Taxi to the Cotopaxi!!

We have been to the Cotopaxi today which is one of the countries highest volcanoes.
It was an organised trip that we booked through a tour agent, you are assigned your own English speaking guide for the day and the group can be anything from 2/8 people, well luckily for us it was only two people on our trip.
The guide was supposed to turn up at 8am but because of some confusion at their offices he didnt actually arrive until 9.30 as he had been sat waiting outside a different hostel at the other side of town, not a great start.
To make matters even worse the weather was lousy, it has been raining and grey all day, despite it been their first day of summer tomorrow (you see it's not just the English weather)
At one point he advised us that it may be a good idea not to go as there wouldnt be much to see due to very poor visibility, but us been tourists and "we've paid our money" we insisted to brave it out.
We were in a 4x4 (yes I know I slagged the yanks of for their use of them but this was a justified cause)and the road through the National Park was no more than a mud track, a very rocky one at that, many times we were almost jostled out of our seats!!
It continued to rain all the way up there and at one point even started snowing, so we werent able to see or do much, we also struggled with the altitude as we were so high up.
The effects are light headedness, a kind of tight feeling around your brain (difficult to explain) and breathlesness, not ideal.
We took lots of pics anyway and when Matt is up he will post them onto the blog (it's all a bit too technical for me)
Next week we are planning on a trip into the jungle, there are all different ones to chose from, depending on the duration you are available for.
Well me been the freak that I am were spiders and insects are concerned has agreed to the 4days and 3 nights one, even that will totally freak me out, but we cannot come all this way and not visit the Amazon, so I am going to grit my teeth and get on with it.
Obviously I will give you all the details when we get back!!!
Jo just read your comment about the pics, Im not the most photogenic person and if Matt had his way I'd be on a lot more of them, everybody knows what I look like and that Im enjoying myself why do they need to see pictures of me to prove it?!?!?
Plus you'd be smiling too if you had 10 months off work to travel round the world!!!
Its the official start of the Ecuadorian summer tomorrow woo hoo, we hoping to get to the coast once we've been to Otovalo and then into the jungle, I reckon I'll need some R&R after that ordeal.
I'm a tourist get me out of here!!!!

Quito (New Town)

Well yesterday we walked into the new part of Quito and it was totally different from the old town.
There are lot's of shops, bars, restaurants etc (as you'd probably expect) it's also not quite as hilly, which is always a bonus for ex office workers!!
Before we came travelling we went to see Steen and Nicola as they had travelled extensively through Sth America so we got lots of tips and stuff, Steen told us about a scam they often pull on backpackers, wherby somebody squirts mustard/ketchup on your back pack, which makes you take it off to clean it up, then somebody runs up and snatches it off you and runs off with your stuff.. well Im sorry to say that we fell victim to this scam yesterday, although because we knew what they were trying to do, we kept the back pack on and kept walking (it was only a day pack with our jackets in and a drink)
The guy that we think was involved tried to grab hold of Matt by his pack and pull him into a shop on the street to clean himself up but we just told him politely that we were ok.
When I looked Matt had tomato ketchup all up the back of his trousers, all over the pack and up his t'shirt, I had it on the back of my legs and trousers too, no real harm done, we are just glad that we knew what they were trying to do, he was an oldish guy too, not young thugs.
At the time we were looking for the local cinema, we were going to watch Spiderman 3 (hoping too) when we eventually got there it was a spanish kind of theatre and no trace of Spiderman 3, they'd never even heard of him!!!
We have decided to stay in Quito a couple more nights, we are still getting acclimatised as we are so far up in the mountains and it can be dfficult to breathe when you're climbing hills and stuff, were in no rush to be anywhere, it's not like we have to be back at work next week, or the week after he he!!
On Saturday we're going to a place North of Quito called Otovalo, they have the best market on the continent apparently, but very little else.
We will get the bus up there on Friday morning which takes about 2 hours.
There are still lots of beggars and stuff in the new town and you see small children about 3/4 years old with their parents begging for money in the street, this gorgeous little girl came up to us yesterday and started following us down the street with her hand out, Matt was just going to walk past but me been the soft touch told him to give her some money, when he gave her 50c her face lit up and she ran off to her mum, its 25 pence to us but a lot more to them, that was our good deed for the day.
Last night we went out for a few beers into the new town, we found a crammed bar full of locals, but it was really friendly and the owner soon got us a couple of stools at the bar making us feel right at home, we then headed off to the Thai restaurant for some food, it's the first Phad Thai Ive ever had with parsley?!?!?!
It was lovely, not as good as the one on the High Street in Ricky though.
We had a massive storm just before we went out last night, it absolutely pi$$ed down for about 2 hours, it has been doing the same this morning too, but the sun is now out and it looks to be another nice day.
Yesterday it was 25c, which is pretty cool compared to the temperatures we were experiencing in the USA.
It's so cheap here it's criminal, I just feel like were ripping everybody off, it is difficult to spend money, not that were complaining.
There are quite a few Brits and obviously Ozzies in out hostel but we haven't really got chatting to anybody yet.
It seems like the Ozzie bird is acting tour guide for everybody in here as she is fluent in Spanish (as you would expect from an Ozzie) I dare say that even if she wasn't she would still be organising everybody's day for them.
Any road.. the sun is shining and you've got work to do (most of you) so I'll be off.

Don't know we're born!!

Well Quito is certainly an interesting place, and very hilly!!! The Ecuadorians are also really small and more often than not the whole family are all the same height.
There is so much poverty here, and everything is so cheap, I just want to go round handing everybody a dollar (that's a lot of money to them)
Yesterday we were sat in a sqaure people watching and I saw this little bloke, and I mean little, he was at least 70 years old, strapped to his back he had a load of flat packed cardboard that even I would struggle to carry, he had it tied to his back and he was doubled over it was that heavy, and he was carrying it up this really steep hill, it brought tears to my eyes to see him.
Me and Matt then got onto the conversation about our country and how people sit at home all day claiming unemployment benefit, and invalidity benefit from the state when there is actually nothing wrong with them they are just too damn lazy to work.
It is such an eye opener when you come to places like this, it's just like Cuba, maybe not quite as poverty stricken.
There is women about 60 years of age sat in the street selling a dozen apples, and they just sit there all day trying to make a bit of money, probably to buy their meal for that day.
The children are beautiful too, but dressed in dirty clothes and just sat out in the streets while their parents try to beg money or shoe shine somebody's shoes.
But on a more positive note, there are some funny things I've seen too, they have electrical shops where you can buy a cooker, a tv and wait for it.... a motorbike!!
"Yeah wrap the cooker up I'll take it home on the back of the bike"
There was also a shoe shop with loads of shoes in the window, mens, ladies, kids and then they sell ornaments too, oh yeah and there was also an iron for sale in the window.
We were in the old town yesterday and today we are going to head into the new town where all the restaurants and bars are.
We went there by taxi last night for some food and I saw a hostal, it was called "Tittisee Hostal"
Hmmmm!!
Hope you all had a good Bank Holiday weekend and are enjoying your first day back at work!!
Adios.

Lost in translation

Well we've arrived in Ecuador, after an extremely long day, has anybody seen the film Terminal with Tom Hanks??
Our Hostel is great, nice and clean but an extremely basic room with private bathroom, and up to now no creatures!!
Internet access is really cheap here, its $1 for an hour!! so expect a lot of posting!!
On the flight here we were served one of those in flight meals, when we actually booked our RTW tickets we did state that a veggie meal was required for one passenger, the meal on the flight here was a chicken sandwich or a beef sandwich... hmm, I can feel the weight coming off already and we only arrived yesterday!!
I did manage to have a coffee and on the cup it said "please be careful, the contents of this cup are extremely very hot", the pilot also apologised for the late take off of our plane due to one of the passengers been ill and having to be carried off, he said "I appreciate your comprehension in this matter"
Steen beer is 90c a bottle here, I dont know why I've singled Steen out on this cos I know we all like a drink!!
Anyway it's just a short one today to let you know "we're here".
Off out now to see some sites, will get some more pics on soon.

This Post May Contain Traces Of Nuts...

Just back in Boston long enough to use the Internet (the decent Internet Cafe with nice shiny Macs) before getting the bus back to NYC and then flying to Ecuador. I can honestly say this first 3 weeks in the States has been a great start and we've had a really relaxing time. The people are really friendly, if a little loud, and obviously as it's English speaking it's easy to get around, ask for rooms, order huge portions of dinner. Which leads me on to the subject of this post...

Now we all know the rumours of the portion size in America, the general laziness of the inhabitants and the size of the waistlines. Well I'd like, once and for all, to categorically confirm that all these rumours are TRUE!! Godammit!

I'll start with the waistlines; i'd say that 50% of Americans have BIG waistlines, or to put it bluntly are fat. Now, having been aquainted with 2 at Comet (where I work, or where I work when I'm at home) one who I sat opposite in Ricky who was lean and fit (actively fit, not fit in a gay way) and the other who worked in Hull who was/is a BIG lad to say the least. Now we've just come from the beach this morning and some of the people; men,women and kids are absolutely massive and when you see what they shove down their throats you can understand why (N.B. bear in mind that today we've eaten fish and chips for breakfast/lunch and a Dunkin' Donut for lunch/dinner!).

Now the labels on all the food detail (in a great deal of detail) the breakdown by Carbs, fibre, salt, trans fat, unsaturated fat and god knows what other kind of fat even telling you the percentage your allowed for each one daily. I reckon Americans are illeterate too, either that or they just don't @#%*ing bother to read the labels. One other thing; you all must have seen the labels on food at home saying "This may contain traces of Nuts" to warn those weirdos who can't eat nuts. Now on a carton of milk in the first place we stayed in New York it actually had written on "Milk*" at the top; underneath in small print it said "This contains Milk". What the hell else is it going to contain?!??!

Right this is turning into a bit of a rant about Americans and it's not supposed to be that so i'll leave it there. On a positive note, as I said before, we have had a great time here, the people are REALLY friendly, the food is REALLY good (if a little too much of it) and there is some fantastic scenery (mountains, rivers, lakes) and probably one of the best cities in the world (New York). I would recommend everyone pushing aside their misconceptions of "the US of A" and pay a visit (just bring a stomach pump!)

Adios (next post will be in Ecuador!)

p.s. one other thing, the size of the cars over here is also big. The four wheel drives (or SUV's as they call them) are as big as our old flat. Mind you I suppose if you have a BIG family of fat b@stards your average Vauxhall Corsa ain't gonna be able to carry 'em!

Bye Bye to all that American Pie!!

Well were back in the City of Boston after our jaunt in the Mountains.
We have dropped the hire car back and are now just waiting to get the bus back to NYC at 8pm this evening (takes about 4 hours) we then fly to Ecuador from JFK (via San Jose) at 6.30am (Sunday)
We have had an AMAZING time in the U.S and enjoyed every minute of it.
Last night we stopped off at a beach resort Hampton Beach about an hour from Boston, it was just like a sea side resort in the U.K, full of yawping chavs and pikys, all grossly overweight wearing ill fitting cheap clothes, with lots of kids covered in flies, loads of barry'd up motors too.
The beach was swamped with people and litter (or garbage as they call it over here) people just floating about in the Atlantic amongst dunkin donut cups and Mcdonald wrappers!
Matt enjoyed it though as there were also lots of scantily clad females parading about in their bikini's ;o)
On the way back to Boston today we stopped at another beach resort, Salisbury Beach, that was exactly the same but more run down and less scantily clad women.
We did manage to get Haddock and Chips yesterday though, what a treat to get proper fish and chips when your miles away from home!!
Yesterday was a bit of an eye opener for us both to be honest, it was a really really hot day (above 90c) and really humid, there were just hundreds of Monster Trucks bumper to bumper trying to get parked in this beach resort, imagine a large 4x4 in the U.K and times the size by 3, that is the average size of an American vehicle, nobody drives cars.
Then there was all the food that goes to waste, and believe me as much as the U.S love their grub, they also throw so much away, and they don't bat an eye lid, NOBODY recycles (I know I've already mentioned this) but it's unbelieveable to think that a country seemingly as intelligent and clued up as they are can be so oblivious to Global Warming and the damage they are doing to the environment they live in.
Everything is on a MASSIVE scale here, you have to see it to really believe it, anyway rant over...
Having the car has been great, we have been to so many places and obviously it's great to not have to carry your ruck-sack about, that said I have got the packing of it down to a fine art now, and I could quite easily have packed all the stuff that I wanted to bring but couldnt fit it in as I hadn't packed it properly (a blessing in disguise)
Last night we had to get the maintenance guy in as our bathroom door had locked itself and we couldnt get in, he asked us if there was anybody in there?!?!?
On Wednesday we did a 11 mile hike (it should have been 5.5 miles) we were under the impression that it was a round trip (which it said on the leaflet we picked up) thinking that it was one of those walks where you finish up where you started, well that would have been perfect, but we read it wrong (what was that I was saying about been a proficient map reader??) and what it meant was that it was a 5 mile round trip i.e 2.5 miles there, 2.5 miles back, durgh!!
Needless to say we weren't impressed with ourselves, can you imagine having walked over 5 miles thinking you must be "nearly there" only to be met with a sign post that says "back that way loser and it's another 5 miles back"
I could have cried, my legs were scrathed to pieces when we got back, and after we'd had a bath and gone out for some food we were walking like Frankenstein we were so stiff!
Im not sure if anybody knows (apart from those closest to me) about my absolute fear of creepy crawlies, when I say creepy crawlies I dont just mean spiders, I mean flies, ants, wasps, earwigs, beatles, moths, butterflies.. you starting to get the picture??
I am terrified of anything that's alive and moves that comes near me that isn't human or an animal.
Up to now it's been pretty tame with only a few hysterical outbursts, for instance an ant has passed me in the street (Im not that bad) but I know that Sth America is going to be alive with "creatures" and Im dreading it.
I have sat down with Matt and explained in great detail my fears, and try to make a comparrison with something he is afraid of (flying) I have also told him that he is not to lose his temper with me if I suddenly lose the plot if something lands on me, I have also asked him not to tell me if he finds something in our room, but just to remove it and not alert my attention to it.
I will keep you updated...
We bought another phone card yesterday, they only had a $20 one so we had to buy that, which is ok as we can also use it in Sth America, when you dial the number you want to ring you get a recorder message that tells you how much credit the card holds and how long it will permit you to talk, so in an American accent it said to me "you can talk for 1 day 8 hours", now dont get me wrong I love to talk but even I would struggle to talk for that long!!
Well were three weeks in now and it's all going just great, were getting on really well despite been with each other 24/7 and I only hope that the rest of our trip is going to be as enjoyable as the last 3 weeks have been..
Ecuador here we come!!!!!

Woodstock, New Hampshire

Woo hoo, we have found an internet cafe with more than 1 computer!!
Today we have driven to a place called Woodstock which is just past Lincoln where we were planning on staying, again we are staying in a motel and it's cheap as chips.
We picked up a local map to get our bearings, it is a kind of fun map though with no actual scale on it.
We saw this internet place and decided we would walk there as it's a lovely sunny day and it didn't look far, well it's about 2 miles, but hey what do we care, it's not like we have to be at work tonight, or up early tomorrow :o)
It is a cafe type place and there are tons of 2nd hand books so I will be having a rummage through there when I've finished surfing.
Apart from the above I am now a proficient map reader (well at least I think so, Matt may have something to say about that) you don't realise the importance of them until you do something like this and rely on one every day.
I also bought Matt a watch for Christmas with a compass on, that has also come in really useful, and we really would have been lost without it (no pun intended)
The weather is scorchio today which is good news for us and it is going to get hotter as the week goes on.
It is a holiday weekend for the Americans this week (it probably is for you too actually??) so it is the official start of the U.S holiday season this week, which means that hotel rates start to go up, luckily for us we fly to Ecuador on Sunday, and we have just booked a hostel for $17 a night including private bathroom!!
Can't believe I'm having so much fun, I thought I would be more unsettled/homesick but there is just so much to do everyday (or even not if we chose)
The small towns out of the big cities are really strange places, everybody wears dungarees and I can't help but think that everybody is just a little bit backward, or to put it politely just not quite as forward as us!?!?! although just about everybody we've met has been friendly and hospitable.
People are also very religious over here, churches everywhere.
We filled the car up with petrol on the way to New Hampshire, it cost $26, which is about 13 quid, needless to say we think it's an absolute bargain, however the Americans are going mad at the moment about the massive increase in petrol prices, that said EVERYBODY drives around in a monster truck.
They really do need to get greener over here and be more accountable for the environment, the packaging you get when ordering a coffee and a dunking donut is just silly and it all gets thrown in the bin, they are not into recycling over here, or at least not on as bigger scale as they need to be.
So what am I missing most about home..
My family and friends obviously, but as far as the things you cant get into your ruck sack go I'd have to say:
1) My never ending supply of toiletries and perfume
2) A decent hairdryer
3) All your clothes and shoes that are there whether you wear them or not (here Ive got a pair of trekking shoes, a pair of dodgy trekking sandals (that I wouldn't be seen dead in at home) and a pair of flip flops)
4) A handbag (as strange as that sounds, it's weird going out every day without one, girls will understand)
5) A hot curry, we have had a few lovely Thai meals and we even had an Indian in NY but none as hot and spicy as you get back home.
All things to look forward too when we get back!!