blogging around the world_north & central america

8/8/2019 Blogging Around the World_North & Central America

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Blogging Around The WorldMy Adventures & Misadventures around North & CentralAmerica

Cover Design: Cara WilliamsPhotography: Cara WilliamsCopyright 2006 by Cara WilliamsAll rights reserved

By Cara Williams


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CONTENTSChapter 1: New York 3Chapter 2: Toronto 4Chapter 3: Calgary 6Chapter 4: Vancouver 9

Chapter 5: San Francisco 11Chapter 6: Yosemite National Park 13

Chapter 7: LA & Las Vegas 15Chapter 8: Phoenix 17

Chapter 9: Mexico: The Wedding 20Chapter 10: More Mexico 22Chapter 11: Guatemala 23

Chapter 12: Caye Caulker 26Chapter 13: Tulum 28Chapter 14: Cancun 30

Chapter 15: Washington DC 32Chapter 16: New York revisited 33


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Chap ter One

June 27th

Well we a re he re in muggy New York and in true Brit fashion w e ha vebroug ht the we a ther with us. It ha s been ra ining and the forec ast is forsto rms! The flight w as fine - Jon flutte red his eyelashes a t the stewardessand w e g ot extra leg room and 7 hours la ter (p lus an hour and a half offinge rp rinting, eye sc anning and 3 and a ha lf hours of d riving andget ting lost on Subwa ys), we fina lly go t to our hote l.

We c hec ked in and went for a wa nde r. Our ba gs are alrea dy b rea kingour ba c ks - we a re so feeb le! We went to Times Squa re, took som etouristy snaps and had a he a lthy New York portion o f Caesar sa lad a nd

passed out a t 10pm.

June 28th

After a restless nights sleep (a t ad isc ounted p rice as aga in Jon

flutte red his eye lashes a t the nic eChinese m an), we go t up a t 8.30 andhad breakfast in a fattening Americand iner. Jon ha d 1000 pa nc akes with

haaam as the w a itress p rono unc ed it, wh ile I had eg gs 'sunny side 'one w ay o r the other.

We then headed to the he liport where Jon had his 10 minutes ofsightsee ing by a ir. 'Twas fun' he sa id o f the experienc e. We then got onthe Subwa y and go t c onfused . The Subwa y is a c om p lex ma p of lines

numb ered and lette red in o rder to c onfuse tourists.

We som ehow ma de it to Ground Zero and then o nto South Stree tSea port where it sme lt of fish - not m uc h else to say about it. We thenonto Brooklyn Bridge , where a fat Ame ric an sta rted to c ha t up Jon.

Union Squa re Park wa s next on the list(which wa s my fa vourite p lace so far). Itwa s a long wa lk so w e stop ped off for anAme ric an sized c an of lem ona de b ig

enough to ho ld in bo th hands. We sa t inUnion Park for a w hile ma king fun o f


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peop le until we go t bored a nd then hea ded to the Fla tiron Build ingand Mad ison Park, and then braved the Subw ay ag a in to 5th Avenueand head ed onto Central Park where we w ere serenade d by a nItalian guy playing an interesting rendition of Guns N Roses 'Knockknock knoc king o n Hea vens Dwa raraw' as he p ronounced it. We w ere

a lso approa c hed by a too thless sp itting poe t - need less to say wesuddenly felt the need to lea ve. Our little leg s we re g etting t ired andJon s eve r expa nding stom ac h wa s rumb ling so we hea ded toApp lejac ks Diner for a m ea l and then b ac k to Time s Square to c ollec tour ba gs and ge t to the G reyhound Sta tion fo r the 10.45pm bus toToronto . An 11 hour ove rnight journey o n the c om fortab le, stylish,luxurious Greyhound America lies ahea d ...Will tell you a bout it la ter

Chap ter 2

June 29th

I should p oint out tha t I wa s being sa rc astic a bout the Greyhound a tthis point. They a re d esigne d to inflic t p sychologica l pa in on peop le, a sthe mo bile restrooms are not ventilate d and ma ny of the g enerousAmeric ans on ours used it a t regula r inte rva ls to relieve themselves ofthe ir supersized Mc Dona lds b reakfasts.

Despite that, we m ad e it to the Ca nad ian b orde r a t 5am where wego t off the bus to have o ur passports stamp ed . Then w e ha d the

p lea sure o f reb oa rd ing the b us for the rem a ining 3 hour journey toToronto.

We we re exhausted by the time w e a rrived . We loc ked o ur bags in thec oa c h station and went exploring - orto be ac c urate, we went bagshopping a nd internet c afe hunting!Then the ra in sta rted ...andc ontinuedand then the thunde r andlightn ing. It see ms tha t Toronto

Summers a re similar to ours. We usedthe rain as an excuse to stop off a t anice p lac e c a lled Bistro 333 for afattening Ca nad ian style b urger...

Lunch d id something strange to us - we w ere dread ing the 2 da y busjourney from Toronto to Ca lga ry and so imp ulsively dec ided to book aflight instead - which wo uld g ive us mo re time in Banff. We sea rc hed onan a ge old pa y as you go Internet c onnec tion and found a flight forabout 80 (Air Ca nada ) and b ooked it there a nd then. So instea d o f

sitting on a sme lly bus, we go t to w a tc h the England ga me !


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We then wa ndered a round on the East side o f Toronto to find ahostel and found a University c amp us c a lled Neil Wyc ik which ha d agrea t view o f the c ity from the15th floo r. As we we re so tired , we d idn trea lly venture fa r - just p icked upsom e food and I fell asleep while

Jon w as mid -conversa tion...

June 30th

Had a good nights sleep foronc e. Went to sc out outpo tentia l England ga me pub s -were rec omm ended one calledPhilly McNasty's - sounds goodeh? But we d ec ide d (a fter a lot

of investiga tion it s an imp ortant d ec ision you know) to go to atrad itiona l Eng lish p ub - The Devils Ad voca te .

Afte r c hoo sing our pub , we spent the rest o f the d ay on Toronto Island(a 20 min ferry ride from ma inland Toronto) It is gorgeous - very Greenwith ma nic ured law ns and a ma nma de be ac h overlooking LakeSuperior. Unfo rtuna te ly, it sta rted ra ining as soon as we sa t down. Oneblac k rain c loud wa s over our heads- the rest o f the sky wa s b lue - youc ould te ll the Brits were there.

We wa lked a round the island a bitand then head ed ba c k to Torontoma inland for lunch and as the sunc am e out, we hea ded to St Jam esPark and relaxed in the sun fo r awhile. We dec ide d to c hec k out thenightlife, so he aded to a sports ba rc a lled 'Charac ters' for a c oc ktail and then onto The Devils Advoc a te tosee w ha t the a tmo sphere wa s like we end ed up p laying 12 ga me s of

poo l and got a little tipsy until I sta rted c raving sushi, so w e w ent d ow nthe road to 'Moc hizuki' for sashimi - highly rec om me nded to anyonegoing to Toronto ; (corner of Bay and Elm Stree t). Passed out w ith soreheads in hostel.

July 1st

It s Ca nada Day over here so everything is shut!! We go t up ea rly, hadbreakfast a nd went to the pub for the foo tba ll. It wa s pretty quiet a ndeven more so when we lost...We w andered a round Kensingto n Ma rket

after the ga me (a funky, Ca md en style outdo or market w here theyhave c lassic c a rs, punks and lots of unique c lothes sta lls) and visited the


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hoste l I stayed a t last t ime I wa s here. We then got the Airport ExpressBus to Lesley Pea rson Airport a nd got there just in time for me to dow nthree g lasses of wine and for us to me et Peter (a businessma n fromVanc ouver Island who o wns a fish n chip shop and invited us over nextwee k) so we have a c ontac t over there now ! I hated every sec ond o f

the flight, as the re w ere storms in Canada so the flight was turbulentbut w e finally arrived and had to w ait ag es for our lugg ag e a nd theshuttle to take us to our hoste l in Ca lgary.

Eventua lly, we c hec ked in and we re rea lly unimp ressed with the g uythere - mo od y and rude, so a void the Auberge hostel if you go there!We then w ent for a wa nde r and rea lised we had nt e a ten a ll da y sogo t a p izza from a mosquito infested fast food plac e a nd a te next tothe tramps (who were ha ssling us for p izza in exchange for umbrellas...)and then head ed ba c k to the hostel at a bo ut 12.30am .

Chap ter 3

July 2nd

Jon entertained eve ryone in the ho stel byta lking about c a rd igans loud ly in his sleep lastnight which w as amusing . We ha d eg gs 'sunnyside up ' at M ilestones Ca fe fo r b rea kfast anda imlessly wa ndered a round the infamous

rod eo to wn. We had a sc ary moment w herewe c ouldnt find e ac h other. Jon thought I'dbe en ab duc ted by d rug dea lers. Anyhow, wefound ea c h other and c ontinued on to PrinceIsland Park which is one of the few nic e a rea s

of Ca lga ry -with picturesque greenery, rivers...buta lso lots and lots of m osquitoe s. I waswe aring shorts and my legs go t mauled .I look like I have c hic ken poc ks and

Jons ankles were swollen and sore.

After a b it more explora tion, werea lised there is not rea lly muc h worth

see ing in Ca lga ry so d ec ided to m ove on to Banff that evening. Wego t on a tram and tried to find the Greyhound Station to g et the 5pmbus to Banff. Unfortuna te ly, the hostel wa s not a 'convenient 5 minutewa lk from the Greyhound Sta tion' as p rom ised on the ne t. We wa lkedthroug h wa ste a rea and into no ma ns land for ab out 40 mins in 80deg ree hea t until we fina lly go t there. We wa ited for an hour and a

half for our bus and onc e on it, enjoyed a bea utiful 2 hour sc enicjourney to Banff throug h the Roc kies. Stup idly, we ha dn t boo ked


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ac c ommod ation in advanc e a nd there wa s no ac c ommod ationanywhere so w e ended up p aying through the nose for a d oub leQueen room in a G uest House, as tha t was the only thing ava ilab le. Itwa s a lovely room though. We c hec ked in, po pp ed to the supermarketto get food , wa lked a round town which is very Swiss loo king - lots of

wo od en lod ge s, snow capped mo unta in ba c kdrop s and Swiss p ric esto match!

It wa s la te b y now so w e hea ded to our room, ate our proc essedd inners and went to bed ...By the wa y, I know how boring this holidaysound s so fa r...but we a re trave lling a lot and its rea lly exhausting (no tsure w hy!) and we a re c ramm ing a lot in and as you w ill see , we a redoing som e a ma zing stuff, but the first few days have b een ab outacc lima tizing...I am fee ling really drained b ut we ha ve a greed tha ta fter a week, we will sta rt roug hing it mo re a nd living the bac kpac kers

experience...!

July 3rd

Woke up ea rly, got pa c ked and c hecked out. We spo tted a notherrea lly nic e Gue st House d ow n the roa d which had a d oub le Jac uzziand view of the m ounta ins so w e tho ught fo r one last night w e w ouldsta y som ew here nice! So w e m oved our stuff in there - it was gorge ous.There wa s a ba lc ony w ith a grea t view of the mo untains...it was p riceybut not as muc h as last night...After c hec king in, we we nt to look

around Banff tow n and loo k at p ossible tours of the na tiona l pa rk as itis pret ty impossible to exp lore it without a c a r. We found three to urcom panies - Disc over Banff, Moo se a nd Brew ste r. We b oo ked ourselveson a Brew ster tour as it co vered mo st of the sights and d rop ped us a t

Jasper Tow n which saved us anothernasty Greyhound journey. We then w entfor a 6 mile hike to find som e hot sp ringsand the Banff Gond ola (no it isn t arom antic Italian style bo a t like I thought,but a rid iculously high c ab le ca r!). We

eventua lly go t to the ho t sp rings to findthat they we re in fac t, well a heate dswimming poo l. My rom antic notions of a

natura l em erald lagoon, wa terfall and the e gg y sme ll of sulphur we reruined ! I wa s very d isappointed ... we go t the b us back to tow n andhea ded to Bow River to loo k at som e w aterfa lls, which w ere slightlymo re imp ressive. But the mo squitoes we re a tta c king a ga in so w ehead ed ba c k to ha ve some food and try out that Jacuzzi and relaxed- ag ain!

July 4th


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Tod ay wa s a grea t day! Neither of usslep t we ll and had a 7am start to ge t onthe tour bus. We hea ded firstly to LakeLouise - this is one of the mostb rea thta king things I have ever seen. The

lake is North o f Banff Tow n and isoverloo ked by mo unta ins. It is em eraldGree n and is stunn ing. Just before I goon, I lea rnt a few useless fac ts todaywhich I thought I'd share with yo u. TheNationa l pa rks are p rotec ted here so no one c an build/ log / live in themunless they have lots of m one y (isn't b ribery grea t?) or have w orked inBanff fo r 25 yea rs. Also, as the re is so muc h w ild life on the Highw ays, theGovernment have b uilt spec ia l anima l tunnels and ove rpasses c ove redin grass and wood to m ake the animals feel more a t home w hen

c rossing the roa d ! They c ost $2.5m ea c hto ma ke! After Lake Louise, we stoppedoff a t Crow foo t G lac ier (a na tura l slidingg lac ier ca rved out in the mounta in). Itshows the d am ag e g lob al wa rming isdoing to the p lane t as the c row s footnow looks deformed as the ice me ltsawa y! We then stop ped a t Bow River (agorgeous Sapphire b lue lake tha t sitsunder Crow foot G lac ier). I wa nted to

swim in it but it is full of silt from the mounta in so lost its appea l. Then themo st ama zing thing w e d id was d rive to the Columb ian Ic e fields. Theseare a series of m ounta inous g lac iers and forests. We had lunc hove rlooking them a nd then the highlight o f the day wa s a t rip o n ashuttle to the to e o f the g lac ier, then a transfer onto a huge mo nstertruck to d rive o nto the g lac ier itself on a rea lly roug h and steep trac k.We we re a llow ed off the t ruck to stand on the glac ier and d rink freshic e w a ter on the top of this mo unta in; (the a ltitude wa s 7000 feet ) Itwa s stunning a nd one of the highlights of m y trip.

We then hea ded onto Athab asc a Falls -gorgeous natural waterfalls in Jasper Park.We stop ped for 20 mins then got b ac k onthe bus to end our journey in Jasper Tow n.It is very small and less bustling than Banff.We we re g oing to stay here to night and seeJasper tomo rrow but w e figured it is justgo ing to b e m ore lakes and glac iers, so w ehave d ec ide d to do the 12 hour Greyhoundovernight to ge t to Vanc ouver tomorrow instea d . We p lan to g o w hale

wa tc hing on Vanc ouver Island and meet w ith my friend who hasinvited us to a BBQ a t his p lac e; free foo d (!) so roll on Va nc ouver. Am


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off to bea t Jon s ass a t p oo l and wa it fo r our 1.20am for our bus. Oh,and Jon asked me to me ntion tha t the folks a t The Whistler Inn' are ve rynice as they a re lett ing us store o ur bags there fo r free until we lea ve .Time p assed ve ry slow ly and the b us wa s la te a nd we were grouc hy...

Chap ter 4

July 5th

Vanc ouve r! The home of Doug las Coup land . We a rrived a fter a verylong and tiring journey a t m idd ay Vanc ouver time (we are now 8 hoursbehind you) a nd we nt on a mission to find our hostel. We chec ked inand went to ha ve some food . We went to an Italian p lac e where thewa itress wo uldn t leave us a lone . She loved our ac c ents and keptfind ing exc uses to c om e a nd ta lk to us. Ca n t a g irl enjoy her foc cac ia

in pe ace a nymore! Ove r here, the g irlslove the British a cc ent mo re than themen, which is we ird ...we d idn t get ad isc ount thoug h...

We w ent for a wa nder down toSta nley Pa rk - it is hug e and ha s threebea c hes, 'The Lost Lagoo n', lo ts ofwild life, skating, cyc ling routes and anAqua rium. We looked around a bit but

it was b listering so we d idn t go to ofa r. I c a lled my friend Richa rd (a filmmaker I met a t HIFF 2005) andarrang ed to m eet him tomo rrow for a pe rsona l tour, and then wehad our own tour of the Vanc ouver banks as I c ouldnt g et a ny moneyout o f any of them. We tried eve ry single bank and I end ed up c a llingLLoyd s on my 'ce ll' for them to tell me they ha d barred my a c c ount a s Iwa s using it a b roa d . I ma nage d to sort it luc kily and enjoyed hea ringthe sound of m y cash being d ispensed .

We were rea lly tired from the bus journey still, so just went fo r a few

drinks a t 'The Blac k Frog ' pub nea r the Steam Cloc k which isVanc ouve r s little quirky tourist a ttrac tion - the c loc k stea ms and p laysa tune on the hour but b roke d ow n and wa s whistling non stop for anhour right outside the p ub! (I have d ec ided I will c ome b ack to NorthAme ric a to see Alaska. We b oth w anted to see it but c ouldn t fit it in (it looks amazing.)

Hea de d to be d e arly...

July 6th


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Tod ay wa s g rea t. We w ent to the tourist information o ffic e to find outab out w hale wa tc hing - (I have be c om e o bsessed with doing this) andthen m et Ric hard in Ga stow n a t lunc htime . He d rove us round to seeQueen Elizabeth Park, Granville Island (a very expensive , trend y p lac eto ea t by the ha rbour), Kitsilano (hippy, ma rket plac e) and w e ha d

the tastiest sushi eve r a t a p lac e c a lled 'Ka ide '. If you c om e he re, try it -even Jon liked it a nd he ha tes fish! We then went to the Aquariam inSta nley Park which was grea t fun. Saw d olphins and beluga wha les, asloth...felt like a c hild aga in! Then Richard took us to his pa rents p lac efor a BBQ. Now this place is a mansion Beverly Hills style. It was amazing;ensuite b a throom s in eve ry roo m, a poo l, tennis c ourts etc . We ha dfanta stic fo od too. BBQ sa lmo n, ribs, a gorge ous Ca esar sa lad and lotsof w ine. It was grea t. They ha d som e fa mily friends the re too . We fe ltvery we lc ome a nd had a great night. We wa tc hed Ric hard 's new film'Crossd ', which was c oo l. He then kind ly d rop ped us bac k to the hostel

about 12.30am.

July 7th

Tod ay we headed to Vanc ouve r Island . We ha d a n ea rly sta rt in orderto c a tc h all the c onnec ting b uses and fe rries to g et to Vic toria(supposed ly the most Eng lish pa rt o f Vanc ouver). We d idn t rea lise itwo uld be a 6.5 hr journey however...it kinda sc rewed up our da y. Oncewe got to the Scwartz Island Ferry Terminal, we ha d about an hour toge t to the harbour for the wha le w atc hing. We m et a Frenc h

c oup le on the ferry who kep t us ente rta ined thoug h. They had beenc herry p ic king and hitc hhiking through Ca nad a to g et through theirtravels!Onc e o n ma inland Vic toria , there w as a further hour bus journey to theharbour. We found our 'Prince of Whales' (get it!?) tour comp any with 5minutes to spare...the experienc e w as well wo rth the stress and journey.

We we nt on a spe ed b oa t for ab out anhour to find the killer wha les and we werevery lucky to see a fam ily inc lud ing ababy out the re. It was amazing. The ride

wa s fanta stic (ap art from the seve resunburn/windb urn on my fac e!). We a lsosaw sea otters, although you wouldn'tknow I wa s eve r there as the ba tteriesfrom my c am era ran out as we go t on the

boat...

Our wha le w atc hing w as 3 hours and onc e b ac k on the island , we ha dto w a it a n hour and a ha lf for our c onnec ting bus for the hours journeyto the ferry for the hour and a ha lf ferry ride b ac k to

Vancouver...phew ! We m ade it w ith 5 mins to spa re fo r the 9pm fe rry soall in a ll we were very lucky to ha ve m ad e it there a nd b ack at a ll!


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I lost m y travel d iary on the ferry which has rea lly up set me as it has a llmy thoughts, c onta c ts, ad dresses of ho ste ls etc ...RIP d iary. Jon w ouldlike m e to point out tha t his foo t is now swollen a nd you m ust a ll fee lsorry for him.

Chap ter 5

July 8th

A new day! Slep t ve ry we ll last night in our mixed dorm eventhough 'Sniffy the Mexican' (we ird ec centric g uy who I think sniffs ourunderwea r when we a re not a round) slep t ab ove me. We hadbrea kfast a t the infamous Tim Horton s d iner and went to c onfirm ourGree n Torto ise trip a round Yosem ite Park for tomorrow .

We met up with Richard aga in a t a foo tba ll ga me . It was swe lteringtod ay. We g ot lost on the w ay to the p ark in Chinatown a nd it took usage s to find our wa y.

Afte r the game , Richa rd and his sister Me lanie then took us to aviewp oint ca lled Cyp ress Hill, l which overloo ks Vanc ouver and thenonto the p lac e w here they g rew up - White Roc k whic h is a sea sidetown. We sa t on the pier and chatted for a c oup le o f hours be forehea d ing to an a ll you c an ea t sushi resta urant. Sushi is pop ular overhere Sushi is the Ca nadian keb ab . And I am rea lly hoo ked on it! We

ordered a ll we c ould ea t literally. Two tab les wo rth a nd it was 10pound s a he ad . Ba rga in!

We then went for a d rink in Ta ttlers which is a very mellow bar in theKitsilano d istric t. We just sta yed for one d rink as we ha d an early sta rtag ain tomo rrow for the next Greyhound ad venture.

July 9th

We were up at 7am to g et a taxi to the Greyhound station and go t on

the 8.45am bus to San Franc isc o. We had tostop for ages a t c ustom s, by which time I wastired and c ranky. We c am e fac e to fac e withthis hug e Blac k, LL Co ol J looking c ustoms guy. Iexpe c ted him to shout a t me and be ag gressivelike a ll the other customs guys were and I wasabout to be a ggressive b ac k until he sta rtedlaughing and joking a round . He surp rised meand Jon and we a c tually had a laugh withhim...mayb e the Sta tes wo nt b e so b ad ...

We ha d a few stop s to m ake to c hang e b uses along the 26 hour


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journey. It was tough and I think I have deep ve in throm bosis as myankles a re rea lly swo llen, but we a re here now ! I wa nted to jump off inPortland, Oregon a s it looked rea lly p retty but we d idn t a s we justwa nted to g et tha t journey over and done w ith. I am c onfused as it isnow 10th July bec ause w e spent a ll of the 9th on the bus...so no t m uch

to report - we a re a t the G ree n Torto ise Hoste l which is imp ressive - theyhave a poo l, free d inners three nights a we ek, talent nights etc ...we a rego ing on a tour with them la ter which sta rts a t 9pm for 3 days. We w illbe go ing on a sleep er coa c h and c amp ing in Yosemite Valley. Won tbe on the net until we ge t b ac k but hopefully I will have lots of storiesabout b ea rs (not too nea r me ), wa terfalls and na tura l lago ons to te llyou late r.

July 10th

We left o ur bags in the hoste l and they let us have a show er. We thenhea ded to the Financ ia l Distric t a nd had lunch a t 'Mangia Tutti', (ahighly rec ommend ed Italian p lac e). We then went to find a new trave ltowel for me a s mine w as mo st p rob ab ly kep t a s a souvenir by TheSniffy Mexic an from Vanc ouve r. We wa lked a round a ll da y - (it seems

no-one uses trave l towels in this c ity) andwere sent from one p lac e to the next andin d oing so, got to see a lot of the nastierparts of San Fran! Afte r find ing a towe l, Itook Jon up to the 36th floo r of The Grand

Hyat t Hote l which has an ama zing view ofthe c ity and Alc atraz. We ha d a drink andenjoyed the view before hea ding ba ck out

to d o some shopping. We ha d to b e b ac k at the Greyhound Stationrea dy to c a tc h a 9pm bus for the Green Tortoise Tour to Yosem ite Park(3 da ys, four nights). There w as an interesting m ix of p eop le on the trip .There w ere 30 of us in tota l. The bus was late a nd it took a ges to signpaperwo rk and orga nise o ur sleepers - the b us has c ushioned sea ts byday a nd transforms into uncom fortab le bed s (bunks) a t night. Theyprovided slee p ing b ags so 30 of us slep t overnight on the bus as we

drove to Yosemite Va lley. We go t on the road about 12.30am...

July 11th


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Afte r a squashed and stuffy night o n the bus, we a rrived in Yosem iteValley a t 7am a nd w ere woken to help make breakfast. The guysrunning the trip (Adam and Brian) were rea lly go od . Ada m is a tra inedc hef and b rought a long p ots, pa ns, a stove a nd we ma de grocerystop s along the wa y to g et things to c ook. We a ll helpe d ma ke ba ge ls

and fruit sa lad for brea kfast a nd a te o n benc hes in the va lley. (Noshowers or fac ilities to c lean ourselves forthe next 4 da ys!) After breakfast, we d rovefor ha lf an ho ur to Yosem ite Villag e. Fromthere we we re let loo se to do our ow n thing- hiking , swimming, Ansel Ad amsGa llery...we went fo r a steep hike toVerdana Fa lls', on the wa y to w hich wec limb ed a 'mist trail' where the w a ter fromthe w a terfall sp rays you a nd c rea tes

mistb ow s. It was bea utiful but ve ry high andtiring a s it was a stee p c limb in bo iling hotwea ther. We hiked ba c k down a nd hadlunc h (ma de b y ourselves ea rlier) then hikedto 'Mirror Lake' - an em erald green lake(very c old!) in Yosemite Va lley a nd c oo led dow n with a swim. We m etthe rest of the g roup a t 4pm and d rove to a c amp site (Hartley Springs)to set up camp for the night. We a ll pitched in and m ad e a dinner of

stew, mashed p ota to and salad and hada few b ee rs a long the way. You know I

sa id the re a re som e interestingc harac ters? Well the sort of peop le o n ourtrip w ere a c razy, 7ft ta ttooed, pierc edYorkshire ma n, a 7 yea r old Sono ma Valleyg irl, a 30 yea r old from Sheffield w ho hasbeen travelling a round Ind ia and A fric a(alone - c razy woma n!) for a year, twolad ies from the Bronx w ith those thick,

'cwoffee' ac cents...it g oes on...they are a nic e b unch! We ma de abo nfire a nd c hatted ...every night w e ha ve to transform the c oa c h into

bed s - they ca ll it 'The Mirac le' which we d id and then p assed out!

Chap ter 6

July 12th

I slep t b ad ly last night - surprise surprise eh? Up 8am . We a ll helpedma ke homemade p orridge this mo rning. Very hea lthy but d idn't rea llylike it...I miss marmite on toast. Tod ay we hea ded to Mono Basin - asa ltwa ter lake tha t is 3 times sa ltier tha n any oc ea n. Only a fe w w ent in

as it was freezing a nd the re w ere flies surround ing it...and no p lac e todry off...after that we went to a plac e c alled Ma mm oth Lakes for


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lunch. It was a big tow n with not a lot to see exce p t restaurants, abookstore and a 'general store' (so Am eric an!) we had lunch at w hat Ithought w as an upm arket Am erican diner -Ca rl Juniors) as Jon had ta lked it up - but itwa s basic a lly a poo r ma ns Mc Dona lds!

They got o ur orders wrong a nd we had towa it for ages. Then w e d rove on to seewha t ende d up be ing a nother highlight ofmy trip - June Lake. This is a snow wate rlake - ove rlooking it are snow c appedmountains which feed the lake a nd m ea n the wa ter is go od enough tod rink. It w as ama zing to swim in! We spent a goo d 4 hours the re - I wastrying to keep Hannah (the 7 yea r old) entertained, build ingsandc astles whilst g etting my bac k and leg s c om p lete ly sunburnt! Wego t ba ck on the bus a t 6pm to go bac k to the Hartley Springs c amp site

for the night a ga in. (There a re b ea rs, c oyo tes, wolves in the park andwe hea rd a lot o f sound s but as yet ha ve no t sighted any!) We hadtem pura and risotto for dinner. All the foo d is veg eta rian on the trip. Wethen had a b onfire a nd sang sea shanties and d rank more beer andtoa sted ma rshma llow s...went to bed a t 1.

July 13th

Up a t 8am aga in. Brea kfast today wa s Mexica n om elette, sa lsa , fruit...Ihave a c tua lly sta rted losing we ight on this trip b ec ause I have rea lised I

am a n extremely fussy ea ter and I haven t liked any of thefood ...but hopefully I will have a bikini bod y for Mexic o! We w eredrop ped off a t Tuolumne Mea dow s today. This was gorgeous. We

hiked to the Sod a Springs (whic hunfortuna tely have d ried up !). Thesc enery was incred ible. Lush Green f ields,snow c ap pe d mounta ins, dee p blue riversand little ferrets pop ping their hea ds up a llover the plac e - so c ute! We ha d lunchby the river and then head ed in the other

d irec tion tow ards anothe r pa rt of thelake. It was the ho ttest d ay of our holiday

so fa r so w e c ouldn t stay out to o long...go t bac k on the b us a t 3.30pmand we re d riven to Tena ya Lake for ha lf an hour to w ash up ...(still noshowers!) This lake w as quite w arm and refreshing. Afte r a short d ip, wehea ded to Seq uoia G rove to see the o ldest trees in the wo rld . Aga in, itmea nt hiking up a steep trail for an hour and a half to g et to them b utthey we re p retty spe c tac ular! On the wa y ba c k from the hike, Ima nage d to g et stuc k in a m uddy bog ! Only me! I nea rly lost my flipflop s and had mud a ll ove r myself. I dangled my feet in a tiny strea m

but c ould hardly get any mud o ff so ha d to wa lk bac k to the bus dirty,hot and em barrassed ! To top it o ff, I wa s ma uled by mosquitoes aga in!


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We then got b ac k on the bus and head ed to Grovetown (a random ,c omm on g reen a rea ) to c ook our last meal of pa sta , but the stovebroke down so we e nded up ea ting salad ...and then pa cked up a ndhea ded to the Iron Door Sa loo n pub for farewell d rinks...I was forced todo karaoke with Adam (the c hef) and a c oup le of other 'Tortoise

bac king singers' (one b eing a g irl from Hamm ersmith!)- we sang'Respec t' a nd 'I Sho t The Sheriff!' two songs I don t like o r know thevoc a ls to ! There w ere som e rea lly amusing American singers doing the irrend ition of Bac kstreet Boys though.

Got b ack on the bus at midnight a nd slep t on it overnight a ga in andarrived in San Fran a t 7am

July 14th

Very tired ! We g ot d rop ped a t the hostel, so the first thing we d id wa shave a show er! Felt great ! We then ha d a greasy d iner brea kfast a ndhead ed to North Bea c h (my favourite p art ofSan Fran) and saw a panoramic view fromTeleg raph Hill. Then we hea ded to WashingtonSquare Ga rdens to ha ve a sleep as we we rebo th exhausted a nd c ouldn t chec k in to thehostel until 2pm. The w ea ther had c lea red upand it wa s now hot -and yes, we bo th go t alittle pink...We headed to Fishermans Wharf so I

c ould see the Sea Lions on Pier 42 but therewe re none to be seen - it was ma ting sea sonand they were all bud dying up somewhereelse! Went into 'Jac ks Ca nnery' for a few d rinksand hea rd an a ma zing live singe r- PaulHayward . He sang Tom Petty's 'Free fa lling' tha t made o ur sp ines ting le(this c ould a lso ha ve b ee n the w ine of c ourse). We saw Lom bard Street(the c roo kedest street in the w orld !) and then ha d sushi at 'Sushi onNorth Bea c h-Ka tsu' resta urant . Was ok but no t like the Vanc ouver Sushi!

Hea de d ba c k to hostel, c hec ked in to a mixed do rm, did somewa shing a nd p assed out a t ab out 1am.

Chap ter 7

July 15th

Up a t 7am. Fee l rested . Go t a c ab to theGreyhound Sta tion. Missed our 9am bus as it w assold out, but got the re early enoug h for the

7.45am bus. Arrived in LA a t 4.50pm and founda p lace (Stillwell Hotel) for the night. Showe red ,


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c hanged and thought w e should see some thing o f LA even thoughtneither of us pa rticula rly likes it. We went to Hollywoo d and wa lkeddow n the Boulevard as it was the o nly pa rt ac c essib le b y me tro fromdow ntow n whe re w e stayed . Then we w a lked dow n Sunset Boulevardand went into a ma ssive shoe wa reho use...g irls d rea m...! We ha d

d inner in the Pig n' Whistle-a fa mous pub / resta urant from the 20's wheresta rs used to d ine. It was a very expe nsive m ea l! Then he aded back toour hotel ba r and had som e d rinksa slow day!

July 16th

Up 10am (lazy sod s!) Hea ded bac k to Greyhound Sta tion. The LA stopwa s litera lly to b rea k up our journey from San Fran to Mexico which iswhy we d idn t ma ke much of it. We ha d p rob lems with the lady a t theLA Greyho und Sta tion- she sent us to a queue to get tickets tha t she

c ould have issued us there and we wa ited for 3 and a half hourbec ause o f her and missed two b uses. I d id the British thing andcom pla ined . Met a Philip ino g uy ca lled Dave in the q ueue. He lived inVegas and w as ea ge r to te ll us about the ho okers he c a lled for phonesex...wa s a nice g uy but q uite forwa rd ! After wa iting fo r 3 hours, our busfina lly a rrived a t 2.30pm but b roke d ow n so w e ha d to w a it longe r for itto b e fixed ...fina lly go t to Vegas a t 8pm. Booked into the Sahara ho tel(where I stayed last yea r). It is a them ed hote l and we stayed in theAlexand ra Tower (where the Bea tles sta yed in 1966). We sortedourselves out a nd hea ded out to ga mb le a nd see the c asinos-I love

Vegas -I have had a g rea t time o n bo th oc c asions. The extravaga nceand ta c kiness is its c ha rm. The strip is about 5miles one w ay a nd we wa lked almost theentire strip seeing New York New York, TheVene tian, The Bellag io (where Oc ea ns 11was filmed ), Trea sure Island ...the list goeson...we ga mb led ab out 40 eac h andobviously lost it a ll...if you sit long enough a t aslot mac hine, you a re b roug ht free d rinks, sowe w aited for them to c ome ...we e ventually

d rop ped on our pillow s a t 4am. Grea t night tho ugh!

July 17th

Up a t 11am. Our p lan for tod ay wa s to relax by the poo l a ll daywhich was pretty much wha t we d id after a Dennys diner lunch. It was112 deg rees tod ay and the floor was unbe a rab ly hot, so w e spent thewhole time in the poo l. We had a coc ktail and then dec ided to g oba c k to the hotel about 5pm to ge t rea dy for ano ther night ofga mb ling. We c hang ed and heade d o ut to see the c asinos we w ere

too tired to see yesterday. We w ent to C irc us Circ us which isspec ta cularly tacky - they have live t rapeze a rtists, ca rnival ga mes like


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toss the ring on a stuffed anima l etc , revolving slot mac hines...we a lsoc ou ldn t resist the $1.99 Ma rgaritas in Sta rdust. As we sa t a t the b ar,three d runken Americ an tea c hers sta rted c hat ting to us and seeme dto ta ke quite a shining to Jon. After they left, we hea ded out to findd inner when the storm hit. It sta rted with

wind - it go t heavier and hea vier until itnea rly knoc ked us off o ur feet. Then asandsto rm with ha il and hea vy rain. Thendrama tic lightening and thunde r like Ihave never seen be fore...and then a s weapproa c hed the Stra tosphere, whe re Jonwa s go ing to go on a rollerco aster,lightening struck a transformer, and the rewa s an explosion a bout 100met res infront of us. I never thoug ht Id see a storm in the desert but it wa s an

awe insp iring sight . We w ent b ac k to the room to try and ge t som epic tures from a sa fe d istance until we go t bored . Then we headeddo wn to the c asino to drink and ga mb le. Bed at 2.30am tonight!

July 18th

I feel sad to lea ve Veg as...Go t a c ab to the Greyhound sta tion andlistened to the d river ta lk ab out his p rosta te p ills and his c onsta nt needto g o to the b a throom ...I wished him luck with that a nd w e thenprec ed ed to w a it 3 hours for our 1.30pm b us to Flagsta ff. We have

lea rnt by now tha t Greyhound Sta tions a re extremely unpred ic tab leand c an b e p acked o r emp ty, so w e a rrived 2 hours ea rly andtypica lly, it wasemp ty. After a long, boring wa it, we w ere lucky enoughto ride on a bus whose to ilet ha d be en freq uented by someone with aserious bow el prob lem. 5 hours of tha t sme ll made us a b it c razy. Wedrove throug h a nother ama zing storm like yesterda ys and thoug ht thebus wo uld top p le o ver in the w inds.

We arrived a t 7.20pm a nd fo undourselves a rea lly nice a ll America n

plac e to stay -the Canyon Inn Mote l.It is stra ight out of a low budg etAmerican horror film.

As the m ost ha pp ening p lac e inFlagsta ff is the c om munity c entre,we d ec ide d to spe nd our eveningwa tc hing HBO a nd theres not a lotto report tod ay really. We ha ve ha d problems at the Greyhound offic ehere as they wo n t p rint our Mexico tickets for us, seemingly bec ause

they enjoy wa tc hing me p anic. We a re worried ab out rea c hing Me xic o


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in time for the w ed d ing - we have 2 da ys...as I keep trying to rea ssuremyself, its a ll pa rt o f the trave lling experienc e!

Chap ter 8

July 19th

Sta rted taking m y Ma la ria tab lets tod ay and so fa r so g ood . Nodelusions or sickness...we w ent to the Greyho und sta tion and wa ited forour bus to Phoenix for 2 hours...

Onc e a t Phoenix, we ha d to find our next bus into Mexic o. I go t into a nargument w ith the bitchy greyhound lad y who d idn t spe ak greatEng lish and refused to serve us as we w ere in the wrong line. Wewa ited ano ther hour and a half for our bus and after getting there a nd

wa iting in a queue to ge t our tickets to Nog a les (Mexic an bo rder), wewere told our Ameri passes we re not ac c ep tab le in Mexic o a nd wehad to pay another $145 US Dolla rs to get into Mexic o. We a lmostmissed another bus (it took them 2.5 hours to sort it out). Naturally wewere frea king o ut as we had to g et a ll the c onnec tions in order to ge tto the w ed ding on time. Eventually we pa id the a dd itiona l money(whic h me ant our Ameri passes were pointless as it wou ld have c ostthe same to b uy eac h tic ket individua lly). We go t on the b us andsta rted our ad venture to Mexic o. I use the wo rd adventure light ly. Noone spoke English past this point which wa s interesting. We ha d no idea

if we w ere on the right b us, just g uessed . The Mexic an d rivers don t ta kenot ice of speed limits or roa d et iquette so w e w ere d riving 120 miles anhour, ove rtaking c a rs and buses and on to p of tha t, there were c razythunde rstorms, lighte ning and hea vy rain throug h the night...we had notags on our bags as the p eop le a t Phoenix refused to p rint them out fo rus so w e ha d to keep jump ing off the bus to m ake sure o ur bags we restill on there. Eventua lly we reac hed the Mexic an bo rder (Hermoc illio)and we e xpe c ted to ge t off, be searched and the whole p roc esswould take a bo ut an hour and a ha lf. But a g uy jumped on the b usand he ld out a pot, which everyone put $2 so w e c ould c ross the

border illeg a lly. We d idn t rea lly know w hat wa s go ing on until a guyexp la ined in pige on English tha t we we re now illeg a l immigrants (notour fault!) It wa s a long journey to our c onnec ting b us which ag a in weguessed a t...we w ere la te a rriving for it a nd so I jump ed off a nd ran upto a group o f Mexic an d rivers stand ing b y a c oa c h which said 'Mexic oDe' on it to try and find out if tha t was ours. They d idn t und ersta nd so Iga ve them my ticket and idiotic ally rep ea ted Mexic o City, Mexic oCity!. After a w hile, we think they said we need ed to c hang e o urtickets in the o ffic e which Jon d id while I stood there smiling awkwa rd ly.Jon got b ac k and luc kily they let us on! Our c oa c h wa s nic er than the

Americ an Greyhound s, with rec lining sea ts, a TV and mo st imp ortantly,


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a fresh sme lling to ilet . We t rave lled overnight fo r the sec ond time, butthis time in com fort!

July 20th

Slep t on and off overnight - feel dirty and wo rried tha t we w ill end upsom ew here unexpec ted ...Im a lso a bit pa ranoid about sa fety inMexic o- I have hea rd lots of sto ries on our trave ls of mug g ings andbea tings in Mexic o C ity, but it c an hap pen a nywhere I guess!

We got c ha tting to a guy who has just g ot out of p rison (fo r illeg a llyc rossing the borde r into the US to see his wife and kids, which makesme feel a whole lot b ette r about my own felony). He says we a re d ueto a rrive in Mexic o C ity a t 8am. Jon now seems to think we a re o n anexpress bus tha t som eho w ta kes 13 hours to get to Mexico City - 50

hours later, he rea lised he w as mista ken!

July 21st

8am passed - no sign o f our bus slow ing dow n. I am very worried now .We a re m ea nt to meet Zoe a nd Faye at 12pm a t the GreyhoundSta tion, not rea lising tha t a ) Greyhound doesn t run in Mexico so thereis no sta tion a nd b ) we had no ide a whe re this bus wa s go ing. Also, wed idn t rea lise tha t the re a re 4 or 5 ma in bus sta tions in the c ity! We havebeen trave lling 48 hours on b uses now and still have no idea where we

are! Mag ic ally, we did arrive a t Mexic o C ity at ab out m idd ay. By now Ihad told Zoe by text (p raying she had b oug ht her mo b ile w ith her) toma ke their ow n way to the hostel in Cuernava ca a nd we wo uld m eetthem there as we didn t know whethe r we wo uld ge t the right b usthere e ither! We w ent to b ook our bus to Cue rnava c a and the ticketage nt d idn't spea k English and throug h misc ommunica tion, we end edup buying the mo st expensive coa c h. (The m ost expensive coa c h stillonly c ost US $7 or a bout 5 po unds...!)oh w ell, we trave l in style onc eagain!

It was another 2.5 hour journey to Cue rnava ca , which is just South o fMexic o City and is bea utiful...very Europ ea n w ith lots of flow ers,c ob b led streets, greenery and slop ing roa ds. Miraculously, we got towhere we need ed to b e. We bo th have swo llen leg s and ankles whichwill be nice for the wed d ing. On a rriva l, we ha iled a taxi (ap pa rently,ta xis a re the most dangerous p lac es to b e in Mexico a s tha t is where99% of robb eries, bea tings etc happen) so w e w ere lucky to get aleg itima te d river. He took us to Bello Horizonte and our

hoste l (Ma nda la ) which wa s rea lly nic e. Itwa s op en p lan, with a t iny poo l. They


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even had a 5 month old rabbit ca lled Ma nchitas.

I hea rd the unmista kab le vo ice of my sister, whose first w ords we rewa nt a b eer? in typical Zoe fa shion. We had a c oup le of b eers andc aught up a nd then showered and head ed into Cuernavac a c entre

for d inner. We used c abs to g et a round partly as they a re d irt c hea pand bec ause our hostel wa s so fa r out o f the c entre. We w ent to arestaurant which wa s very expensive b ut the only plac e open. We ha dsome food , a c oc ktail and heade d b ac k to the Hostel.

Chap ter 9

July 22nd

Wed ding d ay!! We g ot a c ab at 11am to Ranc ho Cuernavac a w here

Conrad and Isabel were ge tting ma rried . Itwas bea utiful...the venue w as massive andhad a poo l, huge ga rdens, massive b rida lsuite a nd guest room s...they ha d aflamingowa lking a roundand a p arrotand love birds.

The w ed d ing was in Spanish and tookp lac e und er a m arquee outside. There

we re g orge ous c olourful a rrays of flowerseverywhere whic h made the venue lookrea lly trop ic a l. After the w ed d ing, we went to the g ardens for d rinksbefore d inner. There wa s a band p laying as we d rank while Conradand Isabel had their wedd ing p ic tures taken on the lawn. A friend ofIsabels had been in touc h with Zoe before we c ame awa y saying shewo uld take two days off work to show us a round Mexic o C ity. Wema de arrang eme nts with her to m eet o n Mond ay morning. We thenhead ed to a larger marquee for dinner.

After dinner and the speeches, the danc ing sta rted . It was a mixture o fSpanish a nd c heesy 80 s c lassics. Yes, YMC A w as p layed ! A lovelyMexic an guy was we lc om ing to us and kept pulling my sisters up todanc e; I escaped this by o rganising an intensive Spanish lesson from hisSon. And the n the ra in sta rted . Thund er, lighte ning, the works...I got

soa ked go ing to the toilet a nd spe nt therest o f the evening shivering ! We sta yedat the rece ption until abo ut 3.30am andthen got a c ab ba ck to the hostel. Jonwa s incoherent and w as c onvinced he

had left his suit jac ket and c ame ra a t thevenue unt il I rea lised I was wea ring his


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jac ket and ha d the c am era in my ba g. He stop pe d b y the roa dside tobe sick a few times, not surp rising ly bec ause he had d runk ab out 15g lasses of Tequila stra ight...

July 23rd

This was a wasted day. We w ere a ll tired , but in pa rticula r myself andJon. We hadn t sleep a t a ll as he w as being v iolent ly sick a ll night, hishea d wa s sp inning and he w as feverish. I spent the ent ire nightc leaning up his sic k and trying to ma ke him d rink wa ter. The next da yhe w as no b ette r and I wa s wo rried . Me a nd my sisters we nt to thesupe rma rket to ge t supp lies and m ore w ate r. We g ot b ac k and he wasstill no bette r. I d id a ll I c ould fo r him and wa nted to stay with him buthe sa id I should g o w ith Zoe and Faye to Tep oztlan (a tow n about a nhour aw ay whe re p eo p le c la im to ha ve seen UFOs). I reluc ta ntly left

him to sleep it off. It was a bustling ma rket p lac e w ith a m assive hillwhich had som e Aztec ruins on the top of it. We went to the b ase tosta rt c limb ing it- I got about 20 minutes up and it was too slipp ery forme so I sa id I wo uld wa it there for them. They c ont inued for ano ther 15mins and then ca me b ac k to meet m e a s it be c am e d ange rouslymud dy higher up...so we head ed ba c k to the ma rket to have a lookaround. We stayed for ab out 3 hours and then heade d ba c k as Iwa nted to see how Jon w as. We g ot b ac k and he was still rea llyfeverish, being sic k and c ouldn t keep anything d own. As we a rrivedbac k, he was sic k and then suddenly felt be tter. He ha d a shower, a te

a bit of bread and then sudd enly go t wo rse a ga in. He lay do wn, wasshivering a nd being sick a ga in. I sa id Iwa nted to g et a do c tor for him; he said nobut onc e he sa id his a rms and fa c e werenumb, I de c ide d to get a do c tor. I asked thehoste l owners if they c ould ring one. Theytried but sa id no d oc tors we re a va ilab le.They very g ene rously o ffered to d rive us tothe nea rest Red Cross to see a doc to r. It wasabout a 20 minute d rive. We got the re a nd

they took him a wa y to p ut him on a drip for an hour to re-hydrate him.He ha d severe a lc oho l poisoning and wa s to ld it wa s serious. I wasn ta llow ed in while he wa s on the d rip so w a ited outside w ith the hostelow ners. They were love ly peo p le. The guy (Rod riguez) hate d hosp italsas he had a na sty ac c ident in a gym in the pa st, whe re he fe ll off abenc h onto a me ta l spike and p ierced a ll his internal orga ns. He ha d tohave 14 life saving operat ions to rec onstruct his kidneys, bladder, liveretc . He d ied three time s during surgery. He w as told he w ould neverwa lk aga in but now runs, does ma rtial arts..!

They to ok me to the ir pa rent s house a s it was the ir nep hew s b irthd ayand they need ed to ta ke a present round. None of the fam ily spo ke


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Eng lish so I sa t there ea ting t rad itiona l Mexic an food they insisted Ihave a nd singing happy birthday to the nephew . The hostel owne rsspoke e noug h Eng lish to transla te everything for me . I got to knowthem quite w ell this eve ning a nd they ha ve restored my fa ith inhuma nity. They a re truly g enerous and giving peop le.

After an hour, we went b ac k to the hospital to see how Jon w asdoing...we w ere told tha t the d rip wa sn t strong enough fo r him a s hewa s still be ing sic k, so they put him o n a stronger one for another ha lfhour. We w a ited there for him. After a ha lf hour, (we had been there 4hours) he wa s told he c ould leave b ut he w as not to ea t anything solidfor a we ek and wa s put on ta b lets to repa ir the ho le in his stom ac hcaused by the a c id build up. I pa id his med ic a l bills, boug ht his tab letsand gave the ho ste l ow ners 200 pesos for their troub le a nd petrol. Wego t back to the hostel and it sta rted pouring w ith ra in. I put Jon to bed

and tried to ge t som e sleep myself.

Chap ter 10

July 24th

We w ere mea nt to meet Veronic a and see M exic o City toda y but Zoeand Faye de c ided they would rather head straight to Guatema la as itwa s pouring with rain (not idea l sightsee ing wea ther). I sta rtedc rying a s I d idn t wa nt to lea ve Jon, but he insisted we go and he

wo uld meet Veronica a nd she would look after him. As I wa s outvo ted ,the next morning we g ot on a c oa c h and hea de d b ac k to Mexic o Citytog ethe r. It too k an hour and a ha lf and I c ried the w hole journey a s Iknew I wo uld not see Jon a ga in until Oc tob er.

We a rrived and Zoe and Faye went to c hang e some m oney while m eand Jon looked a fter bags...Veronic a c a lled and sa id she wo uld p ickJon up a t 2.30pm from the sta tion a nd take him to he r house. Zoe andFaye we re gone for an hour and a ha lf, during w hic h time Veronicaarrived and took Jon awa y. They turned up eventua lly and we b ooked

our bus tickets to Tapac hula (b order be twe en Me xic o a ndGua tema la). We g ot on the coa c h and it took 2 hours to g et to thebo rde r where we ha d to get off. Let the fun and ga mes beg in.

July 25th

(we travelled throug h the d ay so I am sp litting these tw o d ays up!)

In Tapachula, there we re lots of young b oys a round t rying topickpo c ket us which ma de me unc omfortab le. We go t in the queue to

ge t our passports stamp ed but m ine w as refused as I d idn t ha ve aMexica n visa . I thought I wa s in rea l troub le until Sylvia a Ma yan


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missiona ry helped me b ribe the official to g et a n exit stamp , whic h Ineed ed in order to g et a Gua tem a la stamp ...I pa id him 200 pesos andgo t my stamp s etc ...this who le p roc ess too k a long time and I wa sparanoid the b us wo uld d rive o ff withoutme . Eventua lly, I got sa fely ba c k on the

c oa c h a nd ma de sure I sa t nea r Sylvia inc ase the re w as anymore trouble. We ha dno idea where to get of to ca tch ourconnec ting c hic ken bus (sma ll tin buseswhere they throw your lugg ag e o n the roo fand don t tie it do wn a nd then the driverd rives a t 200 miles an hour on m ounta in cliff top s through hea vy rainwhile you p ray for your life), so w e just rand om ly jumped off. It see msthat G od wa s on our side, as Zoe ma nag ed to find out tha t we c ouldge t a bus from where we jumped off the bus.

We were on the c hic ken bus for an hourand go t off at a town we hoped wa sSantiago de A titlan. It was. A loc a l boy

led us tothewa ter (Lago deAtitlan) toge t a fe rry

to Panjac he l) for pennies. The lake ishuge and surround ed by threevolcanoes. We ha ve b een travelling fo r

30 hours to ge t here b ut it has been worth it. We showered, b ookedourselves into our ow n p riva te b unga low for 6 ea c h and we nt outfor d inner. It feels so goo d to show er!

There a re stray d og s everywhe re a nd one sta rted follow ing us up anddow n the roa d , resulting in a bite to my hand bag. It follow ed useverywhere...

Afte r d inner, we ha d a d rink a t Gua jimbos where the re w as live Spanishmusic and head ed ba c k for a go od nights sleep .

Chap ter 11

July 26th

We all have slightly upset stom ac hs tod ay - ma ybe tha t infam ousMexic an be lly has kic ked in. We had breakfast in a c a fe a nd then went

to c heck out the tow n and bo ok a trip to Chic hic astenango (a m arkettha t sells c hea p Amber and jewe llery). Our plan is to b a rter, buy in bulk


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and sell for a fo rtune a t home !) We w ill dotha t tom orrow . The town itself is one longstrip with resta urants, ba rs, shops and lotsof outdoo r jew ellery stores and c ra ft sta lls.All the loc als c ome up to you a nd try and

sell you hand m ad e Gua tema lan g ood s.We were ve ry tired so w ent d ow n to theed ge of the lake and sa t in the sun for afew hours admiring the view. A little loca lboy too k a shine to us and joined us. He

kep t kissing us on the chee k and hugg ing us - a flirt a t 4 yea rs old ! Weheaded ba c k to the bunga low a bout 3pm and w ent to get m orequotes for trips from loc a l travel ag ents. We b ooked a p riva te bus forabout 60 to take us to Rio Dulce (a trop ica l Amazonian style river) at6.30am the d ay afte r tom orrow .

Then we went to have a trad itiona l Mexic an d inner and d rinks a tMuktu Ba r (which wa s highly rec om me nded in the Roug h Guide ).We b efriende d the b artender, Chris and a Ca nad ian g uy called Mikewho w as te lling us where to avo id in Belize a nd Rio Dulc e. Not to o la tea night

July 27th

Got up a t 7am to ge t the m ini van to take us to Chichi market. We g ot

c hat ting to a South Afric an guy - (Mike) on the b us, and w ent forb rea kfast with him in a loc a l c a fe beforehitting the sta lls. It was bustling - peo p leof a ll ages selling a ll sorts of things - fruit,food , jew ellery and bea utifullyembroide red ham moc ks and rugs.Everyone was bartering a nd trying to selltheir wa res to you a t the best p rice . Wehag gled ha rd and go t some b a rga ins. Ihad a g rea t time spe nding money!

We go t ba ck at 3ish, show ered a nd g ot ready to go out for d inner; thistime w e had an ec onomica l mea l and then went bac k to Muktu Barto mee t Mike a nd his friend Grant who has been do ing a hom e stayc ourse - (you p ay for Spanish lessons and as part o f the dea l, you sta ywith a Gua tem a lan fam ily for 5 days to experienc e life w ith the loc a ls).We g ot c hatting to a variety of p eop le this time - I wa s c hatting to aGua tem a lan dentist who o wns 5 houses. He w anted my e ma il addressas he w ants to "write me often when I get home . Zoe and Faye werelea rning to jugg le w ith som e p rofe ssiona l c low ns who p erform to ra ise

mo ney for c hild ren with Aids. We met the owne r of the b ar who wa sBrazilian and c ha tted to Ca nad ian Mike.


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I end ed up leaving b efo re the o thers as I am g ranny and wa s d rea d ingthe ea rly sta rt in the m orning.

July 28th

We we re up (with sore heads) at 5.30am to g et o ur p riva te b us to RioDulc e. Although w e p a id for a p riva te bus, for som e reason, the d riverhad boug ht his fam ily along for the ride. We stop ped for brea kfast a fter

an hour and then d rove through am azingsc ene ry aga in for 7 hours until we rea c hedRio. We then had to get a bo at toLivingston w here we needed to ge t our exitvisa from Guatem a la b efo re enteringBelize. The boa t only held 12 peop le andtoo k ab out 2 hours with stop s to wa it for

passeng ers. It got quite c hop py as the skyda rkened and looked threatening!

We finally a rrived a t Livingston which is a town tha t seems quiteJama ican. Very d iffferent to Panajchel. I feel p retty lousy today a s Ihave c aug ht a heavy c old off Faye and have a sore throa t, sneezesetc which is ma de wo rse b y the humidity. We g ot o ff the b oa t andimm ed iate ly a g uy started a sking us wha t we wa nted to d o a nd w here

we w anted to go so we bo oked o urselveson a n 8am bo at for tomo rrow morning to

Belize. Went out for d inner at a rea llyfanta stic resta urant (Tilingo Lingo ) whichove rloo ked the sea and this ama zingsunset a nd we nt stra ight to b ed -knackered!

July 29th

There was a huge sto rm last night . It kep t us a ll awa ke. It c aused pow erblac kouts in the tow n. Got up a t 7am to meet El Ca pitan to ta ke us

ac ross to Belize C ity but we soon rea lised tha t Livingston time is not thesam e a s our time. We eve ntually got o n the boa t at 9am and madeour very c hop py c rossing to Punta G orda , which took about a n hour.We were on a tiny 12 person b oa t on really chop py wa ter and as ifthere w asnt enough excitement, we spo tted a great w hite in thewa ter c lose enoug h to ma ke out.

We go t to Punta G orda and had to wa it for a b usto ta ke us to Belize City. Punta Go rda is an hourbehind Livingston fo r some rea son so w e o nly just

made the 10am bus! The journey was long (7 hoursfrom one e nd o f the c ountry to the other). It was


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grea t sc ene ry aga in - very trop ica l and green. The c ount ry is the size o fWales roug hly and the sc ene ry is p ret ty simila r...althoug h there w erelots of t rop ic a l sto rms a long the wa y (no t q uite so Welsh). Eventua lly wearrived in Belize C ity and go t a c ab to the ma rina to ge t a wa ter taxi toCa ye Ca ulker (a C aribbea n island). We go t the last wa ter taxi of the

day which was lucky a s Belize C ity is notoriously dangerous to have tostay in. We a rrived in Ca ye Caulker for sunset a nd it m ade m e w ant tolive there! It is a trop ica l pa rad ise...white sandybe ac hes, clear green wa ter, hamm oc ks - agene ra lly c hilled out p lac e. The sunset w asbea utiful. We booked ourselves into a hote l('Trends' Guestho use) o wned by Trento n - a veryfriend ly rasta ! Then w e w ent to ta ke p ictures ofthe sunset and went to 'The Ba rrier Ree f SportsBar' for d inner and had a n ea rly night. I have

be en having w eird stomac h c ram ps that feellike ind igestion but more p a inful a llday...strange

Chap ter 12

July 30th

Up e arly tod ay as we have d ec ided to g o on a snorkelling trip . We ha dbreakfast a nd then booked our trip through a highly rec ommended

c om pany c a lled Anw ar. It was 75 Belize Do lla rs (about 30 pound s) for afull day s snorkelling. We left a t 10.30amon a spe ed bo at w ith ab out 15 otherpe op le a nd ma de our first stop at theMa rine Conservation Area . I had neve rtried snorkelling b efore and c ouldn t doit a t a ll to beg in with. I kept panic kingand inhaling w a ter, but a fter som epe rseveranc e, I go t the ha ng o fbreathing through the mouth piece .

It wa s we ird ly ca lm d ow n there.

We swam with g iant turtles b riefly on our first stop . We follow ed ourguide who pointed out interesting (and som e d ea d ly!) fish. Wesnorkelled for ab out a n hour and we re then ta ken to San Ped ro(anothe r Belize island ) for lunc h. Afte rwards, we w ent to Sha rkRay Alleywhich I wa s nervous about(!) which as you m ay have gue ssed is hom eto Nurse sharks and sting rays...we swam w ith them a nd wa tc hed thembeing fe d . They a re a lmost as passiona te about the ir foo d as me . Then

we head ed to 'Coral Garde ns' where I got stung b y some c oral andnow ha ve a n attrac tive rash on my a rms and nec k.


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I found it diffic ult wea ring the flippers and m ask but it wa s definite ly anexperienc e I am g lad I had . The g uide was g rea t...he would free d iveto p oint out things and then c ome to the surfac e a nd e xplain wha tthey we re.

We are now going to wa tc h the sunset a t the Lazy Liza rd bar and thenhave d inner a t Trenton's resta urant The Sandbox and then no d oub thave a few d rinks.

July 31st

I had a rea lly pa inful stom ach last night bad c ramp s eve ry 15 minutesor so. We just sunba thed a t the b ea c h tod ay and swa m in the sea .

Besides wa ter sports and admiring thegorge ous sc ene ry, there isn t a lot to

do here b ut it is well worth visiting ifyou a re trave lling a round Belize. Wewent for a d rink in a c afe a nd m ystomac h got so b ad I went to the

island med ic al c entre to ge t itc hec ked out. After a long

c onsulta tion, the d oc tor sa id Ishould have som e b lood tests,urine etc tests as stomac h upsetscan be anything from p arasites totypho id . I sa id I d idn t have time towa it for the results as we we re m oving o n the next d ay so he ga ve m ethree d ifferent sets of ta b lets to take and som e gastritis med ica tion. Ispent about 70 on med s (which wa s a lot by UK standards) and thec onsulta tion whic h wa s an unexpec ted c ost - not sure how the b ankba lanc e looks now!

We head ed b ac k to the room to pa c k read y to move on the nextmo rning to Tulum, and had our last d inner a t a lovely Ita lianresta urant and as I wa s still suffering , I hea ded bac k to the roo m a fterd inner while Zo and Faye went c lubb ing.

Aug 1st

We go t a wa ter taxi bac k to Belize C ityea rly in the morning a nd then wa ited

for our bus to Tulum (a c ity withamazing Aztec ruins on a c liff top ). We


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ended up w aiting 3.5 hours as there ha d be en a n ac c ide nt on themo torway. It w as unbe arab ly humid and I felt roug h still. Not p lea sant,but a ll pa rt o f tha t trave l experienc e! We trave lled for 2 hours, got tothe border of Belize a nd ha d to g et o ff and pa y to lea ve the c ountry - Istill don't unde rstand why. Then we g ot b ack on the b us and had to

ge t off aga in at the Mexic an b orde r to ge t a stam p. I didn't have anyprob lem s but was given a tourist c a rd tha t sa id I had to pay 210 pesosa t Ca ncun airport befo re they would let me leave the c ountry. I wa s sorelieved a t no t b eing slung in p rison; I wo uld have pa id three timesthat!

We then to ok another bus to Che tuma l where we wa ited for yetanother bus to ta ke us to Tulum. We g ot on a nice bus for the last leg o fthe journey a nd a rrived in Tulum a bout 10pm. We had to wa lk for awhile to find a hoste l with roo ms free . As per usua l, we were a ll

knac kered and my bag seem s heavier than eve r tod ay! We end edup staying in a g rotty ho stel with no a ir cond itioning o r fan so w e d idn trea lly sleep .

Chap ter 13

Aug 2nd

We got up ea rly to go to the Tulum ruins. Itwa s swe lteringly hot but w ell worth the visit.

It is a c ity of ruins on a c liff top overloo kingthe Ca ribb ea n.There is lots ofwild life a roundtoo - lizards,spiders, birds.We go t a little

trac tor up to the ruins and ba c k aga in,antic ipa ting a long a rduous journey, butthe trac tor took us 5 minutes dow n the road !

Afte r the ruins, we b oug ht tickets for a bus to Playa De l Ca rme n (whichis where we thought we neede d to g et to in orde r to g et the ferry toIsla Mujeres), but in fac t onc e on the b us we rea lised we needed to g oon a nother hour and a half to Canc un to get the ferry. We kep t quietab out the fa c t tha t our tic kets only took us pa rtwa y and go t a free rideto Canc un.

We g ot the 20 minute ferry to IslaMujeueres, which is a Mexica n island ,

but very different while Caye Caulker,which is a Belizian island . The bea c hes


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here a re sand ier and the sea is c lea ner, but I still preferred the Ca yes.We hea de d straight to the b ea c h for a c oup le of hours and thenshowe red and went out for dinner a t a p lac e c alled Com onos andhad the b igg est sa lad I have ever seen. We then went for a d rink and Iac c identa lly took 500 pesos (250 pound s) out o f the c ash point and am

frea king o ut now ! Had an ea rly night .

Aug 3rd

We went to the b ea c h this mo rningafter going to excha nge some b ooks ina c afe...I go t ripp ed off but am nowrea d ing a grea t boo k ca lled Blindnessby Jose Sarama go . During the m iddayheat,

wehired agolfcartand

we nt for a d rive a round the island . Zoignored the spe ed bumps and any roa d

etiquette andnea rly knoc kedme and Faye o ff. We d rove to Turtle Bea c h

where you p ay 20 pesos to see d ifferent spec iesof end ange red turtles and the ir eg gs and youge t to hold ba by te rrap ins whic h we re so c ute!Then it sta rted c loud ing o ver so we c a rried o ndriving round the island see ing the destruct ionHurricane Wilma did last year. Half the island isstill being rebuilt...its rea lly sad . They ha vehurricanes here a lot - ap parently they had 30last year from June to Janua ry. We a re a littleparanoid as it is pea k hurrica ne sea son now

and it is ge tting windier. Onc e the rain sta rted , we too k the c a rt bac kand head ed ba c k to our room and lay in hamm oc ks that the hostelhave tied to trees outside our room and rea d for a while a nd then go tread y for a ba r c raw l. We ha d a c heap dinner and then met up w ithRom ero (a friend of Zo and Faye s from the sta rt o f the ir trip ). We ha dsome d rinks in his ba r and the n met up with tw o Eng lish g irls fromBirkhamstea d and a South Afric an g irl travelling with them and hadsom e d rinks with them. Ab out 4 tequilas la ter, we w ent to La Penha (anightc lub right on the c oa st with a b a lc ony overlooking the sea ). Wehad a drink and I played a loc a l at po ol - he kindly let m e w in one o f

the g am es...and we go t b ac k to the hostel and had drinks at the hostelbe ac h ba r and eventually went to bed ab out 4am . Our hostel wa s


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c alled Poc Na a nd ha d a rea lly good atm osphere, (be side s the fac ttha t our roo m wa s only half finished and there were no b linds orc urta ins!) We g ot b rea kfast (if you c ount two sta le slice s of to ast a sbrea kfast) and the bea c h bar was a nice plac e to go to meet p eop le,so a ll in all it was a nic e p lac e to sta y.

Aug 4th

Another wasted day. Once a ga in. We ha d no sleep be twee n us sohead ed to the bea c h but we c ouldnt b ea r it for long it wa s too hot.We left at midd ay to ge t lunch and e nded up head ing ba c k to thehostel and lay in hamm oc ks aga in for the a fternoon. It was ove rc ast inthe a fternoon a nyway. We a te a t Don Cheapo 's in the evening andwent b ac k to the room for snooze b efore g oing o ut.

I didn t end up go ing b ack out, as I have overspe nt in Mexic o a ndneed p lenty o f mo ney for my ten days in New York.

There a re tents outside our roo m a nd o ne b elong s to this American guywho I have nickname d 'The Sea Ca p ta in' as he wea rs a white c ap . Ithink he w as pee ring in the window w hile I wa s a lone in the roo m thisrea lly frea ked me out as without c urta ins, this roo m is c om pletelyexposed...

Chap ter 14

Aug 5th

We go t up to g et tha t d elic ious hostel breakfast befo re g etting the ferrybac k ac ross to Ca ncun. We shared a taxi to the bus sta tion w ith a TomBaker loo k alike a nd then wa lked from there to The C anc un Nest hostelwhe re we g ot p ut in a d orm of 12. We then go t the b us to The Hilton

Hote l on the strip -

(there is nothing to see in Canc un - there is

basica lly downto wn whic h is the more authent ic ,c harming a rea and then the Vegas style strip ofhotels, resta urants and c lubs). We g ot a bus tha tkept b rea king d own and it too k about 50 mins toge t to the Hilton, whe re w e spent the day usingthe ir swimm ing in their poo l and jac uzzi. I ma nagedto g et b urnt a lthoug h it is so overca st and c loud y

you wouldnt ha ve thought the sun co uld g et through.

We then head ed ba ck to hostel ab out 6pm , got ready a nd w ent outfor dinner at a loc al restaurant. Zo and Faye wa nted to g o b ac k aftertha t but I persuad ed them we should have a few d rinks before on our


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last night tog ether. We we nt to a few b a rs and end ed up a t a c oolhostel ca lled Cha c Mool, whe re the o wne r and his Danish friendsta rted buying us teq uilas. They sa t w ith us and we p layed imm aturedrinking g am es and c hatted until 2am when they c losed the ba r andwe went onto a c oup le o f other ba rs. Had a few m ore d rinks and go t

bac k to the hostel at 6am for 2 hours sleep befo re g etting up rea dy tosort stuff for airport...very humid night and typ ica lly the fa n above mybed doesn t wo rk!...

Aug 6th

After 2 hours sleep , we got up , pa cked a nd w ent to b uy food for ourrespec tive p lane journeys. I feel we ird tod ay know ing I wo n t b e w ithmy sisters anymo re! It is boiling hot day - not fun with a hangover! Wego t a c ab a t 11.30am to the a irpo rt and I c hec ked in quickly and pa id

my 210 pesos for the visa and everything wa s fine. I wa ited while Zoand Faye c hec ked in and w e a ll went through to the lounge. My flightwa s be fore theirs, so they c ame to the g ate and wa ved me off. Verystrange ! My flight was grea t how eve r. There wa s none of the d rea dedturbulence and we a rrived ea rly but ha d to w ait over an hour forbaggage! I got the New York express shuttle to G rand Central Sta tion,go t cha tting to a rea lly nic e New Yorker who had just a rrived bac kfrom a holiday in Lond on. She told m e a bout the hea t wa ve. I then ha dto c hange b uses onto one that hea de d to Penn Station to ge t to myhoste l. After wa lking fo r ha lf an hour in the w rong d irec tion, I found the

hoste l. It is ridiculously priced . I pa id $99 USD for 3 nights and you d on tge t b rea kfast so I am c hanging a fter the 3 days a re up ! I am exhaustednow so w ont be out pa rtying tonight.

Aug 7th

Had a 'stuff da y' ie, found a laundromat to do som e overdue washing,go t som e shamp oo and supp lies and my b ea rings! Went fo r a 6 hourwa lk from 30th street to Cent ra l Park on 85th street...I wanted to go to

the Me t but it s c losed on Mo nda ys. I booked a

hoste l for 3 nights a fter this one . My thinking w asto stay in d ifferent p a rts of Ma nha ttan to seed ifferent a rea s and ho pefully mee t mo repeo p le...the ne w ho ste l will be near Central Parkon the Upper East Side .

I wa s approa c hed by a PR girl selling c hea p ha irstyle/ c ut dea ls...alwa ys a suc ker for che appamp ering, I pa id my $60 for a ha ir c ut, co lour,ma ssage, eyeb row wa x, hair trea tme nt... whic h I

thought was a barga in a t 30...Then I went toTeriaki Boy East fo r som e sushi which I am c raving c onsta ntly. I then


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hea ded bac k to the hostel to rest a nd luckily som e new girls had justa rrived in my dorm a s I go t b ack...Che lsea (a friend ly Ca nadian g irl),Sop hie a nd Nic from England who had been on c amp in Pennsylvaniaand Ali, a lovely Austra lian...we c hat ted for a w hile a nd headed out fora Tha i d inner and then b ack to the ho stel terrac e

for som e Ic eland ic Vodka (c ourtesy of Ali who hadjust a rrived from there). We d rank out the re untilwe were kic ked out so d ec ide d to hea d to TimesSquare and the Emp ire Sta te Build ing a t12.30am ...I have never see n Times Squa re tha tquiet. I we nt to bed a t 1.30am. I'm so g lad I havema de som e friend s!

Chap ter 15

Aug 8th

Up a t 9am and went fo r b rea kfast w ith 'the g irls' at Subway. We sa idgood bye to Ali who w as head ing to Ohio to m eet a friend a nd thenhea ded to The Roc kefeller Centre a nd b ooked tickets for Avenue Q -a South Pa rk style p lay. We then got a we ek s me tro pass - I don tunde rstand the me tro but figured I c an rely on Sop hie or Nic for awhile!

We go t a m etro to Central Park

and sa t on the g rass for a while b efo rego ing to the Me trop olitan Museum ofArt which was rea lly interesting. I likedStuart Davies and the c onte mp oraryartists most.

We a ll felt exhausted a fter that so we ntbac k to the hostel for a rest but a newrec ruit (Bra in from Crouc h End ) hadturned up so we end ed up ta lking fo r a c oup le o f hours with him b efore

head ing out for dinner at a bo ut 9.30pm - but the o nly plac e op en wa sJac k Dem pseys Irish Bar, so w e ha d foo d and a d rink in there befo rehea ding to 'East o f Eighth' (a gay bar) for the sake of Brian a nd Nic ...itwa s quite seedy so stayed for one d rink and we nt bac k to the hostel...

Aug 9th

Checked out at 10am and went on the Metro to Chinatow n to have aloo k around . I wasn t a ll tha t imp ressed so d idn t spend long there. Ithen got the Metro to Grand Centra l Sta tion to find o ut about shuttles

bac k to JFK. I have figured out the sec ret b ehind the Metro is tha t youare either go ing North to Queens or South to The Bronx...I got my ticket


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(yes, well in advance I know ) but a t least I know w here to g o no w. ThenI hea ded to the up per West Side to find my new hoste l (Dexter HouseHotel). The little Jew ish guy with the thick Bronx acc ent wa s very c ha ttyand assumed I knew a ll his rela tives in Eng land ...I am sta ying in a 4 bedfema le d orm but there a re only two of us, so no t much hop e o f new

friends today...the g irl Im with is South Korean a nd lea rning Eng lish hereso no t much hop e o f c onve rsa tion there either...I we nt to Centra l Parkand sunba thed for a b it - the pa rk is the b est thing about the c ity in my

opinion. It feels a million miles awayfrom the lights, noise a ndarrog ance o f the rest o f it. I wa lkeddow n to Times Squa re to g et som esurprise surprise Sushi from MonstorSushi on 22W 46th Streetbe fore hea ding to the John Golden

Thea tre to see Ave nue Q . I wa sc hatting to tw o Am eric ans next tome d uring the show . They we rerea lly imp ressed tha t I had cove redso m uc h ground during my trave ls. I

don't think they have b een outside New York!

The p lay is rea lly funny. Very d irty a nd risqu too...songs inc lude"Eve ryone s a litt le b it rac ist", "Porn" amongst othe rs.

I me t up with Nic and Sop hie a fter the p lay and we went for a d rink inTimes Squa re, but we o nly sta yed for one as a bee r c ost $12 (6.50!), sothey wa lked me to the Metro stop which I thought too k me nea r myhostel, but I ended up having to pa y for a c ab from the Me tro Stationanywa y as it d idn t stop a t my stop ...

Aug 10th

Wande red around the up pe r West side tod ay. I de c ided to b ook a tripto Washington DC for Sunday as I have seen everything in the c ity now

and a m a little bo red to b e honest. Spent a ges trying to book thetrip and o rga nise a cc ommoda tion. I eventua lly bo oked a night inChinatown a s the b us lea ves ea rly from there on Sunda y. Hea ded toCentra l Park ag a in to rea d and then to M atsu aga in for sushi.

It has been ra ining on a nd off today and the rain has shut the Subw aydow n! Just like Lond on. I spent the a fternoo n doing som e laund ry,window shop p ing and went to see Pira tes of The Caribbea n in theevening. I go t b ac k to hostel to hea r ab out the p lanned terror attac ks.I am rea lly sca red (more tha n I wa s!) of flying ho me now . I wa tc hed the

new s for a w hile just to ma ke me feel wo rse.


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Chap ter 16

Aug 11th

New da y, new m ood! It s hot tod ay!

Hea ded to Riverside Park (Upper WestSide ). It feels ve ry Eng lish c om pared toeverywhere e lse. More mod est Iguess. Sunba thed until lunc htime (Ineed to get tha t tan read y for England)and then went to get rea dy for my hairappointment.

I me t the g irls a t the sa lon a s they d ec ided to g et ha ir c ut andc oloured too...unfortuna te ly, none o f the sta ff spoke very good Eng lish

which unnerved me. The lad y did mana ge to ta lk me into p aying anextra $30 to g et lots of highlights though!

I think the m anicurist w as b lind ...she was pa inting my hands, andthen the Iranian ma sseur got a little too c lose fo r c om fort a nd thehairdresser was scissor happy...we were there for about 2 hours andthen we hea ded to the Subw ay Sta tion to m eet my friend Shanta le.She took us out for dinner in the Upper East Side a nd then we g ot ac ab dow n to Pennyfea thers - in the Meatpac king Distric t; which is likeSoho in fee l and look. It is ve ry live ly with lots of ba rs and c lubs. Then the

g irls left us as they were tired and so myself and Shanta le we nt ontoanother ba r on the Low er East Side whic h wa sc heap and very trendy. We were yaw ning a fterthat and got a ca b a bout 2am.

Aug 12th

I woke up fee ling slightly hung-over after only 2glasses of w ine! I chec ked out a t10am and sta rtedthe long Subway journey to my next hoste l - the

Bow ery Whitehouse Hotel in Chinatown. It isnasty...the ema ils made it sound c lassy and Ithoug ht I had found myself a b a rga in, but in ac tua l fac t I slep t in ap rison c ell with a b roken d oo r. Nee d less to say I d idn t want to spendmuc h time there so I wa nde red around China town a nd LowerMa nhat tan for a w hile until the lure o f sleep w as too muc h and Ihea ded bac k for a siesta in my c ell. I wo ke up a few hours la terand went to find the b us stop for tomorrow which is rea lly far aw ay(good p lanning m e). I then sa t in City Ha ll Park and p eop le wa tc hed . Ihad a loo k at Broo klyn Bridge aga in. Early night

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Aug 13th

Up ea rly and go t a c ab to the bus station in the hea rt of Chinatown.When I say bus sta tion I mean 5 crazy Chinese lad ies ho lding signs tha ta ll say the same thing a nd 4 buses with Chinese writing on the side. I

wa s ushered to a stool and to ld to wa it there for my bus (I think). Ac razy old ma n sat next to me and started g oing o n ab out ge nea log yand British p olitics whilst sp itting in my fac e with enthusiasm. Luc kily hewa s on a d ifferent b us to m e.

The b us too k 5 hours to g et to DC and we a rrived in an eq ua lly do dgypa rt of DC Chinato wn. I wa s told off b y a guy for taking m y luggage offthe b us. App arently it was 'his job ' although he doesn t get p a id for itand gets no thanks from any of the p asseng ers ...(I took the hint butd idn t tip him - I too k my own lugg age o ff anyway!) I felt rea lly unsa fe

in the Chinatown a rea and w a lked a s quic kly as I c ould to thehoste lling interna tiona l. DC is on a grid system m ade up of num bersfollow ed by SW, NW, NE and SE and then lette rs of the a lphabet . I havebe en told b y several pe op le tha t I am c razy to c ome to DC alone as ithas the highest c rime ra te o f anywhere in Ame ric a . I d idn t know tha t -aga in, good p lanning m e! I got to the hostel and me t an Aussie g irl(Rac hel) and an Am erican (Nata lie). They ha ve seen a ll the sights so Iwe nt fo r a wa nder alone . It was a short wa lk to TheWhite House. It is not as b ig a s I imagined but nic ertha n my flat none the less. Then I went for a long

wa lk to theWashingtonMonument . It s apretty city and thebuildings arespec ta c ular. Then Isaw the InternationalTrade Centre and theRea ga n building. I wa nt to g et a tour bus

to see the rest tomo rrow as I don t have tha t long to see the

sights...heade d ba c k to hostel, had a muc h need ed showe r andboo ked myself to see Million Dolla r Baby - an HI event . Then I me t a guyc a lled Mirza who insisted on ta king m e out for a m ea l in Chinatow n -he lived in DC for 2 yea rs so know s a ll the g oo d p lac es to go. He c ha insmoked w hic h rea lly bug ged me so I wa s quite glad when w e g otbac k to the hostel and wa tc hed the film a s you c an't smo ke inside. Iliked the film. I don't usua lly like C lint Eastwoo d or boxing , but som eho wthey worked . After the film, I we nt up sta irs and found Rac hel sitting onthe land ing. She w as wa iting for the show er to b ec om e free so I sa tand ended up talking w ith her for a go od few hours be fore fee ling m y

bed c alling me.


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Aug 14th

Useless fac t o f the day. All money in DC is ma de o f linen a nd c otto n -not p aper. Interesting? No I thought not. I had a rrange d to meet Mirzaa t 9.30. He sa id he 'd show me a round but luckily I got stood up . Im

glad bec ause he ga ve m e the c reeps. So I wa lked to the White HouseVisitors Centre a nd ha d a look a round and then jump ed on aTourmob ile Bus - the ultima te tourist e xperienc e, which ta kes youaround a ll the sights with a c om menta tor and its jump on jump off a ll

day for $20...good va lue. We d rove pastp retty much everything I wa nted to seeand I go t off a t Arlington Cem etery(where a ll the wa r veterans from eve rywa r a re buried a nd the Kenned y family)and w atc hed the changing of the guard

(a gua rd in full uniform stands wa tc h overthe tomb of the unknown soldier andevery hour a Sergeant comes to c hec kthe uniform of the guard ta king over).

I stayed on the b uses for ab out 2 hours to ge t a n overview ofeverything. DC is very green and the a rc hitec ture is grea t. The o nlything tha t p ut me o ff is the c rime sta tistic s. I went to the Aquarium andthen sa t b y one of the 121 monum ents they ha ve to va rious p residentsin DC. Another fac t: the re are no skysc rap ers or high rise b uild ings in DC

- it is a nic e c hange from New York. I then headed bac k to the hostel,go t my ba g from the loc ker and heade d b ac k to the Tod ay s Busstation and go t my 6 hour bus ba c k to New York. I go t a c ab ba c k tothe Bowery Hoste l - I strong ly ad vise you no t to sta y the re if you visitNew York. It is like a ha lfwa y house. The e ma ils I got from the m w ererea lly g rea t - sounded like a nice , friend ly p lac e b ut it is in the worstneighbourhood . When I go t there, they didn t have a room for me sothe lazy guy b ehind the d esk kep t g iving me keys and I was running upand dow n flights of sta irs to see if va rious roo ms were oc c up ied . Thiswent on for an hour until I finally found an em pty room. I wa s annoyed

by the a wful c ustomer service a nd d ema nded money off - they ga veme $6 off and d idn't seem to c are that I wa s unhapp y.

Aug 15th

It s overcast and ra ining today. I left the ho ste l as soo n as I c ou ld to getthe Subway bac k to The C helsea Sta r Hotel. I then c a lled Virg in to

c hec k abo ut the hand lugg ag e situation.They a re more relaxed tha n o ther airlines,but still no liquids! It sta rted pouring w ith ra in

so I used tha t a s an excuse to stuff my facein Subw ay a nd then felt guilty and de c ided


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to wa lk it o ff on 5th Avenue/ Ma d ison G ardens. I am feeling nosta lgicand will really miss New York. It is such a diverse, vibrant city its just asham e I havent m et mo re p eop le here.

I wandered to Ma c y's to buy my sisters p resents (they wo uldn't forgive

me if I d idn t) a nd spent age s ge tting lost in there. It s the e quiva lent ofSelfridges with loa ds of designer outlets selling perfume/ ma keup/ jewellery. I then we nt to the Gramerc y areawhich is on the low er East Side - this is where JuliaRoberts lives supposed ly and I c an see why. It isvery grand a nd there is a go rge ous p riva te p a rkthat you need a key to g et into a nd is onlyac c essible to Gram ercy residents. It reminds me ofMa yfa ir or Kensington, as the houses a re massivewith ornate do orwa ys and doormen to let you in

and o ut of the b uild ings. I had a c offee in a lovelylittle p lac e c a lled Irving Plac e 71. It was wha t theAmeric ans would ca ll qua int, and then heade d ba c k to Union Squa reand sa t in the p ark while my leg s rec overed . I met Shanta le a t 6.30pmand we went to 'The Blue Grill' for d inner. I d idn t und ersta nd wha tanything w as on the menu, so I p layed it sa fe a nd had sa lmo n. Aftertha t inc red ibly expensive m ea l, I was rea dy to hit the b ars but Shanta lesa id she w as tired so she w a lked me bac k to my hostel and then g otthe Subwa y ba c k to her ap artme nt in Harlem. Fee ling d efla ted , I we ntfor an unexpe c ted ea rly night.

Aug 16th

Up a t 9am, I wa s c ha tting to a Frenc h guy in my dorm - a b luesmusic ian who seeme d wa s a little c reepy so I ran a wa y while he wa s inthe shower to c hec k out. I we nt for my last wa lk in New York and hadto ha ve a last sushi lunc h so w ent to Samurai Sams; had my fix and justwa ndered a round the d ifferent ne ighb ourhood s. I wa s listening to loc a lrad io which has been my saviour when I haven t been ab le to sleep -(92.30 Free FM is rea lly funny), when I heard tha t there w as a te rror

sc are on a flight from Lond on to Washingto n and jets had beensc ramb led to esc ort it do wn. I felt like c rying . I was a lrea dy rea llymiserab le tha t my a dventure wa s nea rly over. I p ic ked up my b ag fromthe hostel at 2pm and go t a c ab to Grand Central Station and ParkAvenue whe re the Airport Shuttle g oes from. Virgin had rec om mendedI get to the a irport 4 hours befo re m y flight fo r the sec urity chec ks so Ileft in p lenty of time , but unfo rtuna te ly our shuttle d river was about 80,Chinese a nd d rove a t 5 miles an hour. The journey wa s mea nt to ta kean hour, but we go t the re in just und er two . I ran into the termina l andwa ited in a q ueue that we nt from o ne end o f the a irpo rt to the other

for sec urity. I had no p rob lem with tha t as I would ra ther sta nd in a linefor an hour then fa ll out of the sky. I then sa t in a bar and d rank and


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wa ited . I spotte d an elderly guy w ith a little girl and w ent over to themand asked if they'd b e m y friends while I wa ited for the flight. They w erevery welc oming and we sat a nd c hatted and drank c opious am ountsof w ine b efore boa rding o ur flight ha lf an hour la te. The flight bac k wasfine - an ove rnight o ne a nd q uite emp ty so p retty uneve ntful. Although

I am sad to b e finishing this trip , I was g lad to touc h dow n sa fely andthought it wa s very swee t of m y mum to b e w aiting for me at thega te ...one thing is for sure, I have no regrets about quitting m y job andsee ing the world. This was the best d ec ision o f my life a nd I w illdefinitely do it aga in.

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