AL round the world(south america) in Katie days

Monday, 1 August 2011

UK

Uk

Taking the train from Chester to Newport, and then on to Bath; this was how the UK leg of our European adventure started. Once in Bath we took a slow stroll around the main centre, making an attempt to find some good real ale pubs, with some success! The day after our arrival we took a guided tour around the Roman city, seeing most of the main sites, including The Abbey, The Royal Crescent, Victoria Park, The Original Roman Baths, and Pulteney Bridge(One of only two bridges in Europe to have shops on either side of the road). For most part we went in search of nice pubs, finding the best right over the road from the hostel. Unfortunately this discovery was only made the night before we where due to leave.

After what we can now call a short bus ride, 3 hours, we found ourselves in London. After locating our hostel we went out and attacked some of the sights and sounds of London, starting on Oxford street. Here we saw some minor celebs! Well two of the models off Dirty, Sexy, Things. Following this, we ventured to Carnaby Street, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, and Leicester Square. All in our first afternoon/evening.

Me at the Ritz

On the Saturday after an early rise, we headed out on the tube to Notting Hill Gate to stroll the markets of Portobello Road. After a morning there we headed to Camden market, in time for the vast array of food on offer, half of which we didnt find until we had eaten. This was my first experience of the bustling sounds, and sights of Camden. After Camden we made a quick stop off on Knightsbridge to visit a totally different world, Harrods! The money people where spending in there is slightly sickening £25 for a fondant with a few bits of fruit. Plus the staffs attitude is terrible! We finished Saturdays tour sat at The Diana memorial in Hyde Park. It was there we heard about Amy Winehouses death.

On Sunday we did the true tourist bits, starting at St Paul's (go on a Sunday it's free to go in), before crossing the Millenium Bridge, and entering the Tate Modern, this puts the Tate in Liverpool to shame, being about 4 times as big! We walked along the South Bank passing the London Eye, and getting a few shots of Parliament across the river. Whilest there we saw some crazy guy jump off Westminster Bridge into the river, and then jump off the boat that pulled him out of the water before the police came and took him. After a Tesco meal deal dinner in the grounds of Westminster Abbey we walked up Whitehall, past Downing street gates, through Horse Guards Parade (which is closed in preparation for a beach volleyball tournament), before finally heading through St James Park to Buckingham Palace, and seeing a small changing of the guards. From the Palace we walked up the Mall, to Trafalgar Square for a few photos before enjoying a bottle of wine, some beer, and cocktails!

St Paul's

Monday we caught the tube out to Greenwich to see the Meridian Line, and the London Planeterium, before heading back into town and going on the London Eye, this gave some good, alternative views and was worth the money, but i wont be heading back on it in the near future!

Meridian Line

Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Can I Get Some Coffee

A couple of things to report from Colombia, firstly the reports we see and hear at home, are dated by ten years or more. The current regime has cleaned up the countries act, with mass police enforcement, and a large military presence.

With that out of the way, we started off travelling through Colombia quite quickly breaking up the long journeys, with short stays in some of the smaller towns. First stop Pasto, a small town, with a nice big square, and a few little coffee shops. Next came Popayan, a traditonal town, with lots of white washed buildings, and again lots of little coffee shops, with a huge variety of coffee. From there we travelled to Cali, a notorious town throughout South America, where you can get the best contraband currency. Then came Solento (more in a moment). Then our first lengthy stay in Medellin, with its most famous son, Pablo Escobar, the streets of Medellin have been cleaned up, so to speak, but they are still far from perfect. Then came our one and only overnight bus, taking us to Cartagena, a town on the Caribbean coast. Which brings us to our current stopping place of Santa Marta, the final resting place of the revolutionary Simon Bolivar.

A Fernando Botero Sculpture

A wet Popayan

Get on the white bus!!

The Wax Palms

Solento Views

Coffee

Valley Cocora

Well back to Solento, hidden in the hills surrounding Valley Cocora, and home to some of the biggest producing coffee farms, a small town home to 8000 people, with many thousands of visitors, coming every year for the coffee. Firstly the hostel, in the middle of nowhere, part of a fully operational diary farm(our own little worthy). Amazing place to kick back and relax, away from the hustle bustle of big city life, surrounded by Colombia´s national tree, the Wax Palm. Then for the reason we came, a visit to a working coffee plantation, owned, worked, and ran by Don Elias, a guy well into his 70´s, all the plants are farmed, peeled, dried, roasted and ground by hand. The tour was done by the man himself, whilst wielding a machete, telling us all about the different plants, and flowers growing on his land. Then at the end the best cup of coffee you will ever taste, having ground the beans for yourself.

Don Elias himself

OMG it's Journey... a mitad del mundo

The Fake Equator

We took a bus 22km north of quito, to Mitad del Mundo, quite literally meaning centre of the earth. At Mitad is the official equatorial line, placed by the French invaders, here they built a big monument and painted a yellow line on the floor. The locals refer to it as a theme park, it consists of a few museums and an observatory!

However 200m further north is the "real" equator,000 latitude on gps, to my mind a guesstimate by the French that was only 200m out is a decent bit of work! At inti nan(the real equator) they make a bit more of a show about the whole deal, showing water going straight down the drain on the equator, and clockwise or anti clockwise one side or the other of the equator! They also have a few displays about some of the different cultures in Ecuador!

Another trip in Quito was up the second highest cable car in the world, this gave us amazing views of the city, and allowed us to see the vastness of the city! From the top we had the opportunity to climb another volcano, however been there done that, and we didn't know how far we would need to walk!

Our last big outing in Quito was to the basilica, a monster of a church on the edge of old town, here we climbed numerous steps, spiral stair cases, and ladders. To scale the heights of two of the spires, and give shaky legs when looking straight down!

The Fake Equator

The Basilica

From the top of Teleferico

Friday, 22 April 2011

Update

A quick update

After leaving cusco we took an overnight bus to Ica, more precisely huacachina, a beautiful desert oasis. here we thought we should try our hand at sand boarding, one attempt to try it standing up was enough, so the next best option, lying head first on the board, was used. As part of the Sand boarding trip we had an hour of unbelievable rollercoaster rides, in the back of a sand buggy. Alton towers wishes it could emulate the thrills, speed and obliquity of the dunes, and I doubt many of the rides would make Katie scream half as much!

The Desert Oasis

From Ica we headed north to Pisco, home to the Isla Ballestas or more famously known as "the poor mans galapagos". after two attempts to visit the islands; day one large waves because of the full moon 4 days prior, and day 2 large waves because of a tremor, closed the port and ended our hopes of a visit to the island. We did visit the nearby national park, and saw the Peruvian salt road, which proudly features in national geographic, and the cathedral rock formation, although it no longer looks like a cathedral, as part of it was destroyed by an earthquake!

The Cathedral

From Pisco we travelled to Lima, a bustling city on a cliff above the pacific. we walked lots, and saw lots but little of note, parque Kennedy was a highlight, along with the fountain park, home to the worlds most fountains, some interactive meaning you get wet through, others set to music and light shows!

Trujillo was our next port of call, here we visited the Chimu palace of Chan Chan, an impressively large structure, with decorative stone walls, and multiple sacrificial altars. A short bus ride from Trujillo put us on the beach for the first time in what felt like months.

Our final stop in Peru was surf central Mancora! Our hostel put us right on the beach, and allowed us some amazing sunsets.

Mancora Beach

After what seemed like the most unorganised Border crossing ever we headed first to Guayaquil, the biggest ecuadorian city all be it not the capital, here we experienced ridiculously hot and humid days, without a lick of wind. Also in the central square there was huge iguanas roaming freely!

After a short bus ride we were back on the coast in the uneventful Playas, a small fishing town with a small tourist presence!

Next came montanita a small, surfers paradise, constant waves,long clear beaches, glowing sun, and a daily 4pm down pour which led to our retreat into one of numerous bars. In the evening you could place the town in any number of Brit summer getaways, magaluf, tenerife, etc except with the street made cocktails from any number of fruits, most noticeably passion fruit mojitos!!!

Currently we find ourselves in the tune capital of the world, Manta, a big fishing port without much else going for it. Although a visit to the original home of the panama hat is only a short bus ride away!