Florianópolis

After an 18 hour coach journey, avoiding a crashed tanker and being subjected to a police drugs raid at 2am, we finally arrived in Florianópolis. We then had to catch two local buses in the heat, got lost, and finally found our hostel. Florianopolis was recommended to us by Jemma's brother and we more or less came here based on this recommendation, plus the fact that Jemma liked the Greek sounding name and we needed to break up our journey to Uruguay. So far, I wouldnt say i'm too taken. Maybe its because its a beach town and I'm not really a beach person (I lived on a beach for 3 months and only went in the sea about 3 times) or maybe its due to all the mad barking dogs that roam the streets. Don't get me wrong, its OK, plus we are in a really nice hostel which we have all to ourselves - we have a 9 bed dorm all to ourselves and its really clean with friendly owners. Plus they have wifi, so as sad as it sounds, we had a quiet night last night watching X factor on youtube. I don't miss the UK AT ALL (apart from my family and friends) but I do like to see who's gone through to the judges houses. Tonight we are treating ourselves to a meal out, because it actually doesn't cost that much more than cooking for ourselves. Brazil is an expensive country in relation to its Latin American neighbours. I am so looking forward to getting into the Spanish speaking areas where I will actually be able to understand what everyone is saying!

Our 9 bed dorm that we had all to ourselves

Puerto Iguazú (Argentinian side)

Yesterday we spent the whole day at the falls on the Argentinian side which was even more stunning than the Brazilian. The hostel took us in a bus over the border and it was a really good day! We went on a boat that took us right under the falls which was fantastic. We got drenched but it was so hot we only took a few hours to completely dry off again. Today we are just chilling out   in the sun before catching a 16 hour coach to Florianopolis on the coast of Brazil.

More photos here: Iguazu photos

Foz do Iguaçu

Today we visited Iguazu falls on the Brazilian side. It was breathtaking. We have met some really nice people in the hostel from various countries - South Africa, Holland, Germany, England... so we all got the bus together to the falls and spent the day there. I wasn't expecting much, but I hoped that after a 24 hour bus journey it would be worth it and it really was. The photos just don't do it justice. We have booked to stay another 2 nights in this hostel and will be cooking dinner tonight with our new friends. It will make a nice change to eating bread, ham and cheese!

24 hour bus journey from Rio to Foz do Iguaçu

We have just arrived at Iguazu Falls after a 24 hour bus journey. I think I underestimated the actual amount of travelling involved in travelling! Brazil is huge and it's been annoying not being able to communicate properly - I have just been using a mixture of Spanish and English to get by. We caught the bus from Rio bus station yesterday at 1.30 and arrived here today at 1.30. The seats on the bus are actually quite comfy but the air-conditioning is intense and the bus smelt of the Paris underground. Also, all Brazilians seem to eat is ham and cheese which means we have been having cheese pasties for breakfast, dinner and tea - not the healthiest start to the trip. On our way here we stopped briefly in Sao Paulo. It took more than 2 hours to drive through the whole city - it is without a doubt the biggest city I have ever come across in my life. Anyway, we are now in a lovely chilled hostel and Jemma is relaxing by the pool as I type, with Bob Marley playing in the background. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Brazilian side of the falls.

p.s Jemma wanted me to add - the population of the Favela we visited yesterday is the same as the whole of Cardiff!

Rio days 3 & 4

It's now our third day in Rio and I think we can both say it has definitely surpassed our expectations.
The hostel we are in (Lighthouse) is so lovely - we are glad we took the recommendation off Jemma's brother.
The hostel is the smallest I have ever stayed in but this is good because it means we know everyone here and the staff are so friendly, one of whom is German, which made me very happy :)

'A monkey in the wild'

Yesterday we went to sugarloaf mountain and that more or less took up the full day. We travelled to the bottom by bus and the guy who works in our hostel (Enrique, like Iglesias) had told us we could trek up the first peak on foot through the rainforest, so we wanted to give this a go. We made our way along a little trail through the natural park, and Jemma was delighted to see her first ever 'monkey in the wild'. However, after about 40 mins of walking we came accross a sign telling us we couldnt go any further unless we had a guide so we decided to walk back and get the cable car all the way to the top.


The views from the cable car were outstanding, as were the views from the first peak. When we got to the first peak we treated ourselves to our first caipirinha before getting the next cable car to the second peak.

Well, it was so windy at the top, it was impossible to enjoy the views and I was very annoyed, when Jemma, who had borrowed my headscarf for the day, let it blow off her head down the mountain! Luckily some work men half way down caught it and we got it back lol. I then stalked a German tour around for a few minutes to get the history and the background info to Sugarloaf.

View from the first peak

After Sugarloaf, we got a bus to copacabana beach but were too scared to stay there for too long after all the horror stories we had heard. The guy in our hostel told us about one tourist who was kidnapped at knifepoint and taken off to a favela (the slums of Rio) and then taken round various cash points and made to withdraw all of his money. Anyway, we were scared and the sun was starting to set, so we sped walked our way back to our hostel. When we got back we went out to try and find some cheap food and then went back to the hostel. We have met some really nice people already including a kiwi called Aiden who is here to volunteer and live in a favela.

Today (Thursday) was probably my best day in Rio. We headed off to the selaron steps in the morning (made famous by various films and music videos - e.g. snoop dogg and farel).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MQhk53ayeI

We saw the guy who made the steps and took a few photos.

On the Selaron steps

After this, we had a dilemma, because I really wanted to go and visit a favela but Jemma did not.
The reason for this is that some people have strong views about visiting favelas - its a kind of voyeuristic tourism - rich people visiting where poor people live as if its disney land. Both of us don't really agree with this in theory, however, curiosity got the better of me, and I persuaded Jemma to take a tour to Rochina, which is meant to be the nicest favela in Rio. We paid to go on a tour, which is meant to put money back into the favela community and works on projects with the locals, building schools and daycare centres etc. Anyway, it was such an interesting experience, I am really glad we went for it. At the start of the tour, you have to get on the back of a motorbike with a random man from the favela who drives you up to the top of the mountain. This was without a doubt the scariest experience of my life and the closest to death I have ever come. The bikes race eachother to the top, you don't have a helmet and as you drive up, there are various cars and vans speeding around the corner. Once at the top, we went on a guided tour of the favela (slums) and heard all about how the community is run (ruled by the drug lords). We were told when we could and couldn't take pictures and warned not to take any pictures of the men holding the AK47 guns or of the druglords. There were wild dogs and cats running around, which made me thankful I had paid for a rabies jab and little kids playing samba. It was a terrifying but brilliant experience and I am really glad we did it. But our mums should know - we wont be doing anything that risky again. 

Jemma making friends with the locals

View of part of Rochina

Tomorrow is our last day in Rio and we are catching a bus at midday that will take us to Iguazu falls. The journey is 24hours so I'd better get off the netbook now and charge it for the journey. I think we might watch City of God on the coach to remind us of our stay in Rio :) 


(p.s I have added some more photos to the album on facebook  that I posted the link for the other day).


Oh and i also bought a lovely pair of havaianas. I hope I will still have them by the end of the trip!

Rio de Janeiro

Well, our rtw has gotten off to a fantastic start!  We arrived in Rio late last night after a longish flight (11 hours) which we spent watching all the new releases (Bridesmades etc).

So the flight went quite quickly and we had a taxi waiting for us at the airport which was organised by the hostel. The windows of the taxi were all blacked out and the car was unmarked. It turns out that all cars in Rio have blacked out windows -for safety reasons. I was actually not as scared as I thought I would be, driving in through Rio at 10.30 pm in an unmarked taxi with blacked out windows.

We got to our hostel which is on this little gated off street with a load of other hostels and its in the part of the city that is meant to be a bit safer (Ipanema).

We got up early today because neither of us could sleep and wanted to explore the city. We had a nice big free breakfast off the hostel and then headed out for a walk around the city. We went to Ipanema beach and then around the big lake. Then we went to Christ the Redeemer! It was hot today in Rio so the sun was glaring behind the statue. We took a train up the hill which was cool - a samba band got on and played and there were some fantastic views from the top. 

After that, we took a bus back to the beach to watch the sunset (sun set is very early her - 5.30 pm!). Unfortunately, I have already lost my hat - which is annoying, because anyone who knows me will know how long it takes to find a hat that fits my head! Also, Jemma already has blisters off her tevas sandals so will have to bandage her feet up tomorrow or walk around in walking boots.

Overall, we are both very happy with the start to our trip - after quite a stressful lead up to the trip, its nice to finally be out here, living the backpacker lifestyle! :)


I have added more photos of our trip so far here: (mum, click the orange/ blue bit below)


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.933799027712.2471809.61104935&l=6867f1d728&type=1

2 weeks to go....!!

2 weeks to go! Eeek! This time in 2 weeks we will be in Heathrow waiting for our round the world flights! The past week has been a very stressful one. The flat is a mess , the builders are in and out ripping up the floor and there is still so much to do. We made a good dint in it yesterday by taking a load of Jemma’s stuff to Big yellow storage and I got my MOT done whilst we were there.

We rewarded ourselves at the end of the day with a buffet at my favourite restaurant in Cardiff – Cosmo. I had 5 plates, a desert and then went back for a 6^th plate of chips. Not great for the bikini figure, so crash dieting will have to commence henceforth. Also had an amazing last night out in Cardiff on Friday with people from work. 3 days left in work now and then its on to Manchester!

A perfect blend of Asian cuisines



All my stuff ready to be packed