hello world
this is it, as michael jackson last said. we are sitting in our hotel room in bogota, colombia and it is indeed the very very last night. i think that just hit me now after selecting the photos for the blog and writing this... fuck man, i can't believe it. one year is over... the best year of our freakin' lives!
but anyhow, you did not yet hear about the last month of our journey around the world without a plan.
we were in cusco, feeling better, and ready for this tour to machu piccchu. we knew it was going to be bad, being a cheap tour and all, but we hoped to just get our tickets and the hostel name once we got there.
but yeah... it was bad. we spent hours waiting around in the morning, left late, got there late and hiked up to agua calientes (the village below machu picchu not reachable by car or bus, only with a 50 US$ train). i will spare the details like having 3 puking people in a bus with more people than seats in it for hours.
the hike was actually quite nice, following the train tracks through the jungle for a few hours. but the last bit was in the dark because of all the being late business.
so what... it was a tour and we took it, went through the procedures of hotel assignment and dinner feeding and then finally got our tickets for machu picchu and the train down to where we would be shoved into buses and brought back to cusco the next day.
so the next morning bonda and i got up early, caught the first bus up the hill and went to see this stunning place... and oh man, it is an awesome place for sure. it was pretty unbelievable being there for real. so many times you see pictures of machu picchu and there we were - for real. watching the sun rise from behind the mountains. pretty awesome. sitting there, with these old ruins below us and watching the sun light come out to illuminate the whole scene was simply magical. we will most definitely never forget that!
so after all of this and one extra night in cusco we had lost quite a bit of time due to our sickness. so we decided to head straight to the jungle and travelled on buses via lima to tarapoto for 53 hours straight. and that is long. believe me, very long! we spend a night in tarapoto, a small town in the jungle and got a "collectivo" ride to yurimaguas the next day. this is the place you have to get on a cargo boat that cruises along the rivers winding through the amazon to reach iquitos, the largest city in the world not accessible by car. there's only the boat or a plain. and the boat is a lot cheaper and kind of fun.
be bought all the necessary things for the boat ride (snacks, water, plastic plates and so on and a hammock!) and got ourselves a ticket for the ride. we were lucky enough to get a cabin which can be locked and kept our luggage safe. but we slept on hammocks of course.
the trip is suppose to take three days. it took five. they overloaded the boat for ages and after we left 24 hour late we run on ground after like 700 meters. an other boat had to come next to ours and they started loading cargo over... for a day... and then, another 24 hour later we left and three days later we arrived in iquitos. the boat ride was mostly fun, except that bonda fell down the stairs and got some baaad bruises.
btw, the google street view car was on the boat for the to make street view for iquitos. i spent 5 days chatting with a nice guy not realising that he was the google man. funny.
once we got to iquitos we checked into a cheap place and did some organising. we got information about the jungle, places to go, ayahuasca and also booked flights and stuff. we also visited the monkey island with the two guys from google, an islad with rescued pet monkey that were treated badly. that was really fun and also hands on. they came and played and cuddled. so cute.
after that we decided to contact roland. he is the uncle of one of the guys we met on the isla del sol on lake titicaca. giovanni had given us his contact details and told us he knows the jungle and we should just call him. and so we did and after that met him. roland is an outstanding man. he has a great family, works hard and has a heart of gold. he is also working with different people or organisations to protect and conserve the jungle and it's wildlife since over 20 years.
he was more than happy to help us out, so we moved to his place and then left for the jungle with light luggage. we went to a small jungle village where friends of his live and we stayed at their place. there was gladis and samuel the grad parents, edgar the son who lives across the river with his family and was our guide and boat driver and chicitita gladis, the young daughter who lives there and runs the small village shop they have.
so basically we just lived there for four days, ate our own rice we had brought and fish we had caught during the day, washed in the river or rented a small boat and cruised along the small jungle rivers. the village it's self was situated where the two big rivers "how ever they may be called" come together and form the amazon river.
we had a splendid time cruising around in our boat, using only the paddle down stream, watching pink and grey dolphins, parrots and other birds in all kinds of colours and monkeys. a small green parrot even flew to our boat, sat down for a while and then took off again. the jungle is amazing. both of us love it. i am sure we have not been to a jungle the last time!
after that we spent a few days more in iquitos. we went to the zoo which is sad, very sad. if anyone is ever in iquitos don't go to the zoo. we also went to belen, the poor part of town with a huge and disgusting market. when the river is high half the place is flooded but the river is low at this time. the market is terrible... they sell monkeys, turtle meat and so on. i must say it was mostly not a nice sight.
after a few days we took a speedboat to santa rosa. this is where peru, brazil and colombia meet each other. from there we entered colombia to leticia. this is a cool place, a lot smaller that iquitos and a lot more jungle style. we just spent a day there waiting for our flight to bogota where we are now, spending our last four nights in a flashy hotel for once.
but you know what? we are looking forward to coming home and seeing all our family and friend again. and we are soooooo looking forward to meeting wee finlay.
it was awesome. we did what we wanted to do and just went out discovering new things for us, all without a real plan. we just went for it. i never once regretted my choice and would do it all over again straight away. but now it's back to reality. we'll see what that has to bring...
so, my dear world, it was a pleasure getting to know you better. but you made us more curious and we will be back for some more...
lots of love and good bye for now
bonda & dee
on the way to agua calientes
and here it is... machu picchu
here comes the sun... beautiful
these steps are huge. there are two people at the bottom left.
statue in agua calientes
after 53 hour on a bus you might be loco! but we are in tarapoto, back in the jungle and it is finally hot again :-)
the boat to iquitos... nice way to sleep
monkey island in iquitos
and here we are in the jungle, 250 km away from iquitos
cruising, roland always looking out and listening.
this is where we lived. living room and shop at day time, our bed room at night
the kitchen
jungle adventures....
daniela having a swimm in the river
the school in the small village (closed at the time for holidays)
for three hours or so per day they have a generator for elecricity. and at 8 pm the whole village comes to watch a tele novela. every evening. that was fun!
the market in belen, iquitos
hanging out in iquitos...
this is bonda and dee standing in peru, bonda pointing to colombia and dee to brazil at the other side of the river
leticia lies at the brazilian border and you can just walk over. so we visited brazil briefly.
leticia the jungle city
nude bonda... oh-la-la
bogota, colombia's capital
we met some nice people in bogota
and last but not least the gift we made our selves... our suite for the last few days.
with breakfast deliverd to your room. we're ending this in style.
this is it, as michael jackson last said. we are sitting in our hotel room in bogota, colombia and it is indeed the very very last night. i think that just hit me now after selecting the photos for the blog and writing this... fuck man, i can't believe it. one year is over... the best year of our freakin' lives!
but anyhow, you did not yet hear about the last month of our journey around the world without a plan.
we were in cusco, feeling better, and ready for this tour to machu piccchu. we knew it was going to be bad, being a cheap tour and all, but we hoped to just get our tickets and the hostel name once we got there.
but yeah... it was bad. we spent hours waiting around in the morning, left late, got there late and hiked up to agua calientes (the village below machu picchu not reachable by car or bus, only with a 50 US$ train). i will spare the details like having 3 puking people in a bus with more people than seats in it for hours.
the hike was actually quite nice, following the train tracks through the jungle for a few hours. but the last bit was in the dark because of all the being late business.
so what... it was a tour and we took it, went through the procedures of hotel assignment and dinner feeding and then finally got our tickets for machu picchu and the train down to where we would be shoved into buses and brought back to cusco the next day.
so the next morning bonda and i got up early, caught the first bus up the hill and went to see this stunning place... and oh man, it is an awesome place for sure. it was pretty unbelievable being there for real. so many times you see pictures of machu picchu and there we were - for real. watching the sun rise from behind the mountains. pretty awesome. sitting there, with these old ruins below us and watching the sun light come out to illuminate the whole scene was simply magical. we will most definitely never forget that!
so after all of this and one extra night in cusco we had lost quite a bit of time due to our sickness. so we decided to head straight to the jungle and travelled on buses via lima to tarapoto for 53 hours straight. and that is long. believe me, very long! we spend a night in tarapoto, a small town in the jungle and got a "collectivo" ride to yurimaguas the next day. this is the place you have to get on a cargo boat that cruises along the rivers winding through the amazon to reach iquitos, the largest city in the world not accessible by car. there's only the boat or a plain. and the boat is a lot cheaper and kind of fun.
be bought all the necessary things for the boat ride (snacks, water, plastic plates and so on and a hammock!) and got ourselves a ticket for the ride. we were lucky enough to get a cabin which can be locked and kept our luggage safe. but we slept on hammocks of course.
the trip is suppose to take three days. it took five. they overloaded the boat for ages and after we left 24 hour late we run on ground after like 700 meters. an other boat had to come next to ours and they started loading cargo over... for a day... and then, another 24 hour later we left and three days later we arrived in iquitos. the boat ride was mostly fun, except that bonda fell down the stairs and got some baaad bruises.
btw, the google street view car was on the boat for the to make street view for iquitos. i spent 5 days chatting with a nice guy not realising that he was the google man. funny.
once we got to iquitos we checked into a cheap place and did some organising. we got information about the jungle, places to go, ayahuasca and also booked flights and stuff. we also visited the monkey island with the two guys from google, an islad with rescued pet monkey that were treated badly. that was really fun and also hands on. they came and played and cuddled. so cute.
after that we decided to contact roland. he is the uncle of one of the guys we met on the isla del sol on lake titicaca. giovanni had given us his contact details and told us he knows the jungle and we should just call him. and so we did and after that met him. roland is an outstanding man. he has a great family, works hard and has a heart of gold. he is also working with different people or organisations to protect and conserve the jungle and it's wildlife since over 20 years.
he was more than happy to help us out, so we moved to his place and then left for the jungle with light luggage. we went to a small jungle village where friends of his live and we stayed at their place. there was gladis and samuel the grad parents, edgar the son who lives across the river with his family and was our guide and boat driver and chicitita gladis, the young daughter who lives there and runs the small village shop they have.
so basically we just lived there for four days, ate our own rice we had brought and fish we had caught during the day, washed in the river or rented a small boat and cruised along the small jungle rivers. the village it's self was situated where the two big rivers "how ever they may be called" come together and form the amazon river.
we had a splendid time cruising around in our boat, using only the paddle down stream, watching pink and grey dolphins, parrots and other birds in all kinds of colours and monkeys. a small green parrot even flew to our boat, sat down for a while and then took off again. the jungle is amazing. both of us love it. i am sure we have not been to a jungle the last time!
after that we spent a few days more in iquitos. we went to the zoo which is sad, very sad. if anyone is ever in iquitos don't go to the zoo. we also went to belen, the poor part of town with a huge and disgusting market. when the river is high half the place is flooded but the river is low at this time. the market is terrible... they sell monkeys, turtle meat and so on. i must say it was mostly not a nice sight.
after a few days we took a speedboat to santa rosa. this is where peru, brazil and colombia meet each other. from there we entered colombia to leticia. this is a cool place, a lot smaller that iquitos and a lot more jungle style. we just spent a day there waiting for our flight to bogota where we are now, spending our last four nights in a flashy hotel for once.
but you know what? we are looking forward to coming home and seeing all our family and friend again. and we are soooooo looking forward to meeting wee finlay.
it was awesome. we did what we wanted to do and just went out discovering new things for us, all without a real plan. we just went for it. i never once regretted my choice and would do it all over again straight away. but now it's back to reality. we'll see what that has to bring...
so, my dear world, it was a pleasure getting to know you better. but you made us more curious and we will be back for some more...
lots of love and good bye for now
bonda & dee
on the way to agua calientes
and here it is... machu picchu
here comes the sun... beautiful
these steps are huge. there are two people at the bottom left.
statue in agua calientes
after 53 hour on a bus you might be loco! but we are in tarapoto, back in the jungle and it is finally hot again :-)
the boat to iquitos... nice way to sleep
monkey island in iquitos
and here we are in the jungle, 250 km away from iquitos
cruising, roland always looking out and listening.
this is where we lived. living room and shop at day time, our bed room at night
the kitchen
jungle adventures....
daniela having a swimm in the river
the school in the small village (closed at the time for holidays)
for three hours or so per day they have a generator for elecricity. and at 8 pm the whole village comes to watch a tele novela. every evening. that was fun!
the market in belen, iquitos
hanging out in iquitos...
this is bonda and dee standing in peru, bonda pointing to colombia and dee to brazil at the other side of the river
leticia lies at the brazilian border and you can just walk over. so we visited brazil briefly.
leticia the jungle city
nude bonda... oh-la-la
bogota, colombia's capital
we met some nice people in bogota
and last but not least the gift we made our selves... our suite for the last few days.
with breakfast deliverd to your room. we're ending this in style.
