Lil Vietnamese Girls Blog on RealTravel

Puno journal: Lake of Tits and Shit (Lake Titicaca)

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:45:14 GMT

Arrived in Puno after a cramped and hot 6 hour bus ride from Arequipa. The bus almost left without me as I had gotten off to buy some water and snacks. Luckily May and Mateo were onboard screaming to the driver to stop. The main attraction of Puno is Lake Titicaca, the world´s highest freshwater lake at 3780m. I laugh everytime I say the name of the Lake as it literally means Tits and Shit in Spanish...haha! We got a glimpse of it today from the bus and it looks amazing. It´s so big that it looks like the ocean and there are many differnt islands in the lake, including islands made from ...

Arequipa journal: City of White Churches

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:35:30 GMT

We arrived in Arequipa at 5.30am after a sleepless 10 hour bus ride from Cusco. I had almost memorised the lines from Fast and Furious 3 (in Spanish!) as it was playing on a loop during the whole trip. I thought our bus driver was trying to emulate the characters in the movie as he negotiated the twists and turns in the darkness of the Peruvian landscape. We met a cool American gal and followed her to Los Andes Hostal near the Plaza de Armas (which marks the centre of every Peruvian city). I was in a zombie-state and was still suffering from post-Salkantay stomach pains so we waited in ...

Machu Picchu journal: Inca Immersion to Machu Picchu

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:51:14 GMT

Day 1 - Salcantay Trek - It was still dark when we departed our hotel at 4.25am to get in a taxi headed for a bus to take us to Molleplata. The taxi was 15mins early and we had expected to see a bus for 8 people (as we´d been advised by the tour company) rather than a huge bus for about 40. It was the first of many expectations shattered. The taxi ride was pleasant as we met 2 really cool french dudes (they had me at hhhello...). There was a bit of confusion as to seat allocation on the bus and we were literally and physically in the dark as to who our guide was, which group we were in and ...

Cusco journal: Hola Peru!

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:04:27 GMT

It was sad to leave Quito but also great to be on the road again. May and I departed from Quito Mariscal Sucre airport on a plane headed to Lima. We were to transit at Lima airport for 6 hours before boarding another plane for Cusco. LAN airline could not cope with checking our luggage through to Cusco so we had to collect our luggage at Lima, pass it through customs and check it back in. Very frustrating and definitely not a good customer experience...I think LAN needs some management consultants to streamline their processes. I also wasn´t happy to pay $37.90 US for departing ...

Quilotoa journal: There´s no banos like BANOS

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:25:49 GMT

Still catching up on my Ecuador adventures eventhough I´m in Peru now. Hopefully my memories are accurate, if not, refer to the pics on facebook!

My last week in Ecuador was spent exploring the Central SIerra. We (Mayling, Kristina and Katerina from school) took a very early morning bus to Banos. Despite the name of the town (Banos means toilet in Espanol), it is actually a very pretty spa town nestled between lush verdant mountains. It´s apparently a popular weekend destination for local Quitoans as the town contains many thermal hot baths. It was a scenic 3 hour bus ride to Banos ...

Cotopaxi journal: Volcanoes, guinea pigs and cloud forests....just another weekend in Ecuador

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:46:38 GMT

This is going to be a combined entry on my last 3 weekends. I can´t believe I have been in Quito for 4 weeks now! Furthermore my Spanish is still crap..ok, I can understand alot better but my spoken Spanish is far from comprehensible. I really am struggling with the grammar..but I think I will leave that for another entry.

First weekend in Quito I spent climbing (I use this term liberally and extensively to also include crawling, sliding, slipping etc) the 2nd highest volcano in Ecuador aka Cotopaxi. It is also the highest active volcano in the world and for me, the one of the most ...

Quito journal: Hogar Corazon de Maria

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:32:13 GMT

It's 1am now and I have to get up in 5 hours time to head to Otovalo. I'm pretty tired but the music from the club next door is pumping away so loudly that I can't sleep, so might as well try and catch up on my entries. I have been so lazy with the blog, mainly because I have pretty much settled into a routine. I've been in Quito for 3 weeks now! So what have I been up to? Monday to Friday, I volunteer at a nursing home about 40mins by bus from the hostel. The buses are quite confusing as there are no numbers, only a bunch of destinations written on a plaque on the windscreen. By the ...

Quito journal: The land of the Gringos

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 19:35:35 GMT

Mi primera semana en Quito era muy activo! Sorry that's all the espanol I can manage now...it's proving hard to learn when I live in gringoland with a bunch of gringos. So I am settling into life in Quito, I have a great roommate in a nice (Swiss-occupied) house right in the heart of the new town. My schedule for the next 2 weeks is to volunteer at a nursing home in the mornings and spanish lessons in the afternoon. I hope to add salsa lessons sometime in the evenings and weekend excursions to Cotopaxi (this weekend!), the beaches and of course the Amazon.

Quito journal: Breathless in Quito

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 21:54:58 GMT

In Quito now after a 7 hour flight from BA including a half hour layover at Guayaquil, Ecuador´s largest city. I arrived at Quito airport at about 9pm expecting someone from the school to pick me up. There were many people waiting at the airport with name placards but alas, none of them had my name on it. For the first time in my trip, I felt really alone. After briefly considering posing as Donald Russell (one of the names on the placards) I headed to the taxi counter to get a taxi into town. I had highlighted some hostels in the Lonely Planet that were close to the school and decided on ...

Buenos Aires journal: The glorious dead at Recoleta and street tango in San Telmo

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 14:44:40 GMT

This is going to be brief as I am falling asleep at this computer. Today, Regina and I went to the famous Recoleta cemetary. It´s the first time that I have visited a cemetary as a tourist but it had to be done. Recoleta is not just any cemetary, it is an upmarket suburb for the dead. It contains streets of beautifully carved tombs, some decorated with statues and others with church-like domes. Walking around the cemetary and admiring the tombs was so relaxing especially in the warm winter sun. We followed the other tourists to Eva Peron´s tomb. It was very simply decorated compared to ...

Buenos Aires journal: Colourful La Boca

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:32:56 GMT

Day 2 in Buenos Aires was serendipitously spent exploring the the various barrios of Buenos Aires. Regina and I were supposed to go to Colonia, Uruguay but we missed the ferry. We ended up walking around Puerto Madero, the new barrio with fancy restaurants and glitzy office towers next to the port. It reminded me of Canary Wharf in London. We then walked back to the hostel, snapping away at the wonderful buildings including Casa Rosa, the pink presential residencies made famous by Evita Peron as she waved to the adoring crowds in the 1940s. Also went into the Catedral Metropolitana, built ...

Iguazu Falls journal: Waterfalls everywhere!

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 06:35:54 GMT

Thurs evening, 31 May. I was at Retiro bus terminal, one of the biggest bus terminals on the continent. There are about 80 platforms in this terminal and it was quite overwhelming just trying to work out where my bus was departing from. People were rushing about everywhere and eventually I caught hold of an english speaking tourist and he explained that I needed to go to the board with the platform on my ticket and the information would change to indicate the exact platform that my bus would be departing from. Confusing huh? As I walked towards platform 37 - 51 I saw Rodney, the Canadian ...

Colonia del Sacramento journal: Succumb to the charms of Colonia, Uruguay

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 05:49:17 GMT

I´m back in BA now after a 17 hour bus ride from Iguazu...but more on that later. I realise I am a few days behind in my blog so I am taking advantage of the early morning calm at the hostel to try and catch up! BTW, if you ever come to BA you must stay at Hostel Estoril, it feels like home here with really helpful staff and its right in the centre of the city.

Back to the past....Wed 31 May...

Only got about 3 hours sleep before getting up to grab some breakfast and packing for my trip to Iguazu, straight from Colonia. The plan was to spend the day in Colonia, get the 4pm ferry ...

Buenos Aires journal: Let´s Tango in BsAs

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:02:34 GMT

Only my second day in Buenos Aires and I am in love with this city! If I had to choose somewhere to live in South America, this would be it. I´m staying at a great hostel called Hostel Estoril on Av de Mayo which is a great location close to many sights. It has heating which is a great comfort since its about 9 degrees here. Alot of the occupants are studying spanish at the nearby Elebaires school.

The surrounding area has a very European feel with many beautiful old buildings and wide sidewalks. I could be in Vienna or London but then I realise that I don´t understand a word of ...

Valparaiso journal: The hills are alive!

Wed, 30 May 2007 08:24:10 GMT

Keen to get out Santiago, I bought a bus ticket to Valparaiso, a coastal city 2 hours west of Santiago. I was supposed to meet Jo and we were to travel together however I arrived 15mins late and she was nowhere to be seen. I didn´t even take down her email. Jo, in the unlikely event that you read this, send me an email!

Valparaiso, or Valpo as the locals call it is a pretty town dotted with colourful houses among the hundreds of hills that surround the town. Its a home renovators dream with houses decorated with a smorgasboard of colours. The best way to reach these hills is to take ...

Santiago journal: Chilly en Chile

Mon, 28 May 2007 19:31:34 GMT

I made it to Santiago after 15 hours on a cramped and noisy trip from Sydney. The airport was very well organised and laid out, which I didn´t expect. Warning to future travellers, watch out for dodgy taxi representatives. The taxis are not marked and look like normal cars and there is no meter. I wanted to share a cab with a fellow traveller and we were quickly escorted around by a cab representative who quoted 8USD pp for a ride into town. We agreed to this price but upon entering the taxi, he asked us to pay in Chilean pesos and he wanted 15,000 CP each which is equivalent to USD21. ...

Sydney journal: The End and the Beginning

Mon, 28 May 2007 19:30:44 GMT

Sydney Airport. Here again with my family to say farewell. I was in a zombie state after a sleepless night readying myself for the new adventure. My parents held back tears while I emptied my liquid paraphernalia into a little plastic bag to comply with the new airport regulations. It was with mixed feelings of sadness and nervous excitement that I boarded LA800 bound for Santiago via Auckland.

Flight to Santiago was pretty average. First time on LAN so I had little expectation. The seats were narrow, very little leg room, only 4 movies on the entertainment channel and lots of ...

The World journal: Around the World in 2007!

Mon, 28 May 2007 04:02:46 GMT

Exploring the world with a backpack, a Spanish phrasebook and spirit of adventure! I am travelling on a RTW trip to South America, Europe, Japan and Australia.