Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Sophie's Overseas Adventures!
Hey everybody!! Sorry again for not writting for so long! I have been very busy and recently out of internet connection. I am currently in La Paz, Bolivia. I am having a great time. It is a really nice, bustling city, set in the backdrop of the Andies. It was really beautiful travelling in to arrive, as you come through the mountains looking down on La Paz (well if your on a bus you do!)
Since I last wrote I have been very busy! After finishing the scuba course in Bombinas, we went back to Rio and up in to the mountains surrounding it, we did a really nice walk, 24km in one day - all up! So we were all a little tired when we got back! There were some amazing views though. From there we went white water rafting, which was really good fun and one of the boats capsized! So our boat had to perform a rescue mission! After rafting, we returned for our final time to Rio but instead of oit being the beginning, it was the end of Quest! Which was really sad. Our last day was amazing, we went handglyding over Rio, a real experience! You could really see the disparity between the rich and the poor, it was very shocking. There was also an amazing view of Christ Redima. It was a brilliant day to do it and the thermals meant that you could stay up for about 20 minutes which was brilliant. Although one of our friends was up for 45 minutes!! So we all were beginning to get a bit worried! luckery she eventually came down! After our last activity together, a few brave people went to get the top of their ears peirced including me! We then had a big night out, in Rio's party hotspot, Lapa which was great and a nice way to end quest. We then had to say all our goodbyes which was really sad, we had all bonded a lot over three months and I cant wait to see them all back home.
After Rio, Georige, Saz and I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina and met the boys (Olly and Will) who had decided to take a 51 hour bus! We thought that the plane would give us a bit more time but there ended up being a strike in BA airport, but because the Brazilians kicked up so much of a fuss about not being given food, the airline(who are similar to Easyjet!) put us up in a 4 star hotel for the afternoon, where we got 2 free meals and a room where we could shower and watch sky telly!! So we were very happy!
Buenos Aires was amazing, I loved my time there. It is a really cosmpolitan city with loads of history and culture. We spent the days going around art galleries,visiting the sights (such as Evita's tomb), parks and sitting in little cafes sipping coffee and putting the world to rights! We also did lots of shopping, the girlies bought leather handbags and the boys bought leather jackets (which us girls thought were slight fashion no no's!!- but we let them get on with it!!)Then by night, we would go out about 10.30pm for a meal (which were really cheap!), everyone got in to the steaks and empinadas as they are supose to be amazing! I wouldnt know! I just got in to the red wine which was amazing! After our meal, we would go out clubbing till about 8.30 in the morning! Every night! So after 5 days we were all ready to leave and get some sleep!
We then moved on to Salta (a lovely 20 hour bus ride away!), a really pretty little town, where to be honest we just recovered from BA! We then moved up to the Bolivian boarder by an overnight bus and crossed it really early in the morning, we were told it was quite a dangerous boarder, so we were all very on guard! We arrived in Vilazon, the frontier town, which wasnt that nice and tried to get a train but they were on strike so we ended up gettin yet another bus! Well at least I think you could call it a bus! The drivers seat looked a little like a deck chair and I think all the tyres were flat! But at least it got us out of Vilazon that day!! We also noticed that we has suddenly reached quite a high altitude and were absolutely freezing!! So we had to put our Brazilian beach wear to one side and buy hats, scarfs and gloves!! We got a bus to Uyuni which was quite an experience, the bus climbed to 3,900m which is the height of Uyuni. There are 5% of Bolivian roads paved and I dont think we met any! So I didn't look out much! Bolivia is really beautiful but incredibly poor and underdeveloped, it was quite a shock.The people are really beautiful and look very indigenous. Everyone dresses really tradionally still, the west hasnt had its influence yet! I partiulary like the women's bowler hats that they wear! There was a boat that crashed in the 1800s with a massive load of Bowler hats on and it now is the fashion accessory! In fact the biggest item that is stolen in Bolivia! They are really sort after!! In Uyuni, we were very cold!It got to -20 and our hostel did not have heating! Or hot showers, so we gave up being clean for warmth! After giving ourselves a day to acclimatise, drinking lots of coco tea (as we were at high altitude and all had very bad headaches and shortness of breath). Uyuni is the portal to the Salt Flats so we arranged a tour and set of in a jeep. They were amazing! Like a sea of salt! Really beautiful! We visited a island full of cactus's that were 5 times as big as us! We also climbed an extinct volcano that was beautiful but it was hard to climb with the altitude, we had to stop loads! The summit was 5000m. We also got to watch sunset and rise which were stunning. I really enjoyed my time there. We then got an overnight train to La Paz, where I am currently! We just watched the english match today in the first english pub we have been to in 3 and a half months and I managed to get a cup of pg tips! So I was very happy! We are going to cycle down the most dangerous road in the world!! ahh! On friday and then make our way down to Lake Titicarca and cross the boarder to Peru and on to Cusco.
I am really enjoying travelling independlty as it means that we can make decisons for ourselves and do exactly what we want! I am really enjoying Bolivia, it is definately the biggest culture shock so far, the poverty is really obvious but it is a fantastic country with so much to offer, I am also really excited about Peru.
Love to hear from you so please keep writing and letting me know what you are up too. Thanks for all your emails.
Love Soph xxxxxx
- comments