And then there was Brazil! Can't quite believe I've only been here just over two weeks; it feels a lot longer as Carris and I have packed a lot in. I am so glad she came out (not so glad she has left though), and we had such a brilliant time - I am very lucky that three absolutely lovely people came to see me, not many travellers can say that I bet!
First stop was Rio de Janeiro, and what a city that is, especially if you are there during Carnaval! I'm really glad because I ended up planning my entire year around the fact that I wanted to be in Rio for Carnaval, so if it hadn't been as good as I was hoping then I may have ended up regretting that decision. However, of course, it was beyond anything I ever hoped for and just a ridiculously good week! The one downside (and it is a really little one) was that because of it being Carnaval we really didn't get to do many of the usual touristy things like the Sugar Loaf or visitng a favela. In fact the only one we did was Christ the Redeemer; a good one to choose though methinks, because it was breath taking. We took the train up to it which was amazing enough; I have never been on a train so steep and now cannot understand why there are not trains going through mid Wales, which definitely doesn't have hills that big! When we got to the top the first wow moment was the view, or I should say views, as all around you are the most incredible views of the whole of Rio. It is such an interesting city, right on the coast, but with huge skyscrapers, forests and mountains all over the place as well as a big lagoon stlye area for leisure - bizarre but compelling mix. After you have stared at that for a while your eyes are drawn upwards to the very imposing figure that is Cristo himself, towering over you with his arms outstretched, making the shape of a cross. It is one of the modern wonders of the world and it is easy to see why. You catch glimpses of it from all over the city in between the buildings, but when you actually stand at the base of it looking up you realise how huge it really is, and what an effort it must have been to construct it on top of that hill!
The rest of our time in Rio was spent enjoying Carnaval to the fullest...and we really did go all out. Lots of people in our hostel relaxed in the day and then went out to clubs or parties in the evening, but the schedule of the 'blocos' (street parties which paraded through the streets with everyone in costume and dancing to live music) started at 6 am every day! We didn't make it out that early, but we were always out by lunch time, experiencing as many of them as possible and I am so glad we did as the best ones we went to were in the day time, even though that meant that you were almost unbearably hot; sambaing with Brazilians at 37 degrees when you are packed in with a crowd of thousands in the sunshine is enough to make anyone sweat! It's necessary though when the basic Brazilian meal consists of rice, chips, noodles, beans, meat or fish and a very small salad...ie basically carbs carbs, protein, fat and more carbs! The atmosphere of it was totally infectious as everyone is off work, apart from those poor souls who have to work for Carnaval stuff, although they got in to it as well. On the night before Carnaval officially started we went up to Santa Teresa, a lovely district on one of the hills for a pre Carnval bloco and ended up having some very intense dance lessons with a girl of about 14 called Tatiana who was selling drinks. She would disappear for a while to sell some more water and then she would be back, holding our hands and showing us the steps slowly, before counting one, two, three and going absolutely crazy and encouraging us to do the same. It was hilarious! I could not get the hang of moving both feet and hips at all, but I gave it my best shot and she definitely stood me in good stead as I was able to do a passable samba by the end of the week (I'm not sure any Brazilians would agree with me there though!). She was brilliant and set the tone for a Carnaval dedicated to having a go, making the most of it and taking on the Brazilian attitude of enjoying it as much as possible whilst trying not to let my British insticts of self consciousness come to the fore! In that vein, I drank multiple Caipirinhas, danced until I had blisters, covered myself in glitter, wore feathers in my hair, danced with lots of Brazilians, was proposed to by one, and had a very passionate kiss with another! They were certianly forward those Brazilian men; I think that the first English phrase they learn is, "you're beautiful", then "I love you", and then "kiss me", at which point they grab you and go in for the kill, meaning you have to be on your guard to say "no, obrigada...bon Carnaval", or "no thank you, have a good Carnaval" and samba away at speed! Some had done the extended English course and knew "you have beautiful blue eyes", but I'm not sure what they would have done if your eyes were brown!
We had decided not to go to the Sambodrome for the main parade as it was really expensive to book tickets in advance, but in the end we went on the spur of the moment to see if we could get any outside, which we did, for a fraction of the price! It was insane. There are six schools per night, each with approximately 3500 people in it, so it takes one and a half hours for one school to go from one end of the sambadrome to the other! We arrived at 11pm, during the second school and stayed until about 4.30am, which was just after the fourth, at which point we were exhausted! The show that they put on was incredible. Every dancer was in a costume, many of them in big groups in the same costume, and then interspersed through the school were huge floats with yet more dancers dancing on them. Occassionally one of the schools best female dancers would come along, with a massive space all to herself so that she could show off her moves, and these were the ones that I had seen pictures of on television, with tiny thongs, glittery bras, heels like you wouldn't believe, feathers coming from everywhere, and bums that were practically works of art. They were ginormous, but so toned that while the women shook everything they had from side to side at high speed, they moved just as much as they were supposed to, with not a wobble out of place. Very impressive and a little scary! Each school had a theme and one was London themed which was fab. They had the Queen at the front, an olympics bit, a giant carousel float and (my personal favourite) a whole Alice in Wonderland section with dancing tea cups and saucers, flowers, caterpillars, white rabbits, playing cards and to top it all off a float that was Alice when she has grown so that her feet, arms and head are sticking out of the house. It was absolutely amazing and Carris and I must have been such a sight squealing and grabbing each other so that neither of us would miss anything. Thank goodness we went as I would have been gutted when friends we had met got back to the hostel and told us how good it was...after all as much as I desperately want to be in Rio for Carnaval again one day it quite possibly won't happen and so it was well worth it.
Wow, just writing about it makes my toes twitch in a desire to be dancing! I LOVED it! Especially now that I have recovered, well just about, I have been nursing a cold the last few days which is clearly brought on by sheer exhaustion. Lots of people we have met along the way after Rio were suffering as well...partying that much in the heat is tough on your body; another reason for the rest day today! The only bad thing to report really was that I got my camera stolen on the last night and so have no picutres of the week, or of Singapore for that matter. It's alright though, as others have some and at least I wasn't hurt or anything. It was a bit rubbish though as then the last day we were in Rio I spent several hours reporting it at the police station so that I can claim on my insurance...nightmare!
From Rio we went to Paraty, an adorable little colonial town right on the coast on the Costa Verde. It was beautiful, so beautiful in fact that we decided to stay an extra two nights and skip Paranagua - a good decision as there was a lot to do in Paraty and not much at all in Paranagua. We went on a boat trip where you went round lots of islands and had stops for swimming and exploring; went to Trinidade beach for some sun bathing (or shade bathing for Carris who was like a vampire in that the moment she went into the sun she started sizzling and so consequently spent most of her time covered in a sarong, with a hat and sunglasses on, looking like she was allergic to the sunshine!); wandered through the cobbled streets eating cake and churros from street vendors, listening to live music and shopping at the cute kitschy shops; and had a day of kayking. This was my personal favourite I think - so much fun! We went round a few islands and got out to swim, and then tried to go through a mangrove forest. However the tide was so low that we just kept getting beached and having to get out into mud that was up to our knees to try to pull our kayaks along. At one point Carris was beached and I was going past and got beached too and somehow she managed to knock my sunglasses off my head with her paddle, leading to much hilarity as I yelled at her to get out of her kayak and find them, but she was stuck and so couldn't, so I went back and got on all fours in the water to try to reach them which was clearly never going to happen. At this point Carris and I looked at each other and burst out laughing and didn't stop for most of the day! Especially as after that we went to this place where during Carnaval they have a bloco called 'Bloco de Lama' which Paraty is famous for where everyone goes to a mud bath, covers themselves in mud and dances through the streets. Our kayak instructor had never taken tourists before but thought it would be fun and Carris and I wholeheartedly agreed (even if the rest of the girls on the trip were less than keen!)! When we got there we realised that it was thick mud which you couldn't even wade through but just had to fall on and gradually you sunk under the surface, where it would then just support you. It was the strangest feeling but so funny, and when we finally managed to get out we looked like monsters from a horror film!
From Paraty we moved on to Ilha do Mel, or the island of honey in English. It was stunning. It is this teeny tiny island that we couldn't even see on our map and which noone had heard of (which admittedly worried us a little for a while as we thought maybe Carris had booked us on to an imaginary island) which is an ecological preserve that only allows 5000 people at a time to be on it and has no motorised tranportation at all. So basically, you get a boat over there, drop your stuff at your 'poussada' and then walk everywhere on nature trails; it's adorable! Our poussada was right in the jungle and we had a lovely balcony with hammocks on it from where you could see the sea over the tops of the trees, charming :) We visited some caves and then the next day were more adventurous and walked 6km to the lighthouse on the island. This was a lovely walk that turned into a bit of a disaster as both of us managed to get a bit burnt, having briefly forgotten that clouds DO NOT provide protection from the sun in this country...especially for Carris. It would have been ok but there was literally no shade anywhere along the walk and so we were in a bit of a quandry about what to do. We sheltered by some rocks for a bit but then the tide came in and so we decided we would just have to go for it. Luckily someone had put up a tarpaulin over sticks (probably for stupid foreigners just as ourselves) so we stayed there a while before tackling the last beach....flippin' long beach though! It did make me laugh, and Carris once we were safely out of the sun in our hammocks, as we were acting as if we were on some sort of 'survivor' programme, wondering how to best make it across this beach as if it was the Sahara...what a pair of idiots!
Final stop (after one day in Curitiba) was Iguacu falls. I would say talk about saving the best 'til last but it is very difficult to compare one of the most awe inspiring natural wonders of the world with what is probably the world's biggest party. Suffice to say though, it did not disappoint! I am very lucky in that I actually went to the falls once before on a family holiday, when I was about 15 I think, and so I was going back to them which I think was possibly even more special than if I had been going the first time. My memory is appalling, so although I remembered bits of it I had forgotten a lot, and being reminded of it by moments of sheer wonder that harked back to what I had felt the first time was unbelieveable and such a privilege. They really are just amazing. I know I use a lot of superlatives (so would you if you were seeing the things that I'm seeing!) but these surpass language I think, although I would settle with saying that they are bloomin' marvellous!
We went to the Brazilian side first where you get an overall view of the falls and the chance to go down to get soaked by one. We were so lucky because after arriving at 6am on a bus we went in early which worked out so well as we got to do the whole trail and see it all before lunchtime when a massive storm came in which lasted the rest of the day. We loved it as we had seen them sunny and then got the chance to see them stormy, something not everyone sees, and we actually had a lot of fun walking back along the trail in the rain and seeing the horror on everyone's faces coming the other way as they saw how soaked we were!
The second day we went over to the Argentinan side which was even better than the Brazilian side. The Brazilian side is beautiful but Argentina got a lot more of the falls, so it makes sense that it is more of an experience over there as you get to be closer to more of them. Our first stop was Garganta del Diablo, or the Devil's Throat. I remembered this from last time which only served to build up the suspense and anticipation as we walked along the walk way that goes over the Iguacu river on it's way to the falls. Gradually you start to hear in the distance a low rumbling, which gets louder and louder until you come to what seems like the end of the world with an unbelieveable amount of water falling into an abyss which you can't even see the bottom of. It is completely overwhelming and both Carris and I just stood there for a while, pretty much awe-struck by what we were seeing, hearing and feeling. We went from there back along to the Upper trail, which the Bible says is not so spectacular. Well clearly whoever wrote that has been travelling too long and has stopped opening their eyes or appreciating what they are seeing...it was stunning! Especially as the weather was crystal clear and sunny, and so over nearly every waterfall there was a picture perfect rainbow created from the spray. They were so brightly coloured and pristine and it made the views even more spectacular, and caused Carris and me to do similar oohs aaahs and grabbing each other as we were doing at the Sambadrome! The final trail was the Lower trail, where you see the same falls but from a lower circuit, culminating in a spot where you can get up close and personal with a waterfall; ie wet!
It was just such a wonderful two days, and the perfect end to her time here. Fair dos, we have crammed a lot in to two short weeks and made them feel a lot longer, although saying that I couldn'tquite believe it was time for her to leave already this morning! Now it's just me again, me and my trusted friend the backpack (which is somewhat lighter after off loading a lot into Carris's) and onwards to the next stage. Unfortunately that stage is not proving as easy as I would like, as it seems it is not very common for people to go straight to Bolivia from Brazil. However, I really can't afford any other option as Brazil has rinsed me budget wise; this is not by any stretch of the imagination affordable travel! It seems that I am going to have to get a bus from here to Asuncion (Paraguay), and then wait there for a day to catch a bus to Santa Cruz (Bolivia). It should work out ok though, and at least this way I will be in Asuncion for my birthday rather than on a 24 hour bus which is what I was planning on doing! Still might be a tad lonely but Carris brought out some goodies from some lovely people for me to open so it won't be too bad and I'll have to buy myself a birthday churros or something like that! Blimey, 23, getting old. Should probably come back to the UK, settle down, get a proper job and be serious about life. However, I am having way too much of a good time to do anything sensible like that just yet, and I still have a little money left with which I can enjoy these last four and a bit months, at least I should have if I live on rice and beans for the next two!
So yes, it's always scary being on my own again but it is darn exciting too to see what the next adventure will bring; who knows what's around the corner?
So much love and well wishes,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
First stop was Rio de Janeiro, and what a city that is, especially if you are there during Carnaval! I'm really glad because I ended up planning my entire year around the fact that I wanted to be in Rio for Carnaval, so if it hadn't been as good as I was hoping then I may have ended up regretting that decision. However, of course, it was beyond anything I ever hoped for and just a ridiculously good week! The one downside (and it is a really little one) was that because of it being Carnaval we really didn't get to do many of the usual touristy things like the Sugar Loaf or visitng a favela. In fact the only one we did was Christ the Redeemer; a good one to choose though methinks, because it was breath taking. We took the train up to it which was amazing enough; I have never been on a train so steep and now cannot understand why there are not trains going through mid Wales, which definitely doesn't have hills that big! When we got to the top the first wow moment was the view, or I should say views, as all around you are the most incredible views of the whole of Rio. It is such an interesting city, right on the coast, but with huge skyscrapers, forests and mountains all over the place as well as a big lagoon stlye area for leisure - bizarre but compelling mix. After you have stared at that for a while your eyes are drawn upwards to the very imposing figure that is Cristo himself, towering over you with his arms outstretched, making the shape of a cross. It is one of the modern wonders of the world and it is easy to see why. You catch glimpses of it from all over the city in between the buildings, but when you actually stand at the base of it looking up you realise how huge it really is, and what an effort it must have been to construct it on top of that hill!
The rest of our time in Rio was spent enjoying Carnaval to the fullest...and we really did go all out. Lots of people in our hostel relaxed in the day and then went out to clubs or parties in the evening, but the schedule of the 'blocos' (street parties which paraded through the streets with everyone in costume and dancing to live music) started at 6 am every day! We didn't make it out that early, but we were always out by lunch time, experiencing as many of them as possible and I am so glad we did as the best ones we went to were in the day time, even though that meant that you were almost unbearably hot; sambaing with Brazilians at 37 degrees when you are packed in with a crowd of thousands in the sunshine is enough to make anyone sweat! It's necessary though when the basic Brazilian meal consists of rice, chips, noodles, beans, meat or fish and a very small salad...ie basically carbs carbs, protein, fat and more carbs! The atmosphere of it was totally infectious as everyone is off work, apart from those poor souls who have to work for Carnaval stuff, although they got in to it as well. On the night before Carnaval officially started we went up to Santa Teresa, a lovely district on one of the hills for a pre Carnval bloco and ended up having some very intense dance lessons with a girl of about 14 called Tatiana who was selling drinks. She would disappear for a while to sell some more water and then she would be back, holding our hands and showing us the steps slowly, before counting one, two, three and going absolutely crazy and encouraging us to do the same. It was hilarious! I could not get the hang of moving both feet and hips at all, but I gave it my best shot and she definitely stood me in good stead as I was able to do a passable samba by the end of the week (I'm not sure any Brazilians would agree with me there though!). She was brilliant and set the tone for a Carnaval dedicated to having a go, making the most of it and taking on the Brazilian attitude of enjoying it as much as possible whilst trying not to let my British insticts of self consciousness come to the fore! In that vein, I drank multiple Caipirinhas, danced until I had blisters, covered myself in glitter, wore feathers in my hair, danced with lots of Brazilians, was proposed to by one, and had a very passionate kiss with another! They were certianly forward those Brazilian men; I think that the first English phrase they learn is, "you're beautiful", then "I love you", and then "kiss me", at which point they grab you and go in for the kill, meaning you have to be on your guard to say "no, obrigada...bon Carnaval", or "no thank you, have a good Carnaval" and samba away at speed! Some had done the extended English course and knew "you have beautiful blue eyes", but I'm not sure what they would have done if your eyes were brown!
We had decided not to go to the Sambodrome for the main parade as it was really expensive to book tickets in advance, but in the end we went on the spur of the moment to see if we could get any outside, which we did, for a fraction of the price! It was insane. There are six schools per night, each with approximately 3500 people in it, so it takes one and a half hours for one school to go from one end of the sambadrome to the other! We arrived at 11pm, during the second school and stayed until about 4.30am, which was just after the fourth, at which point we were exhausted! The show that they put on was incredible. Every dancer was in a costume, many of them in big groups in the same costume, and then interspersed through the school were huge floats with yet more dancers dancing on them. Occassionally one of the schools best female dancers would come along, with a massive space all to herself so that she could show off her moves, and these were the ones that I had seen pictures of on television, with tiny thongs, glittery bras, heels like you wouldn't believe, feathers coming from everywhere, and bums that were practically works of art. They were ginormous, but so toned that while the women shook everything they had from side to side at high speed, they moved just as much as they were supposed to, with not a wobble out of place. Very impressive and a little scary! Each school had a theme and one was London themed which was fab. They had the Queen at the front, an olympics bit, a giant carousel float and (my personal favourite) a whole Alice in Wonderland section with dancing tea cups and saucers, flowers, caterpillars, white rabbits, playing cards and to top it all off a float that was Alice when she has grown so that her feet, arms and head are sticking out of the house. It was absolutely amazing and Carris and I must have been such a sight squealing and grabbing each other so that neither of us would miss anything. Thank goodness we went as I would have been gutted when friends we had met got back to the hostel and told us how good it was...after all as much as I desperately want to be in Rio for Carnaval again one day it quite possibly won't happen and so it was well worth it.
Wow, just writing about it makes my toes twitch in a desire to be dancing! I LOVED it! Especially now that I have recovered, well just about, I have been nursing a cold the last few days which is clearly brought on by sheer exhaustion. Lots of people we have met along the way after Rio were suffering as well...partying that much in the heat is tough on your body; another reason for the rest day today! The only bad thing to report really was that I got my camera stolen on the last night and so have no picutres of the week, or of Singapore for that matter. It's alright though, as others have some and at least I wasn't hurt or anything. It was a bit rubbish though as then the last day we were in Rio I spent several hours reporting it at the police station so that I can claim on my insurance...nightmare!
From Rio we went to Paraty, an adorable little colonial town right on the coast on the Costa Verde. It was beautiful, so beautiful in fact that we decided to stay an extra two nights and skip Paranagua - a good decision as there was a lot to do in Paraty and not much at all in Paranagua. We went on a boat trip where you went round lots of islands and had stops for swimming and exploring; went to Trinidade beach for some sun bathing (or shade bathing for Carris who was like a vampire in that the moment she went into the sun she started sizzling and so consequently spent most of her time covered in a sarong, with a hat and sunglasses on, looking like she was allergic to the sunshine!); wandered through the cobbled streets eating cake and churros from street vendors, listening to live music and shopping at the cute kitschy shops; and had a day of kayking. This was my personal favourite I think - so much fun! We went round a few islands and got out to swim, and then tried to go through a mangrove forest. However the tide was so low that we just kept getting beached and having to get out into mud that was up to our knees to try to pull our kayaks along. At one point Carris was beached and I was going past and got beached too and somehow she managed to knock my sunglasses off my head with her paddle, leading to much hilarity as I yelled at her to get out of her kayak and find them, but she was stuck and so couldn't, so I went back and got on all fours in the water to try to reach them which was clearly never going to happen. At this point Carris and I looked at each other and burst out laughing and didn't stop for most of the day! Especially as after that we went to this place where during Carnaval they have a bloco called 'Bloco de Lama' which Paraty is famous for where everyone goes to a mud bath, covers themselves in mud and dances through the streets. Our kayak instructor had never taken tourists before but thought it would be fun and Carris and I wholeheartedly agreed (even if the rest of the girls on the trip were less than keen!)! When we got there we realised that it was thick mud which you couldn't even wade through but just had to fall on and gradually you sunk under the surface, where it would then just support you. It was the strangest feeling but so funny, and when we finally managed to get out we looked like monsters from a horror film!
From Paraty we moved on to Ilha do Mel, or the island of honey in English. It was stunning. It is this teeny tiny island that we couldn't even see on our map and which noone had heard of (which admittedly worried us a little for a while as we thought maybe Carris had booked us on to an imaginary island) which is an ecological preserve that only allows 5000 people at a time to be on it and has no motorised tranportation at all. So basically, you get a boat over there, drop your stuff at your 'poussada' and then walk everywhere on nature trails; it's adorable! Our poussada was right in the jungle and we had a lovely balcony with hammocks on it from where you could see the sea over the tops of the trees, charming :) We visited some caves and then the next day were more adventurous and walked 6km to the lighthouse on the island. This was a lovely walk that turned into a bit of a disaster as both of us managed to get a bit burnt, having briefly forgotten that clouds DO NOT provide protection from the sun in this country...especially for Carris. It would have been ok but there was literally no shade anywhere along the walk and so we were in a bit of a quandry about what to do. We sheltered by some rocks for a bit but then the tide came in and so we decided we would just have to go for it. Luckily someone had put up a tarpaulin over sticks (probably for stupid foreigners just as ourselves) so we stayed there a while before tackling the last beach....flippin' long beach though! It did make me laugh, and Carris once we were safely out of the sun in our hammocks, as we were acting as if we were on some sort of 'survivor' programme, wondering how to best make it across this beach as if it was the Sahara...what a pair of idiots!
Final stop (after one day in Curitiba) was Iguacu falls. I would say talk about saving the best 'til last but it is very difficult to compare one of the most awe inspiring natural wonders of the world with what is probably the world's biggest party. Suffice to say though, it did not disappoint! I am very lucky in that I actually went to the falls once before on a family holiday, when I was about 15 I think, and so I was going back to them which I think was possibly even more special than if I had been going the first time. My memory is appalling, so although I remembered bits of it I had forgotten a lot, and being reminded of it by moments of sheer wonder that harked back to what I had felt the first time was unbelieveable and such a privilege. They really are just amazing. I know I use a lot of superlatives (so would you if you were seeing the things that I'm seeing!) but these surpass language I think, although I would settle with saying that they are bloomin' marvellous!
We went to the Brazilian side first where you get an overall view of the falls and the chance to go down to get soaked by one. We were so lucky because after arriving at 6am on a bus we went in early which worked out so well as we got to do the whole trail and see it all before lunchtime when a massive storm came in which lasted the rest of the day. We loved it as we had seen them sunny and then got the chance to see them stormy, something not everyone sees, and we actually had a lot of fun walking back along the trail in the rain and seeing the horror on everyone's faces coming the other way as they saw how soaked we were!
The second day we went over to the Argentinan side which was even better than the Brazilian side. The Brazilian side is beautiful but Argentina got a lot more of the falls, so it makes sense that it is more of an experience over there as you get to be closer to more of them. Our first stop was Garganta del Diablo, or the Devil's Throat. I remembered this from last time which only served to build up the suspense and anticipation as we walked along the walk way that goes over the Iguacu river on it's way to the falls. Gradually you start to hear in the distance a low rumbling, which gets louder and louder until you come to what seems like the end of the world with an unbelieveable amount of water falling into an abyss which you can't even see the bottom of. It is completely overwhelming and both Carris and I just stood there for a while, pretty much awe-struck by what we were seeing, hearing and feeling. We went from there back along to the Upper trail, which the Bible says is not so spectacular. Well clearly whoever wrote that has been travelling too long and has stopped opening their eyes or appreciating what they are seeing...it was stunning! Especially as the weather was crystal clear and sunny, and so over nearly every waterfall there was a picture perfect rainbow created from the spray. They were so brightly coloured and pristine and it made the views even more spectacular, and caused Carris and me to do similar oohs aaahs and grabbing each other as we were doing at the Sambadrome! The final trail was the Lower trail, where you see the same falls but from a lower circuit, culminating in a spot where you can get up close and personal with a waterfall; ie wet!
It was just such a wonderful two days, and the perfect end to her time here. Fair dos, we have crammed a lot in to two short weeks and made them feel a lot longer, although saying that I couldn'tquite believe it was time for her to leave already this morning! Now it's just me again, me and my trusted friend the backpack (which is somewhat lighter after off loading a lot into Carris's) and onwards to the next stage. Unfortunately that stage is not proving as easy as I would like, as it seems it is not very common for people to go straight to Bolivia from Brazil. However, I really can't afford any other option as Brazil has rinsed me budget wise; this is not by any stretch of the imagination affordable travel! It seems that I am going to have to get a bus from here to Asuncion (Paraguay), and then wait there for a day to catch a bus to Santa Cruz (Bolivia). It should work out ok though, and at least this way I will be in Asuncion for my birthday rather than on a 24 hour bus which is what I was planning on doing! Still might be a tad lonely but Carris brought out some goodies from some lovely people for me to open so it won't be too bad and I'll have to buy myself a birthday churros or something like that! Blimey, 23, getting old. Should probably come back to the UK, settle down, get a proper job and be serious about life. However, I am having way too much of a good time to do anything sensible like that just yet, and I still have a little money left with which I can enjoy these last four and a bit months, at least I should have if I live on rice and beans for the next two!
So yes, it's always scary being on my own again but it is darn exciting too to see what the next adventure will bring; who knows what's around the corner?
So much love and well wishes,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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