Peru!!

Hey everyone, right now im sitting in the sacred valley somewhere close to machu pichu! Arrived in Peru, 3 days ago, and internet seems limited around here. Anyhows, i decided it would be best for me to write something before i start the nightmare tomorrow! Its the walk to Machu Pichu, its starting tomorrow at 8, and we are gonna be walking for 6 hours, which should be fine, but the second day we are walking for 8! and we are climbing a peak that reaches 4200m above sea level. The oxygen is gonna be in high demand there, but im sure it will be fine. The peak is actually called Dead Woman Pass... Im sure it will be fine!
Anyhows, Peru is awsome :) met up with a new group now, and there are alot of cool people here, 2 norwegian guys, an english barrister and a canadian girl. Those are the ones under 30 atleast ^^
Peru seems abit more poverty strikken the Guatamala, but people here are really friendly and i have allready stocked up gifts for friends and family.
Im gonna have to cut this short since its 21:20 here, and i really gotta be awake for tomorrows walk. walking 3 flights of stairs at 3600m is hard in itself, hicking outside will prob be worse!
Hope you all have had a great Easter!
J

Guatamala City - Atitlan

Well gotta keep this short, not really sure if anyone is reading this anymore anyhows, Spent last night in a nice hotel in Guatamala City, we took a shit awful bus, that left us both aking with knee and leg pains for the day. Checked into the best western hotel, cost 60Usd. So very expensive. This morning we took a taxi to Antigua, where we got slightly crashed into by a random dude in an old car. We are staying in the sickest little room i have ever seen, 3 beds, a lightbulb, 2 holes in the wall, mouldy bathroom, but then again we have a hamock! Who can complain with a hamock hanging outside! Staying here for one night, had a look at a language school earlier, pretty crazy consept really. 30 hours of private tutoring, 21 meals, and a one week stay in someoenes house for 90USD. so for around 50,000Nok you can live here for a year with no extra expenses, being catered and cooked for. Well i need food, fat people need food to you know!
Have a nice easter people.
J

Guatamala - Tikal

So the entry last night, as most of you probably figured, was indeed an aprils fool joke.

We are right now in Flores in Guatamala, the Guatamlian people seem very friendly, and my image of the country as a crazed country has gone. Feel alot safer here then i did in belize. The people here smile alot, and all the kids look really cute. People here dont seem to have a hidden agenda, and dont nag as much as in belize and in mexico. Which does make the whole visiting part better, not having to shake my head and mumble no no no all the time.

We arrived in Flores on the 1st, and at 3:30 in the morning we had to get up again, we took a buss to Tikal in the total dark, and once we arived, we walked for 30 min with torches, until we came to a dark temple lingering over the forrest, we climbed it and sat there waiting for the sun to rise! Unfortunatley tho, it was foggy, and we couldent see much, but atleast i dident have to be afraid of falling down the stairs. We had a verry energic and smart tourguide showing us around, i made sure to take abit of pictures and will post them soon.

After the walk we had still not had anything to eat for 14 hours, we had an hour until the buss arrived, so we thought we would grab a plate to eat at Jaguar Inn. Peder ordered some breakfast, and i ordered a English Breakfast. When the waiter 30 min after we ordered comes with the food, he has bought me an American breakfast, which was nothing like what i had ordered. I told him I ordered an english breakfast and he walks off to the kitchen, then he comes back and tells me; We dont have any tomatos left. We tried to hoplessly comunicate with the missplaced pleb, and we think we got it across that, just because on ingredient from the english breakfast was missing, he dident have to replace all the other ingredients and we thought he understood, so i sat there watching peder have his breakfast, and when he was done, the waiter quickly comes inn and hands us the bill :( He dident get a tip


Well tomorrow at 22:00 we are getting an express night buss to Guatamala City then transfering direct from there to Antigua! Antigua seems like an awsome little multicultural place, and Iam really looking forward to it.
J

Im Fucked!

Ok... i have no idea what the hell to do! This morning we where going to chetumal on the "7:30" water taxi. Peder had abit to drink last night so i guess he was abit groggy. Anyhows, now im still on Caye Caulker, Peder is not.
The boat was meant to leave at 7:30, or so i was told, I got there at 7, and unloaded my bags, was gonna run get some food and stuff for the boat trip and when i got back the boat was gone. Peder has my bag, and my Passport, and when you read this Peder try and do a collect call to the Miramars Hotel, they are expecting the call. Peder lost his visa card in Cuba, And his travel charger doesent work so he cant use his phone :S i just hope he has enough money to stay someplace tonight. If anyone is to hear from Peder, tell him to come back to Caye Caulker, cause i cant leave without my passport.

J

Caye Caulker - Belize

Hey again!
Would just like to say thanks to people who commented on my entries! Really nice to get them. :) And if i ever was to rob a bank, Sangeet would of course be involved inn it.

So we left Corozal by the means of a little speed boat with 525Bhp and headed off to the island of San Pedro, The island life seemed very much like mainland life, and the people where just as relaxed, we had to get up at 6 in the morning to get the boat so we did not have time to eat breakfast, once we got to San Pedro we had only 10 min to get the next boat which took us out to Caye Caulker, The boat was absolutely packed! But i started talking to a Canadian woman who had retired and moved to Playa Del Carmen , and was visiting friends in Caye Caulker. Once we arrived we got met by some taxi guy who offered us a "Great cheap place" where we could stay. Never listen to people who suggest things when you get off the boat :( We ended up in some awful place with 2 hard beds, and a garden chair. The shower was exceptionally odd, as it smelt of sewage! My god was i glad that Peder called shotgun on the shower hoping to get all the warm water.
Once we unpacked we went running for a place to eat with the lonely planet book in hand. We needed some seriously nice food. We quickly found out that restaurant's don't necessarily open at the time it says on the door. We found a place called Rasta Pasta and proceeded to go inn, once we got inside we where saw a Rastafarian dude sitting on a table, we asked him; "Are you guys open?" he cheerfully replied "No mon"
"When are you gonna open?" He looked at his watch, thought for a couple of seconds then told us "Nahh, Not today mon" This is how laid back people are here. And there are no cars, just golf caddies, it takes 15 min to walk from north to south, and about 5 min east to west. I think this trip will by far be the most relaxed of the journey.

Peace mon!
J

Corozal - Belize

Hey people!
Right now I am sitting in an internet cafe in Coruzal in Belize, its 7pm ,and there is no AC here and its way to warm! We got up early this morning and left from a hostel in Tulum, and we tok a bus to a town in the south of mexico called Chetumal. Where i went to get out some money from the atm, Once i got the bank the sirens where going off, and there was 7-8 armed police officers standing outside the Bank, and as i left a fire engine arrived. What happend there i will prob never know, but it sure seemed suspicious! Once we got to the bus station we got picked up by another bus, wich would have been in a very bad standard had it been used for Russefeiring, it was bright blue, and it read Neptune busses along the side. It was then very clear to us that Belize would be a very differnt country. Once we crossed the borders we had to go through customs, and the officer asked us if we had any tobacoo or alochol with us, we told him we had 10 cigars from cuba with us. He went quite and told us we could go, it seemed that they where ment to be taxed, but that the officer just couldent be bothered!
Once we got into the Town of Corozal it was easy to see how hoplesly laid back everyone is, everyone is riding around on old bikes at a very slow place. It seems like Belize comatozed itself, but people here are very friendly, and they all speak english, although the dialect is abit different comunication is not a problem :)

Tomorrow moring at 7 we are getting a spead boat that does 50mp/h and going San Pedro which is a little island close to Caya Caulker which is our final destination for the day, and also for a couple of days. Its said to be one of the most laidback places on earth, Shop ovners close their shops if they feel they made enough money for the day, there is no cars either. The island is only 4-5 miles long and a mile wide. So getting around wont be much of a problem :) The food in belize seems to be good, and so do the people. So ill leave you guys with a local quote and i hope you are enjoying the spring around the world.

"Life's an eaze in Belize"

J

Day 5-8 Cuba - Playa Del Carmen

Well, i cant really be bothered to write so much more about cuba, wrote for 2 hours last night, and i dont really see the point in writing it so detailed again! We are in Playa Del Carmen at the moment where we are enjoying the sun and the taco´s! The last days in Cuba where absolutley fenomenal! Much thanks to the close friendship of our new sisters; Jo and Sangeet. Will never forget those 2! Sangeet is an amazing little firecracker of a 29 year old whose smile could cure cancer! Joanna is a great looking english girl (very rare) with bannanafobia, yes thats right. She is scared of bannanas! Had loads of fun with them and i hope we can keep in touch!

But now i better go down the road and get som Fahjitas and get to bed, tomorrow we are taking the bus to Tuluum, which is a city further south of Playa Del Carmen, Bringing us closer to Belize where we will hopefully spend some time.

P.S I found that mexican people pretty much all look the same! But they are awsomly friendly! Will write more when i have time! Cheeerio!
J

Day 2-3 Viñales - Cuba

After leaving the hotel in Habana, we headed off to a little village called Viñales, it had a population of 27,000 and it consisted of mainly 1-3 story buildings, but mainly bungalows. We where staying in a Casa, which is a rented room from someones family. The owners of the Casa prepared food etc for us, which was then sold to us for an outrageously high price. The first night we went to some caves and got to see the local landscape, Also got confronted by a very cute Cuban girl, who was wondering what we where doing, but we where in a hurry, so we couldent chat, cause we where going to the next place; A hotel up in the hills overlooking the mountains, on the way there the bus driver pulled over and let an old black man with a guitar and a straw hat onboard, he started playing loads of cuban songs, and once he arrived at the hotel we had a little chat with him, and gave him some pesos, he offered us some rum from a little dirty bottle, we kindly refused and then we left for another hotel, where we spent the evening watching the sunset over the mogotes. In the evening we went to a bar that played live salsa, and we got introduced to an awsome cuban guy, who was a farily well known boxer, but im not sure what his name was. Sat there for some hours, and then went back to the casa.

On the second day in Viñales, things got abit crazy; Peder had to go off early to get his Visa sorted out, so i went on a walk with the rest of the group, and i got to know the people in the group better. On the walk we dropped by a tobacoo plantation, and got to see how cigars where made, then we walked through the countryside and saw how cuban farmers live. Once i got backe i walked around town looking for a place to eat lunch, ended up in a place where some of the other travellers where, i got a half cooked stale chicken with rice and beans and blue potatos and 6 dozen flies. Dident eat much of it and went home, Then i bumped inn to Peder, who it turned out had gone to a police station, got told to go somewhere else and returned to viñales, to then be sendt out on a 6 hour hike up in the mountains without sunscreen. He did the hike on his own, with a crazy cuban tourguide, who only drank rum the whole way. Then it was off to the same Salsa place we where the night before, for some salsa lessons. I decided that salsa was much like judo and that id rather sit around and eat icecream. So i ended up talking to the boxer, its amazing how much one can comunicate without language! After the salsa lessons, it was off to the local basketball pith where Peder was gonna play basket with some locals, The sun was fierce, and peder could after a while not drink enough water to compensate and had to sit out a bit. Once the basket was done we headed back home and got some food at the Casa, and then went back to the Salsa Bar. This is when the night of crazines really began. Roger (our tourguide) suggested we should get a bottle of rum, because it worked out cheaper, im not much of a rum drinker so i stuck to beer. Peder however did not, and as the night went on the alcohol levels in the bloodstream got higher. Then i met what must have been my long distant brother, because i have never met a guy who looked so much like me, and people in the Salsa bar was telling me about it all night, pointing at me and laughing, while mumbeling my seperated at birth brothers name, then i finaly got to meet him and i bought him a beer, but after many drinks the bar was closing. We where petrified. Would this be the end our 3rd night!? Fortunatley, there was a 24 hour petrol station, so we convinced Sangeet and Jo that we would look after them and that they should come with us. So then it was off to the petrol station where i bought the cubans with us a 1l bottle of rum ($3), and Peder bought 2. We where hanging out at the petrol station for a while and some guy comes up to me and sais, "nice jacket, how much do you want for it?" The jacket was far from nice, awfull infact so i told him he could take it for free, he refused and i told him he could have it for 2$, he got all his friends and they chipped inn 2$ and bought the jacket off me, it humors me to think that some cuban guy, is running around with a jacket he thinks is really cool, that i never liked and was glad to get rid off. The only problem was the word spread quick, a westerner was selling used clothing for cheap prices! So another guy comes up to me and hastels me saying he wants my shoes, and that he wanted to trade his size 42 shoes for my size 46 shoes, i told him i wasent intrested and that i needed my shoes to walk around in the city. At this stage Peder was getting really rather pissed, he tried to take a swig from a bottle of rum, and spat it all out over some Australian tourists, it was time to head home. Once we got back home Peder collapsed on the floor, but he finaly got to his own bed. Then, in the middle of the night i wake up, "Is someone holding around me!?" I turned the light on to find fully dressed, under my blankets spooning me! I tell him what are you doing in my bed!? he replies its his bed, a quick nudge and poke and he realised that he was infact wrong and crawls back to his own bed. The following morning Peder was still abit drunk and we arrived 15 min late for the bus, but we made it. It was goodbye to Viñales and my newly found brother and of to Maria La Gorda.
J

Day 1 Cuba - Introduction - Arriving in Habana

Arrived in cuba today at 14:00, Cuba seemed much like a normal country from the air, but as soon as we got closer it all seemed very different, when arriving at the airport, we quickly saw the typical Cuban soldiers, standing there in there green costumes, with a hand gun. Then it was off to Customs, where some silly guy stampes Peder´s Visa wrong! He stamped it one month before, (17th Febuary) that ment that within 8hours, he would be an illegal imigrant in cuba, but everything worked out!

Once outside the airport in cuba we got a nice cab from the airport to St Johns Hotel, where we where staying. Once on the road we got splashed by the overwhelmingly large amount of Lada´s, Old American cars, Hitchikers, Run down buildings, Sosialistic proporganda and huge holes in the roads. It was a bumpy ride to habana, and once we got to the hotel, we found out that we had been moved to a hotel just over the road. Once we got to our room, we realised that luxury was left inn norway. The room had torn curtains that where selotaped back together. Electrical wires hanigng out wherever there was electrical appliances. It was clear luxury left Cuba with the Capitalism.

We managed to be late for the first meal with the tour group we where about to spend 7 nights with. Because we did not think there was a time differnece in cuba, but there was, so we changed our watches, then the next morning we where also late, because we had not changed our watces to dailight savings. The group seemed, ok at first, was abit disapointed that there was so many older people, but age dident play much of a role in the end. In the lobby we met our tour guide Roger, wo introduced us to the group. Roger was a typic cuban charmer, who never left any of the girls alone :P We then went for a meal at a classical Cuban restaurant, but the food was below mediocre. We also started talking to 4 awsome people that day, Trevor and Justine from Australia, Joanna from London, and the petite little beauty Sangeet from London!

After the meal we went down to an concert that was held right outside where some americans where, The place was amazaing, a huge stage, and a forest of flagpoles bearing the Anti Terrorist flag. As it turnes out, the buldings right behind the stage was occupied by Americans, i guess they where trying to salsa them out!

J

Cancun Detailed

So! Cancun was great at first but seemingly overated! (USA are good at that) All in all, its another party place, i would have loved it at the age of 18, but its all the same, just with anoying american voices. The first night we just chilled and enjoyed the 1$ bottles of Mexican beer and the mexican food, then it was off to Dado´s on the second to last night, Where they where judging the Miss Hawaiian Tropic competition, unfortunatley i enjoyed the free bar abit to much, and the show started at 3A.M.
Cancun was booring... nothing more to say about it really, but hopefully we will see more of Mexico then the americanised bullshit.
J

Cancun!

Arrived in Cancun last nigth, Was very late (10PM) and we had been travelling for 24 hours, The first feeling i got of Cancun was that it reminded me of Spain, but its clearly very different here, i dont know why tho... but it is. Right now we are sitting in an Internet Cafe in Cancun, but im sorta distracted, got in contact with a person i havent spoken to in 5 years, so need to cut this short! Will get back tomorrow! Gonna take so many pics then aswell!
Viva la Mexico!

The Voyage

Its now 4:30 in the morning, and Martin will be at mine to take me to the airport train in two and a half hours, im seriously fatigued, but im hoping to be able to sleep on the plane. Hopefully then I will not be struck so harshly by the jetlag. Im very spontanious, and the seriousness of what i am about to undertake has made its marks on me tonight. Its going to be very different to the life that i am used to, no facebook, series, tv, msn, mobile or peppe's pizza. I cant dance, and i hate doing it because i feel foolish, salsa lessons are included in one of the excursions. I can be very shy, and i dont speak Spanish. I have a serious fobia for insects and im going to the Amazon forest. But thats not whats bedaziling and scary about going, the thing that scares me is the fact that i dont know what to expect, i have watched so many programes and read a fair deal about the places where we are going. But its just too different to comprehend. I also fear this trip will make me more mature, more of a man and make me more able to stand on my own feet, who wants to loose the protection and safety youth brings? Im sure there are many a butterfly who has flown into a cobweb and thought; "Shit, why dident i just stay in my coocoon?" I think this is abit like how young Irish boys felt when getting on potato shipments to the US at the start of the 20th century.

The unknown and incomprahendable is scary. But its clear its the right thing to do.

Where would we be if throughout history, our greatest minds had feared that which they could not confirm? Embrace the unknown with caution, but not with fear."
-Karyn Somerfield

Blog is now up!

After a while of searching around on the web i came across this blogging service, that i will use for my travels in South America from the 14th of March til the 20th of May. But now i dont have time to talk, gotta go pack! Dont want to forget something this time :P
J