Cambodia

The ride into Cambodia was interesting... we had heard that there was a popular scam with regards to the road between Bangkok and Siem Riep, Cambodia (our next stop). Basically the Tourist bus company colludes with the guesthouse in Siem Riep, taking you on a long hard and wild ride taking the entire day in uncomfortable conditions so that when they finally drop you off at their guesthouse in the middle of the night you just agree to stay for the night no matter how overpriced it may be. Well we were in no mood to have the same done to us so we caught a local bus from the Bangkok bus station and headed for the border. After an easy 2.5 hours the real ordeal started.

There doesn't seem to be a single honest person at the Cambodian border, several different guys all tried to overcharge us for a visa but we ducked and dived them until we got to the actual legitimate visa booth manned by government personnel....it was here that we got overcharged and ripped off anyway, the sign says $20 but we ended up paying $25 with the bastards refusing to give us a receipt. Oh well we tried, getting ripped off at the border is as much a part of traveling as having one big bag for all your worldly possessions.

Then we were cattle prodded into a line for the bus taking us to Siem Riep, we tried to get away from this as well thinking that the tourist bus will be far more expensive than the local version and also trying not to fall victim of the Guesthouse scam, but even the police would not let us go anywhere but onto that bus... everyone seems to be in on this one! So the Mavrix like everyone else fell victim to this stupid scam.

We waited around for no real reason (there was a full bus with gas in the tank but the guys didn't go anywhere for an hour) and then proceeded to drive very very slowly on the tarred road and really fast on the bumpy dirt road thereby heightening the discomfort and dragging out the journey. The driver kept stopping the bus to check for flat tyres but after stopping 3 times he decided that he would just fix a perfectly good tyre just to take up some time... when we pointed out to our captors that the tyre was fine they got slightly aggressive but carried on with the farce of changing the tyre none the less. Oh well...since then we have heard that everyone going on that journey has a flat tyre with one guy swearing he saw the driver put a knife into the tyre just so he could change it, we don't see the logic but I guess a bus load of tourists at full price is worth a tyre or 2.

10h30pm came and we arrived in Siem Riep where we were driven straight to a Guest House that was according to the driver really good value and he was sure that everything else in town was full because there was a festival so we might as well just stay here.

The Mavrix bolted out of the bus faster than a post lunch spew from Kate Moss and headed for another Guest House via tuk-tuk. "Amazingly" we found another place in no time and at less than a 3rd of the price. Our first impression of Cambodia and the Cambodian people (Cambodies as we would call them) was not good!

We did however absolutely love the temples of Angor Wat! Angor Wat is Cambodias major drawcard and for good reason, the giant temple system spans kilometers and houses giant palaces and temples with intricate detail thoughout. You could spend weeks wandering the sites and not see them all, we only had 2 days though so we stuck to the highlights.

First we went to the "Tomb raider" temple, named so because this is where they shot the movie not because the Cambodians where really into Angelina Jolie. This site has been given over to the jungle and therefore boasts giant trees everywhere you look growing out of the temple roofs and constructs, ponds and grass make walking through the site tricky at times but really gives the place a sense of timelessness and a wild quality.

Then there is the temple of Angor Wat itself, a giant palace and temple structure surrounded by a moat with walls and passages within yet more passages all decorated with intensley detailed reliefs telling stories of great battles, heaven and hell and the Angor mythology. We spent more than half a day just wandering through the halls of this place and pressing our faces up close to the walls to take in the minute detail in every little figure and relief. We left here awestruck and amazed with little happy traveler smiles on.

We also got to see some of the other larger temples, each with its own character, each with the same high levels of detail throughout and some even with a smattering of monkeys and elephants. During this time we also started to enjoy the Cambodies, namely the kids and their sharp wit. While their initial sales technique is very annoying and very in your face naggy, once told no a few times they settle down to a conversation with you and their humour comes out. They are always ready with a smile or a joke and we were amazed at the number of languages these 10 years olds trying to sell us souvenirs could speak. At one point we decided to pretend we couldn't speak English only Spanish in the hope of dodging their insistent selling, the girl just looked at us funny and then started speaking Spanish instead! These guys are multilingual and multitalented and a lot of fun! We felt sad for them though as Cambodia is a hard country, they havent been out from under the thumb of the Khmer Rouge for too long and there are landmine vicitims and orphanes everywhere serving as a constant reminder of the hardships they have had to and still endure.

Our time in Phnom Phen would look at this aspect of Cambodia more closely as we would visit the infamous Killing Fields where thousands of people were brought for execution before being dumped in the marsh and the governments brutal prison, S21 where all manner of evil was carried out on those seen to be against the "people". It was a chilling and sad experience but gave us an even greater respect for the Cambodies, with all of this in their recent past they still manage to smile while they struggle uphill to survive.

South Thailand and then some...

We caught an overnight bus that took way too long at every stop including the dinner breaks at 12h30am to get to Bangkok and meet our mate Liam. We tracked him down at his guesthouse bright and early at 7am and discovered that he had had a rough night on Khao San rd (most probably with the lady boys) and wasnt feeling too hot. To treat his ailing sore head we went and watched a movie at Bangkoks largest shopping complex zone - Siam Square. It isnt even 1 huge shopping center but rather several large malls all next to each other each the size of Sandton City with the crown jewel Siam Paragon reaching up 6 stories. As big as it was it took us almost 3 hours to find the Imax just because every mall has a cinema and we ended up going to several before hitting gold. Wow is that place big!

That night we hit Khao San rd again and enjoyed Halloween Thai style. Basically that means lots of "buckets", these plastic tupperwares are chock full of spirits and red bull and boy do they pack a punch. Hello Halloween! That night Liam had taken out his brand new camera and managed to take almost 200 photos of himself, us and other random people we met on Khao San, the next morning there were even some pics of him smooching what we all believe to be authentic Thai Lady Boys....oops.

After another day of shopping at what must be the worlds largest market - Chanuckanchuc?sp? We had some sore feet, over worked senses, new outfits and a new piece of art that the V had been dreaming about for almost a month and a very sore and lighter wallet for the Mavrix!

After one more uneventfull day in Bangkok we got on the cheapest night bus we found and headed for the South and Krabi. As the cliche goes, you get what you pay for and in this case they should have been paying us! During the night the M found a Thai guy crawling through the aisle while all on board were sleeping, when the M confronted him he pretended to be trying to sleep as well and at the time this seemed half feesible in M's groggy "just woke up" state, but still M held on. After a mini struggle the Thai left and everyone slept clutching their luggage a little tighter. At 5am the bus came to a sudden halt and everyone was thrown off the bus as we would all be getting connections to seperate destinations from here. The speed with which they did this seemed to suprise us all but made perfect sense once we started searching our belongings. They had rifled through almost everyones big bags held in storage while we slept and managed to get away with Liams phone and many others valuables. They also did the peculiar thing of accidentally putting things into the wrong bags e.g. V found someone ELSE's bikini in her bag and was not the only one with such a suprise. Luckily the Mavrix had nothing taken as our bags were mostly locked (M's lock was mostly broken now though) and our valuables were always kept with us, helps to have some South African paranoia once in a while!

As daylight arrived we started to relax as we arrived near the beach and the spectacular vistas of Krabi. Our destination was the little beach of Ton Sai which we would have to catch a long tail boat to. Arriving was like stepping into climbers paradise and the set of the Beach all at once! Here there were beautiful warm waters, white beaches and huge limestone cliffs rising high out of the oceans waters all around. As you walked on the beach you would see climbers trying out difficult problems with the waves gently lapping up against their shoes, as the sun came down we watched one of the most beautiful sunsets we had yet to see, with people Kayaking in the distance and climbing to our rear. Then once the sun was down and the stars were out, firedancers made their way to the beach and danced to Bob Marley and the wailers. This was our kind of place and the next week would be carried out at our kind of pace!

We spent the next day kayaking round the dramatic limestone karsts scattered around the horizon, it was great fun with many overhangs to chill out and catch a nap underneath and many islands and caves to explore. W paddled back with the sun going down behind us and sat silently watching it dip its head behind the blanket of a crimson sea....poetic no?

Next couple of days were all about climbing, Krabi and Ton Sai specifically are world renowned for their climbing so we had to make a plan and get in on the action. The beauty of the climbing here is that you have massive sheer cliffs falling straight into a beautiful ocean down below, many of the climbs are right on the beach and often the exposure is huge and a little daunting. The Mavrixs that we are loved it and had many happy hours pulling ourselves up the walls. We even organised a day of deep water soloing, unfortunately the V was a little sick so the M went off into the sea himself. Deep water soloing basically involves going out into the middle of the ocean on a boat, climbing up onto one of the cliffs that poke out and then when you are so high that you are pooing yourself you jump back into the water. This was great fun for the M but was a touch on the scary side...even Mavrix feel fear...

During this time (a little over a week) we had become seperated from good ole Liam who had headed off to Ko Phang Nyang for some partying. The Mavrix keen to get on the road again and mindful of the short time they had left in South East Asia went back up to Bangkok and straight across to Cambodia same day.

One night in Bangkok and the worlds your ...... 7 - 31 Oct

So after just 31 hours in transit from Miami to Thailand, we touched down in Bangkok with expectation and excitement for the new adventures that would great us, a new country, a new continent, a whole bunch of suprises. Our first adventure was just getting from the airport to our guesthouse without being ripped off by the taxi driver, he did manage to scam us of 100Baht (roughly R30) but it could have been far worse, welcome to Bangkok!

Our first morning we realised we have stepped into a brand new world, there were food stalls with new exotic smells (not always a good smell mind you, just exotic), pretty girls (some with and some without willies), lost and lonely looking types with a beer in hand at 7am (some also have a pretty girl in hand..once again not certain if they have all the standard equipment), orange robed monks with silver bowls asking politely for "alms", 3 wheeled tuk-tuks offering to take you to ping pong show (dont ask), side walk clothes stores selling the coolest stuff youve ever seen at the coolest prices - "Mr, Mr, how much you pay? Hmmm?" and a real understanding that you are now in Asia!

We soon confirmed that "Yes!" Bangkok is a crazy place but it is also crazy cool and we were having a blast! We checked out the weekend market day 1 and had to restrain ourselves from buying EVERYTHING, its all just so good and so cheap but then again do we really need a live squirrel in dungarees? Or a bigger than life size steel sculpted "Predator" or "Alien" figure? We somehow managed to restrain ourselves though and made away with just a couple bags of stuff and a tattoo for the M. This was also the day that we discovered the street food and just how damn good it was! Plus did we mention its super cheap! At R6 for a Phad Thai (stir fried noodles) we were laughing and our tummies were smiling.

But when you travelling you cant hang around gawking at the city like a country bumpkin on his first trip out of the farm for too long so off to Ayuthaya we went. Ayuthaya is the old capital of Thailand and a city of temples and ruins around every corner. Here we rented some old school bikes with fruit baskets up front and little ring ring bells to tour the city and the temples. These ancient structures are amazing, huge spires set on the water, detailed sculptures and roofs, flights of steps up to prayer rooms and buddhas in every pose scattered throughout the spiritual sites. Walking around these monuments you get the feeling of just how large a civilization and city this once was and how advanced they were for thier time. Very cool! We also cycled out to an elephant camp outside of town and got to play with a bunch of big and little elephants for a couple hours during feeding time. These cute but bristly pachederms are considerably smaller than our own African greats but a hell of a lot friendlier with their favourite games mainly being shove the tourist with your head and look for food all over their person with your trunk. Not to mention the occasional sneeze in the V's face (karma for all the times she has done it to M).

Next we took the train to Lop Buri a city known only for its Monkey Infested Temples. The hotel we stayed at was right across the street from the temple and hence was the playground for the monkeys with them jumping on the buglar bars all day and night much to our amusment. Once you step out of the hotel though you realise just how much the monkeys are in charge. They hang out on street lights and electrical cables using them as jungle gyms, they cross the traffic filled streets in packs like a biker gang causing the cars to screetch to a noisy halt and before stealing sandwiches from overly friendly tourists. Basically they are almost as cute as they are a nuisance. We went to the one lesser visited temple and after 3 monkeys climbed all over Vix and nibbled on her head we ended up hiring a 10 year old with a slingshot as protection from the overly eager advances, it was money well spent as the kid was like Richard Gear in the Bodyguard and kept the monkeys friendly!

After an afternoon of watching Super Sport on the telly (its sindicated out here) we got on the worst night train ever and headed for Chang Mai, capital city of the north. The city is built with a perfectly square moat around the old town like many of South East Asias older cities and would be home for another 3 days. Chang Mai has a crazy big night market which our taste buds enjoyed almost as much as the rest of our senses. We also went and watched a Muay Thai fight in the bar district. A slightly sureal experience really because as a "Farang" (foriegner) you sit on a nice couch at ring side sipping your cocktail while the locals crush each other in a frenzy just off to the side in order to get closest to the action. We would sit back an watch as both adults and kids would step into the ring and throw everything they had at each other while the locals cheered with every strike. Then intermission came and we were "treated" to a live cabaret show by the local lady boys dressed up like Vegas show girls sparkeling from head to high heel, we would later see them leaving 2 by 2 on scooters in the exact same outfit, what a bizare sight. Speaking of bizarre sights this was also our first real encounter with the "beer girls" of Thailand and their much older western patrons. Old men with Euros that translate into a fortune in Thailand with much younger girls (very often they dont have the company of just one) hanging onto them, playing pool, drinking cocktails and then late in the night climbing into a tuk-tuk and heading for the hotel after the price has been agreed upon. Here the roles were reversed from the South American standard the Mavrix had experienced, in South America if the V was on her own she would be hassled continually by macho latinos eager for her attention, here the M was in danger of being jumped whenever alone either by the "beer girls" or the "lady boys". Apart from the mayhem of Muay Thai and Lady boys we also did a Thai cooking course in Chang Mai, it was a great fun day when even the M managed to cook up something not only edible but quite delicious too.

Next stop was the hippie town of Pai. This little town nestled amongst rice fields, waterfalls and green mountains is super chilled and hippie cool. An easy place to get stuck! We rented scooters without a license (a fact that none of the rental agencies seem to care about) and learnt the basics on the roads and green hills around Pai driving to waterfalls and hot springs, dodging snakes and finding elephant camps along the way. It was here that we got our first ride (seat optional, we said no to our bums future disaproval and pain) on an elephant. We got a quick up and down tour of the surrounding hills before heading into the river for a bath with the ellie and a game of "lets soak the Farang" which our guide of midget proportions found extremely amusing. Pai also has a great nightlife, almost everywhere has live music, admitedly it's mostly Thais mispronouncing old Creedance Clearwater and Bob Marley songs but good for a laugh. The night market is also great and was where we would meet the worlds most precocious kid - Ping Ping. Her Mom runs a vegetarian street stall and she kidnaps all the foreigners and takes them all over the market using them as her own private mules to carry her, however once she is tired of being carried she makes a game out of running away and hiding in the throngs of people while she giggles maniacly and you sweat to keep up. Cool kid! But what a handfull!!!

Our next port of call was the city of Mae Hong Son where we planned on going trekking in the hills to visit the ethnic tribes of the area. However we met a Colombian couple (Cedric and Natalia) who were doing a loop back to Chang Mai by scooter and had a spare. The scenery was so beautiful and the offer so inviting that we decided to join forces with the Colombians and ride through the mountains for a few days. It was a really beautiful experience, sure the scooters were slow up hill carrying the both of us but that just gave you more time to marvel at the scenery of endless green mountains and rice fields, plus we got to stop whenever we felt like it and take photos or just chill. Once we got back to Chang Mai we received an email, a good friend of ours Liam that we had met in Nicaragua was coming to Thailand and would be in Bangkok in a few days. "Hell lets go see him!" we said, so back down to Bangkok we went!

Next ... Soth Thailand and adventures of Mavrix and the flying Lemo (Liam)

Welcome to Miami and the beaches...7 - 10 October

We landed in Miami on the afternoon of 6 October 08, after having done what seemed like quite an easy check in considering the high security policies and paranoia of the states (although the customs official did ask M to zip up his hoody to hide the offending Che Guvara T-shirt) we settled into the airport with the view of sleeping over for the night and catching the early flight to Bangkok via the via the next morning.



5am has never been the Mavrix favorite wake up time especially after a night spent on the airport floor listening to the all Spanish cleaning staff talk at the top of their Illegal Alien voices over the sounds of their "Made in America" vacum cleaners. So groggy eyed but excited to start a new chapter in the adventure we went off to check in. It is here that we met a very friendly but ultimately very stupid Delta employee who would determine our future for the next few days, here the American stereotypes would play themselves out loud and clear!



This "gentleman" (I use the term loser-ly) looked at our passports, read the Thai immigration code and decided on the spot that he would not be sending us to Thailand as we did not have a visa. We told hm that we had researched this and that we could just get a visa at the airport on arrival just like everyone else in the free world. To cut a long story short he had determined that because we wanted to go for 3 months and the visa you get on arrival was for 30 days we could not go! Sigh...sniff...woe is us!



Over the next 3 days against overwhelming stubborness we managed to prove with the help of the Thai Consulate, who had "Never heard of anything so ridiculous", that Delta was wrong and we were right all along (1 month down the line we have recieved an apology and $150 credit on Delta flights each in the future...whoop-dee-twang).



This did mean that we would spend 3 days in Miami though so we sought to make good on the time we had there and see some of American life...it's scary...



First off let us say that Miami is an anolmaly in America, while it is very much still America, it is also the most spanish city in all of America and therefore has some cultural differences. It is however very much still America! Everywhere you look there are giant and expensive cars, Harley Davidsons, American flags waving proudly, huge pizzas, Paris Hilton dog parlors, Obama Tshirts, fake boobs, fake tans, fake people, yellow cabs, an arrogance that this is the best place in the world and a sense that this is a first world country without the sophistication of Europe but enough rules to keep everyone heading in the right direction. It was however fun for 3 days even if it did hurt the wallet a little i.e. $5 for a slice of pizza, imagine what the healthy food tastes like, no wonder there were so many fatties.

We did get to walk around South Beach though which was beautiful and dotted with Baywatch towers and volley ball courts all the way down and marvel at the art deco buildings that make up the area.

After our obligatory 3 days waiting for our next flight we spent another enthralling night in the Miami airport listening to the PA system anounce every 5 minutes "Welcome to Miami, and the beaches". This time our 5am start was much easier with a smooth check in and a sideline security search for the M (maybe he looks like a terrorist?).

Goodbye Miami, goodbye the Americas...Hello Thailand!

Guatemala our last Latin American call 25 Sept - 6 Oct

We had travelled all the way up from Ushuia - Argentina, South America's and the worlds most southerly city and had overlanded the whole continent of South America and Central America to get here, to Guatemala, our last port of call before climbing in a plane to Miami and connecting to a whole other world - South East Asia .... this is after all called Mavrix go SOUTH.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves, we still had Gautemala to conquer and see before we jumped over the sea. We had left our little crew behind in Copan and gone through one of the easiest border crossings ever, they didnt even give us a stamp (although this actually sucks as stamps are like souvenirs you can look back on while bored on a 12 hour bus ride, but then again we have our nerd backpacks to remind us of that....we'll tell you about those another time). We had decided to be cheap and hardcore as usual and decided to take the local transport system i.e. chicken buses rather than the Gringo Shuttles that are always faster but 3 times the price. Well not in this case, for once the shuttle would have turned out to be cheaper and 3 times faster! We ended up having to switch between roughly 4 chicken buses until we finally got to our destination 8 hours later, the river town of Rio Dulce (Sweet River). This is the Hurricane season docking station for many a yacht that calls the Caribbean home and therefore a little of a jet set attraction. We thought it was ok... Its really just a Central American version of Hartebeasport with Yachts. There was a really cool hot spring waterfall nearby however that gives you the hot and cold feeling at the same time but that was just good for a day trip really.

So after 2 nights in the worlds biggest dorm (16 people - 1 room) we jumped on the worlds most crowded bus for a 4 hour journey to Tikal. Tikal is one of the most striking and largest of the Mayan cities with a unique setting, smack dab in the middle of the jungle! We had booked the sunrise tour and while we didnt get to see much of a sunrise due to excessive fog, what we did get to hear was the jungle waking up! Especially the jungles loudest animal, the Howler monkey! Imagine that a monkey learnt how to imitate a lion and you are getting close.... only really loud and up in the treesa feminine lion barking long and hard.

As we walked from tree canopy to tree canopy we kept being jumped by giant temples rising into the sky some 60 meters high. We also got to climb a few as steep as they were, with ladders reaching up high and the M got to feel his 31 years coming down and the V's head also...ooops sorry. Your views at the top are truly awesome though, you get to realise how big these cities must have been and how many people they would have housed. The temples themselves are solid, no secret compartments or burial chambers hidden inside these limestone walls, just temples built ontop of temples like Russian dolls. They were built as memorials to the Mayan civilization so that centuries down the line people like us would look at them and remember, the Mayans wanted to be immortal.

While the size and scope as well as the setting of Tikal was amazing, the Mavrix still had a sweeter spot for the smaller and far more detailed Copan in Honduras. No mighty monuments reaching into the sky to be found there but a far finer chisel that recorded history better and the feel of the place and how it was.

Now that we had travelled all the way to the north of Guatemala it was time to put on the brakes and U-turn back down south with our eventual destination being the Guatemala city airport. Hmmm what should we do V? I dont know M, how about some caving, river swinging and general frolicking in Semuc Champe? That sounds great, lets go go gadget! So off the Mavrix went to the very hard to reach but stunningly beautiful Semuc Champe (we arrived in the end in the back of a bakkie under a plastic sheet to shelter from the rain).

Our hostel was in the middle of the jungle here and had a relaxing atmostphere that seeped into your pours. We enjoyed doing pretty much nothing here, but we enjoyed doing the caving even more. Semuc Champes series of caves are best visited with a candle in one hand and the rock wall steadying you in the other. You swim, slide and jump through the cave system with nothing but you and your mates candle to light the way as you go past stalactites, huge underground waterfalls and prey that flash floods (it could happen tomorrow) dont occur! It was great fun and finished with a fun filled bit of tubing down the river right to our hostel, the V did fall off her tube at one point and almost lost her flip flop but thanks to the "claw" (her right toe) it was saved as was she.

The next day we explored the stunningly beautiful pools and waterfalls formed by Semuc Champes underwater river in the national park, not much to say other than its colours are electric, the waters cool and its good for a few hours swimming and cavorting.

Our next stop was Antigua which we reached by Gringo shuttle (we had learnt our Guatemalan lesson by now). Antigua is a another beautiful Colonial town much like Granada and Leon only better, Antigua is an Unesco World Heritage site and has ruins and classic architecture throughout the city, not just in the old town section. Its also flanked by several volcanoes and has the fully active Putaya Volcano just 1hr outside of town...cool.

With our flight in just a week the Mavrix decided to settle down and chill out in Antigua doing very little for a while. Normally our skins start to itch after being in a town for more than 2-3 days but our stay was made infinitly easier by a new made friend Wesley(Weza as his Mom knows him, Sharpy as his mates back home know him and Wesley John Sharpe as the law knows him). Weza is a crazy goof ball that has made "trippin balls" his life motto and daily routine, he's a mechanical engineer working in the Ozzie mines, a graffitti artist working on Melbournes trains and a genuine person made of the good stuff. He would be attached to the Mavrix hip for the next week and we welcomed his company.

One of our first excursions together was to the mighty Putaya Volcano. One hour out of the city and one hour mean ass hiking through the rain, straight up, into the clouds, we reached the volcano with the light starting to get orange but scarce. Cresting the peak we saw the river of lava flowing infront of us, much faster than we would have thought and much brighter than we would have imagined. As you clamber over the rocks to get a better and closer look (no 1st world country would ever let you this close to a live volcano) you start hearing the crackle and hiss of burning rock beneath your feet, look down and you see the burning coals peaking out between the cracks, by the way, dont stand still for too long or you'll start feeling like your feet are pork sausages on the Sunday braai. Get even closer and you forget all about the rain, you feel very dry suddenly and very very hot, the wind changes and the air gets knocked out of your throat, you shield your eyes and take an involuntary step back.... whats that smell? Oops I stood still too long my shoes are burning. Ah - I'm melting! At this point we pulled out our marshmellows (the Mavrix had come prepared), using a very long stick we held the marshies out over the lava and 2-3 seconds later "DING" they were done, sometimes over done or even flaming....yum... nothing like freshly volcano roasted marshmellows on a rainy afternoon.

The rest of our time in Antigua was spent playing basketball with the locals next to ruins, walking the town and generally just enjoying the calm before the storm of our next big jump across the pond to Thailand. It was during this time that an idea was born between the Triopoly as we had started calling ourselves (Weza and the Mavrix). We created a book. This book would contain a story from each of us about our travels or our lives. We would then hold onto the book until we found someone like minded to give it to, they would then write their story and pass it on again, and so on and so on. At the end of the books journey the last person would be asked to send it to one of the Triopoly. Here it would be written out in full and maybe even published with ever member of the "book club" who had contributed to the stories being sent their own copy. In this trip the book would have crossed the world, gone from hand to hand, been read and reread and shortened the distance between all the people who read it. We look forward to getting the book back, whether it be in 1 year or 20 years.

Another goodbye, this time not only to a new friend (a really good one that we will hopefully reconnect with in Oz one day) but also to Latin America our home for the last 7 months. We would also be saying goodbye or rather "Adios" to Spanish but had vowed to keep it as our secret language in South East Asia as we had used Afrikaans in Latin America (lets see if that lasts...). But first we would have to make it through the USA...

Honduras - Copan Ruinas and Utilla in the Bay Islands 14 - 24 Sept

After an eventful border crossing and 2 days travelling made easier by the weight of numbers (we were travelling in a group of 8) we had exited Nicaragua, travelled through the worlds hardest to pronounce capital city, Tegucigulpa (Teh-goo-see-gulp-ah) and landed on the small Caribean Island of Utila in the Bay Islands.

Utila is known worldwide for its beautiful reefs (2nd biggest right after the barrier reef) and super cheap diving. The Mavrix now expert divers after having completed their Open Water course in Taganga Colombia were keen to dive again and with the Welshman in tow (Liam) signed up for a 12 dive package. Nice thing about Utilla is that there is so much competition between dive shops this meant we got our accomodation for free as well as free snorkeling etc, it practically felt like they would have given up their first born son for us to sign up. Utilla is also somewhat of a party island with loads of backpackers walking the streets at night dodging the many daredevil scooter drivers that whip their way up and down the islands main road and ducking into the many bars that accomodate the islands other big pursuit, this meant a few nights fun on the water not of the diving variety for the Mavrix. We think this might be the main reason that so many get "stuck" here, our dive master had come for a week and had stayed for 3 years as do many, we dont really understand it but hey to each their own. Although Utila was great fun and the diving was beautiful it must be said that it is not the prettiest of islands (or are we just spoilt after the Corn Islands???), the beaches are average and the roads too busy for our liking - No go slow on THIS island. Utila also has some serious wildlife going on, namely mosquitos, iguanas and tarantulas. Brad and Ed were to find this out one night when returning to their room, they had already chucked out one tarantula previously only for another to make its home on the wall above their heads. So freaked out where these 2 city boys that they went to managment to get the problem sorted out to which a sleeping soul replied "Its a 3rd world country, deal with it!", harsh for them, hilarious for us!!

After some great diving and good times we decided to keep on moving with our next destination in Honduras being Copan. Copan is an old Maya city right on the border of Guatemala and Honduras. After arriving late the night before we made an early start for the ruins, a short 1km walk outside of town. While Copan is not as big as some other Mayan cities it has an astounding amount of detail still in tact with many sculptures and estellas (like reliefs) scattered throughout. This makes it a beautiful and interesting site to visit, we often found ourselves bending over and sticking our nose in close to get a better look at some of the beautiful works. Also very interesting was the ball court, one of soccers great ancestors where Mayans would play with a ball made out of extract from the rubber tree with the outcome of the game determining life or death! Funnily enough the winner was the one to be sacrificed, much like Muslims believe that they get 40 virgins and a Big Mac if they blow themselves up, the Mayans believed that if they won the ball game they would accend to heaven as kings and recieve a great many virginal wives with a happy ending.

This was to be a quick stop though and also a goodbye to our travelling buddies of the last 3-4 weeks as we were all heading off in different directions :( It was sad to leave our little family but we have done this many times by now and is just a part of life when travelling. Next destination Guatemala...

Little and Big Corn Islands - Nicaragua 8 - 13 Sept

Well no-one said it would be easy, no-one said it would be so damn hard either!!!

We had opted to be cheap bastards and take the long overland route to the Corn Islands using Chicken Buses(public buses that cram everyone in like chickens in the Kernels bucket) as well as boats and ferries as opposed to the super easy but expensive option of the plane. The next few days would be hard! We caught a 2 hour chicken bus to Managua (ugly sprawling Nicaraguan capital city) then a cross town cab for 40 minutes, a 7 hour seriously squashed chicken bus to Rama, slept the night in little Rama, caught the early launcha (speed boat) 2 hours into Bluefields (one of the ugliest and least safe feeling places we have been) only to find out that there wasnt a ferry for another 3 days. It was at this point that we caved in and took the plane the last bit of the journey to Big Corn the next morning. Lets just say that this trip made us hard core travelers but not happy ones.

But hey we were there! Well almost... Big Corn is really pretty, but it wasnt quite what we wanted, the beaches were beautiful however the place was deserted apart from some locals and the rest of the island felt too built up and suburban, we thought we would give Little Corn a try the next day via a short 1 hour speedboat leaving at 7am, after all the guied book said that this was an idylic piece of paradise as yet undiscovered by the throngs of crusie boats.

WOW! Thats what we kepy saying about Little Corn once we got there, this was more our speed! Little Corn is a tiny 1.7km island stuck in the Caribean with pretty, still waters lapping at the white sand of beaches polka dotted with coconut trees, oh and there isnt a car or motor bike on the island but there are speedbumps on the paths just in case you ride your bike too fast - "take it slow mon, take it slow". Some history...While the Spanish conquered the mainlands of South and Central America, the English planted their flags all over the Caribean and transplanted slaves all over the region from Africa meaning that today you have the decendants of those African slaves all over the island speaking a slow lyrical drawl somewhere between English and Creol (although you also have Mosquit and Spanish spoken here too). They are also devoted listeners of the great Bob Marley and in their opinion the even GREATER Lucky Dube (or like they call him Lucky Doobs). It was great walking though the island hearing home playing back at us...

We stayed at Gracies place also known as Cool Spot on the quiet side of the island. Gracie is a super cool Mom type who hands out hugs all day and the occasional free mango or avo (island pear) if she thinks you look too hungry. Our little cabin was literally ON the beach, we had to shake the sand off our feet before going inside and we could spit into the ocean if we were so inclined it was that close. During our stay here lying on hammocks and sunning ourselves we met Brad, Toby and Liam. Brad is a gruff talking, hard edged loud American from Philly but has a sensitive side if you're willing to hear it out, Toby is a Swiss hippy with a girl back home and Liam is the English/Welsh man Commando who served in both invasion forces - Afganistan and Iraq but you would never be able to tell, he has a comical nature and none of the brash crew cut style you would associate with an army man. These would become our friends over the next few weeks and great people to experience the island with.

We spent our days generally just enjoying the island for what it is. We would wake up and go for a soak in the water, climb a tree for a coconut breakfast, snorkel around the reefs chasing sting rays, play frisbee and bat n ball in the water, eat coconut bread and lobsters, bash down dominos with the locals, swing in hammocks, play volley ball and just enjoy being beach bums.... good times. Oh and Vix beat the boys at a game of poker meaning she got a free lobster dinner on us....yum.

By the end of our week in paradise our skins had attained a well tanned if slightly salty sheen, our bodies were relaxed and our hearts happy. We were sad to leave Little Corn, sad to say farewell to Mama Gracie who had treated us with smiles and hugs like we were one of her own (she already has 6, I cant see why she would want more?) and sad to bid farewell to the sand between our toes but we had a flight in Miami to get to and we couldnt dilly nor dally any longer. We organised to meet the boys back in Leon, they would be flying back while we were intent on doing the trip back better this time, so off we went.

First we caught a speed boat back at 2pm to Big Corn, too early we thought but it would be good place to hang around, do a bit of grocery shopping and internet before the ferry left for the mainland around midnight. On our arrival the dock hand pointed out the ferry, a little speck in the horizon. It seems that ferry captains keep their own schedules and he left at 2pm instead of midnight and no way were we hanging around in Big Corn for 3 more days waiting for the next ferry. So with a couple locals alongside us we organised a speed boat to go out and "catch" the ferry which was a high sea adventure in itself. The speed boat had done the catching up in about 10 minutes of wave crashing and now we stood swaying chaotically up and down at high sea next to the much higher ferry, which was more fishing boat meets tug than a ferry. Those already on board grabbed and pulled us and our belongings roughly on board onto the greasy deck of the good ship "smells like fish and guts". There wasnt a chair to speak of but some of the locals in the know had brought their own hammocks, we werent so lucky, all we got was a big piece of cardboard that would be our mattress next to the railingless edge for the next 12 hours through the night. We arrived after a stomache churning and smelly night to the river town of Rama at 3am where a self confessed jail jumper from america showed us the closest ATM, not the best guide but a necessary one. From there we caught the 4am chicken bus and arrived in Leon 9 hours later impressed with ourselves for our resourseful backpacking never say die nature!

Here we would meet up again with our friends from Little Corn, you would think that after 24 hours of rough house traveling we would be baying for our beds but instead we decided to head off and celebrate Central American independence with a party on the beach. After some fun antics including Vix jumping off the back of a moving bakkie for the M and the crew getting a hitch back on an overcrowded bakkie "ow my leg huuurts" :). We fell into bed at the Big Foot hostel and smiled, travelling is hard sometimes but always worth it...

Travelin through Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua 26 August - 7 Sept

Fresh off an awesome 5 days sailing from Colombia through the magical San Blas islands the Mavrix caught a plane and landed in Panama City, a new day, a new country, same old slow ass customs officials, oh well. Our plan was to hit Central America like a red headed step child, hard and fast. We needed to be in Miami for our flight to Bangkok Thailand by the 7th of October and had roughly 6 countries in the way, plus we had an appointment with the US Embassy in San Jose Costa Rica in 2 days because we needed a Visa just for going through the bloody airport (bloody paranoid Americans). This all meant that our time would be short but we would make the most of it.

Panama City is the only nice capital in all of Central America, the rest are dirty, dangerous and chaotic places while Panama City manages to look pretty at times and even have some semblance of order. Walking in the streets we found ourselves wishing we had bigger bags so we could buy the $1 denim jeans we saw everywhere, we also gawked at the brightly coloured and feverishly designed local buses ¨Diablos Rojos¨who were only out sparkled by the brightly dressed traditional women walking amongst the city´s highrises as if this was all perfectly normal, its kind of like seeing a Zulu in full traditional gear walking shopping in Sandton. We also managed to make our way out to one of the worlds great engineering marvels, the Atlantic to Pacific connecting, Panama Canal. What can you really say about the canal other than its big, impressive and the ships miss either side of the canal by less than a Blue Bulls fan´s ¨Boep¨, thats one impressive parking job!

The next day we caught an overnight bus into San Jose - Costa Rica with just an afternoon to spare before our ïnterview¨with the annoying American Embassy . This meant filling out a bunch of forms including one that asked ¨Are you intending to enter the USA to carry out any terrorist activities, engage in sexual acts with a minor or any other criminal activity?¨...... we said ¨no¨. Our day at the embassy started at 7h00 and ended after 15h00, it was a thrilling time of que standing, staring at the ceiling, finger tapping and some stealthy nose picking. All this fun eventually cost us $145 each but we now have the right to enter the ¨Great¨ USA and walk from one side of Miami airport to the other where we can catch a plane out of there. We could have used that money to buy a 145 pairs of jeans...

We decided to get out of Costa Rica pretty quickly, we had had enough of America and Costa Rica is practically a colony of the US. The street signs are in English instead of Spanish and there are more malls and fast food chains than sesame seeds on a Mac Muffin. So next thing we tripped up to Nicaragua in search of some fun and a more authentic Latin American experience. We didnt find it at our first stop, the small surfing town of San Juan del Sur which is more an American and Aussie surf hangout than anything else plus a freak wave stole the Vixens favourite Buenos Aires bought top and swallowed it into the surf. Bummer Dude.

Isla de Ometepe was just a short hop away from there, its an island in the middle of the HUGE Lake Nicaragua that sports 2 giant volcanoes, fresh water sharks (gulp) and lush green rice fields. The place is a beauty and a marvel but being out of season meant it was also super boring and the Mavrix dont do super boring! So off we travelled again in search of the good life.

Granada was a bit more like it! This beautiful colonial town proved a great place to meet other travellers and just absorb some atmostphere. Beautiful multicoloured buildings and ncie weather had us walking the streets just for fun for half the day. The hostel we stayed at also had enormous and cheap food which we hungrily scoffed down with smiles and sticky fingers. One of our 3 nights here we entered into a small poker tournament just for shits and giggles and managed to get our bums handed to us in a paper bag by the local card sharks. It was good fun though and a laugh if only for the profesionals at the table.

Our next decision was made by a flip of a coin over a beer, do we go to the Corn Islands? A little slice of the Caribean just off the almost uninhabited Nicaraguan coastline? No-one we had met had actually been there mainly because its a real mission to get there unless you fly which is obviously expensive. But heads it was and we decided to just do it even if it was the hard way...

Sailing da Caribean mon... 14 - 26 August

Getting from South to Central America sounds like a trivial affair, after all they are so close on the map and if it wasnt for the Panama canal they would be connected, easy peasy. However due to a little thing called the Darian Gap, a swamp like jungle infested with only slightly more rebels and drug runners than mosquitos what should be a little jump is a large problem. However seeing the silver lining in all things the Marvix decided to turn this obstruction into an opportunity with a luxury cruise on a 14 m beauty of a sailboat from Cartagena Colombia to Porvenir Panama. The trip would involve 2 days of straight high sea sailing and then 3 days of lounging around in the beautiful archapeligo of the San Blas islands inhabited by the Kanoa Indians.

After some serious sleuthing the Mavrix tracked down a character of a Captain called Frederico, a half Brazilian, half Frenchman with a dirty sense of humour and a beautiful boat with a complicated name that apparently means ¨Dirty sexual attitude¨in Portuguese. With time, date and price approved we set sail with the sun dipping down over the beautiful city of Cartagena. In total there were 11 of us on board, Frederico the Captain, 2 crew, 3 Irish, 2 ozzies, a Canadian and the Mavrix, a good mix for a good trip.

The first day and a half would be spent at high sea with no land in site and everyone fighting off sea sickness with all their might... one of the Irish didnt manage and the fish were given some extra sustinance but everyone else controlled the level of green they turned and stayed strong.

On day three we finally spotted Land Ahoy and began sailing through the beautiful fairy tale San Blas islands. These tiny gems are home to the Kanoa Indians a traditional group of indigineous people who govern themselves and make money by harvesting the many coconut trees everpresent across the islands. Coconuts are so closely linked to their wealth that they are exchangable at the local markets just like currency. By the way if you´ve ever eaten a Nestle Bounty chocolate then you´ve had coconut from the San Blas islands, thats all they use.

While the islands vary in size and population some of the prettiest are the smallest, those typical message in a bottle, I´ve been marrooned by pirates islands with just a single coconut tree and a white sand beach. These are the islands that we would spend the next three days on snorkeling with stingrays and turtles by day and the phosphoresent fairy lights of the plankton by night, enjoying the sun, eating coconuts and lobsters, bonfires on the beach, watching sunsets, swimming and generally just sucking the juice out of life. It was a great time and a great experience, how often do you get to chill on a yacht while a canoe paddles up to you with lobsters and crab, then jump into the water and swim to a beach where you know you wont be disturbed by a single soul. We were very lucky to be there and very sad to leave.

On our last day we headed onto Porvenir, an island with 2000 inhabitants, it felt like 1999 of these inhabitants were kids because as soon as Vix started handing out balloons swarms of kids mobbed the Mavrix and soon our bag of 100 balloons was gone. As we walked through the tiny village were saw their smiles and laughs bouncing around just like the many balloons we had handed out. Aggg Cute Man! Alas the following day we had to catch the plane to Panama city since we needed to get to Costa Rica super fast... but that is another story.

Colombia - Oh My! 6 August - 21 August

If you are to believe everything that you see in the movies or read in the news then Colombia is ravaged by the FARCS or Guerillas, everyone is a Cocaine trafficer and tourists are kidnapped weekly....by the dozen. Thank Googleness it isn´t at all like that. In fact we found Colombia to be beautiful and peaceful with friendly people whose only crime is that they speak rubbish Spanish!

We did decide to play on the side of caution to start with though and were only taking day buses and staying in non Guerilla type places (funnily enough big hairy monkeys with bananas and big hairy men with bazookas both like hanging out in the jungle). Our first ride into Colombia took us through spectacular green mountains, deep rivers, far off forests and the smells of coffee. We journeyed to Popoyan that day a beautiful Colonial town with whitewashed walls, clock towers, green parks and the sounds of Afro beats every..... Oh did we mention how excited we were to see black people again? It was like coming home for a mini break, unfortunately nobody responds to ¨Sawubona¨. We only stayed in Popoyan for a day but managed to walk the place flat and suck in some old Spanish style culture and architecture.

Next up was a rather long ride to the Capital Bogota which was suprisingly cold compared to the rest of the countries normal hot and humid nature. The people also looked different, better dressed, like a New York meets Melville chic´ and much paler than their country and coastal cuzzies. Our Hostel was great too (Platypus) with German (ponounced Herman) the owner being full of helpful hints and free beers, it was also good to cook again and not be subjected to heaps of rice and potatos! We didnt really do much in Bogota but it was a great base to sort out our next steps including the ball ache of getting the transient visa for the States which we would have to go to Costa Rica for an interview for....sigh....$131 per person!

Our hearts where panging for the beach though and they would get their wish soon as we headed for Taganga near Santa Marta. A small fishing village with more scuba operators than stray dogs and more hammocks than scuba operators. Our Hostel overlooked the beach and the caribean tunes floated up to us on the heat waves emanating off the beach. Our little white bodies took a little shock from the sun (gringo alert) but it was great to be too hot rather than too cold for the first time in a long time and nothing beats a cold beer and a fresh fish next to the beach!

Having done some walkies round the town we signed up to do our Scuba course with Calipso Scuba away from town in the nature reserve of Tayrona. This meant that we got some pretty exclusive treatment, our OWN dive instructor, classes on the beach, our OWN beach, our OWN chef and a choice of hammocks right on the beach to sleep in! Paradise regained!

We did 6 dives in total over 3 days here while working on our tans, snorkeling and dozing in the hammocks inbetween. Its a hard life but we knew what we signed up for when we left!

So after having enjoyed some we time (cause we dont see each other enough already) we headed to ¨South Americas most beautiful and romantic city¨ according to the Daily Planet ...Lonely Planet. Cartagena is really beautiful if you stick to the old town, its been restored to a high level of splendor that pulls in the cruise boats and American camera snappers in their droves. Still its really pretty! We also like Getsemani the area that we were staying in which also has beautiful old buildings, but without the refurbishment and with some rum stained hobos and dirty barefoot kids playing ball. Our real mission in Cartagena however was to find passage on a sailboat to Panama through the San Blas islands, we thought it would be hard to find someone to go with, but we ended up having choices to make and settled on Captain Frederico whose boat was called something strange in Portugese that meant ¨Dirty sexual attitude¨, how could we go wrong?!?

But we had a few days to kill before then so we went to a Mud Volcano outside of town where you bob around clumsily covered from tip to toe in mud before washing it off in the lagoon below. Tons of good ¨clean¨ fun. Hilarious moments of note, which have to be the fatties trying to get out the volcano and their pants falling down behind them....ok that almost happened to us too but its funnier with them.

We would then spend our days just hanging around Cartagena till the boat was ready to rock and sail with some lucky days in the park watching 50 or more kites in the sky on the National Kite day and some not so lucky days when it rained when we went to the beach.

Fun off the topic extra..Our favorite Spanish class is the Taxi ride where the first question the taxi driver normally asks after ¨where are you going?¨ is ¨where are you from?¨ , however in Colombia many of them found it hard to believe and funny too that we were from Africa and yet we were White...they all seem to know that we have the World Cup 2010 though.

Next time, San Blas Islands and Panama City.

Racing through Ecuador 28 July - 5 August

The mavrix usually answer to no man, no appointments, no schedule, no problem! Unfortunately the United States embassy seems to have a problem with this...sigh.This meant that rather than going and traveling at our usually leisurely pace where every day is a holiday we found ourselves having to speed things up quite significantly and sacrifice Ecuador to the Travel gods. We ended up spending a total of just 9 days running through this great little country...sniff...and what we saw was beautiful, plus the weather was spectacular and coming from 8 days trekking in freezing cold in Peru this was very welcome.

We found that Ecuador has an amazing intercity bus service, basically anywhere you want to go within roughly 17 hours you can just arrive at the terminal and you will be sure to be on a bus in less than 10 minutes, we got quite used to boarding buses on the move (try that with 15kgs plus of luggage!). We traveled through the citys of:

Cuenca - a beautiful town that has been made a Unesco World Heritage site with amazing coffee that the Vixen indulged in while the M sipped chilled Cervezas in the cafe. Oh and we would be remise not to mention the AMAZING Banana split ice cream that we gorged ourselves on....sore tummy but a happy one :-)

Aulusi - Home to the "World Renouned" Nariz del Diablo (we also hadnt heard of it) where you ride on the top of the roof of a classic train through the switchbacks in the mountains surrounding the town. Not actually scarey at all ...yawn... Mavrix need real excitement!

Banos - Home to more Hot Springs and a still erupting Volcano (thats more like it). Unfortunately the Volcano is unclimbable for obvious reasons so we just got the one sighting and then had to head out again.

Tena - This river rafting and kayaking Mecca was a super chilled jungle and river town where we took a rest from the traveling for a day. In this time we met a guy wearing a snake in his head, around his neck and down his pants. He proceeded to hand these over to the Mavrix much to our fright and delight. We had to stop him though after he attempted to put a snake down the M's pants which he thought was hilarious. So after handing back the snake hat (the snake was enjoying tonguing the M's eye lid) we followed Gabrielle the Snake man back to his "office" come "house" infested with more snakes and spiders and signed up for 2 days of jungle trekking and a day of rafting. Sweet! We ended up having a good time swinging from Tarzan vines, swimming in Waterfalls, eating Coco Fruit (the stuff they make chocolate from) and much more! Then finally we ended it off with a days rafting in the sun...pity our boat was a little pap but all was good. That night we jumped in another bus and headed for the Capital City.

Quito - The Old town here in Quito is also quite spectacular but the Mavs felt it lost some of its magic due to the size of Quito like a giant resting his big toe inches above a flower.

While it might sound like Ecuador doesn't have much to offer what must be remembered is that we ran through it without taking time to smell the roses under the giants foot. The scenery we saw in the many hours of bus rides was enough to convince us that Ecuador is an ecological beauty... oh well maybe next time.

Huaraz - Mavrix get high on hiking 11 July

Having missed out on the Inca Trail due to vast amounts of gas from the M and having done a little too much city slicking the Mavrix were craving some outdoor adventure. What better place than the Andes we thought and what better town than Huaraz we were told. Now Huaraz the city is quite an eye sore really, partly the fault of an earthquake in the 70s and partly the fault of a lack of architectural prowess from the Peruvians, it is however the staging point for assualts on the worlds second highest mountain range after the Himilayas holding some 22 peaks over 6000m, multicoloured glacier lakes, high altitude trails and some scenery worth kissing the ground and saying thank you-thank you-thank you that I´m here. Just what the travel doctor ordered!

We left Lima on an overnight bus through the mountains which caused a swaying motion that almost dislodged some dinners and made for hard fought sleep. After an early bleary eyed arrival in another new place the Mavs went about the usual scouting for things to do, how to do them and who to do them with. This involves a simple system really, meet a fellow traveler over coffee and squeeze them dry for info, walk from agency to agency telling them all that you can get it cheaper next door and then finally sign up with someone just because they look like a nice guy!

We discovered that there are a bunch of hikes that you can do in the Huaraz region from simple day hikes to 2 week epics or even real mountaineering expeditions up peaks as high as 6800m. We decided to do the scenic but hard Huahuash (pronounced White wash) trek based upon the recommendation of a German girl who had done 4 weeks just in Huaraz and convinced us this was the only course of action worth exploring (in retrospect we are very glad we listened!)

So having met a nice guy who had a nice price for the trek (Oh he also thew in a days free climbing...free is good!) we got picked up in a private car early one morning and drove off to the Cordiella Huayhuash with our guide Miguel and a great American lady called Lori who would become a great friend in the course of the trek. After burdening the donkey team with our bags, tents and food (we brought alot of warm clothes - we would need ALL of them) we walked off into the distance and deep into the mountains.


Day 1: 4.5 hour drive to Pocpa at 3475m then walked to Matacancha 4 hours flat, camped at 4150m with a view of Rondoy (5870m). This was a decent but quiet day with the highlight being how warm the kitchen tent got and how cold our tents got! We would learn that ice on the tent was normal.

Day 2: We walked some hard passes over Cacanan punta at 4700m (thats 600m higher than we started) down to Mitococha Valley seeing our first snow capped mountains in Rondoy chico 5500m and Jirishanca Chico at 5446m and Jirishanca at 6094m (Killimajaro is only 5995m). Then another 2 hours over Punta Carhuac at 4650m follwed by walking straight into a 30min snow storm before reaching one of the most beautiful camp sites ever in Camp Carhuacocha. We walked a total of 7h30 hours that day and Coca Tea (an Andean brew made from the same leaf you make Cocaine) became our best friend! Dont worry this is totaly legal and acts just like mild coffee.

Day 3: We were warned about this day for good reason. Really hard long hike of 8.5 hours seeing Carhuachocha which simply means Green lake in Quecha (4138m) then up to to Huayhuash camp at 4395m and where we camped under Yerupaja Chico 6121m and Yerupaja 6634m (second highest mountain in Peru) and Siula 6344m we also had to pass over Punta Carnicero at 4800m which was our biggest yet! We discovered that night that while we had been drinking our Coca tea another group of Israelis also on the trail had been taking Cocaine every night and drinking it up! WOW! This hike is hard enough already without doing that to your bodies which they would soon find out. The guides had to send horses out for 5 of them as it was getting dark an they werent even close to camp!
Day 4: Huayhuash camp to Viconga Camp 4453m for an easy 3.5 hours trekking over Punta Shuelo at 4785m seeing Viconga Lake and then ending our day with a relaxing soak in the hot springs which the Israelis decided was a great palce for a party so out came the beers and bongs...soon after we also came out and went back to camp, damn Israelis!


Day 5: This was to prove to be the hardest day so its probably just as well that 5 Israelis took another route and went home that day via bus, they just couldnt hack it anymore....we wonder why? We left Viconga camp and would end with Huanacpatay Camp (4350m) but first had to tackle Cuyoc Punta (5000m) where we saw an ice cream looking mountain called Cuyoc 5550m, we called it Dairy Maid then did a very steep down for 1.5 hours to 4450m then back up the super slippery slopes of San Antonio to the most magnificient view point ever at 5100m to see Carnicero 5960m, Siula 6344m(This is the mountain from ¨Touching the Void¨), Sarapo 6127m, Siula Chico, Yerupaja 6344m and then back down the slippery sand to the valley and then back again for the camera that we forgot on the field in the middle of nowhere. It was a fantastic day with awe inspiring views that I dont think many have been privilidged to the see the like of.


Day 6: Today we would hike to the dumbest camp site ever.... ok maybe we are the dumb ones, we walked right past it and had to hang around until our guide came and found us, fair enough though it was a beautiful camp site and the guide made us popcorn to make up for it. It was on this night that it became apparent that Victoria was going to win the long series of cards we had been playing with Lori every night in the tent and thereby get a free dinner paid for by the other 2 suckers.


Day 7: Huataq Camp to Jahuacocha 4200m with a start at 7h30 and arrived at 14h30 and did 2 passes, first pass Punta Tapush 4750m and then Cashapampa 4500m Valley up to second pass Guacha Punta 4847m. This second pass was special cause the mavs became donkey drivers for an hour pushing donkeys up hill and making ¨shish¨noises. We also saw 4 condors on the way down and a bunch of mountains already mentioned. That afternoon at our final campsite we drank beer and marvelled at the view, we tried to organise Trucha (Trout) without luck but the Israelis butchered 3 sheep for dinner, one of which died on the route that day after being exhuasted over the passes then hig tied to a horse before chocking on its own vomit. We thought it was super cruel too!

Day 8: Our last day of trekking was a downhill afair going from Jahuacocha camp to Llamac Village for our private car with a mere 5 hours of walking.

Overall we walked 120km and reached heights of 5100m physically but mentally much higher!


This has definitely been the highlight of our trip so far and is a place that we both feel we could go back to, who knows maybe we go tackle one of the 6000m+ bastards....

Paracas and Lima quickie ' 7 July

We had heard about the "Poor Mans Gallapagoskipped it. Funnily Colca Canyon is the place in South America you have the greatest chance of seeing Condors, this according to one of our guides, is because every day s" in Paracas and since we are poor men we decided to head there, we had originally wanted to go to the Colca Canyon to do some hiking but since M's tummy was still grumbling we they throw a donkey into the canyon for the Condors and they get so fat gorging themselves they cant take off or at least fly quite low....but dont worry our guide said, they only thow old ones....you gotta love South America!

They say you get what you pay for and the Poor Mans Galapagos stands up to its name, its like buying a Gold Folex it is always an hour slow and the little diamonds got unstuck in the first week but then what do you expect at the price.... Paracas's only redeming feature was that we got to see something very much like the NASCA lines, a giant Candelabra etching into the sand that has stood there for hundreds of years through rain and wind unchanged for the Gods to look down upon. The sea lions, pelicans and penguins were also cool but the smell of Guana (bird pooh) was not as nice.

Also due to a transport strike we were stuck in this ugly little town for another day with nothing to do but play cards and drink with other stuck Gringos (this part was actually quite fun).

The next day we bused out to Lima, Perus capital city and an unremarkable place we'd been told. We found it to be a city a lot like Joburg, clean and pretty in places with some scattering of dirt, grit and grime, it felt like home and we liked it.

We also liked the mall that looks out over a cliff onto the ocean and the all you can eat sushi (Vix ate all she could and more!). That night we sampled the local night life with Gussy and Ben a gal and guy we had reunited with from Villa Tunari Bolivia days. At 3am in the morning when the Red room styled club was closing a local "Limian" invited us back to his house, at first apprehensive we followed and ended up having a great time with him and his friends playing guitar and singing along with a bottle of whiskey till the sun came up! Why we paid for accomodation we arent sure but at least the bags got a good nights sleep!

Next the grand vistas of Huaraz the spectacular....

Cusco and Machu Picchu

One of the main reasons anyone comes to South America is to see the magical once lost city of Machu Picchu. The Mavrix dont like to disapoint so after a little detour (we changed our minds about going to Puno - Peru while on the bus there, luckily they just chucked us onto another bus at a later station) we arrived in Cusco, the once capital of the Inca empire and the staging point for any assualt on the great city in the clouds.

Now Cusco is worth a visit in itself, there are tons of beautiful churches, Inca ruins that make up the walls surrounding the central plaza as well as the surrounding areas, cobbled streets and crafts markets, actually there are more markets than you can swing a llama at! We liked Cusco! Its really touristy, but for good reason, you feel like you are walking through Italy one moment with its narrow cobbled streets and over hanging balconies and then you realise that the stones the walls are made of, are bigger than a VW Beetle and the beanie the old lady is trying to sell you is probably made out of wool yanked out of the llama standing next to her. Surreal and beautiful with all the character of a real South American city! To pass the time while waiting around for our Inca trail we got to eat Guinea Pig (a delicacy in Peru and damn delicious), starred in a Peruvian Music video as the token Gringos and went horse riding through some pretty cool ruins! Sweet!

We had booked for the Inca trail 4 months before (the minimum when booking for high season) and were keen as chuck to get on the road the Incas built to the big MP! One problem though, the morning of the Inca trail, meeting time 6am at the plaza, the M started puking his dinner into the hostels big white telephone! Not good! This is something that happens to alot of Gringos in Peru and Bolivia and is caused by the water, the chicken, uncooked veggies etc etc . After Vix did a super girl styled run to the plaza to deliver the bad news we headed to the Gringo hospital in town to size up the problem. To say that the hospital had some experience with Gringos getting tummy troubles is like saying Bob Mugabe has some experience rigging elections. After a battery of tests the M and subsequently the V were diagnosed with having Salmonella and a stomach parasite. This meant a night on the drip for M and a course of antibiotics for the V. It also meant we missed the boat that sailed to MP, now what? Well the tour operator was willing to give us a whopping 0% of the price back, but was willing to let us pay an additional $45 each to catch the train to see Machu Picchu, what choice did we have but to ride the train, we´re lucky we didnt have to push the damn thing as it kept having to reverse and get momentum for the uphills, $45 train rides just arent what they used to be, Que serra, serra.

The day before MP we decided to explore a bit and go for a little hike, well what WE thought would be a little hike. We followed the train tracks and then began our assualt on a little mountain just outside of town which had been highly recommended by our guide. This was to prove to be a climb more than a hike with long wooden ladders, steep steps and much huffing and puffing. The real suprise for this hike however happened at the summit after about 1 and half hours. We made the peak and the world opened up to us, vast expanses of jungle and mountains were now visible including a long winding road with a giant city ontop.... we had stumbled onto the once lost city of Machu Picchu from a distance and got to see a totally different view to the one most of the rest of the world is privy to! Brilliant! Pity the walk down the mountain was like taking a hammer and hitting our knees with every step, but all worth it and beside there were hot springs in town which we used to soothe our aching limbs later that evening!

The next morning we woke up early for the true assualt on MP. The city is just as spectacular as it is made out to be and more! Its a giant organism that was placed ontop of a mountain so that its inhabitants may feel closer to the Gods.... and you do too just by being there! The houses in the city are inumerable, the towers grand. We stood were once the king would have woken up and looked about at the mountains that surrounded him. Throughout MP there is water delivered by an aquaduct system at the top of the world. Massive terraced gardens for agriculture running all the way down the mountain. There is a room with strange acoustics that allows those on the outside to hear you in perfect clarity (a sort of speaker box for festivals and public address) and also amazingly the stones are all warm to the touch! Really this is a spiritual place where you feel comfortable spending the whole day walking, exploring or just snoozing on the lawn.

We left Machu Picchu exhausted and happy! You can see why it has captured so many peoples imaginations and why it is now a New Wonder of the World.

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca sits at 3800m above sea level and is one of the natural wonders of the world for good reason! This big bad boy was the next stop on the Mavrixs epic tour del Sud America and was a worthy stop if for no other reason than we got to eat seafood again for the first time since entering Bolivia. Actually it was some of the first decent food we got to eat since entering Bolivia, Bolivia thinks that every meal should have rice AND potatos...and maybe some starch for flavour too. Here in Copacabana (the little town on the shores of the Lake) we got to eat Trout, big ass Trouts like youve never seen or tasted, with roasted veggies and spicy sauces...yum!

All the normal tourists spend one night in Copacabana then take the morning boat to Isla del Sol (the mythical birthplace of the sun for the Incas) and then the afternoon boat back, but since when have the Mavrix wanted to do what everyone else does. We decided to use wind power instead and hire a little sailboat to the island, this would mean a 6am start with a 9am finish we were told, ¨great!¨ we said ¨we can watch the sun rise as the wind and spray hit our faces¨. Like this we would even get to the island an hour before the other sheep like tourists and have that much longer to explore.

6am the Mavrix got to the pier and were greated by our friendly sailor man Ernesto. We jumped in the little boat pushed off the pier and watched from under the sleeping bag as Ernesto started rowing to where presumably the wind would catch us and the smooth sailing would start. After some instruction in the art of sailing the M whose name Marino means ¨sailor¨in Spanish started steering the boat (heaven help us) and doing things like trimming the sail and changing the angle of said sail for maximum wind power, however no matter the direction we pointed it the wind would not cooperate and pretty soon Vix was called out of her slumber to steer the boat while M spat on his hands and set to the task of rowing with Ernesto...any moment now the wind will change he said so off we rowed using muscles the M didnt know existed or didnt care to discover....

So 4 hours later Ms blistered hands and stiff back with the help of some excellent steering from the V got us to Isla del Sol. In the meantime the boats we were supposed to beat by a full hour were all overtaking us with hordes of tourists leaning over the edge to take photos of the Mavrix hard at work (We hate Paparazzi!). As much as it was hard work though we really did enjoy it, its something we probably wont do again but still rowing our way through the worlds highest navigable lake (dont forget the altitude) and seeing the sun rise over it is something we wont forget!

After taking a well deserved breather the Mavrix climbed the 200 hundred or more steps at altitude to the top of the mountain ridge and started our walk. As beautiful as the scenery was we wanted to get back to Copa that day so when we found out from some passers by that the last boat was at 13h30 and it was already 12h30 and the boat left from the other side of the island our easy paced walk turned into some serious running. The Mavrix did a 4 hour route in about an hour of running and bundu bashing through forest, hillside and farm house with only a vague idea of where the port that was out destination really was! Luckly we made it with about 3 minutes to spare and actually ended up having a brilliant day of excerise and fun to remember, I dont think anyones ever done the Isla del Sol quite like that....

Welcome to the Jungle baby - Amazon

After mastering the Worlds Most Dangerous Road the Mavrix decided to go tackle the jungle proper so off we flew to Rurrenabaque a little Amazon river town with a grass landing strip and a laid back atmostphere we loved. This little town is filled with all the old cliches and some we had never heard of, tanned locals with pony tails and alligator necklaces, Mormon families trying to get away from it all and strange old men that offer to sell you freshly baked apple crumble and blueberry muffins. But we could not linger too long here we needed get going so the next morning we crammed ourselves into a Land Cruiser that had seen better days and traveled 3 hours down a head bumping road to the start of our tour. For the next 4 days our motorised transport would be a long banana boat and the Amazon would be the road.

The river, the guide and a troup of pink dolphins would all greet us together at the starting point, the river doing what slow rivers do, the guide speaking in hand motions and the dolphins breaching to take a peak at the gringos.

The next few hours on our little boat we spotted Alligators, Kayamans (BIG alligators), turtles, monkeys, dolphins and birds as big as teradachtyls! And we didnt spot them like you do in the Kruger from a distance with binoculars, the driver had the habit of zipping straight up to the Alligators and parking you within arm or jaws reach! Good fun was had by all pointing and making oooww aaahhh noises.

Sundowners were held on land at a river bar overlooking the Pampas (swamps and fields) while the M played football with a mixture of locals and gringos and Vix tilted her pinkie with a drink. Sweet.

Day 2 was Anaconda hunt time! Pull on your wellington boots and get ready to stomp through the swamp. Yes the swamp stinks, yes the object of our hunt was to literally stand on an Anaconda (thats how you find one), yes sometimes your foot gets stuck and only supreme effort and outside assistance finally frees you with some large suction noises like an Electrolux finishing a milkshake. Boy was it fun! After 3 hours of sweaty swamp slushing the tyipical looking Norwegian fellow in our group finally spotted an Anaconda and boy was it big... 2m of snake is a lot of snake! Yes I know they have been said to get up to 18 meters but when you are faced with something that is taller than you are and swallows its food whole, trust us its big enough!

That night we headed out onto the river in total darkness looking for alligators.....doesnt sound like a good idea but hearing all the jungle noises at night and seeing the alligators eyes shine red was pretty cool if a little spooky!

No trip to the Amazon river is complete without swimming with pink dolphins. These cousins of the normal dolphins realised thousands of years ago that pink is the new black and adapted to make it so. Ok the real story is that as the oceans fled from South America thousands of years ago the dolphins got stuck and therefore adapted to their new fresh water rather than salt water surroundings...still pretty cool. Swimming with them isnt a very personal experience though, they are by their very nature protectors so when you jump in the water rather than running to you to play, they circle to keep away all the nasties that call the river their home. We could see Alligators but they wouldnt come close because the dolphins were there. At one point thinking that there were maybe only 3 or 4 dolphins in the water we threw a ball in for them to play, this action scared the hell out of them and us as the water started boiling with what looked like 30 dolphins rushing around to investigate or get away from the noise whatever it was.

The day finished with a spot of fishing....for Piranas. These little guys dont attack the meat nearly as enthusiastically as we had hoped but we did manage to hook a few which made a good lunch for the group!

So we got to hunt and hold an anaconda, swim with dolphins, eat the pirana we caught and see a ton of wildlife. All good fun, so much fun that after leaving the Amazon the Mavrix are looking for ways to get back as soon as possible! Its an amazing place that 4 days just isnt enough to see, we will be back!

La Paz and the Worlds Most DANGEROUS Road

So we leaped up the breath taking and mind numbing 3400m from Villa Tunari jungle to La Paz Andeas in one not so fowl bus ride only to find ourselves in the capital at 6am without a hotel room and out of breath. After several wrong turns and knee grasping huff and puff moments we finally found a place to lay our heads.

The rest of the day was spent exploring La Paz, its markets, churches and the unending stairs that hit us like a brick in a pillow fight! Since the plan was to get to Cusco asap for the Inca trail we didnt have much time for much other than fact finding, how to get from here to there and with who, that type of thing. Not very exciting I know but even the Mavrix need to do admin sometimes.

The next day we got picked up bright and early for one of Bolivia´s biggest tourist attractions, ¨The Worlds Most Dangerous Road¨ (BAM BAM BAAAM)! The road was dubbed The WMDR because of its rather dismal safety record, it used to lose a bus a month on average but now tourists scream down it by mountain bike for sh1ts and giggles! This 64km stretch of road takes you from the clouds at 4200m to the jungle at 0m on part tar and part dirt (ok mostly dirt) on a single lane road with a sheer sometimes 300m drop just a meter away waiting to gobble you up. Although this road is pretty safe they tell us there have still been 8 fatalities in 10 years and many a broken bone, but the Mavrix are no strangers to danger so after some weeks of debate and a promise to behave all the way down we climbed aboard our double suspension, hydrolic brake mountain bikes and set off down hill with another 14 Gringos on bikes much like the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz.... fly my pretties!

The first thing that occurs to you is that pedalling doesnt do anything even in the hardest gear...your going too fast for it to matter, the second is that there are really big buses on this road and you have to figure out how to OVERTAKE them... trust me you dont want to mess with Bolivian bus drivers, they´re more hardcore than our taxi drivers and play worse music!

One thing about the sheer drops on the side is they give awesome views, one thing the guide warned us not to do was look at the pretty view as thats where most accidents happen and 1 life was taken....oooowww thats pretty, why am I flying? So the Mavrix tried to abstain from bird watching and view gawking until predesignated stops.

At the begining of this little adventure Vix was a little worried to say the least, but as the day went on she started leaving the M in her wake on the down hills, some would even swear they heard a ¨wheeee!¨as she flew past (Sorry Sandy), the M on the other hand was a lot more reserved (read chicken) on the downhill but was never last and always looked cool doing it....ok part of that last sentence was a lie, you figure out which part.

So after a day of spectacular views, dodging buses and pot holes we pedalled the final stretch into the jungle and another animal refuge (didnt we say we had enough of monkey poop?).

All in all it was a good experience but not nearly as extreme as all the brochures make it out to be and the Mavrix maybe didnt need the super duper luxury bike package, but then again we think the M´s package thanks him for the super suspension.