Peru, Land of the Incas!!!!
Peru has so far been everything I could have dreamed of. The landscape, the people, the spiritual energy of this place is intense! The landscape is so old, some of the terraces were built by pre-Incas. I know it`s not as old as some of the places I have visited in India, but there is a big difference. Some of the places we have visited so far are frozen in time and people still live pretty much the same lifestyle that the Incas might have lived. They farm on the same fields, they grow the same crop, they have very little interaction with the people in the city. It is such a strange feeling…like you`ve gone back in time.

Let me tell you about the experience I had that took me back in time. We took a boat to this island on Lake Titicaca to go for a homestay with some local people. WOW!!! Cant believe how little these people have. It was a good 4 hour journey that took us to this island….(Wow..i have to tell u about something crazy that just happened. I am at an internet café in a small place called Puno and guess what song is playing. Garam masala…a hindi song!!!! I cant believe it. This is too funny. Oh, I miss bollywood)

Back to the island…The boat ride took us past these floating islands made of reed that people actually live on. These people keep rebuilding on top of the reeds every 20 or so days. It`s so strange to see these little communities floating on the lake. So, we arrived at the island we were supposed to stay on and our ´mamas´were waiting to welcome us. Island was called Amantani island, pop 5000. We were introduced to our mama, Celestina, who took us on a really long walk uphill to her house. I swear, I think I am in good shape, but when you have to walk uphill at 3500mts (12000ft), it really takes your breath away. My heart was hammering against my chest like a jackhammer, my mouth was completely dry and I felt faint after this 20 minute walk.( Did I mention, I am starting on the Inca trail in 4 days!!! Hai Ram, its scary!! ) Anyway, after this gruesome walk, we arrived at our mamas house and were shown to our room in the attic. Basically, it was a room with 4 beds and not much else, including electricity!! The toilet was a hole in the ground, and not a very deep hole. Basically, you had to go drown the log that the previous person left!!! It was disgusting.

Our mama brought us some tea, called munia tea, which is really good for altitude sickness. I was willing to give this a try after saying no to coca tea. Coca tea gave me the strangest dreams ever. After the tea, we were taken to the soccer field where the Gringos faced off with the local guys. It was quite funny cheering on the gringos and lemme tell you there were a lot of them. I guess anytime something gets listed on the Lonely Planet, it becomes part of the gringo trail. After the soccer game, we started our 1.5 km trek up the hill to watch the sunset. The highest point was 4900 mts, the same as the highest point on the inca trail. It wasn`t that hard climbing up this hill and this time it was the view at the top that took my breath away. Reminded me a lot of Saturna island back home, except for the terrace farmlands!!!

Dinner time was something I was absolutely dreading. I can sleep anywhere, use any kind of rankus mungus toilet, but when it comes to eating, I don`t like funny smells. We went to the kitchen to see if we could help our mama cook. She refused but welcomed us to sit in the kitchen. She was cooking on an open fire stove and the smell was quite overpowering. She gave us quinoa soup, with potatoes and vegetables. It tasted much better than it looked and I forced it down my throat all the time saying ´sinchi sumay´meaning it is delicious!! After the dinner experience, our mama took us to our room and began the process of dressing us in their traditional attire. We only got two skirts, but apparently these women wear upto 20 skirts at one time. WOW! That would be one heck of a long stripping session! So, we got two skirts and a long shirt tucked in these skirts. There was a belt that was tightly wound around our waists to make them look tiny…felt like a corset!!! Then, we got a shawl (can I say it fucking stank!!!) to keep warm! All dolled up, we walked to the dance hall with our head torches lighting our way. It was so much fun, dancing like crazy people, with the Peruvians. We danced till about 10:30 and called it a nite. What a crazy nite it was. Poured like cats and dogs all nite on our tin roof. It was a really cold, wet, loud, sleepless nite!

In the morning, we got pancakes and Fanny jam for breakfast. Yes, the jam was called Fanny 100% guaranteed!!! Everyone needs a little bit of fanny in their life and I got mine this morning. After breakfast, our mama walked us to the boat dock. I was really happy to say goodbye to the island and return back to civilization. It was an amazing experience but not something I would like to repeat. I cannot believe what for me was an experience for one night is their life. It is a very tough life and I really admire these people for living it with big smiles on their faces!!!

Tomorrow, we head out to Cusco, the party capital of Peru. We are gonna be there for 2 days before heading out to the Sacred Valley, where we begin our ascent on the Inca Trail on New Year`s eve!!! Will write my next blog next year. Thanks a lot to all of you for sending me such lovely wishes for Christmas. It`s nice to know that even though I am so far away, I am still in your thoughts. Ashlu, are you listening??? I miss you loads!!!

Feliz Navidad everyone!!!! It`s been three months since I embarked on this crazy adventure. I remember leaving Vancouver, saying goodbye to all my friends and family and especially Ashlu…it was all so sad and extremely scary!!! I remember thinking why I was leaving this comfortable life I am living with people that I love. But I know why…because sometimes your heart knows more than you do at a conscious level. I knew I had a yearning for travelling, seeing new places, meeting new people…hoping that somewhere along my journey I will find some reason why I am here. Who I am, what I want, which direction I want my life to go. But I have realized that the more answers I receive, the more questions arise. I have learned one thing…one big thing..and that is to accept the cards that life has dealt me. To make the most of it in the present moment without fretting about the future. I don’t know what the future has in store for me…its all so uncertain. But I have learned that uncertainity is the breeding ground for evolvement. I have to live in the present, enjoy the spectacular ride and plan for the future but not get overwhelmed by it.

So, let me tell you about my amazing ride in the last few days. Bolivia, esp LaPaz was probably the dirtiest, stinkiest, weirdest city I have visited on this journey. But it is definitely also one of the cities that boasts character. This is one city that is not trying to be European, not trying to be hip, it is very south American!!! The clothing, the attitude, the food. Speaking of food…can I say its all about Llamas, Alpacas, Guinea Pigs!! The worst of it all is they sell this food on the street. Llamas fucking stink like death!! Went to the witch`s market where they sell all kind of scary stuff like dried out Llama skeletons, llama fetuses, and then some normal stuff like alpaca fur scarfs, sweaters and shit. The kinda stuff that screams BACKPACKERS!!! I resisted the temptation but both Sponge and Jess are now certifiably backpackers and I am not just talking about their clothes…

Christmas arrived in La Paz. We wandered around the city square looking for xmas celebrations. It was very tame though, with the exception of street markets that sold really trashy plastic toys and decorations for Christmas. We did find a Latino Santa to ask him to bring us gifts for xmas. I only asked for one thing but didn’t get it. Ashlu, are you listening? Two nites before xmas was really sad coz we again had to say our goodbyes. I hate saying goodbyes, esp when you know you are never gonna see these people again. Said goodbye to Maharani, Jose, Jason and Jerry. Now, we are on the last leg of the tour. The next 21 days it`s just the 10 of us and Geraldine, our tour leader. So, we went out for a big nite out to say our goodbyes. Met loads of people, danced like crazy, drank a lot…a great great fun nite out!!! The next day though was depressing and we all walked around moping until that nite. Went out dancing again and met loads of backpackers. On Christmas eve, we went out for a turkey dinner to a place called Mongos. We were all feeling a little restless and out of place all day so we decided to start drinking early…around 5 pm. Watched Christmas music on tv, drank, donned our santa hats and headed out for our Christmas dinner. Once we got there, it felt a bit more normal coz there were a lot of other people doing the exact same thing as us.

Next morning, on Christmas day, we headed out early to catch our bus to Puno, in Peru. The bus took us through beautiful, yet depressing Bolivian countryside. It was depressing coz at each bend, there were little kids begging for money. I was thinking the contrast was so strange…back home kids would have been opening beautiful gifts from Santa and for the kids here it was just another day. Just another day of trying to get some food. We do live in a very privileged world and should really be grateful for everything little thing we have.

The bus journey brought us to Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world, at 3900 mts. We stopped in a little town for some lunch and then boarded another bus that took us across the border to Peru. Peru is the 9th country I would be visiting on this journey so far. In Bariloche, Argentina I was going through such a hard time that I almost called it quits. But the only thing that kept me going was the thought of coming to Peru and going on the Inca trail. I had to keep going and I am so glad and so proud of myself for staying strong and continuing my journey.

More adventure than we bargained for....

So, after chilling out and partying for 2 days, I was ready to feel the adrenaline rush through my body again. So, I went and booked myself for a paragliding adventure. Me, and 4 others in my group got up real early and headed out to the cliff where we were supposed to jump off of. It was about a 2 hour ride where u see nothing at all for miles. Just barren mountains and fields as far as eye can see. But then suddenly, we`d see some random person walking. Where the hell were these people coming from and where the hell were they walking to? There was nothing, literally NOTHING for miles and miles. But apparently, that`s what Bolivians do. Since they dont have any money to afford cars or even public transport, they just walk from one town to another...no matter how far they might have to walk.

So, we were driving along this paved road and suddenly we veered off onto yet another dirt path which is not really a road. This path was going to take us to the top of the mountain. And, I think this was the scariest drive ever. Nothing but a sheer cliff and an asshole of a driver, who thought it was hillarious how the gringos were getting scared. Anyway, got to the top of the mountain and had to walk through some poor village`s crops to get to the edge of the cliff. They set up their instruments for guaging the wind force and directions. Now, back home I`d seen these instruments had a bunch of dials and numbers on them. But here in Bolivia, they think a stick in the ground with some toilet paper on it does the trick. So, first up was Anthony a.k.a Raton (mouse in spanish) and he was strapped in. THe guide told him to start running when the toilet paper was flapping in his direction. And then he was off!!! It looked really scary the way he ran to the edge of the cliff. So, after watching this, I was beginning to have second thoughts about my decision. When the time came for me to jump...i was panicking! I sat by myself and thought of all the reasons I couldn`t do it...and not one made any sense. SO, i strapped myself in and when the toilet paper faced me, and my guide told me to run...i fucking ran!!! It was the weirdest feeling to keep running to the edge of the cliff when everything inside you is yelling at you to stop. And then before i knew it I was floating, rising, flying!!!! It was incredible. I felt like all the burden of fear was left on the ground and I was free like a bird! I felt like a bird, coz i couldnt see anything but the ground...couldnt see the seat i was strapped in, couldnt see the parachute, couldnt see the guide. We swooshed around for about 10 mins and then came time for landing. My guide told me to run as soon as we touched the ground...and I told him there was no way I was gonna do that. And sure enough...i landed PLOP on my ass! Apparently, as per John and Ayesha who were watching me land, I bounced a couple of times! Imagine coming down from about 2000ft and landing on ur ass! It doesnt feel good....but it was quite funny.

After me, was Sponge and then the real adventure began. After she landed, we were waiting for the asshole driver to come down the mountain and get us so we could head back to our hotel. We waited for 2 hours for the ride that should have taken only 20 mins. Raton was in the van with the driver so were really starting to get worried. We were sure that he went over the cliff or something. Now, it was 4 of us gringos and our spanish speaking guide in the middle of a tiny village with literally 10 houses, no cars, no telephones, no water. After 2 hours, we decided we had to take some action...so we started to make our way to the street. We decided to hitchike and after our guide got rejected a couple of times, I had to take over. I flagged down a construction truck and in my really broken spanish and a lot of flirty eyes I begged him to take us with him. He agreed and we hopped in the back of the truck. This was the funniest thing...every time we hit a pothole (and we hit a lot of them), a cloud of dust would arise and completely envelope us. I have never been so dusty and dirty and stinky in my life. It was a load of fun but we were still worried about Raton. But when we got back to the hotel, Raton showed up. Apparently the jeep had broken down and they had to walk down the cliff face, and hitchhike their way back to the hotel. So, then now we had a good excuse to drink!!! To celebrate our adventure. Today, I am doing absoluetly nothing...taking a day off from my vacation. Gonna catch up on my emails, read, watch tv, heal my sore ass. Just chill chill, just chill!!!

On another note, life has been really good in general. Have been reading loads, getting a lot of love from back home. Parents, family, friends are filling up my life with love. Life is a mystery, ain't it?

From the driest desert in the world, thru the salt flats above the andes to the highest and the most depressing city in the world...what a journey it`s been in the last 10 days. After the last posting, we went to the oasis in the Atacama desert. The place looked like something out of this world, another planet, maybe what I would imagine the lunar surface to look like. It was weird how there was this real touristy town in the middle of nowhere. We rented bikes and decided to go sand boarding. The bike ride was real tough coz of the altitude (2900meters) and a little bit of exertion was making us dizzy. But sand boarding was rather fun but not an experience I would like to repeat. I can`t say I am a fan of having sand in my chucha (the spanish word for u know what!!)But I did enjoy visiting the inca ruins and the bike riding although at the end of the day I had a very sore and very sandy chucha. Had to put on pants saying ´closed for business´!

Atacama desert was our last stop in Chile and so the next morning we made our way to Bolivia. The Bolivian-Chilean border crossing is the funniest thing I`ve ever seen in my life. It's at approximately 12000ft and there is absolutely nothing there but a little office where they pretend to check ur passport. Anyway, we had our breakfast at this border crossing and set out in 3 4x4's to cross the antiplano (area above the andes) over the next three days. THe drive was breathtaking...green lagoons, red lagoons, white lagoons, flamingoes, llamas!! The pics speak for themselves coz it`s hard to put such beauty in words. We drove and drove for three days, stopping to take pics of these beautiful sites, staying the night in weird villages in the middle of nowhere! Finally after two days of driving we arrived at the salt hotel. This hotel is made of salt bricks...trust me I checked. The walls tasted very salty!! Beautiful hotel..but by this time all of us were exhibiting signs of altitude sickness...tiredness, headache, nausea, vomiting! But the troopers that we are, we drank some hardcore BOlivian alcohol and made the most of the nite. THe next morning started at 4 am to go see the sunrise. It was the most spectacular experience..to be sitting on what used to be an island in the middle of a salt lake and watching the sunrise. Sitting on top of the hill, u could see nothing but salt as far as eye could see. It looked like a sea of salt! Hard to imagine there used to be water and marine life there at one time. Very surreal! But after the sunrise, we set out on one of the longest journey`s of my trip. We drove and drove for hours and arrived in Potosi, the highest city in the world, at 11 pm. The bus that took us to Potosi was so battered that it was a miracle it could even drive on a flat road let alone the heights it was scaling! It was the most nerve wracking journey...sheer cliff on one side and a high mountain on the other, in the dark, with no lights. We were on what could definitely not pass for a road. It was at best a very narrow dirt road with two way traffic and lots of Llamas on it. When we came upon any oncoming traffic, our driver would stop the bus, get out with his flashlight to see how far we were from the edge of the cliff and to see if we were gonna be able to cross without going over the edge. In the end the decision would be made to cross each other real fast and see whatever happens! Gives the term living on the edge a whole new meaning!! I read my book (with a flashlight coz there were no lights inside the bus) to keep myself occupied with something other than the harrowing drive.

Finally, arrived in Potosi, a very dark, depressing, sad city. The city is known for its silver mines and we went to visit these mines, which again would have to be one of the most depressing things I`ve done on my trip so far. THe people working in the mines are as young as 12 y.o. and their average lifespan is about 10 to 20 years. SO, a kid who starts working in the mines at 12 should not expect to live past 30. These people work 12 to 14 hours a day, 7 days a week!! Very sad...went straight from the mines back to the hotel to drown our sorrows in alcohol. Just so happened it was Maharani`s birthday. We had a cake waiting for her and starting drinking at about 5pm. What started as a sad, depressing day ended up being quite a fun filled, eventful day after all. There`s so much we have to thank alcohol for :)

At the moment we are in Sucre, the capital of BOlivia. It`s a much better city than Potosi, especially our hotel. It`s a beautiful, colonial style hotel with a courtyard. Last nite was a crazy nite since we had three birthdays to celebrate. Went out drinking, followed by some real bad drunken karyoking. I can`t believe we actually got up on the stage in a club and sang `girls just wanna have fun`. It was hillarious how all the other people there were so serious about their singing. It was almost like they were auditioning for American Idol or something. But we had a great time and made total asses of ourselves. After that we went to a club and danced till 5 in the morning. Drank too much, and unfortunately smoked too much as well. My lungs and liver are recuperating today. TOmorrow I am finally gonna go jump off a cliff...i mean go paragliding! A little bit scared but mostly looking forward to it. Will keep u posted on how it goes.

THE TALES OF GUAVA (my new nickname):
So here I am again after three weeks of no blogging...and what an amazing journey I`ve been through..both physical and emotional. I have pushed myself to the edge both physically and emotionally and have come back triumphant!!! I pity the people who dont rise to challenges in their lives for the fear of the unknown, for the fear of losing, for the fear of not making it!!! But I have decided never to live my life like that any longer coz each time u r faced with a hurdle in your life, and each time u think u can`t make it past this one, and each time u pull yourself together and make it past it, you get stronger!!! I have surprised myself with my own inner strength...I have learned so much about myself and what I am capable of. Ashley, you will be very proud to know that I have not used any valium since I last spoke to you. I have found a good replacement for valium...i.e. running! I have started running in the mornings and I need to thank Michael for that. Michael has been a great source of inspiration and motivation in my life. It is amazing how when u need people in your life, they just turn up. For someone who doesnt travel long term, its hard to understand how anyone can not have fun on their vacation. There is a huge difference between travelling and vacations. When u r travelling for months on end, just moving from one place to another, away from your friends and family, away from anything ´normal´it can get a bit overwhelming sometimes. I have always said that I am the luckiest person I know and I still believe that. I have met some amazing people who have extended themselves to me...my fav five so far are Brett, Marisa aka Crazy, Jennifer aka Sponge Bob aka Spongy, Carolina aka Maharani and Michael who calls me Goddess Ria. I can`t say I have a problem with that name. Marisa is a rock, strong, independent, funny, caring. Reminds me a lot of you Larissa and her best friend`s name is also Laura :) Spongy is a goofball. If I am sad, she makes me laugh, mostly at my expense. But she`ll make goofy faces, dance like sponge bob, has an amazing sense of humor and I love her. She reminds me a lot of Ashley, they share the same birthday and also the same sense of humor, and the same pasty white colored skin. For example, she said to me today if I needed to go read this morning. I know only Ashley will get that joke but I am glad I have her with me for most of the trip. HI I AM THE SPONGE, AND APPARENTLY I AM A GOLFBALL, VERY WHITE AND A LITTLE BIT ROUND! Lol! Sorry, the sponge just took over writing and she`s laughing at me...AGAIN for being so cheesy! Anyway, moving on...Carolina is our trainee tour leader and she always is there to listen to me and also to provide us good material for humor. I must admit, she is the butt of a lot of jokes me and spongy come up with. She has such a cute Spanish accent and we make fun of her coz we think she is in love with a guy on our tour. Michael is an inspiration, when we go running, we talk about a lot of stuff that a lot of men won`t talk about. The fact that he is gay may make him a little bit more in touch with his feelings. Me and him share the same birthday so I think he has a very clear insight into my personality. He knows all my insecurities, my passions, my ambitions, without me really voicing it to him. He has really helped me figure out what I might wanna do with my life. And last but not least, Brett. Brett is such a fine human being, he really extends himself to people in his life. He is so positive and everytime we chat, or email, his optimism rubs off on me. I am so lucky that I have been able to make such great life long friends.

Now lemme tell u about what I have been up to in the last three weeks. I have been white water rafting, canopying, almost went paragliding but the weather was too unstable to jump off the cliff so i`ll have to do that in Sucre, climbed a volcano 4000 ft in one day, went horse back riding! It`s amazing when I look back at my life and I wonder where all that fear came from. And all the amazing experiences I was denying myself because of inexplicable fears. Climbing that volcano was absolutely fantastic. It took us 4 hours to do the climb. First we had to get to the base and we had to do that on a chair lift. My first time on the chair life was last April with Ashley in Whistler. I was so scared and it was only on a little bunny hill. This was a very high chair lift and the kicker was it didn`t even have a bar. I was amazed at how relaxed I was. The climb was tough, zig zagging our way up the snow covered mountain. Every time I looked up, the climb looked really daunting, but every time I looked back, it was breathtaking and would encourage me to keep going. But when I made it to the top, I was in tears. I could not believe the beauty of nature. I was standing at the top of the volcano, on the snow, looking inside the crater, while the earth roared and spit out hot molten lava literally a hundred feet away from me. We went for a bit of a walk along the edge of the crater. I was right behind the guide at this point and I asked him if he realized that what we were doing was absolutely insanely crazy. We were walking on the edge of the crater, not wide enough for two people to walk side by side. On one side of this ledge was the crater (no fence around it) emitting hot lava, on the other side was snow covered cliffs. Either way you fell, you were not gonna come out alive! It was exhilirating and the downhill sliding was so much fun. I have never felt so much like a kid for a long time. We wore these bum sliders on our bums and literally slid down the 8000 feet of snow with nothing but an ice axe to slow us down. Obviously in the beginning i was a bit scared of the speed and I kept using my axe to slow myself down. But as I got used to it, it was so much fun and i forgot to use my axe. Loved it but I have to say that was probably the max I can physically push my body to do in one day. Until ofcourse the Inca trail.

Chile is one of the most beautiful countries. We went to the end of the Pan American highway and Michael was gonna take a pic of me trying to hitchhike at the end of the highway. But we couldn`t find a sign that indicated the end of the highway. Penguins were beautiful when we finally got to the island of Chiloe. It was literally at the bottom of the earth. Tonite a 16 hour bus ride will take us to the desert oasis of Atacama. It is the driest desert in the world. We are gonna take horses into the valley of the moon. After that we make our way to the salt flats of BOlivia. But I will write about it when I have done that. There wont be any kind of communication with the outside world for a few days. BUt i am going to continue blogging from now on. Thanks a lot for ur love and support.

2 months today!?!?! Wow, two of the most eventful, adventurous, tumultuous months of my life. Seeing new places, meeting new people, experiencing new things, finding some peace somewhere. Rio to Buenos Aires was a very different leg of the tour. It was more about partying, drinking, and all that shit. We went from one city to the next, with not much physical activity other than getting drunk and going out dancing. Waking up every morning with a hangover, dragging myself through the day checking out city sights. Uruguay was beautiful...especially Montevideo. But the whole trip was leading up to Buenos Aires for me. I couldn`t shake the feeling that something was gonna happen there. That my trip will change from there on. We took a boat from Colonia, Uruguay to Buenos Aires, Argentina. As we were sailing into the port, I felt electrified by the energy of the city. It is such a beautiful city, aptly named Paris of South America. Gorgeous buildings, electric energy and finally have to say gorgeous men!!! I haven`t seen so many gorgeous men in one place and they let u know if they find u attractive. I loved the energy of the city as much as I loved the energy of New York.

I met Larissa`s friend, Brett in Buenos Aires. He has been living in BA teaching english and learning spanish for about a year now. I spent a lot of time hanging out with him. He showed me all the sights in BA, made me eat empanadas (argentian samosas), drink mate (argentenian version of tea), but most of all he was there for me when I was about to have a nervous breakdown. Yes, I had a total meltdown in BA. Went out partying in BA, drank a lot of redbull and partied like a crazy woman until 7:30 in the morning. Next morning, however, I was a complete mess. I have never felt so much anxiety and restlessness in my life. I was shaky (probably due to the fact that I drank 3 redbulls in one night), i was tired from the lack of sleep. We had to check out of our rooms at 9 am so I got back to the hotel at 8 am, showered and went to check out. Thankfully our tour leader arranged for one room where we could leave our bags coz our bus didnt leave until 7 pm. I was really tired and tried to get some sleep but it was absolutely impossible. My mind was going crazy, thousand thoughts a minute, but my body was soooooo tired. I lay there until 2 coz I was going to see Brett for lunch. We went out to eat at this cafe and he was saying something to me but I felt like I couldn`t focus on anything. I needed a valium to get rid of this anxiety and he happened to have some at his house. We went over to his place and I had my first experience of valium. I have to say it`s a wonder drug...how I came back from this state of anxiety, where I felt like if I gave in to it, I wouldn`t return. It`s hard to explain, but i felt like if I shed one tear, then I wouldn`t be able to stop crying ever!! Brett was very kind and patient with me, listened to me, held me when I cried. Such a gentle, kind human being! We went out for sushi after and he was looking at the menu to figure out what kind of vegetarian options they had for me. I dont know what I was thinking, maybe it was the valium speaking, but I told him I wanted to eat sushi. And I absolutely loved it! I cant believe I`ve lived in Vancouver for so long and not ever wanted to experience sushi. No more, I am definitely converted!

Since BA, the restlessness hasn`t really gone away. Me and Brett spent a long time talking about life and he asked me a lot of probing questions about my life. He helped me bring out a lot of shit that I had buried inside (I think, Brett, it`s time u quit ur teaching job and become a full time psychologist). Now that all the fears have surfaced, I am suddenly faced with them. The problem is, I am overwhelmed by all of this information and I cant hide from the reality of itany longer. I feel like the last year of my life has been so tough and I fought hard to stay afloat. I fought with every last ounce of my strength. Now, I don`t have the resources to fight any more. I am finding it really hard now to enjoy anything. I have been hanging out by myself a lot, away from the group. I havent talked to anyone lately, my parents, my family, my friends. I have broken up with Ashley...he doesnt need to be a part of my messy life. Everything is just messy right now. Thank God for valium, but I am scared of getting hooked on it. The feeling of calmness it brings is addictive but when the effect wears off, it starts again. The feeling of restlessness, the questions pop up again one at a time, until I cant deal with them any more. I might have to throw in the towel and quit my trip if this feeling continues. The only place I find any peace is in nature. Yesterday, I went for a hike by myself and it was beautiful. When u r in the mountains, with no one around, when u can hear the fluttering of butterfly wings, its not very hard to be at peace. Today, I went for a long walk by this beautiful lake and just sat on the rocks listening to the waves, watching the birds. That brings me peace. I think that`s what I need to do for now. Find joy in little things every day and slowly inch my way out of this sadness. If I dont write for a while, I think you all will understand. Thanks for ur support and love.

I can´t believe I am done with Brazil. 45 days in this country sounded so long but went by so fast. We did end it with a bang though at Iguassu Falls. What a site!!! We walked right up to Devil´s throat...and stuck our tongues in it...LOL! But yeah, we went right to the mouth of the biggest falls and it was such and intense experience! I was moved to tears. Just being in a place like that..nature at it´s best, u feel so tiny, so small, so insignificant! I love the fact that I am getting the opportunity to see such amazing places.

Went to Paraguay yesterday to shop for some cheap electronics. Its about a 15 min walk over the bridge from Brazil. I had to sneak in illegaly coz I needed a visa to get in. We were there for about 2 hours and I bought two bottles of wine for $5...two bottles of Chilean wine Santa Helena!!! Wow, what is my life coming to...risking so much for a cheap bottle of wine! Lemme tell u I really enjoyed every sip of that wine.

Last nite was a real fun nite out. We wanted to go out dancing but apparently it was tuesday and no one goes dancing here on tues nite. Well, bollocks to that!!! So we had to make do with going out drinking. After a couple of real strong gin and tonics, we started playing real fun games. Games which involved us talking about our craziest sex escapades and more!!! This could have only led to one thing...more drinking!!! We laughed, we drank, I finally got a kiss on my mouth (even though it was only from Kirsty). We convinced Marissa to extend her trip to Santiago, not that Ms. Spongebob Squarepants needed much convincing! But we are all really happy she is coming with us all the way to Santiago. All in all it was a very fun girls nite out! But we paid dearly for it all day today. Jen, the cutie pututie, was whining all day today about how hung over she was. She is such a cutie. I asked her to talk dirty to me last nite and she said the word `bottom`. How very English of her!!!

Now we are about to leave on a nite bus to Uruguay, where we have been told thermal spas await us!! AHHHHHHH...life is tough sometimes, isnt it! I will post masterpieces from last nite next time I get on the computer. Gotta run now amigos.

WOW! Its been a while since I last posted anything. I´ve been constantly on the move lately. So much to see and so little time. Rio was unbelievable! One of the most gorgeous big cities I have ever seen. I expected it to be a lot dirtier than it is. We flew into Rio on a red eye and were informed that we only have 2 days to do Rio. Got to our hotel and took a bit of a nap and booked ourself on the gringo tour. First on the tour was a soccer game. It was a very important intercity soccer game and so us gringos (if u can consider my black ass that) were herded over to the stadium. It was the craziest sport I´ve ever watched. It was like going to a concert coz we were dancing, jumping, screaming the entire time. We met so many locals and other gringos, drank beers and screamed our heads off. It was a riot when our team scored the final victory goal. INSANITY!

After the soccer match, we were to go to a party that nite. We were picked up at 10 pm and were to be brought back at 4 am. Me and Kirsty were really looking forward to this party coz we hadnt really met other gringos in a while. Thought it would be fun to finally dance and drink with some english speaking people. But the party was absolutely disgusting. It was such a meat market....vegas x 100!!!! Basically, the whole idea of the party was to hook up the gringos with the locals. The Brazilian women are undoubtedly very beautiful and VERY EASY. The ugliest gringo man can go up to the most gorgeous latino woman and snog her before even asking her name and its quite alright. Same with men. Beautiful men, gorgeous bods, with their shirts off, glistening with sweat, will grab u and try and kiss u before they say a single word. And why would they need to when most of the gringo women were quite happy with them sticking their tongues their throats. At the end of the party, we got a T-shirt saying `Dont be a gringo, be a local`. I think it should have read `Be a gringo, do a local`. That would´ve been more apt way to describe the party.

So, we arrived back at our hotel at about 5 am and next morning we were picked up at 9:30 for a tour of the favela. Now, this was the best part of Rio. People in the favela were super friendly, smiling, welcoming and the favela was surprisingly clean. It was a very happy place and had an amazing energy about it.

Now, that nite was the my last nite with Kirsty and I was to meet the people on my next group. There are 7 people on this tour from Rio to Buenos Aires...6 women and one man. 4 out of 6 girls are going around the world solo. I had pretty much decided to put my plans on hold for further travel. But, looks like I have a very strong indication that I am going to keep going. Every day is different. Every day I meet new people. Every day I get new ideas. Every day is new. Life is good. I do sometimes miss my family but then I call them. THe other day I called and they put me on speaker phone and it felt like I was physically there and now I feel recharged and refreshed. I am finding it hard to keep my blog going now. THere is so much going on that its hard to document...went for a long 7 hour hike, was stuck in another storm in a boat, went on a 10 hour booze cruise, was on a 21 hour bus journey, and all of this in the last four days. Wow, what an adventure. Gotta keep it going till I cant do it any more. Goodbye Brazil, hello Uruguay!!!

These days I perpetually have the song `what a wonderful world` playing in my head. Last place that I visited was truly paradise on earth...a gorgeous little village called Pipa. We stayed in this gorgeous posada (hostel) in this gorgeous village. I don´t think I have adjectives to describe the beauty of this place. We arrived after travelling for 12 hours on 2 different buses. Met a guy at the first bus station who decided to take me under his wing and become my tour guide. He was a local Brazilian guy and guess he saw me with my Canadian passport in my hand. That´s it...he decided that he needed to take care of me. He started asking me where I was going and that he would book the tickets for me. Any time the bus driver would make any announcements in the bus (buses are like airplanes here...pilots talk to passengers), he would come over to my seat to translate it for me. It was quite funny when I finally told him that Camilla, my tour guide, spoke Portugese. I think he was shattered and didnt try and talk to me after that. Poor guy!!!

Since the bus ride was so long, they served us drinks. By the time the bus attendant (guess that´s what u would call him) came over to our seat, he had run out of soft drinks. So Kirsty and I decided to get hammered on the bus. It was quite funny!! This was a good way to arrive to our gorgeous destination. We got to our Posada, freshened up and headed out to find food, booze and parties!!! We found crepes, we found beer but unfortunately no parties. The reason was they stopped serving alcohol at midnite coz the next day was election day. I cant believe how big elections are in Brazil. It is mandatory for people to vote and they have a fuckin dry day the day before elections. Anyway, we met some nice local people who were gracious enough to invite us to their house for a party. But we were quite tired after the long journey and decided to call it a nite.

Next morning, me and Kirsty chilled out at the beach, drinking beer, watching surfers all day. That evening was one of my fav evenings of the whole trip. Went back to the posada after a long day at the beach and just chilled out in the hammock for hours. The guy next door to us was playing his guitar, there was such a gorgeous breeze, and I was so at peace. I didnt wanna be anywhere but there in that moment. It was one of the most peaceful and beautiful moments of my life. Next morning was even more beautiful. We went kayaking thru the mangroves! I had never been kayaking before so I was a bit scared at first but got a hang of it really fast. I had such an amazing time going thru those mangroves..it was so quiet, so peaceful!!! I had tears in my eyes when we were paddaling back. I feel like I missed out on so much in my life in the years that I spent with Rick. It is so sad when u have to give up so much of who u are for another person. But I am glad that I am back now...enjoying things that I like to do...living for myself for once.

Spa day? What..in the middle of nowhere? And its free? Sign me up!!!! Yes, it was such a luxurious spa day in the middle of the jungle in Paranaiba. We took a little tuk tuk boat and rode on the river thru the mangroves. Saw monkeys looking for oysters, crabs feeding along the river, lots of colorful birds and fish jumping out of the water. It was just me and Kirsty on the trip with the tour guide and a couple of native boat drivers. After cruising thru the mangroves we ended up at another sand dune. We had to wade thru water full of jelly fish to get to the sand dune. As soon as we got on top of the dune, I realized we were at a beach. Its so strange to see the ocean and the waves crashing on sand dunes. It´s quite dramatic how nature moves here. You can see sand and water meeting and making squishy land!! Anyway, we found this little natural pool to swim in. The sand there was just the right kind to use as a scrub. Thus began our spa day. We scrubbed our bodies head to toe and washed it with sea salts. This was followed by a mud pack. The mud in the mangroves is apparently very good for the skin. When crabs dig their holes, they bring out the good mud.So our poor tour guide went to the crab holes to the get this mud. Now we had mud packs on our entire body. After baking in the sun for a few minutes, we washed the mud packs off with sea water. So, now it was off to find some fresh water to take off all the sea salts from our bodies. After all this, our skin was so soft and glowing! It was a wonderful way to have a spa holiday.

Right now I am in a place called Jeriococara. Its supposed to be one of the 10 most beautiful places on the planet. Kite surfers and wind surfers heaven...thus there is huge abundance of gorgeous sunkissed bodies here. Very easy on the eyes if you know what I mean ;) And due to the kind of sport activities here, it is more of a sausage party. A couple nites back we went out at nite and got trashed. Met some gorgeous Spanish fire fighters who were also professional kite surfers...NICE!!! Spent the nite at one of the many street bars drinking with these spanish boys. The gorgeous one, Nacho, bought me a drink called farmacia. Basically, it is a mixture of all kind of liquors i.e. gin, whisky, rum, vodka, and whatever else. It tasted like shampoo...yuck!! But I sipped on it all nite. From the street bar, we went to a local party where we watched the locals dancing, twirling, salsaing so gracefully. I find it very intimidating to dance among these people coz they are soooooooooooo good! One of these days, I would like to take some professional lessons and then go out for nite in town. Maybe Rio or Salvador. We´ll see!!!

Took a nite bus last nite and arrived in this town called Fortaleza. We are at a nice hotel today, had a long nap and now I am just catching up on some internetting. Probably go see a movie later or something mellow like that. Our hotel is right on the beach though so i think i´ll go for a long walk later. Just mellow stuff today until we head out to a little village on the coast next. More kayaking in the mangroves, watching dolphins, swimming there!!! Until then....

So, it´s been a month since I started my trip. Wow, where did it go?!!? Sometimes it feels like I´ve been travelling for ages and other times I am scared that it´s all going too fast. But then I remind myself that I am only 1/4 of the way through my journey. Already I´ve packed so much in this month that I feel like I have enough stories for a lifetime. I am constantly challenging myself here, pushing myself to every limit I possibly can. I have been in a boat crash, I´ve been thrown around like a kite in a cessna, I´ve been on a 4x4 on sand dunes, I´ve been in a crazy rainstorm in the middle of the Amazon jungle, I´ve been to cities so remote that there are no paved roads leading up to them! I have been the most scared than I´ve ever been, I´ve been the most hungry than I´ve ever been, I´ve been the stinkiest than I´ve ever been, I´ve been most at peace than I´ve ever been!

My journey so far is going to a place, seeing all the sites that place has to offer, taking part in the activities that place has to offer and then packing our backpacks and moving on to the next place and doing it all over again. Yes, it´s a bit tough coz we seem to be constantly on the move. Today, we arrived in a city after spending 2 hours in a 4x4 van on really bumpy sand dunes...followed by 3 hours on a local bus with no air conditioning in the middle of 40 degree heat. Needless to say I am fucking stinking right now. And we are only staying here for 2 days including today. So, yes...I do get tired some times. But I would not trade this for anything back home right now. I would rather have the constant stimulation of seeing new places, experiencing new things...having my days jam packed with activities EVERY DAY!!!!

The best part of travelling, however, is meeting people. We meet different people everyday. It seems like the travellers are a whole different breed of people. For instance, a couple nites back, me and Kirsty (my roommate) were sitting in a pizzaria in a shit hole city trying to figure out the Portugese menu. The waiters did not speak any english and we obviously dont fala portugese!! So, we were trying to figure out what the difference between Cerveja Lata and Cerveja Garaffa would be. Kirsty said that garaffa probably meant refrigerated but I seemed to think it was a large bottle (coz it sounded like giraffe). We were arguing about this when we saw a guy walking by who we had seen in the city we were in the nite before. We called out to him and asked him if he spoke english. We were in luck..not only did he speak english coz he was an american but he also spoke fluent Portugese. He asked us if he could join us for dinner and we ofcourse welcomed him with open arms. Next, 2 French guys strolled into this pizzaria. We had gone to the sand dunes in the same group with these guys the day before. We said hi and sure enough now we had 5 people in our group. As the cerjevas garaffas (I was right...it did mean large beer) started pouring in, I saw a couple walking by that I had seen at a beach a few days back. I called out to them and asked them if they were at a beach in Sao Luis a couple days ago and they said yes. We asked them to join us and they sure did. And then there were 7 plus our tour leader showed up as well. So, within a half hour of me and Kirsty being bored, we were at a table with 2 French men, One American/Portugese guy, One Belgian couple and us. THe mileu of languages, the accents, the conversation...it was fantastic. We ended up spending 5 hours there, drinking, talking about spirituality, travelling, politics, religion, etc.etc.etc. Its amazing how quickly people open up to each other when they are travelling. Daniel (the american/portugese) guy was thinking of moving back to Brazil coz he doesnt like the american culture. SO, he was travelling around Brazil trying to look for a place that calls to him. Infact, he said he´d been travelling around the world doing that for about a year and a half. It was interesting talking to him coz that´s what I am doing right now. It´s nice to know that there are other restless souls like me out there coz back home I just dont seem to fit. I don´t even know which place I could call home any more. My mom was asking me to finish my trip in SOuth America and just come back home to Vancouver. I shudder at the thought of that at the moment. I´ll keep going until I can´t anymore. For now, I am loving every minute of it.

Rolling...rolling...rolling down the river

Yeah...5 days on a boat full of people packed like sardines, with nothing to eat but salad and rice for lunch and dinner, I can safely say I am feeling a bit homesick and tired right now. It´s been three weeks since I have had a proper cooked meal, something that was actually on a burner and cooked and warm. All I have had is boiled eggs, omeletes, salads, bananas for food. I am craving...absolutely craving for a warm meal. But, back to the boat. Yes, we regretted the moment we got on the boat. There were about 200 people on the boat with nothing to sleep on but hammocks. We were, however, given cabins to sleep in. I´ve never felt so royal with so little in my life before. The cabin was no bigger than my bathroom at home with bunk beds and included a shower and a toilet. All that in about 5x5 sqft. area. Needless to say you could shower sitting on the toilet...literally!!!

There was absolutely nothing to do on the boat. There was a deck where there was always trashy brazilian music blaring and no one on the boat spoke english. We did, however, meet 2 english speaking travellers, one from malaysia and one from Ireland. Breakfast was served at 6 am sharp. It was a battle between hunger and sleep at that time...and usually sleep won! It´s really hard to drag urself out of bed at that ungodly hour just to stuff ur face. Anyway, after breakfast, I would find a chair and go and sit on the deck looking out at the Amazon forest. It was quite an amazing site though...just cruising down the amazon river passing by some of the world´s very remote virgin forests, ocassionaly passing thru some indian (indegionous people) villages. I was left alone with nothing but my thoughts. It´s nice to figure things out about oneself and I got a really long time to do it.

Sunsets were gorgeous followed by evening of drinking a lot of beer so u could sleep well. I did meet the boy I am going to marry when he is a little older. Awwwwww...isn´t he cute? His name is Louis Edwardo and he´s the cutest Latino I´ve met so far. Caio for now. Gotta get on the night bus to Sao Luis. Finally getting to the coast. THe next 3 weeks is all about beaches, beaches and more beaches!!! Can´t wait :)

Finally walked the Amazon...

So, after the last posting we took a night bus for 12 hours, crossed the border over to Brazil, and arrived in the city of Manaus. We are 3 degrees south of the equator now and man is it ever hot! If this is what winter feels like (45 C) then I don´t even wanna think what their summers are like. This city is literally in the middle of the rainforest…so needless to say we arrived in Manaus in the middle of a rainstorm!!! Yes, there was lightening, thunder and a torrential rain shower and the streets almost looked like streams and I found myself longing for a boat instead of a car. Yes, I can safely say after the activities of the last few days, I am pretty much over my fear of boats! I have, however, developed a bit of a fear of piranhas and alligators though!

Manaus, day 1, we spent doing what apparently is a typical Brazilian activity on a Sunday…we went to the mall! A consumer´s paradise was created by chopping off acres of rainforest. Who needs rainforests when you can have a huge mall where you can shop till you drop, eat as much ice cream as you want and go see a movie when it´s raining outside. It´s really heartbreaking at the rate the rainforests are being cut down…over an acre a day in some places. Anyway, after watching Devil wears Prada, we reached a consensus that we don´t really like this city. Me and Kirsty decided to take a trip to the jungle.

Boarded the boat at 9 am and started our 6 hour boat ride down Rio Negro, so named because of its black color. We reached a point where Rio Negro and Rio SOlemois meet to form the Amazon river. What is really funny about this meeting is that the water from the two rivers doesn´t mix. There´s some difference in density and temperature and such that the two rivers don´t mix. One has completely black water and the other has sandy water and they mix like coffee and cream. It´s the stranest site…you can see miles and miles of the border between the two rivers. I´ll put up some pics when I find a computer with a fucking usb port!

It was a long boat journey…chatted about philosophy and life with some Austrian guy on the boat, played a came of cards with some Spanish speaking people, slept and after 6 hours, finally arrived…literally in the middle of the jungle…at our lodge, aptly named ANACONDA LODGE!!! This lodge is a barge made of wooden planks and a thatch roof floating on water teeming with piranhas, anacondas, alligators, and all sorts of amazing life! Upon arrival, we were greeted with a coke bottle full of snakes that are found in the region. We were told to watch out for the kind in the coke bottle coz they are very poisonous. Nice start to a great adventure. We were promptly served lunch…and ofcourse they were not informed about me being vegetarian. So, I was eating eggs yet again!! After lunch, we headed out in a boat, which closely resembled the boat that we crashed in, to spend our afternoon leisurely fishing for piranhas!!!! For those of you who don´t know what piranhas are…they are the most evil flesh-eating fish with the sharpest teeth you´ve ever seen. If you fall in the water, the school of piranhas attack you and within minutes, there´s nothing left but some bones floating in the water. I was informed of this as we were puttering in our little canoe over to the fishing spot. I was a tad nervous, if you know what I mean! Anyway, as soon as we put the fishing line in the water, I felt the fish nibbling. So, this meant there were a lot of these fish. I did end up catching one piranha (I have a pic to prove it) but other than that I think I mostly just fed them the meat. It was a fun adventure and we made our way back to the lodge as the sun was setting. It´s quite amazing to be in the middle of the jungle with nothing but fresh air to breathe, watching the sunset!

At the lodge, we were served dinner and told that as soon as it was dark we were going out to spot alligators. This sounded a bit crazy to me, but since everyone was going, I didn’t want to be left behind alone at the lodge. So we got into the boat, yet again, and started driving in pitch dark, with nothing but a flashlight to watch for rocks and other boats, to go spot some fucking alligators! We reached the spot where they apparently rest and tuned the motor off. The guide asked us to be completely quiet and started paddling the boat toward the shore. The shore is where the alligators rest!!! I looked in the water and saw millions of little gleaming eyes. I thought they were alligators looking at us but it was actually the reflection of the stars from the sky. I kid you not I have never seen so many stars in the sky. There was, however, no moon. We could have used the moon to see a bit better. But, I think the lightening flashes helped a bit. Yes, to make the already scary moment, a bit more scarier, the sky would light up once in a while….just to remind us that we were in the middle of the RAIN forest. Anyway, alligators, we did spot….a bunch of them with their red eyes gleaming in the dark sitting on the shore. Our guide informed us that the alligators only hunt on land or just above water…so if we get attacked, he said to just dive and they won´t follow! Ruben, our guide, is a crazy crazy man…he got off at the shore to go pick up a little alligator baby that he saw. He brought the specimen to show us while the mom was sitting on the shore watching us! I was happy to leave the area and head back to the lodge. The Austrian guys pulled out some glenfidtich whisky and some cigars to calm our nerves. We sat drinking, and chatting for a couple of hours and called it a nite. In the middle of the nite, we were struck by a huge thunderstorm. I swear to god, I have never seen so many lightning flashes in my life. I put ear plugs in my ears and covered my head with my sheet and prayed that we don´t get hit by lightning.

Next morning, we went for a trek in the Amazon jungle. After the rain, the jungle was alive with the animals singing…the tree frogs croaking, the snakes whistling, the birds chirping. It was wonderful. We saw tarantulas the size of my hands, we saw birds, we saw some cool trees, drank water from this vine that stores fresh water. It was the coolest thing in the whole world to see how the jungle gives you everything you need to survive. It was a quite, beautiful journey back to Manaus. Now, we are leaving on a boat trip down the Amazon for 4 days. We´ll be traveling with the locals who go down the river to take supplies for the little villages along the way. Apparently, it´s a big party coz Brazilians love to dance and sing. Lets see what adventures lie ahead….

I almost died and went to heaven…


This is going to be the hardest blog entry I´ve ever posted. It´s only been three days but it feels like I have changed so much that I am a completely new person. That´s what happens I guess when u come face to face with death!

Lemme backtrack to Monday morning Oct 5th. We arrived at the airport at 7 am to take our flight to Canaima, the base camp for our trip to Angel Falls. I am a nervous flier to begin with but when I saw what the aircraft (.if you can call it that) looked like, I almost shit my pants. It was a little mosquito …. A single engine Cessna that was going to fly us out. I tried to overcome my fear by telling myself that I would rather die on a vacation than at work back home. Anyway I psyched myself and braved the one hour flight to this little landing strip called Canaima in the middle of the rainforest. The flight, however scary, was absolutely spectacular. The dense rainforest, the rivers making their way through the forest ending up in gorgeous waterfalls and small huts in the middle of nowhere. The tribal people still live in the middle of the rainforest with no contact with civilization! So we arrived in Canaima and met the 5 other people who were supposed to join us on our tour to Angel Falls. Jim(bo) from England, Jerhoun and Miriam from the Netherlands, and a couple from Venezuela. We walked from the landing strip to the jungle lodge we were gonna stay in for the next 3 days. The plan was to pack up a small daypack with anything we´d need for the next 2 days and make our way on the boat to a campsite close to Angle Falls. The boat ride was supposed to be about 4 hours long. After lunch and an hour of tossing the Frisbee about, we made our way to the boat. The boat was a long wooden motor boat driven by two people…one driver who drove the propeller sat at the bow and another guy who was the navigator sat at the hull. Anyway, we started on our journey up the river to our campsite. It was a fun boat ride, getting to know the rest of our group, enjoying the view of the oldest landscape on the planet. I´ve never seen mountains like this…with jagged peaks…almost looked like stone henge. Halfway up the river, dark clouds started to roll in and before we knew it we were in the middle of a tropical downpour. It suddenly changed the whole experience. The river rose almost suddenly and the rapids got stronger. It´s one thing going downstream with the rapids but it´s a whole different ball game trying to go against them. It was one of the most harrowing experiences, we were drenched to the bone, it was getting dark, the rapids were getting stronger and to top it all…the river was apparently full of anacondas! I think it was a combination of our prayers, and the navigation skills of the native incas that eventually brought us to our campsite. We were told that we would be sleeping in hammocks that nite. I was already starting to forget the boat ride and getting excited about the upcoming nite and next day. We had dinner and stayed up pretty late, playing cards. The nite was pretty nice sleeping in the hammock listening to the rapids.

Next morning started with a hike up to see the world´s tallest waterfall. It was a good two hour hike but the sight was a great reward for the hardwork required to see it. The falls are quite unbelievable but what I loved the most was the pool at the foot of the falls. We could actually swim in this pool with falls falling on us. This area, even though quite popular with tourists, is still practically untouched. I lay on the rocks, looking up at the mouth of the falls and around me the vast jungle and I could literally see dinosaurs walking there. It´s quite amazing to be on a land which apparently is older than dinosaur time.
Needless to say I am shaken and very lucky to be alive. Having a near death experience like this makes you realize how precious life is and how fragile life is!! I love and miss you all. Everything in this world looks a little more beautiful now! Only thing is I still can´t seem to fall asleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see that boat coming towards us and hear the crunching sound of the wood breaking, and I smell petrol. I know we are very lucky to be alive and I think the 10 of us really bonded after this incident. But I really needed to talk to my mom and Ashley to hear a familiar voice. I spoke to mom today and cried over the phone. I haven´t been able to get a hold of Ashley but I´m sure I will soon. I am still having a great time but just needed a hug from my kuchu. We are in the Grand Savannah today. Will write the next entry in a week after our 4 day boat ride down the amazon.

After our trek, we went back to our campsite and had lunch before setting out on our boatride back to the jungle lodge. It was a lot easier going downstream, especially since the sun was shining and there were no dark clouds in sight. Then, about an hour into our journey, we came upon a bend and then everything happened too fast! We saw a boat coming up the bend straight for us. Our driver was trying to tell them to move away from us, while trying to turn away but the rapids were too strong for us to avoid each other. Before we knew it, our boats collided head on at full speed. My hands are shaking even as I type this 3 days after the incident. The front of our boat split into two and all I saw was pieces of splintered wood flying everywhere and our boat going under the other boat. One minute we were sitting on the boat, joking around, laughing, and the next we were in water. Everything happened in slow motion…I saw the boat hitting us, and then I was in the water, in complete shock. I think I came to when I realized I was sinking. I wasn´t wearing my life jacket coz I was using it as a cushion to sit on. When I felt I was sinking, I realized I had to swim. Then the first thing I thought was hopefully no one was still under the boat or badly hurt, or dead!!!!! I looked around and did a head count. Everyone was scrambling to the shore, our bags were scattered all over the water, the boat was in pieces and there was an intense stink of petrol. I was in the water when suddenly I remembered our tour guide telling us that there were anacondas in this river. Needless to say, I swam faster than I ever have in my life and made my way to the other boat which was still in one piece. The people on that boat helped me up and I sat there shaking like a leaf, stunned at what had just happened. Finally after about 15 mins of complete chaos, everyone scrambling to find their bags, we were all on the boat that hit us. This boat drove us to the closest beach where we all got off and checked our damage. We all had cuts and scrapes but surprisingly no one got badly hurt. A boat going downstream, stopped at the beach to see what was going on and after a lot of negotiating, agreed to take us with them. As soon as we got on the boat, the dark clouds rolled in, and we were once again caught in a tropical downpour. Now this boat was too overloaded with people and luggage and it was raining too hard for it to make it down the rapids. So, before any big rapids, some people had to get off and walk through the woods past the rapids. It was a hairy ride back, one that I still have nightmares about!

6 days in...another 118 to go!!!!

Finally....I spent the last 30 mins trying to figure out how to set up my blog coz all the websites are in spanish. In the process of setting it up I accidently deleted my blog from India :(

So 6 days in and I´ve already lost a few unwanted pounds and am already sporting a nice criss cross on my back from my bikini.

Flashback to Sept 26th...
Ashlu and I took a cab to the airport at an ungodly hour in the morning. I was so excited but sad at the same time. At the airport, I checked in at the aiport and said my teary goodbye to my kuchu and started on my journey solo once again. Started my flight with a big glass of mimosa at 7 am. Arrived at Caracas, Venezuela at 9:30 pm local time. The money exchange place at the airport was closed so I engaged in the first illegal activity within the first 20 mins of being on the continent...getting my money exchanged by a black market guy!! An hour in the cab trying to chat to the cabbie with my spanish dictionary open, I arrived at the ROYAL HOTEL. The only thing royal about this hotel was the name. It was in the dingiest part of town...pretty comparable to east hastings area. I met my roommate, Kirsty, a 22 y.o. english girl. We both chatted for a bit about how it was not a good start to the trip. We were both a bit homesick and felt a bit out of our comfort zones. I can safely say, that feeling lasted only for a day. Next morning we took a 9 hour bus ride to this tiny little village on the carribean coast. Spent 3 days at this gorgeous village where our posada (hotel if you will) was right on the beach. The posada next door to us must have been listed in the bible (aka the lonely planet) coz all the europeans (or shall i say Germans) had descended upon it. We tagged along with a few people the next day on a boat trip to the nearby islands. We watched the dolphins on the way to the island and then we spent the entire day snorkeling, swimming, lazing about in the sun. That nite we spent with the europeans on the terrace getting hammered and sharing stories and trying to solve the world problems. The next day we decided to just chill out at the beach to try and recuperate from the real tough day we had the day before :) All day at the beach, swimming, getting stung by jelly fish, was followed by another nite on the terrace with the other travellers but this time the drinking was followed by a trip to the local nite club. We had a mucho fun fiesta there. Meringue, salsa, mamba, hip hop...we danced to every kind of music. The walk back was very eventful, with the cops trying to pick us up and Neal, the weird American travelling with us, getting super fucked up on drugs and trying to drown himself in the ocean. Now we are in a city called Ciuada Bolivar resting up before the huge trip coming up next...the trip to Angel Falls. We will be taking a small cessna to the Falls and spending the next 3 days camping by there. I will post my next posting after that trip.