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Hello all from Rio De Janeiro in what is the final blog of my 172 day trip.
Today was my last full day abroad on this trip and I arrived in Rio at 1100 this morning after leaving Buenos Aires at 2030 Wednesday. Yes, it was a very long bus journey through Foz Do Iguaçu and São Paulo, but well worth it.
After São Paulo, George and I headed to Belo Horizonte - a big town in George's home state of Minas Gerais. We then got a bus to Ouro Preto immediately, a town well-known in Brazil for it's old church and gold mines. After that, we went straight to George's hometown - Bom Despacho. It was really cool to have such great accommodation. George and I shared an apartment where each of us had an en-suite and we got free food from his 94-year-old nan's place! It was pretty lush. Anyway, we spent about a week there because we got there early and were just going to head back to Rio afterwards anyway. Whilst there, I got the chance to meet the girlfriend George always goes on about, his and her friends, and his family. It was really cool although there wasn't so much to do in the town after meeting people. There's a fantastic ice cream shop we visited every day we were there and a pool place we also went to, but it was otherwise a pretty quiet town. So, after a few days there of chilling out, I decided that I wanted to see Buenos Aires with the extra time I had. And, having found out from a group member (Regina) who contacted me that it was less than 2 days away from Rio by bus, I took my chance to make it before I went home.
I first got a bus from George's hometown last Sunday night at 2000 to São Paulo. I then got a ticket to Buenos Aires from SP which departed Sp at 2330. That meant waiting 18 hours as I arrived in SP at 0530 that morning. Needless to say, it was a very uneventful day. Once on the bus, we went through Foz to Buenos Aires. During the journey, I met a German student who had been studying in Argentina and was heading home a day before me. I also met an Argentinian man who lives just outside Buenos Aires. By listening to him talk all about his family and life in Spanish, I refreshed my memory of the language pretty well. And finally, there were two brothers from Argentina. One was born in the US and spoke English really well (he helped me buy my ticket in SP). He was heading to Foz and so got off the bus early. His younger brother went to a bilingual school and also knew English very well, possibly additionally because their Dad works for the government and often travels to the US. Wedneday morning at around 0900, we arrived in Buenos Aires. After taking a taxi with the younger brother and his mum (whom together helped me find an ATM, figure out where I was picking the bus from and other stuff that proved very useful), I went straight to a hostel recommended by Regina. It was really laid back and had a great community vibe. I met a few people there as I went for a walking tour that morning. We visited the town of Recoletta - well-known for it's famous graveyard known as the ''city of the dead''. It literally has small buildings for each grave, some of which look really fancy. Each can hold up to forty bodies and the cost of burying someone there is $150,000 USD. Maintenance costs for the grave on top of that make it one expensive dead person. After the graveyard, we visited ta very beautiful church in Buenos Aires - the first built there centuries ago. Afterwards, we went for lunch and I chatted with some of the people on the tour I had met - two girls from Sydney, newlyweds from Manchester and a 30-year-old from Hertfordshire. After lunch, I went shopping around town despite missing the England Vs Russia match. Although Buenos Aires was wet all day, shopping was fun. BA had a great vibe and the people were very friendly. Plus, it was really good to be in a Spanish-speaking country again. I managed to pick up a couple of music CDs, a Spanish Bible for my friend (the end of a long quest for one) and some postcards. At 2015, I gathered my things and prepared to get the bus back to Rio.
It felt really good to be travelling alone again. Once I got to São Paulo, I almost felt like giving up because there were only two bus providers going to BA. One wouldn't get me back to Rio in time and the other that I eventually took had system problems for hours. I was seriously considering just going straight to Rio to chill for a week. I held out and managed to get the bus to BA and it proved so worth it. Getting the bus and meeting new people, exploring BA and shopping, getting the bus back and meeting more people, arriving in Rio and entering the Rio streets on my own - it all just felt like such an accomplishment. Entering Rio the second time felt a lot more amazing as I just stared out the taxi window. Instead of feeling like just another stop on the GAP tour, it felt like a new place I was independently exploring. It was amazing to be there again. So, after returning, checking in at my hotel and getting out of clothes I'd been in for the past five days, I booked a tour to show me the Macarena stadium, some huge cathedral and Christ The Redeemer (the main reason I booked it). We had beautiful weather and the Christ was spectacular. It felt fitting to be at the end of my trip. After the long-haul, it felt right to see Him and say thanks for guiding me this far and watching over me. Throughout the six months, I've sure had my ups and downs, highs and lows, etc. But, I got through by the grace of God. Here I am in Rio tonight and going home tomorrow in one piece. It really was the perfect way to end my trip. First off the independent travelling bit to BA (just like when I started in Bangkok and exploring on my own) and then to see the Christ. Now, it feels like the end...properly. So now, I'd better give you a quick catch-up like I said I would before signing off - from Sucre to Rio...
Sucre had so much to offer in the way of markets, food and culture. It really typified the charm we all came to love about Bolivia. We all especially loved the bar/restaurant there that served great food. It also made a great evening as I got completely drunk that night! It was a lot of fun as Jose, Ybone, Robyn, Katherine, Kate and I had a fab night in the bar playing games, dancing, listening to the tunes, etc. After a few days in Sucre (with many of them spent shopping before going out in the evening), we headed to the town of Santa Cruz. It seemed like a wealthier town than other towns we'd seen in Bolivia based on the types of shops there and the prices. E.g. we saw sports shoes shops and designer clothing shops with prices in USD. It was a nice town though and was pleasant to walk around. Yet still, I managed to get lost. I went to a net cafe one afternoon and remained there after Jose and Kate had already left. On leaving, I then realised I didn't have a clue how to get back and only knew the name of our hotel - not helpful in a town with a few hotels. I went to the nearest hotel and asked them. They sent me what I later discovered to be the wrong way, as I thankfully bumped into Robyn. She guided me the right way and we were off back to our hotel after I'd been wandering lost for about half-an-hour. One of our nights in Santa Cruz was spent celebrating Clare's 19th birthday. We had a drink before exploring the town by taxi. Sadly there wasn't much good in the way of clubs/karaoke, so we headed back and chatted until late.
The next day, we took an overnight train from Santa Cruz to Puerto Suarez, on the Brazillian border. From there, we went straight to the Pantanal crossing Corumba on the Brazillian side of the border with Bolivia. Less well known outside of Brazil and South America, the Pantanal, a largely flat, wetland area about half the size of France, is apparently one of the best places in the continent for observing wildlife. Today it is an area rich in bird life such as macaws and Jabiru storks. We were lucky enough to spot capivaras (capybaras), howler monkeys, caimans, giant river otters & macaws, toucans. The area is sparsely populated and what few roads exist are in poor condition. We used a 4-wheel-drive vehicle and motorized canoes to get around, and experienced some rough travel and more rustic accommodation (hammocks in the freezing cold) while visiting the area. We took a two-day wildlife excursion to fully appreciate the area's beauty and bounty by taking night-trips to see wildlife, riding horses in the forest and going fishing for piranhas (myself collecting an impressive tally of zero). We also got to meet the locals and I took the opportunity to play a game of footy with them as I teamed up with the other tourists. A lot of fun was had in the Pantanal and we saw a lot. I'd go as far as saying it was better than Amazonia!
After the Pantanal we headed to our first town in Brazil - Bonito. Literally meaning ''beautiful'', it was a great place to just sit back and relax. The sun shone everyday on the town and I spent most days just walking the streets. We had a great time as we took the evenings to go out and have meals before a few drinks. We also got in a game of pool with the entire group. It made a great night as Jose got a little tipsy on a few too many Capirinhas!
Bonito was the last town before we visited the incredibly stunning Iguassu Falls. At Iguassu there are 275 individual falls in all, spread over a 3-km (almost 2 mile) area. Some are over 80m (2642 ft) in height, making these cataracts both wider than Victoria Falls and higher than Niagara! We spent a couple of nights in Foz Do Iguaçu as we explored both the Brazillian and Argentinian side. After our first day, at the Brazillian side, we went out that night to celebrate another birthday - this time Kate's 21st the day before. We went for a massively filling ay dinner at a BBQ all-you-can-eat buffet place. They literally would just come around with as much meat as you could eat until you could eat no more. I even got to try turkey testicles and chicken heart. It was quite delicious, although by that time I was just accepting whatever was coming around to the table for the sake of it. Dessert was also amazing as we got some Chocolate mousse, cheesecake, creme caramel & jelly...while Kate chose one of everything!
After dinner we went to a bar that is known to be pretty lively. So, we stopped and found it to be jam-packed! It was cool as it made a lively atmosphere. Nearly everyone from the group had come out as we all celebrated over drinks and Kate experienced an El Matador treat courtesy of the bar. It was alcohol on fire poured through a funnel and down her throat. Truly celebrating a 21st in style! We later left to go clubbing to see Kate's birthday in. It turned out to be a dead club with hardly anyone there - the staff were literally standing around with nothing to do on a Thursday night. Although it was quite, it proved a good night as we enjoyed ourselves drinking and enjoying the music anyway.
The next day we visited the Argentinian side of the Falls and despite being much more touristy, they were truly incredible. We got out Argentina stamps and were set to go. It was a huge park and we also got a guided tour throughout the forestry around the falls. The falls were just stunning though and we also took the opportunity to take a ride in a boat right up to the falls! Needless to say, we got totally drenched but had great fun doing so. It was definitely a fun day to remember.
From Iguassu we took the flight to Rio! That's it, you're all up-to-date now.
With that, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's read and/or left comments/emailed me through the blog. It has encouraged me a lot of the time and helped me to know that people are there back home. Special thanks go out to Nathan, Kwaku, Andy, Hats, Cong and George. You guys were pretty much always there to chat to along the journey either through this blog, Facebook or MSN (or in person when it comes to George!). You've been fantastic and helped me along the way from the beginning in Asia, to Australia, New Zealand and finally South America. Thank you.
To everyone, I'm sorry I haven't written blogs more often and uploaded more photos and videos, but please do keep checking for more photos and videos as I will definitely be updating the site with those once I get home and have all my memory cards sitting infront of me. If you can't wait that long, pop around and I'll show you through them ;) Can´t wait to get home and catch up with you all!
Until then, take care. Peace, love and may the Force be with you always.
Darryl
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