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ok, so i can't put this off any longer, not because i don't want to write it, it's just that i have so much to write, so i apologise now for the length of this blog, or perhaps the lack of detail! the photo's have been on for a while now so hoping you'll have some sort of idea of what i've beenup to by looking at the those.
so the last time i wrote i was in buenos aires, talking about leaving on the saturday i believe, which didn't happen until the monday, because the company i travelled with were herendous and the driver basically didn't want to carry on into brazil without being paid or without some sort of flight booked back out of there which is completely fair enough. anyway, so we did a tour of the city on bikes, which was by far the best way to do it because there was so much to see including the old harbour, evita's grave, parliament buildings and a whole load of stuff to do with San Martin. that night we went out with a bunch of people we'd met in the hostal...which i can't remember if i said before, our room was literally just outside the communial area, so there was absolutely no point in going to bed until 2-3am as that's when everyone heads out, and before that they're all just drinking in the hostal, not that it bothered us that much to be fair.
following day, friday 18 jan, louise, victoria, kim and myself went to an area called La Boca which kind of reminded me of the circus, there were just lots of multi coloured buildings, people out in the street, and lots of little cafe's and bars, and a few people doing the tango. victoria and i then visited the boca stadium where maradona played, and have to be honest, it wassn't as impressive as i thougth it was going to be. however, it was interesting that none of the coca cola advertisements had red on them because red and black are the main colours of the biggest opposition apparently. that night had a quiet night in and watched in persuit of happiness.
visited botanical gardens the next day which was quite nice and chance to catch a few rays, then that night 16 of us went out from the hostal til half 5 in the morn,a nd was a really good night out. although a lot of them were brazilian so spoke portugese and gave us an insight as to how much we weregoing to struggle in brazil! sunday, our last day we all went to a massive water park just outside of town, and chilled out and sunbathed, nice and relaxing. received some bad news that night so just went out, got take away pizza then an early night.
a couple of days drive brought us to ibera national reserve, where kim, emma, monia, luca and myself did a boat trip around the reserve and saw lots of kaymans and capibara's, at one point it was so unbelievably hot, then a storm headed in, and without any waterproofs, we headed back pretty quick in this speed boat, and the rain was so unbelievably painful!!! it was like literally being under a shower but without the pain, got back and the rest of them just laughed at us....fair call!!
on the way up to iguazu the following day we stopped at some jezuit mission ruins, which were pretty interesting, but think i need to know more about it to be able to appreciate what we saw. bush camped in the middle of the jungle just outside iguazu, and woke up to victoria having had a massive ant fest in her tent, and they had eaten a massive hole in her door, they also ate through lucas shoe laces! very scary.
pulled up to the campsite, then headed into the town while jed and fran went to sort out getting visa's for going into brazil. spent a few hours on the internet then came back to the pool at the campsite for a bit more sunbathing. that night went back into town for our last steak.
friday 25th jan, saw the iguazu falls from the argentinian side, and they were just absolutely stunning. there were a few walks you could do, along the top of them and then along the base, absolutely incredible. bush camped that night, then crossed the border into the brazilian side. as it was coming to the end of the trip i then decided to splash out and took a helicopter ride over the falls which you then got a proper view of all the different falls, and a perspective of just how much of an area they covered, and it was cool to go in a helicopter. after that there was a big bird park which adam and i walked round, and we finally got to see a tucan! that night there were a few trucks all at the same campsite, and they were selling rediculously cheap caiprinas, oh and playing the grease soundtrack! it was a really good evening, just catching up with everyone off the other trucks and gettingherendously drunk!
the next couple of days were very long drives, and we parked in truck parks over night, as it was just too dodgy to park on the road, but that also meant we didn't have to cook in the rain, as the weather was just awful. on the third day we decided to head straight to paraty and have breakfast when we got there, but ended up going down this seriously dodgy track through the rainforest, with an incedibly steep drop the one side, and cliff face the other, i have to admit i just didn't look a few times!!
arrived at paraty in the rain, which is a town with just one campsite, and where all the overland trucks stop before rio, so by the second day there were about 20 odd trucks there, was really cool to see how many people had come so far and to hear lots of the english language! the first day we just headed into town and popped on the internet for a while, then that evening a few of us went and gate crashed tucan's truck where i managed to lose my waterproof, umbrella AND drop my camera down there steps so it now no longer works!!! worst 24 hours of the trip! i'd been doing so well!!!
30th january, second to last day, we all had to give the truck a massive clean, all the floors had to come out, all the kitchen area, the lockers emptied, but thankfully by then the sun had come out! not for long though, we finished about lunchtime then headed for the beach over the road, but that only lasted a couple of hours before it rained again. quiet afternoon, and then were going to have a few drinks with it being our last camping night, but the hole campsite was dead, think people had over done it the night before, oh and i should add that by now we new that our tents just weren't sufficient for the weather we were experienceing so pretty much everyone was sleepingon the truck, apart from monia and luca who went to a hostal down the road.
thursday 31st january, official last day of the trip, rolled into rio to the truck park then got taxi's to the hotel....a nice, proper, flashy hotel! with beds and ensuite, and porters, and free internet, and a tv....need i go on. that afternoon just went to get some laundry done, went to the shopping mall and then that evening the whole group went out for their last meal and we shouted jed and kim's as a bitof a thanku.
the breakfast the following morning was incredible, scrambled eggs, funny kind of bacon, breads, fruits, cakes, yoghurts, juices and all included!! that day we did an organised tour, which i'm glad about, as trying to sort out a group of 7 to get round the city would have been a nightmare. we got to see the christ the redeemer, the sugar loaf, the outside of the maracana, some favelas, the cathedral, and the city in general. annoyed i didn't have my camera but louise was taking pictures for the both of us on hers.
that night we went to the carnivals first ball, the red and black ball, as such because it is sponsered by the flamengo football team (red & black stripe suprisingly!) it was a really good night, and some very interesting transvestites to be seen. however by 4am the men were way to forward and sleezy and slimey, so we left. hot dog on the way out, then an hours wait at the hotel before breakfast at 6....oh and it was a fab night apart from louise then losing her camera! so we didn't actually have any pics of rio so far! lol!
saturday we had a lazy morning, then went and met fran at his hotel before a walk along the beach and then we went to the maracana, biggest football stadium in the world, holding over 200 000 standing, to watch botafogo and vasco, for a whole £3.50!!! and we were sat centre field about half way up, best seats in the house. there were only 38 000 there sitting (and holds 90 000 seated) so it wasn't even half full but the atmosphere was incredinble, and the shouting, and singing and chants on the way out were brilliant. we then headed over to the sambadrome where jed, victoria, adam and emma got some cheap tickets off of the street, as they didn't have them booked, and by the sounds of it they were really glad they went. louise and i had ours booked for the monday so just headed back to the hotel.
sunday we got up at 6am and said goodbye to jed which was very surreal, then we went out for lunch with victoria as it was her last day as well. we went to the beginning of a street party in flamengo but it was pretty quiet so headed back to the hotel. victoria left about 6, louise and i then passed out, but awoken by what sounded like a riot with the street party parading past our hotel, never seen anything like it. adam louise and i then headed out about 10 to a club recommended in the lonely planet, which was a really nice place, but it took us an hour or so to realise it was gay night! thankfully there were more guys there than girls, so louise and i had a brilliant time checking out the guys and not being perved on!! it was great! the adam managed to pull probably the only straight girl in the club, so louise and i headed back about half 4, getting back to the hotel about half 5, waiting around for a bit then going for breakfast at 6!
monday night we were going to the sambadrome so we were able to justify the fact that we pretty much spent all day in bed, got take away pizza, watched movies and did absolutely nothing until going out for dinner at 7. after a bite to eat we headed back to the hotel, got changed then louise, kim, monia, luca emma and myself went to the sambadrome. we finally got in there about half 9 after emma was trying to get cheap tickets from the street again. in the end we just had to leave her as it was getting late, but i believe she got some quite good seats. the section the rest of us were in was right opposite the judges so we got to see the little performance that each samba school does for the judges. between half 9 and 5am we watched 6 samba schools including the winner and the runner up from last year, which was a real bonus. the costumes, the music, the dancing, the floats, the detail were all nothing like you could imagine, and the number of people involved, it must have been a couple of thousand just for each school! and it was only by the very end that the legs were starting to ache and the tiredness set in. caught the metro back to the hotel just in time for breakfast.
louise and i took a wander to botafogo and copacabana the following day to buy a few souvenirs and post cards, and finally heard from adam that evening. it was adams last night so we met him at frans hotel about half 10 where we and frans two mates went for food and then to a club. it was a really good night, with some really good music, and we were still drinking at half 5! bit shattered also by then so said goodbye to fran as he was leaving the following day and then headed back for breakfast.
louise and i slept in well late, and didn't wakeup til adam rang at 3 to say his taxi was booked for half past, so we quickly got dressed and then went down to say goodbye. louise and i decided to have a chilled out evening before flyinghome, so just went out for dinner then headed back to watch tv at the hotel. that plan kinda went belly up tho, as louise went out for drinks with the receptionist and rolled in 5 minutes before we were supposed to get the taxi thursday morning. bit disappointed, but quick goodbye then i headed ot the airport for some very long hours flying ahead.
i flew from rio to buenos aires, buenos aires to santiago, then a 13 hour flight to auckland, where i was sat next to a girl from colombia so she practiced her english on me and i practised my spanish on her, then i had to sit and wait for 4 and a half hours in auckland before flying to wellington, which was a complete nightmare as just wanted to get there. oh, i'd also been told wednesday night of the birth of my newest niece sofia, so desperate to meet her.
finally landed in wellington about 9am then caught a taxi to the hospital where my brother, sister in law and niece still were. since i've been here i've pretty much done sweet f.a and it's been great!!!! i know i've beenon a holiday for the past 4 and half months, but when you've been travelling you'll understand that its nice to just sit and be still for a while. so i hope i haven't got in my brothers way to much, but i've sat and read in the sunshine...on the two days that it hasn't been cloudy! i've been to the museum, the parliament buildings, the cinema, for dinner with catherine who left us in la paz, eaten fish and chips, and toast, and drunk real tea with real milk, it's been bliss. i believe we're off out for a drive now in a minute, out for dinner tomorrow with sharons brother, then i leave for hong kon on monday.
i doubt i'll write again before i'm home, so i have 3 days in hong kong then finally return to the uk on friday 22nd february. can't believe its all over so quickly. especially since the new year the time has flown by....but it's been absolutely amazing. it'snot until you start talking to people about the stuff that you've done that you realise just how amazing it's been and how much i've seen. sorry this blog is a bit of a mission but hope you've enjoyed it, and the rest of my updates thtat i've made along the way. thanks for all the messages on the message board! it think i can get this all put into a book which i will certainly look into the prices as it will be nice momentum!
look forward to seeing you all really soon
ready to come home now
lots and lots of love
j
xxx
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