March 27th, Bogota Colombia
Tomorrow we head back to London! I am so excited to go home and see all my peeps and eat familiar food most of all. Here is a recap of our most memorable moments.
Twilight zone moment
We got given a bag of free cocaine with our change at an ice cream shop in Cartagena Colombia, which was full of families in the middle of the afternoon. I thought it was sugar.
Funniest moment
Donde esta Walter?! Bus ride from Cuzco Peru to Puno when an old man named Walter got off the bus in the middle of the night and every one shouted for him for 30 minutes, no idea where he was. And then he sauntered into the bus with no explanation.
Painful moment
Day 1 of the Inka trail at Machu Picchu, realising we didn't have stamina or fitness and it was only day 1.
Backpacker moment
Arriving at our hostel in Iguanas House Cartagena Colombia and realising this wasn't our usual 'upper end' hostel.
Desperate moment
For Bernie, it was the surfing lesson in Rio de Janeiro because he couldn't do it and was so exhausted much before me (he couldn't fathom it). For me it was day 2 of the Inka trail - the 20 minutes it took me to conquer the 5 minute remaining walk up to the highest peak.
Frustrating moment
Our bags not arriving to Cuzco Peru on day 1 of our trip! The speaking to airlines and airport authorities were part of the frustration.
Ripped off moment
Waiting to board our bus to Puno and realizing it didn't exist. Thanks to the random Colombian couple we me who helped us, otherwise we'd be another 80 soles short!
Blonde moment
Thinking our guide's pronunciation of island as 'Iceland' meant we were actually going to see people living on floating bits of ice. And hearing 'llama hospidade' as hospital, and believing that we were going to visit hundreds of sick llamas in a hospital.
Unexpected moment
Being invited to a secret desert party in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. It was definitely one of the coolest parties ever.
Surprise moment
Toss up between Valentine's Day and tarantula in our room. In Mendoza Argentina at 12 am on Valentine's Day, Bernie surprised me with wine, chocolates, chocolate ice cream and chocolate cookies. For the hawk eyes that I am, I didn't suspect a thing and I loved it. The tarantula was a surprise because we didn't expect to encounter one in our room in Puerto Iguazu Argentina.
Overrated moment
Carnival and the street parties in Rio, Brazil. It was expensive, crowded and the street parties were more a gathering of extremely drunk Brazillian youth, not really a party we could join. The actual Carnival parade was awesome, but because there's no audience participation it started getting repetitive by the end. Definitely a once in a lifetime moment being at the Sambadrome, maybe we bigged it up a bit too much.
Memorable moment
The Inka Trail, Salar de Uyuni tour, Foz de Iguacu and San Jose de Guia beach - we will probably never see sights so beautiful again.