South America Update

[LostFarmboy]

Right, well its been a while since my last update so i thought it was about time i wrote to you all.

Lets see....

After Cusco (the last thing i think i wrote to you about) i went to Isla del Sol (Island of the sun), which is an island in the middle of Lake Titicaca, its the island where the Incas and the sun were born, so its a pretty significant place. I walked from the south end of the island to the north with some english guys that i was travelling with. It was such a picturesque walk, Lake Titicaca is beautiful and we had perfect weather. However, what was supposed to take us 3 hrs to walk ended up taking 5 because we couldnt find the walking track to we just hiked through all the locals farms (which they didnt seem to mind, and actually probably found to be quite amusing), and scrub, and rocks, it was actually pretty cool, and much more interesting than just taking the walking track.

After Isla del Sol i went to La Paz for a few days with the english guys to wait for my flight to Santiago. La Paz is set in one of the most spectacular locations i have ever seen. It is in what looked like a massive crater surrounded by snow capped mountains. La Paz was a pretty crazy city. Just near the hostel i was staying in there was a a street with all these shops that sold dried llama fetuses and other equally crazy things. I didnt really do much in La Paz other than go out a couple of times, the night life was ok, nothing too special though.

Next I was off to Santiago in Chile for what was supposed to be 3 days while i sorted my visa for Brazil out. However, turns out that visas for Australians take 3 days to process. Couple that with a weekend and a public holiday and 3 days turned into 7. Santiago was a pretty boring city, very safe and very developed. The nightlife was ok, but again nothing too special. But the people that worked at the hostel that i stayed in were absolute legends and the hardest partiers that i have ever seen. I went to the beach at Vina del Mar one day in order to pass the time, but apart from that i didnt really do much in Chile at all. It was ok though, i think i really needed to recover from all my partying in Cucso and La Paz.

When my visa finally came in i took off to Rio in Brazil, this is my favorite place in the world!!! I really really struggled to leave Rio, i stayed a week longer than i was supposed to, i couldnt bring myself to leave. I stayed at a couple of really cool hostels and made some excellent friends. One of the hostels that i really really loved was Newtons Hostel, it was absolute mayhem and the most unprofessional hostel i have stayed in, i loved it. I went out nearly every night i was there, the Braziallian night life is the best i have ever experienced, the people are just insane. Two nights i went out to nightclubs in a favela. For those who dont know, a favela is a nieghbourhood that is controlled by druglords, some favelas are allies and others are at war with each other. Usually those involved in the drug trade start at the age of 8 or 9 and are killed by the age of 22. However not everyone in the favelas is involved in drugs, actually the majority are honest working people that just live there because its cheap and close to town, but the main sorce of money in the favelas is from the drugs. Now, parties in these neighbourhoods are about the best i have ever seen. The club i went to had a few thousand locals and only three buses of gringoes. It was an amasing atmosphere.

I also went on a tour through a favela (which is how i know about the ages of the drug people). While we were on the tour the second most powerful drug dealer in Rio walked past us, he didnt even acknowledge our prescence. Apparently the top 15 drug dealers in the favela we went on a tour through have guns made of solid gold. Now, these guns arent just little pistols, they can be AK-47s and other machine guns too.....very cool. Also, the number one drug dealer in Rio wears 5kg of gold jewelry. After hearing all these facts, a german guy from the hostel i was staying in moved into a favela with a girl he met, funnily enough we never heard from him again.

I went to Copacabana beach a few times, it was cool, i just sat on the beach with a few people from the hostel, drank beer, and admired the Brazillian women, which are the best looking women i have seen....ever.

Now i am at Iguazu Falls, i had to take a 22 hour bus ride to get here. Went to the Brazillian side of the falls today, it was absolutely amasing, i have never seen that much water, it was so loud.

Back home in just 9 days, dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing, it will be great to see everyone, but i will certainly miss my travelling.

Right, this has taken me ages to write so i am outta here.

Seeyas

Nick