RTW 07/08

Right so we landed at the border after 28 hours on the bus. It was 2 in the morning when we got there so it was looking like it`d be kipping at the bus station with the tramps, but we took a wee walk and found a place in 2 minutes, for about $3. The next morning we walked to bolivia across the border, it was the easiest crossing yet, cause we walked it, if you go by bus you have to queue with everyone else and it`s a torture. Once across the border into Villazon we made our way to the Bus station, it was`nt much of a bus station to be honest. Anyway went to buy the tickets asked the woman for semi-cama, toilet and something to eat, 'no bother' she said in Spanish. Worked out at $10, so you just new she was talking shite. The bus was`nt till 6pm and it was only 12pm, so we went for somethin to eat in probably the only place there, it definately felt like you were at the ends of the earth. 1 hour was too long to spend there.
Anyway the bus pulled up and i was right it was like cattle boat. Got on at 6pm and we did`nt leave till 7pm, that was only the start of it, i swear to God i could write a book on it. On the road at 7pm and it was movin for about 2 hours and it broke down. It did`nt suprise me because the raods were dirt tracks, it was like travelling over mini speed bumps for 18 hours. So while everyones sitting on the bus wondering what was going on, the driver had disappeared and everyone thought he was`nt coming back until the morning cause apparently thats what they do. But thank God he decided to come back 2 hours later and get the bus on the road again. A bottle of whiskey would of went down well on this journey. Drinking beer ment you had to piss into bottles and fire it out the window, and that was happening around us.
On the dirt track again, there was no chance of sleeping, the vibrations from the roads and the scud missile sound everytime the driver changed the gears would`nt let you, this is were the Whiskey would of helped. Once day light broke the driver would stop at the side of the road and let randoms on the bus who were either trying to sell you miracle cures for everything or preaching madness. The driver must of been getting a cut of the profits cause why else would you let them on to torture heads.
Anyway i`ll cut a long story short, we made our way through the desert and arrived in a place called El Alto which is the highest point in La Paz, then we turned round a corner and looked below and it was an amazing site alright, the city itself was about 1500 metres below El Alto, it was a site to see. But was 18 hours on that thing worth it?

The 22 hour bus journey was suprisingly not that bad, especially as it was an Argentinian company, they`re cheaper and you get fed something substantial other than PEANUTS. Anyway when we landed in Buenos Aires we made tracks trying to find a hostel but we forgot that Argentina were playing Bolivia in a world cup qualifier so nearly everywhere was booked out for the night, lucky enough we got on the Internet and found one spot that still had places, dunno why it was the only spot left with places cause it was a good enough gaff. After dropping the bags at the hostel we made our way to River Plates ground which was where the game was been played, we payed something like $10 for a ticket and it was well worth it for the atmosphere inside, I`ll have the pictures up on bebo soon. Argentina won the game 3-0, it was good to see that team in the flesh cause they`ve some great players. The highlight of the game was`nt the goals or anything to do with the football, but in the second half the firemen opened up these powerful water hydrants and started to soak the crowd and the whole place started rocking, brilliant atmosphere it was.
So after the game we landed back in the hostel with a bag of Argentinian meat for the first of many barbeques on the roof of the hostel, and i must admit the steak in Argentina is something else, i would`nt call the person a liar who said that its up there with the best steak in the world.
The rest of the time we spent in Buenos Aires was probably the best of the trip so far. It is just a good city for out and about and nothing seems to happen until late on.
I also took a wee trip upto the National Naval museum which was in a spot called Tigre, got a few pictures from there aswell, but i was expecting it to be bigger to be honest.
So with us leaving buenos Aires, we had another long bus journey to look forward too, this time 28 hours and thats just to get to the border with Bolivia.

Well we eventually made our Way towards the Brazilian side of the Iquazu Falls, another long bus journey but i´m definately getting used to them now. We landed at a hostel next to Falls but it was out in the sticks, anything that we needed we had to make our way into Foz, but to be brutally honest there was nothing there either. So known this the next morning We made it upto the Brazilian Falls (plenty of pictures on Bebo), they were something else, the amount of shear water flowing down them is amazing. We made a few treks around the falls, a couple of Kilometre´s until the end where i think everyone was soaked to the bone, but it was well worth it. The next day 2 of us made the excursion over the border to the Argentinian side of the falls, i only thought i seen them on the Brazilian side but this was something else, we must of trekked close to 20 kilometres around the Argentine falls as along with the main Falls there were isolated waterfalls into the jungle, it was definately worth the time and blisters. It was a full day from 9am to 6pm so we were definately ready for a pint after it. We stayed another night in the hostel on the Brazilian side before making tracks for Buenos Aires, 22hrs on the bus waiting on us.

Ok, so the start of the travels saw us land at Rio De Janeiro airport. The 14 1/2 hour flight went quick enough. Rio was a grand spot, the weather was great for the first 2 days but then turned into heavy downpours. Anyway first stop after the airport was the pub to watch the Celtic v Kilmarnock game, we still did´nt have a place to stay (get the priorities right, eh). The Lord Jim was the name of the pub, It´s the Rio CSC.
We seen all the major sites in Rio, sugar loaf mountain was great cause we seen it on a good day. Up the mountain on a cable car was a bit dicey alrite, especially into the clouds. The same evening we went to a Fluminense match, had to look up the internet to see who they were playing, it was Nautico Recife. The Maracana is some stadium by the way, It´ll be hosting the 2014 World Cup Final. I´ll get a few of the pictures posted soon. Christ The Redeemer was one of the main attractions but unfortunately it was bucketting down when we got up, still got a few pictures though.
Jeez, nearly forgot about that funk party organised by the Hostel, Che Lagarta. We were taken by a bus into the hills for about an hour till we got to the spot. Madness it was when we got there, it was in the middle of a favela (slums), aye it was a good enough nite.
So the weather got to us in Rio and we decided to jump on a bus for 18hrs (mad or what) and head down the coast to a spot called Floronapolis, nice wee spot and it had an Island off it called Lagoa De Conceiçao. We spent 3 days at Barra De Lagoa which had the Atlantic coast at one side and a Lagoa (Lagoon) on the other. We rented a wee pad right on the beach for the equivalent of $8 a night each, you could´nt beat that.
Anyway, back on the bus again and at the time of writing we´re in a place called Balneario Camboriu, it´s definately a bit more lively than Floronapolis and it´s on the beach as well. The plan after this is either Tuesday or Wednesday we´ll be heading to Foz Do iquazu which is where the Iquazu falls are. Supposedly they are a far better spectacle than the Niagara Falls.