Villa de Leyva to Honda

After a good night's camping just outside Villa de Leyva, Friday was just designed to be a drive day with a stopover in the evening at Honda. We were however given to choice of driving straight to Honda for a long day, or stopping off en route at this salt cathedral for a very long day. We opted for the very long day. Breakfast this morning with pancakes and fresh pineapple, and after taking down camp we departed at around 8.

The drive to Catedral de Sal took about 4 hours, although we kept ourselves amused by writing poems about each other which was funny. From what I can remember the cathedral is one of only 3 in the world to be made inside a salt mine, and had 14 separate chapels, going as deep as 180m. It was very interesting walking round the endless tunnels and seeing many illuminated crosses and narrow walkways. I did accidentally fart louder than expected in one of the chapels though which may have upset a couple of locals.

After exploring the salt cathedral, we went back to the truck where the people who didn't want to visit the cathedral had prepared lunch for us. We had ham and cheese toasties, with leftovers from the last two nights, fresh pineapple, and this lovely potato salad. I hope they're not expecting something as good when I prepare my meal soon. We're also getting really efficient at washing up now too, with our scrub, disinfect, rinse, then flap to dry system.

When we finished lunch we continued on although it was very slow as we were effectively on the outskirts of Bogota. Part of the drive today also took us above 2800m for the first time which is apparently when people sometimes start to feel the effects of altitude sickness. Everyone was fine though. When we finally negotiated Bogota we started decending rapidly down winding mountain roads, and the scenery was stunning, although we were soon driving in the clouds and couldn't see much.

Before long it got dark and the heavens just opened and we had another massive thunderstorm. Some of the lightning was so dramatic. To pass the time though we did play cards. We have now found out though that the truck isn't totally water tight.

We didn't arrive to Honda until about 8, and luckily it had stopped raining and we checked in no problems. It was after checking in that an even worse thunderstorm came, with some spectacular lightning and rumbles of thunder. The outside of my room flooded as well which wasn't great. Luckily I had bought dinner earlier, but some people who went to a nearby restaurant said that the lightning struck something and sent sparks through the restaurant which was meant to be a little scary. We even had a power cut but luckily it wasn't down for too long. I just stayed in my room as it was pretty horrendous, and I wanted an early night after 3 nights of camping before, and a further 3 nights of camping afterwards!

Barichara and Villa de Leyva

There no early start Wednesday as it was a free day to explore San Gil and the surrounding areas. San Gil is a small town in the Yariguíes Mountains of eastern Colombia, founded in 1689. During the build-up to Colombian independence, the town was an important gathering point for many native people from surrounding areas who would then march on Bogotá. Now it is famous as being the adventure capital of the region, and there are several outdoor activities available for visitors such as rafting, hiking and caving.

Due to the thunderstorms the night before the rafting was cancelled, although when waking up I didn't feel great. Like a few other people I've had diarrhoea for a while and I had stomach pains that morning. Instead I decided to go hiking instead as I didn't want to do some of the adrenaline activities some people did like bungee jumping and caving. After breakfast a few of us headed to the village of Barichara, catching the bus about 5 minutes from our campsite. It was very slippery underfoot!

The bus journey was about half hour. Barichara itself it's known for its cobbled streets and old colonial buildings. It was very interesting walking round the streets and exploring the churches. I also got some antibiotics here to try and sort my body out, although I have been banned from drinking for a few days. There was a scare at one point though because a bomb went off and shortly after police and all sorts arrived at the scene. There was then smoke billowing from this window and the whole village decended to the square. It wasn't until afterwards we were told it was training exercise.

After exploring the village, we went to this cafe where I had a lovely cake, before setting of on a hike with a few others to the village of Guane along the Camino Real. This basically followed an old cobbled road through the valley of the hills and it was a very nice walk. It took about two hours to get to Guane where we had lunch which we had prepared before going out. After exploring the small village we caught the bus back to the campsite, arriving back at about 4.

I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, although I did try one of the campsites outdoor natural showers which was interesting. The campsite was very eco friendly including dry toilets too! The owner who was English was very passionate though and gave us lots of information. Come evening we had a special vegetarian Indian buffet made for us by the family who run the campsite. This was for 45 people though as a second dragoman truck arrived in the evening heading in the opposite direction. It was a very nice meal with 6 different curries, and poppadoms with an array of chutneys. I had an early night as well.

Thursday morning was an early start, waking up before 6 to put my tent down and have breakfast ready for the drive to Villa de Leyva. We arrived at about lunchtime, and went straight out for lunch where I shared at pizza with someone, before getting a guided tour of the old colonial town. With cobbled streets and set beneath some hills, we were now at about 2200m above sea level. The guided tour was very interesting although I couldn't really understand what our guide was saying. We still managed to have fun though.

After exploring the town we headed to our campsite just outside the town, where I relaxed in a hammock after setting up camp. Dinner was chicken and mushroom pasta which was nice. Apparently I'm cooking on the 29th although we're in groups so it should be alright. Luckily at our campsite there was wifi so it was nice and relaxing evening, although most people went for an early night.

Mompos to San Gil

Monday morning was meant to be an early start although we're advised of a new road that had been built to our next overnight stop in Aguachica. Due to this we decided to take a gamble and listen with a departure time of 9am. I ended up getting up 7 though ready for breakfast before relaxing in the room before we left. It was once very hot in the morning, and after loading the truck we set off, managing to avoid all the low lying cables.

The diversion was good at first, although we soon turned off the nice tarmac road and ended up on this dirt track with potholes. It was very bumpy and we followed this track for ages being jostled round everywhere in the truck! At one point we got to this point where was this massive hole in the road and couldn't pass. Luckily there were some locals on hand to help us build a 'bridge' by filling the hole with logs to get the truck over. Luckily the truck got through without falling in but it was very amusing to watch!

Prior to today's journey we all wrote down 5 songs we liked for the truck, and with 22 of us that's a lot of songs. We all tried to guess each others songs which was funny because there was such a mix. On the truck there is also this Japanese man who is really funny despite speaking only basic English. We have actually formed quite a bromance and both love Maya Yoshida of course and he is basically my wingman. Today he surprised the truck by doing a spontaneous origami competition, where he taught us how to make a swan, and then after learning we had to make another one as quickly as possible. I was awful, but it was a right laugh.

After a lengthy time moving very slowly and avoiding several potholes, we finally got to tarmac and could actually start moving! Later into the drive we stopped for lunch where I somehow found a Chinese and had this rice dice with 7 different meats inside. The locals were interested to see us here though and as with other places a lot of people asked for pictures with us because they obviously just don't see tourists. After leaving we continued straight onto Aguachica, arriving at about 3, which our guide estimates saved us over 2 hours of driving taking the shortcut. 

The hotel we were staying at was very nice with super fast wifi, and a pool. Aguachica itself is completely off the tourist trail, so there wasn't much to see in the town other than a long road with shops and restaurants down it. I therefore decided to spend the afternoon in the pool and was probably in there for over 2 hours! It was nice to just a few beers and relax in warm weather. For dinner we met as a group at 8 and went to a local restaurant where I had this massive beef steak with fries and rice, accompanied by quite a few beers.

This morning we left about 8, with breakfast prior being scrambled egg again. There is not much variety in food in Colombia although I don't think they eat much because of the heat. I did have this lovely blackberry juice though. Soon after leaving our Japanese passenger had another surprise, teaching us how to make Japanese green tea which was interesting and surprisingly tasty. Our play list of songs continued too. They only guessed one of my songs so far.

It was a nice surprise part way into the ride as we stopped at this school by accident when going for a toilet break and the children were excited to see us. They wanted loads of pictures with us and despite not really speaking English they still spoke to us. I understood words like Lionel Messi and James Rodriguez. Later into the journey we stopped at Bucaramanga for lunch and also some drink for the evening. I went with a few others to this supermarket cafe. We also looked at outfits for halloween although the girls have decided they're going to make me an outfit so god knows what I'm going as!

After Bucaramanga the road started to get pretty stunning as we started doing some serious climbing into the foothills of the Andes. It was very windy the road and a little sketchy in places as cars were overtaking the round bends. There was also no barrier on the side of the road in places! As I was curious I got my gps out and we climbed to over 2000m with some stunning views of the hills shrouded in cloud. We eventually decdended to 1100m into San Gil.

Our accommodation for the night was not in San Gil, but actually just outside. It was here it started to rain, and it was pitch black at this point too. We ended up getting lost looking for our campsite, and when asking a local for directions we broke his wind mirror when turning around. He wasn't happy. When we did find our campsite it was a mission getting down the driveway in the truck which was a mud track. We eventually negotiated it despite nearly driving off a cliff as the mud was giving way! When we finally arrived the heavens just opened and we had this dramatic thunderstorm. The lightning was lighting the whole sky yellow!

Where we were staying had the option to either camp, or upgrade to a dorm or even a yurt for an additional fee. Naturally most people wanted to upgrade although I was one of the few people who decided to camp as there wasn't enough upgrades for everyone. We discussed this in a bus converted into a games room on site, before leaving to have a very wet and slippery guided tour of the site. There was running water everywhere. The owner said he'd never seen anything like it in his 10 years here! 

After setting the tents up in the rain, we had dinner which was a very nice chilli con carne made by our driver. I haven't been nominated to cook yet luckily. After dinner we had to somehow get the bags out of the truck, which was difficult with water flowing downhill and all the mud! I kindly volunteered to bring all the bags up for everyone so they didn't get wet. After sorting the bags out we could finally relax, and luckily I brought some wine earlier so I didn't have to go outside and buy beers every 5 minutes. It was a fun evening, and there was even a dart board.

Mompos

I actually slept really well Friday night getting a solid 8 hours sleep considering I was in a hammock. With respect I have had limited consecutive sleep so far in Colombia. Due to a long drive we were asked to ready by 7 so we could eat breakfast early and set off promptly for our walk back to the national park entrance. To be fair everyone was pretty prompt and we had tropical fruits with the toast, scrambled egg, and potato cake again.

I walked off with a few others before everyone else and I have to say I saw more wildlife of the 45 minute walk back to the entrance than the entire time in the national park. I forgot to mention I saw a few monkeys on the ruins trek, but I saw more close on the way back. I also saw a snake which was in the middle of the path, and a camon while crossing a bridge. Once everyone made it the entrance we got in the minibuses to be reunited with Amber ready got our drive to the old colonial town of Mompos.

The drive out was pretty smooth, although it was a pain driving along single carriageways and constantly being stuck behind lorries and having to overtake against regular oncoming traffic. We stopped en route at a petrol station, and then further on we stopped for lunch at the town of Bosconia where I had beef, rice, and salad. After lunch we continued south, although at one point we took a wrong turning and ended up in Santa Ana gridlocked as we couldn't pass the parked cars and had beeping cars all around us trying to pass as we had blocked the road. We got out eventually and got back on track.

Due to Mompos being across a large river, our guides were unsure whether we should catch a barge, or gamble this new bridge was open. We gambled and it paid off, and soon stopped at this village bar for a beer which was very refreshing. The locals loved us. After we soon arrived in Mompos, although we had issues getting to the hotel as the streets were very narrow and full of potholes, as well as the power lines which drooped lower than the truck meaning we couldn't get under. We eventually found a way to the hotel after getting stuck down 3 streets and asking a local for help who directed us by letting us follow his motorbike.

Just a bit of information, the quiet colonial town of Mompós, located in the wetlands along the River Magdelena, is most famous as being the location where the revolutionary Simón Bolívar declared independence from Spain in 1812 and then recruited an army to march on Caracas. Once an important port for transporting goods up the river, the old colonial buildings of Mompós are not only well-preserved but are largely still used today for their original purpose, providing a good example of a living colonial-style city.

Once arriving I managed to get WiFi and catch up, and even got a double bed in my hotel room! We went out for dinner this evening as a local restaurant which was lovely being near old colorful buildings and churches. I had this sausage and chorizo based dish with chips. I even shared a bottle of red which is very unlike me! From here we continued onto another couple of bars, before deciding to head back to the hotel as I promised a couple of the girls they could pluck my eyebrows which was very interesting at gone 2 in the morning!

After a pretty late night, I woke up like half 9 and had fruits with scrambled eggs and brioche for breakfast. There was the option to go for a walk round the town with our guide from 10 but I decided not to and instead went with a few of the others on our own where we walked along the river and saw the churches. As it was Sunday a lot of places were closed though. After exploring a little we just saw by the river and had a drink which was this lovely homemade lemonade, before going somewhere else with a couple of others for a few beers by the river.

At half 2 we had a wildlife river cruise with our entire group. What this in fact meant was a booze cruise, although we did see a hawk! It was lots of fun going about an hour downstream before turning round and heading back. There was lots of dancing and laughs on board, and I even won the dance off to get myself a free beer. When we arrived back I relaxed at the hotel for a bit.

One thing we did forget today was lunch after drinking by the river instead, so we were very hungry so by like half 5 I headed off with dinner with a few others where I had this lovely pizza with all sorts on it. You know it must be good when no one on my table could translate the toppings even though some of them can speak alright Spanish. After eating everyone headed back to the hotel, although I headed across the road to meet a few other people and have a drink while they were eating. There were these annoying stray dogs who wouldn't leave us alone though! They even followed us back to the hotel. We arrived back at a reasonable time, although I sat with a few others taking in the atmosphere of the town which was very lively with locals before heading to bed.

Tayrona National Park

We were given a strict start time of 8.15am Thursday morning for our sizable drive to Tayrona National Park. It was nice to have a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs once again which was one of 5 options prior to leaving. After packing a day/night bag for our visit to the national park, we loaded all our luggage onto our bus which is a brand new truck called amber. It holds 24 people and there are 22 of us right now. If does seem that I have a lot less luggage than some people though which I'm not sure is good or bad!

First stop of the day was a visit to the mud volcano about an hour outside Cartagena. Local myth says it used to spew hot lava before some priest poured holy water over it to make it become mud. It is not in fact a real volcano but just a natural mud pool. It was here we had the option to go inside the mud, which I agreed to, climbing up these stairs before entering this liquid mud and getting a vigiurious massage inside!  God knows how deep it was but you couldn't touch the bottom and it was very difficult to put your feet down!

After the mud volcano we jumped in the lake where we were literally washed down by these woman from head to toe, although they kept asking me to get  naked if my Spanish is correct! After cleaning myself up we continued driving,  although there was very heavy traffic through Barranquilla which delayed us a bit due to roadworks. After negotiating the city we stopped off at this local roadside restaurant where I had chicken and rice, before continuing on past fantastic coastal scenery and deprived villages where the locals were very excited to see us pass.

We finally arrived at the national park at dusk which was a lot later than planned. We had issues entering with our truck which meant we needed a transfer by the park inside, before embarking on a good 45 minute trekthrough what can only be said as ridiculous humid weather through the jungle in pitch black to our campsite on the beach. It is here we're staying in hammocks which is a very interesting set up! That evening we had a meal where I had the pork and yukka accompanied by a lot of beer (to the point we emptied the fridge twice).

The sleep in the hammock was very interesting and muggy, where I was up at the crack of dawn due to the sunlight, although I stayed in the hammocks relaxing while other people were doing all sorts. For breakfast this morning I decided to have the tropical fruits with scrambled eggs, toast and potato cakes which was very nice but took ages to come!  Today was essentially a free day to explore the national park, although our group leader gave us the option to go with him to ruins of El Puibito, which I decided to do.

Just to give some information about the place, Tayrona National Park is a wonderful protected area on the northern coast of Colombia, which contains a huge diversity of animal and plant species including 2,000 species of animals and 800 types of plants. This is in part due to the variation in geology of the area - at sea level the climate is arid and the rugged coastline has some excellent beaches and coves, but the terrain quickly rises as you travel inland, where we find a sub-tropical climate and cloud forests on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

To get to the ruins we walked about 45 minutes through coastal jungle, to another beach which was spectacular. From here there was a signposted track up to the ruins which were at 260m above sea level. Walking along sandy paths with ferns and palm trees, we soon began to climb on some very challenging terrain which involved a lot of scrambling. The path was essentially boulders which at times we had to crawl through and teamwork was vital in places to climb up them. About half way up I tanked on ahead with someone else as some of the others were struggling. The issue was the path wasn't just physically demanding, but the humidity levels were stupid. I've never before literally been dripping all over with my clothes wet right through. I needed a lot of water.

When reaching the top we waited for the others, and after about half hour they arrived minus 5 people who had turned back due to the challenging nature of the hike. It was ironic that the only people who made were the two oldest people in the group, me, and the two tour guides. The ruins weren't anything special, with just old walls and steps, and some replicas of the huts. There was a small hut up here selling fruit juice though which was very refreshing. We went back down a different way back to the beach, although the path we took continued to climb for a while before finally decending. The terrain was very different here being loose soil which needed to be treated very carefully.

We eventually made it to the bottom, where we met a few of the others at the beach we started from to have lunch. I had the fried chicken with rice and chips. From here a few people went off to do there own thing, although I stayed with a couple of others to swim in the warm waters of the carribbean. The  beach was beautiful being situated in this bay surrounded by big rocks and palm trees. We stayed here for a while before continuing onto another beach further down where we met a few others. This beach was a lot busier although it was still just as beautiful. We had to leave after though as there were way too many sandflys. 

We ended up getting back about 5, and while everyone else jumped in the shower, I went down to another beach to watch the sunset. It was alright although it was cloudy so it wasn't as good as it could have been. After relaxing in my hammock for a bit I joined the others for dinner where I had beef medallions. It was a complete surprise because I let someone else order for me! Come 9 however everyone had gone to bed due to an early start tomorrow, although I stayed out a bit longer. I then finally went to the hammock about half 9 and relaxed due an early start tomorrow morning.

Start of my Dragoman tour

Tuesday was the day I finally got to meet my tour group, although with a 6 pm meeting time I had a whole day to myself round Cartagena once again. Breakfast was once again fruits and scrambled eggs, and after packing my bags I made the short walk to the hotel which is being used by my dragoman group. After checking in I went out and further explored the old town where I looked round the many markets and shops. All in all I had a very relaxing day Tuesday, even taking time to sit on the beach which was packed full of people.

Come 6pm I got to meet my group, meeting on the rooftop balcony of the hotel as the sun was setting. We all introduced each other to group and said a little fact about ourselves, before our guides (who are from NZ and Scotland) went through all the niggle little things like kitty payments, insurance, and everything else health and safety. We did get to listen to this while drinking endless cups of rum and coke though! My group is a good mix of males and females ranging from people as young as 18 right up to 64! There are people from the UK, NZ, Australia, South Africa, Austria, Switzerland, and Japan, including the person who founded dragoman in 1981, and who met his wife on a 1984 trip, who is also on the trip. Ipswich and Burnley are among the football teams supported, although only 7 people are going all the way to Rio so I will lose and gain people throughout.

After getting to know everyone a bit we went out to this restaurant for dinner where I had this massive lump of sirloin steak which was amazing. It was nice to further chat to people even if I couldn't speak to everyone as there are 22 people in the group, but I'm sure I will. After the meal some of us sat in this square where we had a few beers which was very chilled, although the police were very strict about where we could drink. Most people eventually went to bed but I continued with a couple of others to some salsa bar which was a right laugh. I don't even know what time we got back.

After limited sleep I was woken up at 7am for breakfast by the Japanese man I was sharing a room with (he speaks little English but is really funny). I was glad though as I could have sleep right through and missed breakfast, and also our guided tour of Cartagena which was at 8. The guided tour was very interesting learning about the various street art and Spanish history. There was a lot to take in as the tour lasted over 2 hours, finishing at some square where we were given the option to do what we wanted.

Everyone went in different directions, but I went with someone from Australia who lives in the outback. We ended up going to the gold museum and the Spanish museum of inquisition. They were both very interesting as they gave a real insight into Cartagena and South America before Europeans invaded, and what happened after. We ended up getting street food after, although she said that in the outback she eats things like snake meat so I was probably the only one being adventurous!

Our group leader gave us the option of meeting back at the hotel at 2 for a trip to the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas which is a massive fort built by the Spaniards to prevent attacks from people like the British. In the end 7 of us turned up and we got another guided tour which lasted about 2 hours and was very interesting. The fort is strategically placed to prevent attacks from both land and sea. We even got to explore some of the tunnels, one of which defended 120m underground used back then as an escape route. It was very slippery going down though.

After the tour we headed back to the hotel, although I headed to the shops and bought some flip flops as we are staying by the beach for the next two nights. It's annoying because I won't know the Inter Saints score until Saturday though. There wasn't an organised meal tonight, although a few of us went out for a meal at some lovely restaurant, where I had a beef crepe with all sorts inside it, and a strawberry waffle after. Afterwards most people headed to bed although I sat outside with a couple of people before heading to bed to ourselves as we have an early start in the morning. I will be off the radar for the next couple of days.

Cartagena

With my flight to Cartagena being at 7.55am, I had an early start on the Sunday, setting my alarm for 3am! I was up and on the metro by half 3. The night before the journey planner told me to change at 4th avenue, but on arrival the line was shut. When I asked someone what to do they sent me back to 34th street, where I was then directed to catch an A line train which was running on the F line. It was all very confusing. From what I can make out there were engineering works on the express line to the airport, which meant I had to get there on the slow line. I got to the airport in the end, but a lot later than intended.

After finally negotiating the metro I arrived at the airport and checked in without any problems, although they didn't understand my pronunciation of Cartagena at first. I even eased through security and managed to get to my gate with time to spare. I flew with Avianca to Cartagena which I think is a Colombian airline. Due to this all the flight announcements were in Spanish so I didn't really know what was going on. I was probably the only English person on the flight.

The flight ran pretty smoothly although there were a few bad patches of turbulence. The food was good too, serving some omelette thing with potatoes to start with, and bacon sandwiches later in the flight. Luckily with the in flight entertainment there was the option to use it in English and I played the games and watched Skyfall. The landing into Cartagena was interesting as we flew past the city and then did this massive u turn before landing really smoothly. I was able to see the skyline and surrounding areas upon arrival as I was lucky enough to have a window seat!

After landing I obtained my Colombian visa easily and decided from the airport I would walk to my hotel which was about an hour walk. I stayed in the airport for a little while though for the wifi and the air con! The walk to the hotel was interesting as I basically walked through the slums which I probably shouldn't have done. It was very muggy too and raining every so often. I found the hotel without any problems and was surprised to find I had a double room en suite! 

Cartagena itself is one of the most historic cities in South America, and is also famed for its beauty. The area was inhabited by various native civilisations for thousands of years before the city was founded in 1533 by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Heredia, who named the city after Cartagena in Spain, where most of Heredia's sailors were from. Having suffered a tumultuous past full of battles, raids, invasions, destructions and reconstructions, the city became heavily fortified and huge defensive walls now surround its narrow cobbled streets and colonial buildings. The city is made up of various districts. The new town with its high rise hotels, apartments and nightspots, and the older colonial parts of the city. The old city is the main attraction for visitors, particularly the inner walled town which is packed with churches, monasteries, plazas and mansions.

I spent the afternoon relaxing at my hotel, before heading out to dinner Sunday evening where I just got a subway, and then a few beers for the hotel. I ended up having an early night in the end with my early start catching up with me! Due to this I was up about 5am this morning, although sunrise was about then too! I had breakfast included at my hotel which was fresh fruit, and scrambled egg with this bread and cheese thing. It was very nice.

When leaving the hotel I decided the best way to explore the city was to follow the city sightseeing bus route. I went to new town first with its high rise buildings and followed the extensive coastline round back to where I started. The new town is basically on a spit. It was however very muggy so I was glad on my way round to find a big shopping centre, and later a supermarket which had a good air con. The beaches in the new town were also very packed, although I think mainly South Americans come to holiday here as there weren't many other nationalities at all.

 After visiting the new town, I went into the old town, following the big wall which surrounds it. I went for lunch here, going to a restaurant where I ordered the pork. I didn't really understand what I was ordering though as the menu was in Spanish, and the waitress didn't have good enough English to translate. What I did find here was a geocache. It said I had to order an "El Tesoro de Blas de Lezo" when I looked before coming out, and when I asked out came a big treasure chest to my table!

After my meal I continued exploring the old city, following the wall and going to the many cobbled streets full of colourful housing. I even visited the nearby castle and it was nice to see the many market stalls and street entertainment. Despite what people say the locals are actually really friendly, even if they can barely speak English and half of them are trying to sell you drugs. Apparently I get a proper guided tour of the old town on Wednesday where I will learn about all the Spanish history.

After a busy day I relaxed at the hotel, before heading out to the seafront along the city walls to watch the sunset which was very nice. Instead of going out for a meal tonight, I went to the supermarket and picked up some random food and a few beers and sat on the rooftop balcony of my hotel underneath the fan. Tomorrow I get to meet my group who I will doing my tour with, so I'm looking forward to that. It's still absolutely boiling here,  but other than that having an amazing time.

New York

Arriving in New York late on Wednesday, I woke up Thursday fully recharged and was up and ready to explore the city by half 8. With no idea what to do I decided to go about the day on foot, despite it being about a 7 mile walk from the hostel to the other end of Manhattan. I felt doing it this way allowed to take in more sights I would not otherwise think to see. All I knew was if I head south I would see most of the main sights en route.

With my hostel just a couple of blocks from central park, I decided to explore here first. The park itself was a lot bigger than I expected and if it wasn't for the occasional view of towering skyscrapers surrounding it on each side you could easily get lost! Passing lakes and going down woodland tracks, you would have never guessed you were in the city! When reaching the end of the park it was a short walk to times square which was very impressive, and also very busy.

From here I hopped across a couple of blocks where I got close up glimpses of the empire state and chrysler buildings. From the bottom they just looked like normal buildings. Another interesting building I passed was the flatiron building, a skinny triangle structure famous for its shape. Continuing south passing through the occasional park, I ended up at the world trade centre. It was very interesting visiting the 9/11 memorial and seeing the new towering skyscrapers both finished, being built right now, and planned for the future.

I eventually ended up at the southern tip of Manhattan and battery point where I got my first glimpse of the statue of liberty. It was here I hopped onto the Staten Island ferry which was recommended on my flight as one of the best free things to do in New York. Connecting Manhattan and Staten Island and lasting 25 minutes each way, many people use this service to get views of the statue, Brooklyn bridge, and New York skyline, which is what I did. The views were worth it, although it started drizzling at this point which was annoying. 

When back on shore in Manhattan I continued exploring by heading back north, this time to the famous Wall Street. I did however encounter a protest down here! From here I headed to the Brooklyn bridge, and then back inland through Chinatown and Little Italy famous for where migrants moved to in the past. By this point I was quite hungry and found this pretty cool salad bar buffet place, which was takeaway. I went there and sat in Union Square which was very lively with entertainers to name a few.

At this point it was getting dark, so I headed back to Times Square which was even more impressive at night with all its signs, people in fancy dress, and the ridiculous amount of tourists, not helped by the roadworks in the middle! I stayed here for a while to take in the atmosphere before heading back through central park to my hostel. It was well lit through here, although there were loads of rats running around. There were some good views looking back though of the skyscrapers all lit up though!

On Friday I went out about 10ish. On reflection I was out yesterday for over 12 hours and where I went was geographically a 14 mile round trip, although I definitely walked further because I zigzagged a lot. Instead of walking today I caught the metro down to battery point where I went yesterday to catch a boat to liberty island to see the statue. Luckily today was a sunny day, although getting to the island involved a high security process.

Once aboard the boat the views of both the statue and the city skyline were amazing. When landing it was cool to see such an iconic landmark with my own eyes. I may have got lots of selfies here. The island itself was only small and offered brilliant views of the harbour. From Liberty Island I caught the boat to Ellis Island which is where immigrants went in early 1900s before being let into the US. This island was essentially a museum and was very interesting.

When leaving Ellis Island I caught the boat back to battery point where I decided to walk back to the hostel once again, stopping off at union square for  something to eat. The street entertainment here was amusing, similar to Leicester Square. Once again from here I headed to Times Square, although this time going via the Empire State Building to see it at night. When arriving at Times Square I spent a while there once again to take in the street entertainers and iconic billboards before heading back to the hostel.

To be honest you could easily spend a week in New York, and I was spoilt for choice of things to do today (Saturday), but in the end I decided to explore central park through geocaching. To put it into context it took me 5 hours to do a lap of the park whilst geocaching to give you an idea how vast it is. You honestly would never think this green space was in the middle of the city at times! It was a really enjoyable day.

I arrived back at the hostel at a reasonable time today to Skype a few people, and even cook my own dinner. It's a shame it's my last day in New York although onto South America and Cartagena tomorrow! My flight is at 7.55am though which means I am going to have to leave quite early taking into account it's over an hour on the metro to get to the airport. Good night and I'll see you in Colombia :)

Start of my travels

So today was the day when I finally began my travels. I'm not going to deny I was extremely excited the last few weeks, although I have been a little nervous too. It has been really difficult working out exactly what I need to and what I don't need to take, but I think I got there in the end! I just tried to remember that if I do forget something I can always buy it while I'm away.

For obvious reasons I didn't sleep much last night, but it was nice to be able to an afternoon flight which meant I could have some kind of lie in. With my flight being at 16.55, arriving at 20.05 (1.05 British time) I'm hoping that I won't get jet lagged, but we will see when I try to sleep.It was typical though that when I woke up my dog was at my door waiting and jumped straight on my bed. I think he's going to miss me.

I ended up leaving about 1pm in the end, and it was nice because as well as my Mum and a few of my friends took the day off to come to the airport with me. After arriving at the airport it was a sizable wait to check in, and from there we went to wetherspoons for a last drink before I had to leave. It was slightly emotional saying goodbye to my friends and family although they all know this is what makes me happy. I probably should have allowed more time to get through security though because my bag was checked on the way through and my plane was boarding by the time I got through (although there was no rush).

Whilst in duty free I purchased a travel adapter which I needed, although god knows if it will work because apparently South America has various different plug types. I then took the long walk to my gate and made one final phone call before turning it on flight mode. I'm going to miss having a phone although I've got a tablet which my friends from Tesco kindly bought for me. Boarding was pretty straight forward, although my seat was right at the back of the plane! Take off was pretty quick too for a change.

One of the advantages of sitting at the back however meant I got my meal first which was chicken in tomato sauce with veg and potatoes, cous cous salad, and chocolate cake. It sounds better than it was! The in flight entertainment kept me amused too with an array of games and films, and a very detailed flight tracker to name a few. I even managed to watch finding dory at last. There was also a guide of things to do in New York which was very useful because I haven't actually done much detailed research, I just know what the main sights to see are.

Before landing they gave me some sandwiches and a cookie, before landing earlier than expected in New York. It did however take over half hour to park up which meant I did technically just arrive on time. Getting through security was surprisingly easy as I basically just walked out. When I went through security at LA a couple of years ago they were very tough, but not here.

Before I had any chance to get WiFi I was asked to leave the airport, where I caught the train to connect with the metro. It was really confusing in terms of payment though because their tickets worked similar to an oyster card and I had no idea how much to put on. I was advised to put on a couple of dollars, and I had no problems, despite having to change trains twice. It was very similar to the London underground.

When finally arriving at the nearest metro station to my hostel, which was like an hour journey, I checked in. My hostel is basically a couple of streets across from the north west ish corner of central park. Luckily opposite the hostel there were lots of food places so I decided to get a pizza because I was hungry after the small portions of food on the plane. I'm now relaxing in the hostel, pretty tired as it's like midnight (5am according my body clock). As I said before I will not be updating this blog daily but I will update it as much as possible. Zzzzzzz.

European Tour

Only 6 days until I leave for South America now, where I will be going to New York for 4 nights and then onto Colombia to start my tour with Dragoman around South America. Not really ready to go in terms of packing or anything but it normally all works out in the end! It's really difficult to know what to pack because my itinerary says be prepared for all four seasons in a day! Aside from that having left Tesco over a month ago now I've had a lot of free time, and it's been nice to just chill out and relax, and catch up with my friends. What I did do a couple of weeks ago though was a trip around Europe which I will talk about now.

With flights around Europe being so cheap these days I decided to a mini tour to a few European cities. I started off by flying to the city of Aalborg in Denmark, staying in the middle of nowhere between the towns of Hjallerup and Dronninglund. I spent 4 nights here, and managed to get in a days geocaching while exploring Dronninglund and it's surrounding countryside which was very interesting. There were lots of sculptures and the area is particularly famous for its church. At the weekend I went into Aalborg and met a couple of friends I met travelling last time, and they showed me round the city. Aalborg isn't a massive city and has by no means got many tourists, but it was still a very nice city. They even took me to Jomfru Ane Garde which is a street with over 30 bars down it!

I left Aalborg on the Monday and took the short flight to Copenhagen which literally took about 30 minutes (saving a long train journey). I stayed in Copenhagen for 5 nights. Some of the highlights in the city included Nyhavn which is a famous street of colourful buildings, the little mermaid which is the famous statue in the water, the green light district which was a very interesting place, and the Copenhagen street food complex which was a lively area serving food and drinks from all over the world. Despite being a slightly expensive city, I managed to go out and watch the football most nights (including a brilliant 3-0 for Southampton in Europa). Whilst in Copenhagen I even managed to get a day trip to Malmo in Sweden which is connected to Copenhagen by bridge and tunnel through the sea. Another highlight was a trip to Tivoli Gardens which was literally right next to hostel, and is the second oldest amusement park in the world. Copenhagen is definitely somewhere I would recommend visiting! One thing you do find with Denmark though is there is a lot of homeless people going through the bins, and I found out eventually that were collecting bottles because they paid to recycle them (because when you buy a bottle in a shop you have to pay a deposit on it).

After a busy time in Copenhagen, I then took a flight to Rome where I stayed a further 5 nights. My accommodation was literally a 10 minute walk from the Colosseum which was ideal and all the main sights were in walking distance for me. I did find away from the tourist areas Rome was a little dodgy in terms of the homeless people, and vast amounts of graffiti everywhere, not to mention the traffic light system whereby cars didn't seem to acknowledge red and green! Despite this is took me 3 days just to explore the city! I spent a day exploring the main sights including the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and Pantheon to name a few of the interesting things to see. I then spent a day actually inside the Colosseum and the Roman forum next door which literally took ages to explore due to its size! I then also spent a day exploring the Vatican which was very interesting, and even took a walk up the dome which took ages to get up the narrow staircases! As with Denmark I managed to watch the Southampton games without any problems (even if the Swansea game was on a small screen in the corner while the rest of the pub were watching some Irish sport thing). At least we won! The food here was also amazing, especially the pizza!

After a busy time in Rome, I spent my last day on the beaches of Ostia and Fiumicino just outside the city to relax (being near the aiport), before catching an evening flight back to the UK. It was nice to spend a couple of weeks exploring some new cities, but it was nice to come home to my own bed! I even somehow managed to visit 4 countries while I was away if you count Sweden and Vatican City. I'll try and keep my blog updated while I am away, although I am still unsure how easy WiFi will be to obtain.

6 days to go, Harry.