Hi from Buenos Aires!

 
Greetings from Bueno Aires, Argentina (dont cry for me and all that..............!),

Hi there, don't mention the Falklands .... I mentioned it once and think I got away with it (actually it was mentioned on a city tour we did so I did not mention it first...!) I have not mentioned 'the hand of God' either but we wont mention that just now, have seen a wall mural with a pic of Maradona and THAT other great goal v England!

Since I last sent an email we went from La Paz to Cuzco by bus which took all day, 12 hours.
We had one more day in Cuzco for last minute shopping etc. and we visited a school/kindergarten a friend of mine (Jane Dwivedi  from England) had done voluntary work in
a few years ago.

We met the man who runs the school and got a tour of the different classes with children from two to five years old. We met lots of the kids who are disadvantaged and are
getting a head start in life learning to read and write etc that they otherwise would not get. They were so cute and seemed really keen to learn, they sang songs for us and Dave entertained them with impressions of a kangaroo jumping round the classrooms! We made a donation of school supplies and other things and really enjoyed seeing the great work being done there.

We then said goodbye to the Cuzco, Peru and the Andes and flew down to Lima the capital of Peru. As we had a 13 hour wait for our flight to Bueno Aires we went into town and watched one of the first World Cup games there whilst having a pizza for lunch in a tourist area of Miraflores on the coast. We then went into the centre of town and did a double decker city tour of Lima. It was interesting and there are a lot of lovely colonial buildings there (most people recommend not going to Lima and say that nothing is there but for a day we liked and found interesting things) but the main excitement was our tour bus getting driven into by a white minivan! The front spoiler of the minivan came off and it happened right below us as we were on the top deck! Anyway after a half hour delay (yes we did have a plane to catch!!) we were on our way and saw the rest of the city.

We arrived in Bueno Aires after a quick overnight flight two hours before Argentina played their first game! we checked in to our hostel and then found a local cafe/bar to watch the game. Argentina won so there was much excitement. We met  some other English people and watched the England v USA draw which I wont mention too much!!
we saw the Australia v Germany game in a bar that had English commentary but the less I mention of that the better too!!
It rained hard the first day we were here which was OK but it has been cool and wintry here. It is like a Sydney winter but a bit colder and in fact the place we are staying is just like Surrey hills in Sydney with lots of cafes and bars and leafy autumnal city streets.
We have had some sunny weather since and have enjoyed a city tour with no bus crashes and have seen Evita's resting place in her mausoleum in the cemetery. went to the Evita museum today before going to the large fan park to watch a game. will do a tour of Boca Juniors stadium on Friday on our way to an English pub for the England game as we went past it in our city tour yesterday and it looked interesting.
Everyone is very friendly and in a good mood which is probably coz Argentina are winning and looking good! We are happy for them to win whilst we are here so everyone is happy!
We have put our flight back to Australia for one week and arrive back on Tues June 22nd as we only had two days here otherwise.
It is a big and lovely city here like Paris or how I would imagine Madrid to be with huge palaces, lovely old buildings and massive wide streets. It definitely has a European feel here.
One of the best things is the steaks are reasonably priced and are of the highest quality as is the wine. Some of the red wines we have had are amazing and a third of the price of back home!

We are spending half of our time watching the World Cup games which are on at 8.30am 11.00am and  3.30pm and fitting in sightseeing when we can!

 

Hello from Bolivia!

Hello there from Bolivia,

I have probably rambled on a bit too much this time but I will just send it as is and you can skip over if it gets too much, I don´t feel like editing it all now!!

Since my last email which was a while ago now we have been over a week now in Bolivia and are loving every minute of it. Bolivia is not as developed as Peru and seems more run down in places but that is part of the charm of it. A lot of roads are dusty and unpaved, there are huge holes in the pavements, uneven paving and steps which are lethal at night time!! There are lots of houses made of mud bricks in the outskirts of towns but then again some others are more colourful than in Peru so it is a bit different.

There are lots of women in the local dress of wide thick colourful pleated skirts, shawls and topped off with a bowler hat perched on top of their heads. It looks lovely, unusual and interesting to see so many locals wearing them. We are not sure how the bowler hat thing started, will have to look it up! They are like the ones men used to wear in the cities in England except these are not just black in colour.

We left Puno and got a bus across the border (where it was ¨Hello Bolivia!¨...some people will know what I am referrring to!) to a place called Copacabana in Bolivia which is nothing like the Rio one but was a nice sleepy, slightly run down, scenic town on Lake Titicaca. We visited another island on the lake called Isla del Sol and did a hard day hike from one end of the island to the other and saw more Inca ruins. It was very hilly and hard at that high altitude. We heard on the grapevine and then saw on the BBC news that a girl had died due to the altitude hiking in the Lake Titicaca area in Peru a day after our hike. She was young and fit and died in her sleep so you have to take the altitude acclimatisation really seriously! We are not sure if she had just come from sea level or what. We are not sure exactly where she was though on the mainland or an island. Some people are just more susceptible than others to it. Those four days feeling knackered and resting whilst getting used to it in Cusco really paid off but we still found the effects in Puno and the lake which is another 400 metres higher at 3,700m.

We then got a tourist bus to La Paz and seeing the city for the first time was breathtaking. You come in from high up about 4,000 metres and then suddenly see the huge city spread out in like a canyon or gash in the countryside down to 3,600 metres.The city spreads right up the sides of the canyon and the poorer areas are up high with brick and mud brick houses perched right on the crumbly, unstable looking cliff sides with the modern business district and more expensive areas lower down. There are even skyscrapers in the business district and they are the highest skyscrapers in the world in altitude as this is one of the highest cities in the world at 3,660 metres. It is a good job we are used to the altitude as it is very hilly and you are still out of breath walking around and your heart rate goes sky high at the slightest exertion. The sun is very hot in the daytime and it is T shirt weather but it cools down quickly as soon as the sun goes down.

We are staying in a nice brand new hotel and are splashing out on a bit of comfort although it is not expensive by western standards.

The city is very interesting with lots of local markets, churches, squares, steep, narrow cobbled streets, a prison in the middle of the city, a high altitude football stadium, Spanish colonial buildings and good viewpoints to see the whole city and the massive snow covered 6,000 metre mountain looming in the distance. We did a top deck bus tour but it was scary as the overhead electricity wires were just above our heads and brushed the sides of the bus at times. Every now and then extra low wired would hang down and a couple touched my head at times, I had to slouch all the time and could not relax! It is not designed for double decker buses! It was an interesting tour and we really like the city.

The food here is good and we had llama tenderloin last night which is lighter in colour but similar to beef but a bit drier. Dave had an alpaca steak the other night and it was funny when the waiter asked ¨how he would like his alpaca¨  -  well done, medium or rare, you don´t get asked that every day!! There is lots of Western food and you could eat pizza every night if you wanted too. An Indian restaurant was recommended to us and on our first night when we saw alpaca tikka masala on the menu! We just had to have it and it was lovely! Indian food with an Andean twist!! Lots of quinoa, meat and veg soup and you can always get the local meal of soup, meat or chicken with chips and rice for a  cheap price.

Dave is off on a big bike ride today so I have just been wandering round people watching and looking at a few museums, churches and the local street life etc.

The main thing we wanted to do in Bolivia was go to the Salar de Uyuni (the world´s largest salt flats) at 3,700 metres. You have to take a four wheel drive tour as it is hard to do on your own. We had met a few people on the way to La Paz so had a group of 5 who we did the tour with and arranged it in La Paz. We had a good mix of nationalities - English, German, American and one extra French guy who made the total number of the group to 6 which is the standard number for one of these tours. It was for 3 days and 2 nights but first we had to take an overnight 12 hour bus to Uyuni which was one of the worst we have been on for a long time! The bus was fine but the road was so bumpy we were shaken around all night long and only managed a few hours sleep. I tried to imagine I was sitting in one of those massage chairs to relax but it did not work as the shaking made loud sounds too!

It was all worth it for the trip though and for some of the amazing photos we took. We had a great guide/driver and a Lexus 4wd car and loved the salt flats. They are so white it is like snow and goes on forever to the horizon. There are ´´roads´´ on the salt flats and we visited an island in the middle of it all with huge cacti growing on it they looked amazing against the all white backdrop.  There is also lovely scenery south of the salt flats with volcanoes, thermal springs, geysers, active volcanoes, red and green lakes, wild llamas, desert, strange rivers of rocks like a glacier had dumped them there, strange rock formations like Salvador Dali had created them and colourful mountains. There were lakes with pink Andean flamingos on them, you usually associate them with a hot climate! It is all in lovely crystal clear high altitude air. There was a train cemetery near the town of Uyuni and it was fun climbing all over the trains which were used for the mines but aren´t any more. We ended up at the border with Chile at the most southern part of the trip and 2 of the group left to go over to Chile which is a good way of getting over there.

On the first night we stayed in a basic hotel that was made of salt (I licked the walls to check and it was ....salty!!) and was not too cold in our sleeping bags and thick blankets but on the second night at a different place it was bitterly cold. We were at 3,700 metres and it was less than minus five in our spartan dormitory and we had to get up at 4.30am in the freezing cold and dark in this desolate village to get an early start for the long drive back on the third day. It was not pleasant. It is a good job we have those woolly hats with the ear pieces!

The whole area is called the Altiplano which is a high plateau and is not sheltered from the freezing cold winds which we found out! The salt flats used to be a huge saltwater lakes but with the uplift from the Andes and no drainage, the water evaporated leaving the salt behind. Apparently the salt is quite thick in places, 140 metres at the maximum depth. Anyway we really enjoyed it and it was worth the discomfort of the cold second night and the bumpy bus ride which was just as bad on the way back to La Paz and worse the second time around as you know what to expect.

I think I have rambled on a bit too much again but it is nice to just sit and relax in an internet cafe for a change and flick around on the internet looking at what is happening with the World Cup build up whilst writing this too. It is amazing how much can happen when you are away from the news for a few days, things like football clubs losing and changing managers (I won´t mention specific names and teams just now!!!!) and also people in and out of World Cup squads and captains of the teams changing and other world events!! It is not long before the WC starts and it is all getting very exciting. Will see the first England and Australia games in Buenos Aires in Argentina so will have to find a pub or somewhere to watch the games.

We have one more day looking round La Paz and doing last minute shopping etc. before taking an all day bus back to Cusco (will be nice in the day time on sealed roads!) before flying back to Lima on Friday after one more day in Cusco on Thursday. We fly to BA overnight and arrive on Saturday morning.

That is it for now, thank goodness you are probably saying.....

I hope everyone is well and happy and that most of you are getting psyched up for the big event.

Lots of love from Diana and Dave

XXXXXXXXXXX

Hello from Puno on Lake Titicaca

We are now here in Puno a town right on Lake Titicaca.

 

A few days ago we did an all day bus trip from Cuzco to get here to Puno. We  stopped at various Inca sites and Spanish colonial churches. One church was incredibly elaborate with massive priceless religious paintings and the ceiling covered in paintings and murals too. There was lots of gold on the alter and walls. This place was in the middle of nowhere which made it more amazing. It had been built right on top of an Inca temple that the Spanish had destroyed which you see a lot of  here.

 

We stopped at a touristy lunch stop that had the usual pan flutes playing in the background (which drives you crazy after a while!) and a cute little baby alpaca next to some market stalls. Of course I decided to go over and pat it as it looked so cute and fluffy and it turned around and spat right in my face!! I got a huge shock and luckily only got a few strands of grass in my face and hair and no alpaca saliva luckily!. I had disturbed it as it was happily munching on the grass.

 

We have just come back from two days visiting islands on Lake Titicaca, it was a two day overnight trip and we stayed on one of the islands last night.

 

We visited the Uros Islands which are artificial floating artificial islands made from reeds. The islands were a bit touristy but interesting

to see how people live there and how the islands were constructed. The whole place was a bit damp though as the water seeped through the reeds at times.

 

We stayed over night at another island called Amantani island. It is mainly farming and rural with no cars which was a nice change. We did a home stay and stayed with

a local family there who cooked for us and provided basic accommodation. There were 15 in our tour group and each couple or small group were assigned to one family on the island. The group was mainly Americans as usual and it was also a nice change to have some Canadians and an Aussie too!

 

It was all very basic and rustic but comfortable. There is no electricity on the island so we ate by candlelight.

 

As we speak very little Spanish it was a little hard to communicate with the family but we managed somehow with smiles and hand gestures and the daughter of the family could speak some English as she was learning it at school. We found we could play, sing a few songs and have a laugh with the cheeky son of the family who is 9 years old and that made it easier too!

 

It was very rural with sheep and donkeys wandering around the terraced fields of maize, quinoa, corn and potatoes. The kitchen the family cooked in was just a basic clay fire stove but they still managed to provide delicious local food by candle light. It was mainly quinoa and vegetable soup and then rice, vegetables and lots of different varieties of potatoes and okra. The toilet was outside way down in the garden. The people in the village seem to be happy without all the modern equipment and gadgets we take for granted and when we did a walk to a local Inca hill temple the local people smiled and greeted us. As there was no electricity there was not much to do after dinner so we were in bed asleep, under nice warm blankets by 8.00pm!! It was so quiet and dark it was easy to fall asleep even for a nocturnal person like myself! It would be hard for us to live without the Internet, TV, music, lighting, electricity, tap water etc. now but was a nice change to get back to basics for a while!

 

As we left early the next morning after pancakes cooked on the stove, the villagers got our group to all dress up in their local costumes for a group photo which was funny. Dave was in a brown poncho and hat and I was in a green full skirt, white blouse and black shawl. We did not blend in very well though and our walking boots did not improve the look!

 

We visited and did a walk across another island called Taquile which was also very scenic. The dry rural landscape reminded me a bit of Greece. The island was covered in Eucalyptus trees as are most of the places we have been to here in Peru. We  found out that they were brought over from Australia in the 18th century and are used for firewood mainly. It is like a familiar Australian landscape at times and when you can smell the Eucalyptus leaves it feels like we are on a bush walk back in Australia! It is strange to see them everywhere. They are hardy and adaptable.

 

We then we had a slow three hour boat trip back across lake Titicaca which looked lovely as the sky and lake were so blue with the mountains in the distance, some snow covered. It is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world at an altitude of 3,800m (12,500ft) above sea level.

We are back in Puno now in our luxurious hotel, which is a bit of a contrast to where we were staying last night! We are off to Bolivia tomorrow on a three hour bus trip round the lake over the border to a place called Copacabana, not to be confused with the one in Rio!

 

Off to dinner now for some alpaca loin (it is a bit like beef), chips and veg and Peruvian red wine which is what we had a few nights ago and was delicious! The local trout is lovely too.

 

So will say adios for now,

 

Love to everyone from Diana and Dave

XXX

--
Diana Ellem
http://www.ellem.com/
+61410584296

--
Diana Ellem
http://www.ellem.com/
+61410584296

Hello from Cuzco, Peru again....

Hi there,

Just a quick note to say that we are back now in Cuzco after doing the 4 day Lares trek and 2 day visit to Machu Picchu.

We had a great time and did not see any other Westerners the whole time during the trekking part of the trip.

The trek was quite hard and we got up to 4,700m (15,000 ft) at the highest pass.

We were camping for two nights but it was warm and cozy in our sleeping bags and thermals so was OK. We were woken with a cup
of tea every morning so that was quite pleasant. The food provided on the trek was amazing, very tasty and healthy and it is incredible what can be
cooked in a tent with just a few utensils.  We even had a dining tent which had the kitchen tent next to it and we had a toilet tent which was interesting!

On the trek we had porters, a chef and a horsewoman. Horses carried all the equipment needed for the trek. There was
even a foal "in training" too! The porters and chef went on ahead of us each day to set up the lunch dining tent and then the camp including the tents we used for sleeping in at night.

We had a guide who had a good sense of humour and was knowledgeable about the local areas and Inca history. He was our guide around Machu Picchu too.

There were seven of us all together in the trekking group. It was the two of us and five Americans and they were all very nice, we all got on well.

One of the group got altitude sickness on the second day and had to go slowly. He was being sick and feeling very tired but we were OK thankfully.

The first day was the hardest as we were going up most of the time and you feel breathless at that altitude when exerting yourself.

There were great views from the highest pass at 4,700m and then it was downhill towards valleys, villages and farmland with lots of sheep and llamas in the fields. We met quite a few local people and children too.

We ended up at some thermal hot springs at Lares at the end of the trek and a soak in the hot mineral pools was good for our sore legs.

We even had some excitement with the bus taking us to the starting point. It got one wheel stuck down a huge hole in the middle of the road (not sure what the hole was doing there!) so we had to get out and walk and extra part of the trek at the start. Also the bus taking us away from the end point of the trek broke down in the middle of nowhere on a mountain road with smoke filling the front of the bus and we had to help push the bus out of the middle of the road as it was blocking it! Our guide was very good and quickly arranged for a replacement bus to get us to the train to MP on time. It gave us time to meet some local school children who were very perplexed and interested to see us on the side of the road miles from anywhere. Dave gave one boy his Sydney FC cap so there is a 6 year old Peruvian boy doing his bit advertising the A-League (the Australian football league - not that he would have any idea what that was!)

The highlight of the trip was going to Machu Picchu and we were there for two days.

That classic view you always see of MP is amazing and it is hard to believe you are actually there! You can see that view in the pics I have sent the link to at the end of this email.

We did lots of walks around  the area getting different views of MP. A highlight was climbing Wayna Picchu which is the incredibly steep mountain you see behind the ruins in the picture you usually see of MP.

At times we had to climb backwards on our hands and knees down very steep and narrow stone stairs with a massive drop of a few hundred metres at the side below us! I had to hold my hand up to my face to shield the view of the drop below as it gave me vertigo at times, even Dave found it scary! There were no railings or anything to prevent you falling off the mountain or ropes to hold on to at the most scary times so it was difficult.

We also walked an hour  back along the actual Inca Trail to the Sun Gate which is the first view that people who are doing the trail get over MP from higher up and it was amazing too.

It was interesting to walk around the ruins and they are like a maze, we kept on getting lost inside them! There are even llamas wandering round inside eating the grass on the terraces! The various temples are interesting and it is amazing to think it was built about 600 years ago on that site high up on a ledge in the mountains. It was not "discovered" by the west till 1911 and was there all the time getting overgrown with foliage. Only a few local farmers knew about it and used some of the terraces to grow things.

We are off by bus to Puno tomorrow and the town is on Lake Titicaca. We will stay there for a few days visiting various islands on the lake and the make our way to Bolivia and La Paz.

Dave managed to find the time after a day at Machu Picchu to see the Champions League Final and we have just been in a pub watching the England v Mexico friendly as it was on this afternoon so we are keeping up to date with things! The pub was full of English people and we were surprised there were that many here as it seems to be mainly Americans travelling here.

Here is a link to some pics from the trek that we have shared with the others on the trip.

http://picasaweb.google.com/DavidEllem/2010LaresTrekPeru#


Anyway I have to go now to dinner so all the best to everyone.

We hope you are all keeping well.

Love from Diana and Dave

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


--
Diana Ellem
http://www.ellem.com/
+61410584296

Hola from Cuzco, Peru

Hola

Buenos Tardes,

We are now in Cuzco, Peru.

It took us about 24 hours total travel time from Rio including spending most of the night in Lima airport on an uncomfortable chair and three separate flights via Santiago and Lima.

Our Our last flight from Lima to Cuzco was delayed 4 hours due to fog, which is what we did not need after already being stuck there for 6 hours.

We have gone from sea level straight to 3,400 metres (11,000 ft) and we feel a bit breathless just walking up a slight incline!

We are taking it easy to avoid altitude sickness and last night we went to bed at 4.00pm thinking we would have a nap before the evening and did not wake up till the next morning! Had about 15 hours sleep!

Just had a walk around the town and it is amazing with lots of lovely historic buildings, Spanish cathedrals and churches, Inca walls, market places, steep and narrow, cobbled streets. The main square in the city is very attractive with lots of flowers around a fountain and is interesting for people watching as there are lots of locals around.  A lot of the women are in colourful local dress with hats like bowler hats.
The light is so bright here being so far up. It is warm in the day time as the sun is very strong but cold at night.
There are lots of other foreigners here. We don´t get hassled as much as we expected to buy stuff which is good.
It is not too crowded in general as this is not peak season, that is more July and August. This is the dry season so that is good and it is autumn here now. There are snow capped mountains in the distance.

Is has not been too much of a problem not being able to speak Spanish, we seem to be getting by OK.

Had an amazing hour and a half flight from Lima to Cuzco over the Andes to get here. At times we were just above the mountains and you could see paths, towns and fields not far below even though we were flying at the normal jet height. It did not take long to descend in to Cuzco as we did not have far to go down!

Have to decide whether to have the local delicacy which is Cuy otherwise known as guinea pig, I will not have to think of all the guinea pigs I used to have in the past! These ones are bigger anyway and slightly different, I think!!

We have just booked a 4 day Macchu Picchu trek for next Tues 18th and we are doing the Lares Trek as the main Inca Trail has been booked out for months after the  bad rain and landslides a few months ago. We don´t mind as this trek is less crowded  than the Inca Trail, which has 500 people a day going up it and it can get congested. The Lares Trek goes through little villages and over a pass with dramatic mountain scenery and past some lakes so we are looking forward to it.
There is plenty to see here without going very far, lots of Inca ruins and Spanish cathedrals, churches and different museums to keep us occupied or it is just nice people watching from a cafe above the main square.

Since my last email from Rio we walked the whole length of Copacabana beach, which is quite long and it was all action with volleyball, football and the beautiful people parading round in their skimpy g strings and speedoes. We went to two favelas (shanty towns) on a Favela tour (would have been too dangerous to go on our own).It was very interesting seeing how they live in makeshift houses all on top of each other most of them illegal or not recognised by the government.

We went to a football game at the Maracana and really enjoyed the experience even though there was not a very big crowd (they had an important cup game a few days later). We sat next to the people with drums and instruments who were singing and making a lot of noise. We saw the local team Flamengo  play Sao Paolo and it was 1-1. The crowd went crazy when Flamengo equalised so they were happy in the end.

One night had a Brazilian BBQ which means a massive amount of meat but we managed to eat quite a bit but could not do it too often!
The Red Bull air race was on at the weekend were were there so we watched it at Flamengo and Botafoga beaches. It is amazing how the little planes fly through the gates with such accuracy and agility especially as they are under time pressure to complete the course.

That is it for now.
Hope you are all well.
Adios!

Diana and Dave

Greetings from Rio de Janeiro!

Hello from a hot and humid Rio De Janeiro.

 

We are in Ipanema at the moment yes the one from the song ``Girl from Ipanema` which is where our hostel is.

You can see it here at

http://www.mangotreehostel.com/

 

We have actually just had our evening meal at the Girl from Ipanema restaurant, it was where the famous song was written.

We had a delicious ``cook your own steak at the table` meal with a busker nearby playing THAT song which has been in my head all day!

 

Arrived here yesterday morning and had a look around Ipanema beach with the locals playing football and volleyball on the

beach. The local area is nice with upmarket shops and nice restaurants and bars and pleasant to walk around day or night.

 

We flew overnight from Chicago via Miami so were really knackered yesterday. 

 

It is all very hot and tropical here with balmy evenings. It has been 30 degrees today.

 

We did a fantastic city tour today and went up the mountain to see the world famous Corcovado and Christ the Redeemer statue but unfortunately it is being

restored so was mainly covered in scaffolding. There were wonderful views from the top of Rio.

 

Went into the city centre and to areas with lots of old Portuguese buildings.

 

They had a lot of rain here 3 weeks ago and you can see where lots of landslides have happened. Lots of houses on the steep hillsides (in the favelas)  were washed away and people killed.

 

Here are a few pics of the statue, not ours though.

 

http://shanesthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/christ-the-redeemer.jpg

 

http://colouroflife.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/brasilriodejaneirocorcovado.jpeg

 

Went up Sugar Loaf mountain for sunset  and once again there were amazing views. The Christ the Redeemer statue actually looked better from afar  as you could get the real shape and it looked good especially when lit up after sunset.

 

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/179/461606141_32f39d27f1.jpg

 

It is such a beautiful city  with the mountains and beaches and surrounded by tropical rain forest.

 

 

We are going to a football game at the Maracana stadium on Sunday to see the local team, Flamengo, it should be interesting with the crazy fans with their samba music, drums, singing and flag waving. Will be interesting to compare it to an English game. We saw the outside of the stadium on our tour today and it is massive. It will be closed for 18 months in a months time for renovation for the world cup so is good timing.

 

They are football mad here which makes a nice change to the United States and Japan!

Tomorrow we are hiring bicycles and will cycle over to Copacabana which is the next beach. I will probably have that Barry Manilow song in my head all day!

 

They are gearing up for the Olympics here in Rio in 2016 and the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 so they are cleaning up the city with more police around keeping an eye on things.

The locals are friendly here and the hostel here is run by Aussies.

 

We don´t know any Portuguese but are getting by and making ourselves understood.

 

We leave here on Monday and head for Peru.

 

We had a great time in the UK as I mentioned before. We had a lovely weekend at my brother´s in the New Forest and enjoyed a great walk in the spring sunshine followed by a real ale at a country pub.

 

It was great to be back and see everyone.

 

It was good to see Simon too in Chicago and the day we left we had time to see where he works in the Hancock building in the city and then we went up Sears Tower (now called Willis tower) as we could not go up it when we were in Chicago in 2001 just after 9/11 happened. We walked back to Simon´s place along the parks by the lake, Lake Michigan and there is even a beach on the lake. So we got a feel as to how close to the city he is, it took about 50 minutes. It was a lovely warm spring day but nobody was swimming the lake though!

 

That is it for now.

Hope you are all well.

I am lucky to get on this computer here at the hostel as they have three of them but they are always being used so I am making the most of the opportunity.

 

Lots of love from Diana and Dave

XX
--
Diana Ellem

Greetings from Kyoto

Hi there again, Diana and Dave here in Kyoto,

 

Since we last sent an email we have been to Osaka, Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

 

We spent a wonderful two days in Nagasaki with friends of the family we were travelling with. They made us so welcome and took us on a tour of the the city and treated us to a traditional Japanese meal at their restaurant that evening. Our friend (Naomi) had not seen them for 25 years and she said it seemed like a few weeks ago, they got on so well. They did not speak any English but after a few local beers the language barriers were broken. It helped with Naomi being able to translate things we wanted to say to them too.

 

The city was very interesting and the bombing during the war is only a part of the history but a big part obviously so could not be overlooked. We went to the museum giving all the information about the atom bombing and showing pictures of the terrible event. That part of the tour then ends on a good note of hope by going to the beautiful peace park with a massive statue in the middle of it to remember the victims of the atom bombing. You could not believe such a thing had taken place as the city is such a lovely place.

 

It is a beautiful city on the coast surrounded by mountains and with a vibrant modern city. The Dutch and Portuguese influence and history was interesting too and something we did not know about beforehand. It was finally warm there (about 25 deg) which made a nice change.

 

We loved getting the bullet train down there to the south of the country, it is unbelievable how fast they travel!

 

From there we went to Hiroshima and one of the first things we saw was the A Dome which has turned in to a symbol of the city. It is one of the only buildings left standing after the bombing with a dome and ruins of the original building. We then went to the huge museum there which takes hours and gives you all the information  about the bombing and lots of pictures and photos. You feel you have to see it all as it is a massive part of the city`s history but once a gain not the only part of it. It is a lovely vibrant city with lots of other interesting things there as well. The cherry blossoms are out in full force now so everywhere lovely with all the pink and white trees everywhere especially along the river side. You would not know anything had happened to the city as it is such a modern and vibrant place and has been totally rebuilt since August 1945. Even the old castle has been totally rebuilt and looks exactly like the original.  We went out to an island nearby with lots of temples, shrines and views from a mountain we went up by cable car. We enjoyed barbecued oysters for lunch too there.

 

We had an evening in Osaka and saw all the bright lights of the city, it is a busy and big place like Tokyo.

 

We have just spent all day doing a day tour of Kyoto with our friends and went to lots more temples and shrines. Dave and I were most impressed with the beautiful peaceful gardens which are looking their best with the blossom out in full force.

 

We had an evening in Osaka and saw all the bright lights of the city, it is a busy and big place like Tokyo all lit up at night with busy shops and restaurants and people everywhere.

 

Sadly we have had to say goodbye to our friends as they are off to Tokyo tomorrow and Tokyo Disneyland for two days for the children. We have two more days before we fly out to the UK on Tuesday arriving late in the evening. We have just got a taxi to our hotel but got dropped off at the wrong hotel but luckily had it all written down in Japanese so we managed to get another taxi to the right place. We don't have our Japanese interpreter and tour guide any more and did not know there were two hotels near to each other called Super Hotel!

 

We have tickets for the Liverpool v West Ham game on Monday 19th evening so Dave is very excited about that oh and there is small matter of my Mum`s 80th birthday next weekend too!

 

We have had some of the most amazing meals recently some of the best food we have ever had, this place is a gastronomic delight and most of it seem quite healthy.

 

Dave is in the onsen (bath) at the moment. It is males only this time of night and opens for females only in the morning and early evening so I may have a dip tomorrow. I find them too hot actually but Dave really likes them. You certainly feel really clean afterwards they are at about 44 degrees.

 

Oh they have turned all the lights out here now so I suppose that means they want me to leave the internet area now. 

 

Sayonara

 

ta ra 

Diana 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello from Japan

Hello again from Diana and Dave,

 

We are now in a place called Ise just south of Nagoya and met our friends this afternoon and we have gone straight to an internet cafe.

 

We have not had a chance to use the internet much since being here.

 

We have been having a fantastic time and everyone is so polite and friendly.

 

We had five hectic days in Tokyo seeing all the main sights and racing around on the subway trains there. The train system is amazing and so crowded, it is overwhelming at rush hour.

 

Our hotel was in a place called Ueno and there was a lovely park there with one of the main cherry blossom viewing places in the whole city. People were having parties, eating and drinking on mats under the trees. The white blossoms were out mainly and were like white clouds in a huge area either side of the pathway. The pink blossoms were just starting to come out.

 

Walked around the Ginza area and saw all the expensive designer shops. Didn't buy anything exciting  just a pair of tights there to wear under my trousers as has been much colder than expected!!

The crowded streets with all the neon signs were amazing and like Times Square in NY or Piccadilly Circus in London. The sheer number of people rushing around and the huge number of shops and shopping areas is incredible. The busy pedestrian crossings were a sight　behold with people all merging　in to each other. One is seen a lot in movies and on videos called Shibuya Crossing, it is a sea of people.

 

Have been enjoying the food, most restaurants do not have the menus in English but they have pictures of all the different dishes so we just point at them and hope for the best! It has worked out so far!! It has been too cold for sushi though!!

 

Saw lots of temples in a place called Nikko all in the lovely woodland with snow on the ground.

 

We caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagoya and then up in to the mountains on a slower train to a place called Takayama. We got a fantastic view of Mt Fuji close up going past on the bullet train at 300 km per hour! would have liked a slower view of it actually.

 

Takayama is up in the mountains and was very cold with snow on the ground. There are lots of old historic wooden houses there. The best thing was the luxurious hotel we stayed in that had the hot baths (onsen) on the 13th floor rooftop. They were inside and outside bathing areas. We managed to bathe the Japanese way i.e. with no clothes on but they are separate male and female baths so it was OK but took a bit of getting used to at first with the etiquette and knowing what to do! No shoes were worn in the whole hotel and you had to put them in lockers at the entrance. They had the lovely tatami matting throughout on the floors. The breakfasts were totally Japanese there and most of the time you have no idea what you are eating but most of it tastes good and we both of us eat most things luckily.

 

We are with our friends in Ise now and will be doing a tour of the area tomorrow. There is a big Shinto temple nearby and we will be going out for a meal with our friends family which will be good.

It is a bit　quieter here and more rural with lots of rice paddies nearby and will be a nice change before we head off to Osaka, Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

 

As we said before we have not had much change to send emails or even find and internet　cafe. Our Japanese friend knew straight away where the nearest Internet cafe was as her children wanted to spend some time on the net so we were happy to oblige! Not sure when the next chance will be.. The text keeps changing to Japanese if I miss the space bar like this 案d異　案d意sv栄えあ and is a bit annoying!!

 

Hope everyone is well.

 

I have just about shaken the cold I had before leaving Sydney!!

 

 

All the best

Love from Diana XXXX

 

Dave says konichiwa too!

 

 

 

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