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Tales from Afar...
When i was on my own in Paraty in Brasil i had a bit of a moment: I wandered into a bar where there was some live music playing. as i ordered my caiprinhia (sp?) the band started playing Bruce Sprinsteen's, Walk of Life. And believe the last week truely has felt like my walk of life. I have had SUCH an amazing week that i'm getting goosebumps remembering it all...
Everyday it feels like i have found paradise.
This afternoon, we arrived in the GORGEOUS little old colonial town called Antigua in Guatemala. we{ve been here all of 4hrs and are already totally hooked on the place. the markets are jam packed with masses of rainbow coloured Mayan textiles side by side with the most delicious fresh fruit and veg ever. we ate tacos and chapitos with fresh guacamole and salsa on a street corner which were asbsolutely delicious and all for a bargain 40p! all the people are stunning: dressed in their colourful mayan clothes with ribbons plaited into their braids. and they are all TINY! i keep wanting to take photos but it just seems so intrusive! and we then took afternoon tea in a tiny bohemian cigar shop. the architecture here is just so beautiful it makes everywhere you turn into a living postcard.
Its all a bit too much to take after leaving nicaragua - which we were both EXTREMELY sad to do. Nicaragua is absolutely STUNNING and i am so upset that we spent a mere 2 days there. We arrived in Granada, another BEAUTIFUL old spanish colonial town and stayed at the bordo del mono (the bearded monkey) hostel. It was paradise. The heart of the hostel was the pretty square that dominated the centre of the building. Very colonial and very pretty. there was a garden full of luch green plants and it was bordered on all four sides with hammocks and swinging chairs. It was full of fascinating people with fascinating stories from all over the world. it was totally boho and extremely relaxed. spent a LOT of time swinging in the hammocks chatting, chilling and thinking. yesterday a bunch of us went up to their sister hostel called The Monkey Hut on lago del apoyo...once again paradise. The lake is situated in the crater that was left when the volcano exploded a few ce nturies ago., so the water was warm and rally soft - great for the skin and hair!!! chrissy and i attempted to kayak across the lake but it was MUCH further than we thought and the sun was really hot. we lazed around in inner tubes and spent the afternoon diving off the floating pontoon (and losing our bikinis!) before the rum drinking and the disorder began. I woke up to a STUNNING sunrise this morning on a hammock on the verandah of the lakehouse, still wearing my bikini and sporting a number of unidentified drinking injuries. (i think i may have broken my foot. oops!). the sun was baking so i headed to the water and went for an early morning swim. i really didnt want to leave this place.
it was perfect.
Unfortunately, shortly after my swim my hangover hit and i haven't felt quite right since! i almot passed out the airport i was so dehydrated and hungry! i think the staff all just assumed i had delhi belly or something...
Before getting to nicaragua we spent 4days inland in Costa Rica. SOOOOOO much better than on the coast...we went on an evening hike thru the rainforest and saw monkeys etc before stopping to watch the volcano as the sun set. it was AMAZING seeing the hot red rocks and lava spewing down the mountainside. VERY humbling. spent the eving chilling out at the hot baths and spa nearby just taking in the view of the volano against the dark night sky sipping on coctails with the guys from our trek. we also went whitewater rafting which was SO much fun it was unreal and has unleased the adrenaline junkie in me! the following day we went zip-lining through the cloud forest in the pouring rain. flying across the canopy of the forest like tarzan. Our guides were abolutely MENTAL and did all the lines upside down and because it was raining so hard we were going a LOT faster than we should have been. Fortunately they had kitted us out in full orange rompersuits to guard against the rain but it meant that we couldn't brake properly so on a number of ocasions i ended up winding the guides as they tried in vain to stop me crashin into the trees!! it was awesome - managed to acquire a good few injuries there too! In fact, Chrissy and I seem to be slowly falling apart!
Hada bit of a wild night in Monteverde too. we stayed at yet another LEGENDARY hostel there (literally, if you speak to anyone who has travelled thru there, all the cool people have stayed at pension santa elena!) it was so cool and boho it was unbelievable. with free delicious costa rican coffee all day the atmosphere was pretty intense but still pretty chilled. We made ourselves THE most amazing salad for diner (the avacados in monteverde were undescribable!) and somehow managed to consume a litre of red wine each from cardboard juice boxes. We ended up playing drinking games with a bunch of israeli's. Dad, you'll be pleased to know i thrashed EVERYONE in a Connect 4 championship! However, my bed remained untouched that night as before we knew it, it was 4.15 and we had to catch our bus to nicaragua.
So thats me pretty much up to date. i have had so many wonderful moments in the last week. i now know how people get so hooked on travelling. Chrissy and i are SERIOSULY questioning why on earth we have chosen to do medicine. There are so many places i want to see in this world and this little trip has totally opened my mind to them all. Will I ever get around to seeing them all...to living all the experiences? I really hope so.
So i continue on my walk of life, with a permanent cheshire-cat smile on my face, in search of a few more stamps in my everimpressive passport! after chilling out here for a few days (once again the hostel in fantastic! and full of very intersting people - antigua is a hotspot for travellers to come to spanish language school) we're heading north to see the ruins at Tikal with a stop at Coban to see this amazing river that i read about on the plane today. then onto Belize for a bit of diving before hitting Mexico and finally seeing my beloved family. i am really looking forward to having big bear hugs from you all!
All my love,
Fionnuala Xx
a.k.a "international unavailable"
P.s. they REALLY dont get my name over here. the passport guy at the airport today had me in stitches as he tried to pronouce it! I think he might have been flirting...Xx
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