SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka was another example of a place we hadn’t originally intended to visit. However Tommy and Emma sold us the Sri Lankan dream and it became apparent that we could not leave this country off our itinerary. Sri Lanka not only lived up to the hype from Tommy and Emma, it went well beyond.

We arrived in Colombo and took a taxi three hours south to a small coastal town called Midigama. The guest house we were recommend was full, along with the next three guest houses we approached. All the while our taxi driver was taking us from guest house to guest house at no extra charge. I told the driver we could not take up his time any more and to drop us at one last hotel and if it was full we would carry on looking on foot - in the blazing heat! The final hotel did have a room but it was $100 per night, well above our budget. I told the manager thanks but no thanks and we left. As we were trudging down the road he came out and asked that we come in and take a seat so he could ring some other places within our budget. Again no luck, all full. 

The Manager then rung the owner of the hotel and explained our plight. Then came the offer of $30 per night for two nights with two conditions 1) he would take the air con remote 2) we would not tell any of the other guests that we were paying 70% less than them…..DEAL!!. The hotel was brand new, with a huge bed, flash ensuite and all the bells and whistles. Within two hours we had extended to stay for 5 nights, within two daysextended to 8 nights and within 1 week we had arranged so our 18 days in Sri Lanka would be spent at this hotel. The hotel was on the beach and within walking distance of all the surf breaks. We became really good mates with all the staff there and the chef made the best curries in Sri Lanka!

Originally we had grand plans for Sri Lanka - safari parks, the highlands, tea plantations, train rides etc. However it didn’t take long upon looking around Midigama and the surrounding beaches (some of the best we have ever seen) to decide that rather than race around the country we would stay put, chill and enjoy the surrounds and really get to know the area - a decision we do not regret one bit! Midigama is a tiny coastal town with several guesthouses, restaurants and cafes, you could very easily drive through and miss it. It is home however to some of the best surf breaks on the southern coastline and is the perfect place to base yourself for day days trips both north and south.

We hired a scooter for our time in Sri Lanka and did several trips up and down the coast line, checking out small beaches and towns along the way, the road follows the coast making it very easy to check out plenty of beaches. Galle is an awesome small little colonial town about 45mins north from Midigama on the scooter from where we went a few times for lunch. The curries in Sri Lanka are amazing are very cheap. A local restaurant called “Mammas’” serves all you can eat curries/rice for $2.50! Mamma is a large Sri Lankan women who is more than happy to encourage you to load up you plate with her delicious selection of curries as much as you can. Most days she will have at least 4 different vegetarian curries on offer.

One morning when exploring for some uncrowded surf I stumbled upon small beach a two minute scooter ride off the main road. 200m offshore was an epic left hand reef break with no one out, this beach (Jungle beach) would become our second home for the next two weeks. I surfed every morning at dawn and then would head back to the hotel to pick up Jen and head back for another surf while she sun bathed. The local crew who hung round there were all very friendly and Jen and I spent most afternoons hanging with them drinking beers and cocktails. They were some of the most friendly and welcoming people we have meet on our trip. On our final day one of the boys (Shanaka) invited us to his home for a curry and rice. So Jen and I followed him back to his house to find he had moved all the living room furniture in his modest family home to one side and there was a table set for two! His mother prepared the most amazing baked whole fish I have ever had with a side of dahl, curried beans, mango curry and rice. Shanaka cranked on some Bob Marley and acted as our waiter while we had an incredible meal. The hospitality was extremely humbling and one of the most special experiences of the trip.

GUATEMALA

It was a beautiful drive from El Salvador to Guatemala, just as we came through the border the sun was setting and the scenery of lush jungle was awesome. We pulled into Antigua in the dark and headed straight to OX Hostel as we had arranged to do the overnight Acatanago Hike through their OX Expedition company.

The next day we spent making sure we had everything we needed (lots of snacks!) and having a general look around Antigua, which is our favourite colonial town we have been to so far.

The Acatanago overnight ‘double whammy’ expedition consists of a 6 hour hike up volcano Acatanago (13,044ft) which in itself was a hard trek, here we set up base camp with a view of Volcano Fuego. 

A few of us opted to do the hike to Volcano Fuego summit (12,342ft) to watch the sunset while seeing it erupting. This was killer after hiking all day as we had to race to catch the sunset and it was another hour and a bit uphill. Once we got to the ridge of Fuego we pulled on some warm clothes and watched the sunset with it erupting right next to us- it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had and worth every moment of pain! After the sun went down we had to hike back to base camp in the dark, inhale some much needed pasta and red wine by the fire and then jump into our sleeping bags for some rough uncomfortable sleep before our 3:30am wake up call to get to the very summit of Acatanago for sunrise.

It felt like we had just closed our eyes when we were woken up for our next hour hike, this was perhaps the hardest as we were pretty buggered from the day before and the terrain was very unforgiving, just rubble so it was two steps forward one slide back the whole way up.

Made it to the top and it was FREEZING! The coldest I have ever been in my life!! Sunrise was beautiful, then Dom and the boys did the summit challenge where they had to run around the crater in under the record 3mins 20secs. However with only 40% use of your lungs because of the altitude its pretty tough going and none of them made it- Dom came in at 3:55-close!

We had brekky, packed up and then started our decent down- couldn’t count how many times we bailed! 

We pulled into our hostel and the first thing we did was have a shower, it was amazing to feel clean after two days of hiking! We stayed at Yellow House and it was the nicest hostel we have stayed in our whole trip. They clean it 24/7 and it has a lovely homely vibe with great staff and an awesome rooftop courtyard with a view of the surrounding volcanoes. 

We scrubbed up then hit the town for a few well earned drinks!

After cruising the markets in Antigua for a couple of days we caught a bus to Lake Atitlan, a massive lake with little towns set around it. We stayed in San Marcos which is known as the most alternative and hippie place around but we didn’t quite realise how extreme it was until we got there!! Lets just say there was a lot of body hair, dirty bare feet and awkwardly long hugs.

We spent a couple of days just cruising by the lake, there was a 7m high jump off point set around the bay and it was a nice spot to park up and spend the afternoon.

Ems and I went to a yoga class which was…different to any I have done before! From San Marcos we all went back to Antigua for one night and then on to El Salvador for seven days. 

After saying goodbye to Tommy and Ems in El Salvador, Dom and I got a shuttle back to Antigua and spent a day (we couldn’t stay away we loved it there!) before we flew to Flores, Tikal to check out the ancient Mayan ruins. 

We decided to do the 4am trek where you walk in before the sun comes up and climb  to the top of one of the ruins to listen to the jungle wake up with sunrise, the roar of the howler monkey’s was crazy!

The next morning we were on our way to Mexico to catch our flight from Cancun to New Delhi. Our bus ride was a good lesson why you should be very careful when booking a bus/shuttle online in Latin America. According to the website we were paying for a 12 seater, air-conditioned new Toyota Hiace shuttle to take us to Cancun - a trip that was advertised to take 7 hours and would involve crossing through Belize en-route. However what arrived to pick us up in the morning was a 20 year old 35 seater Toyota Coaster with no air conditioning, a badly cracked/shattered windscreen and small bench seats on each side of the aisle that could barely fit two people! The “direct trip” to Cancun included a stop off in Belize City and ended up taking 12 hours to get to Cancun. After checking in to the Ibis and two bottles of wine later we were celebrating our last night in Latin America, not quite ready to leave but on to the next stage of our trip.. India!

EL SALVADOR

El Salvador wasn’t originally a country we intended to visit - partly because of its reputation and partly because of a lack of time. We did however have to pass through El Salvador en route to Guatemala. Actually to catch a shuttle from Nicaragua to Guatemala you travel through Honduras and El Salvador - 4 countries in the space of 15 hours! Our Shuttle stopped for two hours at a small coastal town called El Tunco in El Salvador so the passengers could have lunch etc. When we pulled up we couldn’t believe what we saw, a small little beach town with great surf, beautiful palm tree and jungle lined coastline, friendly locals and plenty of cheap little cafe’s, restaurants and bars.

Tommy and Emma who we were still traveling with suggested we come back there after a week in Guatemala, it is only a 5 hour shuttle form Antigua to El Tunco. Initially we said while the idea sounded good it wasn’t really going to work as there was more of Guatemala we wanted to see, however after a night to sleep on it we changed our minds and after one week in Guatemala headed back across the border to El Tunco.

El Tunco proved to be one of the favorite places we visited during our trip. The locals are very friendly and eager to promote the area and tourism in order to try and improve the poor reputation El Salvador has internationally. A classic example is one local guy we meet spent two hours with Tommy and I looking around the various surf shops trying to find two decent hire surf boards at a good price. Eventually we found the boards and we offered the guy a tip/beer/lunch and he refused to take anything, he simply asked that when we go home we tell our friends that El Tunco is great and tell them to come visit! Crime in the area is virtually non existent and any crime is swiftly dealt with by the local community. 

El Tunco is very unique in that you can see the sun rise and set over the water, something I have never seen before. It rises over the water to the south and sets over the water to the north, the sunsets are the most beautiful we have seen. Most tourists and locals head down head down to the beach in the evening with a couple of beers and sit along the boardwalk, have a beer and watch the sunset. The weekends are busy with a lot of families coming down from San Salvador (45mins away) for the weekend. It is a very chilled and relaxed environment. 

Tommy and I went out for dawnies every morning and spent most of our day in and out of the water while Jen and Emma got stuck into yoga and workouts. Other than that we chilled in the hammocks, drunk beer and played cards. There is one main street with all the bars and restaurants and we would head there every night for $1 beers and cheap meals. It is a great atmosphere as all the locals you see out in the surf are cruising around most nights and are always happy to say hi and have a yarn. The El Salvadorians love to promote their little piece of paradise and are eager to ensure you are happy and spread the word that El Salvador is a good place to visit and worth the trip.

After a week of sun and surf we were back in the shuttle and heading to the cross the El Salvador/Guatemala border for the third time in 8 days! 

NICARAGUA

Getting into Nicaragua was interesting. We decided to fly to Liberia in Costa Rica as we found a cheap flight from Cartagena to Liberia. Liberia is about 1 hour south of the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border. So upon landing at the airport we took a taxi to the border. This border crossing has to be one of the most confusing land borders we have crossed - no signs, no structure and a 1.5km walk in the heat between the two borders. During this walk you have to stop by a random man sitting at a small unmarked desk who gives you a slip of paper. If you arrive at the Nicaraguan entry point without this piece of paper you have to walk 1km back to get it! Something we saw a few people have to do. Touts wait at each end of the crossing and offer to act as a guide between the borders and show you where to go and in what order - we used a guide and its well worth doing for the sake of a few dollars. 

We arrived at the accommodation in Popoyo in Nicaragua and to be fair it was not quite what we expected. We were expecting lush coastline with jungle, palm trees etc and were instead met by a very dry and arid landscape. The area has been in drought for a few years and cactuses, burnt fields and thorns make up the landscape. The beaches however are beautiful and I understand the southern coastline of Nicaragua is greener. Anyway we hired a motorbike and did a few fun trips and and down the coastline. The Nicaraguan people are very reserved and are not particularly welcoming to foreigners - compared to what we had experienced elsewhere in Latin America. This resentment and attitude to foreigners was summed up when Jen was robbed while I was out surfing. The bastards stole our good Camera and GoPro. It seemed everyone in the small town knew the culprits along with the police (who wanted petrol money to come see us to prepare a police report). The police then said the incident occurred 200m out of their jurisdiction and therefore could not do anything, an absolute cop out. However Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America (only behind Haiti) so we couldn’t exactly expect a top notch police force! 

Anyway we tried to move on from that disappointment and enjoy the rest of our time in Nicaragua. We met a really cool English couple (Tommy and Emma) who we got on with like a house on fire and subsequently spent the next three weeks traveling with. Jens birthday turned into a two day long party, one day of which was spent in the pool all day drinking in the sun listening to good music. A classic Canadian we meet along the way gave Jen a T shirt of her favorite band (The Flatliners) for her birthday and fair to say she was stoked! The last few days in Popoyo turned on some good surf at the local reef break a short walk from our accommodation.

From Popoyo we headed to Granada for a night which is a nice colonial town worth a look and then onto Leon for volcano boarding. Jen was really keen to do volcano boarding up until the point when she was sitting at the top of a very step volcano about to go down. I have never seen her so scared haha! People can reach speeds of close to 100km hour going down the side of the volcano and from the top it looks incredibly steep, luckily Jen, Tommy, Emma and I managed to make it to the bottom with no serious injuries.

Our time in Nicaragua was a mixed bag, some nice beaches, good parties and a few new experiences. However we did certainly leave with mixed emotions. The people are not very friendly and their resentment/attitude to tourists is the worst we experienced in Latin America. The country does have a lot of potential but for us it was a bit overrated. Hopefully next time we go we have a better experience in different parts of the country.

VIVA COLOMBIA!

Colombia, known for its Medellin drug cartels and violence, a place that for a long time was too dangerous for many people to want to travel through.  Until the early 2000’s, when the drug wars ceased and the country reinvented itself into the one of the most innovative in the world. All through our travels everyone raved about Colombia and told us to make sure we had time up our sleeve as we wouldn’t want to leave. 

For once- every single person was right!

In 2013 Medellin won the award for the most innovative city in the world beating 199 other cities including New York and Tel Aviv. And when you get there it is so easy to see why. 

The city and metro stations are so amazingly clean (because the people are so happy to have it they wouldn’t dream of defacing it) but the social projects that have been put in place to better not only the city but its youth. They have created free libraries, universities and gyms for anyone who’s willing to learn and use.

They have placed memorials to remember the people lost in the cartel wars and as a reminder of what they have been through, and overcome.

While there is still violence around, we felt safe walking around and exploring the city. It has so much to see and do, we ended up spending nine days in Medellin alone which is a lot for us in one city!

After Medellin we headed to a small town 4 hours south called Jardin, which is based around a large plaza and surrounded by mountains. It was like going back 100 years, we spent the days sitting in the plaza watching the old school cowboys trot around the square on their horses and chatting with the locals in our very poor broken spanish.

The people in Jardin were among the loveliest we have met, within an hour of being there we had already been invited into three separate peoples homes to stay and the towns hospitality and kindness was truly amazing.

We took a bus through the countryside and up to Santa Marta, stayed only for one night as theres not too much to see there before heading up to Minca in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Our hostel was called Casa Loma and it was a steep hike to reach it especially the first day with heavy packs and 35 degree heat! But once you got to the top it was awesome, our little hut had no door or electricity just a little bed with a mosquito net and a deck that had a view out to the mountains. 

The staff there were awesome and we met some really cool people while we were there. Annie, one of the owners cooks amazing vegetarian feasts every lunch and dinner and the cocktails are flowing everynight! There is no wifi there either which is great as it creates a better social atmosphere. Most nights we also had a couple of Colombian bands come up and play which were absolutely incredible and a real highlight for us, we still listen to their music while on the road!

We spent nine days in Minca, hiking around the mountains, coffee plantations and visiting waterfalls. While I was there I also took some spanish lessons with a lovely local lady, Layla who lived in town and was so interesting she had lived an amazing life and just meeting her and listening to her stories was an experience in itself.

Although we could have stayed in Minca much longer we were heading to Cartagena for Christmas so jumped on another bus and arrived two days before christmas.

Cartagena reminds me of a tropical Spain, colour everywhere with colonial buildings covered in bright bougainvillea and horse and carts trotting around cobbled streets. 

It has some amazing food, bars and shopping so we thought for Christmas we would treat ourselves and go out for a 3 course lunch at a fancy restaurant, and have some drinks in true orphans christmas style.

After three days in Cartagena we were saying goodbye to South America and heading for Central, after a layover in Panama our first stop- Nicaragua!

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Words or pictures cannot do the Galapagos justice. It is a place that must be visited to understand the beauty and magic of the area.

Animals take a priority over humans in the Galapagos. Park benches and boardwalks are reserved for sea lions, marine iguana crossings are more prevalent than pedestrian crossings and diving bombing pelicans and blue footed boobies make swimming in certain area’s hazardous! It was not uncommon to go for a swim and in the space of 30mins see penguins chasing fish, turtles popping their head out of the water, sea lions playing even the odd galapagos shark lurking in the clear waters.

We arrived in the Galapagos with no plan so on our first night we headed out to do some research and saw a travel agency called GalaKiwi which was run by a kiwi bloke called Tim from Central Otago. We walked into the office and Tim’s heavily pregnant wife was the only person there, after she explained to us that GalaKiwi is a high end boutique agency that offers multi day group packages (that must be booked in advance) it became evident that this wasn’t what we were looking for, nor was it in our budget, it also became evident that she wasn’t particularly impressed by our lack of planning and research and didn’t have much time for us. As we walked out Tim walked in. They say opposites attract and this was the case for these two! Tim was a chilled out laid back Kiwi and upon learning that we were Kiwi’s and had rocked up with no plan or idea he took us under his wing and began preparing us an itinerary for our time in the Galapagos, much to the dismay of his wife. He told her to head to the next door restaurant by herself for dinner as he was going to take us around the small town to assist in booking some day trips etc and make some calls to arrange accommodation on the other islands for later on in our trip. Had we not met Tim we would not have had the amazing experience that we did in the Galapagos. He took over an hour of his own time that night to help us out and make arrangements. He refused to take any sort of payment for his time and just said he wanted to make sure we got the most out of our time in the Galapagos. 

The next day we went off on a day trip to Kicker Rock which is recognized as one of the premier diving and snorkeling spots in the Galapagos. I lost count of how many turtles we saw, they we everywhere along with sharks, big bait balls of fish and sea lions. Kicker Rock is a 1.5 hour boat trip from San Cristobal Island and the rock itself just sticks up in the middle of the ocean, it has a big crack through the middle that you snorkel through. It is incredible as the crack it only 4m wide and about 60m long, throughout this little mission you are shoulder to shoulder with big sea lions fighting the surging waters and can see sharks down below, a truly incredible experience.

Transport between the three main islands is an experience in itself. The boats are 8-10m speed boats that go full throttle from island to island, each crossing takes approx. 3 hours. There is always a reasonable swell running and of the 20 people per trip you can guarantee at least 3-5 people will spew. At the beginning of each trip everyone is given a plastic bag as the driver does not stop or slow down for anything or anyone. Jen managed to make good use of her bag during one of the crossings.

From San Cristobal we headed to Santa Cruz for a couple of nights. Santa Cruz is the most populated island and the main attraction here is the highlands. A small drive up into the mountains takes you into a completely different climate where it constantly rains, is lush and green and there is an abundance of the famous giant tortoises. After Santa Cruz went over to our favourite island called Isabella. Isabella is the biggest Island but also the least populated. We loved our time on Isabella and again the wildlife was everywhere. There are no sealed streets instead just sandy tracks. We snorkeled through lava caves following sea turtles and marine iguanas along the way. The place we stayed (organized by Tim) was called “The Jungle” and right on the beach front. Behind the hotel was a big mangrove with pink flamingoes and all sorts of native birds.

The trip to the Galapagos was topped off by the fact upon arriving at the airport to depart we were told our flight had been cancelled. The airline arranged us a driver back to the town and a room at one of the nicest hotels in the Galapagos (over $400 per night). So we had one last night of luxury food and accommodation in the Galapagos thanks to Avianca Airlines!

MONTANITA

We don’t have any photos of Montanita…. maybe thats says enough. While it has rave reviews it definitely wasn’t somewhere we were enamoured with to say the least, it had a beach and a tiny bit of surf, not enough for Dom to go out for a grovel but it did have a cocktail alley that we hit up instead. Needless to say we woke up the next day (travel day) with sore heads and cotton mouths. Pulled  up to catch our bus and we were told that there were no buses going that day due to riots in the next town over no water.

We had booked a decent airport hotel that night and in our state the thought of not being able to get there absolutely killed us! Instead we were stuck on the side of the road with (luckily?) a hippie german chick with bad handmade bracelets, good Spanish and a cute puppy that also had to get to where we were going.

Some other gringos weren’t so lucky and footed the bill for a $100 USD taxi to get through the mayhem. Thirty minutes later the riots ended and the bus rolled up and we were out of there onto our epic hotel with clean sheets, air con and room service!

Speaking of room service…..when we got there it was obvious that Guyaquil was an absolute shizenhole and we were not in any shape to leave the hotel so we decided to order room service. I happened to notice on the very back in tiny writing it said that if your food wasn’t there in there in thirty minutes it was free. I jokingly showed this Dom and that was it…. $60 USD (almost our daily budget) order of food and the timer was on. 

When that poor man came in to the room 45 minutes later with the mountain of food and the cheque for Dom to sign he was left disheartened ( I was hiding under the covers) as Dom promptly pointed to the fine print….. Sad for the hotel- but a win for the backpackers!!!

MANCORA, PERU

After a budget review (sheesh we blew out in Argentina!) many computer sessions and umming and ahhring we decided we had two choices- do Machu Picchu and Bolivia for a few days or go to the Galapagos Islands. 

It was pretty much a no brainer for us, while I always wanted to do Peru and Bolivia I’d rather have ample time to explore them properly and thats something we just didn’t have at this point, plus after so many days inland both of us were dying to get to the beach and the warmth!

We flew from Santiago into Piura via a 8 hour stop over in Lima. Piura is about a 3 hour bus ride from Mancora, our final destination and it was a different sort of town…. definitely somewhere you just pass through en route.

Its pretty interesting coming into Mancora- you see pictures and think its an idyllic beach town but when you come through its like a little beach on the edge of this crazy desert that you bus though. We were pretty unlucky with the weather just in terms that it was howling onshore winds and our hostel was on the beach with not much cover  and with no fresh water there we were pretty salty sea dogs for a few days.

They do however have THE BEST CEVICHE EVER! and its so cheap! Dom and I pretty much lived off this and fresh juice the whole time we were there- it was heaven in contrast to the heavy Argentinian food we’d been chowing back for the previous few weeks.

After three days of no surf and no fresh water showers we were done and keen for some greener pastures so jumped on a bus and made the mission to Montanita in Ecuador.

CHILE

Generally speaking when heading to a new country travelers look forward to checking out the various tourist attractions, beaches, and mountains etc. For Chile this was not the case. The main attraction in heading to Chile was staying with Jens cousin Aedan. After spending our time in Argentina in dorm rooms and sharing one toilet between 20-30 people we were now in store for a private room, private bathroom, great host and a maid!

Aedan owns a dairy farm at the base of the Andes in a small town called Futrono. The area is in the Chilean Lakes district and it is stunning. The region is a mix of lakes, snow capped volcanoes with the every present backdrop of mist and the Andes mountain range. Aedan was a brilliant host and after milking each morning would take us on tours around the area. We visited the nearby coast, several Lakes and an amazing natural hot water spring deep in the mountains. 

Aedan’s maid (Flor) is a legend and would prepare beautiful meals three times a day. No two meals were the same and everything was hand made and fresh. It was an absolute treat and a good change from fighting for a pan and hob with a bunch of backpackers!

After a week in Chile our batteries were recharged, laundry clean and we were ready to return to the real world!

Cheers for Aedan and Flor for hospitality!

Dom

PUERTO MADRYN & PATAGONIA

Puerto Madryn & Patagonia 

PERITO MORENO GLACIER

After 20 hours and a couple of bus changes we made it into Puerto Madryn around 7am in the morning. We had about 20 minutes to check in to our hostel, smash back a coffee and be out the door for our whale tour.

Puerto Madryn is a small port town on the east coast of Argentina and is known for its natural sanctuary, Peninsula de Valdes, which is a main attraction for tourism because of its marine wildlife.

An hour and a half drive down long straits with a crazy driver to the peninsula we pulled up to the beach and geared up to get on the boat- it was freezing! Extremely glad they provided hideous ponchos to keep the wind off.  We got right up close to several southern wright whale and her calf which was an epic thing to see and was worth freezing our butts off for!

Other than the boat tour we spent the next day just chilling at the beach drinking coffee and watching the whales just off the beach, they come in just a stones throw away which is pretty amazing, I have never known anywhere that has such a large amount whales wallowing just off the shore. 

After Puerto Madryn it was a lovely 30 hour bus trip to El Calafate and then another 3 on to El Chalten- our final destination. This is  a valid reason why after this trip I will happily never ever get on a bus again!

Pulling into El Chalten was classic, just a tiny little town that takes 10 minutes to get from one end to the next which is great as the start of all the amazing hikes are a 10 minute walk away.

We started off just with a small hour hike to check out the condors and the view of the town from a certain peak. The next day we hit up Laguna Torre which was a 6 hour round trip to a glacier lake followed on by an awesome horse back trail through the back of Fitzroy mountain and its rivers.

Our plan was to do the major trek of Laguna de Los Tres the next day, however, due to an excess consumption of red wine and good times we decided to flag it and relax for the day, drink some more alcohol and watch the All Blacks beat Australia!

It was just as well we were hungover (totally planned that one well) as the day we were meant to do Laguna Des Los Tres it was cloudy and Fitzroy was completely covered. 

The next day we went and absolutely scored it with the weather and while it was a 7 hour stride and hard hike at the end it was worth it- the best lunch spot you can ask for!

Its surprising how uncrowded it is down there, so many times it was it was only us on the trails.  Perhaps because it’s such a mission to get there a lot of people don’t make the journey but it is definitely something I would recommend to do in your lifetime, the scenery is incredible! 

After El Chalten we stayed in El Calafate to visit the Perito Moreno glacier which is the worlds third largest reserve of fresh water and is massive it covers 250km2 and 30km in length. From the pictures you can see the expanse of it but it really doesn't do it justice like seeing it in person- makes you feel very small! After two nights here we jumped on a plane (yay no bus!) and headed up to Bariloche.

Jen

MEXICO

Valladolid

We were put onto Valladolid by a blog that we have been following and so glad that it was our first stop in Mexico. When we got in it was raining- something that would follow us for the rest of our trip through Mexico- but there is no amount of rain or dark skies that can dull the colour and magic of this beautiful colonial town.

From bright coloured facades to the ridiculous amounts of shoe shops in a town where there is not much else, this place is a definite must on any trip through the Yucutan. 

Somehow they make run- down buildings look more beautiful and intriguing than any other and the people are so kind and helpful even though we tried we had a huge language barrier between us (make note: always learn spanish when embarking on a 3 month trip through CA/SA-no brainer for most sane people I know).

We hired some bikes and went on a mission to one of the famous cenotes which is about a 30min trek out of town. Whilst I want to say it was amazing and looked like it did in the pictures- it looked nothing like it with dirty water and a whole bunch of tourists bobbing around in compulsory bright orange life jackets- a slight buzz kill.

Theres no doubt that there are many amazing of the beaten track cenotes and we will definitely be checking these ones out on our way back through Mexico en route to India. Don’t let this dissuade you from Valladolid, the markets, the people and the amazing buildings (plus cheap prices) are enough to fill up your days.

We were lucky enough to meet a really amazing bunch of aussies while we were there  and their advice for our future travels, plus a few good sessions of cervesas goes to show where staying in hostels really holds its value, the people you meet and their recommendations are invaluable. 

TULUM

Upon arrival in Tulum we were greeted by torrential rain, something that would not leave us during the following four days. 

The girl who ran our accommodation told us finding a place to watch the rugby (NZ vs France QF) would not be a problem as several sports bars in the area would be playing it. So off we went in the rain to find the game and a few drinks. After walking, taxiing, walking and taxiing for two hours we were no closer to finding the game. The one place playing it was having issues with the satellite connection (due to the rain) so we gave up and headed to a small vegetarian cafe for a feed and to get our drenched raincoats off – by now they had absorbed so much water they were no longer 100% waterproof.

While walking back to our accommodation after the meal we heard the unmistakable sound of rugby commentary coming from a small local BBQ chicken eatery called “El Pollo Bronco”. I poked my head in and was confronted with the sight of a toothless Mexican vigorously chopping up whole chickens with a big meat cleaver! On top of the Coke fridge was a TV playing the game! Unable to believe our luck we ordered a coke, ¼ chicken and watched the frogs get rolled!

By day three in Tulum all our plans for Guatemala were set - bus to Belize City, shuttle to Flores (Guatemala) and accommodation was locked in. We had given up on wearing rain coats and instead spent the days walking around in wet clothes. We went for a bike ride to ancient Mayan ruins on the coast and had some great meals around town but aside from that were generally confined to our nice damp bungalow.

We went to bed and as I was nodding off felt a drip of water hit my forehead. One drip turned into a steady stream of water pouring in through the roof and walls – which were so water logged you could put your hands through them! We got up and made sure all our belongings were off the ground – on chairs, tables etc – in anticipation that by morning we may be in a few feet of water. Sure enough Jen woke up at 5am only to stand in a puddle of water below the bed. She went back to sleep while I started doing further investigation into the weather. A quick google searched came up with headlines such as “Hurricane”, “damaging flooding” and the forecast showed 2+ weeks of torrential rain across Central America with the weather system due to follow our path!

Jen woke up and I asked her about the idea of flying to Buenos Aires the next day with the intention of heading north up South/Central America as opposed to our original plan of South. Jen jumped on the idea and we booked our tickets that morning and packed up and got our of there!

NYC

NEW YORK 

After a 4:30am wake up call in Whistler we were on the move to NYC. Countless hours of waiting around and a 9 hour flight we finally landed at JFK and got into our airbnb access in brooklyn at 1:30am.

So, what else do you do at that time in the morning but go on the hunt for a few drinks! We found an awesome little mecixan bar called Los Tacos just around the corner that had literally the best nachos we’ve ever had HANDS DOWN. Each of them had their own little topping plus all the trimmings! Anyway I digress…..

NYC is truly the city that never sleeps. Over our four days there we managed to pack in a huge amount including sightseeing, eating, drinking, and a marathon amount of walking. The shopping there is out of control and it was hard (for me) to go there and leave without having to pack another suitcase full of all the gems I found. 

Where we stayed in Williamsburg Brooklyn was a perfect location. Around Bedford Ave it reminded me of a larger Wellington except with way better markets, second hand stores and restaurants/ bars to cater for any sort of craving. It had an awesome vibe and although we loved checking out the big city lights of Manhattan, it was really nice to come home to a chilled out neighbourhood. 

We went to the twin towers memorial en route to check out Wall Street (dom wanted to see the bull, ended up there were too many people taking selfies with it’s balls (!?) so wasn’t really worth it) and we weren’t expecting it to be as incredible as it was. They have done an amazing job and if your ever in NYC it’s definitely worth checking out. 

A word to the wise- don’t ever take the B15 bus to JFK off the subway. Not only will you annoy the hell out of every person on the bus with your huge ass packs while your taking a nice scenic route through the projects you will also get off the bus just stoked that you still have all your belongings. Halfway through our B15 experience we considered jumping off and getting a cab the rest of they way, however, it soon became apparent that there were no yellow taxis around that part of town so we just had to hang on and hope we got to our destination! Everyone thinks of Brooklyn being super hipster but I can tell you that Dom and I really took the path less travelled for that little leg of our trip! 

Theres so much more that I could try and squeeze in here but you really just need to go there and see the big apple for yourself- I know I will definitely be going back when I have that extra suitcase, more dollars and I will be sure to be stopping into Brooklyn for some more Nachos!

Jen 

WHIS LIFE

"Whis Life!”

Locals refer to the lifestyle as “Whis Life”, which essentially means non stop outdoor action during daylight hours.

Haza (AKA Action Man) picked us up from the airport and had the next four days of our time blocked out for non stop outdoor activities.

We woke up on the first morning with sore heads. A trip on the Whistler/Blackcomb “Peak to Peak” gondola kicked off day 1. The gondola is an impressive marvel in engineering and spans between the peaks of Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain. Guinness world records and statistics include;

• World's longest unsupported span for a lift of its kind at 3.024 km

• World's highest lift of its kind at 436m above the valley floor

• The journey takes 11min and covers a distance of 4.4km

The hike to the summit (2,181m) of Whistler Mountain is a 4 hour round trip from where the gondola drops you off. Its easy hiking on a well cut track that becomes a ski run in the winter.

There are endless hikes around Whistler and the surrounding towns. Along with Whistler Mountain we did Joffre Lakes and “The Chief”. Joffre Lakes takes you past three glacial lakes and to the foot of several glaciers, its a spectacular walk and takes 3.5 hours. “The Chief” is a relentless ascent up a step rock face for 1 hour that then looks over the town of Squamish and Howe Sound.

Haz took me for a day in the bike park. During the summer the ski runs are transformed into world class downhill mountain biking tracks and jumps. The lifts keep running during the summer and are modified to carry bikes so no need to peddle up hill! Nutters like Haz fly down the tracks at a crazy pace and keep the medical centre at the bottom busy! We also had the pleasure of bumping into the resident bike park Black Bear.

Cheers to Haz and Joey for the accommodation and good times! 

Dom