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.