Shell`z World Tour

I arrived into Auckland after two attempts, first time around missing the bus stop and ending up going back to the airport, I'd managed the bus trips around South America for the past two and half month without a problem ... long flight I suppose! It felt strange hearing everyone speaking English, I'd become used to Spanish and it gave me that feeling of being back to civilisation, but I wasnt sure I wanted 'normality', I'd had a real adventure throughout South America. The sun was unexpectedly shining so I showered, changed and took a ferry trip out from the harbour to the small town of Devonport. A walk up a small, extinct volcanoe (there are around 50 in Auckland alone) gave great views across Auckland and the beautiful surrounding suburbs. The houses throughout the whole of New Zealand are completely individual, of various shapes, colours and sizes and surrounded by lush green vegetation. Returning back on the ferry to the city I was face to face with a huge HSBC building, Stagecoach buses, Lloyds bank (remember the old logo of a black horse in a green square!) and The Gate! Well it wasnt called the Gate but scarily similar. My plan was to hang around Auckland for a little while, finding out where to go and what to see but after two days I'd had enough and had to get out of there, New Zealand has a total population of 4.3 million with 1.3 million of these in Newcastle #2 (Auckland) alone, its very busy and I wanted to get out of there and experience the real New Zealand!

I hopped on the Stray bus on my third day, this is one of the tour buses around NZ which offers a hop on, hop off service throughout the whole country. You buy a buss pass, hop on and off as many times as you like, where ever you like. My first stop was in the Coromandel on the East coast of the North Island in the small holiday town of Hahei with gorgeous beaches and a short ride away from hot water beach, an area of approximately 100m x 100m where when the tide is out, you can dig yourself a hot pool in the sand. The centre of this area being the hottest as I found out by scalding my foot, ouch! So everyone off the beach squeezes into this tiny area to dig themselves a steaming bath in the sand for around two hours. This is also home of Cathedral Cove, a very famous landmark throughout New Zealand with a very scenic walk to get there.

I then hopped over the East coast to visit the small hippy beach town of Raglan where they filmed the movie The Endless Summer (before my time!). With 8km of surf break it is the most popular surf beach in New Zealand.

My next stop was a visit to Waitomo and the glow worm caves. In this town are around 300 underground caves where various activities take place so I took part in the 'Haggis Honking Holes' (dont ask why), this was first class fun! We were dressed in the most unflattering & uncomfortable wetsuits, wellies and helmet which was a laugh in itself. We had a quick practice of abseiling in a small field and then we were ready to go. The first abseil was down a completely black hole in the cave, I attached myself to the rope and the instructor told me to step off the edge and swing myself around in mid air. I thought he was joking or rather hoped he was joking (anything could be lurking around down there!) but he wasnt and as I was leading the group had to set an example! So I let myself swing into mid air, took position on the wall and I was away like spider women into the darkness! It was good fun and for the next four hours we were abseiling into black holes through the caves, some with running waterfalls (on one of them I lost my footing, swung around into the waterfall and couldnt turn myself back, dangling in mid air under the waterfall, it was freezing!) And funny. We had to crawl on our hands and knees under tiny gaps through the caves, and got to see thousands of tiny glow worms scattered across the ceilings like twinkling fairy lights, awesome! On the way out we had to rock climb back up which was too much like hard work after all that fun. The walls were practically smooth, not alot to cling onto and with wellies filled with water and soaken wet wetsuits it was a struggle, I cheated and got the guide to pull me up by the rope so it looked like I was running up those walls again, like spider women!

In Rotorua which is in the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island I went to a Maori show for a real cultural experience. We were entertained with a Maori concert including the Haka, various songs and dance, the Maori canoe, and a tour of their village. We then had a hāngi meal which is a traditional way of cooking food and is still used to provide meals for large groups because the food it produces is considered flavourful. The hāngi consists of a shallow hole dug in the ground. A fire is prepared in the hole and stones are placed on the top of it. When the stones are hot the hāngi is prepared for cooking by leaving the hot stones and some of the coals at the bottom of the hole. The food is placed on top of the stones, the meat first, with the vegetables, such as kumara and potatoes, on top of it. The hāngi is then covered with leaves or mats woven out of flax (or wet sacks) and left to cook. Finally, soil is heaped over the hāngi to keep the heat in. It was delicious!!

This area is also a geothermal area so on the way out of town we stopped at some bubbling mud pools and collected some for a night of beauty treatments and mud masks, luckily none of us came out in a rash!!

The weather changed for the worse and the rest of the journey through the North Island was dull, cloudy or raining with most activities cancelled because of this i.e. skydives and hikes, so alot of time spent bumming around hostels, chilling out.

My trip in the South Island started in the North in Abel Tasman National Park. I decided on a day sailing trip around visiting various sights and seal colonies and was pleasantly surprised when I woke up to clear blue skies that morning, hooray! The park consists of forested, hilly country and golden bays. It is very popular in summer months with alot of New Zealanders owning holiday homes here. And as it wasnt quite summer yet, we had the whole place to ourselves.

I carried on travelling through the South Island, stopping off and visiting various places. It was just getting better and better and the scenery more beautiful. Queenstown was just breathtaking with the mountain range rightly named 'The Remarkables'. This is the party and adventure capital of New Zealand so I felt obliged to take part in a bungy jump, dont ask why, a bungy is something I never ever thought I'd have the guts to do. So after a night of hard partying and being hungover it was time for my appointment to jump of a bridge! I have to say I hated every second and will never do another one! Anyone on facebook should be able to view it on my profile, enjoy!

I also took part in some jetboating which was great fun, speeding up and down the river in between huge mountains for 45 minutes of spinning and getting soaked, great scenery and great fun!

I was becoming really tired from travelling and was longing to find somewhere to settle for a while. I arrived in the small town of Christchurch and decided this was it, as soon as I arrived it felt a pretty chilled out town, not too busy, you can walk from one end to the other, but at the same time has everything a city needs so I found a home and a job and settled here for eight weeks. Having a routine and unpacking my backpack completely for the first time felt good. The friends I made here were also travelling/working so we got together at weekends and ventured out to various places and sights, or just went into town partying. I had a fantastic time in Christchurch and made some life long friends there. It is surrounded by the most beautiful towns and scenery, it was the perfect place to call home.

After staying in Arequipa for too long I was off on my mission to Machu Picchu. I arrived in Cusco and the sun was still shining, hooray! The hostel was 1.80 a night, not exactly five star but I had a double bed to meself and hot water which was a luxury these days. Cusco a nice town but very touristy, locals on the street day and night selling anything from chewing gum to tours. They were so friendly though and alot of the time wanted me to be their english teacher, needless to say there are a few peruvigeordies in Cusco now!! Half an hour walk up the hills and you were on top the city.

I hadnt booked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and found out you had to do this months in advance but luckily they had alternative treks and I opted for the 'Salkantay Trek'. This was to be a 5 day, 70km trek through the Urubamba Valley. We would be camping for the first three nights with hostel on the fourth night, three meals per day, sleeping bags and tents included, horses to carry our belongings, and all for a grand total of around 90quid, bargain!

There were 12 of us in our group, english, canadian, american, swedish and dutch. Our guide's English wasnt the best so we headed off into the mountains not knowing what to expect. It must have been 40 degrees that first morning and we were taking steep, vertually vertical short cuts up through the mountains, being 2900 metres above sea level the high altitude was kicking in and I was barely able to catch my breath, it was torture! We did this for the first three hours until we reached our first stop for lunch. The whole group collapsed to the ground, took off our socks and shoes and had a snooze while our cook and his assistant cooked lunch. We were so exhausted we hadnt realised there was cow poo all around us, a pile maybe a foot from where I was lying but everyone was too tired and too hot to care, lying in cow poo was nothing compared to how exhausted we were. I had shorts on and there were around 20 sandflys on my legs but I didnt have the energy and ignored them (this was a regret as the bites woke me up in the night a few times, they were the itchiest most irritating bites, and the scars were still there four weeks later!). The toilet at this first stop consisted of a brick wall built around a hole in the ground, littered with used toilet roll, eh no thanks and they never got much better but had the most amazing views I must add. After lunch and a short rest to let it digest it was time to go again. Only one slight problem, I went to put my boot back on but couldnt walk for the pain in my little toe, there was no way I was able to stand the pain so the boots were sent with the horses (unfortunately there wasnt room on the horses back for me) and I had to walk the rest of the day in flip flops; thongs; jandals whatever you want to call them, flip flops to me, luckily it was a flat walk that afternoon.

After another three hours of walking we arrived at our first camp in the middle of the mountains, it felt like a real adventure. The tents were pitched and I needed to rest so went to the tent, fell asleep around 6pm, too tired to get up for dinner and was there until I was woken the next morning. So much sleep but it felt so good. We were woken by our guide who provided us with coca tea in our sleeping bags (coca leaves help with altitude sickness), the cook was on top form with breakfast, omelette and pancakes and I must say they were good. After strapping my feet up with tape and various blister plasters in place we headed up the mountain.

We had a five hour, uphill trek ahead of us and were told this was the hardest part of the trek, they werent lying there! The mountain was blocking the sun which was a god send. The group hardly spoke to each other as it was an effort just to breath, some of us had injuries already and limping and others finding it just too tiring. Once this part was over, hopefully it was going to get easier.

We headed towards the top of the mountain (no we still werent at the top!) and when we got there is felt like such an achievement, 4650 metres above sea level, I was stunned at the sight, high five's all round. We were above the clouds and I was so overwhelmed I sat down in a spot to take it all in and cried, it was just beautiful.

We were then off through the clouds on route to the next stop. There was no scenery (well there would have been but you couldnt see it) so we walked for another two hours in the fog and reached our destination for lunch. It was a little drizzly and damp so we all squeezed into the cooks tent, had lunch and then we had another two hours of walking to get to camp for the night. Camp for the second night was on a locals land, suppose you could say in their garden, there was two wooden huts where they lived. Surrounded by mountains of rainforest and jungle. Not long after we arrived the rain started, a good excuse for an early night for the group. Next morning the guide woke us up with coca tea in our sleeping bags, I could get used to this! Feet strapped up it was time to go again.

Day three was trekking through the jungle and with it still raining it was sounding like it was going to be a bit of an adventure today, but we were walking along very narrow muddy walkways and it wasnt worth it trying to take the scenery in, it was a long way down if a step missed the path! It was all very green and every now and then there would the most brightest, colourful flowers springing up out of nowhere.

We had lunch that day in a small village, when we arrived we presumed that that was where we were staying for the night and everyone got excited that there was no more walking to be done today, but guess what we got it wrong, we werent staying here tonight BUT we were getting a bus to our next destination, hooray! My feet need the break.

I knew I would have to face one of these ramshackle bus journeys in South America and this is what I was dreading the most. It was a very bumpy ride, packed with us and locals looking down over sheer drops down the mountains. It was a good experience though and we made it, thanks to the very skilled driver. We headed off to the hot springs in the afternoon for some much needed relaxing in the hot pools in the middle of the mountains, with beer and wine and I thought yeah, this is what travelling is all about.

Our fourth day was a walk (or should I say limp) along a train track to Aguas Calientes, 2050 metres above sea level, the town just outside of Machu Picchu. We were getting closer! It was a long walk, surrounded by jungle and the group separated, some wanting to just get there, some taking their time, I was quite happy to trail behind at snail pace, it was nice and peaceful with the only sounds being birds and insects.

As soon as we reached the town my boots were off! It was pure agony now. I was totally surprised by the town and had to remind myself where I was again. They were busy building what looked like were going to be five star hotels and it was like walking through a holiday resort, but then again the only people who come here are tourists with money, going to Machu Picchu. Time for a much deserved hot shower and a visit to the chemist for some extra strong pain killers as we would be climbing the 1600 steps up the mountain to Machu Picchu in the morning.

We left the hostel in the dark at 4.30am, there was excitment all around as we would soon be there. It was a constant climb of steps for around an hour, constantly being out of breath, constantly wishing the end was near, the last 100 or so steps were a real struggle, but we made it and arrived at the top of the mountain at around 6am. Once at the gates we queued with the other tourists who had caught the bus to the top, well shame on them! They would never have the feeling of achievement we did that morning.

We entered the gates, got our entry tickets stamped and oh my god, I was at MACHU PICCHU.

Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,430 meters above sea level on a mountain ridge, about 70 km northwest of Cusco. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is probably the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire. It was built around the year 1450 and abandoned a hundred years later, at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Forgotten for centuries by all except for a few locals, the site was brought to worldwide attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. It was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 when it was described as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization". On July 7, 2007, Machu Picchu was voted as one of New Open World Corporation's New Seven Wonders of the World.

We wondered around with the guide for a short while who to be honest wasnt making alot of sense, his lack of English not helping so me and another girl took off on our own, checking it out. We were debating whether to climb Waynapicchu mountain which is the tall mountain in the background and consisted of around another 1500 steps. Since we were probably never going to have another chance to go there we decided it was a must, even though we might collapse with exhaustion by the time we got to the top, it had to be worth it. The steps werent your usual step, some two foot high, some not even steps you had to haul yourself up with rope, did the Inca's not have any consideration for us tourists when building this place!! 40minutes later we were at the top, after a short while to get my breath back and waiting for the clouds to move over ........

Just spectacular!

We spent an hour up there just admiring the view, as you can see it was amazing.

It was a long way down and time was running out and the pain killers were wearing off, the pressure on my knee was agonising. It was time to leave after six hours in Machu Picchu, not enough time at all and we nabbed a nice stamp in our passports on the way out. We got the bus down to Aguas Calientes and caught the train back to Cusco. As you can probably tell that was the most amazing and best experience I have had so far, I would do it all again tomorrow.

Back in Cusco we went out that night and chilled out in Rose O'Gradys Irish Bar with a bottle of wine in front of the open fire in the rocking chairs, no one could ever have guessed what we had just experienced!

From the hustle and bustle of La Paz I headed to the border of Bolivia/Peru to Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at 3812m above sea level and also the largest lake in South America (by volume of water). I was off to Copacabana and to get there had to cross the lake. We hopped off the bus and onto a small speed boat to the other side, the water was so blue, yes I know its a lake and is supposed to be blue but it was just really blue! Anyone would think I was normal for presuming we would catch another bus on the other side, yeah?? No, in true bolivian style, our bus was boarded onto the lake and ferried over to the other side. It was a bumpy looking crossing for the bus and I had to turn away as I had visions of it going overboard, apparently that's not unusual! We all held our breath and the bus made it over eventually, our belongings and a few passengers were safe, phew!

The lake has 41 islands and the first I would be visiting was Isla Del Sol (Island of the Sun), one of the lake's largest islands.

Now some Inca origin myths that are said to have taken place on the northern part of this island: The first Inca Manco Capac is said to have emerged from a prominent crag in a large sandstone outcrop known as Titikala (the Sacred Rock). Manco Capac is the son of Inti the Andean deity identified as the sun. In one version of the myth, the ancient people of the province were with out light in the sky for many days and grew frightened of the darkness. Finally, the people saw the Sun emerge from the crag and believed it was the Sun's dwelling place. In another version related by Cobo, others believed the crag was dedicated to the Sun because it hid under the crag during a great Flood. Isla del Sol was the first land that appeared after the flood waters began to recede and the Sun emerged from Titikala to illuminate the sky once again. A temple was built at this rock and later expanded by the 10th Inca Tupac Inca Yupanqui. He built a covenant for mamaconas (chosen women) and a tambo (inn) for visiting pilgrims.

Today the economy of the island is mainly driven by tourism which started around ten years ago, but agriculture and fishing are widely practised.

Copacabana is a small town with not alot going on but we arrived at the end of holy week, the first week in August. The whole town was littered with bottles and rubbish from week long celebrations. I climbed a hilltop overlooking Lake Titicaca which was rededicated as a "calvario" or replica of Calvary and is topped by the Stations of the Seven Sorrows of Mary and an altar with a depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a major centre of worship throughout the region during Holy Week. Worshippers come from La Paz and Peru and walk for three days to get here. Once at the top there were small stalls selling everything from cars to computers (plastice of course) and what the people do is buy whatever they might wish for in real life, join a queue to meet a statue of the patron saint of Bolivia at the end where they pray and wish for these things. They then take their cars or houses, burn candles around them (one for each member of the family) and wait until the candles have completely burnt out, then set off firecrackers which symbolises the end of the prayer and hope that one day maybe their wishes come true. A very interesting experience! We also visited Copacabana's cathedral.

Next day it was a trip accross the border to Puno, Peru to visit the Peruvian side of the lake. We loaded our backpacks into the boot of the bus and went around to the front to board the bus. There we found a queue of gringo's with bus tickets and the bus was already full! There were people even sitting on the floor inside the bus and a queue of about 25 of us outside. After some stressing and complaing from a bunch of fellow travellers (if we didnt make it today then I'm sure we would make it tomorrow, chill out people!!) the problem was solved and we were told to board another bus accross the road, obviously not meant to heading to Peru but it was now! Everyone grabbed their backpacks and ran to get on before this one filled up too.

From Puno I took a tour to see more of the islands. Lake Titicaca is notable for a population of people who live on the Uros, a group of about 43 artificial islands made of floating reeds, a major tourist attraction for Peru. On one of the islands we were given a mini demonstration of how the islands are built and a taste of the reed which they use to make absolutely everything (it tasted of nothing, just watery but the Uros people all have gleaming white teeth from eating this!).

We visited a couple of the islands and on one of them you could stay for the night. There is no electricity or hot water. The men either fish or build furniture etc and the women cook, look after the children and make textiles for tourists. Once a week they travel to a part of town where they exchange goods for food. The only income they get is from tourists.

The last island I visited was Taquile Island where around 1,700 people live. The highest point of the island is 4050 m and the main village is at 3950 m. The inhabitants are known as Taquileños. Taquile, whose Quechua name is Intika, was part of the Inca Empire and has a number of Inca ruins.

Taquileños run their society based on the Inca moral code "ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhella" (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy). The economy is based on fishing, terraced farming horticulture based on potato cultivation, and the approximately 40,000 tourists who visit each year. Taquileños are known for their fine handwoven textiles and clothing, which are regarded as among the highest-quality handicrafts in Peru. The work of spinning and weaving is primarily done by the men.

After Puno I headed to Arequipa which I think was my favourite town in South America. It certainly felt like the safest town I visited. The sun was constantly shining and everyday was started with breakfast on the roof terrace surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, very pretty! I took a two day tour to the Colca Canyon which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. We visited Colca Valley which provides incredible close-up views of Andean condors and here are some various pics from the two day tour!

After a week in Arequipa, some people would say too long but it was such a nice town and ..... one night I left to go to Cusco, sat on the bus and realised I had left my passport in the safe at the hostel! I had to quickly get off the bus before it moved and try to explain to the bus driver I wanted by backpack taken out of the boot. With me not being able to speak the best Spanish this wasnt easy. He was telling me to get back on the bus, I was telling him no! After around five minutes of spanish v english argument I just had to take matters into my own hand and go to the boot, open it and take my backpack, he was looking at me with a very puzzled expression! I had to go back into the bus terminal from behind the staff desk who where giving me strange looks too, I told them in my best spanish with the help of sign language what had happened and they just shook their heads and laughed at me, tourists eh! Oh well, another night in Arequipa, I wasnt complaining. The next day I eventually left for Cusco, the capital, to do what I'd been looking forward to for so long, a trek to Macchu Picchu, yeay!! It is all to come in next months blog so until then, ta ra guys and gals! x

Well its been a month or so since this trip so I`ll try & remember as best I can. A three day tour through Salar De Uyuni to visit the salt flats, volcanoes and multi-coloured lakes of South West Bolivia. We set off from San Pedro De Atacama, Chile on route to cross the border to Bolivia, not the type of border I imagined, a wooden hut in the middle of the mountains but then again this is Bolivia. It was freezing and to think I was going to spend the next three days out and about in the mountains, well I didnt want to think about it.

Passports stamped, our group of six (2 irish, 2 french, 1 german and 1 english...me) piled into the jeep, backpacks securely tied to the roof, were ready to go and we headed off into the mountains. The first morning was spent driving to various sights, jumping in and out of the jeep to take photos and back as quickly as possible, it was so cold so we admired the sights from behind closed doors! The landscape was unbelievable, at times it looked just like a painting, so perfect and still. When we approached this green lagoon the whole group gasped out loud, it was so beautiful. And to think this is all 3000m above sea level.

In the afternoon we arrived at our lodgings for the night which I thought looked rather like a concentration camp, we had been warned by fellow travellers not to expect much on this tour so I tried not to be surprised! It was freezing inside (the emergency blanket would definately be coming out tonight) and some of the beds were concrete blocks on the floor with a rock hard mattress on top, I was lucky I had a bed or so I thought, I might aswell have been lying on a concrete block. We settled down to lunch which consisted of mash potato, fried hot dogs, tomato and cucumber (no joke!) so we all got stuck in ... ish, filled our boots ready for our afternoon walk. About half an hour from our concentration camp was a pink lagoon this time, with lots of pink flamingoes, colour coordination too! The cold didnt really bother us in the afternoon (must have been the fried hot dogs!?!?) so it was nice to hang around taking it all in. At one point a baby Vicuna came and walked right upto us, we all sort of froze, I was used to Llamas which run away from you so wasnt quite sure what this Vicuna might do! It was the cutest thing ever as you can see. It casually walked upto and past us looking at us as if to say ´hey guys dont worry Im only a baby´. Vicunas are definately the cutest of the Llama family. Any clothing which is made of Vicunya hair is really expensive as they only have short hair so only a small amount is allowed to be taken at certain times, a scarf would set you back a few hundred dollars.

Dinner that night consisted on Spag Bol but without the meat! and we all ate in our hats, scarfs and gloves it was so cold, it was warmer outside. After dinner we had a quiz with the other groups who were confined to the concentration camp to take our minds off the cold, this did help but then the electricity was switched off at 10pm (I am now used to time limits on hot water and electricity), we had a warning bell 10 minutes before to remind us it was bedtime and time to freeze for the night. Not many people slept well that night, the rustling of my emergency blanket woke me everytime I turned and it was strange sleeping in hat, scarf and gloves. Day two was spent driving further through the mountains stopping off at various spots, the weather was really nice so we were able to stroll around, taking in the surroundings.

We arrived at our lodgings for the second night and were surprised it was actually quite acceptable (on this inside), comfy beds, clean bathroom with hot water and it had a fantastic view. For dinner we had chicken and chips and were even given a bottle of wine between the six of us, now thats what I call being spoilt! We were all looking forward to day three which was to be a visit to the salt lake, between the group we had decided to get up at 4am to leave early to watch the sunrise from Isla Del Pescado, a coral island raised up from the ocean bed covered in tall cacti, in the middle of the salt lake. The other groups were leaving later therefore we would have the whole salt lake to ourselves, yeah! So we got up and left half asleep out into the cold and headed out across the largest and highest salt lake in the world. It was still dark when we arrived at the island but the sun was about to rise at any minute so we dashed to the top ready for the sunrise which was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! The colours and the view were spectacular. One of the french guys said if he`d been up there with his girlfriend he would have proposed, aww how sweet!

We stayed up there checking out the scenery which consisted of salt lake, salt lake and maybe a mountain or two on the horizon. Apparently the salt lake is 300 sq km and 10 metres thick, just fantastic, we even collected some for dinner! We had breakfast on the salt lake then drove further out, away from the island and arriving tourists. Driving across it was a fantastic experience with the bright blue skies contrasting with the blinding white salt crust. When we got out of the jeep we were like animals being freed out into the wild, you just got this urge to run, it felt like being on the end of the earth! The whole lake is covered in these pentagon shapes too which is just mind boggling!

We drove over the salt lake which seemed to take forever with nothing else in sight, heading for the small town on Uyuni. When we arrived we were surprised to discover it was a very small town with no roads just dirt tracks, we were going to stay overnight but soon found out there was no hot water in the town and we had to wait until a certain time to use the ATM machine i.e. when the generator was turned on for electricity, this was only on for 1 hour per day. I had the feeling I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, I needed some sort of normality after the tour. A visit to the train cemetary was interesting with engines from 1907-1950`s, now rusting hulks.

That night we took a night bus out of there and headed for La Paz, the highest capital in the world. When you arrive you have the sight of the city lying 500m below at the bottom of a steep canyon ringed by snow peaked mountains. As you walk around the city centre there is often a gap between tall office buildings and you can see the mountains in the background which at first was a strange site. We spent a week here just chilling, shopping (the handicrafts are beautiful and mega cheap), eating and not much else. The atmosphere was just great, the hustle bustle of everyday life starting from 7am when the women set up there street stalls of fruit, veg, souvenirs including Llama feotuses (you can imagine the look on my face the first time I seen this!) and just about anything else, the roads have no rules so it is constant horn beeping from first thing in the morning which was sure to wake you up everyday around 7am, this was the life all day everyday. I admired the women, some of them so beautiful, the older ones so wrinkly and I loved it, this was such a cool place.

It all seems like such a long time ago now. And that guys is the pics for this month so until Octobers issue, goodbye!

From the Pantanal we caught the bus back to Campo Grande and stayed overnight, we left early the next day on route to Foz De Iguazu to the Iguazu Falls. We arrived late that night, took a taxi to the hostel as it was on the other side of town. It was freezing but I was the only person in the dorm for six people so I took the blankets from the other beds and had them all to myself! In the morning we took a taxi to the falls which cost around 1 pound (there is no pound sign key on this keyboard!). We were just around the corner which was convenient. It cost around 6pound to get into the falls, the best 6pound ever to be spent. These are the most stunning waterfalls in South America. Their magnitude and the volume of water that thunders over the edge has to be seen to be believed! Guazu is Guarani for big and I is Guarani for water. There are rapids for 3 1/2 km above the 74m precipice over which the water plunges in 275 falls over a frontage of 2470m!

It had started to rain and with the spray from the falls we ended up drenched after our three hour trek around the Brazilian side. There was an open top bus which took you from the entrance to the start of the waterfalls and back, on the way back I made sure we were downstairs, I was freezing and soaking wet but I wasnt complaining.

The next day we took a trip booked through the hostel, to the Argentinian side. We had to have our passports stamped on the way. Many people say this is the better side to see the waterfalls from. Both sides were just as spectacular for me, from the Argentinian side there were walkways over the top of the falls so you looked straight down onto the falls wheras from the Brazilian side you were at a distance with an overview. The height of the falls made me queasy on the Argentinian side, people were hanging over the barriers taking photo`s but I was stood about ten foot away, no way was I going near the edge! We trekked around the Argentinian side all day to different points, taking a boat over the river to the other side of the island. We ended up practically in the middle of the waterfalls, drenched again, what an experience!

The day after we took the bus to Buenos Aires (no rest for the wicked!) It took around 22 hours, the scenery was so green and the journey was so comfortable, the seats reclined nearly flat, we had pillows and blankets, stopped off for supper in a restaurant, English films and breakfast on board, all for 22pound, bargain! I really enjoyed Buenos Aires, it seemed more European than South American, there are boulevards, plazas, chic shops and superb restaurants, perfect!

We visited the old port district of La Boca with brightly painted tin and wooden houses. It is the poorest and roughest area within central Buenos Aires. The cemetary of the Recoleta which was unbeleivable, I was gobsmacked when I walked in there with its streets and alleys separating family mausoleums built in every imaginable style, it was like a miniature city. There we seen the Duarte family mausoleum, where Evita Peron lies.

The food was fantastic and so cheap I made a complete pig of myself for the full week. Well I thought I deserved after living on rice and beans. We made some really nice friends at the hostel and had a couple of nights out with them, at last a night on the lash! It was really strange, we were eating dinner around 10.30-11pm then going out around 1-2am and not getting home until 7am, this is the norm for Buenos Aires. I took some spanish lessons which was a complete nightmare, the teacher came to the hostel for three hours a day for four days I thought my head was going to explode but it has helped, I am able to understand alot of what people are saying although I am not that good at speaking it, sounds a bit spangeordie!

So it was farewell to our friends at the hostel and we set off on Monday 23rd to Salta which is 1600km north of Buenos Aires. This was another overnight bus journey, usually you are provided with blankets, not on this bus journey so I was awake most of the night freezing! When we arrived in Salta I was full of cold for the two days we were there. The first day was a chill out day for me and the second day sightseeing.

Salta has many colonial buildings, plazas, folkloric music, the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen painted in pink and cream, a church which rises above the skyline ornately decorated in plum red and gold. We visited a museum which had a collection of exhibits from Inca high-altitude shrines, mummies of child sacrifices which are only shown on video now after controversy over the display of the mummies in 2005, it was very interesting!

We left Salta on route to San Pedro De Atacama (Chile) on Thursday 26th July. Salta has an altitude of 1190m and San Pedro of 2436m. We left Salta at 7am so I was more or less asleep as soon as the bus drove off. A few hours later I woke up in the middle of the Andes! The landscape was just amazing, snow capped mountains, volcanoes, cactus covered mountains, mountains which were red/orange/burgundy colours and others were blue/green/turquiose colours. We arrived at the Argentine border to get our passports stamped and when I got off the bus I felt ill from the high altitude, head ache, sickness, it was awful. We had to queue to get our passports stamped out of Argentina then it was off to the desert.

We arrived at the Chile border, still feeling ill had to queue to get passports stamped and bags searched, the whole bus had to and it took forever, I wasnt feeling well and really couldnt be bothered. Eventually we arrived in San Pedro, a small town which I can only describe as dusty! Which is fair enough considering it is the desert. We checked into a hostel, I chilled out for a while then went to bed. I hadnt realised we were another hour behind so I had gone to bed at 6.30pm! And slept until 7.30 the next morning. Apparently the high altitude makes you more tired too and I can believe it after the amount of hours sleep I`ve had over the past week or so. There is no electricity in San Pedro so night times were spent in candlelight and it was chilly. It was surprising through the day, as you can imagine it gets hot in the desert but there was always a slight wind which was really chilly and in the shade was cold too so I walked around the desert for two days with my winter coat on! We booked a couple of tours, one to watch the sunset at Valle De La Luna (Valley of the Moon) and another to watch the sunrise at the geysers. The Valle De La Luna has fantastic landscapes caused by the erosion of salt mountains and to watch the sunset here was a fantastic experience.

On our third day in the desert we were picked up at 4am to go to El Tatio (altitude 4500m), the site of the geysers. It was a bumpy two hour drive and when we arrived I felt so sick, wasnt sure if it was travel sickness or the high altitude. We got out of the bus and it was -17 degrees! It was freezing, I was prepared for the cold but not this cold. The water in the geysers is apparently 85degrees, I so wanted to dip my hands and feet in there. Some of them erupted up to around four foot high which was pretty cool! Wrapped up like a mummy I walked around for 15minutes and couldnt stand it any longer, I had to go back to the bus for some warmth.

After breakfast (coffee, hot chocolate and cheese sandwiches) we drove not far away where there was a hot spring. The tour guide asked if we were going swimming, I looked at him as if he was mad! What is he on about going swimming?! It was -17 degrees! We soon learned that everyone on the tour was going swimming in this hot spring so out of about 40 people there were 4 of us who didnt go in. There was no way I would be putting a bikini on in that temperature, fair enough the water was nice and hot but imagine getting back out and having to get changed, no thank you! I`m saving that for hotter climates, there are lots of hot springs in New Zealand. The rest of the day was spent chilling and getting ready for a three day tour from Chile, through Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia which was the best experince ever! I still cant believe what I have done and seen over the past few days but the pics and stories have to wait until next month. Hope you enjoyed the blog, until next month, ciao amigo´s!

Shell x