Learning to salsa, sipping on some Rum and un poco de Espanol – Central America provides a tranquil backdrop for my last few weeks.

So after disembarking from my maiden voyage across the sea to Panama, I was in need of a bit of rest and relaxation, not that the last 8 months have been anything else, but you know what I mean. From the brief blurb I’d read in the lonely planet about Central America I knew I was in store for some beautiful places, colonial towns and cities and perhaps a more authentic Latin American experience than some areas of South America provided.

After spending a few days in the heavily American influenced Panama City (I counted at least 30 fast food restaurants in a food court in the city centre) I moved on to the Atlantic Coast towards the town of Bocas Del Torro (the Bulls Mouths). A relaxing if not spectacular few days were spent there with my Danish friend Simon where we reminisced on the past few months in South America while downing a few Rums.

Going our separate ways, I took the bus onto Nicaragua passing through San Jose in Costa Rica where I spent a few hours sleeping in the terminal waiting for my connecting bus to Isla de Ometepe.

Around 24 hours after I left Panama I found myself in the visually stunning Island of Ometepe where two volcanoes (one active) dominate the landscape. After doing a bit of much needed exercise where I climbed one of the mountains and went on some long-ish bike rides, I moved onto Nicaragua and the old colonial town of Granada.

Granada, along with Antigua in Guatemala, is the epicenter of Spanish learning and so at $4 an hour I decided to get a few hours of one-on-one tuition. Feeling infinitely more confident in my linguistic abilities (and perhaps because I’d not had a party for a while) I went out to a local Salsa bar and tried my hand with the locals (dancing that is). Whilst not an overwhelming success with the various forms of Latin American dance (Salsa, Rumba, Merengua, Cumbia etc etc) I felt I had enough in my locker to perhaps invest in some lessons in Antigua, Guatemala.

And so I booked a bus to the capital of Nicaragua, Managua with the intention of finding, what I hoped would be, a relatively easy connection through Honduras and onto Guatemala.

Now I’ve heard a few stories about Managua and the reputation it has for being less than safe. Fucking dangerous to be precise. So what I had hoped would happen is I’d arrive in Managua and then be able to get an immediate overnight connection to Granada, Nicaragua. The first part of the journey was straightforward enough and I arrived in Managua around 7ish by bus. From the terminal I then asked to be taken to the bus companies office where I could by my ticket. Now for some reason unbeknown to me, all the bus companies have decided to base themselves in, according to my taxi driver, “no go zones for tourists”. Brilliant!

Anyway, arriving at the bus company I got out and was met by a guard who said the office was closed and that I had to come back at 2am to buy a ticket and get on the bus. 2 bloody am. He kindly said he’d look after me for 6 hours while I wait on the street waiting to be mugged but I politely declined and got back in the taxi. So the taxi driver drove me round the corner to some guesthouse where I managed to bargain a discounted rate for a few hours in a room until it was time for me to go. Feeling a little safer I but my bags down and decided to go out for some dinner. As I stepped out of the door the mother of the house ran after me and stood in the doorway advising me that I was stupid to go out on my own. So a few minutes later I was being chaperoned by the man of the house to go and get some food. Now I felt I was in the shit slightly.

So it got to around 11pm and my minder said he was going to get a few hours sleep but to wake him at 2am and he’ll take me to the bus office. 2am came and my de facto bodyguard decided he was too tired and told me to get a taxi or walk. Shit! Not wanting to walk the 8 blocks on my own with my bags and a huge sign on my back saying “rob me!” I waited for a taxi. With only tumbleweed passing the streets I was in danger of missing my bus. However, just as I was about to go back to the hotel and demand that my bodyguard take me, a police car cruised the street. I hailed it down, told them the story and fortunately for me they said of course I could have a lift. I also mentioned I was slightly late and so that was the queue for them to stick on the lights and race the 8 blocks to my destination. So I arrived at the bus office, lights and siren on full in the back of a police car. To the other passengers waiting outside it must have looked pretty funny. However, the guard didn’t find it funny and thought I was a criminal and refused me entry to buy my ticket. A few minutes of passed before some gentle persuasion allowed me to get in.

And so I booked a bus and from there the journey was smooth to Guatemala City and then directly on to Antiugua. However, those few hours in Managua were a little hairy to say the least!

Arriving in Antigua I was immediately struck by the colonial influence of the town. Old cobbled streets mixed with huge imposing churches provides ample photo opportunities. After a day of lessons…both Spanish and Salsa I was feeling immersed into the city. Though whether it was something I ate or the drop in temperature, from around 25oC to 14oC, (yes I know that’s positively scorching compared to home) I was bed ridden for a couple of days. Feeling loads better a few days later I got on the bus and reached one of the most amazing places I’ve seen on my whole journey so far, Lago de Atitlan! Mountains, lakes and volcanoes all in one area provide one of the most stunning sceneries I’ve encountered. A real paradise where I spent yesterday visiting the local market and swimming in the lake.

An so that’s where I am now with just over a week of the journey to go. 7 days, 22 hours, 34minutes and 4 seconds to be exact…not that I’m conscious of how long I have left of my traveling existence before I begin life in the real world.

Tomorrow I’ll take a bus into Mexico and start the final leg of the trip. I’ve been reading up on the country and there’s some really cool places left to see. The plan is to start off in San Cristobal de Las Casas before taking a night bus into Mexico City and making friends with the 20 odd million other people who will be there.

I’ll try and get some thoughts up on the blog about the journey as a whole before I fly home but we’ll see…with so little time left I’m determined to make use of every minute I have left.

31 weeks passed…one more left…speak soon!!

Colombia and getting to Panama....

Ok, where to start?

Its four weeks since my last proper blog so I´ll try to get together some thoughts over my experiences in the last month. Though as it was during the festive period a few may be a little hazy but I´ll try nonetheless! Here goes....

So after re-reading my last update it appears I´d managed to arrive in Lima and was waiting for my flight to Medellin. An uneventful night in Lima was spent before I got on the flight to Medellin and arrived at around midday on the 19th December.

It was a short taxi ride to the hostel where I was met by my good mate Maurice who I began the trip with in Thailand almost seven months ago. So as it was going to be a relatively long catch up I dumped my bags and we headed to the bar along with a few other guys to have a few beers and begin the month long Christmas and New Years Celebrations.

Now, from here I could perhaps fabricate the next part of the blog and talk about all the museums, monuments and great things that Medellin certainly has to offer...but which I never got round to visiting! However, I´ll be perfectly honest and say that from the moment I arrived in the hostel in Medellin to the moment I left for the beaches and sun of the Caribean Coast in Cartagena, we partied the whole time.

Therefore, rather than giving a Time Out style guide to the bars and clubs of Medellin I´ll rather comment a bit about the people and lifestyle of Colombia and the Colombianos. Now I never had any preconceptions of the place but perhaps reading "Killing Pablo" before I arrived put me, only slightly, on edge when I arrived. Lets not forget that Medellin and Colombia as a whole was in the midst of a bloody and violent "civil war" only 15 years previously, so perhaps a slight wariness was understandable.

However, my experience of the Colombian people was and has been an overwhelmingly positive one. I´m not making an off the cuff comment when I say the Colombians are the nicest, friendliest and warmest group of people I have met throughout the whole time I´ve been away. They are always available for a chat and will go out of there way to help you if you have any questions or need anything. And so whilst during Christmas and New Years I could have felt a little homesick, the spirit and openness of the people made sure that wasn´t an issue.

So after the xmas party in Medellin I took an overnight bus to Cartagena in and around the 29th to see in the New Year. In Cartagena and for the next week or so I was joined by some of the worlds truly beautiful people from Bogota, Cali, Medellin and all around Colombia. I´d been told what to expect from the Colombian women but it is seriously indescribable at how stunning they really are and me and the lads spent many a day having a few beers on the beach in awe!

New Years was a really big affair in Cartagena and the city put on a great show with fireworks, light shows, salsa and rumba music and a few shots of the Medellin Rum to accompany us. It really was a great atmosphere and that New Years is one I wont forget in a long while.

And so after partying for the best part of 3 weeks I finally decided it was time to take a bit of time out and so I took a bus a small beach town called Taganga where I whiled away a few days by the sea.

I returned to Cartagena to look for a boat to take me and my Danish amigo Simon to Panama. One way or another we ended up bagging the final two places on this American guys huge Catamaran and took a four day journey away from Colombia, up through the stunning San Blas Islands and finishing up on the coast of Panama.

Again getting lucky Simon, the two Argentinian guys we were with and I managed to hitch a ride to Panama City where I´ve spent the last couple of days.

And so the South American adventure drew to an end and the beginning of a new continent starts.

The last few months spent in South America has truly been the time of my life. From the stunning time I had in Buenos Aires to the equally fantastic times spent in Colombia, every day has offered something new and every day I´ve been drawn closer and closer to the countries, cultures and people of this amazing continent.

It has never once dissapointed and has always thrilled so while it is the end for the moment, as a whole I know my time in South America is only just beginning....

Bienvenido a Panama City!

Some things get a bit repetitive in life and so I hope I´m not boring those who have stuck with this blog over the last 7 months by saying I´m going to give a full(er) update of what I´ve been up to over the last 4 weeks in a few days.

All I´ll say at this point is I´ve just arrived in Panama City from Cartagena after 4 days sailing on a ridiculously huge Catamaran. The when´s, why´s and how the hell did we get so lucky to be doing that trip on a boat Mr. Abramovich wouldn´t be ashamed of will be saved for another day.

So just a brief hello to say i´m in Panama and about to begin a whistle stop tour of Central America in just four weeks. Its going to be quick but I seriously cant wait and an exploration of this continent steeped in history and culture is really wetting my travelling appetite.

Anyway, its Saturday night here in Panama so I´m off for a Balboa Beer (I think named after the currency or Rocky or maybe both - No Idea!) to see what this place has to offer.......

Ciao!

Happy New Years

So its a belated Happy New Years to everyone but one nonetheless!

I think the only way to describe Colombia so far is one long, fun, eye opening and 24 hour party experience. Therefore I´ll leave a more detailed description of what I´ve been up to in Medellin and Cartagena since the 19th December until I reach something a bit more relaxed further East along the Caribean coast.

I hope you are all well back home and I´ll put something up in the next few days.

Seriously, the place is nuts!

Leaving Buenos Aires, going loco in La Paz and experiencing beautiful Cuzco....

In my last post I was off to Uruguay, but for one reason or another I didn´t make it but instead spent a few days 6 hours south of Buenos Aires in Mar Del Plata. Despite it raining I had a really enjoyable few days relaxing with some Swedish friends I´d met along the way. We then all went back to the capital where I partied for a week more before finally dragging my heels and heading off!

So I finally got myself away from the nightlife, culture, food, climate and everything else that Buenos Aires has to offer by jumping on a bus to La Paz.

When I arrived at the bus terminal I was hoping for only a few things from the bus given that it was a 48 hour journey....air conditioning, reclinining chairs for a sleep and a little leg room. As the bus chugged in at 5pm making this thing look like royalty, I wasn´t hopeful. And my lack of hope was substantiated as I jumped on the bus for two days without air conditioning and the ability to get a decent nights kip. That said however, it wasn´t unbearable and with a couple of books and an appropriaetd pillow from the last hostel I managed to do the journey without much hassle....just.

Anyway, arriving into La Paz and the city is nothing like I´ve ever seen before. It literally takes your breath away (its highest point being 4058km above sea level) and once you manage to overcome the initial effects of the altitude what lays before you is certainly one of the most unique city´s you can come accross. It is sandwiched between two huge mountain faces and thousands upon thousands of houses cascade down these mountains eventually ending up with a flattish centre. It is almost like a supersized football stadium that has been turned into a city.

With not much time in La Paz I set myself a full itinery for the two days that I was there. Unsuprisingly the first days plans where in the bin after I got dragged out all night on my first night there. However, the second day was one I won´t forget.

The day started with a trip to the Coca Musuem. It is a small little building located just behind one of the main Plaza´s in La Paz. An educational and informative tour, it left me with a few suprising (or perhaps not) facts about the history of the Coca leaf. What many people don´t realise about the Coca Leaf is that it has been used for centuries by the Andean people as a method of curing a variety of ills and also improving prouductivity in the workforce.

A quick word on the eradication of the Coca leaf. America has lead the way for its eradication yet it is Western (including American scientists) who first developed its derivative Cocaine and also Coca Cola for years used the leaf as its secret ingredient. Ironically, a stat given in the museum states that America, which makes up 5% of the worlds population, consumes 50% of the total Cocaine intake each year.

Anyway, this isn´t a manifesto either way on the Coca leaf, but I think it is important to know some facts that aren´t always put forward.

So I wandered around La Paz for a bit and then made a trip to a place that I will never forget in a long time. Partially made famous by the book Marching Powder, San Pedro Prison is one of the strangest places I have ever been to. It is an unofficial tour of the "prison" and the way in is to approach a South African couple outside who seem to have used their entrepreneurial skills to set up a "tourist attraction". Anyway, after spending a significant amount of money to get in what I saw was simply unbelievable. We were assigned a guide and a few bodyguard inmates and to say I was shit scared when walking past the guards with automatic rifles is a huge understatement.

Anyway, we were given a tour of the place and it really is unique. It has a restaurant, bar, pool tables and many other amenities that would compliment a small town. Even stranger is the fact that different areas of the prison are referred to as mini boroughs - our guide would often say "this is a poor/rich area of the prison". Perhaps most strikingly though is that inmates wives and children are permitted to live with their husbands in their cells. When I say cells, it is doing their living quarters a disservice as included in what they have is cable TV where one of the young boys was watching Arsenal when I was wandering round. I sat down next to him, watched the second half and his mum brought us some cake to eat. As I said, it was bloody surreal. I´m actually laughing now as I type at how ridiculous the whole situation was. To top it off there are Coca Cola signs printed everywhere around the prison. I guess Capitalism knows no bounds. This link to an old BBC report gives a few pictures and a bit more info on the place (if you look at picture 4 you can see the Coca Cola signs I´m talking about).

Feeling slightly confused and with my eyes firmly open, I spent one more night in La Paz before heading to Cuzco in Peru. No hassles with border control this time (I´d learnt my lesson). On the way to the Cuzco I was actually thinking about how lucky I´d been not to have been ill this whole six months....sure enough after the first meal I eat I felt awful and for the next couple of days I felt pretty rough. Anyway, I spent it in this English pub watching all the weekends football and was well enough on the Monday to go and visit Machu Pichu. A really amazing place, where is is believe the Incas inhabited between 1460 and departed around 100 years later.

The next day I set off for Lima on what was supposed to be a relatively easy 20 hour journey. Things started well when the bus turned up and looked pretty good. I spent the first few hours watching a couple of films before nodding off to sleep at around 9pm. Anyway, I woke up at 2am to a load of shouting and commotion and not being in the mood to get involved went back to sleep. Imagine my suprise when I woke up at 11am to find we were still in EXACTLY the same place. Apparently the bus had broken down during the night and the next bus was to come pick us up at 7pm that evening. An enjoyable 19 hour delay ensued in the middle of nowhere. That said the view was amazing and I took a load of pictures to remind myself. However, beautiful scenery can only pass so much time on a 19 hour delay.

So I´m in Lima now, feeling slightly better but taking it easy. I have a flight to Medallin in Colombia tomorrow and I am seriously excited. It´s meant to be an extroadinary place and everyone I´ve spoke to says I´m in for a treat.

By the way, if you´re looking for something to read over xmas I´ve just finished this book on Medallin´s most famous son, Pablo Escobar. It will amaze you at the state of the place between the mid 80´s and early 90´s when he was king.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well back home and looking forward to Xmas.

Take care and I´ll be in touch soon!

Like a boomerang.....

I´m back in Buenos Aires...haha!!

Only for a couple of days I think. Next stop Uruguay!!

Speak soon.

Buenos Aires continues to thrill and getting deported from Brazil was quite interesting as well.....

So I´m still here in Beunos Aires!

There´s a well worn saying in travelling circles that amounts to "Don´t get stuck in one place...make sure you see more." The most common place this happens is Sydney. People go there straight from England, love it so much, cant see past the Harbour Bridge or Opera House and what was meant to be a year travelling Oz turns into a year in Sydney.

Whilst this hasn´t quite happened to me yet I´ve been in Buenos Aires for almost 3 weeks now and it´s probably time to leave.

However, the last two weeks have been fun, challenging, thrilling and unique. What´s more, there have been one or two unfortunate moments which I´ll come on to but that hasn´t diminished any of the affection I have for this wonderful city.

So last time I checked in I was going to meet my two mates Ed and James in Florianopolis. Before doing this I decided to take a bus up to Puerto Iguazu and see the world famous Iguazu Falls. By the way, the buses in Argentina and South America as a whole are big business. You can get 1st, 2nd and 3rd class busses with 1st class offering you a full bed, meals, wine and a waiter for the journey. A bit OTT but it makes 18 hour journeys a whole lot easier.

Anyway, I arrived in Puerto Iguazu and saw the imposing and quite special collection of waterfalls that this Argentinian landmark has to offer. Especially striking was La Gargenta del Diablo which roughly translates into "The Devils Throat".

So with my fill of waterfalls I crossed the border by local bus into Brazil. A smooth transition through immigration where I got my exit stamp from Argentina. Worryingly though there was no Brazilian immigration to give me an entrance stamp....more to come later!!

Having moved into Brazil I got on to another bus where I made the overnight journey to Florianopolis. There I met James and Ed and it was really great to see a few friendly faces. Having been away for so long without seeing people from home it was nice to spend a bit of time in the company of friends where conversation is easy and forcing conversation is not necessary.

Ammusingly though, it rained for 3 days straight. The lads had come from horrible, dark and murky weather back home in London and had arrived in Brazil to be greeted by the more of the same. So we decided to move our flights forward and leave the next day.

The journey was simple. Florianopolis to Coritiba and the Coritiba to Buenos Aires arriving at around 4pm. The first leg was navigated without hassle. The second leg was not. As we went through immigration in Coritiba the Federal Police had a quick scan through my passport and asked for my ¨Entry Card". Bollocks!! The lack of immigration in Puerto Iguazu was beginning to hurt me. After trying to explain why I didn´t have one, the guys were not impressed and it didn´t help either that the two friends I was with, Ed and James, had the necessary documents. The Federal Police didn´t seem bothered by my explanation that they had come from London and I from Puerto Iguazu.

Anyway, after much discussion in English, Portugese and Spanish, I managed to decipher that I wasn´t going anywhere and would have to fly the next day. James, Ed and I agreed it would be best for them to carry on and I would meet them tomorrow.

So an hour later I was in the interrogation room of the Brazilian Federal Police being told that I had to pay 300 pounds to leave the country. In my head I wanted to tell them to "F*** Off¨". But not having the bottle and also worrying that I would probably excalate the situation, I simply said ¨No¨. After going backwards and forwards for a while and me politely correcting them that no, it isn´t the case that if a Brazilian man was without documentation in England he would be put in prison for 10 years, we finally reached a compromise. I was to leave tomorrow but if I ever wanted to come back to Brazil I would have to pay the fine.

I was partially content but for reasons unbenown to me I decided to kick up a mighty fuss and demand that I leave that night. So quite amazingly I had managed to side step the fine that the Police were imposing, albeit temporarily, and had got them and the airline running around looking for a way out for me that night. I managed to do it as well and an hour later I was on a flight bound for Sao Paolo with a connection on to Buenos Aires. I arrived in Beunos Aires at 12am, met the lads and had one almighty session on the beers with them.

All was good until a few days later when I had my wallet stolen on the tube. Bollocks! It happened so quickly and the guy was off in a flash that before I could do anything I had no cash, no card and no ID apart from my passport. Not good. Anyway, one way or another I managed to sort myself out but it was certainly a lesson learnt.

The lads and I then embarked on a feeding and drinking frenzy lasting a good 5 days. We ate in some great restaurants, had steaks the size of our heads and it got to the stage where rather than being mocked by taxi drivers for going home early as I was when I first arrived, they were rather impressed when we were asking to be taken to more bars after the clubs had closed at 7am. True Porteños!!

So the boys have gone now and I´m planning my exit too. I suppose I´ve loved this place so much that I´m worried things wont compare to it. I´ve almost carved a micro life for myself here where I know waiters, travellers, barman and locals. I know the roads, good places to eat, the tube and the best places to go drinking on different nights of the week. However, someone said you should always leave a place wanting more!

And so I´ll probably be out of here by Wednesday (or Thursday, or perhaps next Wednesday...just kidding) at the latest but I will definately be back.

Next stop is the University City of Cordoba. Apparently Cordoba prides itself on being bigger, better and offering harder partying than Buenos Aires. If that´s the case then the next blog could offer more suprises than this one!

Until then.......