Homeward Bound

Im in Madrid airport at the mo waiting for my connection home. Ring me if you want to meet up over the next few weeks
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Futbol

Went to an ostrich farm which was fun but rather disappointingly the restauant wasnt open on Saturday for us to try some. We legged it back to Bogota to party for our last Sat in South America but we were too wrecked to go out in the end. Losers, heh? It wasnt a total loss. I did spend the night learning how to play Texas Holdem.

Yesterday went to watch Colombia play Brazil in the 2010 South African World Cup football qualifiers. Was so excited to see Brazil in the flesh as they had some of their big names playing, Ronaldhino & Robhino etc but to be honest, they really didnt bring it. Colombia were all over them and deserved to win, but it ended a disappointing nil all draw. Great experience though. Watching futbool in SA must be unlike in any other country. The atmosphere was incredible despite the fact that there was a thunder storm and it pissed rain throughout the whole game and everyone was soaked.

Was too wrecked to go out last night for my last night in SA, so just packed my bag. Took longer than youd think. Im way over the weight so had to dump a load of clothes.

Northern Colombia

I spent a few great days on the Carribean coast. Its absolutely roasters up there but really humid and there was thunderstorms every day with the most incredible thunder and lightning Ive ever seen. My surgeon told me to stay away from the sun, sand, salt water and rain so heading up there probably wasn´t the brightest idea but I was so bored of Bogota and all mates were up there. It worked out really well. I got to visit two lovely towns, Santa Marta and Taganga and then I spent a few days in Tyrona National Park which was an amazing experience. You have to trek through the National Park´s forests and jungles and beaches to get to two isolated beaches that are not accessible by any road. There is a little community living there and gringos can stay overnight in hammocks. There is nothing to do there during the day except sunbath, snorkel or explore the surrounding area but its like paradise. The beaches were the most beautiful Ive ever seen and getting there is like something out of the movie `The Beach´. Definitely one of the most special things Ive done in South America.

I had to wear the cast the whole time and my face was still fairly bruised and swollen which was a good talking piece. Its lucky Im not shy about the surgery. I had to hightail it back to Bogota to get the cast off a few days ago which was a shock. My nose looks completely different. Its hard to get used to staring back at a different reflection. The swelling takes three months to go down so I still look a little strange and its hard to tell the final result but overall Im pleased and I think I made the right decision. Time will tell. The final final result wont be seen for a whole year though!

The poor girls Im travelling with have been sick in bed for a few days. Luckily a wicked Ozzie bloke Ive met a few times along the way arrived at the hostel so weve been hanging out together for our last few days in South America. He also flys home on Monday. At the moment Im in a colonial town with him 4 hours outside Bogota called Villa de Leyba. In Ireland I probably woudn´t travel 4 hours for 1 night away but travelling here has completely changed my perspective on time and distance.

Real Colombian Experience

I was walking back to my hostel one night and two Colombian guys attacked me...................................................................No, thats not true. Its all self inflicted. I opted for a real Colombian experience and got a nose job while I was here. Ive been recouperating in a clinic for the past few days. My next appointment isn´t for a few days so Im off to the Carribean coast for the next few days in an attempt to see a bit more of Colombia while Im here.

More Bogota

Spent yesterday just walking around the north town which isn´t very exciting as its just full of airline offices and expensive hotels. I did negotiate the tram though which is actually quite a feet. My experience, contrary to many stories Ive heard, is that Colombians are NOT helpful.

Today treated myself to a massage. The masseuse wore surgical gloves the whole time. Weird! and she wondered why I couldn´t relax. Went shopping..again. Im a brat. And then went to the cinema. Don´t bother seeing Paranoia. Its rubbish. It didn´t help either that I was surrounded by young couples with nowhere else to go. Felt guilty about not doing anything cultural so went to the Gold Museum and then to an artisans market. After 5 months here, all the markets are the same , selling the same hippy shit, which I have no interest in. I must be the only backpacker travlling that has resisted the urge to adorn my arms with rubbishy friendship braclets you used to give your freinds when you were 12.

Bogota

Im in Bogota at the mo. The bus journey was quite hard. Its really expensive to go direct so I choose to get a bus to the Ecuadorian border, taxi across to the Colombian border and then a bus to Bogota. It took about 26 hours in total. Id done similar bus journeys in Argentina but its been months since Ive had to do one that long so it has taken its toll. Im absolutely knackered today. Quiet one tonight I think. I was finally (after 3 weeks of calling Iberia every day), able to book my flight home today. I´ll be home Oct 15th for those that want to meet up and get all the stories I couldn´t write on the blog........

More Quito

Ive been having a great laugh the last few days. I met up with the gang Ive been traveling with for ages after a short break apart. They have headed off to Colombia but I should meet up with them again along the way. Quito has loads of backpackers which makes a nice change from a lot of the places Ive been in Ecuador. Im spending most of my time with a funny Ozzie bloke that I met originally in Banos. I feel like Ive known him for years so we are having great craic together.

Ive been to loads of museums and churches, the best was an art museum showing an Andy Worhol exhibition which was really interesting. Also climbed the church tower which gives a great view of the old city.

We went to the Equator which was really underwhelming. Basically just a line and a monument. Definitely missable. And then we went to the real equator which was just down the road. Apparantly they didn´t have GPS when they drew the first line. So we paid again into the real line which was quite funny as you can balance an egg on a nail head and you can watch the water fall straight through a plug hole without it swirling.

Went to a Turkish baths today which wasn´t great cause the sauna and the steam rooms weren´t very hot which kind of defeats the purpose.

The best thing Ive done since I got here was go to visit the womens prison. We went to visit an Irish girl but it turns out she had already been released so we just chatted to the other foreigners who were all in for drug trafficking. It was very surreal but an incredible experience. We got to mingle with all the prisoners in the yard and their common room and we even got a tour of their bedrooms. The conditions were awful. The prison is doubly oversubscribed and overrun with children who are allowed live with their criminal mothers. Can you imagine growing up in a prison? The food looked terrible and the place was awash with inmates wandering around like zombies on drugs. Most of the foreigners are in there for 8 years minimum. They were all in fairly good spirits as we brought a load of chocolate, cigarettes, fresh veg etc and we all gave them money as well.

Apart from that Ive just been going out. The bars and clubs are amazing here. So are the shops. Ive bought a load of clothes which Ive no space for in my bag but Im just so sick of all the stuff Ive been wearing non-stop for the last 5 is it? months.

Im prob going to head to Colombia myself tomorrow if I can get my act together.

Quito

Arrived in Quito last night and I love love love it already. Reminds me a bit of Cusco where I spent a month. Ill have to be careful. The hostel I choose was full which was a bit annoying but at least I know I choose a good one and Im goingt o move in there today. The day I left Peru I met an Irish guy on the bus. We got to chatting and it turned out his bank card wasn´t working or something. Feeling sorry for him, I lent him 20 dollars so that he could at least get something to eat before he reached his destinationand sorted it out. Turned out that 20dollars saved his life. His bags were put on the wrong bus and he had to get another bus somewhere to pick them up which he wouldn´t have been able to do without my money. Well, I met up with him last night for a few drinks and we had great craic. He brought me to a fancy bar/restaurant and had the best garlic prawns Ive ever eaten. Im so sick of the food in Ecuador. Its all chicken, rice and potatoes. Even if you want to go to nice places, there haven´t really been any....until now. The food in Quito is amazing.

Tena

Met up with Becky and the 3 of us spent the night in Banos then headed off by bus to the jungle town of Tena the next day. The bus journey was a nightmare. The good road didn´t last long and after that we were on a very bumpy dirt track. We were sat at the back (cause we are cool) and were being thrown violently around the place for about 3 hours. We made a short 10 min stop. The usual locals got on trying to sell us drinks, ice pops, fruit etc and then something Id never seen before- a portion of deep fried chicken and chips, hot, for 1 dollar. Sold!

Tena had a really nice feel to it. The buildings were all brightly coloured like the Carribean but kind of ramshakle. It was really humid and it rained most of the time but it was a warm rain. After two cocktails I was wrecked so went home early and let the youngsters party it out. I got up early the next morning and headed to the zoological gardens while they slept in the hammocks. Im not really into animals but it was something to do while the others slept and in the end I really enjoyed it. I saw all the animlas I should have seen in the jungle and loads more- monkeys, caymens, pumas, jaguars, turtles, and the rat-pig thing Id seen in Bolivia, that my zoooligist sister Sheena informs me is actually called "a capybara, largest rodent in the world and very cute". Hmm- you can tell who the animal lover is!

Becky has decided to stay in Tena to do a 3 day rafting trip and some ecological work in the jungle so yesterday I loved her and left her and headed to Quito with my highly intellegent Romanian who speaks much better English than I do and kept me entertained on the 5 hour bus journey cause it was too bumby to read.

Puyo

When I was booking my tour I was told there were 2 Ozzies doing it with me. I asked what age and they said, just a bit older than you, so Im thinking 30ish! They were about 50-60. Damm it, I thought but actually we had a a really nice day. They were really cool and I have mucho respect for them travelling around South America at their age. I hope Im as active.

We went to an indigineous village in the morning. I wasn´t totally convinvced. Im sure I saw a flicker of a tv and there were football boots lying around. Its not that I dont expect them to advance, I just got the distinct impression, a lot of what we were shown was for show. I was offered a tribal henna from a woman. With images of the fabolous Indian wedding henna in mind, I agreed, only to be horrified when it was done. The woman drew a pathetic looking butterfly on my arm, and then wanted to get paid. Despite scrubbing it off (out of view) Im told itll still last 2 weeks as it dyes the skin immediately.

Afterwards we walked through the jungle and learnt about the healing properties of the plants. The photo is of me snorting some plant that helps sinus problems. It was like shoving a chilli pepper up there. As you can see from the look on my face, Im not used to snorting things up my nose! There was a distinst lack of animals but we were only in the secondary part of the Amazon and you need to go further east into the thick of it to see any. Then took a dugout canoe down one of the rivers. Overall it was a good day, I was just expecting a lot more. The way Ms Brennan in 2nd year geography made it sound was much more interesting. I got a lift back to Banos that night as I didn´t really like Puyo and my mate Becky had just arrived there. I dragged along an 18year old Romanian boy that I met who was by himself.

Banos rocks

Its been a laugh a minute the last few days. My friend Laura from Ireland arrived and needless to say weve been on the piss the last few nights. We met a great group of Ozzy & Irish lads so you can imagine the drinking and the messing that went on. One of the guy´s Mum is a gymnastics teacher, so we had a bit of a gymnastics off. Its been a while since Ive done the crab and I need to work on holding that handstand longer. During the day Ive been a busy bee as well. I went cannoying which is about the only adventure sport I haven´t done yet in South America. Its sort of a mix of absailing down waterfalls and gorge walking. I also booked a private rock climbing and bouldering lesson, followed by rappelling. It was so enoyable but Im aching badly today all over. Even laughing hurts my ribs. I got my hair chopped. The split ends were a disgrace. And I had a facial so feel great. Went to the local hot springs last night. Roasting hot water comes direct from the nearby volcano for the baths. Incredible.

The lads were going a different way from me so Ive split with them and am back on my own in a town called Puyo. Banos was by the far the nicest place Ive been in Ecuador so Im sad to leave but I must press on. I checked three hostels here in Puyo but there are no gringos staying in any of them so I really am on my own again. Ah well. Ive got a tv in the room and Ive booked an Amazon jungle tour for tomorrow.

Volcano Trek

Banos is a town on the edge of the Oriente so its really lush here and much more like what I thought Ecuador would be. Yesterday I went on a very ardous trek through a cloud forest up a volcano. Any fitness I may have gained from my Salkantay trek has promptly been lost due recent excessive boozing. I thought I was going to die. Luckily there was also a Dutchy Holland girl who was also really slow so it looked like we were both holding up the group, rather than just me. Our unfitness was highlighted by the fact that the others in our group were Americans who studied health and fitness and were obviously very active. Afterwards, we got to cycle down, and even though, they said they were keen mountain bikers, I flew past them. No fear. Maybe no sense either.

I went out last night with the Dutch girl which ended my recent detox. I was pissed after 3 drinks. What a joke. But they were large ones. And I hadn´t eaten much that day. Ha Ha. It was a fun albeit short night. Shes been living here for a month so we went out with all the locals and I got to speak Spanish all night, which I haven´t done in a while.

Banos

Spent the morning at a local market in Riobamba. The meat section used to make me want to vomit but ive been at so many bmarkets now that I must be building up a tolerance for all the pigs heads and trotters. The hygiene is horrendous and there are always dogs running in and around the meat.Its no wonder Ive been sick so often.

Took a bus to Banos today. Im completely paranoid that all Ecuadorians are trying to rob me. Ive been totally on edge since the incidence with the taxi man. Every time I get a bus here Im convinved that my rucksack will be taken out of the baggage hold or that my dag bag will be stolen from above my head. Ive heard stories of both happening in all South American countries but until now I haven`t been worried. Not seeing any other gringos is starting to unnerve me as I stand out a mile in every place Ive been so far ad I feel like a target. Slightly paranoid maybe.

My first choice of hostel was full so Im staying in another nice one with my own private room with bathroom and tv. I took a tour today to see all the waterfalls in the area, hoping there would be some gringos on the tour as well- it was me and 20 Ecuadorians. It turns out this is where they all come for their holidays. This one weirdo latched onto and wouldn`t stop talking to me. I entertained him for as long as I could but when we got off to see one of the waterfalls up close I just legged it on ahead, even with my bandaged ankle. The poor simpleton ended up falling in the water with all his clothes on. He wouldn`t leave my side after that, and I felt bad, so I ended up talking to him. I dont feel like hitting the bars by myself tonight so I think Ill just go home and watch tv. Dont feel too sorry for me. One of my ex-scouts Laura is arriving here on Monday so Ive only got one more day of solitude before we rip up the town.

Devils Nose Train & Riobamba

I was at the train station for 7.50am this morning. Just as well. I was second in the queue that formed (gringos appeared out of nowhere) and some people were left disappointed today. The normal train isn´t running at the moment because of the weight of it but a substitute one carriage train is running instead but it only holds 40 people. On the original train you could ride on the roof but we were told that this isn´t allowed on the current train. After much pressure and a bribe of $1 each we persuaded the condutor to let us get up top. Not bad for him seeing as about 30 of us availed of the offer. In hindsight, I reckon they do this every day, making themselves a tidy profit on the side. The track we went down was incredibly, built into the side of the mountain. It worked on a series of switch-backs zig-zaging its way down the mountain so at times we were going backwards. The train was mainly full of a group of uni students from Washington which sort of wrecked the journey a bt with all the girls high pitched screeching. The Japenese girl wasn´t looking so bad after all and we eneded up sharing a hotel room together today in Riobamba.

I spent the afternoon visiting museums- mostly displaying traditional art, dress and other textiles. The most interesting place I visited today was a converted convent which houses a collection of religious artefacts mostly from the 16th? centrury. It was really amazing to see everything that was brought over by the Spanish when they were converting the locals. A lot of the artwork and statues were unlike anything Ive seen before. The museums greatest treasure is a priceless gold monstrance which was impressive.

Cuenca and Alausi

The bus to Cuenca took hours longer than expected. We got dried salted bananas as a snack. Ive got diahorea again probably because of the change in water from Peru. The bus journey was not enjoyable but I survived with a few well timed stops from the driver. The hostel was like the Ritz in comparison to the night before but there didn´t seem to be anyone else staying there so I went off for the day on my own. I just walked around the town taking photos of all the pretty colonial buildings and then I visited a museum detailing the history of local hand crafts from the region. I went to a flower market and then for dinner in a busy restaurant by myself. I spent the time reading my guidebooks to plan my next move. Even though there are ruins nearby to Cuenca, I decided to press on further north today and so got another bus to Alausi.

Again it took hours longer than expected. There had been a landslide along the way and big trucks cleaning up the debris blocked the road for hours. I was starving today but I was too scared to eat anything at the places we stopped on the bus. They didn´t have chips just manky soups containing chicken feet and whole eggs. I found an ok hotel in Alausi but there doesn´t seem to be anyone else staying there apart from an Asian girl who doesn´t speak any English. She has some Spanish but her accent is too strong so I gave up hanging out with her. There are no other gringos to be seen. Its been kind of lonely with noone to speak to for the last 3 days but I guess its just another South America experience. I should be pleased to at least be off the gringo trail for a few days. I spent the afternoon climbing a nearby hill, at the top of which is a massive statue of San Pedro. They are mad for their statues over here. I managed to find a place that served chips for dinner but now my stomach is grumbling again. Fingers crossed it wont be at me all night. After dinner I came to do emails but the whole town had a powercut. Ive finished my latest read and desperately need to meet a gringo if only to swap books or Im going to go out of my mind. Its very boring sitting in a dark room with noone to talk to so I went out on the street and made friends with some locals. Noone has heard of Ireland. Most know Spain, they just dont know where it is. Im still a bit creeped out by all the men since meeting that taxi driver, so didn´t stay long when they started asking me if I had a boyfriend. The reason I came to this wee town is because I want to get a train tomorrow along a very famous stretch of the track called the Devils nose which is supposed to be incredibly scenic but everyone I asks gives me conflicting info. Some say I need to go to the station at 8am, others say 9am, 11am and 2pm. Others say the train is not running tomorrow. Who knows. This is typical South America so I just have to laugh and get up early tomorrow. I dont wont to be stuck here an extra day.

Machala- day from hell

The bus to Machala in Ecuador was supposed to pick me up at 1.30pm. It arrived at 4.10pm. Apparantly it had broken down twice and had gotten a blow out on its 24 hour journey before meeting me. The bus was mainly full of Ecuadorian shoolboys who were really giddy and smelly. It was supposed to be a four hour journey but border crossing took much longer than expected and we kept stopping for what appeared like no reason (maybe the engine was cooling). I hadn´t eaten before the bus so I was starving when I fianlly arrived at 11pm.

There was a small dispute over the price of my ticket. The lady in agency had told me 50soles and thats all I had left of Peruvian currency but the driver wanted me to pay 68soles which I didn´t have. He relented but in the end but got his own back by not droppng me in the town centre. I was the only person getting off there. Instead he dropped me in the suburbs which saved him some time. I hadn´t a clue and only realised when it was too late.

My taxi to the centre was a complete nightmare. After loading my bags the driver motioned for me to sit in the front and absentmindedly I did. Mancora is roasting, so I was travelling in a short denim skirt and flops thinking Id be arriving in Machala at about 5.30pm. The taxi driver turned on the inside car lights and proceeded to stare at my bare legs instead of the road. I turned it off but by this stage I had realised through conversation that he was a little weird. He persisted on practising his English with me even though my Spanish was clearly ten times better. I think he learnt his phrases from pop songs cause nothing he said quite made sense. We got to the town centre and he didn´t seem to know where he was going. We finally got on the right street but I couldn´t find the hostel and he kept wanting to turn off the road and ´go around the block´. I was really scared at this stage. He hit the central locking button and I freaked so he opened it again. I opened my car door and he pulled over. He let me get my bags and then I paid him. He completely ripped me off by charging me 10dollars but at this stage I just wanted away from him so I didn´t bother arguing. I found the hostel I wanted to stay in but it was closed and there was no bell. The area was well dodge. Scared out of my shite, I found another hotel. It cost 38dollars a night which was crazy money so despite being scared I decided Id walk the 4 blocks to another hostel. My bags weighed a ton and my ankle killed. The area was really run down and there was some dodgy characters around. I wondered if I had been stupid not paying the extra money to be safe and then I saw a sign for another hostel. Thank god. I went upstairs to reception relieved until I was taken to my room. It was disgusting. Really reminded me of the place Leo stays in, in the movie ´the beach´. There were two beds with only stained bottom sheets. Thank god I had a sleeping bag with me. It had a really creepy, dingy feel to it. The bathroom was also filthy with no running water in the toilets and the smell of urine was wafting into the room. There was a huge 5ft by 5ft window in the room but one of the two panes of glass was missing. Thats right-missing! and below was the tin roof of a shelter, that I thought someone could climb on and get in. But at least there was a lock on the back of the bedroom door. I was completely freaked at this stage but couldn´t face going back out onto the dodgy street. I calmed myself and went to bed. I found a sleeping tablet that someone had given me for a long bus journey that thankfully I hadn´t taken. I took that and fell asleep. When I got up this morning at 9am, everything was fine. The street was busy and things didn´t seem as bad but Id no interest in sticking around that filthy, dirty, scary city so got the first bus out of there to Cuenca today.

Bye Bye amigos

I twisted/ sprained? my ankle swimming in the sea a few days ago. The waves which were a great laugh, knocked me off my feet and when I relanded I went over on my ankle. Its all swollen and purple but I ve straped it up and hopefully it will be fine in a few days.

Being in Mancora was like having a holiday within a holiday. Down to the beach every day to sunbath, nice meal in the evening, few(!) drinks etc but after 8 days of it Ive had enough. I made the brave decision to leave the group who Ive been with since Cusco, ages ago. They all want to stay chilling and Andy, the South African is still waiting his replacement passport and cant go anywhere. Im gutted to leave them as its been so much fun but this way Ill get to see more of Ecuador as they are just going to fly through it. Ill probably meet them again in Colombia. Itll be a good detox for me in the interim. The only one I wont see is Becky whos been my best friend for nearly 2 months now. Gutted. My last night out was wicked. We went for Sushi, then heaps of Pisco Passionfruit, then back to the room for a party and onto the beach for some more messing. I got to bed at 5am and so missed by bus the next morning. Thankfully I was able to organise another bus for that afternoon. I dont think I would have been able to handle another goodbye party.

Fun times in Mancora

The last few days have been so fun. Wednesday was the last day we had the car so myself and Becky and our South African mate Andy decided to make the most of it and drive to a nearby coastal town where Ernest Hemmingway was inspired to write "Men and the Sea" (Im not sure if I have the title exactly right- all the partying has turned my brain to mush). It was really picturesque and we were the only gringos there, which doesn´t happen that often anymore cause we are always on the trail. We went to the pier and bought fish (Ive no idea what kind) off the local fisherman. 8 massive fish for 18 soles which I think is less than 5 euros. We then went back to our site and cooked them on the BBQ with butter, garlic, chillies, onions and lime juice. Absolutely delicious. We followed that with chocolate bananas and then lay in the hamocks. Cooking on the fire made me think about the venturers I miss so much.

Becky was shocked to learn that I dont drive. Its definitely getting harder to explain as I get older (There was no car for me to learn on, I lived abroad, everything in Dublin is close......), so she taught me. The car was automatic so its not the same but nonetheless I was driving. Girls, can you actually belive it?!!!!!We started on a dirt track, and after I had comfotably driven through a town, we decided I was ready for the PanAmerican Highway. How cool. We changed back soon after for fear of getting stopped by one of the police. Imagine explaining that I didn´t have a liscence when a few days earlier one of the lads got stopped who had a liscence and the dodgy copper just wanted a bribe so he made up some story about not accepting it. Thankfully, we were able to talk our way out of that one.

Defo one of the best days of the trip so far.

Yesterday, wasn´t as productive but equally enjoyable. Just lazing around on the beach deciding where we would go for lunch dinner etc. Our whole group talks about food non stop, especially chocolate cake and apple crumble. They managed to find the best apple crumble in the whole town, whch was confirmed by the lonely planet when we read it a few days later. Hilarious how they were able to sniff that out. We were supposed to go to a nice fish restaurant last night. We went for a pre dinner drink but got there for passion fruit pisco (brandy) happy hour , so it was game over after that.

Even though Im a paranoid android about getting burnt, I still mamged to get scalded yesterday. Red patches all over me. Sooooo attractive. The fecking lads dont even put sun screen on but if I even look at the sun, I go red. I must have put about 20 layers of aloe vera on last night. We went to the beach again today and I had to wear a top and long shorts. I cant expose myself again for a least a few more days so for the moment even swimming is ruled out unless I go at night!

Ive noticed Ive started dressing like a 15 year old boy. Its all skater runners and hoodies. The state of me but Im loving it.

Chiclayo

We got a reccommendation from the Ozzie barman in Lima to go and visit some friends of his who owned a guinea pig farm. It was a bit random but fun to se them all running around their pens and even funnier when we went to a restaurant afterwards and ordered them to eat- guinea pig is a speciality here. There wasnt really anything special about it apart from the novelty. It comes out deep fried- the whole thing, head, feet, internal organs and all. The skin is really leathery and still hairy and unsuprisingly, there isn´t much meat on it.

We reached our destination Mancora late last night. After, MUCH debate we finally agreed on a hostel and then after MUCH more debate we finally agreed to move hostels this morning. Group dynamics can be tricky. The new place is great. We are staying in a beach hut. This town is the business. Its a real beachy, surfy town where we are going to balm out for a few days and Im finally going to get to wear shorts. After that Ive no plan. I really need to read up on the Lonely Planet to figure out my next move.

Trujillo

We actually made it to the ruins which was very impressive- the fact that we got there and the ruins themselves! We had planned to go for dinner to a nice seafood restaurant. Had a few drinks in the room- we are still all sharing a few beds pushed together, and then amazingly noone waws hungry so we went out without dinner. We are visiting a friend of ours who left us 2 weeks ago to go volunteering. Its lucky for him we arrived on a weekend. Went to a concert and I managed to blag our way into the VIP section, which was rubbish, so we left and went to a club. One of the guys Paudy was so drunk he tried to pay for a round of drinks with a condom. After this an several more incidences, he got throw out, so I took him home. Amazingly they let him in again last went when they all went back. I stayed in. Very sensible. Im going to try and get everyone up now (2.15pm) cause we are supposed to be leaving today. We tried to go surfing yesterday cause its supposed to be one of the ebst spots int he world. None of the girls got in cause it was too cold and only one ofthe boys made it in, because the rest feared they would drown. Luckily were going to hit a few more spots on the way up the coast so maybe another day.

Road trip

Were on the road and its a good laugh but Im sick again. Immune system not able for it I suppose so Ive been off the booze for the last few nights. Its return of the evil throat infection Im afraid but Ive caught it early and know the drugs I need this time, and here you dont need a prescription for anything, so Ive been able to sort myself out. Having researched it a bit I think I might have actually had a bad dose of strep throat in Chile which was undiagnosed and I understand I can look forward to having several relapses. Great. Not sure if I mentioned it before but Im defo off the fags for good again.

Our first night of the trip, we stayed in a hotel. A Peruvian porter helped us bring our bags to the room. Turns out, he didn´t work there and he nicked one of the lads day bags on his way out. Clever scam. Not one of us picked up on it. Its a pain in the ass. Weve spent the last two days at the police station and trying to meet consulates etc. Hes got a South African and British passport. The soonest he can get either is 2 weeks and thats back in Lima, where we have come from. He wanted to be in Ecuador in a week which isn´t going to happen. Poor pet.

Everyone is broke after partying in Cusco and Lima so were saving money by sharing hotel rooms. We fit 8 people, also known as the octopod, in a double and two singles pushed together last night. Boy, girl, boy, girl of course. Fun times.

Were supposed to be doing something cultural today- Sun and Moon ruins but they close at 4pm and its now 1.30 and most people are still in bed so Im not overly optimistic. I am confident however that we´ll make it out tonight. Funny that.

Leaving Lima soon

Becky got the all clear from the dentist, eye specialist etc after a whole day of running around Lima going to various clinics with me as chief translator. The dentists dont have their own x-ray machines here. You have to go somewhere else for that. Anyway Big relief. Her face is almost healed but shes still exhausted from the accident and the quake.

We haven´t missed the road trip though. The whole group is still all here. Partying hard has meant that noone was able to get up during the day to rent a van. Just so you get an idea, they were supposed to be through Ecuador and in Colombia weeks ago! The scout leader in me wants to take over but this trip is about me being more ´go with the flow´and less of a control freak. But at 6pm today when everyone was flaked out watching a movie, I couldn´t resist slipping off to a local call centre to ring a load of agencies. Weve had a little AGM and I think as a result of my endevaours, me might actually leave tomorrow (or maybe the day after, because even though I thought we were having a quiet night, everybody is skulling wine at the hostel bar). I need to watch myself cause although Id love the unofficial group leader role, I feel that would be taking a step back in my progress!

Wicked nights out

Weve partied for two days solid since my mates have got back here. I cheated by sneaking in 4 hours of sleep today. Were on it again tonight cause it could be our last night together in a while. There is talk of renting a car tomorrow but Im staying here to see another specialist with Becky. My voice is almost totally gone from all the abuse. Im going to need to take a break from the alcohol for a while in order for it to recover, Im just not sure when Im going to be able to fit that in.

All is good.

My friends arrived in the hostel last night, thank god, so all is good again. I burst into tears cause although I was sure they were fine, I didn´t know for definite and I ws just supressing all the emotions. It took me about 4 seconds to recognise my friend Becky cause her face was so swollen from the sandboarding accident. The boys tell me it was way worse before so I can only imagine. Their stories from the quake were hilarious- all saying our fathers as they huddled together. Luckily no injuries. Weve met other travellers since who had to climb over dead bodies to get out of crumbling buildings- horrendous stories which make me relaise how flipant I was being wanting to be more in the thick of it just for a good story.

Still waiting for news in Lima

Im still In Lima waiting for my friends to make contact. The roads are all blocked and no-one knows how long they will take to restore them, but hopefully they´ll rock up here in a day or two, so that we can head to Ecuador & Colombia. There isn´t that much to do here and Im starting to get bored except that I got my highest score ever in bowling ...191. No word of a lie.

My boy has gone home now to Australia so Im very sad. I went with him to the airport yesterday and his flight was delayed cause of the quake so they put us up in the Miraflores Plaza hotel which is 5 stars. It was nicer then the hotel I used to work in London and thats saying something. Our room had a massive round bathtub that would fit 10 people, like something out of MTV Cribs and get this.... our room had its own sauna. Can you imagine? The food was the best Ive eaten since coming to South America. It was such a nice way to spend our last few hours together.

Earthquake

Im fine. I was in bed when the quake happened and at first I just thought there was some drilling going on. Damm roadworks or whatever. After a few seconds it sunk in what was really hppening. I just sat up on my bed and laughed the whole way through thinking how cool it was that I was experiencing live, a natural disaster, until the lights started to flicker and then I got a bit scared. The people in our hostel had mixed reactions- some more panicky than others. Id say I was the most calm of everybody.

A big group of friends Ive been hanging around with for about 2 weeks left Lima a few days ago to go to head south to sandboard. They are staying really near the epi-centre and I havent heard from any of them yet which is a bit worrying. I understand there are no tourists found dead yet though. I was supposed to go with them but I stayed in Lima for a boy, otherwise Id be in the thick of it right now. The damage in Lima seems not bad at all- a few broken windows and cracks in walls but I understand in Pisco and Ika, things are pretty disastorous. Could prove to be the most fortutious decision Ive made this trip.

Back In Cusco and on to Lima

Although we were having the time of our lives in Cusco, we´´d been there nearly a month, which is a ridiculous amount to spend in one city, and knew we needed to move on, or wed have to start skipping countries later on! Our last few days were mental, spent partying with some of the most fun people Ive ever met in my life. We left Cusco by bus with a wicked crew of mainly Irish, English and South Africans and arrived in Lima a few days ago. That whole gang has now gone to another town sandboarding for a few days. I decided to stay here on my own because Ive already done it and mainly because Im waiting for a Auzzie guy who I want to see again to arrive tomorrow. Im going to catch up with them later and try and do Ecuador and Colombia with some of them. Its weird being without Becky, my new best friend for the last month, and the others, but Im sure Ive made the right decision.

Macchu Picchu

The morning of MP the hostel never gave us our wake up call. Disaster. We packed in two minutes, no time for showers and ran with our backpacks to meet our guide at the other end of town for breakfast. Noone had gotten a wake up call as promised so everyone was rushing about the place in the panic. In the morning there is a choice of walking up the hill to the entrance or bussing it. Even though we were late, we wanted to do the real McCoy so we ended up running the whole way. I had an asthma attack but kept going determined to arrive before sunrise, which we did just at 7.30am. The sunrise itself wasn´t that amazing. In fairness its just the sun coming over the mountain- not nearly as good as a sunset, but Im glad we made it in time. We were supposed to have a talk with our guide about the history of the place but because of the confusion that morning, we couldn´t find anyone in our group which was really annoying as we had bonded so well and wanted to be there with them. We ended up climbing the adjoining mountain Waynapiccu in order to get a better view. It was incredible- an experience I´ll never forget. I felt like I was on top of the world. The best thing is they only let 400 people do this part and luckily we got into the queue early. None of our other mates got to experience it as they didn´t make it in time. We looked around MP in the afternoon which by this stage was crawling with tourists, but we had to leave early as our guide hadn´t told us what time train we were getting home.

When we got to the train station we were told that in fact our agency hadn´t bought us train tickets. Disaster. There are no roads out of this town (Aguas Calientes), only a train track so we were stuck. This is Peru so they didn´t offer us a hostel, just the floor of a pizza restaurant to sleep on. I wanted to get a hostel but most were full or really expensive as loads of tourists were in the same boat. Oor group decided it was better to stay together and have the craic. Basically the tour companies regularly let people book a tour knowing that there aren´t enough train seats for the return. It was looking like the next available seats were 3 days away but luckily our guide managed to get us on a train the next morning to the next stop from where we would make our way home. It was one of the craziest days of my life. We eneded up having to get 3 very dangerous bus rides to get back to Cusco. The trip took 15 hours instead of four. There had been a mudslide that afternoon so we got delayed for 4 hours in a nothing town. When we finally got on the necessary road, it was full of HUGE goverment trucks that had obviously been sent to help clean up the landslide. The problem was that it was total chaos as each vehicle passed each other on the skinny cliff edge road. Our guide had spent the day getting drunk and was constantly distracting the driver which was even more unnerving. I honestly thought I was going to die. There is approx 200 plus deaths a year on Peruvian roads due to buses overturning etc and I was convinced that I would be one of the stats. I kept thinking how grateful I was that I had called by bro James the night before for a chat. We made it home safely...just, thankfully.

Everyone in our group spent the next two days trying to get a part refund from our respective agencies, who all used the same tour operator. (There were loads more problems as well) Again, this is Peru and we got the biggest runarounds ever. ¨Come back in an hour "etc etc. We´d organise a meeting with the boss and then he wouldn´t show up and turn off his mobile. All this kind of messing... but I had a bee in my bonnet by then and there was no stopping me. Its a long story but I got a sixth of the money back which is quite a victory of a backpacker over here so I was well pleased with myself.

Salkantay Trek

The Inca trail is booked up months in advance so its really common to do an alternative trek instead, to get to Macchu Picchu- myself and the American girl Becky chose the hardest one called the Salkantay which is a 5 day trek. It is possible not to trek at all and just get the train up, which we were contemplating for a while, but Im sooo glad we didn´t go for the easy option as it was absolutely asmazing. Our only mistake was to book it at the last minute ie 10pm on a Sunday night, so that we would get back in time to party for the weekend in Cusco, so we got feck all sleep before being picked up the first day.

Our group was a mix of ages and nationalities. We bonded mostly with a slightly older Irish couple and some Argentinian boys. I was so unfit which made climbing the mountains a killer, but you just take breaks to get your breath back, so it was fine.The scenery on the whole trip was out of this world and really varied from day to day- better than Lord of the Rings. At night we camped and our guides cooked for us.

The first day I had food poisoning/diarrohea again which was a bit of a nightmare. I had to stay at the back of the group so I could go to the side of the road at a minutes notice. Not nice at all. Enough said. The second day I was surprised I was able to even walk as I hadn´t eaten hardly anything the day before but I managed fine and wasn´t the slowest by a long shot. On the third day, I knocked avocados and passion fruits out of some trees along the way. Sounds ridiculous out loud but it was so much fun. That night we went to a natural hot springs to ease our aching muscles and I dont think Ive ever been so relaxed and happy. Maybe it was the setting or the endorphines from all the exercise. On the fourth day we spent a few hours just walking along railway tracks. So surreal. Reminded me of the movie Stand by Me, I think. We stopped with the boys to swim in the nearby river. I was too mortified to strip to my underwear so I just took photos of the rest of them.

Im alive

Hey all. Thanks for the concern but I am alive and not sick. Its just been a combination of trekking and partying that has left me with NO time at all to update the site. I appreciate all the concern. Its reassuring to know that you all have nothing to do at your jobs.....I mean that you are concerned about my welfare. Ill updtae in the next few days. Soooooo much has happened. Hope you are sitting on the edge of your seats. Girls expect a personal email cause my parents are reading this!

Partying Hard

The party in the hostel on Friday night was savage. They had loads of those UV lights so the white outfits went down a treat until all the boys kept approaching us with these cheezy lines about being sick and needing our attention. What do you say to that? Cringe, then run! Had sense and went to bed about 6 with a sleeping tablet that sorted me out nicely cause the party was banging till midday. There are about 12 of us hanging out together at the mo (mostly Irish). We dragged ourselves out of bed circa 4pm and went for a full English. We managed to get our act together, just about, the vodkas perked us up and then we headed off to a party up the mountains. It was their independence day, I think, anyway we didn´t care the reason. The thing turned out to be this mad outdoor rave with a huge bonfire and (top?) DJs playing all night. We went mental, stayed till the sunrise, got taxis home, surpassed our tiredness and then watched videos till lunch. We crawled out of bed circa 4pm again and managed to get to the Irish bar for food and more drinks. The madness will stop now though cause Ive booked a 5 day trek to Maccu Piccu leaving at 4.30am tomorrow morning. Its midnight so I really should pack and go to bed soon! Ill have to run out and get some booze for the trek first though. Maybe I´ll stay up all night. Its amazingly common in this hostel.

Last day volunteering

Yesterday was my last day painting the house. I got food poisoning the night before though (again) so I spent the morning lying on one of the mothers beds. Went to bed early last night in preparation for the weekend. Its the one year anniversary of the hostel tonight and there is a white theme so myself and my American friend Becky spent the day shopping for nurses outfits. Were going to look hot!

Still in Cusco

Tuesday night is huge here. I was determined not to go out cause I had volunteering today again but EVERYBODY (well all the cool people) in the hostel were on a mad one. We went to Bar 7 (very famous, just like Vivienne´s in La Paz if you know what I mean). I was well behaved. Only had about 6 vodkas and was home by 3 ish which isn´t bad going for here. Still got slagged for leaving early though. There were 4 different people all leaving for Maccu Piccu at 7am who were still there when I left but amazingly made their train this morning, although god knows, what state they were in.

Volunteering today was a bit hard going cause I was tired and my arm is still sore from my rafting fall, but I made it through. Today I also helped out with the children. Keeping them amused is hard work and changing not-plastic diapers is no fun, but its not supposed to be, I guess. Still waiting for that maternal instinct to kick in....

When people ask me how old I am now, I get to tell them 27 as it was my bday last week? month? what day/date is it? and everyone keeps saying that I look younger then that. That has never happened to me before. Im not sure if it is cause of my clothes (runners, hoodies etc), my streaked red hair, the lack of stress or the fact that Ive just turned 27, but whatever, it feels great. Keep the compliments rolling.

Volunteering

Spent the day painting the courtyard walls in Casa Mantay. Was hoping to be doing it with some hot American boys but unfortunately the others who are doing it are church going families from Ohio. Ah well.

Rafting

Ive just got back from a 3 day rafting trip. Absolutely amazing. It had class 3,4 & 5 rapids. I went in a group of 14 people- a Belgian couple, 11 Israelis and me! I nearly died when I realised. I figured it served me right for bitching about them on my blog. I was determined to make the effort to get along with them. I needn´t have bothered. I now think that they are not only scaby but extremely rude, selfish and lazy as well. The girls never stopped complaining and in the end there was only 2 of the guys that I could actually get along with. Didn´t stop me having a great time though. We camped by the river every night which realy reminded me of scouts. Pity the Israelis didnt have the team mentality that the venturers do. They wouldn´t split from their friends to go in different rafts so in my raft of 3 with the two Belgians we had to work twice as hard as them every day. Didnt seem to make them feel guilty, nor did they when they lay around while the guides and us helped prepare dinner, clean up afterwards etc. I got eaten alive by some sort of sandflies despite dousing myself in repellent- they appear to be immune. My cankles are all swollen I have so many bites in that area and I can hardly walk. I want to rip off my skin it is so itchy. Im tempted to start a course of antibiotics but Im not sure if that will have any effect. Anyway, the trip was absolutely wicked but I did fall out of the raft on the last day and smack my arm against a huge rock. I got a golfball sized lump on it immediately which has gone down now but Im left with a massive bruise. I was supposed to start volunteering yesterday but there is no way Id be able to paint so Im off there this morning to try and smooth things over. I fell out on the first day aswell and the raft flipped on top of me. Scariest thing ever!!

Bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Today I went to do a bungee jump- the biggest in north and south America at 120 metres I think. I was fairly nervous going up but when I got to the top I was so scared. I was confident that it was safe but it was just so high that I started having doubts. I know from when I jump off diving boards that it ususally takes me about 5 mins up there to psyche myself up. However, the longer I stayed at the top, the more nervous I got. I was battling with myself about whether or not I was actually going to do it. In the end, I just couldn´t bring myself to do it even though I knew I would loose all my money. I didn´t care. I dont know how it is so popular and I always thought of myself as brave but I just couldn´t.

They took pity on me and let me go back up half an hour later. On the way up, I kept my eyes shut the whole time and just kept repeating the mantra to myself, "1,2,3, jump". When I got to the top, the guy half pushed me off which helped. I know this isn´t very common to say, but it actually wasn´t that enjoyable. I wouldn´t go around reccommending it everyone. Im really glad I did it but I doubt I´ll ever do one again.

Quad Biking

I did quad biking for the first time today. They took us up the mountains to some superb tracks for 4 hours. (Derek you would be proud. It was Yahama bikes all the way). Having never driven a car, the concept of gear changing was completely lost on me. Do you go down a gear when you are going up a hill? I dont know. The guide had to jump on the back of my quad for the whole day so that he could whisper in my ear "up one, down two" or whatever, and even then I managed to confuse it. I had a few hairy moments where I thought I was going to topple the bike, but that only added to the excitment. It was a really wicked day.

I was slightly peeved when I found out that the Israelis on my tour paid half what I did. For those that dont know there are millions of Israelis travelling in South America (The Irish are a close second!) and they are the scabbiest bastards you will ever meet. Theyd eat tuna out of a can for lunch, that sort of stuff. Some of them are really cool by the way before you think Im racist but they are so tight. Apparantly there is a two tier pricing system going on in South America- one for Israelis who get discounts everywhere and one for every other traveller. Rage. They even have a word for Europeans- they call us "payers"! Next time I book something im going to ask for the Israeli price and see what happens.

Casa Mantay

The venturers came to Peru in 2004 and while they were here they helped build a safe house for teenage mothers who had been raped. I took a trip to see the house and meet the mothers. It was really cool to see in the flesh the patio they built, the butterflies theyd painted on the bedroom walls, and the mosiacs theyd done in the bathrooms, cause Id seen all the photos a million times. The organisers remembered Donnybrook Venturer Group fondly and all the great work theyd done and I felt so proud. I decided that I too would like to get involved somehow and so next week Im going to join a group who are going to repaint the whole house cause its looking a little shabby now. It makes me feel good to part of the project that the Venturers started a few years ago.

Cusco

So far Peru seems exacty like Bolivia, only a little more expensive. The food menus are exactly the same which is a little worrying. The lads think I have that syndrome where I make myself physically ill through the power of my mind even though there is nothing wrong with me. Im not allowed moan any more unless its from a hangover.

Cusco seems like a great place so I´ll probably end up staying for a while. Really nice looking city. Makes a change from filthy La Paz. We stayed in a Frankenstein themed hostel last night. V Cool but moved today to the wicked Point hostel because it is THE party hostel in Cusco. Got blind drunk last night in the Irish bar and had the craic with a gang of Irish lads from Stillorgan. Dying today. Crawled back to the Irish bar for lunch but could only stomach half a sandwich.

I need to make a decision about the Inca trail. The proper one is fully booked for months ahead but there are loads of alternative trails ranging in difficulty. Getting a train up is even a option, although the venturers would probably be disgusted if I didn´t trek seeing as they have all done it. The two Irish guys (Yeah, Im still with them!) think its hilarious that Im even contemplating doing the 5 day trek. They´ve seen me get taxis up the hill to our hostel in La Paz and the resurrgance of my asthma since Ive started smoking again.

Im thinking about giving up but Im not sure I have the energy for it. Im hoping when we part ways in a day or so and Im away from their bad influence, I may be able to do it. My nodules haven´t noticably flared up YET but its surely in the post. God I hate being an addict. Maybe I´ll start biting my nails again instead.

Im getting really sad at the thought of leaving the lads cause weve been travelling for such a long time together now. Weve had a real laugh and the thought of having to talk to new people again was daunting me a bit. Luckily though I met a wicked American girl on the bus and weve really clicked so were going to stick together for a bit. Usually the Bostonian accent goes through me but for whatever reason, hers doesn´t grate at all. Its nice being around a girl for a change and should soften the blow of leaving the lads.

Back in La Paz & Lake Titicaca

We went back to La Paz and ended up staying much longer than expected. Blame Viviennes. Enough said!! La Paz is a bit like Buenas Aires- very difficult to leave, but we finally made it out this morning and made it to Cococabana which is on the edge of lake Titicaca. Got up early and took a boat to Isla del Sol which is an island in the middle of the lake. Saw some Inca ruins which weren't that impressive at all, but I suppose still good to say that Ive done it.

We are leaving for Peru tomorrow. Thank god. Im sick of Bolivia and being sick in Bolivia. Ive had food poisoning 3 times. When Im not shitting or puking, Im dying of a hangover, or just dying of altitude sickness. The boys are sick of listening to me moaning all the time.

Good news. Ive stopped biting my nails, a life long habit I haven't been able to break until now. I treated myself to my first manicure. Silly cow filed them down so far, they are as short as when I used to bite them. Bad news. Ive started smoking again. Im not sure if the two are related.

The Pampas

In the end decided not to do the jungle tour as I'll be able to do that from other countries, but did a Pampas tour with the 2 Irish lads instead. It was a cool experience although an animal lover would have enjoyed it more than me. We saw monkeys, alligators and caymens, a load of birds, an anaconda, pink river dolphins and the most disguisting animal I have ever seen which was this huge rodent that I can only describe as a cross between a rat and a pig. (Its made me think twice about the Galapagos though seeing as I just couldn't get excited at every new animal we saw). We sailed up the river every day in a dug-out canoe and stayed in wooden houses where locals cooked all our meals. Despite covering myself in repellent and sleeping under a mozzie net, I got bitten alive. The only thing worse than white legs are white legs with bites all over them.

Rurrenbaque

Survived the plane ride-it was a 20 seater, quite turbulent, no flight staff, you could see the captain, the landing strip was a field and the airport was basically a shack. This place is great. The town actually has about 15000 inhabitants but it has the feel of a remote village despite the backpackers wandering around and the internet access. The girl at the local shop asked me where I was from. She hadnt heard of Ireland or England but she thought she might know Europe. Myself and two of the Irish (the other 2 have gone on to Peru) treated ourself to one of the best hotels in town. Its got a private bathroom and even a fan. For 3.50 euro per person per night we cant complain. Best of all its hot hot hot here. Time to bare my whiter than white pins again. In Ireland I didnt relaise how bad they were because I ususally had some semblance of fake tan on. I havent been able to eat yet but hopefully by tonight I can stomach something as we are heading into the Amazon tomorrow on a 3 day trek.

Most dangerous road in the world. Sick again!!!

Yesterday we cycled down the most dangerous road in the world and I dont mean leisurely bike ride, I mean we were on top class bikes with front and back suspension ripping it up at every corner. It was the most fun thing I have ever done. Beats the skydive by far. Anyone who has done it will understand. The only thing to spoil the great day was that I then got food poisoning and have been up all night. You dont want to know the details but Im in a dorm with 14 other people and the lads were out clubbing so I was looking after myself. Not fun. Im still ill but have to get on a plane now to the jungle for a few days.

La Paz

This place is crazy. It was one of the Irish lads bdays and we tore it up big style. All I can say is that the owner of the famous bar Vivienne´s knows us all personally.

Sucre

Im loving Bolivia for its cheapness. Last night I had a steak sandwich and fries and about 8 cocktails and it came to less than 15 euros. Im hating Bolivia for the fact that it takes about an hour for the food to be served and the drinks come about 25 mins after they have been ordered. Weve even seen some places send the children out to the shop after we have ordered to buy the necessary ingredients. Oh, and even though it is getting warmer as I go north, Im still wearing jumpers every day. Ive only worn my flipflops in the shower.

We nearly got kicked out of our hostel this morning for making so much noise coming in last night. Personally not guilty. They were the ones making all the noise. I was only the referee for the wrestling.

Today we went to see some real dinosaur footprints. Im a little cynical. Looked to me like they were conveniently discovered a few years ago to help tourism in the area, but apparantly they are really 65 million years old. Our tour bus consisted of us and about 40 geriatrics. We stopped at the nursing home on the way to pick them up. It took about 30mins to get them all settled on the bus. We actually thought we were on Bolivian Candid Camera or something. Thank god they didn´t speak English. The jokes were coming hard and fast from the boys.

Potosoi

Im still with the Irish lads and having a laugh a minute. They think my accent is hilarious not to mention my poor Irish geography.

In Potosoi we went on a tour of the mine (mainly silver, zinc and lead) where 20000 Bolivians work daily, mostly over 10 hour shifts. We were expecting the conditions to be pretty bad but they were appauling. It wasn´t your typical tourist venture. We crawled on our hands and knees in cramped tunnels for long stretches. None of us could barely breath with all the dust, especially me with my asthma. We met miners as young as 13 working there. Truly shocking. An unforgettable experience.

We watched Bolivia play Venezuala in the Copa America. The lads were none to impressed with my constant chatter.

I decided to get my hair done again. Red stripes had turned orange. Found a reputable looking hairdressing school. Colour, which is the hard part turned out great but the cut was a disaster. I got completely butchered. I asked the head stylist (students watching) to take a bit of the weight out of my hair. Instead he took to my hair with the thinning scissors like a man possessed. I didn´t relaise how bad things were until I looked down and nearly ALL my hair was on the floor. My once fat ponytail has been reduced to a thin rats tail. Its going to take about 4 years to get it back to its original state. I was, am still, absolutely gutted. I had a nightmare last night that I woke, looked down at the pillow and all my hair was there on the pillow. Its times like this I need a girl to travel with so she could sympathise. I left the salon with ìt presumably looking its best. I haven´t washed it yet. Im afraid to see the result.

Salar de Uyuni

No, Im not dead. I have been travelling from Chile to Bolivia in a 4*4 jeep for the last few days. Incredible experience. Youve never seen anything like the scenery. Completely Dali-esque. We saw a red lake, green lake, volcanos, geysers and of course the salt flats which are bigger then Switzerland. A salt lake as far as the eye could see in every direction. Im travelling with a wicked group of Irish lads from Cork & Limerick. The only problem is Im starting to use phrases like ´Lets balm out´ (relax) and ´lets ball out´ (lets get going). The first night we stayed in a shack and despite my sleeping bag and numerous blankets, I nearly died from the cold. We all had early stages of hypothermia not to mention not being able to breath because of the altitude sickness. The next night was much better although still -15. We stayed in a building made of salt. Very cool. The lads taught me how to play the card game 45 and 110, which passed away the night.

Im in Bolivia now. Despite not eating chicken, eggs, salad or the water Ive still managed to be the only one in our group to get diahorea after just one day. Thank god I brought some medication from home. The toilets here are horrendous. Bolivia is completely different to anywhere Ive been so far. For the first time I realy like Im in a developing country.

San Pedro de Atacama

Im in the Chilean desert. Thank god. Im sick of being cold. I actually got to wear shorts and suncream today for the first time and I couldn´t be happier.

Yesterday I went sandboarding. Yes, that is an actual sport. Really enjoyable except that they dont have a chairlift back up-you have to walk. No steps either. Its very tiring walking uphill in the sand so I wont be going again, but it was really fun.

Then went on a tour to the Lunar valley to watch the sunset. The sunset itself wasn´t as impressive as I thought it would be. Myself and Niamh saw way better from our balcony in Tenerife. However, the landscape was incredible and something I´ll never forget. Sort of a cross between the moon and the grand canyon (not that Ive actually been to either of these places).

The Germans found me. This town is so small and in the end I was happy enough to have them around, so we could go for a few drinks. I got a few unexpected prezzies. A Brazilian girl gave me a traditional stone statue that will keep me safe. An Argentinian guy gave me a black Virgin statue also to keep me safe. I must be giving off wreckless vibes. The Canadian German couple Ive been travelling with for a few days gave me a big bottle of vodka. Ah, how well they know me in such a short space of time. Got drunk but had a fairly tame night. There is no nightclub here and was in bed by 1am. I had a good 27th bday. Thanks to everyone who sent tex and emails. It made being here instead of Dublin a lot easier.

Chuqui Coppermine

On Sunday night there was a circus in town. It didn´t start till 10pm. A little strange I thought for a school night. Although this is South America where it is not unreasonable to eat dinner at 11pm. My first clue that there was somethng not quite right was the fact that there were no children at the circus. My second was that, there wasn´t actually a ring, just a stage. There didn´t appear to be any animals either. Turns out it was a gay and transvestite Chilean Circus. They use the term circus loosely here. There were clowns but apart from that it was like watching a bad variety show. I saw gay tango, crude gay clowns, and many performances from women with hairy legs. It was an experience. My only mistake was not buying the DVD so that you all could appreciate it too.

I wanted to get my hair done in preparation for the bday. While there were hair dressers in Calama none unfortunately were displaying Loreal signs. When I realised that the salon shampoo they were using resembled something idustrial youd see in the pound shop, I thought better of letting them do my colour. Just a wash and blowdry then. It wasn´t really the salon experience Im used to. I think I was actually in this womans living room. However, we got there in the end, although they haven´t discovered GHD yet.

Went to the biggest open-pit Copper mine in the world which was incredible. Youve never seen anything like the size of it, the size of everything for that matter. The trucks and excavating equipment completely dwarfed me. The mine makes ten thousand Us dollars a minute and it operates 24hrs a day. Luckily for the Chilean government, Pinochet kicked out the American companies in the 70s so they actually get to keep the money from this incredible resource, unlike neighbouring country Bolivia which is being completely exploited. The town nearby had to be completely excavated because of the harmful dust. The government just built the residents a new town a couple of kilometres away and told them they had to move. There are 2 shops open still in the old town for the miners, but apart from that, it is ghost town. So cool to walk around.

Im in San Pedro now which is more on the backpackers route. I was hoping to get a good crew together so that I can party tonight however things are just not going to plan. Bizzarely, hoards of Germans keep befriending me. My gang now consists of 7 Germans, about 2 of whom I actually like and thankfully a Brazilian and a Canadian. They have all invited themselves out with me tonight which isn´t what I want at all. This morning I moved hostel in an attempt to get away from them. I now have half a day to make some new cooler more suitable best friends before tonight.

Cerro Mistral Observatory

Well I can concur that the Elqui Valley probably does have the best star gazing in the world. I saw Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, the Milky Way, other galaxies, numerous constellations and much more. I only looked a little stupid when I asked where the Big Dipper and the North Star were. Apparantly we dont all look at the same sky. Thats only in the Northern hemisphere. I did get to see the Southern Cross though. The whole thing would have been better had I not been to a good observatory in Zurich with my Mum last year and seen Saturn already. Im not sure it was worth waiting 3 days for but however itll still be a good memory only slightly tainted by the inane yack coming from the American. Thankfully, we have parted ways now. My patience was wearing thin.

Im in Calama, northern Chile now. I came to see the nearby coppermine only to find out it is closed on Sundays. I have long since given up knowing what day of the week it is. Im going to wait till tomorrow to visit it. Its lucky Im not on a tight schedule.

Vicuna

Ive been here for two days waiting for the clouds to clear. There is nothing to do here except go to the Gabriella Mistral museum (Noble Prize for Literature) so Ive been bored out of my mind. Thankfully I still have the American girl to talk to because there are no other backpackers in this wee town. I was going to leave today but luckily the sky is blue so Im booked to go to the observatory tonight.

La Serena & Pisco Elqui

Sorry about big throat rant. I must have been feeling really sorry for myself. Thanks bros for the funny comments and Caroline for her more appropriate concerned comment. I spent two days in La Serena watching tv and only venturing out for a menu del dia and feel much better now.

I left my expensive winter coat (prezzie from Ogmore et al) in Papudo which is a little annoying but it was time for a colour change anyway. With my red hair, red coat and red scarf, I looked a little ridiculous anyway. Im feeling grey/blue now so Ive bought a new coat, hat, scarf and gloves to keep me warm, all from the same pallete. Maybe it was the shopping fix that made me feel better.

Im now in a wicked town in the Elqui Valley called Pisco Elqui. Its pretty deserted cause its the off season but I love it. Not like anywhere Ive ever been. Im staying in an amazing colonial mansion hostel with an American girl I met. (No, I dont just talk to boys!). We went to a pisco distillery today for a very interesting tour. Admittedly, the product was far superior to that which I got drunk on, my first night in Santiago, however, it was still disgusting, but the tour was very informative. I did it in Spanish and understood nearly everything. Gold star for me. This is supposed to be the best place in the world for star gazing. Unfortunately for me, there is a lot of cloud cover at the moment so I can see nada. Hopefully it will rain, so I can see something.

Problems in Papudo

As Johners cousin Ellie wasn´t picking me up till that evening, I got up really early to go sightseeing in nearby Vina del Mar. I went to two castles, the natural history museum, Easter Island museum, a photograhy exhibition and an art exhibition, and I even fitted in a visit to the casino which was full of people on the slots at lunchtime, and the closest Ive come to Vegas. After that I started to feel unwell. Maybe Id overdone it.

My throat went from being moderatly sore to pure agony every time I swallowed in the space of half an hour. I met Ellie and her Chilean husband Cali, and not wanting to start moaning straight away I suffered in silence, trying to make polite coversation until we reached their town Papudo about an hour away. We stopped at the local pharmacy and I bought spray, Ibruprofen, and some other tablets to reduce the ache in my muscles. I was praying I wasn´t getting the flu.

Back at theirs I was feeling like crap. Ellie cooked a gorgeous traditional pumpkin stew. I couldn´t hardly eat. I did my best not wanting to be rude and then excused myself to go to bed as I now had a fever. She kindly gave me honey and lemon but it was excruciating to drink, even though I knew it would help. I knew Id made a terrible first impression. I was embarrased for myself and also for Johnner, but hoped to rectify it the next day. Feeling worse still, like none of the drugs Id bought were working, I started taking the antibiotic augmentin that Id brought with me. That was surely going to knock this thing on the head, I thought...until I woke up at 2am. I had a fever, my forehead was roasting but my body was freezing. Every muscle in my body ached. The worst bit by far was the fact that every time I swallowed I was in excruciating pain. I knew there was something seriously wrong but I didn´t know what the best course of action was.I decided Id take another round of all the drugs and wait till morning and then get Ellie or Cali to bring me to the doctor. The next 5 hours were the worst Ive ever experienced. Swallowing was so painful, I developed a way of retaining the salivia in my mouth, so I only had to swallow about half as much as normal . I started having nightmares with my eyes open. At 7am, I couldn´t take it any more. Exhausted from no sleep and slightly delirious I went into their room. I burst into tears because the pain was so bad. Ellie tucked me back up in bed to sleep with another honey and lemon as it was too early for the medic. She assured me the drugs would work if I gave them time. I knew what she was saying made sense-after all it was only a sore throat. Her comforting calmed me down but I just wanted Niamh or the girls to be there as they normally would, when I am sick.

I popped some more pills and finally dozed off for a few hours. When I woke in the morning, I was covered in sweat, but the pain in my throat had subsided slightly. It was gorgeous day and Ellie suggested I walk with her along the beach to get the papers. Papudo is by far the nicest place Ive been (much better than even Valpariso). Its a gorgeous beach town that is like paradise but I just couldn´t enjoy it. While walking I realised how tired I was, as I could barely climb the steps off the beach.

That afternoon we went to a gorgeous fish restaurant for lunch. I tried the best fish soup Ive ever had (even better than in Tererife) but couldn´t even finish half of it because my throat was still i bits. Even making conversation was proving impossible as I kept having to stop and wince with the pain. On the way home, I started crying again cause of the pain so we went to the nearest clinic/hospital. I couldn´t face another night like the previous and I started crying again when the doctor examined me. Thankfully Ellie was able to translate all the tricky words. Turns out I had a massive ball of puss (delightful I know) in my mouth and it was blocking my air passage. The reason the augmentin wasn´t working was because it was too mild for my advanced infection. I got a jab in the ass and was hooked up to a drip. God knows what they gave me but I didn´t care. I was allowed to go home late that night to sleep on the condition that I returned the next morning. If things hadn´t improved then, I was to be hospitalised. First another trip to the 24hr, thank god, pharmacy to buy more prescribed drugs including a decent painkiller. I slept terribly but because the pain of swallowing had been reduced somewhat, sleeping was at least possible for periods.

I felt so much better when I woke. The doctor said my condition had improved, thankfully, and after a day of relaxing, I was finally able to make some conversation to my hosts. They are such interesting people, snowbaord instuctors for 4 months of the year, and artists for the rest, and thats not even the half of it. God only knows what they made of me. I wanted so much for them to like me but I didn´t have the energy. Still, we had a nice evening together.

On one hand it was terrible that I had been sick the whole time I stayed with them, on the other, the timing was a total blessing. I dont know what I would have done if I had been by myself in a hostel. I´ll have to show them a good time when they are in Ireland next.

Im in La Serena now, still too tired to do anything but I have a private room with cable tv in it that has loads of American movies and sitcoms, so Im a happy chappy.

Valpariso-best place so far

I finally left the madness that was BA. It was a 22hr bus journey to Chile but the view as we passed through the Andes was spectacular. Decided to stay in a family run hostel so that I could take it easy for a bit, but met some cool English guys and we ended up going on the piss last night. I conquered my fear of karoke. There was noone else in the whole place apart from us which is the only reason I got up. I even managed to do a second song. It was really liberating. I dont think Ive any other fears now. Afterwards we went to an amazing jazz club. Talk about two ends of the spectrum. The scout leader in me came out today. I read the guide book, planned the day and got the boys out of bed rather reluctantly for a day of sightseeing. We went to Pablo Neruda´s house- famous Chilian poet, and Casa de Lukas, a famous charicaturist and then we walked for hours around the hills of the town looking at artists wall murals. I love the architcture and colours. I think this is the nicest town Ive ever been to. I could easily see myself living here. I want to stay longer but Johnners cousin is picking me up tomorrow.

The Black Hole of BA

Im still in BA. This place is like a black hole. It sucks you in and makes it impossible to leave. Im going to the travel agent tomorrow to book something or I'll end up staying for another 2 weeks.

I was gutted I didn't get on tv for the match. I even had a message for Belvo on my flag but the cameras were only facing one side.

I have gotten sick *headcold* for the first time since coming away. Too much partying and not enough vegtables I suppose, so I stayed in last night for the first night in ages. There is a party in the hostel tonight so as yet Im undecided about what to do later....

All the cool clubs

We went out to the opening of a new club called Western last night. We were on the list as my friend Linda knows some cool people. Thats me dancing without being drunk cause none of the girls I was with had more than 3 drinks. Lets call it cultural differences. That and the price of it.

Were off out to another club tonight called Bahrain. I got my hair done the other day and my hairdresser, who wasn´t gay, is putting us on the list for tonight. It appears only the gringos pay entry fees. I´ll be on the vodka before we go out.

I got a ticket to the rugby tomorrow. Yeah, there´s loads of tickets left at ticketmaster. How different to at home! Im in the north stand. I´ll have a tri-colour with me so look out for me on the tv.