Day 38 - Don`t Rob Me!

Struggled outta bed at 8am this morning for a bit of brekkie & packed up. It`s time to hightail outta Quito before we eventually get robbed! Everynight up on the terrace in the Secret Garden you get told another story of some gringo getting mugged coming home from the club or their bag/pockets slashed on the bus or some other random scam. Thievery is an artform here! You have to respect some of their methods in a strange way! Well an artform sometimes or else they just stab you in the face & rob your bag!!

We grabbed a taxi over to the bus station which we had been warned by Santiago our Spanish teacher is "....muy muy peligro!" I getting sick of hearing that word Peligro about Ecuador, but it turns out this time it was particularly fitting! This bus station was like a zoo, except the animals weren`t in cages! I felt like telling the taxi driver....feck this get me outta here; back to Hostel - VAMOUS!!

We ended up sitting around the station for an hour with all our worldy possessions, felt like we were getting sized up by everyone around us! After the longest hour of my life some young guy signalled us towards a bus & we ended up bumping into Team America from Cotopaxi who were getting on the same bus. Bus drivers are absolutely nuts here, think it`s something to do with the competition between companies. We spent the next 20mins trying to get out of the bus station while other drivers pulled out & reversed out in front of each other & refused to move slamming on their horns; I miss Bus Eireann! One of the yanks - Adrian told us a story about their bus driver in Colombia getting into a machete fight with another bus driver on the side of the road over road rage!

We got to Banos 3hrs later after driving 90mph the whole way! We desended about 1200m coming down through the Andes to get here so some amazing scenery. Banos is set in a valley at the foot of the active Tungurahua volcano, with it`s most recent activity resulted in the town being evacuated for 2 years! It was evacuated again in Aug 06 for a few weeks. The main attractions here are a string of hugh waterfalls & the volcanic baths.

We checked into Plantes y Blanc Hostel with the yanks, myself & Ro were standing around in reception while the rest checked out the rooms. Some middle aged man santered in & stood around behind us before he decided to try & swipe my bag from right in front of us! Worst thief ever he would last 5mins with the pros in Quito! I just pointed at the bag & he was like "Kay?" dropped the bag & headed back out the door. This was a nice hostel but the view from the roof terrace has to be seen to be believed, the town is encircled by mountains & there`s a waterfall dropping about 80m behind the hostel that lights up at night!

We passed by a barbers down town & decided it was time for a tidy up. I decided to get my head shaved to scare off any possible muggers. Came out pretty nice, Ro reckons I look like a cage fighter; that was just the look I was after! Charlie got another shave & Ro got a serious crew cut (you could set your watch to it!) so we should be safe enough!

The nightlife is pretty dull here, so we joined the Americans for a carton of wine down the local park. This was our last night with the Americans & were pretty close now after bonding at Cotopaxi & laying their pet duck to rest! So we thought we`d make the most of the night by stocking up on cartons of wine & vodka and heading back to the hostel terrace for some good old drinking games. This got out of hand fast! After going through most of the wine on the terrace & picking up another American - Ellen from NYC, we headed down to our room after being asked to leave the area. We finished up around 2am, so much for our plan of going to the baths at 8am tomorrow morning! Good night though, gonna miss Chris that crazy yank!

Joe

Day 37 - Recovery

We felt like a bit of pampering after our tough expedition at the weekend so we hit the Turkish Baths in the Old Town, Quito for some much needed TLC! Ro, Charlie, Luke ( Team Oz) & myself spent a few hours between the pool, jacuzzi, sauna & steam room. Then on to the local Chifa (Chinese) for the biggest feed ever for $3 - heaven!

Our plan is head South from Quito to a volcanic resort town called Banos. The idea was to get down there tonight but we got back to the hostel to find out we got the wrong bus times from our trusted local tourist agent Paul; all trust is lost now & we hate him! This is the same guy who sold us the climbing trip of Cotopaxi as if it was a walk in the park & not the painfull hell it turned out to be!! Fecking Canadian!

Ah well that just means we get another night in the Irish Pub to return their flag & watch the All-Ireland. Charlie`s not too happy because he foolishly put a $20 bet with Ursula the owner, so since we just checked the result he has to cough up!! Personally I`m delighted Tyrone won!

Good times in Finn McCools tonight, we received a hero`s welcome with our Cotopaxi Irish flag!Ursula was delighted with the result of the All-Ireland so Charlie`s $20 was the icing on the cake for her! Free pints were dished out & we watched the game. Kerry were unlucky! We got home around 4am after lock-in, bus at 9am tomorrow morning should be fun!

Joe

NEWS FLASH:

RO MAKES IT TO THE TOP OF COTOPAXI AND SAVES TEAM IRELAND!!!!!



DOOLEYS TRY SEALS THEM BANANAS!!!!!!!

Day 36: The most physical & Mentally Challenging day of our lives

12pm eventually came. The Americans jumped out of bed and started pulling on their gear. Team Ireland stayed, all 4 of us clutching our head. Surprisingly, Joe seemed to be the best of us, Luke in second place with myself and Charlie struggling to put on our water proofs while squashing our head with our hands at the same time. Suddenly as soon as my laces were tied I felt like retching. I ran outside but luckily after a few deep breaths the feeling subsided. Joe came out to check to see if I was alright. Good old Joe. He's no Mammy Dooley but he does a good job sometimes. How you feelin I asked him, fantastic, much better today he said. I stayed holding the wall and watched Joe take 10 steps and then hurl up what looked like a large steak and kidney pizza. I laughed so much I forgot all about feeling sick. Deep breaths and the cold air also helped.

The whole group stayed waiting in the court yard for myself and Charlie who by now was really feeling the effects of Altitude sickness. All the colour from his face had drained away. 12.30 we joined the group in the court yard and started our epic adventure. We had missed breakfast but I dont think any of us were too worried about that. We carried our crampons, water and pick axes in our bags for the first section until we got to the glacier. This first section took about a half an hour, which had taken us 45min yesterday. we were all a bit worried at the pace Diego was setting at the front. At the edge of the Glacier we all put on our cramp ons and took a much needed breather. This wasnt a good sign that we were out of breadth at this stage. From the acclimatisation climb the day before yesterday and the 45min treck from the carpark to the refuge, Paulo had selected the teams. With one guide for every two people, (in order of bestness) Adrian was paired with Matt, Chris with Julia, Joe with myself and Charlie with Luke. However, By this stage Charlie had turned a light shade of grey and looked a bit drunk he was thinking that he might not make it. Team switch, the three Americans were roped together with Freddy, Joe who was looking remarkable well was bumped up to Julie with Paulo, I went with Luke and Fausto (AKA Legend) and Diego would monitor Charlie as he bore through the pain.

A sudden surge of excitement and energy came over me mixed with a little Dooley competitive aggression and I gave a little team talk to Team Ireland. Poor old Luke I think got the brunt of this. I told Fausto our guide not to go easy on us cause I knew we could make it. We set off racing. The first half an hour went really well. We were in first place and Luke seamed just as determined to make it to the top as I was. Then things started to slow down. Lukes boots were hurting him and the rests became longer. As I watched the three Americans pass us I started to whip Luke with the rope that attached the three of our harnesses. Heaa Heaa (SORRY LUKE) Was pretty funny at the time though. Fousto became worried that because the pace had slowed down that we wouldnt be able to make the top. This was a disaster. The reason we were climbing in the dark with flash lamps on our heads was because when the sun comes up it starts to melt the Ice and conditions become dangerous, Muy Pellegrouso, the most frequently used word the the guides said to me on the climb. Which would mean if we left it too late we would have to turn back.

Fousto Radioed down to Paulo to tell him the problem. Paulo said that one of his team was also finding the going tough so it would be better for me to switch partners. Yes I thought, Joe was doing well and we may still have a chance. We dug in and waited for Paulo and his team to reach us. I spotted Joe on his hands and knees trudging up behind Paulo. Doh! Julie who was a very strong climber and looked like she could start running at any stage. We switched Luke for Julie an the rope, I said good bye to luke and gave one last pep talk to Joe and then set off again.

This time I was clear I was the weak link. We started racing up the mountain. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep this pace up be I gave it a good go. We soon made it off the glacier and onto the real climb. The snow was now up to our knees (well my shins\ Julies knees and faustos waste). The incline was a constant 55degrees but there was no jig jag for Fausto. Straight up ta fuck I think he said in spanish. Soon we started passing out groups one by one who had opted for the sane zig zag take a break approach. My lungs were screaming for air. Screw this its time for a break I said. We dug seats for ourselves in the snow slope and took out our water. I was so tired though I forgot about gravity and placed my water bottle on the ground. We watched as it rolled the whole way down into the darkness. Maybe Joe might need a drink was my excuse.

We powered on. I constantly had to tug on the rope to get Fausto to slow down the pace but he must have remembered my little speech at the bottom cause there was no slowing him down. Any time Id stop hed give a little tug back on the rope and Id have to keep going. Each slope just seemed to be getting higher and steeper, and the snow just seemed to keep getting deeper and softer. Every time we passed a group out we had to drop a gear and pick up the speed. This was tough but I could smell that we were getting closer. There were times I thought about giving up but I knew I wouldn't be able to tell Kilian or Gerard on the phone when i got back. The near breaking point came about an hour from the top. Absolutely no energy left in the tank and we faced the craziest slope I have ever seen. I would have turned back if I hadn't spotted 4 people in the distance taking a break. It was the the three boys and Freddy. We had caught up to the Americans. Suddenly Ideas entered my head of clipping off my harness and sprinting past them with an Irish flag all the way to the top. Not to be. I got freddy to radio down to Joe and Luke and Charlie to see if they were on the way (Joe had the Flag). My heart sank, word came back that they had all turned back and gone back to the refuge. The success of TEAM IRELAND rested on my shoulders.

Fresh from their break the boys set of up the final leg of the journey. Eager to stay with them we went in convoy after them. I could have done with the break however. We stook with them the whole way until the very very last bit. This is when all of my muscles decided not to work at the same time. The last section cruelly was a near vertical section with two foot deep snow on it. You had to dig your pick in take four steps and watch your feet slip right back down to where they started........ and then repeat. I kept on slipping and falling and and a few stages ended up lying face down in the snow unable to get up because I was so drained. But with the help of Fausto tugging on the rope and Julie giving me her basketball half time speach I Finally made it to the top (5 and a half hours later). The feeling was indescribable.

Me standing on top of the world (Crater behind)

Unfortunately this feeling soon wore off as the top was covered in fog and mist and a blizzered that cut through every stitch of clothes we had. I stood right beside the crater to the largest active volcano in the world but I couldn't even see past my own nose. Its just a theory but seeing as cotopaxi is on the equator and I was the tallest person on top of that while the sun was high in the sky. I recon I was the closest person in the world to the sun for that brief period. Stop me if Im getting carried away but I made it to the top 5900m, Charlie to 5208m and Joe and Luke to 5400m. Base Camp at Everest is 5208m. How do you like them bananas indeed!!!!!!!!

The way down was not easy either. One of the many muy pellegroso moments I had on the way down was slipping off the foot wide path down a cliff nearly taking my two buddies attached to me with me. I was so tired at this stage I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. Managed to clip my own heel and slid off the cliff. Thank god for the training we had done yesterday. I turned onto my belly and jammed my pick into the ice like my life depended on it. I wasn making things easy on myself, I then had to climb back up the cliff using my crampons and pick axe. Muy pellegroso.... Ya Ya I know.



I then started to ask him could we slide down instead of walking. Any thing to stop the burning in my legs. After a few NO no Muy pellegroso from Fausto be eventually gave in and let us slide down on our asses using our picks to slow us down. So much fun but Im sure It was pretty dangerous seeing as there are cliffs and crevasses everywhere, not to mention that we were doing it in single file and each of us had 12 razer sharp knives on on the soles of our boots.

A few more slips and falls and slides later we were back at the refuge. just over 3 and a half hours to come back down. The boys had been back at the cabin for the last 5 or 6 hours sleeping, where I was fit to die. More good news, no time for food we had to pack up all of our stuff and treck back down to the carpark. On the bright side though, my altitude sickness had gone, Im a glass half full guy.

The 4x4 jeeps took us back to the first camp to collect our stuff and then back to the secret garden where we crashed straight away. We went for a massive chineese when we woke and then it was back to bed for a well deserved mammoth sleep. 14hrs solid straight through. Longest in quiet some time.

Day 35: The Tention Mounts (Base Camp 4800m)

The next day started at 8am after everyone having a mixed night of sleep. Downstairs was Joe, Luke and Ronan who heard every bit of noise in the Cabin. Upstairs was Matt, Chris, Julia, Adrian and myself who had to put up with Chris snoring and farting like a trooper. We all headed across the road to the restaurant and found all the guides ready for the day. We sat into a great breakfast of Fruit Salad and Omelettes and started to pack our smoke smelling gear into the jeeps for the journey to the rufuge.

The refuge is located at 4,800m. Another 4,500m down the mountain is the car park which is the last point the jeeps could reach. So after a couple of awesome pictures in the car park and sharing out all the food to carry up the mountain we started out up towards the refuge with all of our equipment. The average journey time for this part of the climb is 45mins. For me it was hell. I felt every step but still we all made it up in 45mins and our guides were very happy with our progress.

Ro

The refuge is nothing other than a cabin with a couple of matresses laid out on top of the mountain. There are gas cookers but there is no electricity and you have to flush the toilet with a bucket of water. (If you require more information leave a comment and I´ll explain further!) We picked out our beds and headed down for a bowl of soup. The next thing the rain came. And I mean it came! We were supposed to go out and practice our technique on the glacier but when the rain and thunder started Paulo suggested it might be a better idea to reschedule for 3pm.

We suited up and headed out to practise on the glacier at 3pm. The glacier was another 40min hike from the glacier. When we got there we put on our Crampons and got our ice picks ready and started hiking up the glacier. Paulo was showing us all the different techniques on the ice and then he showed us the coolest thing, sliding!!

Sliding means you sit on your ass and slide down the mountain. The only problem with that is you have to stop! To stop you have to roll over and dig your ice pick into the glacier to bring yourself to a stop. Paulo marked an area and said it was the crevace and you had to stop before then! Unfourtunetly, Ronan slid straight into the crevace and died but it was good practice for the real thing!

We got back to the refuge and then we had more food again. They were really trying to load us up with food so we would have the energy to climb the mountain. This is when Joe started to get sick from the altitude. I knew something was wrong when he didn´t even want to touch his dinner! A clear sign there is something wrong with Joe! While the rest of the guys were getting ready to go to bed me and Ronan and Luke settled in for some coco tea with Freddie one of the guides who started telling us all his stories from the mountain. Like how he made it in 1hr 45mins.

Charlie.

Freddie was an animal. We were told that at a quick pace you could climb the mountain in 5 and a half hours, so 1hr 45 is dam impressive. He must have sprinted the whole way. You wouldn't believe it unless you saw him. His shoulders were wider than I am long and he had aa face that looked like he could stop an avalanche by just looking at it. I asked Him If we got tired would he carry us the rest of the way like the sherpas do to Homer Simpson up the Murder horn but he said that would cost extra.

Myself Charlie and Luke were in flying form at this stage with about 7 cups of coca tea in us. We were going to climb the mountain there and then but we said we better get some sleep first (8.00). Bad Idea. Say I slept for about a half an hour before I woke to run to the toilet. Stood up too fast and thats when the pounding head ache kicked in. The only thing that relieved the pain slightly was to squash my head with both hands. This isn't easily done while taking a whizz standing up at the same time. The rest of the night was hell. The headache didnt stop, this was amplified by the distinct smell of joes insides which I had seen him fill the bin with just before lunch that day.

Day 34: The Epic Adventure Begins

breakfast at 7:30. We´re so tired and everyone in our room now hates us for wakeing them up so early. Checkout at 7:55, Secret Garden are officially the slowest hostel so far at checking people out. Maybe its because they add your total up on a napkin, I´m not sure. Our guide who had been waiting for us since 7:30 started to get impatent so they picked up the pace and we left at about 8:30.

First stop was the shop that we were fitted for the clothes yesterday to collect the gear. Here we met our US mates (TEAM AMERICA) Chris, Matt, Adrian and Julia who were also picking up their stuff. We Loaded all the gear in two 4X4s and set off for our first stop at 3500m where we would stay our first night in a cosy cabin. Along the way our geep passed therse so we couldnt help sticking our eire flag out the window. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

We checked-into the cabins at about 12:00 and went to the rest hut for lunch. After we kitted up for our acclimatising hike to the top of a near-by mountain (also a volcano as it turns out). We were each given a sandwich and drink and set off (3:00). The guides Paulo and Fiusto had told us that it would be an easy hike so not to bring the big heavy boots that our shoes would do. Exactly an hour into the hike the heavens opened and the biggest hail stones I have ever seen started to pound against our faces. The wet had now soaked through my rain gear and my shoes were now fit for the bin. We were forced to turn back. This didn´t boad well for our cotopaxi expedition tomorrow.

5:00 we made it back to the cabins soaked to the bone. Seing as we were told to bring only the esentails, none of us had much in the way of a spare change of clothes so we were forced to wear the fleese pants and insoles to our snow boots. Some didn mind this as much as others however (Photos to come).

That evening we hung all of our clothes next to a big open fire in the rest hut. As the cabin slowley filled with smoke to the point where you couldnt see across the room we played Poker for cocktail sticks and eat the savage lomo steak that they had prepared for us. The generator we used for the lights was the only thing you could hear for miles and miles around. The night was so still and quiet.

We all went to bed at 8:00. Tired and exauhsted from the hike but at least our clothes were now dry. We put every stitch of clthes we had back on us and climbed into our sleeping bags. Paulo had told us it was very very important to sleep tonight as we wouldnt get any tomorrow nigt as we wouldnt be able to sleep in the refuge with the altitude effects............ No Pressure

Day 33: Suiting it up

Woke early this morning. First things First, we had to book our Cotopaxi expedition. A quick all you can eat omelette breakfast up on the terrace in the bar area on the fifth floor and then it was down to the bottom floor where Paul has his tourist office set up. Paul is a really chilled out guy from the US who came to visit his mother in Quito 10 years ago and couldn’t leave so he set up his own tourist office in the basement of Secret garden called Carpadium. He soon talked us into the full 3 day trip as at least one night at altitude would be needed before the night at the base camp on the night we attempt the summit. Just then Luke the Auzzi poked his head in and we convinced him to come too because we needed a fourth to beat the US team. $220 each because there were 8 of us including the Americans doing the climb

The four of us headed into town in Pauls car to the climbing shop which ran these expeditions. A really old jeep which I´m definitely going to buy when I get to Auzz. Here we were fitted for snow boots, ice cramp-ons, fleece long Johns, Fleece jacket and balaclava, Water proof pull-ups, rain coat, head-lamp, snow mitts and oxygen mask (all is true except for oxygen mask although we could have done with a few oxygen bottles half way up the mountain). We hat to buy our own hats gloves and sky socks so we said see to tomorrow to the shop keeper and did some shopping. I bought 2 pairs of socks which I was thankful for after.



Luke had been robbed on the tram back from the "Central del Mundo" yesterday so we went with him the police station to fill out his police report for his insurance. On the packed Trole a man bumped into him knocking him into two old women. One reached into his left pocket for his wallet who he stopped but when he turned back his right pocket had been slashed with a knife and his expensive camera gone. This was a common story with the trams here.

Made it back in time to Skype the Old folks and make our second Spanish Lesson. We all have a few words know. Santi our instructor is the best there is. His favourite words are "Entanda Chicos" and "Muy Peligroso". The first one when we have our bewildered looking faces on and the second one when describing any area in Quito to us or the Cotopaxi volcano. I would hear the second one a whole lot over the next few days.

Chicken and Beef was the dinner of the day which we devoured. We met up with Luke and Chris and all agreed to have an early night which didn really happen. It was Quiz night in the hostel so we had to have a go. Chris joined another team so TEAM IRELAND bonded and called our team the Cotopaxi 4. At the half way mark we were in the lead so we won free shots of rum, which we really didn need, but took all the same. Sleep eventually came but the excitement was starting to kick in.

8:00 rise in the morning for the suit up and ship out.

Day 32 : The centre of the world, well not really!

Today we got up early cause we really had to get all of our sight seeing done before our Spainish lessons at 5o´clock. Before we went I had to get some laundry done after Buenos Aires. The laundry service in the Secret Garden is actually the mother of the owner! She has her own apartment in the hostel and you go down and knock on her door with your bag of laundry and she washes it for you! Kinda like home...

We got the Metrobus out to the Ophelia station and got the bus to the centre of the world. All of this for 50c. The centre of the earth is actually a town on the equator with a big monument which doesn´t really impress you too much. Inside the monument is the museum of Ecuador which goes through each region of Ecuador and shows how the people live there! We got through the museum and walked through the town but there wasn´t much to see so we started taking the stupidest photos that we could. No better lads to do that!

We got the bus into town and started to do a bit of shopping for our trip to Cotopaxi. We went through a market and tried to buy gloves and jackets for the trip. We got gloves and scarfs from a market stall and tried to haggle but the owner was having none of it. We got him down a dollar but it was the best we could do. We ended up taking the Trole back. The Trole is an electric bus which is kinda like the Luas only on wheels. Its electric to reduce pollution but it is very regular and very cheap which means it is always packed. We were squished for a couple of stops and got out right outside our hostel where we headed in for our Spainish lesson.

Our lesson was with Santiago. Santi was a teacher in the Secret Garden for nearly three years and he was really easy to understand. He went through all the basics with us, talking to taxis, describing our hobbies and how to ask a girl to dance!

We ended up on the terrace again afterwards having dinner with Luke, who actually rode the Trole as well that day and got his camera stolen! We had another great dinner of Pork and really nice ice cream and cake for dessert. An ecuadorian band started up and played some really cool music on pan pipes and small guitars when we relaxed and enjoyed the view and the beers.


Charlie

Day 31: Cameras and Quito

Woke up this mornin and Joe realised that he left his camera on the plane. (I told yee lads, if only yee had yeere eye patches and sleeping bags in Montevideo and got some rest yee wouldn be loosing all yeere stuff). Myself and Joe headed back to the airport to collect the camera. Charlie decided to reacquaint himself with a long lost friend called bed, no point in all of us traipsing across. Transport in Quito is so cheap. The currency here in US dollars so its easy to work out if you’re getting a deal or not. No messing around we decided to get a taxi across. $5 for a half an hour taxi ride to the airport. After a while of searching around we finally found the Taca airline office who said: ´We try to ring Mr Dooley but there is no answer´, so they obviously tried to ring home because I had booked the three tickets on my credit card but Mam and Dad must have been out golfing. We were all pretty happy to have the camera back because its the one with all of our best photos on it. On the way back we decided to be a bit more adventurous and try to hale a bus. Because Quito is in a valley with mountains on either side its pretty to find your way around, It’s either north or south. With Kilian and Marys present of a little compass we could easily tell what side of the road to be on, stuck out our hands and the first bus stopped (by stopped I mean slowed down to 30mph and we jumped on for 25c which took us all the way back to the hostel. The bus was full with school children and old women, not dodgy at all. My advice to people in Quito is to get taxis at night, these buses during the day and stay the hell off the trams, you’ll see why further on.

Came back to the hostel and grabbed Charlie who said he was woken up about 4 times by the staff trying to put people in our beds. They aren’t the most organised bunch of people working here so they don’t really know how many days you’ve booked in for. Went to the Statue on the top of the only hill in the middle of the valley overlooking Quito of the Virgin of Quito. Joe had to tell everyone he met randomly in the hostel that it doesn’t take 30min to get to the statue before he could talk to them because he lost the bet. If I lost I would have had to pay for the taxi, I was pretty confident though. The view from the statue was spectacular. Quito is so unlike any other city ive seen so high up but yet down in a crater surrounded by volcanoes and mountains.

Had Grub in the Hostel at 7 when we got back. They do a nice dinner but it is expensive compared to the local area. Its convenient though and there is an open air roof top bar here overlooking the whole of the old town in Quito with the best view in town, so everyone just gathers here for some grub and a few beers. Talked to a group of US lads "Chris Matt, Adrian and Julia" who told us about this climb they were going to do. The climb of all climbs, the mother of all mountains, not just any mountain, a volcano, and not just any volcano, the highest volcano in south America, the highest active volcano in the World. We all said it at the same time.... We gotta do this. And so it developed, TEAM IRELAND would race TEAM AMERICA to the top of Mount Cotopaxi.

Having such success with the Irish pub in Rio and having no clue where to go out, we decided to hit the Irish pub. "Finn Mc Cools". One of the German girls Anna joined us, seeing as we sold it so well. Luke wouldn join because he was tired which we slagged him for later. Luke is from Melbourne and will be a big part or this blog for the next 5 days.


IRISH PUB (WOO BOO BBOO BOO BOOP PooP)

Great crack in the Irish pub. Ended up getting to know all of the staff and the owner Ursula. Told her all about our Cotopaxi expedition plans and immediately she wanted in. She wanted to sponsor the whole of team Ireland to make it to the top. Charlie started to hammer out the deal. A free round of pints tonight, free stew when we came back down, another round of free pints, Finn Mc Cools would put on a rerun of the all-Ireland that we were going to miss while up there and put up our names behind the bar. In return we had to make it to the top with the flag that Finns gave to us, signed by all of us and TEAM AMERICA (BOOO!!!) and our guides (TEAM ECUADOR).
I think we did well. This is why I brought Charles on the trip. In the end Eimear from behind the bar had to kick us out at 10 minutes past late.

Day 30 (Part 2) : Quito

We got into the Old town on the next bus and made our way to our hostel, the Secret Garden. When we got there the hostel reception was on the fifth floor! After all of our travelling for the last few days we weren´t too happy about climbing the steps to the top floor! But the view more than made up for that!

The fifth floor of the Secret Garden is a terrace with a reception, bar, kitchen and an amazing view right over Quito! We checked in with the guy behind the desk whos name was Marco. We checked in and pretty much hit the beds to catch up on yesterdays sleep!

We got up after a couple of hours and hit the bar upstairs again for Dinner. Dinner that night was noodles and chicken and was gourgeous... We spent the night on the terrace in ponchos, which the hostel supply, drinking and talking to all the other guests...

We met Sam from Australia who was just starting out his travels in South America after spending a couple of crazy weeks in the US. We met Bianca and Christina from Africa and Sweden. Bianca was telling us how we shouldn´t take malaria tablets in the jungle and that we should just wear long sleeves! Interesting! Her friend Christina went for a walk but didn´t make it to the bottom of the stairs because she fell and twisted her ankle! Not a great start to your trip in Ecuador! We ended up drinking around a wheelbarrow/campfire talking to a group of Americans who we would eventually go to Cotopaxi with and having the craic! Quito was turning out to be a good spot!


Charlie

Day 30 (Part 1) : Flying and Quito

When we got to Lima I searched all over the airport for new eye covers and ear plugs but had no joy. All they sell in the Duty Free in Lima is things made from wool and wood!

I went to the gate where I met Joe but there was no sign of Ro. They started to make the first call for the flight but we just chilled because we always let the crowd through before boarding the plane. After nearly 15mins there was still no sign of Ro. We started to panic a little bit. Joe went down the airport and searched the Duty Free but we couldn´t find him anywhere! Was he already on the plane or asleep somewhere! We went to the gate as they made the final call for the flight! Ronan had not checked through because I had his boarding card so I got the guys behind the desk to make a call for him. I heard the bing bong before the announcement and then I heard Joe shout, "Found him!". Ro was asleep beside the desk across a couple of the chairs! Panic over we got onto the plane and made our two hour flight to Quito.

Quito is a typical South American city, crazy! We got out of the airport and headed to the bus stop to get a bus into town. Soon a bus came by and we hoped on hoping to be dropped off somewhere in the new town! No such luck... This bus was being driven by a man who seriously needed to get to the last stop for some bizarre reason. Quito doesn´t have the widest streets in the world but this guy was still managing 65kmph on small cobbled streets with the bus door wide open! He stopped at one stop as a woman carrying a baby was making her way to the door and he breaked so hard she almost fell out! A quick laugh from the driver and on again!!!

We got to the last stop which looked nothing like the old town. There was a shop and a restaurant and about 5 other buses! This was definetly not Quito city center. The driver shouted something in really fast Spainish and we did what we usually do! Took out the Lonely Planet and pointed to the old town map! Another shout in Spainish before he pointed to the bus in front, then to his watch, then held up five fingers! For those of you not used to travel charades what he really said was,

"Take the bus in front of us in 5 minutes and that should bring you to the old town. Enjoy Quito and have a nice day!"

More to come......


Charlie

You might not hear from us...

Hi guys,

You might not hear from us for the next few days because we´ve an active volcano to conquer. After seeing the girls doing the four peak challenge we really wanted to do something to honour their achievement... So were climbing one of the highest active volcanos in the world. Its actually 5,897m high. Thats 6km, nearly the distance between Ballina and Crossmolina or like running around Eyre Square 11,974 times.

Here´s a picture of our Everest...



We are climbing with (against) some Americans so we have our Irish Flag and were ready to rock the volcano! We´re actually sponsered by Finn McCool´s Irish bar here in Quito and Ursula has promised all of us a big bowl of Irish Stew and a chance to watch the All-Ireland when we come back!!!

Talk to you all next Tuesday...


Charlie

Day 29 : Last day in Uruguay!

After last night it was tough work to get up. Why do they make checkout time in these hostels so damn early (half 10?). I´m seriously thinking of setting up a backpackers union to try get these breakfast and check out times changed. Keep an eye out on Hostelworld.com.

Needless to say we didnt make breaky, or half 10, but we did manage to make it up when we got hungry. Made our own scrambled eggs, the 12 we had bought yesterday was just the right amount. It didn´t take us long to do away with a whole loaf of eggs on toast, a bag of yogurt, a bag of milk and some imitation barrys tea (yes they have bags here instead of cartons.) One of our Uruguayan buddies at the breakfast table offered us money for an egg but Joe being the good samanitan gave him one for free in the true spirit of share-hosteling. Turns out ´Joey dose share food´.

Went for a walk around Montivideo for the last time. Took in some sights, some more Ave. de Mayo and Admeral Brown Photos and then a necessary stop off at el Banko. None of us have any money left after last nigh, still can't figure out why! I know the rule is ´No McDs´but today was an exception. Charlie, the oficial keeper of the rules, alowed us one last splurge to keep our energy levels up before the long flight to Quito.

Checked out of the hostel about 9pm which only cost us for half a day and made our way to the Aeroporto. Buses are cheap everywhere and we´ve learned to cut out the taxis and to figure out the bus systems. We´re a little to good at it now though and ended up 3hours early for our flight. The lads were jelous of my sleeping bag and eye mask cause I slept like a baby in the departures area right up until check in. Ro´s travel tip of the day: get people to buy you a tiny sleeping bag before you go round the world cause theyre awsome. The first thing charlie did in duty free was buy an eye mask which he then thought he lost and had all of the cabin crew looking for but actually still had in has bag. Sleep is a presious comodity.

Rules help control the fun!

Hey,

Read our new rules section at the bottom of the Blog. These are rules that we have made during the last few weeks. If you wanna comment, an explaination or want to add more rules give me a shout...


Charlie

Day 28 : History, Arsenal and Montevideo

We got up early to check out and explore the town. Colonia is a really old town which has been marked as a World Heritage Sight by UNESCO. It was founded in 1680 and used by the Portugese to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires. The Spainish were not really happy with this and they started to attack the town regularly. The town continually changed hands between the Spainish and the Portugese for the next few years.

The historical quarter of the town is really good just to walk around and just take in the sights. There is a small pier/dock and there was a yacht race on so there was some beautiful ships moored. On the other side of the town there is a museum dedicated to Admiral Brown who is also pretty popular in Uruguay because he attacked the Spainish on numerous occasions up the Rio de Plata. The lighthouse is probably the best feature of the town and you can climb to the top for a great view of the historic quarter.

After a couple of hours of walking around we headed back to the hostel. Ro was on the computer checking times for the bus to Montevideo and I was just flicking through the channels when what did I find but the Arsenal v Blackburn game! In the courtyard of a small hostel, on the other side of the world I watched Arsenal beating Blackburn 4-0 and I was really happy with my days work. I could have stayed there for the day but we ended up having to catch a bus to Montevideo to catch our flight the next day.

The bus to Montevideo takes about two and a half hours. The countryside was really like home with huge green fields full of cattle and huge planted forests. Of course we slept for most of the journey.

We arrived in Montevideo totally lost. Seriously we had a map but we were about 2km off it. So Ronan got out his compass and using our old boys scouts training we started out for the hostel. After about 45mins we arrived at the Montevideo hostel. (Again, the amount of effort they put into naming these hostels is amazing!)

Montevideo Hostel is a huge old style town house with a 40ft spiral stair case. Montevideo (or this hostel) are not really popular with the Gringo trail so it was full of Spainish, Australians, and locals. The receptionist did not speak a word of English which was a weird experience for us! Finally we got the room and settled in for some food. Joe took to the cooking with Ro´s help and we sat into a delicious Spaghetti with over a pound of meat! You´d know Ro did the shopping. We also got a litre and a half bottle of wine to get the night going...

After dinner we got ready to go out. (See Rule 2) We got talking to two guys called Fabio and Nick. Fabio was a Brazilian who had done a couple of years in the US and he was travelling for a while through Uruguay and Argentina. Nick was a dessert farmer from outside Perth. His family have farms all over South Western Austrailia, some of which are over 600km apart. Thats a long way to go to count a few sheep!! Nick had been travelling for over two and a half years all over the US and South America.

We all headed into town and went to the Shannon Irish Bar. It was so bad we didn´t even buy a pint. So we went across to the Pony Nightclub. (Again, who the hell do they get to name these places!!!) Pony was small but there was a really cool atmosphere and a really great band. But the highlight of the night was the old guy who could balance a glass on his head while dancing to crazy music. That was until he dropped the glass over a bunch of girls and then we lost all respect for him!!!


Charlie

Day 27 : Missed Boats and Uruguay!

Today we had to get up early to catch the boat to Montevideo at 11:30. This is tough taking the Argentinian lifestyle into account and was made even more difficult by the fact that we were out drinking until about 6:00. We got to the boat terminal at about 25 minutes past eleven but they wouldn´t let us on the boat because we had not gone through customs! With our rucksacks and our hungover heads we sat and planned our next move. Joe was given the task of getting us on a boat to Uruguay and did pretty well considering the state of us. He even managed to get a first class ticket for himself!

We headed back to the Millhouse and had some breakfast and talked to all the guys we´d met last night. Ro slept, Joe Skyped and I just walked around the centre of Buenos Aires for a couple of hours. I walked the Av Florida and it was just like walking Henry Street or Shop Street in Galway. Shops, cafes and cobbled streets marked the pedestrian areas with huge monuments at every junction. I walked through the Galerias Pacifico and seen the amazing high ceilings painted with fantastic frescos. Not only were the ceilings high, so were the prices. There was nothing but jewelry shops and high end clothes shops with one tee-shirt I looked at costing just over €100. Not something you wanna bring backpacking with you!

We headed back to the boat at about 7pm that night and made the one and a half hour trip to Colonia. The boat was like a hotel with really comfortable seats, even in the economy section. Joe had his first class ticket and said to me and Ro, "I´ll meet you back here in a couple of minutes. I´ll check it out and come back to you." Safe to say we didn´t see Joe again until we got off the boat in Uruguay!

When we got to Colonia it was night time so we couldn´t see much of the town. We walked to our brilliantly named hostel, Hostel Colonia, and checked in for the night. The hostel is nice and large but it is like a really old hotel. We had our own room but there could probably have been another 8 beds in there! For dinner we went to a steak house to test out the local cuisine. (We are coming something of steak experts here in South America.) The restaurant was called Reimporte. We settled into three big lumps of meat, I had the Lomo (Tenderloin) and the lads had the Vacio (Flank). The meal was great but then we got the bill! $830! This couldn´t be right! We were eating in Argentina for $40peso per person a night!

The bill was in Uruguay currency which is crazy! Everything is in hundreds! The bill in Argentinian Peso was only 140peso which was really good value considering the steaks and the wine that we had!!! We headed back to the beds in the aptly named Hostel Colonia and slept like babies!


Charlie

Day 26 : Graveyards and Club 69

Today was our visit to the Recolata Cementery and the area of Palermo. We caught the bus from the hostel and made our way to Palermo. The cemetery was huge and in a really nice area of Buenos Aires. There are some famous old graves in the cemetry and you get a map when you go in to see all the famous graves. The woman on the gate was delighted that we were from Ireland and was quick to point out the graves of Admiral Brown and his buddy Father Fahy.

Of course these were the first graves we went to. Admiral Brown was the founder of the Argentinian Navy and is a national hero in Argentina. Father Fahy was a good friend of his and they are placed looking across at each other in the graveyard. The graveyard holds some really important graves like former presidents, all of Argentina´s Nobel prize winners, Government officals and probably the most important the grave of Evita Peron. There was nothing but flowers on the grave and crowds of people there. All the graves are crypts with stairwells downstairs where the bodies are held. There are actually some where you can see the cofins at the bottom of the crypt. Some have actual churches as part of the crypt while others have huge statues dedicated to the person. Recolata is actually a non denominal graveyard which means there are people of all religions buried here and also a church where some people get married so they can be close to their relatives. Crazy stuff...

We tried to head to the La Cabrera steakhouse because it came highly recommended but there was a waiting list and we had to wait for 4 hours. Not the best thing to tell a hungry Joe and Ro. We headed down the street and ended up in an all you can eat steakhouse! You buy a menu for $34 and then you order what ever you want off the menu. A great spot except we didn´t have a clue how to use it and thought we were gonna be charged a huge amount for the dinner! We will have to go back some day and eat our worth!!!

That night we went back to the hostel where I met Seamus Lynott, another lad from Crossmolina! This is one small world! Seamus was heading back to BA just to get a passport which he lost in Boliva and then he was heading onto LA. He had great advice for us on New Zealand and other places and it was amazing to meet him!

We all headed to Club Nicete where a local drama club take it over and put on a show on stage for the whole club. We had a great night with loads of people in the hostel... Our last night in BA was a really amazing one!!!


Charlie

Day 25 : Curry, Matches and Bag Packing!

Today was a rest day after last night. Luckily there was plenty of sport on today as the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers were being shown in the Hostel. We all got up and headed to the TV room where we met Paul and a good group all down watching the England match. We watched Walcott destroy Croatia and kept an eye on the Ireland game over the internet.

We decided to eat in the Hostel that night because they were serving curry and then showing the Argentina game on a large screen in the bar. We enjoyed the curry and settled in for the night, hitting the bed early (2am, early in BA) after our previous nights exploits!

When we got to the room our other room mate, the lovely Isreaeli Evital, came back really disappointed! She was gonna to have to leave the party room (as she called it!) This meant she had to pack tonight for the morning and needed to turn on the light. Me and Ro were still awake so she asked us to help her to decide what to pack. I thought my bag was heavy but this girl had bag after bag full of stuff. She had absolutely everything you would ever need travelling. Not only had she lots of clothes but she had two of most things. Her reason was if she seen something nice she would buy two just in case she lost the first one.

She had three piles on the floor. One for charity, one for sending items back home by post and a last pile for going into the rucksack. We went through everything. She had a big knife in her bag, a present for her brother! She had tee-shirts from probably everything that she had seen along the way! She had two pairs of everything! Shorts, belts, glasses! Crazy stuff. After an hour or so of sorting, packing, repacking, modeling and repacking she was down to one large rucksack, a small pile for charity and a carry bag full of stuff to send home. I rolled over and fell asleep, knowing that my good deed for that day was done!!!


Charlie

Day 24 Hospitals and Face Painting!

Today started off like any other in the Milhouse. After a few late beers the night before we were flat out asleep in our beds before the cleaners come in and ask do we want our room cleaned in the fastest Spainish I have ever heard. I agree the speed of their speech might have something to do with the alcohol taken on board the night before but the ladies would get the usual grunts and then a quick, "Non, grassy ass!" Seriously our Spainish is improving!

Ronan wasn´t feeling the best today so we decided to go to the doc. We all felt a bit sick after the 18 hour bus journey and then the soaking that we got at the match but Ro had a head cold and wasn´t feeling 100% and so decided it was best to nip it in the bud before it got any worse.

We went to reception and they suggested that we go to the hospital! A bit extreme we thought for a head cold but the receptionist explained that the doctor will charge for the callout, charge Ro extra because he is not a regular customer, charge extra for the drugs and probably send him to the hospital anyway. So the three of us set out across town on the subway. We were told to go to accident and emergency and wait there.... Disaster. We´ve all experienced this before in Ireland where you are sitting for nearly an hour before you fill out a form, never mind see a doctor but we got a ticket after some early questions and got to see the general doctor after a few minutes. He checked Ro out and he got the proper meds for the cold. Went to the chemist and filled the persciption and all done. I´d say it took about 30 mins. Amazing! All this for 150peso. It would have been cheaper as well if Ro was a member of the hospital! Ro sorted we headed back to the hostel.

Dinner tonight was back in the all you can eat across the road with two lads who were travelling on their own. Paul from Mountbellu (Don´t start!!) and Neil from Engerland. I just can´t spell place names. Again we ate above and below us all for 23peso. We headed back to the hostel and Ro went to bed and myself and Joe got ready for a night on the town...

Bahrain is a drum and bass club in town and it was a crazy spot. Again, they also used the order at till get a slip and go to the bar and hand it to the barman. The barman will then ask you what you want to drink, even though it is on the slip! The man that invented this would want to made us it! We met loads from the hostel including Amy, Liz and the guys from Bebo and a friend of Aiden O´Donnell (A lad from Crossmolina) from Dublin with his friend and the accountants.

We had a great night, there was face painting, dancing and just great craic. At 6:30 in the morning the nightclub finished and decided we would walk home. It took us an hour and a half to get back. We were asking for directions to the hostel with face paint all over us. Just made it back to the hostel in time for the breakfast and some sleep!!!

I love Buenos Aires...


Charlie

Follow us!

Hi Guys,

We´ve added a new followers widget on the left hand side of the Blog. This will allow you to follow us using the Dashboard section of your Blogger account. If you have a Gmail you can use your username and password from that. (Gmail and Blogger are both supplied by Google) All it really means is that you will appear on the Blog list and you will be able to automatically access our blog from the Dashboard of your Blogger account under the Blogs I am Following section. Leave comments for me if you find this useful. Thanks again for reading and apologies about the lack of posts the last few days. We´ve just been really busy with stuff. (Drinking, eating massive steaks, catching boats and planes!)


Charlie

Four Peaks Challenge

Best of luck to Nicola, Carmel, Naofa & the rest of the team in the Four Peaks Challenge this weekend.

Give it socks lads!

Joe, Ro & Charlie

Day 23 - La Boca

Spent the day walking around the famous Boca district of the City. This is where the original port of Buenos Aires was based & locals would build their houses from bits of old shipwreckes. In an effort of make the area more presentable the government would paint the houses bright colours & the area became famous for this reason. Some of the old style houses are still on show today.

The Boca neighbourhood is also home to the famous Boca Juniors Football Club, this was Maradona´s stomping ground for his first & last two professional seasons & he still has his own private box here today. We got a quick tour to have a look at the famous ground, love to see a game here!

More steaks tonight back at Desnival, we´re gonna be on a first name basis here by the end of the week!!

Who´s your Daddy!

Joe

Day 22 - Steak, Steak & more Steak!

Yes the day has finally come, we get to have our first Argentine Zebu steaks in Buenos Aires! These tropical cattle are actually sacred in India & now I see why - because they´re absolutely delicious!!

Here´s our Dinner some time last week!

We headed down to the famous Desnival Steak House at nearly 11pm in proper Argentine dining tradition. Dinner was 3 of the biggest, juicy & most expensive tenderloin steaks on the menu - swimming in home made gravy (or juice as my dad would call it!) , savage!

There was a sing song back at the hostel with a local band. We stayed around the hostel bar for the night which ended up closing at half2 instead of 5am because of noise complaints - not happy! So much for BA´a premier party hostel!! Good craic all the same...back to our 4 bed dorm room that we´re sharing with one other very strange Spainish girl!

Joe

Day 21 - Buenos Aires is Baltic!

Arrived in BA at 10am & it´s absolutely freezing! Some shock to the system after Rio, it´s like being back in Europe somewhere! But happy to be here all the same especially since we sorted 3 tickets to the Argentina game, happy days!

We´re staying in the Milhouse Hostel, right slap bam in the middle of Buenos Aires on Ave de Mayo! They seem to be big fans of Admiral Brown here considering they named one of their main streets after his native county & hundreds more across Argentina!

The hostel is really nice one of the best so far, but its well known for the mighty craic! We bumped into people from the hostels in Florianpolis & Iguazu straight away, this really is the gringo trail!

We dropped our bags, had a few beers & left for the game at 1pm. The football is being played in the River Plate stadium in north BA. Its a full house today with 70,000 fans braving the wind & rain in a stadium with no roof! The guides brought us into the tourist section of the ground 3hrs before kickoff! The tourist sections are usually safer but there´s not as much atmosphere & everything costs twice the price! But lucky for us the police decided to kick us out of that section & put in Paraguay fans instead, so we got thrown in with the real home fans!

Teams line out

The atmosphere was tense before the game, Paraguay are sitting in the top spot at the moment followed by Argentina so today´s a real grudge match. Messi & the other starting 10 took a walk on the pitch an hour before kickoff & the crowd went wild! Messi seems to be a god here.

The talent on show today includes: Messi, Tevez, Heinze, Zanetti, Mascherano, Riquelme & Agüero for Argentina & Santa Cruz for Paraguay not too shabby!!

There was four yellows in the first 20mins. Argentina dominated play but then a counter attack from Paraguay & Heinze made a horrible error clashing with the keeper. 1-0 to Paraguay after 15mins & the keeper was in bits, nice one Heinze! Then Tevez who was putting in a man of the match performance got a harsh straight red after half an hour. Argentina now down to 10 men & the back up keeper.

Tevez getting sent off! Harsh!
Argentina made a few important changes at half time, Diaz for Henize & Agüero for Maria. Things soon changed Messi came to life & played a one two with Riquelme & set up Agüero to slot home a cracker after 60mins (1-1). Paraguay looked strong throughout but Argentina had all the chances at the end, with Coloccini missing an absolute sitter! The weather was a real let down today but the football & atmosphere were top class. These South American´s really love their football!


Three cold dedicated fans!

Big night planned tonight, we´re heading to Buenos Aires´s biggest nightclub tonight - Pascha with a gang from the hostel. We´re not leaving for the club until 1:30am & it closes sometime around breakfast!

Joe

Day 20 - Vamous!

Chilled out today justed played pool & table tennis, not much choice considering the torrential rain hammering down outside! Iguazu Falls are amazing but there is nothing else to do here besides hang out at the hostel!

Gotta catch are bus to Buenos Aires today at 3pm, another 18hrs trip. At this stage we´re pretty resigned to the fact that its nearly impossible to sleep on a bus, no matter how many positions you try!

We just reliased there´s no football league fixtures the whole time we´re down there but Argentina are playing Paraguay tomorrow in the World Cup qualifers. I´m pretty sure the game it sold out but we´re gonna try our hardest to get tickets even if we have to buy them from touts at the stadium.

The Argentinian buses lived up to all the hype today, we keep hearing stories about how great they are. Our bus was basically a double-decker plane on wheels & we´re in first class!! You get dinner & desert served to you in your massive reclining armchair seat while watching movies. After a few beers, we were served champagne! Ro looked at me laughing ¨....this backpacking´s a hard life isn´t it!¨




















Joe

Bye Bye Beards!

The beards passed away peacefully on the evening of the 5th of September. Their remains were reposing in the sink of room 30 in the Hostel Inn, Puerto Iquazu for about 30 minutes. They will be fondly remembered and missed!!!

The beards are gone! Don´t cry but they had to go! In the last hostel we were in they had a conversation about who looked most like a terrorist and I came second! On the Argentinian border the security guard took about two minutes looking at me in the back of the car asking, "¿Charles, Charles?"

Eighties night in the hostel!

Don't worry I'll never grow a moustace!

Charlie

Pictures again!

Again, the hostel have restricted the computers so we cannot add them to the Blog. Its not as if we are so lazy that we aren´t adding them! Once we get somewhere we can add them we´ll make an effort to put them up!


Charlie

Day 19 : The falls!

We arrived in the National Park of Iquazu early in the morning ready for a day of looking at water falls. To be honest, I thought I would get bored pretty quickly! Honestly how many waterfalls can you look at in one day. Once you´ve seen one they all pretty much look the same, right?! I was pretty far wrong!

The falls are absolutely amazing! (I say that quite a lot on this Blog!) There are a few different trails you can take to see all sides of the waterfalls. The first trail is an upper trail which brings you along the top of some of the water falls. This was a really cool perspective but what we all really wanted was to be at the bottom to feel the power of the falls. The sun was in the sky and there was rainbows created everywhere with the haze coming off the falls. A really beautiful sight!

The lower trail is the one everyone raves about and rightly so! You get so close to one of the falls that you get absolutely soaked. Ronan was prepared because he was wearing his swimming shorts and had a dry tee-shirt in the bag! Me and Joe didn´t have a towel between us!

Three of us standing beside one of the falls

Ronan was very happy to be there!

The next section of the trip was a boat ride. This was the part I was looking forward to the most. The boat is a huge speed boat with two 150HP engines.

Nothing like Lough Conn!

The trip takes you into a waterfall and brings you as close as you can safely get. We got soaked as the powerful mist from the waterfall hit us with such force that it almost hurt at times. Then the boat sped down the river towards Garganta del Diablo or the Devil´s throat! This was amazing! (Again!)

Joe and the Devils Throat

Rainbow Joe

Ro decides he wants to go for a swim

We got really close to the bottom of the falls where we couldn´t even turn to face it the force was so strong! We were brought back to the dock as wet as ducks! We walked back to the train station and got the train over to the walkway that leads you over the Garganta del Diablo. Again, amazing! This is a one and a half kilometer walk over walkways which go the whole way across the rivers and over the fall! The views from the end platform of the falls are astonishing, astounding, fantastic, phenomenal, stupendous and marvelous! (I couldn´t use the word amazing again!) We spent about 45mins taking pictures and just watching the falls before heading back to the train and then eventually the hostel. Overall a wonderfully wet visit to the falls and highly recommended to anyone!

We went back to the hostel and settled in for the night with the guys and had some food and beer. Another great day in Argentina!


Charlie

Day 18 : Border Crossing and Puerto Iguazu

We finally arrived in Foz de Iguazu on the Brazilian side of the river. We were fairly tired after the long and cold bus journey. Our first problem was trying to get to the Argentinian side of the falls where our hostel was. We got into town on the bus and paid a taxi to bring us through the border.

At the border you can get your Passport stamped with Brazilian exit stamps. However, you need a form you filled out in the airport. We needed a form which we filled out 17 days ago!!! Of course, Joe had the form but me and Ro didn't. We played dumb, saying we lost the forms, and got them to stamp our passports anyway.

Next to the Argentina border... I was sitting in the back of the taxi and when we got to the border the security guard was looking in the back of the car for Charles! At that moment, I knew the beard had to go!!!

We got our stamps and arrived at the Hostel Inn in Puerto Iguazu. This was not like any other hostel we had ever stayed in. I've stayed in many hotels travelling through Ireland but this place was as good as a three star! The hostel is on 3 hectares of land. It was a former casino but there was an economic downturn here in the 90s (according to Joe) and the casino had to close. Seeing the huge number of back packers coming to the waterfalls Hostel International took over the casino and changed it into a hostel, and they did a great job!

The reception area is huge, with pool tables, foozball tables, couches, tv rooms, a bar and a concierge! Out the front there is a huge pool and another bar! We got our own 4 bed dorm with our own toilet! All this for 36 peso a night. (That's e8.17!)

We headed to town and walked all over. We walked by the huge Rio de Iquazu. We finally reached the point where the three countries meet (Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay) and met a guy who took a load of pictures for us. We watched the sun setting over Paraguay and got the bus back to the hotel. (Sorry, hostel!)

When we got back Joe and Ro's dreams came true! There was an all you can eat BBQ that night for 25 peso, e5.68. Unbelievable! We sat in to eat and the food was amazing. Bean salads, rice, potatoes, beetroot (Ro's favourite!) and lots of other vegtable salads. However, the real interest was the meat. All kinds of cuts of beef, cooked to perfection on the BBQ. Steaks, cooked chicken and even sausages!

Happy Joe!

We ate and drank till we couldn't eat or drink anymore! Then the entertainment started. At first I thought it was just some guy playing a drum who would come around to us after and ask us for money, but no! He had two samba dancers hidden inside for our enjoyment! He brought Ronan up on stage and let him watch the dance up close and personal.

Ro thought her outfit was amazing!

Ronan enjoyed the cultural experience and really got into it. Then everyone had to join in! It ended up with everyone up dancing samba like we'd been doing it all our life!


Joe doing Limbo!

Get me outta this!

Raise your hand if you like samba!

Again, we're worried about Joe!

We ended up drinking with a group of guys and girls from England, Scotland and Ireland and had a great night until 5 o'clock that morning!

Like we needed to play a drinking game!

Already Argentina was living up to the reputation. Great hostels, brilliant craic, crazy dancing and late nights! Not to mention the meat! We knew we were going to like it here!!

Charlie

Day 17 : Bye Bye Brazil, Hello Bus!

The honesty system that the hostel used to control the amount of drink that is sold would not work too well in Ireland, or anywhere there are drunk people for that matter. There was 39 cans of beer missing, fags, sandwiches and other random stuff! Not the best advertisment for the honesty system.

Today was another slow day because we had a huge journey ahead of us to Argentina. A 16hour bus journey followed by a border crossing from Brazil to Argentina. We left the Backpackers and headed to the bus station.

The bus was an old crock and not as comfortable as the one we got from Rio. We couldn't sleep and the bus was freezing... It was a long, long journey...


Charlie

Day 16 : Hungover Day

The party finished up with everyone heading to the beach for a big game of soccer and a few more `quiet` cans. I woke up this morning with a can of beer under my pillow and half the beach in my sandels and clothes. Ro had the other half in his.

Joe & Ro were determined to cure their hangovers with action and hit the beach and ocean. I chose different and made the most of the bed... When the lads came back we didn`t do much really, just enjoyed our last night in the Ilha Santa Carolina.

We headed back to the hostel and got some great food and a couple of beers and enjoyed the movie, City of God. It was a weird sensation watching it cause I felt every single person in the room felt the same as me... Hungover!

Long bus journey tomorrow to Argentina...


Charlie

Day 15: Hostel Party

Still had the car for until half 3. So we made sure that we got our moneys worth. Car was a Fiat Fire not unlike the old 98 Punto that Joe used to have so he was feeling a bit nostalgic. Good times.

Sand-doon surfing (awsome/ just like snow boarding), Body boarding, Surfing (all gear is free with the hostel)- Good hostel / bad surf gear

It was the Hostels 5th anniversary so the biggest night in its history was planned. Lets just say it didn´t disappoint. The hostel has an honor system in place where you take a beer from the fridge yourself and mark it on a black board that you´ve taken it. Works really well because a stock take is done at the end of every night and beer not accounted for on the board is divided and payed for by each individual as they check out, so the peer pressure makes you write it up on the board. The only down side is that everyone can see what everyone else has had to drink so some immature people take this as like some sort of score board and made a competition out of it. thankfully we were mature enough to rise above this!!!!!!!!!!!!

* Some Text Missing *

Day 14: Florianopolis

Arrived off the Bus at 11am. Immediately a rep with a hostel international t-shirt spots us with the back packs. Straight over to us with the brochure of the hostel we had already booked and offered us a direct taxi to the door for a very good price. while i haggled with him for the best price, Charlie hands me the instructions and directions to the Hostel. The first line read: Go straight past the hustlers when go get off the bus. Sorry dude! just saved 80R there. the bus cost 2.50 each.

First thing we did after we got settled in the hostel was rent a car 70R (30euro) for the day. Saw all 18 beaches on the Island, and really got a good feel for the lifestyle here, Chilled rich Surfers and backpackers. The beaches make this Island look like Paradise.

Day 13: Long Bus Trip

Beach again today. I could get used to this. I might even think we´re all getting a smidgen of colour. Then we get to the beach and we´re still the whitest people there. One last swim in the sea, one more freckle on my back and we say good-bye to the Rio sand and set off to the bus station for the second time. It´s time to start the traveling.

This time there were no mistakes. Flawless. 18 hours on the bus was going to be glorious. Loads of leg room. two seats to every person. A bag full of sweets and the ipods charged to the last, 20min stops every two hours... Easy!

Oh ya: Joe got off the bus at one of the stops with myself and Charlie asleep ta relieve himself (tiny bladder, poor little fella) and then when he came back the bus had left, gone! Stuck in the middle of nowhere just outside Sao Paulo in the middle of the night an innocent young Gringo with red hair would only have lasted mere hours had he not realised that the bus had gone over to the refueling station. The two of us on the buss oblivious to his where abouts gave him no chance. We both got woken up by Joe kissing us on the forehead and the floor of the bus.

Finaly, the luck was turning our way!

Day 12

Up early and straight to the beach. First time we have made breakfast in this hostel. This time I picked the spot on the beach so we didn’t end up in the section with the rainbow flag. This time we ended up in the poster pin up section. We all agreed that Charlie wasn’t aloud pick our spot on the beach any more. We hit the waves for a couple of hours getting churned up like a rag doll in a washing machine, deadly craic. Bit of sun bathing our dazzling white boddies and it was time to head for the station. Packed up all our stuff and bused it to the main station, bit of a run down Kip but we getting quite good at the old public transport now.

Ronan: Three tickets to florianopolis please
Ticket lady: blue blue bla gobbledy gook No Bus
Charlie: She doesn understand you Ro
Charlie: Traise tickets to florianopolis please pour favour (insert hand movements and sign language)
Ticket lady: blue blue bla gobbledy gook No Bus
Translation: The bus left at half 3 and in any case it was full so you need to book in advance
Joe/ Ro / Charlie: !@#$%¨&* Doh!

This time a few quiet beers were in order. Checked into a different hostel in Ipamema, the Adventure Hostel. Very nice, clean, good breakfast, sound people. Went around the corner to the nearest bar to get some grub and a glass of beer and of course Charlie ran into someone from Crossmolina. Kelly-ann Herr and her boy friend Declan. Joe wasn’t surprised he’d come accross this before. got great advise off both and stayed there for the rest of the night.


What´s that card she´s Holding?

Day 11: Sleep

Today we slept until 6pm. That’s pretty late seeing as check out is at 12 and we need to get a bus to Florinopolus Today. The receptionist informed us that there is only one bus a day and that leaves at half 4....... Dam! Just about missed it. Not too bad.... A chillin day, I mean night.

Father Ted Soccer!

Hey,

Was at a match in Rio and at half time you usually just grab a beer and a hotdog but there was a match going on with some old guys playing. I took a video of one of them warming up on the sideline.

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=cAWnJd3SMu0

Do you remember the episode of Father Ted with the old guys playing soccer... This must have been the inspiration!!

Charlie

Day 10 (Continued): Irish Pub

"down to the Irish bar for a few last quiet pints before we leave Rio" . .................... I told Charlie not to jinks us by writing that. I had an Idea those last few pints wouldn be so quiet.

Ended up headin to our local Irish pub `Shinanigans` for one. Just because we were getting home sick for a proper pint glass and maybe meet up with some other Irish travellers. The pub was full but we were the only Irish there. Soon one pint became two and we ended up paying into a pool tournament with a big group of the pubs local husslers. Charlie our biggest hope went down to a very aggressive lad in a pink shirt who persisted in clenching his fists and whining about charlie and the way he didn follow the American rules of pool. Meanwhile, the pints kept on going down and we knoticed a man enter the competition who looked exactly like Bill Gates. He had his own queue and swet band, and seemed to know all of the staff and people in the bar. We joked about who´d have to play this guy.
I´m the next up so I better have a slash to prepare. In the toilets Bill comes in. Not to go to the toilet, not to blow his nose but to take his own soap out off his pocket to wash his hands and splash water on his face. Eyeing himself up in the mirror as if he wanted to start a fight with himself he adjusted his wrist bands and shouted at himself. Thats right i got to play him. The ref was laughing at me. I nearly took him but I think the beer got the better of me and he beat me on the black. (perpect photo opp and a chance once more to get the MagnaDry name out there and a possible contract with Bill Gates)

Charlie, Nic, Bill (Gates), Myself & Joe
Whats that in my hand?

Joe with a few more pints in him didn do so well (sorry Joe my turn to write the blog)

After that we made friends with every person in the pub. 8 of us climbed into a small taxi and with my feet out the window we made our way to the late bar.

What are those cards We´re Holding?

Here we met our Spanish friends from the Scuba-diving in Ile Grande. Its amazing how small the world is! a few Caprianis (Rum an crushed Limes) (which Charles forced me to drink) later we arrived back in the Hostel at !@#$%¨&* Am or Pm I cant remember.

(CHARLIE- It didn´t take much convincing Ro!)