Thursday 23 December 2010

One hell of a christmas catch up...

Okay, so Laura, you were right, sorry I actually haven't written anything in like forever. So this is gonna be a long one... (just as well you're on christmas hols by now!)

And apologies if its just not interesting. I lost days of my life this week travelling and am still quite jetlagged.

so...argentina....we went to mendoza for wines tours on bikes, courtesy of Mr Hugo, the nicest old man I've ever met- I could hug him forever!

(Ali - def get the Empress 10 bus from Mendoza bus station to the wineries, its like 1.80 pesos and easy to get to. confirm the route number at the info desk, they speak english and DO go to the olive and choc place, its awesome.)

We had a lot of fun in Mendoza, bbq, lots of drinking, Rach actually getting up the next day to do the wineries with me again! and Laura getting quite drunk and demanding Pink from the dj. awesome.

After a few days of this we got on yet another bus to Bariloche, the lake district of argentina. Absolutely beautiful. We stayed in Hostel Inn - highly recommended- with a view of the lake and snow topped mountains. And they specialise in chocolate, so i spent a lot of time in the cafes trying it all out. And we saw Sarah and Macca again! which was a surprise as we were sure they'd have left. Me and rach cycled the circuito chico, and did all the beaches and the swiss village for chocolate cake -we are professional cyclists of course. so in the end, it was like a killer 36km cycle, but on the most beautiful day. We attempted a swim in the lakes, i got up to my waist but then thought that my legs would fall off from the cold. And we saw one of National Geographics top rated panaramic views in the world, and did a bit of tobogganing, where i burnt my hand. I also had the most comfiest bed ever here. :)

So after Bariloche, we hit Puerto Madryn for a bit of whale watching, and not much else. Me and rach befriended 2 other english guys, Michael and Ian, to hire a car to do the Peninsula, where you can see penguinos, seals and whales. It was a rush of a day as you cant drive fast as the roads are all gravel, so you can easily flip over. But we saw the penguins and the seals, before heading back to try and get on the last boat of the day to do the whale watching. I think we got very lucky, as we were running a bit late and managed to catch them before they went out. Which was totally worth it. The whales are sooo huge, and they're all mothers and calves. There were so many of them, so graceful and they come really close to the boat. You can feel the whole boat rock when they swim underneath. But theres basically not much else to do once you've done that, so onto BA!

We were there for the weekend before we went to Uruguay for the beaches. We saw Dee, Laura, Sarah and Macca again, reunited! We went to the worst club on the saturday night, Crobar - but the highlights definitely were Maccas dancing and sitting on the dancefloor to do his show, and Rach's speedy moves ;) and Dees level of general drunkeness!

Amazingly, after a shit night and a bit hungover, we all met to do the San Telmo markets, which was cool and had the best sushi lunch. Yum Yum Yum (as Rach would say!)

Monday morning we went to Uruguay for a week of beaches, as you do need a good holiday when you're travelling. We went to La Pedrera which was super small and quiet but had a beautiful beach. Unfortunately, this is where i got the worst sunburn ever, as the wind makes it deceptively cooler. classic mistake. Then we hit La Paloma, which i didnt rate and then we lost Dee as she had to go to Chile. We finally arrived in Punto Del Diablo as its better than Punte del Este ;) - which was worth the wait. Its such a cool little hippy town full of locals and backpackers, just chilling out on beautiful beaches. So we spent a few sangria and twister fueled days here. But i also lost my favourite jumper here, which was devastating to me at the time as i got it at the last FFAF gig with the last original line up and the whole of casually dressed..from front to back. but i guess it makes my awful awful backpack lighter. You learn quickly to hate your backpack.

anyways, after this it was back to BA (for anyone who is unaware of travelling terms, its Buenos Aires) for my final week in south america :(

it also turned out to be the best week of my entire trip.

I absolutely LOVED BA!!! its actually the best city after London. One week isn't enough! We went out every night and were out everyday and still i didnt get to see or do everything i wanted.insane. we went to:

La Boca - multicoloured houses
La  Paloma - street art and boutique shops (like east london)
Recoletta - famous and most interesting cemetery and fuerza bruta - more of that later!

Tango show, la bomba drum show, the best night out at Pacha, the worst night out in kika ( me and ali actually got mauled by Argentinian guys and had to be saved by aussies in vests) and a cool drum'n'bass night at Bahriem. I literally didn't sleep for the first few days, hardly saw my bed for partying so much and only had breakfast the first and last day. So. Much. Fun.

Fuerza Bruta - the BEST show i have ever ever seen! me and ali loved it so much that we saw it again the next night. Its like a club/interactive dance/light/water show. With flying boxes, confetti, girls dancing in a water tank suspended just above your head, a treadmill and being hit with stuff and getting quite wet. Doesnt make sense does it? cos you NEED to see it. thats really all i can tell you about that.

So basically, i ended my south america trip on a massive high, its been truely awesome. ive met the best people and made the best of friends and actually cried my eyes out when i left. bit awkward for the two boys i never met sitting next to me in the taxi.

so this is the part that is a bit soppy and lame...so please bear with me.

I would like to thank these guys for making my trip what it was:

Mark - thank you so much for taking care of me when i was so ill in cuzco, you're a star and im sorry i couldnt catch you up! i'll be seeing your awesome bar soon though!

Sarah - I LOVE it that you argued about 10p! And thank you so much for your endless spanish, i know it wasnt always easy for you and we all really appreciate it. and i had so much fun dancing to Ga Ga with you in an old church in a cemetary club...random!! See you at the wedding love - keep me updated!

Macca Pacca!! aka - Rebecca. You put up with alot of girly chat over the last couple of months. but im not sorry about that! you can be the most awkward person at times, which i absolutely love! i know we're not supposed to find you funny, but i cant help it! see you in march!

Laura - im so glad you're not going back to your job, you've made the best decision. enjoy the family, they mean so much to you. and ive had the best time with you - thanks for picking me up in uyuni and cleaning the kitchen!! and of course trying to explain who Pink is in spanish!!
Ali - I only knew you a week but it feels like we've been friends forever!! i miss you already! you need to come to london, you'd fit right in! And i love it that you hate paul!! have a wicked time in new york and maybe see u in Melbourne some time??

Dee - Sydney awaits!! cant wait to see you for lunch today, its been ages since we hung out!! and by the beach...mega jealous. lets get drunk and enjoy christmas! muchos love.

Ant - I had such a great time hanging out with you, even if you are a bit rowdy and you (or someone else!) kicks us out. Enjoy your time here, it wont be long till we're partying it up in Mckluskys.

Tom - should've hungout in the salt flats - but i guess you and ben were busy spooning tom! ive had the best week with you and am also a bit gutted. have a wicked time and i'll see you in the summer x

Rach - my Racheroo. How could i have done all of these things without you? I can't believe its come to an end and we were the last ones standing, as ever!! I love you so much - acutally devastated to have left you. But have a great time, enjoy Rio - the time of your life!!!

So that is that for south america. Me and ben got the plane together - where we werent sitting together so i missed the 19 hours of his face. but half our plane seemed to be people we'd met along the way. Everyday was a challenge and a surprise, better than expected but completely unexpecting. The best time of my life was in south america, but am looking forward to the rest of the trip.

So, its christmas eve over here now, with mariah carey playing on repeat it seems. Im off to meet Dee for lunch and makes some christmas plans, as its not sunny, booo!!!
Have a Merry Christmas everyone!! I love and miss you all, and gutted to miss my first white christmas at home. Typical huh? muchos muchos muchos loves xxxxxxxxx

1 comment:

  1. We have all just been reading your blog and enjoying it so much you really need to write a book! it`s so interesting and i`m so glad you`re sharing it with us all these places and people sound amazing i`m so proud of you. We will ring you tomorrow on xmas day not sure what time the kids are very excited and it seems strange making mince pies and mulled wine without you have a wonderful time and a very merry xmas love and miss you loadsxxxxx

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