Death Road to Carnival

We headed to La Paz for Christmas and when we arrived everyone was in the Christmas spirit and the street our hotel was on was blocked due to a Christmas market. It was absolute chaos but we finally felt like it was Christmas.

Christmas Day was definitely one we will never forget. We woke at 5 in the morning and by 8 we were on our very basic mountain bikes cycling down the worlds most dangerous road with an average 100 deaths per year on that stretch of road. It isn´t so much that the road is the most dangerous it is more what travels on the road. Bolivians must be the craziest drivers we have ever seen especially the bus and truck drivers and especially when they are driving in both directions on a road that isn´t more than a few metres wide with a rock face on one side and a 100m drop on the other. The view while coming down was absolutely amazing. About three quarters of the way down however Sarah came around a corner and hit a loose rock and went flying off (arms length away from the edge). Not impressed with what had just happened she picked the bike straight up ignoring the man in the safety bus asking if she was ok and kept cycling but was very shaky for the rest of the ride. Later that night we went out for dinner with our group to a nice restaurant Mungos which is the trendiest club in La Paz and ate drank and danced the strangest Christmas we have had away.

We were meant to take a trip into the Amazon however due to the rain the flight had been cancelled twice. This happens quite regularly as the runway is only a dirt track so in the rainy season it turns to mud. We didn´t really want to be stuck in the jungle for New Years so we decided to go to Uyuni and the largest salt flats in the world which would leave us enough time to go to Chile as well. We squeezed ourselves onto the tourist bus paying three times the price of the local bus as it was meant to be safer and a better bus. Of course we later learnt that it was just another way to rip tourists tourists. We awoke at 5 am having spent the night in what could only be described as a shaken up can of coke to find we had stopped in the middle of the desert and were not moving. We all got out to see what was going on to find that the drive shaft had broken so our driver had pulled it out and was hammering away at it. Two hours later under the scorching sun, with no water, food or shelter we were so sure our time had come. To say that the vultures were circling was only a slight exaggeration. Somehow we´d always thought that if we were to die in South America it would be a little more dramatic than this. We arrived at Uyuni an hour later, met up randomly with some friends, met our guide who didn´t speak a word of English, jumped in our jeep and finally we were off. We made it to the salt flats at least which were spectacular only for our jeep then to break down right in the middle. Beginning to think we were cursed, our driver tinkered for a while then we were off again. We spent the next three days visiting some of the most beautiful scenery we will ever see. We stopped at four different lakes, each one being a different colour but surrounded with salts and different minerals and flamingos. One night we stayed made entirely of salt, even the bed bases were salt which just made us extremely thirsty but very cool nonetheless. On our last night we stayed by the most spectacular and largest of the lakes and walked around it. Shaun thought to sit down on what looked like a soft comfortable bit of fauna which turned out to be bot soft but full of full on spikes which embedded themselves in Shaun's arse and were itchy for the next two days. Our last day we woke at 5 and drove to some natural geysers and by 6.30 we were soaking ourselves in hot springs admiring the view.

Back in Uyuni we jumped on our bus praying it wouldn´t break downing leaving us stranded in the desert for New Year thinking maybe we should have gone to the Amazon after all. We made it back to La Paz safely, met up with the rest of our friends and planned our night ahead. We had a great New Year, spending it with a group of friends we have made on our travels and who had congregated in La Paz for new years and new years day. One of our friends had been able to get into San Pedro prison made famous by the book Marching Powder. Since the release of this book which highlighted that tourists were able to visit the prison stay the night etc. However since the release of the book tourist have not normally been allowed in. Our friend however got the name of Jacques who is a south african in there and went to visit him in prison taking gifts. They first met in an interview room and then Jacques gave our Australian friend and said that if could possibly get him in for a visit if he rang this number. Our friend did this and was able to visit the 5 star section of the prison. He was told that he was the first gringo to get into that section for 2 years and all it cost him in bribes was 2 bottles of coca cola for the guards and an admin fee of 100 Bolivianos for the head guard!! he ate in a restaurant there saw there cells including the one which is 3 stories high due to the inmate getting alterations done to his cell and now has views over La Paz city and San Pedro square. Our friend was then invited back for the new years party at the prison with his girlfriend which they went to before catching up with us just before midnight.

We eventually left La Paz saying goodbye to our friends and heading off to the beach side resort of Iquique in Chile. The ride there was an arduous one taking 16 hours. We got the last seats on the bus but were separated so Shaun sat next to a guy who spoke excellent english and explained the problems with Bolivia which was really interested. He also said that Shaun has an uncanny resemblance to Owen Wilson especially as we were watching Anaconda with Owen Wilson in it. He even went as far as to introduce Shaun to his 5 year old son as Owen Wilson the man in the movie who had just died so that the kid could see it was not real. This was becoming a regular occurrence after 2 people in Cusco at a night club had asked him if he was also. Sarah was loving the long blond hair but not Shaun's Owen Wilson impressions!!

Iquique is a very picturesque beach place where a lot of people go to holiday. Hence it is also expensive when compared to the north of Sth America but we allowed ourselves a bit of luxury. We didnt really do much except look at the duty free shopping which was mostly electronics and chill on the beach. Sarah did happen to make a mess of her feet when she stubbed them not once but twice on the uneven pathways.

From Iquique we had a long and expensive bus ride to Salta which started at 11 at night in Iquique continued to where we were dropped off outside a shopping mall at 5 in the morning with a lady who adopted Sarah as her daughter and could not stop saying how beautiful she was and how Shaun was a lucky lucky man even if some people thought he was Owen Wilson!! Our next bus left at 9 in the morning and arrived in Salta, Argentina at 10:30 at night. Almost 24 hours of travelling. The border crossing going into Chile and leaving was the most disorganised crossings we came across throughout the trip. When we arrived at night Sarah gave the name of the hostel to the taxi driver who took us to a hostel with that name where we found that they didnt have our booking. Sarah was a little bit upset after a journey like that to find our booking lost. The did however accommodate us at another hostel before moving us back to theirs the following night and giving us a far better room than we had seen on the website. We then realised that the name of the place that we had booked was slightly different from the one we were staying in. Ooopps haha. They probably now think sly kiwis!!

Salta was a pretty little town but didnt really have a lot to do except admire the old architecture and look at the shops. Sarah having had a taste of Argentinian shopping couldn't wait to get to Buenos Aires.

We flew out of Salta our only internal flight because the bus trip would have taken forever and arrive to a very scenic and completely different city to what we had seen elsewhere. We could easily have been forgiven for thinking that we were in a European city. The buildings were modern the cars late model european etc and the people were beautiful and well dressed.

We spent the night walking around the area of San Telmo and down by the sea. Shaun struggled to sleep that night as a man snored in the bunk room worse than any he had heard including the Ski lodge and hence got no sleep from 3 in the morning to 6 when the clubbers started coming back into the room. Hence we moved to a 4 person dorm.

We went for a walk around the next day through the main shopping areas the parks went to the Brazilian embassy to get our visas only to be told that we didnt need them as we were kiwis. God Bless good Old New Zealand ah. Americans have to pay US$100 for the pleasure!! Australians a little less. Anyway we caught up with Tim, Kirsty and Brydie our Aussie friends from the tour who had an apartment so we bought a truckload of booze and food and proceeded to catch up with them and also bumped into other friends from the tour who were also there Kate Jo and Jess when we headed out to go looking for a club. The big clubs in Buenos Aires close at this time of year because everyone goes on holiday but the taxi drivers didnt tell us that as they racked up a great taxi fare driving us from Pacha to Mint to Sunset which was still open. A cool club in terms of different areas cool pools and gardens etc but the music was shite and so we retired home to our room and the German girls who thought they had the room to themselves. They were not impressed.

The next day we went and bought Sarah some tops and dresses and shoes at the main shopping centre with Shaun so hung over that he agreed that Sarah could buy anything on the credit card so long as they could get a drink and sit down. We caught up with everyone again to drink through the hangover and went to another club called Museum just down the road. Shaun was given free entry by the manager and discounted rates for the rest before he asked Shaun who his friends were and then proceeded to give everyone VIP passes before leading us to a area with leather couches overlooking the club and the first round of free drinks. He was within 10m of Shaun for the whole night looking out for him as about 5 people came us and asked if he was Owen Wilson. Shaun finally had enough and said to 1 of them that he could be and was in Argentina for recuperation but to keep it quiet which sent the guy running to his mates and with that we left the club reluctantly because the music was getting really good but also the girls were getting a lot of unwanted attention. We visited the Antiques market the next day saw a tango performance and had a traditional steak dinner which Sarah hardly finished before heading to Montevideo, Uruquay by quickcat the next day.

Montevideo was another pretty little city right on the coast where we stayed in an Art Hostel which was ultra cool and had the coolest lounge! We then caught a bus to Punte del Este (the St Tropez of Sth America). St Tropez had the most beautiful people we has seen on this trip with Shaun gobsmacked that even the mothers of 3 kids looked fantastic. There were men who looked like models prancing up and down the beach. The hostel had a great location right on the beach and was a party place which was not what we had been looking for after BA plus one sifty Argie who didnt have a bed in our dorm but brought a girl back to one of the guys beds to get to know her better. We only figured it all out on the way home that what he did was have a locker in our room with sheets and throughout the night would go and look for spare beds with his sheets so that he didnt have to pay for a bed. That aside Punte Del Este was beautiful with great beaches and a really nice family atmosphere where there were often 3 generations of family enjoying the beaches and restaurants. it was however the most expensive place in Sth America especially the bikini bottoms. Sarah wanted to leave the beach to get some food so Shaun gave her his money pouch which contained all the money they had left for the next 2 days. Sarah returned without any food and without any money. No she hadnt been mugged but she had spent it on the smallest bikini bottoms so that she was able to fit in with the locals!! Shaun loved the bottoms but is still deciding whether it was worth having to not eat or do anything for 2 days as a result!!

From here we travelled back to BA to catch a bus up to Puerto Iquazu in Argentina. This place has the most amazing falls and is the second largest falls in the world behind the falls in Africa. We stayed in a hostel which was an old casino and had a great pool. They put on a bbq with as much as you could eat and as many Caprihinas as you could drink during dinner. By a little organisation and sheer coincidence we managed to meet 12 of our friends from throughout Sth America at this hostel where they putted on a Brazilian Samba show for us even though we were still in Argentina where the girls feet moved at blurring speed despite been in the biggest heels seen. Yes even bigger than Sarahs!! We all then went out for a great night checking out the local clubs etc before Shaun introduced the English boys Brad and Darren to the traditional kiwi game of a friendly tackle to finish the night off!! The falls are however simply spectacular and have to be seen to be believed and despite the cost it is compulsory to jump in the boat that takes you right up to the falls where you get entirely soaked.

After the falls we went across to Foz de Iguacu which is the Bazilian side of the falls where we had to catch a bus up to Campo Grande a 16 hour bus ride. We had met a cool kiwi couple, Katie and Hamish on the way to Iguacu and mentioned the Pantanals to them and the company we were going to use and then met them again on the bus and they confirmed that they had also booked so we headed off together. We then headed off to the Pantanals the next morning to be met by a solid wall of mosquitoes which proceeded to sample the fresh meat that we offered. We took an extremely bumpy 2 hour ride to our lodge which was right on the river. Here we saw boat cruises coming back in people on horse back coming back in from their rides and people piranha fishing. Very Scenic spot with a great sunset and sunrise. We got up the next day and headed out on the jeep to do a walk through the pantanals and see what animals we could. We saw some huge parrots, a few tucans, water pigs, otters, caimans (alligators), monkeys and amazingly an armadillo which are very rare. Our guide was exceptional and could call to most animals and have them come to him. Another group saw a giant anteater.

The next day we hopped in the boat hoping but never really believing, we would see a leopard. We saw the usual Caimans and Tucans and other birds along with a lot of monkeys hanging out. Our guide told us where we had to look if we were to have any possible chance of seeing a leopard and after a long time of looking a few of us resigned ourselves to the fact that it was extremely rare and that we were not going to see one. It was then that Katie our kiwi friend and the guide at the same time saw one having a drink at the rivers edge. We then slowly turned around and came back round where Shaun saw a glimpse of its leg as it snuck back into the undergrowth. With the adrenalin pumping we heading slowly back up the river in the hope that it would come back for a drink further up river. We headed upstream and then floated back downstream with the motor off and deadly quiet and it was then that we saw him again sitting having a drink before looking up at us holding our stare and then slowly moving a long the path again. We followed it for about 12 minutes before our guide guessed that it was trying to cross the river and so we headed up river again and then saw it started to appear from through the reeds and head out into the water. Unfortunately our boat man started the motor too early in his eagerness and it turned and head back in. So we waited again and it emerged. We let it get to the middle of the river before we started the motor and headed over to see it where we got both a video and an amazing photo of it. The guides at the lodge said it was the best photo they have seen from a tourist so pretty huffed we headed back.

The next day we went for a horse back ride piranha fishing and floating down the river. Fortunately Shaun had not known that a group had just seen a viper in the water where we had gone tubing. Sarah caught one of the largest piranhas we had seen but just as she was puling it into shore it spat the hook and got away!

After an amazing experience we headed back to Campo Grande and then onto Sao Paulo before catching another bus to Parachi which is a group of islands on Brazils coast with the most amazing beaches. Unfortunately for us it rained freak rain for 3 of the 4 days so we were left to shop for Haviana jandals and go to the bars and clubs. On the one day that the weather was amazing we headed out on a booze cruise where a whole lot of kiwis aussies and poms took a hell of a lot of beers a funnel and set out to explore the islands. The are truly amazing with fantastic beaches, clear water and postcard islands.

From here it was onto Rio for the finale of this trip of a lifetime, Carnival.

Rio is huge. There are favelas everywhere on the borders of the rich where it is dangerous for Gringos to venture without a guide. It has drug dealers and gangs walking around in the open with gangs and is the underworld of Rio but also an intricate part of it. We spent the first day on the beach soaking up the rays watching the men walk walk around in tight white dick togs with semis cranking on one guy after he had spent 30 minutes kissing his girlfriend. There were the smallest bikinis in the world with one lady still wearing her bandages from the plastic surgery while checking out her body with a mirror on the beach. Another couple of girls were shaving their entire bodies on the beach while the gay men were checking each other out. Had to be seen to believed, the circus that is Copacabana beach. That night we did the all you can eat restaurant and had few drinks. the next day was spent looking around the shopping area before meeting up with about 20 mates to go to Lapa the heart of Carnival and the street parties. We got taken by a local to a local club which was basically a warehouse where the street party musicians played for the locals. It rained so hard that the water was ankle deep. The next night we got to experience a football game between Botafogo and Vasco. Two huge teams who are both based in Rio and play at Maracana which has a capacity of 120,000 although it used to be 200,000 when there were no seats. The game was amazing as was the crowd which the team that we supported winning 3-2 much to the disgust of a few of our mates who were supporting Vasco. The crowd was really friendly with a bit of light ribbing to each other. There was singing, flares bands banners and even tear gas from the police to calm the supporters down. Unreal and definitely worth going to. We bought our tickets at the stadium rather than from the hostal and tour operators and saved ourselves about US$40 each.

The following night we headed off to see the actual Carnival parade at the Sambadrome which was beyond words with thousands of performers and the most amazing floats I have ever seen. Shaun managed to befriend a few of the locals and one who was nicknamed "Blue" by Shaun kept getting us a whole lot of the costumes that were been worn by the performers to the cry of "Blue your my boy". The parade went on until about 5:30 in the morning so we were shattered by the end of it as we had been drinking the entire time.

The next night we intended to go to a ball but they hiked the prices up at the last minute so all decked out in brazilian flags as togas glitter and green and yellow nail polish we walked through a street party in Ipanema which ended up being a gay gathering!! Needless to say we got a bit of attention and headed into Lapa where we partied to the local bands etc.

During the days we went to the favelas which are the shantytowns around the city on a guided tour as Gringos are not meant to venture in there without a guide. Here we saw how they lived saw drug dealers walking around rode about on the back of a scooter weaving in and out of traffic and got a feel for the place. We also visited Sugar loaf by cable car and saw the views of the city and also saw Christ the Redeemer as he looks out over Rio.

After all this it has felt weird to come to the end of our 6 months of travelling. It has been the trip of a lifetime and we have met so many awesome people, seen so many amazing sights, encountered such contrasting cultures, tried to speak to them as best we could and understand them. While there have always been some times when it would have been easier to be sitting down in front of a tv watching programs on these places nothing can replace actually doing it!!