I´ve started to upload a few of my photos but it´s taking a really long time (as they´re all 4mb+) so please bear with me.
However, some of my Guatemala ones are now up on Smugmug here. The password is ´photographsbycraig´. I´ll keep adding more as I go along.
Enjoy and if you´ve got any comments on them - feel free!
Friday, 30 January 2009
Friday, 23 January 2009
Chile
Well, I´m finally up to date... phew! Sitting here in Valparaiso after a long bus ride from San Pedro, Valparaiso is the cultural capital of Chile and a UNESCO heritage site. It´s a fascinating labyrinth of colourful steep streets, with cute little cafes and quaint artesañal shops perched on impossibly steep cliffs. They have a system of rustic cable cars to get betweent the different levels, an interesting experience.
All in all a lovely place, although some crazy lady cornered loretta earlier and started making cutting actions across her throat. Loretta thought she was being hexed but another bloke (only slightly more subtley) pointed out that we were happily strolling through a really dangerous part of town taking photos of the grafitti. He simply made a gun out of his fingers and pretended to shoot us... he did explain later properly. These guys need to work on their communication skills.
Anyway, we´re heading to Santiago tomorrow before moving into Argentina´s Mendoza valley for a few days of relaxation, lots of wine and lots of steak. We´re planning on heading back into Chile later in the south to Torres del Paine.
Chile is a lot more European (including how the people look) than the rest of South America, very busy, bustling and tourists don´t seem to register - although there are a lot of Chilean tourists too, a classic sign (alongsode the prices) that Chile is doing a lot better in economic terms than most of its neighbours.
Anyway, I´m going to try to upload some photos now as all this text is getting a bit dry, fingers crossed!
All in all a lovely place, although some crazy lady cornered loretta earlier and started making cutting actions across her throat. Loretta thought she was being hexed but another bloke (only slightly more subtley) pointed out that we were happily strolling through a really dangerous part of town taking photos of the grafitti. He simply made a gun out of his fingers and pretended to shoot us... he did explain later properly. These guys need to work on their communication skills.
Anyway, we´re heading to Santiago tomorrow before moving into Argentina´s Mendoza valley for a few days of relaxation, lots of wine and lots of steak. We´re planning on heading back into Chile later in the south to Torres del Paine.
Chile is a lot more European (including how the people look) than the rest of South America, very busy, bustling and tourists don´t seem to register - although there are a lot of Chilean tourists too, a classic sign (alongsode the prices) that Chile is doing a lot better in economic terms than most of its neighbours.
Anyway, I´m going to try to upload some photos now as all this text is getting a bit dry, fingers crossed!
Salteñas and Bolivia
Salteñas are basically little sweet-pastry pasties with chicken and vegetables but they are probably my favourite food in the entire world... those of you who´ve had them before will understand. I made it my mission to eat as many as possible in Bolivia, which makes the best ones and was delighted on our first morning when I saw a little old lady with a cart in the street selling them. Loretta was shocked as I dropped my bag and ran across the road shouting ´Salteñas!´... funnily enough the lady wasn´t there the next morning.
Anyway, diverting from my stomach for a moment. La Paz was exactly as I remember it, crazy, fascinating, and easy to get around. Thankfully this time I wasn´t ill (in fact I have been totally healthy the whole trip - touching wood). Lyns and Fig (my beloved sisters with whom I last visited La Paz) accidentally bought me laxatives as a cure for my diarrhoea last time and then proceeded to abandon me as they travelled on to Paraguay... charming. However, Loretta was feeling a little peaky and so we chilled for a day having booked a bike ride for the next day.
The first section of the ´world´s most dangerous road´doesn´t feel that dangerous, it´s fast (60-70kph downhills on a big downhill bike is fun but not too taxing as you just sit there) but the second half was brilliant on a dirt track (1.5m wide in some places) which has a drop ranging from between 800-200m on the left hand side. Loretta´s more patient approach soon meant that we were at opposite ends of the pack for the middle (and very wet) section, me just behind the guide storming down the path at (probably stupid on reflection) speeds racing 4x4s and at one point leaning into a curve, and misjudging it. I made the mistake of looking down directly into the 400m drop that I was hanging above about three inches from the edge, overcorrected and very nearly came off the other side... decided to stick with Loretta for the remainder of the stretch! Lots of fun.
We did have a flight from La Paz to Santiago booked but decided to overland it instead and go to travel through the Salt Flats. The scenery in Bolivia is mind blowing, from bright white salt flats that stretch as far as the eye can see, to moonscapes, deserts and red, green, white and black lakes. It was brilliant to see it this time in the other direction seeing the geysers, hot springs (lovely and warm!), flats, deserts, etc at different times of day and in a different season to the last time. There were many, many more jeeps this time (I remember only seeing one or two last time) but it didn´t detract from the experience one bit.
I´ll definitely get the photos uploaded soon, just proving difficult as the files are pretty big.
So, we hopped of the jeep at the border with Chile and headed into San Pedro de Atacama which used to be a one dusty (and unpaved) street village and is now completely different with loads of streets (paved) a main plaza and dozens of gringos.
Bolivia is definitely our top visit so far for spectacular scenery! Chile is next!
Anyway, diverting from my stomach for a moment. La Paz was exactly as I remember it, crazy, fascinating, and easy to get around. Thankfully this time I wasn´t ill (in fact I have been totally healthy the whole trip - touching wood). Lyns and Fig (my beloved sisters with whom I last visited La Paz) accidentally bought me laxatives as a cure for my diarrhoea last time and then proceeded to abandon me as they travelled on to Paraguay... charming. However, Loretta was feeling a little peaky and so we chilled for a day having booked a bike ride for the next day.
The first section of the ´world´s most dangerous road´doesn´t feel that dangerous, it´s fast (60-70kph downhills on a big downhill bike is fun but not too taxing as you just sit there) but the second half was brilliant on a dirt track (1.5m wide in some places) which has a drop ranging from between 800-200m on the left hand side. Loretta´s more patient approach soon meant that we were at opposite ends of the pack for the middle (and very wet) section, me just behind the guide storming down the path at (probably stupid on reflection) speeds racing 4x4s and at one point leaning into a curve, and misjudging it. I made the mistake of looking down directly into the 400m drop that I was hanging above about three inches from the edge, overcorrected and very nearly came off the other side... decided to stick with Loretta for the remainder of the stretch! Lots of fun.
We did have a flight from La Paz to Santiago booked but decided to overland it instead and go to travel through the Salt Flats. The scenery in Bolivia is mind blowing, from bright white salt flats that stretch as far as the eye can see, to moonscapes, deserts and red, green, white and black lakes. It was brilliant to see it this time in the other direction seeing the geysers, hot springs (lovely and warm!), flats, deserts, etc at different times of day and in a different season to the last time. There were many, many more jeeps this time (I remember only seeing one or two last time) but it didn´t detract from the experience one bit.
I´ll definitely get the photos uploaded soon, just proving difficult as the files are pretty big.
So, we hopped of the jeep at the border with Chile and headed into San Pedro de Atacama which used to be a one dusty (and unpaved) street village and is now completely different with loads of streets (paved) a main plaza and dozens of gringos.
Bolivia is definitely our top visit so far for spectacular scenery! Chile is next!
Peru continued
So, the bus journey is over, not that bad really, 25 hours in a semi reclining seat is far from my idea of fun but it passed relatively quietly, apart from the annoying loud family in front who were relatively quiet between 2am and 6am. A few episodes of The Fresh Prince in English eased the journey and Loretta and I are both addicted to the Klondike (patience) game on our ipods.
Anyway, Peru... Aguas Calientes is the town at the base of Machu Picchu and literally means ´hot waters´which, when looking for accommodation in Peru can mean anything from scorching hot showers (with no cold tap to dilute it) through to just off ice cold. It´s changed a lot from the shabby shacks hanging over the trainline to a full and not too bad little town (despite what the lonely planet says). This was our base for the trek up to Putucusi and then the next day we got up at 3.30am and braved the rain and dark to climb to the top for 6am opening, beating the tourists, we got our classic shots of MP through the clouds. Really amazing place, if ever you get the chance to visit I´d recommend it as a must-see before you die!! For those of you who haven´t been it´s not just the scale of the building but where it´s situated, right on top of this steep mountain, what the location lacks in practicality it makes up for in impact. The other fascinating thing is that no one really knows why it was situated there and what its function was... all very mysterious.
We were meeting our tour guide at 8am which (of course) gave us plenty of time to trek to the sun gate (cooly named ínti punku´) which is incredible - again to see the early morning mist rising and falling back over the ruins is stunning. We managed to get back to meet our tour guide in the nick of time and it was a really interesting talk. There are now very limited numbers of visitors allowed up to MP and the steep Huanya Picchu (the spiky mountain behind MP in the pictures) so I was relieved to not repeat the experience of the rickety wet path with the 1km drop...
While we were having the tour some muppet of a mother was letting her child play with his toys on the edge of a 10-12ft drop. All we heard was a sickening thud and a scream from aforementioned stupid mother. The kid landed on his head on the stone steps and was knocked out cold, luckily he regained consciousness and we found a doctor to tend to him, although trying to stop the mother from picking him up and trying to keep him still was impossible... he started crying, which is, I guess, a good sign and he was whisked away by a posse of guides and the doctor (probably more concerned with spoiling the tour!) Hopefully there was no lasting damage but for a second there I thought he was surely dead.
Anyway, after that little bit of excitement we were back in Cusco by the end of the day. We had been staying in Los Niños hostel, which was set up to help orphaned street kids... 72% of the hostel´s income goes directly to help the kids who are constantly wandering through on their way to and from school and for meals, really nice. If anyone´s interested in making a donation direct to a charity that is making a difference then let me know, I have their details and can put you in touch.
We´d decided to have a relaxing last day in Cusco, catching up on emails, journals, etc but decided at the last minute to do a paraglide over the Sacred Valley... well why not? (Jem, totally know why you´re hooked now!) It was awesome and surprisingly relaxing, not an adrenaline rush at all, one of the best things I´ve ever done. I went first with the instructor and we caught (I say we, my role was mainly just sitting there enjoying the view and moving from side to side when prodded in the ribs) a thermal and headed up to over 4200m. Stunning views over the Urumbamba valley, which bears a striking resemblance to Tuscany, and a relatively decent landing and then Loretta was up, loving it.
So, Puno was next which is on the shores of lake titicaca... we had a terribly ´touristy´tour to the reed islands which although interesting felt very much exploitative and false. We very much think of ourselves as travellers rather than tourists and very much don´t like to be told what to do so it was very strange to be told to stay with the /herd and do everything together for the day... although we did abscond at the first opportunity just to get some peace and quiet - definitely our first and last such tour of the trip!
After Puno we headed to La Paz, Bolivia´s capital which at just over 4,000m is the highest capital in the world - it may (or may not!) be interesting to know that it has the longest runway in the world as the air pressure is so low and planes need special tyres to land as the have to come in much faster...
Sad to be leaving Peru which is our favourite so far by a long way, just in terms of its spectacular scenery, people, activities, ease of travel and sheer fun. Could definitely live here!!
Anyway, Peru... Aguas Calientes is the town at the base of Machu Picchu and literally means ´hot waters´which, when looking for accommodation in Peru can mean anything from scorching hot showers (with no cold tap to dilute it) through to just off ice cold. It´s changed a lot from the shabby shacks hanging over the trainline to a full and not too bad little town (despite what the lonely planet says). This was our base for the trek up to Putucusi and then the next day we got up at 3.30am and braved the rain and dark to climb to the top for 6am opening, beating the tourists, we got our classic shots of MP through the clouds. Really amazing place, if ever you get the chance to visit I´d recommend it as a must-see before you die!! For those of you who haven´t been it´s not just the scale of the building but where it´s situated, right on top of this steep mountain, what the location lacks in practicality it makes up for in impact. The other fascinating thing is that no one really knows why it was situated there and what its function was... all very mysterious.
We were meeting our tour guide at 8am which (of course) gave us plenty of time to trek to the sun gate (cooly named ínti punku´) which is incredible - again to see the early morning mist rising and falling back over the ruins is stunning. We managed to get back to meet our tour guide in the nick of time and it was a really interesting talk. There are now very limited numbers of visitors allowed up to MP and the steep Huanya Picchu (the spiky mountain behind MP in the pictures) so I was relieved to not repeat the experience of the rickety wet path with the 1km drop...
While we were having the tour some muppet of a mother was letting her child play with his toys on the edge of a 10-12ft drop. All we heard was a sickening thud and a scream from aforementioned stupid mother. The kid landed on his head on the stone steps and was knocked out cold, luckily he regained consciousness and we found a doctor to tend to him, although trying to stop the mother from picking him up and trying to keep him still was impossible... he started crying, which is, I guess, a good sign and he was whisked away by a posse of guides and the doctor (probably more concerned with spoiling the tour!) Hopefully there was no lasting damage but for a second there I thought he was surely dead.
Anyway, after that little bit of excitement we were back in Cusco by the end of the day. We had been staying in Los Niños hostel, which was set up to help orphaned street kids... 72% of the hostel´s income goes directly to help the kids who are constantly wandering through on their way to and from school and for meals, really nice. If anyone´s interested in making a donation direct to a charity that is making a difference then let me know, I have their details and can put you in touch.
We´d decided to have a relaxing last day in Cusco, catching up on emails, journals, etc but decided at the last minute to do a paraglide over the Sacred Valley... well why not? (Jem, totally know why you´re hooked now!) It was awesome and surprisingly relaxing, not an adrenaline rush at all, one of the best things I´ve ever done. I went first with the instructor and we caught (I say we, my role was mainly just sitting there enjoying the view and moving from side to side when prodded in the ribs) a thermal and headed up to over 4200m. Stunning views over the Urumbamba valley, which bears a striking resemblance to Tuscany, and a relatively decent landing and then Loretta was up, loving it.
So, Puno was next which is on the shores of lake titicaca... we had a terribly ´touristy´tour to the reed islands which although interesting felt very much exploitative and false. We very much think of ourselves as travellers rather than tourists and very much don´t like to be told what to do so it was very strange to be told to stay with the /herd and do everything together for the day... although we did abscond at the first opportunity just to get some peace and quiet - definitely our first and last such tour of the trip!
After Puno we headed to La Paz, Bolivia´s capital which at just over 4,000m is the highest capital in the world - it may (or may not!) be interesting to know that it has the longest runway in the world as the air pressure is so low and planes need special tyres to land as the have to come in much faster...
Sad to be leaving Peru which is our favourite so far by a long way, just in terms of its spectacular scenery, people, activities, ease of travel and sheer fun. Could definitely live here!!
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Peru: Lima, Nasca and Putucusi
We're currently awaiting a bus from San Pedro de Atacama to Valparaiso in Chile, 24hours of fun... so will be brief and provide a full update soon.
It has been brilliant to come back to Peru and Bolivia, I was last here with Lyns and Fig in 2001 and it has all changed so much. Many, many more tourists but happily the more streetwise locals on the gringo trail haven{t dented the awesome experience of these two spectacular countries.
So, Lima was our first stop in Peru, one of my favourite cities in the world, we stayed in the Barranco area and wandered around Miraflores for the day, eating street food and taking in the sights (pork sandwiches with a cup of apple sauce, stunning!)
The next day we caught the bus down to Nasca to see the lines (the enormous glyphs that were made by the Incas in the desert, no-one really knows what they are, but they are spectacular). We took a flight over the lines and weren're really expecting too much from the town but a few hours of r and r by the pool of a posh hotel put that to rights. The flight wasn't my favourite event of the trip, it's tiny and was flipping around onto it's side so that everyone got a lovely view of the lines.
My stomach was flipping and twisting the whole time and I turned a strange shade of yellow, luckily I'd skipped breakfast... seeing that I was struggling the pilot handed me a piece of damp cotton wool which I diligently sniffed for the duration of the flight. Never questioning what this was I started to wonder when I began to fall asleep and then both my hands and feet went numb. Marvellous... I looked at the stuff he'd sprayed onto the cotton wool and realised it was pure alcohol. Now, I remember being warned in A Level biology while preparing slides for the microscope that sniffing pure alcohol can be fatal. Mrs Lynn would not be impressed. Thankfully it stopped the airsickness but made me feel awful for the rest of the day.
After resting in Nasca we headed to Cusco. I had many fond memories of Cusco from my last visit and it hasn't really changed, it's a gorgeous town, very safe and set up for tourism. We had missed the opportunity to do the Inca trail to Machu Picchu (again! Although from the sound of it it was packed) so we decided to train it and make ourselves feel better by trekking around the area for a few days.
Now I do love a bit of a trek, however everywhere around Machu Picchu is vertical and I'm not a big fan of heights, especially 400ft of wet vertical ladders... Loretta's bright idea to trek up Putucusi was met with something less than enthusiasm from me when I saw the photos, but we did it anyway. Putucusi (aka the Happy Mountain, what irony) is the vertical cliff facing Machu Picchu and you get to the half way point by rickety ladders, no ropes or harnesses and many wobbly knees.
An hour of pure adrenaline got me up there (of course with plenty of compaining to Loretta who was happily bouncing up these ladders and sheer vertical cliffs) but the view from the top of Machu Picchu is incredible and definitely rivals the traditional one. We stayed at the top for half an hour until the encroaching darkness forced me down. I'd have been happy to stay there forever rather than go back down the slippery scary ladders.
However, despite lots of drama from me we did make it down and I got my revenge that evening on Loretta by eating half a Guinea Pig that evening which thoroughly put her off her Lomo Saltado (alpaca meat!). He, he, he!
Anyway, got to dash to the bus, we've got 24hours to central Chile... fun, fun, fun.
It has been brilliant to come back to Peru and Bolivia, I was last here with Lyns and Fig in 2001 and it has all changed so much. Many, many more tourists but happily the more streetwise locals on the gringo trail haven{t dented the awesome experience of these two spectacular countries.
So, Lima was our first stop in Peru, one of my favourite cities in the world, we stayed in the Barranco area and wandered around Miraflores for the day, eating street food and taking in the sights (pork sandwiches with a cup of apple sauce, stunning!)
The next day we caught the bus down to Nasca to see the lines (the enormous glyphs that were made by the Incas in the desert, no-one really knows what they are, but they are spectacular). We took a flight over the lines and weren're really expecting too much from the town but a few hours of r and r by the pool of a posh hotel put that to rights. The flight wasn't my favourite event of the trip, it's tiny and was flipping around onto it's side so that everyone got a lovely view of the lines.
My stomach was flipping and twisting the whole time and I turned a strange shade of yellow, luckily I'd skipped breakfast... seeing that I was struggling the pilot handed me a piece of damp cotton wool which I diligently sniffed for the duration of the flight. Never questioning what this was I started to wonder when I began to fall asleep and then both my hands and feet went numb. Marvellous... I looked at the stuff he'd sprayed onto the cotton wool and realised it was pure alcohol. Now, I remember being warned in A Level biology while preparing slides for the microscope that sniffing pure alcohol can be fatal. Mrs Lynn would not be impressed. Thankfully it stopped the airsickness but made me feel awful for the rest of the day.
After resting in Nasca we headed to Cusco. I had many fond memories of Cusco from my last visit and it hasn't really changed, it's a gorgeous town, very safe and set up for tourism. We had missed the opportunity to do the Inca trail to Machu Picchu (again! Although from the sound of it it was packed) so we decided to train it and make ourselves feel better by trekking around the area for a few days.
Now I do love a bit of a trek, however everywhere around Machu Picchu is vertical and I'm not a big fan of heights, especially 400ft of wet vertical ladders... Loretta's bright idea to trek up Putucusi was met with something less than enthusiasm from me when I saw the photos, but we did it anyway. Putucusi (aka the Happy Mountain, what irony) is the vertical cliff facing Machu Picchu and you get to the half way point by rickety ladders, no ropes or harnesses and many wobbly knees.
An hour of pure adrenaline got me up there (of course with plenty of compaining to Loretta who was happily bouncing up these ladders and sheer vertical cliffs) but the view from the top of Machu Picchu is incredible and definitely rivals the traditional one. We stayed at the top for half an hour until the encroaching darkness forced me down. I'd have been happy to stay there forever rather than go back down the slippery scary ladders.
However, despite lots of drama from me we did make it down and I got my revenge that evening on Loretta by eating half a Guinea Pig that evening which thoroughly put her off her Lomo Saltado (alpaca meat!). He, he, he!
Anyway, got to dash to the bus, we've got 24hours to central Chile... fun, fun, fun.
Thursday, 8 January 2009
Costa Rica and Panama
So, I´m currently sitting in an internet cafe in Cusco, Peru so have fallen a bit behind with the old updates. Loving being back, all very familiar but really excited for Loretta to see the highlights too!
Anyway...
Our original plan was to skip through Costa Rica with one overnight stay in San Jose, but we decided to take in a few days of sunshine in the coastal villages of Cahuita and Puerto Viaje and maybe fit in a bit of surfing. Costa Rica is a lot more touristy (and hence expensive) than many of the other places we´ve stayed and although Loretta was very excited by the promise of lovely modern hostels, me not so much. My stereotypical view of the brash, semi drunken, young, holidaying, american was reinforced within thirty seconds of arriving in San Jose, the hostel was stunning but the fellow travellers, not so much.
We were keen to get to the coast so pleaded with the bus driver to let us sit on the floor, he generously gave us the steps and it was a really nice ride with a lovely view of the extensive banana plantations and the spectacular rivers and mountains. Costa Rica is beautiful.
Cahuita is a gorgeous little village on the Caribbean (northern) coast in the far east, we stayed there for a night. The surf was great, shame these surfers didn´t have the skills to match the waves - that´ll teach us for using semi professional boards, bring on the styrofoam boats next time. Although I did manage to stand up twice in around two hours and both times Loretta was looking in the other direction...
Puerto Viaje was a half hour bus ride closer to Panama, which, when we started didn´t seem like it was going to be anything special but each reading of the lonely planet was increasing our excitement at the prospect of lush coffee plantations, new year in Bocas del Toro and Panama city itself.
Anyway, Puerto Viaje is a lovely beachy type place which we thoroughly enjoyed. The next day we headed closer to the border on a local bus which left us on a road somewhere closer to the border... handy, given that we didn´t have a clue where we were. Anyway, a Costa Rican wide boy with his souped up green toyota supra saved the day answering the call of my raised thumb and took us to the border at great speed.
This was a bit of a quality ride compared to most taxis in Central America, which are pretty much consistent with those across Asia and Africa. Window winders are rare and if you want to be ventilated then it requires pulling over and the driver pushing the glass down from the outside. I tend to step out of most taxis having accidentally sent the car slightly closer to its inevitable end on the scrap heap. Pulling out my rucksac from the green supra (obviously his pride and joy) I noticed that part of the door trim had come with me, I hastily put it back and slammed the door - only for the window to come part out of its frame... thankfully he didn´t notice.
The border crossing to Panama bears a striking resemblance to the Bridge over the River Kwai, so a quick check for trains (and explosives) and we were in no mans land. Getting into Panama was a little tricker as we had to prove that we weren´t going to stay there forever, once we´d found an Internet cafe and printed off our e-ticket from Panama City to peru they let us in.
One dodgy exchange rate later and we were on our way to Bocas del Toro in Panama. This being New Year´s Eve our travelling companions cracked open the beers and shared them around the bus.
A few hours later (bus rides are beginning to merge into three categories - quick skips in chicken buses which generally last up to three hours, middle distance which range from the minging to the bearable up to eight hours, and the longer ones that slowly destroy the nerves between your knees and lower back with every bump and sway) we were on the boat to Bocas del Toro, the island archipelago off the coast of north western Panama.
New Year´s Eve is quite busy, everywhere and after an hours search (while Loretta sat in a cafe exercising amazing self control by not eating my share of the chips she´d ordered) we (I) found a decent hostel. We managed to stay up until midnight but had both been in bed for a few hours by then watching a film. Rock and roll. The next morning we felt a bit bad as we really ahdn´t made the most out of the festive period... oh well, there´s always next year.
New Year´s Day involved a trip out into the sea to spot dolphins and we were really lucky, a dozen or so were in playful mood and we got a few good snaps - really brilliant as I´ve never seen dolphins in the wild before...
After Bocas, we headed to the lovely mountain town of Boquete which is world famous for its coffee so a coffee tour, the next day followed by an afternoon on the river sunning ourselves really chilled us out.
Actually mentioning the river, many of Panama´s roads, coffee plantations and houses have been completely wiped out in the last few months by a massive flood. The river had obviously burst its banks a few weeks earlier and people were only just coming to terms with the devastation. In the buses there are dozens of scarred hillsides where the land has collapsed and wiped out homes, roads, and acres of tropical forest. It was a real reminder to me that the consumerism in the ´developed´world is driving us towards an unsustainable future where our demand for cheap commodites and levels of pollution is literally destroying people´s lives in far off places. In the UK, we won´t suffer until the oil, water, cheap wood, coffee, sugar, etc run out but people are suffering right now meeting the demands of our greed and are suffering as the climate changes irrevocably. (steps down from the soap box)
Panama city is amazing, we stayed in Casco Viejo (the old quarter) which is now a UNESCO heritage site and, despite being boxed in by very dangerous areas where tourists shouldn´t venture during the day, nevermind the night, it´ll be amazing in four or five years.
Any trip to Panama isn´t complete without a ride on the crazy diablos rojos buses (red devils) although they didn´t seem any more crazy than the other central american buses! We used these to get around while we were here and took them to Panama´s other unmissable sight - the canal. Brilliant seeing a massive oil tanker going through the Miraflores Locks (although somewhat ironically it had a huge green banner emblazoned on it saying ¿¡´protect the environment´?!) Hmmm.
Flying out of Panama City the next morning marked the end of our speedy trip through Central America - it´s been fun and although we´ve been going pretty quickly we´ve got a really good taste of the region and have had loads of amazing moments. We´re both really excited about the main event which, of course, is South America. We´ve booked our flights and having realised (sadly) that Colombia and venezuela will have to wait for our next visit, we´re going to Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina to be in Rio for Carnival before heading to the Pantanal and Iguazu for a few weeks before heading home in around two months time.
And photos - they´re coming soon... I promise!!
Anyway...
Our original plan was to skip through Costa Rica with one overnight stay in San Jose, but we decided to take in a few days of sunshine in the coastal villages of Cahuita and Puerto Viaje and maybe fit in a bit of surfing. Costa Rica is a lot more touristy (and hence expensive) than many of the other places we´ve stayed and although Loretta was very excited by the promise of lovely modern hostels, me not so much. My stereotypical view of the brash, semi drunken, young, holidaying, american was reinforced within thirty seconds of arriving in San Jose, the hostel was stunning but the fellow travellers, not so much.
We were keen to get to the coast so pleaded with the bus driver to let us sit on the floor, he generously gave us the steps and it was a really nice ride with a lovely view of the extensive banana plantations and the spectacular rivers and mountains. Costa Rica is beautiful.
Cahuita is a gorgeous little village on the Caribbean (northern) coast in the far east, we stayed there for a night. The surf was great, shame these surfers didn´t have the skills to match the waves - that´ll teach us for using semi professional boards, bring on the styrofoam boats next time. Although I did manage to stand up twice in around two hours and both times Loretta was looking in the other direction...
Puerto Viaje was a half hour bus ride closer to Panama, which, when we started didn´t seem like it was going to be anything special but each reading of the lonely planet was increasing our excitement at the prospect of lush coffee plantations, new year in Bocas del Toro and Panama city itself.
Anyway, Puerto Viaje is a lovely beachy type place which we thoroughly enjoyed. The next day we headed closer to the border on a local bus which left us on a road somewhere closer to the border... handy, given that we didn´t have a clue where we were. Anyway, a Costa Rican wide boy with his souped up green toyota supra saved the day answering the call of my raised thumb and took us to the border at great speed.
This was a bit of a quality ride compared to most taxis in Central America, which are pretty much consistent with those across Asia and Africa. Window winders are rare and if you want to be ventilated then it requires pulling over and the driver pushing the glass down from the outside. I tend to step out of most taxis having accidentally sent the car slightly closer to its inevitable end on the scrap heap. Pulling out my rucksac from the green supra (obviously his pride and joy) I noticed that part of the door trim had come with me, I hastily put it back and slammed the door - only for the window to come part out of its frame... thankfully he didn´t notice.
The border crossing to Panama bears a striking resemblance to the Bridge over the River Kwai, so a quick check for trains (and explosives) and we were in no mans land. Getting into Panama was a little tricker as we had to prove that we weren´t going to stay there forever, once we´d found an Internet cafe and printed off our e-ticket from Panama City to peru they let us in.
One dodgy exchange rate later and we were on our way to Bocas del Toro in Panama. This being New Year´s Eve our travelling companions cracked open the beers and shared them around the bus.
A few hours later (bus rides are beginning to merge into three categories - quick skips in chicken buses which generally last up to three hours, middle distance which range from the minging to the bearable up to eight hours, and the longer ones that slowly destroy the nerves between your knees and lower back with every bump and sway) we were on the boat to Bocas del Toro, the island archipelago off the coast of north western Panama.
New Year´s Eve is quite busy, everywhere and after an hours search (while Loretta sat in a cafe exercising amazing self control by not eating my share of the chips she´d ordered) we (I) found a decent hostel. We managed to stay up until midnight but had both been in bed for a few hours by then watching a film. Rock and roll. The next morning we felt a bit bad as we really ahdn´t made the most out of the festive period... oh well, there´s always next year.
New Year´s Day involved a trip out into the sea to spot dolphins and we were really lucky, a dozen or so were in playful mood and we got a few good snaps - really brilliant as I´ve never seen dolphins in the wild before...
After Bocas, we headed to the lovely mountain town of Boquete which is world famous for its coffee so a coffee tour, the next day followed by an afternoon on the river sunning ourselves really chilled us out.
Actually mentioning the river, many of Panama´s roads, coffee plantations and houses have been completely wiped out in the last few months by a massive flood. The river had obviously burst its banks a few weeks earlier and people were only just coming to terms with the devastation. In the buses there are dozens of scarred hillsides where the land has collapsed and wiped out homes, roads, and acres of tropical forest. It was a real reminder to me that the consumerism in the ´developed´world is driving us towards an unsustainable future where our demand for cheap commodites and levels of pollution is literally destroying people´s lives in far off places. In the UK, we won´t suffer until the oil, water, cheap wood, coffee, sugar, etc run out but people are suffering right now meeting the demands of our greed and are suffering as the climate changes irrevocably. (steps down from the soap box)
Panama city is amazing, we stayed in Casco Viejo (the old quarter) which is now a UNESCO heritage site and, despite being boxed in by very dangerous areas where tourists shouldn´t venture during the day, nevermind the night, it´ll be amazing in four or five years.
Any trip to Panama isn´t complete without a ride on the crazy diablos rojos buses (red devils) although they didn´t seem any more crazy than the other central american buses! We used these to get around while we were here and took them to Panama´s other unmissable sight - the canal. Brilliant seeing a massive oil tanker going through the Miraflores Locks (although somewhat ironically it had a huge green banner emblazoned on it saying ¿¡´protect the environment´?!) Hmmm.
Flying out of Panama City the next morning marked the end of our speedy trip through Central America - it´s been fun and although we´ve been going pretty quickly we´ve got a really good taste of the region and have had loads of amazing moments. We´re both really excited about the main event which, of course, is South America. We´ve booked our flights and having realised (sadly) that Colombia and venezuela will have to wait for our next visit, we´re going to Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina to be in Rio for Carnival before heading to the Pantanal and Iguazu for a few weeks before heading home in around two months time.
And photos - they´re coming soon... I promise!!
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