable. overall, im proper glad the weather was so bad. it just made the whole experience that much more intense and you got a really good feel for the utter power of the things. plumes of water 5 feet thick going over the edge. mental.
once again we were lucky enough to meet some very cool people. here´s tricky with mike and yanni from melbourne. lovely couple and were good enough to offer to ping us a couple of pictures when i managed, over the course of the day to completely screw my camera.
must have got steam in the lens or something cos it now looks like all the pictures we take are in the most poorly-vented coffee shop in amsterdam. oops. heres a very cloudy one of us at the junction between argentina, brazil and paraguay.
not sure about tonight - i think its the barmaids birthday at this hostel or theres a full-moon party on at a club in town. only a few days left now - best start checking gumtree for somewhere to live when i get home *gulp!*
so we´re now in argentina - another country, another passport stamp. mines starting to look a little bit less embarassingly empty now. which is nice.
anyhoo, final day in Brazil saw us visiting the Iguaçu Falls, which has two sides to it as the border runs down the middle of the river. day one was the brazillian side and it was a lovely, lovely day to be out.
23 hours on a coach and we were glad to find the hostel and chill out for a couple of hours before heading off to the national park. the falls are utterly spectacular. spread out over a load of space and lots of different actual falls to see.
am very glad that tricky suggested seeing it. plus we found the only hostel ever with an ´honesty policy´ bar which meant i was feeling slightly the worse for wear. plus they had like, 4 types of gin and rasberry bacardi. yum.
the next day was slightly different. itd been raining solidly all night and morning meaning a very different experience. the falls which (on the previous day) were bloody noisy and very cool, had changed to flat out angry and just awe-inspiringly huge.
the noise was unbelievable. overall, im proper glad the weather was so bad. it just made the whole experience that much more intense and you got a really good feel for the utter power of the things. plumes of water 5 feet thick going over the edge. mental.
once again we were lucky enough to meet some very cool people. here´s tricky with mike and yanni from melbourne. lovely couple and were good enough to offer to ping us a couple of pictures when i managed, over the course of the day to completely screw my camera.
must have got steam in the lens or something cos it now looks like all the pictures we take are in the most poorly-vented coffee shop in amsterdam. oops. heres a very cloudy one of us at the junction between argentina, brazil and paraguay.
not sure about tonight - i think its the barmaids birthday at this hostel or theres a full-moon party on at a club in town. only a few days left now - best start checking gumtree for somewhere to live when i get home *gulp!*
Monday 5 October 2009
on the road again
ello :)
so, we finally managed to leave rio. what a place, such lovely people and an awesome hostel too. cant speak highly enough of it.
so we got some proper touristy stuff in before we left which was nice. it was a bit cloudy on the day we'd set aside for doing those bits and we were both stinking hungover from the beach party the day before (and the fact that we failed miserably to NOT go out that night as well) so we sacked off visiting the christ the redeemer statue and plumped for a dusk visit to sugar loaf mountain instead.
this, my friends, was totally worth it. its a really nice facility outlining the history of the cable car and the conception, design and building of it. whats really interesting is getting out of this space-age capsule then seeing the rickety wooden shed-on-a-string that they first used to go up there in. mental.
stunning views from the top too and we managed to time it just right so that we got to see the city just as the light was going and the mist had cleared a bit by this point too. the sheer scale of it isnt done justice by the photos, even from the very top of the mountain the zona nord stretches as far as the eye can see. proper urban sprawl, ive never been to a city this big and seeing it from high up was quite an experience.
anyhoo, we met a lovely couple on the beach called paul and renata who were celebrating renatas birthday last night. bearing in mind how hungover we both we we had doubts about how worth it an all-you-can-drink free bar would be but (shockingly enough) we went anyway. once we got our heads round getting one of the girls to get the drinks (so that the barmen would actually serve them) it was pretty much plain sailing. the music was the first we've heard out here with an actuall bassline - plus there was UV art! one for you lynette...
met another load of wicked people, such a friendly crowd - treated us like we'd known them for years right from putting us on the guestlist, coming out of the club to help us skip the queue to just being wall-to-wall lovely all evening. we had an absolute blast at that party, happy birthday renata and a genuine thank you to you, paul, lyvia and her fella (whos name ive forgotten but he was a legend) and everyone else for showing us some true brazilian hospitality.
this morning was a bit hectic to say the least. i was shitfaced and forgot to set my alarm and we both slept through trickys. cue him waking me up at the hostel about an hour beofre the coach was due to leave....oops. still, despite the confusing layout of rios bus station we made the coach by the skin of our teeth and we're now a few hours in to a 23 hour journey to iguacu falls - one of the main things we wanted to see on this trip.
rio was pretty full on and im really sad to leave. i will definitely be back, no doubt about it but for now, frankly, i reckon our livers could do with a rest! ;)
thatll do for now, hope all are well and happy xxxx
so, we finally managed to leave rio. what a place, such lovely people and an awesome hostel too. cant speak highly enough of it.
so we got some proper touristy stuff in before we left which was nice. it was a bit cloudy on the day we'd set aside for doing those bits and we were both stinking hungover from the beach party the day before (and the fact that we failed miserably to NOT go out that night as well) so we sacked off visiting the christ the redeemer statue and plumped for a dusk visit to sugar loaf mountain instead.
this, my friends, was totally worth it. its a really nice facility outlining the history of the cable car and the conception, design and building of it. whats really interesting is getting out of this space-age capsule then seeing the rickety wooden shed-on-a-string that they first used to go up there in. mental.
stunning views from the top too and we managed to time it just right so that we got to see the city just as the light was going and the mist had cleared a bit by this point too. the sheer scale of it isnt done justice by the photos, even from the very top of the mountain the zona nord stretches as far as the eye can see. proper urban sprawl, ive never been to a city this big and seeing it from high up was quite an experience.
anyhoo, we met a lovely couple on the beach called paul and renata who were celebrating renatas birthday last night. bearing in mind how hungover we both we we had doubts about how worth it an all-you-can-drink free bar would be but (shockingly enough) we went anyway. once we got our heads round getting one of the girls to get the drinks (so that the barmen would actually serve them) it was pretty much plain sailing. the music was the first we've heard out here with an actuall bassline - plus there was UV art! one for you lynette...
met another load of wicked people, such a friendly crowd - treated us like we'd known them for years right from putting us on the guestlist, coming out of the club to help us skip the queue to just being wall-to-wall lovely all evening. we had an absolute blast at that party, happy birthday renata and a genuine thank you to you, paul, lyvia and her fella (whos name ive forgotten but he was a legend) and everyone else for showing us some true brazilian hospitality.
this morning was a bit hectic to say the least. i was shitfaced and forgot to set my alarm and we both slept through trickys. cue him waking me up at the hostel about an hour beofre the coach was due to leave....oops. still, despite the confusing layout of rios bus station we made the coach by the skin of our teeth and we're now a few hours in to a 23 hour journey to iguacu falls - one of the main things we wanted to see on this trip.
rio was pretty full on and im really sad to leave. i will definitely be back, no doubt about it but for now, frankly, i reckon our livers could do with a rest! ;)
thatll do for now, hope all are well and happy xxxx
Saturday 3 October 2009
still in rio....difficult to leave!
hey all!
so yeah, the title says it all. we were supposed to leave yesterday and it just didnt happen. i cant say for a second that im disappointed either, rios amazing, probably the funnest place we've visited thus far in my opinion.
right from the carnival museum where they let you TRY ON the costumes - plus one of them had a piano on it:
to the favela tour, which was pretty heart-renching but well worth doing.
on top of that, it would seem that the vote for who got the 2016 olymipcs was yesterday. rio was one of those cities and guess what? they won!insane party on the beach and an electric atmosphere in town last night. the people down here SERIOUSLY know how to have a good time!
met loads of lovely randoms on the beach and got invited to someones all-you-can-drink birthday party tonight which sounds like a recipie for win if ever there was one!
apparently we're gonna do the touristy stuff today, sugar loaf mountain and the big christ statue n all that. then off to iguacu on another looooooooong coach journey.
be a shame to leave but put it in your diaries now - my 30th, 2013, late February, Carnival. oh yes.
bye for now! xxxx
so yeah, the title says it all. we were supposed to leave yesterday and it just didnt happen. i cant say for a second that im disappointed either, rios amazing, probably the funnest place we've visited thus far in my opinion.
right from the carnival museum where they let you TRY ON the costumes - plus one of them had a piano on it:
to the favela tour, which was pretty heart-renching but well worth doing.
on top of that, it would seem that the vote for who got the 2016 olymipcs was yesterday. rio was one of those cities and guess what? they won!insane party on the beach and an electric atmosphere in town last night. the people down here SERIOUSLY know how to have a good time!
met loads of lovely randoms on the beach and got invited to someones all-you-can-drink birthday party tonight which sounds like a recipie for win if ever there was one!
apparently we're gonna do the touristy stuff today, sugar loaf mountain and the big christ statue n all that. then off to iguacu on another looooooooong coach journey.
be a shame to leave but put it in your diaries now - my 30th, 2013, late February, Carnival. oh yes.
bye for now! xxxx
Wednesday 30 September 2009
1st night in rio
evenin!
rio´s great. its official. instead of the football we went on a walkaround tour of the city today (not with any guide, just with some dots on a map) accompanied by louis (a recent graduate from cameroon living in DC) and michelle (some nutty belgian campervan owner who handily enough lives in gent where theres a massive street festival)
tonight was kinda wierd, bit like a swing night...but latino. only couples danced and the band were awesome. they also drink these strange lemony cocktails with what i think was tequila in them. but it couldbt be or else i wouldnt have wanted them. and i did. lots.
wicked chicken-based meal nearby too - heres us:
i think were gonna have to get another coach for the next bit. boo. its like, 170 quid for a flight and i cant justify that for an hours airtime. the alternative is 23 hours on a bus, but if we convince ourselves that we´ll see some nice things out the window and that another day in rio AND the nights acommodation isnt worth that much to us then itll be fine, right?
anyhoo - time for bed. favela tour tomorrow apparently. and we MUST do some laundry, theres only so much a compression sack can contain.
bye!
PS - thanks for the messages from home and from those we met on this trip too, they mean the absolute world xxx
rio´s great. its official. instead of the football we went on a walkaround tour of the city today (not with any guide, just with some dots on a map) accompanied by louis (a recent graduate from cameroon living in DC) and michelle (some nutty belgian campervan owner who handily enough lives in gent where theres a massive street festival)
tonight was kinda wierd, bit like a swing night...but latino. only couples danced and the band were awesome. they also drink these strange lemony cocktails with what i think was tequila in them. but it couldbt be or else i wouldnt have wanted them. and i did. lots.
wicked chicken-based meal nearby too - heres us:
i think were gonna have to get another coach for the next bit. boo. its like, 170 quid for a flight and i cant justify that for an hours airtime. the alternative is 23 hours on a bus, but if we convince ourselves that we´ll see some nice things out the window and that another day in rio AND the nights acommodation isnt worth that much to us then itll be fine, right?
anyhoo - time for bed. favela tour tomorrow apparently. and we MUST do some laundry, theres only so much a compression sack can contain.
bye!
PS - thanks for the messages from home and from those we met on this trip too, they mean the absolute world xxx
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