There is one thing that i love about traveling – you meet people who are in the same elated mood like you have. Positive thinking and attitudes all the way through – no matter what happened. Pickpocket – just a small incident, falling off the bridge while getting drunk – it’s part of the experience, missed the check out time and therefore has no place to sleep for the night – just find a small park for the night and stare into the lovely stars. It’s amazing. You become so resilient on all the ‘bad’ things but you just keep brushing them off like you are indestructible. It’s a tiny example of what enduring human spirit entails.
Prior to this trip i used to be rather pessimistic (ok, thats an understatement – i was the ultimate pessimist). I tend to find fault in decisions, plans and work out ways to navigate around them. For one simple reason – i don’t like uncertainty, i like things planned out. But while it has some merits, you also tend to attract a lot of negative attitudes and energy. And it is rather tiring. You have a different lens on how you view certain things, situation and eventually your life. I don’t think its healthy.
If there was one thing that i have learnt while i am on this trip, it would be ‘having positive attitude and not surround myself with negative energy’. Because most of the times, things always work out – maybe not to the way you are used to, or the way you want it to be. But it might also not be as bad as you think it would turn out. And even if things happened not the way you want it, so what? C’est la vie.
So i say to whatever keeping you from trying something new – Go For It!
Now, back to the business of travel blogging!
Berlin
I took a morning train from Frankfurt to Berlin. My Berlin’s couchsurfing host, Till, was still at work and wouldn’t be able to meet me till a bit later. I put my backpack in the locker and ventured out in the afternoon.
As always, the first stop is Staatsbibliothek Zu Berlin – its not exactly old and gothic looking, but it fed my soul. Plus the librarian was nice – she gave me a private (read: escorted) tour of the library:
She recommended me to visit another (older) library in the centre of the town – Preussische Staatsbibliothek. You have to become a member to visit this library:
After having two Berlin libraries under my belt in the arvo, i returned back to the train station to meet my host. That night, we prepared vegetarian meals together and his mates came over to discuss ‘the future of the traffic system’. Till has been in the automotive industry. Currently he is doing his advanced study and the project he is working on now is autonomous cars. Now i must say that this is one area that i have never educated myself on. So as you can tell, i made a rather interesting conversation partner. While they offer point of views about electric cars, car sharing, the need to protect taxi drivers, solar energy and the likes – i can only nod and nod. My only knowledge came from the doco ‘Who killed the electric car’ and apparently that was enough credence for me to be part of the group. I came out from the discussion – enlightened! I would never thought that someone would be passionate enough about traffics. Gosh.
I know Berlin is a city full of history. Given that i have limited time and wouldn’t want to miss out on even the smallest (but significant) historical part of the town, i decided to join a walking tour. My tour guide, a Canadian, is the most passionate tour guide that i have ever met. Kid you not, this is not his job – he is actually an art director in Canada but during European summer, he always visits Berlin and shares stories about Berlin with tourists like me. He loves Berlin sooo much. At times during the tour, you could see his voice started to waver and he was trying hard to hold back his tears. You couldn’t helped but moved by his amazing story and engrossed by how history has unfolded on the sites we visited.
So where did we go?
We started from the artsy part of the town. Berlin is full of graffiti – its all over town. But there is one part where its protected by law – Yes, the graffiti cannot be removed or defaced. Amazing right? The area used to be squatter’s quarter (and i think it still is in some part) and it reminded me of Copenhagen’s Christiania:
and of course Berlin is famous for its Berlin wall – which does not mean continuous brick walls (even though these were the main barricades) but also rivers and buildings, whatever practically feasible to separate East and West Berlin.
Along the river bank near the parliament, there were white crosses installed to commemorate those who were brave enough to make crossing attempts but killed in the death zone. I saw a granddad exploring this area with (i presumed) his granddaughter.
Around the corner is the Parliament with massive glass dome installed at the top,
On its left was a monument for dead Parliamentarians who were killed for standing up against the Fuhrer:
We then made our way to the Brandenburg Gate – its imposing structure on the city left no doubt in your mind that this is where battles were fought, ideologies were defended, victory marches were paraded, and freedom has triumphed.
and Berlin’s visit is incomplete without the view of Hotel Adlon – one of the most expensive hotels in Berlin.
you must be wondering – what the hell? Shall i remind you, that on that second row balcony from the top, the infamous shot of the King of the Pop (RIP) dangling his baby was taken. Ahhhh yessss (say you).
Now if you were to go back to history, West and East Berlins with their competing ideologies would of course showcase their very best architectures and accomplishments, just to prove that the grass was indeed greener in this side of town. One of the towering structure in East Berlin is the TV tower:
now spot the difference between the picture above and the two pictures below:
(hint, its a bit hard to see, but focus on the round ball and think of the sunlight)
did you see it? If not, its ok – its kinda hard. East Berlin is a communist country and by default an atheist one too. The irony is, in a very sunny day, the sun will shine its light on the most significant structure in East Berlin and oooopsss, you can see a cross – the very symbol of Christianity. (if you haven’t seen it yet, look again at the pictures closely). Amazing eh?
The walking tour continued to the Jewish Memorial – a somber experience:
And also to the most understated part of town – the most famous parking lot in Berlin.
why so famous, you ask? Well, underneath this car park is the Hitler’s Bunker – where he spent his last day and where he ended his life.
Some of Nazi’s architectures are left standing such as this building (now aptly used as the Tax Office):
There were only two large remains of the Berlin Wall, and this is one of them:
and yes, its just a wall (i was expecting more but a wall is a wall is a wall). The amazing thing bout this wall is what it used to represent. In one night, a wall was erected, the city was divided and life was never the same.
And every American who was in the tour got so excited when we visited our next stop, the infamous Checkpoint Charlie:
This was one of the saddest part of the tour as many stories were told about the kind of gross acts committed against another human being who in search for freedom have to die in vain. Of particularly moving was a story of a boy, 15 years old (i forgot his name), who was left bleeding to death in the Death Strip after being shot by the East Berliners’ guards when attempting to cross to West Berlin despite many people in the West who saw the incident pleading to them to save the boy. It makes me wonder that now we live in the longest peaceful era, are we taking freedom for granted? Or should we? For there is no alternative.
It was also Berlin’s Fashion Week:
You might have heard about Hitler’s burning of the book. There is a memorial dedicated to this act of madness – a simple yet with profound meanings. Its made underground with glass top from street level of a square room, painted white, with empty bookshelves attached to the wall. In one of the walls, there was an empty wall without no door. Genius, isn’t it? Really captured the incident.
For more pictures in Berlin, click here
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Well that portion at the top was updated as soon as i have left Berlin, which was like yonks ago. I have been grossly negligent in not keeping up with my travel update and now found myself wondering whether it is even humanly possible for me to make the detailed update as per before. In the end, i have decided that the answer is a resounding no. I have opted, however, to keep you up to date with my best pictures from the cities i have just visited and the people that made the trips extremely memorable:
Prague
Praha has always been a special city. Shan and Maria joined me up from London for the weekend. I was hosted by Xavier who have cool housemates, one of which is Sara from Sweden. It was also the place where we watched the world cup final between the Spanish and the Dutch. I supported the later and the pretty much summed by world cup predictions – i was going against the Octopus, what do you expect. RIP btw about the Octopus news this week.
For more pictures in Prague, click here
Munich
Three things i remember about Munich – BMW, Surfers at Englischer Garden and the Law Library. I was hosted by Felix who worked as a security analyst in a money printing company. How cool is that!
For more pictures in Munich, click here
Austria
There are only three reasons why i visited Austria – library, library and library. First, i went to Linz because its a good base to make a day trip to Admont – one of the most beautiful libraries i have seen in this trip. I was hosted in Linz by Christian. We partied hard by the river, watching rather enviously at the private party that was boasting loud musics on the yatch.
Admont
Then i traveled to the town of Melk (on the way to Vienna), to see another astounding library hidden in the monastery.
Melk
Vienna
Finally to top it all off, is the beautiful national library in Vienna. Its equally breathtaking especially with one of those secret and revolving shelves that unveil another layers of shelves of books behind them. Works of genius.
When i was in Vienna, there was a Live Ball happening coinciding with the AIDS conference. The town came to live with many people dressed in beautiful costumes.
I was hosted by Mina who was recommended to me by Felix from Munich.
For more pictures in Austria, click here
Budapest
Budapest is another beautiful city and my experience is even made better by my host Oliver who was extremely kind. Later on, we will meet again and discover Washington DC together – a first for me. He and his gf, Csilla took me to local night scene and i had loads of fun.
For more pictures in Budapest, click here
Roma
Roma is hot..hot..hot. Vatican is too wealthy. I was hosted by Francesco who took me on a scooter tour around town.
For more pictures in Roma, click here
Cinque Terre
This is by far my favourite Italian destination. The five little towns are paradise. I wish i was here longer!
For more pictures in Cinque Terre, click here
Venice
Venice is a beautiful city. I met Tony and Lucia who just arrived from their Mediterranean cruise. We met up for coffee in a beautiful museum overlooking the main plaza and then hunting around for Tony’s favourite shop selling leather bound. Oh, i was offered the most comfy couch at their hotel!!
For more pictures in Venice, click here
Florence
Did the obligatory Pisa visit. Florence is an ancient city. When i found out that some of the building is few hundred BC – i cant comprehend the timeline. The main reference in my life is Year 2000 (millennium), 1982 (my birthday), 1945 (world war II), 1929 (great depression) and year 0 (Christ was born). Beyond that was just way too far..
For more pictures in Florence, click here
Milan
If you love to shop, this is the place to be. Enough said. Duomo is an extremely amazing architecture.
For more pictures in Milan, click here
Marrakech
I slept overnight at Madrid’s airport before heading to Marrakech on a cheap 22 euros EasyJet flight. Love the orange squeeze, the hot desert (50 degrees!) and the camel ride.
For more pictures in Marrakech, click here
Madrid
You either love Madrid or Barcelona. I’m with the latter. But lots of people love Madrid. I didn’t feel the connection. Maybe i wasn’t in the right exploratory frame of mind. Though, I love the visit to Escorial library and to the home of Real Madrid.
For more pictures in Madrid, click here
Barcelona
This is the city that i’m ready to move to at anytime. i love Barcelona. The city offers everything: beach, mountain, great food, lively art scene, great people and perfect weather. But no city is perfect and one exception to my love to Barcelona is the fact that it is a training ground for world pickpocket associations. On the day Naomi arrived to join me in Barcelona, we were targeted by a group of 5 at the metro station. Lucky they didn’t get anything from us and people at the metro just looked the other way.
For more pictures in Barcelona, click here
London
I crashed at Shan and Maria’s place while i was in London. They took me on a city tour and Shan showed his infamous Ben’s shot. I was rather disappointed that the Old Reading Room was under renovation but a trip to Oxford made up for it. Naomi later joined me in the week after my visit to Bradford and Edinburgh.
For more pictures in London, click here
Bradford
The first thing that people asked me when i told them that i will be in Bradford would be, ‘WHY?’ Because Miss Y is there!!!!!! Enough said. i have loads of fun.
For more pictures in Bradford, click here
Made a day trip to the Theater of Dream where the best football team in the world resides.
For more pictures in Old Trafford, click here
Edinburgh
Miss Y, Mark, Vanessa and I made a road trip from Bradford to Edinburgh for the Fringe (the best art festival in the world!)
On the way, we saw two farms, side by side, having Orange Sheeps – yes they are not dyed. They are orange. You know there are certain things in life that you thought you know are absolute. I thought sheeps are white. How wrong am i! Goodness.
For more pictures in Edinburgh, click here
Montreal
True story – i met Natalie for a brief 4 hours while we were in Tokyo and few months later, i stayed at her place in Montreal. She couldn’t be a better host. I wish i could have spent longer there. She taught me how to eat Poutine (its chips with squeaky cheese and gravy) – its fried, cheesy, squeaky and full of gravy. well, all good things in life are bad, aren’t they? the countless Poutine i had while i was in Canada probably moved me one notch closer to the heart-attack-is-imminent level.
if you don’t already know, Montreal also has a web of interconnected underground cities. its amazing – you get to pick, do you want on the ground or underground. unless you are living in Montreal, you will find it hard to locate the entrances/exits (thats how i felt, anyway).
I also met Youla – Yvette’s friend while they were in Bradford. She took me around town for two days while Natalie was at work. We went to the infamous smoked meat restaurant, toured universities and monastery. I had a great time.
For more pictures in Montreal, click here
Quebec City
Quebec is France and it felt more European than a North American city. It’s as if somebody just took a slice of France in Europe, giga-transported it and attached it to North America. I meant, i’ve got a preview of the French vs English culture clash in Montreal, but i still felt culture shocked. I like Quebec, it has characters – especially the street arts littered around the town. But one of my favourite spot is outside my couchsurfing host’s house. The street is divided by a walkway where seats are installed during the summer (and bolted on the ground so ppl don’t take them home!). I like the spot. It’s as if your living room is extended right through the street. We have our coffee in the morning and our beers and wine at nights in that spot. Simple thing in life.
For more pictures in Quebec, click here
As you could probably tell, after Quebec i’m halfway through my travel and i have moved on to another continent, leaving Europe behind. This is the part of my travel where my plan is a bit sketchy. For example, i have now learnt that its a really good idea to have a map for the country you intend to visit, or at least know where the cities you are going to visit are located relative to each other. Despite my great affection for America, i was extremely naive when it comes to her geography. I paid for this mistake now because i have to pass through NY three times by criss-crossing the cities – a little bit of common sense Tedy!
Washington DC
Its dubbed Capital of the Free World and they were not wrong. You feel the buzz and i felt excited. OK, i’m a nerd, geek and political junkie. I love PMQs and C-SPAN. So that would probably put me on the extreme outlier of normality spectrum. What say you? I make no apology and i love this city.
I could write pages about the city and my experience, but here are the highlights:
-CS with Salman who is working for the IFC – the financing arm of the World Bank. We traded travel tips – me giving him Europe, he gave me South America.
-Met Yvette’s friend Josh and Meghan. Josh used to be an aide for Senator Bayh – so he hooked me up on a Capitol Tour trip (no WH tour for me, its hard to get and its a high currency in DC). I got to ride the private underground train senators used to travel from the Senate Office to the Capitol.
-Became a member of Library of Congress (LoC) – the largest library in the world! I went there twice.
-Met up with my Hungarian CS host – Oliver, and discovered the city together with his friend, Pedro.
-Did Ben’s Chilli Bowl
-Saw the largest collection of Rothko’s paintings in one spot in my life. I was on ecstasy! And guess what, lots of them are black!
-Got to seat inside the Supreme Court (see i’m so close to closing in on the three branches of government, i’ve got the Legislative and Judicial nailed down – pity that the Executive i.e. the White House got left out. It shall be one of my life missions!)
-Also went to Arlington: visited Renhquist, Burger, JFK, and Uncle Ted (RIP).
For more pictures in Washington DC, click here
New York
New York, New York……. its the city that never sleeps. You feel the vibe, you feel small in the sea of zoo many people. Its the ultimate melting pot. Everybody is here. You find every language is spoken in this city – no exception (ok maybe a little bit of exaggeration, but you get the point).
Here are my highlights:
-Successfully hosted by two CS hosts in the same city – Christian and Kwesi.
-Met up with Victor and his bro (they moved to NY from Melbourne approx 4 years ago)
-Became a member of NYPL (New York Public Library)
-Spent two days in Central Park
-Saw UN General Assembly in session
For more pictures in New York, click here
Boston
Boston is an extremely sexy city. Its cutting edge, retaining some of its old characters yet vibrant, thanks to the countless Ivy Leagues lining up on Cambridge. I thought i already shelved my desire to pursue further education, but my being there renewed and confirmed that Boston is the city i will one day live in. I’ve never felt in the right place for a long time, until this visit. Of course, i visited HBS and KSG. Also went to Sloan. I was lucky because it was also the start of the Fall semester so in KSG, there was a Forum of all the visiting fellows and the event is also for public. I attended the event where the speakers include, former Prime Minister of Haiti, former Mayor of Chicago, former Secretary of Education, former Knesset member, former Chief Police and a journalist. I was happy.
Daniel is my CS host in this city. He is ex army and now pursuing his further education. He is a cool chap – we explored JFK Presidential Library together.
After that, we met Meti – Yvette’s roommate and my friend while we were in Berkeley. She just started in Harvard. We haven’t seen each other for 8 years! yolks!
For more pictures in Boston, click here
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, while touristy, lived up to its expectations. I took an overnight bus from NY, which supposed to bring me right to NF. But at a bus terminal in Buffalo, NY where i have to change bus, the bus driver for the next leg didn’t want to take me on, because i have to stop at the US Customs and Borders to get an exit stamp on my passport (being Indonesian, i have to report upon entry and exit). So i was temporarily stranded, had to pay for a cab to bring me to the border and to the hostel. And guess what, the cost of the cab is more expensive than the original bus that took me from NY. Oh well, what can you say. I wasn’t really in the position to negotiate and i was at the cabbie’s mercy to take me. The alternative, stranded on the highway where the traffic is one way – its the start of the football season and all the Canadians are heading over en masse to the US side for the game.
For more pictures in Niagara Falls, click here
Originally i wasn’t planning to go to Toronto nor San Jose, Costa Rica. You probably have heard by now that Mexicana Airlines went bellied up in August. Yup, ive got 5 flight segments with them! This also meant that i have to figure out an alternative route to go to Havana. In a typical day, it should be relatively easy – fly to Mexico and you are sweet. Unfortunately, when everybody does the same it clogged the traffic and you have few options left. One of that option is to have either a 16 hr layover in Cayman Island or San Jose, Costa Rica. I chose the latter after i couldn’t get a straight answer from British Embassy in DC/NY whether i still need a separate British Territory visa to visit Cayman if i already have a UK visa. So instead of Montreal – Mexico City – Cancun – Habana – Bogota, my itinerary was altered to Toronto – Miami – San Jose – Habana – San Jose – Bogota. Mission accomplished – Cuban trip was saved!
Toronto
Its a short affair with Toronto – accidental rather than planned. Less than 24 hours but i’ve got to see a lot. The only regret i have was not being able to stay longer – Toronto Film Festival was on while i was there!!! Sean, my CS host for one night was great. He took me and another fellow CS to a local pub.
For more pictures in Toronto, click here
San Jose – Costa Rica
Its only a brief stopover – 16 hours, arriving in the late arvo and departing early the next morning. So i don’t get the full experience. Besides, i already have a negative preconceived image about San Jose – which is pretty much a city with nothing to see. And in my brief encounter, it confirmed my initial thoughts. Even fellow travellers i met at the hostel said the same thing. I didn’t even bother to take out my D90 – San Jose is officially the only city and country that i have visited but failed to get a single shot. Actually, i lied. I did take a shot using my BB while having dinner at the hostel – of the food and beer, that is. You can find it in my twitter post.
There were two other things worth mentioning – there were lots of fireworks at night because the following day is the National Day and my hostel manager was so generous that she drove me to her place, and unsew (is there such a word?) a Costa Rica flag patch from her hubby’s ambulance shirt.
Havana
I know i was expecting an old city but i wasn’t expecting a rundown old city. i have a mixed feeling about Havana. In one sense, everyone knows that the experiment has clearly failed. People felt trapped. But on the other hand, they managed daily life beautifully. There is a sense of ‘we are in this together’ every where you go. Tourism is the no 1 income generator for the country but you can see a segment of population that is touched by tourist dollars and those that dream of. I spoke to a number of locals and their plights were uniformed – if they could get out, they would have. they thanked me for bringing the world to them through my stories because they couldn’t experience themselves.
For more pictures in Havana, click here
Bogota
You heard so many stories about Colombia – that its one of the most dangerous cities in the world, you might get kidnapped, killed, mugged. I was so afraid prior to coming here that on my first day, i decided to not bring my D90 out. Nearly everyone told me to keep it safe because they were sure i will not see it again. On my first outing to Plaza de Bolivar, i was ‘naked’ without camera and i saw a score of tourists happy snapping with their DSLRs. I felt stupid. All the time i felt safe – there were only few occasions where i have to be a little bit guarded i.e. after 7pm in dark alleys. But thats the same everywhere.
Bogota is also my first South American city. As i arrived and met fellow travellers at the hostel in La Candelaria (historical part of town), i noticed something different i.e. majority of travellers in South America are more matured and experienced than the stereotype you find in Europe. They have at least few months of traveling under their belts and that makes conversation more easy going as you trade travel stories and tips to navigate around. You also get more from them as the conversation tend to be deeper than the usual hows-the-weather-obligatory-chit-chat.
I met a few cool people here: Ian, Travis, Sam, Dave, Marita, Sara and Natalie.
For more pictures in Bogota, click here
Taganga
I decided to go to Taganga in lieu of Medellin because of my diving desire. I originally planned to take diving class in Cartagena. But upon hearing that its 1/2 the price in Taganga, and equally beautiful, i decided to make a detour. It was all worth it, despite me cancelling on the diving course after the first day. I was on the ‘confined’ water session, which in Taganga means the sea, and i freaked out. i didn’t trust the machine, didn’t trust the system. I never thought i would react the way i did but i did. I was quite disappointed. I just choked, couldn’t breathed, and got scared. One day, i might give it another go, but for now – no thanks.
Instead, with the new found many days, i decided to take a 3 hour a day spanish lessons for 3/4 days. I met up with Ian again. Also, met up new cool people – Morten, the Swedish gals, Kiev and Alan. Sara turned up unexpectedly over breakfast.
We spent a lot of time in Cafe Bonsai – a cool Swedish cafe, a must visit especially its Mojito slush. Divine.
For more pictures in Taganga, click here
Cartagena
I left for Cartagena by bus with Kiev. We explored the city together on his last day in Colombia and my first day in Cartagena. Its a classic town, rich with history and colours. Call it fate, but i was walking alone (and rather lost) in the town when someone shouted my name… Oh la la… it was Marita. We then decided to go to dinner and a german pub, afterward. Good times.
I also went on a day trip to Isla de Rosario (beautiful!).
For more pictures in Cartagena, click here
Peru!
It has been an unexpected pleasure. I thought i would never like traveling in a group, especially having gone solo for the last 5 months. but my decision to go with Intrepid for Peru turned out to be extremely enjoyable. Maritza, the group leader is an amazing woman. She is Cuscoesqe and our mama for the next 21 days. My roomy is Jaime from Spain. We have Manja and Kai from Germany. Catherine is a park ranger from Port Macquarie – a compulsive shopper. Anne (from England) and her partner Patrick from Belgium are a lovely couple and finally Hayley from Queensland rounds the eight of us.
The journey started in Lima where we stayed in Miraflores. The next day after a brief orientation of Miraflores and old historic town, we went to Pisco, where the art of Pisco Sour making was revealed. We love Pisco so much that our group name is Pisco group. Early the next morning we made our way to Nazca, a small town where we spent sand dunning and boarding, looking at the Nazca lines and for those that paid USD75, a flyover (i didn’t go).
In Arequipa, i bought a small baby alpaca beanie. We went to Colca Canyon to see the Andean condors. After which, we went to Sibanyo where we had our homestead. Surprisingly, the bathroom is clean albeit no hot water. Funny thing happened during breakfast where we were fed with a bowl full of spaghetti and Jaime got a fried trout to top it off. I could see the struggling expression on his face when he got the bowl. We gobbled it all up despite the struggle.
The arvo before, we helped to collect some wood for fire from a nearby river. I carried them home, was struggling but for somewhat reason, when i saw Hayley and Catherine in the tradition Peruvian dress, i couldn’t stop but laugh and dropped the wood fire several times.
Puno was the next city where we based ourselves before heading to Lake Titicaca where we took a private boat to visit the floating island – Isla de Uros. We stayed in another homestead in the island – Kirane, where we spent the day helping to feed the pigs and sheeps, moving the bricks with donkey, and playing volleyball with the islanders. I quite enjoyed the experience, actually. Jaime had a heart to heart conversation with our house mama. She was happy foes us to be there but sad at the same time because she knows we will leave the next day. Its always hard for people that you leave behind.
We also visited Isla de Teqilla, where we climbed up to the very top to get a glimpse of how big the lake is.
Cuzco is our next stop – an amazing city (although, full of tourists!). This is the final city before the Inca Trail. We spent the day exploring the city, visiting the sacred valley, Saqqaywaman, the salt mine and a couple of other historical sites.
At the trail briefing, we finally met with other group that we will join for the trail.
After the Inca Trail, we spent a couple of days in Amazon Jungle via flight to Puerto Monaldo.
For more pictures in Peru, click here
Inca Trail – Machu Picchu
There is no question about it – the 4 days 3 nights Inca Trail is tough. The second day especially. But the porters and cooks were amazing. The highlights include:
-learning how to play Shithead (the fave card came), the loser has to shout to the campsite, “My name is ….. I am a shithead” – in any language. The first time is the hardest 
-Manja, Kai and I decided to do our bit for the envo not the last day
-Manja, Kai, Pam, Sam and I decided to do Waynu Picchu. Because only 200 tickets are given in the morning, we have to run from our last camp site to Machu Picchu. The trail that normally took 2.5 hours was blasted in 45 minutes. We were the first at the Sun Gate and we got the tickets! The last of our five tickets were numbered 189th! We were soo high on adrenaline that it took us at least 3 hours to calm down. Amazing feeling!!!
For more pictures in Inca Trail – Machu Picchu, click here
Foz du Iguacu
Foz du Iguacu is a stop i did following Peru. It was the start of my Brazilian adventure. Its a relaxing town, although its more American style than Brazilian. Did the Fall from the Brazilian side (didn’t have the visa to go to Argentina), and visited Taipu – the largest hydroelectric dam and a joint project between Brazil and Paraguay. I, was technically on Paraguaian soil without a visa!
For more pictures in Foz du Iguacu, click here
Rio de Janeiro
My host in Rio, Daniel is amazing. He picked me up from the airport on the day i arrived. What made it more interesting is the fact that his friend from Sao Paulo, Lu, was also arriving a couple of hours later. Lu, would later become my host in Sao Paulo.
Now, i don’t speak Portuguese and Lu doesn’t speak English. So both of us were using sign language and google translator on her blackberry to communicate. We still had fun though.
Daniel and Lu took me around the city, various interesting places including:
-his voting booth during the Brazilian presidential election
-national park
-a nice restaurant as part of the Restaurant Week
-Rio’s first Hot Fair (read: Erotic Fair)
-second biggest shopping centre in Latin America, Barra Shopping
-Sugar Loaf
-and many others.
I also managed to do hang gliding despite various false starts with the weather. And this is also the city where i dropped my D90. As a result, i have screwed my lens badly (poor me!)
On our last day when he drove us to the airport, we had an accident on the tunnel. That was a crazy day. Our flight was cancelled (not delayed) but lucky we got put on another (and better) airline.
My stay in Rio was extremely enjoyable thanks to Daniel, my CS host.
For more pictures in Rio de Janeiro, click here
Sao Paulo
It was a brief affair in Sao Paulo, meant as a stopover before my next destination Santiago de Chile. I’m so glad that i met Lu in Rio. We flew together to SP then she drove me around town to visit the interesting facets of the concrete jungle. We went to SP’s highest building, the Municipal Mercado and the cultural central of Banco de Brasil. Thanks Lu!
For more pictures in Sao Paulo, click here
Chile
Some people like Santiago de Chile. Like Madrid, i didn’t feel the connection here. So after a day trip to Valpraiso, i got bored and took up the offer to join Levw (a German i met at the hostel) to do an overnight bus to Pucon. We met Amelie (another German) who was also taking the bus to Pucon. It was the perfect decision. I love it there! We climbed the Volcano (tough and icy!), visited the lake and waterfalls, did hydrospeed and went to a thermal. Amazing time.
For more pictures in Chile, click here
That capped my South American adventure. There is only one more leg of my travel – New Zealand. I’m feeling rather sad that my trip is ending but all good things must come to an end, eh?
Oceania – here i come.