La Paz is amazing. Driving into this city you can´t help but be in aww. The city is built on cliffs and valleys. In the background is the beautiful snow capped Mt. Illimani. Words can´t describe how incredible it is. I didn´t spend much time in La Paz because I know I will be back through there. I wanted to get to my little mountain town and learn some espaniol.
I walked around a bit grabbed some dinner then went to bed. I had to wake up the next day and figure out how to get to Coroico. I had a taxi driver take me to the area where I read you could get a flota (van) 4 hrs to Coroico. I guess it was meant to be because he dropped me off next to a flota and it was leaving for Coroico in 10 min. I was happy that went so smoothly. This drive was amazing. We drove right through the middle of beautiful mountains, valleys, and canyons. This truly is a beautiful country. The crazy thing is that I am in the mountains now, In 5 days I will be in the rain Forrest, and 4 days ago I was in Buenos Aires. Like I said before I am lucky.
I found a hostel that I don´t think is even officially opened yet, but the price is right. I was walking around and the owner was outside. He showed me a room that was quite dirty and laying all around the building there were tools. He told me his wife would come clean everything up so I agreed. Less than $3 a night. I had my first spanish lesson today and it was great. I really want to take advantage of my time in spanish speaking countries, and I think I will end up leaning a lot. The weather was not great today which is why I have been on the internet so much. Hopefully the weather will clear because there are some great treks around that I would like to do in the next 4 days
Friday, August 29, 2008
BACK ON THE ROAD
I was in BA a little longer than I had planned because I was waiting for some packages to arrive. I spent 3 weeks total in Buenos Aires. It was an amazing time and it was great getting to know Yanina and all her family and friends. I needed to move on though. My fins finally arrived after a month which I really needed for Galapagos. My mom sent me some other stuff, but I just couldn´t wait, especially since I had idea of when it would arrive. I headed to the bus station and booked my ticket. $80 Buenos Aires, Argentina to La Paz, Bolivia 48 hour bus ride. Yes 2 whole days. I was not excited about the journey, but it had to be done.
I really had no plans for Bolivia until just a few days before I left. I was reading about a little mountain town that is off the main tourist track and super relaxed. This all sounded good to me, but then I read about a spanish teacher that will teach one to one. This is exactly what I wanted. I sent her an email and about 5 days later I was in my first spanish class. The bus ride to La Paz was much better than I expected. It actually fun except when I couldn't sleep. I was the only nonspanish speaker on the bus, and only one guy spoke decent english. The other told me "ingles? No entiendo nada." It was fun trying to communicate with some of the people. I ended up learning and teaching every bad word in the english and spanish language which was pretty funny. The guy I sat next to is a policeman in Lima, Peru. If my spanish is good enough I will meet up with him when I pass through. It really was great getting back on the road. I was a little worried thanks to my sis. She kept warning me about all the crashes and how dangerous the buses can be. I am a "out of sight out of mind" kind a guy. It didn´t help seeing several buses being toed down the road either. There was one unexpected event though. I have been doing really well with all the details and important information. But when we got to the border I almost did not get in. All the research I had done said there was no requirements to enter. I found a little bit about the regulations may change and I sent the embassy an email. I never heard anything back so I figured it was all good. (it wasn´t) I had to pay $135 to get in. I had 200 Argentinian pesos about $60. At first they said only in USD...I told them this was all I had so they accepted it, but it was only about half. I thought it was the border patrol trying to squeeze money out of me so I was refusing to pay more, but it got to the point where my bus was going to leave me. Luckily the one man who spoke some english had $60 on him and he let me borrow it. There is another example of how kind people can be. That $60 was much more to him that to you or I, yet he still not even know me handed it over. All in all the trip was easy and fun. We drove through some beautiful scenery and it was a blast trying to talk with people and I definitely enjoyed the 15 or so movies (in spanish ofcourse).
I really had no plans for Bolivia until just a few days before I left. I was reading about a little mountain town that is off the main tourist track and super relaxed. This all sounded good to me, but then I read about a spanish teacher that will teach one to one. This is exactly what I wanted. I sent her an email and about 5 days later I was in my first spanish class. The bus ride to La Paz was much better than I expected. It actually fun except when I couldn't sleep. I was the only nonspanish speaker on the bus, and only one guy spoke decent english. The other told me "ingles? No entiendo nada." It was fun trying to communicate with some of the people. I ended up learning and teaching every bad word in the english and spanish language which was pretty funny. The guy I sat next to is a policeman in Lima, Peru. If my spanish is good enough I will meet up with him when I pass through. It really was great getting back on the road. I was a little worried thanks to my sis. She kept warning me about all the crashes and how dangerous the buses can be. I am a "out of sight out of mind" kind a guy. It didn´t help seeing several buses being toed down the road either. There was one unexpected event though. I have been doing really well with all the details and important information. But when we got to the border I almost did not get in. All the research I had done said there was no requirements to enter. I found a little bit about the regulations may change and I sent the embassy an email. I never heard anything back so I figured it was all good. (it wasn´t) I had to pay $135 to get in. I had 200 Argentinian pesos about $60. At first they said only in USD...I told them this was all I had so they accepted it, but it was only about half. I thought it was the border patrol trying to squeeze money out of me so I was refusing to pay more, but it got to the point where my bus was going to leave me. Luckily the one man who spoke some english had $60 on him and he let me borrow it. There is another example of how kind people can be. That $60 was much more to him that to you or I, yet he still not even know me handed it over. All in all the trip was easy and fun. We drove through some beautiful scenery and it was a blast trying to talk with people and I definitely enjoyed the 15 or so movies (in spanish ofcourse).
Sunday, August 24, 2008
I AM LUCKY
I am lucky. I am lucky to be where I am right now. I am lucky to have seen the things I´ve seen, done the things I have done, and been the places I´ve been. I am lucky to have my family and friends back home who love me, support me, and make this all possible. I am lucky to have met the amazing people I have met along the way. Sometimes I sit and wonder how I got to where I am right now. All I can tell my self that I am lucky and to savor every second of it. I have met many different people from opposite sides of the world, yet their kindness is the same. I am lucky to have met my friends in Thailand and to have been invited to their homes. I am lucky to have met Yanina and been able to visit and stay with her and her family. These experiences truly are priceless and show how good and kind people can be. I know that a lot of people go through their entire lives and don´t get to experience any of this. I truly am lucky.
Buenos Aires
I have now been in Buenos Aires for 3 weeks. It is the longest I have been in one place in over 10 months. It sounds crazy when you put it like that, this has been a great place to settle. This is by far the best city I have ever been to. I am not a big city guy, but this place is great. I know I can´t really compare it to most of the other cities I have been to simply because I´ve been staying with my friend here. I have had a whole different experience livin
g with a local. I am really lucky to have had this experience. If not, it is very possible that I would have just moved through this city trying to find anther beach or jungle somewhere.
I can´t explain how great Yanina and her family and friends are. They are the epitome of kindness and generosity. They have taken me into their home and treated me as if I were part of the family. Lenor, her mother opened her house up to originally 3 complete strangers. Matt and Mike left after a week, I have been here another 2. All she knew was that her daughter traveled with us on some tour in Asia 9 months before. It takes a special kind of person to do something like that. It is not just that let us stay here, but how she made us feel when we were here. Paula, here sister baked me brownies for my bus ride tomorrow. They are just kind people, and it has been an amazing and surreal time here. I hope that someday I can return the favor some how. I loved having dinner with the family, then we would all just hang around the living room watching Latin American Idle. These are the things kinds of experiences that you hope for when you set off on a journey like mine. We spent a weekend at her fathers outside of town. He took us out to a little Parilla (bbq) place that was great. It was a very laid back get a little dirty while you eat as much meat as you possibly can kind of place. He wanted to know how the meat compared to Texas haha. He to welcomed us into his where we spent the day talking and visiting. When we left he gave us his business card with all his contact information telling us if we ever need anything to contact him. It was great that just after spending an afternoon with him, it was if we were old friends.
This hospital
ity and kindness was not only from Yanina and her family, but her friends as well. When ever they had something going on they would invite us to come. When Yani was at work they would take me out. They would make sure that I had seen all the neat areas of town. I loved the parillas so they took me to many different parillas. My time here in Buenos Aires has been great. I could not have asked for anything more. The city itself is beautiful and full of great restaurants funky shops. But for me the experience has been getting know Yanina and her family and friends.
g with a local. I am really lucky to have had this experience. If not, it is very possible that I would have just moved through this city trying to find anther beach or jungle somewhere.I can´t explain how great Yanina and her family and friends are. They are the epitome of kindness and generosity. They have taken me into their home and treated me as if I were part of the family. Lenor, her mother opened her house up to originally 3 complete strangers. Matt and Mike left after a week, I have been here another 2. All she knew was that her daughter traveled with us on some tour in Asia 9 months before. It takes a special kind of person to do something like that. It is not just that let us stay here, but how she made us feel when we were here. Paula, here sister baked me brownies for my bus ride tomorrow. They are just kind people, and it has been an amazing and surreal time here. I hope that someday I can return the favor some how. I loved having dinner with the family, then we would all just hang around the living room watching Latin American Idle. These are the things kinds of experiences that you hope for when you set off on a journey like mine. We spent a weekend at her fathers outside of town. He took us out to a little Parilla (bbq) place that was great. It was a very laid back get a little dirty while you eat as much meat as you possibly can kind of place. He wanted to know how the meat compared to Texas haha. He to welcomed us into his where we spent the day talking and visiting. When we left he gave us his business card with all his contact information telling us if we ever need anything to contact him. It was great that just after spending an afternoon with him, it was if we were old friends.
This hospital
ity and kindness was not only from Yanina and her family, but her friends as well. When ever they had something going on they would invite us to come. When Yani was at work they would take me out. They would make sure that I had seen all the neat areas of town. I loved the parillas so they took me to many different parillas. My time here in Buenos Aires has been great. I could not have asked for anything more. The city itself is beautiful and full of great restaurants funky shops. But for me the experience has been getting know Yanina and her family and friends.Saturday, August 9, 2008
Brazil
I really didn´t know what to expect from Brazil. I have heard so much about it I just knew that I would have an amazing time. I was doing a tour from Rio down to Buenos Aires, but got to Rio a week before to have more time there.
Piratas is the name of the hostel we ended up at. This place was great. It was run by younger American guy named Brian and his Brazilian partner Fred. It was a gre
at place to start our South American Adventure. They were both extremely helpful and full of information. We spent most of our time in Rio soaking up the rays on Copacabana beach. We also visited Corcavado (Christ Redeemer) which was awesome, definitely one of the coolest things I have seen. From Rio we headed down to Ilha Grande. By this time were are on the tour. Everyone including our guide seemed cool so that was a relief. When you do a tour it is always a gamble, they can make or break a trip. I was not too worried though because it was so short. Ilha Grande is one of the most beautiful islands I have been to, maybe even the best. The only thing it was missing was good diving. If the water there was good for diving I would probably still be there. After Ilha Grande we had a quick stop in 
Paratay which was small little town with cobblestone streets. It was a neat place to see, but nothing spectacular. We then headed to the highlight of our trip. This was Iguazzu Falls. Third biggest waterfall in the world. It is 3 times the size of Niagra Falls if that helps out. Words or pictures can not describe this place. The size, beauty, and power, of these falls were jaw dropping. The falls are on the border of Argentina and Brazil. We spent a day on the Brazilian side and a day on the Argentinian side. Argentina's portion of the falls was much better than the Brazilian.
Piratas is the name of the hostel we ended up at. This place was great. It was run by younger American guy named Brian and his Brazilian partner Fred. It was a gre
at place to start our South American Adventure. They were both extremely helpful and full of information. We spent most of our time in Rio soaking up the rays on Copacabana beach. We also visited Corcavado (Christ Redeemer) which was awesome, definitely one of the coolest things I have seen. From Rio we headed down to Ilha Grande. By this time were are on the tour. Everyone including our guide seemed cool so that was a relief. When you do a tour it is always a gamble, they can make or break a trip. I was not too worried though because it was so short. Ilha Grande is one of the most beautiful islands I have been to, maybe even the best. The only thing it was missing was good diving. If the water there was good for diving I would probably still be there. After Ilha Grande we had a quick stop in 
Paratay which was small little town with cobblestone streets. It was a neat place to see, but nothing spectacular. We then headed to the highlight of our trip. This was Iguazzu Falls. Third biggest waterfall in the world. It is 3 times the size of Niagra Falls if that helps out. Words or pictures can not describe this place. The size, beauty, and power, of these falls were jaw dropping. The falls are on the border of Argentina and Brazil. We spent a day on the Brazilian side and a day on the Argentinian side. Argentina's portion of the falls was much better than the Brazilian.My last days in Asia
From Indo I headed back to Thailand to say my goodbyes. I had about two weeks before I made my way to South America. I spent most of that time on Ko Tao at seashell since that is where my Thai family is. On the way to Ko Tao I stopped for a couple of days at Morning Mist to see Nid and Moki. I wa
s in Asia for such a long time and I did not spend much time there, so I definitely wanted to stop by and say bye. They were so good to me last year and after spending just one day there I wished that I had made time earlier on in the trip to visist. I could not believe how big Moki was. She is growing up so fast just like Marin. It was great to see her and Nid. As soon as I arrived and saw Moki she ran up to me and gave me a huge hug. I didn´t even know if she would remember me. I was there for 3 days and I spent those three days just playing with Moki. Every morning she would ride her little pink bike down to my bungalow to see if I was up. I wanted to spend more time there but I had to make it to Ko Tao to see everyone else. Morning Mist is going to be my first stop when I make it back. My 
time in Ko Tao was just what I expected. Great weather, relaxing on the beach and hanging out with my seasehell family. I was sad that I didn´t get to see Ptok though. She was on Ko Samui recovering, she had a baby only a few days before. On the night before I left we had one last suki bbq. The day before my flight I said my good byes and headed to Bangkok.
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