10,000

That's right, I finally reached my 10,000th blog view yesterday!! I can't actually believe that so many of you are continuing to read my ramblings - thanks so much :)

I thought I'd do a quick post dedicated to all my trips since I started the blog. I suppose this could act as a bit of a catch up for any new readers, as well as a celebration of all the wonderful things I've experienced and incredible people I've met over the past two years.

East Coast USA

New York - Philadelphia - Washington DC - Knoxville - Nashville - Atlanta - Orlando - Miami. In three weeks. Possibly the most hardcore travelling I've done to date. These first two trips are the reason I started the blog, which is pretty crazy considering how much it's come along now!

Started off the trip with Rach and Ferris as well as Aimee to celebrate Rach's 18th birthday! We managed to pick the rainiest cloudiest day to visit the Statue of Liberty and to be honest were pretty underwhelmed by how big it was... Still, been there, done that, got the t-shirt and it was still a pretty good day.

WE MET ED SHEERAN. In Nashville after a Snow Patrol concert at which he was the support act. He smelled wonderful where as I was sweaty and horrible and hadn't washed my clothes for far too long. Sorry about that Ed.

Our first basketball game! Heat vs Pistons and Heat won it by a mile. We also got on the big screen by dancing like loons whilst people around us held up giant cardboard cut outs of H E A T.

Peru, Chile and Bolivia

Lima - Cusco - Arequipa - Arica - Iquique - San Pedro de Atacama - Uyuni - Potosi - Sucre - La Paz - Copacobana - Isla del Sol - Cusco - Huacachina - Lima. A beautiful continent full of beautiful people. I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

Peru: This was actually taken on our return to Peru at our last stop in a place called Huacachina. It was a great place to end the trip, with our good friend Sam from Aus, pretty much just partying all night and eating BBQ chicken wings all day. In this picture we'd decided to go on a midday booze cruise on the tiny lake with a surprisingly strong current in the middle of the oasis town. Such a great memory :)

Chile: Arica, the dryest city in the world, where in 10 years in rains only enough to fill one tea cup. 25 degrees everyday without fail. What an incredible place.

Bolivia: Sugar Daddy, The Cow (that's me...), G-meister General and Evester, setting out on three day 4x4 tour of the salares and salt flats. The trip consisted of the absolute coldest nights I've ever experienced, as well as the most breath-taking views.

Eurotrip 2012

Prague - Vienna - Budapest. A trip to reunite all the homies after a year away at university and travelling.

Prague: For some reason we decided to climb a really big hill just to see what was at the top. If I remember correctly, there really wasn't much up there, but the view was pretty special.

Vienna: This is from the night out where we went to the club 'Flex' and got invited on stage by the DJs simply because we were 'foreign'. Great night, from chucking shoes at Peter to the wall of sweets in the bathroom. Even though I wasn't wowed by the rest of the city I had a really good night.

Budapest: Since we're dead mature and all we decided to spend a day renting go carts and bikes and ride around the park. One of my absolute highlights of the trip as Pete and I rented a tandem and failed miserably at riding it. We also enjoyed ice creams and played in the musical fountain.

Abersoch- Girly Summer Holiday

A week holiday with all my favourite girls from high school. Unfortunately I didn't blog about this at the time but we had a lovely time chilling out at the beach and doing some serious charity shopping, whilst sleeping in a lovely cottage we rented.

The beautiful girlies. We decided we weren't too old to fit on this little train ride around the park and all six of us crammed into the back seat, making the ride rather squished.

This was pretty much our own private beach, about 15 minutes walk from the house and hidden away from the main busy one. This is also the beach that destroyed my apparently indestructible camera that had survived three months in the USA and South America... 

Five days in Amsterdam

Another one I didn't blog about - sorry fellas! - because I only really started blogging again in January where as this trip was in November. In short we stayed in a caravan, visited a lot of Van Gogh exhbitions, the Botanical Gardens, Anne Frank's House and a fair few coffee shops. You know, the usual Amsterdam thing.

Note to self: Going on a holiday with four boys and no girls to a place like Amsterdam is probably not the smartest thing you could have done.

Me and the guys chilling in a pretty cool coffee shop in the Red Light District. Going with four guys means you spend a little too much time in that area of town.

I met Desiree and Sophie from the Machu Picchu trek!! We went out for a lovely traditional Dutch meal and I tried Bitterballen which I am a BIG fan of. It was great to be reunited with some old travel friends :)

We LOVED the Botanical Gardens. I can't remember the exact price anymore but I know it was pretty reasonable (especially if you have a student card) and they also have a butterfly house!

Eurotrip 2013

Siegburg, Cologne and Bonn - Krakow - Vienna - Bratislava - Budapest - Belgrade - Sarajevo - Mostar - Novalja, Pag (Hideout Festival!) - Zagreb - Dubrovnik.

I spent the first four nights with my friend Mani who I met in Cusco, Peru. We had such a great time chilling in the sunshine, swimming, sharing a few beers and throwing popcorn at each other.

Highlights picture created by my wonderful friend Mitch. I joined the trip at picture number nine. I can't believe how much we did in such a short space of time!

Mitch and I chilling at the lake in Bratislava, one of my favourite pictures from the trip. This is the day we tried Bull's Testicle Goulash and Josie burnt her ass and stomach. Silly girly.

And last but not least... Hideout Festival and Zagreb!

On Novalja, Isle of Pag with 11 other members of the Preston crew. Probably the best festival I've ever been to.

Danny and Ki living it up on the first day. This was at a pool party with a live DJ set (goodness knows who it was) where we danced like crazy and drank tasty but pricey cocktails.

Sunrise at 6am. I saw four of these during the five day festival. Not bad for a girl who didn't even like house music before she went.

(Almost) Everyone together in Zagreb, which pretty much acted as a recovery session for the festival. Despite the criticisms it's had I actually really liked the city, which is much more chilled out than others so a welcome break on a busy trip.

And that just about sums up my last two years worth of travelling. Looking back at the post I really haven't done too badly have I? Especially considering I had to cancel two trips to Madrid and Dublin. I'm really excited for my cruise round the Canary Islands in August now :D Once again, thanks so much for reading (I wouldn't be a proper Brit if I wasn't excessively grateful now would I?), it really is quite flattering that so many of you want to read my thoughts, documentaries and rants. You're the best! :)

#IDAHO

Since today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia and it's an issue that sits very close to my heart, I thought I'd take the opportunity to write a little about it here. I know it's not really travel related but once again, it's my blog so tough cookies.

Homophobia is something, I have to say, I've never really understood. This is probably due to being brought up in one of the most complicated patchwork families I've ever known; mum and step-dad, dad and step-dad and then my two step-sister's mum and step-mum. Although I'd like to think I would be just as 'liberal' or 'accepting' whether or not I'd lived in the 'normal' family set up, I suppose I'm extra lucky in that I've never had to learn that everyone deserves equal rights and treatment, it's a concept that's simply ingrained in my being. It's common sense, an unarguable fact that just simply is. Why is any human worth any less than another because of who they love? The ability to love is a beautiful gift whether you believe it from God or simply a product of human evolution.

I was surprised when talking to a bi-sexual friend the other day when he said that it still wasn't the norm for everyone to know at least one homosexual person. I mean, I know loads, so I suppose I just figured everyone else did too. In a way, that explains a little about why it's still an issue for so many; humans tend to fear what they don't understand. For example I stayed with a rather conservative Peruvian family on my travels, the father of which worked for the government's conservative party. In Peru homosexuality is an EXTREMELY taboo subject - or at least that's the impression that I got - especially amongst the more conservative members of the population. Despite this, the homosexual uncle was treated like any other family member. His brother's wife took care of him, made him dinner each day (since he didn't have his own wife to care for him) and although the family didn't advocate his 'condition', they didn't shun him as would be expected in that society. Just goes to show how even strong cultural attitudes can be changed when the issue is made personal, even if it is not fully understood.

'Cuando el amor no es locura, no es amor.' (When love is not madness, it is not love.) - Pedro de la Barca

But what if really there isn't anything to understand? Love is love. It's crazy and wild and inexplicable. No one can help who they love, regardless of religion, colour, language, height, weight, age, eye colour, hair colour, bone structure, favourite food, music taste, shoe size... The list goes on. And all of these things affect the way a person behaves and their image. So why exactly is gender any different? That's not even a rhetorical question, if you think you can explain it to me, go ahead. Though I refuse to believe it's 'unnatural' in any sense of the word, how can love possibly be unnatural?

Furthermore, having a problem with another persons bedroom antics is just ridiculous. If you don't agree with someone else's sexual preferences or think it's disgusting, don't make it your business by talking about it. If it's a religious belief, I understand that gets a little more difficult. Biblical interpretation is tricky and causes all sorts of problems. However I am unsure how 'Love your neighbour as yourself' can be interpreted in any way other than to love everyone. Oh and if you're struggling on the definition of love, check out Corinthians 13:4-7:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Sums it up pretty well don't you think?

Growing up I attended Catholic schools and although I'd identify as agnostic now, this upbringing taught me a lot about loving others so I get that some people believe homosexuality, or that act of it, is a sin. Maybe I just missed this lesson but where in the Bible does it then state that this gives people the right to wear 'God Hates Fags' t-shirts and claim they know that homosexuality condemns a person to hell? At what stage in life is any mortal granted the right to judge a person as if they were God? Quite simply, there isn't one. Unfortunately the negative stigma has been attached to Christianity through the actions of some of its more extreme factions and it is easy to forget that there are some incredible churches and Christians out there doing amazing work in the name of promoting equality and attempting to restore the name of Christianity to the religion of love and peace. Christianity should be about compassion and caring for those who are downtrodden or oppressed, as Jesus did, rather than causing the mistreatment. I think it's an outrage that people are having to become ashamed of their own religion because some of its members cannot see the injustice they are causing. Blind and unfounded hatred not only hurts the victims of prejudice but also those whose religion is associated with such atrocities.

What I'm trying to say is that above all else, should come love. I would hope that no matter what your beliefs or sexual orientation, that should not be forgotten. Homophobia and transphobia do not advocate any positive qualities for society. With so many other issues across the globe at the moment, there are more important things to concentrate ones time on other than fighting against another persons gender preferences which, I'm sorry, you're just never going to change. People are starving, sick and lonely, who cares if two men/women aren't going to procreate? The purpose of relationship isn't procreation but companionship. The two become a unit, a 'team' to fight through life together. Because who doesn't need a little support every now and then?

Unfortunately I've experienced first hand the negative influence a church can have on an individual struggling with the acceptance of their own sexuality. It's not pleasant, but four years on bisexual Em is exactly the same as closeted Em and not one person that matters has even given it a second thought. I'm glad that as a society we are slowly, but surely, moving towards the acceptance of the equality that everyone deserves, so that eventually even being a gay Christian might not be a completely bizarre concept.



Love is love is love. End of.

Hi, Hallo, Hej, Hola, Bonjour...

First of all, I'm not going to apologise for my mini hiatus, I've just been crazy busy and a little unwell recently. Which also meant I couldn't go to Madrid/Salamanca, my first trip abroad of the year. BOOOOOO :( I may have to cancel my trip to Dublin in a couple of weeks too, which would really suck, but if I don't I'll be sure to keep you all updated, don't you worry!

This week I fancy talking about language. I don't know if I've made obsession with language clear on here yet, so I think it's about time I shared. Something that I am accumulating a large collection of is phrase books. I buy one everywhere I go and then try out at least a few basic phrases with the locals. I think it's something I've picked up from my parents, as when we were younger they'd always try and learn a bit of the destination language before we'd head off abroad. I recommend Lonely Planet ones, they always have dead helpful 'how to pronounce things' bits and have all the silly chat up lines in too, for bants with your friends ;)

Click here for some killer foreign pick up lines.

I suppose I do this for two main reasons; politeness and curiosity. Maybe politeness isn't quite the right word but you get the general idea. Basically, I think that if you are visiting/working in/moving to another country you should at least give the local language a go. I understand that some people just aren't language learners and can't make it stick, but it's not difficult to stumble through a few basics - the worst they will do is laugh at you and reply in English or help you through as best they can (this happens to me a lot). I mean, in the UK, we're just so LAZY when it comes to foreign languages. That age old excuse 'It's fine, everyone speaks English' is becoming rather tiresome. Especially because, well, it's not true. Around 1 billion people speak English, which yes is a lot, however that leaves 6 BILLION who don't, who you can never talk to if you don't make the effort. Now that's a fair number. Plus you'd be surprised at how flattered/surprised/grateful people can be if you give their language a go, especially if it's not a particularly well known one.

Curiosity probably doesn't apply to everyone, but to a language geek like myself travel provides a massive opportunity for me to explore other languages and types of languages and generally just geek-out. I've learned way more about other languages from travelling and meeting native speakers than I ever have in a classroom. It just seems a golden opportunity to ask questions and learn from an expert source, who in turn probably wants to learn from you too. It's not only a source of simple conversation, but something that everyone can connect with. From travelling I've gained a fascination for Scandinavian and Slavic languages, especially Danish (honestly, I just think it's beautiful) after spending a fair amount of time walking through the Peruvian Jungle trying to master the soft 'd' sound and repeating 'skide, skede, skøde' over and over again - I won't translate it on here as it's a little rude, but feel free to do so yourself and know it sounds hilarious to a Dane. These are languages I'd never even have considered interesting had I not given them a try. It was also nice to be able to make a Danish lady, who came into the shop I work in a few weeks ago, leave with a smile on here face, as I had taken the time to learn 'Hi, my name is Emily, how are you?' in her language. It's the kind of compliment we Brits will never understand as we're so used to hearing foreigners speak English.



Learning Danish walking to Machu Picchu (day 3). Just look at how much fun we're having.

I guess my point is that whilst adventuring around the world and discovering new and exciting cultures, the opportunity to explore language shouldn't be wasted. After all, it is one of the most important parts of culture. There are many cultural differences in language itself, from humour to ways of relating to one another, which are evident even from British to American to Australian English. It's an easy way to spark a conversation and make someone laugh, especially if you're rubbish. So no excuses. Give it a go. I dare you ;)

Re-finding My Muchness

'You used to be much more... "muchier". You've lost your muchness' - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Everyone has their own reasons and justifications for everything they do and want to achieve in the future. My brother, for example, hates travelling (I know, I don't understand either). He doesn't like to be away from home for more than 3/4 days at a time if he can help it, and is quite content to sit in his room for hours playing his guitar and working on graphicsy things on his computer. However, whilst this concept is completely alien to me, this for him, is his 'muchness'. I find it inspiring that at just 16 years old, he's already found something that he loves to do and willingly dedicates hours of his time towards, in order to better himself and his abilities. Now I'm not exactly sure what his plans for the future are, but the important thing is that he's achieving something everyday, just by working a his various skills and talents.

That's what travel is for me. It is so much more than escaping the normalities of average day to day living in the UK and getting to see some pretty sights along the way - though I'm not complaining about the added bonus. Travel is my way of fulfilling my desire to understand other people. I love people and if I am going to make any use of the time I have on this planet, I figure the best way is to be as understanding and loving towards anyone and everyone in anyway that I can.

The problem is, that I can't always be travelling as I have to be at university five days a week and I'm not a millionaire. So recently, unlike my brother, I've been feeling a bit low on 'muchness', my drive to really make use of myself and my time. Since last year when I dropped everything to travel the world and discovered all sorts of new magical and wonderful things, I seem to have forgotten what really makes me tick when I'm not jet setting across the Atlantic Ocean, looking over NY from the Top of the Rock or zip-lining 150m above the Amazon Jungle. So I've decided to delve deep this week and review how travel has not only inspired me, but how it can continue to do so in other ways, even if I have to be locked up in my room studying more often than I would really like at the moment. I'm hoping that whilst making myself feel 'much more "muchier"' once again, it might inspire anyone else who's reading to do the same :)

Since I can remember, I've always been interested in doing my bit for others; I did my first fundraiser when I was eight years old with a team of other ambitious kids, who were moved by the advert for the Blue Peter Water Appeal we'd seen on the CBBC. We raised about £40 and I can still remember the immense pride I'd felt, knowing that I'd done my bit. I've continued to bug friends and family ever since, shoving countless sponsor sheets under their noses and dragging them to various events (a special thanks to the parents should go in here, who not only bought the ingredients to make the cakes and helped us bake them, but then went on to buy them back. It's funny how you miss these small but incredible acts of kindness and encouragement until you look back.) All I knew in my childhood years was that other children and families didn't have enough water to drink and food to eat whilst I had plenty and that just wasn't fair.

Then in years 9/10, I took part in my first German exchange to Satrup, Schleswig-Holstein. I found myself incredibly frustrated at not being able to communicate fully with the exchange students in their language and as funny as misunderstandings and miscommunications can be, I couldn't stand the feeling of being isolated from a different culture, due to a simple language barrier. I'd never before considered how many people in the world I couldn't actually speak to and I suddenly felt the shame of my countries 'laziness in languages' label. This is where the determination to break down this stereotype began and the languages obsession was born. The realisation had hit me that I would never be able to converse with those who were in desperate need of aid and comfort; how was I to be there for someone if I couldn't even speak to them in a language they could understand? Or if they could understand, why should they bother to listen to what I had to say against corruption or injustice in the world if I couldn't even be bothered to learn about their language and culture?

This beautiful quote from my all time hero, Nelson Mandela, was on the wall in the languages department at college and used to inspire me everyday:

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

I began to find out that I would never be content with passivity. Although a bit of a geek in my own right, I've never been great at sitting down and revising from books for hours on end. I'm more an active learner, so I started to save up all the money I would earn from my Saturday job to pay for weekend trips so I could indulge myself in my love of foreign cultures and thirst for more insight into different ways of living. At this time I was also volunteering at a children's club every Friday, which were easily some of the best times of my life. It taught me to always look at the world through the eyes of a child. Everything is not only simpler that way, but more beautiful and devoid of hate and prejudice. Nothing is important to children but friendship and love: gender, skin colour, accent, height, weight, nationality, clothing, hairstyle, religion... it's not that they are insignificant, it's just that those children hadn't yet learned the animosities ingrained in our society. Beauty is inside every person and I will always insist it exists, even if it's sometimes difficult to find. I try to implement this way of thinking wherever I go with whoever I meet and it has caused me to make so many amazing friends over the years.

Of course my experiences over the last year have had a huge impact on discovering new things about what I want to do with my life and also reaffirming certain aspects that I was already sure of. I worked at my former high school as a German teaching assistant for around seven months and met some incredible staff and pupils. The young people I had the opportunity to work closely with taught me everyday the value of care, persistence and patience (some more than others :P) and how important it is to be flexible and accept that not everyone works in the same way. After two years of hard study at college, they helped me to rediscover my imagination and in turn my determination to really achieve something out of the ordinary. On the one day I worked in a Peruvian school in the Sacred Valley, it was also them that persuaded me not to lose hope that situations in developing countries can be overturned. Whist marking English work at the Peruvian school, I had to ask the teacher whether she wanted me to correct just their inaccuracies in English, or their work as a whole, as the 15 year olds didn't know the difference between capital and lower case letters, or how to use punctuation. I discovered there and then that equal opportunities in education on a global scale was something I felt deeply passionate about, though to this day I'm still not sure how to go about solving it. However from my experiences at All Hallows, I'd learned that crazier things have happened than able bodied, healthy kids overcoming the inability to write properly. From the bright ones who just need a little nudge in the right direction, to the ones who really struggled because of illness or otherwise, it is easy to see that with the right encouragement and enthusiasm, no child can fall behind.

Due to all these experiences, that have taught me the importance of travel in my life and different ways in which to view the world, I have decided that when I grow up - in body, not spirit of course - my broad aim/goal/dream/aspiration is to work with people and make a difference in the world. Really I have always known that, but both through travel and interactions with many, many unbelievable people I have come to discover what I personally feel most strongly about acting upon. I'd love to work for the United Nations or an international NGO in ground based operations, in the areas with those in desperate need of empowerment and support, whether it be war zone or school yard. I'd go mad sitting behind a desk all day. It's a rather ambitious dream, but I figure if I aim high, anything that comes close is still going to be pretty damn good.

I hope this has in some way been an interesting read, made you consider something about yourself or explained a bit about why I'm a little crazy. I also hope that I may have encouraged at least one person to get out there a travel a little more. I realise this is rather an intense post too, but that's just the way I'm feeling this week. Any suggestions for a slightly lighter topic choice for next week are welcome :)

Oh and there's this guy... I can't exactly remember how I came across this video but every time I watch it a longing swells up inside me. Travelling the world and uniting people through something as simple as dance? Beautiful.

Foodie Nightmares

Last week a put a tweet out asking for ideas of what to base this post on. My favourite was the suggestion to compare all the different types of cakes I've tried throughout my travels (for anyone who doesn't know, that is A LOT of cake). I originally started out by making a post with all my 'Foody Favourites', a list of all the amazing food and drink I've tried whilst travelling, as I wanted to be indiscriminate to all those crazy cake-haters out there. However, I've been ill recently and had a particularly bad night last night, so in an attempt to make myself and you lot giggle (and probably cringe a little too) here's a low down of my foody horror stories from my travels thus far.

Bus ride from Lima to Cusco, Peru - Chicken, Rice and Jam?

Imagine this. You arrive in a new country, a new continent in fact and you're just about to embark on a 24 hour bus journey. You're tired and frustrated because the bus company have messed you around so you had to pay for your ticket twice. You're throwing up from altitude sickness because you're around 3000km higher up than you're used to and you've not eaten a proper meal in a few days because you've been struggling with changing your dollars to soles. All you want is something bearable to eat that will fill you up. And this arrives. Because I'm an idiot and chicken is like my kryptonite, I decided that the pinkish bit in the middle was nothing to worry about, 'they must just make it like that' in Peru. I wasn't even brave enough to touch the jam thingy. As you can imagine, it all came back up rather swiftly.

Nashville, Tennessee, USA - Cheesy Fries

You'd expect Americans to be the experts in Cheesy Fries, but this cheese was possibly the worst I'd ever tasted. It was the glue-your-mouth-together-and-burn-your-tongue-but-not-in-a-good-way kind, that was more sickly than yummy. I can still taste it to this day... *shudders*

NYC, New York, USA - Large Chicken Nuggets Meal

This one is more of a rant at the RIDICULOUS portion sizes served in the USA. Here I'm sat with a large McDonald's consisting of 20 chicken nuggests, a portion of chips double that you'd get in a large meal in the UK and a drink so large that four of us struggled to finish it. It's insane. As someone who hates waste I had to soldier through and finish everything, feeling rather frumpy afterwards. Darn my, 'when in Rome' attitude.

Nice, France - Mussels in Curry Sauce

I'm sure this one doesn't need to much explanation as the description of the meal itself sounds unappealing to almost anyone who has tried mussels before. Unfortunately, Tom hadn't. In his defense, he did manage to work his way through a pretty impressive amount of them.

Bus ride from Copacabana, Bolivia to Juliaca, Peru - Bag of Cheese and Potatoes

You'd think that from our initial experience with Peruvian bus food we'd have learned our lesson. However just two months later, here we are again. This was a moment of desperation, we hadn't eaten for almost 16 hours and weren't going to get to eat for another four. So when these STREET VENDERS - I know, I know - got on the bus we decided to spend our last two soles (about 50p) on this bag of mystery food. Our logic? Well there was no meat in it, so we figured that there was no harm in trying. And the cheese was actually alright. But if you've never tried cold, hard and uncooked, potatoes before... then don't. Even starving hungry we could hardly stomach these.

Braunschweig, Germany - Apfelglühwein

Whilst on an exchange in college, we visited the Christmas markets with our partners. They were lovely enough to buy us all some of their locally brewed apple mulled wine as they wanted us to sample something typically German. As we're all terribly British and therefore far too polite, we pretended we found it delicious, whilst secretly pouring it on to the floor or feeding it to another friend whilst backs were turned. It turns out however that we were perhaps a little too convincing, as they then preceded to buy us more. Selina, if you're reading this, I'm sorry :P

Arica, Chile - Pizza, apparently.

Whenever I see these pictures I can't help but chuckle. I showed them in a presentation I was giving to some of the classes I used to teach and the gasps of horror and the looks of disgust on the children's faces at the fact that this was allowed to be called a pizza, will forever accompany these images in my mind. It was also possibly the most expensive meal I ate in South America, around 4000 pesos, equivalent to about £5.30. Doesn't seem like a lot but for a backpacker on a tight budget, it's a bloody fortune.

Nashville, Tennessee, USA - Some kind of Burrito at Taco Bell

Now you might be tempted to suggest that from the examples I've given you already, that it's clearly safer to stick with what you know or chains with seemingly good reputations. No. Taco Bell is easily one of the worst places I ate in the USA. The taste was bland and uninteresting and it's one of those places that makes you feel so bad about yourself that you find yourself seriously considering giving up food and living solely off weight watchers smoothies for the rest of your life. It also has errr... other negative consequences. I'll let you use your imaginations on that one.

Atlanta, Georgia, USA - Coca Cola World

An all together different experience which I wrote extensively about in April, was our trip to Coca Cola world. Besides the trip being a rather terrifying one, it turns out that their brainwashing techniques actually work. As more of a Sprite girl myself, Coke has never really appealed to me, however I found myself ordering it impulsively for the next few weeks without really knowing why. Once again I am warning you, steer clear of that place.

Milan, Italy - Limoncello

Let's just say that the night we drank this three of us ended up vomiting, a lot. It is not worth buying Limoncello at 2.99 euros a bottle, even if you are on a tight budget. Especially if you intend to play drinking games with it. Never again.

And that's about all I can think of for now. It'd be cool to hear of anyone else's stories so comment and let me know. I'll need more ideas for blog posts too, so keep them coming. Also, I'm a big fan of comments and I don't get too many at the moment ;) *hinthint*

If you were disappointed and wanted some actual advice on where to eat on your travels as opposed to where to avoid, the 'Foody Favourites' post has been completed and archived, so if it's requested I'll just put it up. Otherwise I'll bring it out one day when inspiration is failing me.

Adios Peru

So this is it... we leave Perah TODAY. It's not really sinking in to be honest, I've somehow settled into the mind frame that this how I am going to live from now on, coming back to reality is going to be SO weird.

We spent our last night in Lima avec Samwise and we gorged ourselves on McDonalds as our last hearty meal in Peru, deciding that we've earned it as technically we've been here for so long now we are no longer gringos but Inca Warlords (Sam's logic really, I just went with it because I wanted chicken wings. You know they do those in McDonalds here?? It's awesome.)

I am so glad we decided to just do the one night in Lima, it's such a hole compared to any other place we've stayed in South America, with the only exception perhaps being Puno, but it's a blooming close call. For example our hostel has a roof terrace which anywhere else, would be lovely. Like in Cusco at night the sky is clear, starry and just beautiful. Where as in Lima, it looks white, thick with smog from the pollution. Lovely.

I woke up this morning feeling like I used to at Christmas as a child. My stomach is churning with excitement. Well that or it's something to do with the three chicken sandwiches I ate from a street vender lady yesterday. I really am in two minds, on the one hand I canNOT wait to come home and see everyone, have clean clothes, nice food, warm showers, a hair cut, comfy bed etc etc. But on the other hand I have had the time of my life and met so many awesome people! I know this isn't the last time I do a trip like this.

Our flight isn't for another 11 hours or so, so we have a day of packing and desperately trying to waste time ahead of us. Woooooooooo. We're also going to compile a few more posts with tips for future travellers, highlights and recommendations etc so watch this space, I'm not finished just yet :)

Huacaflippinchina BABY

The last 5 days or so were spent in Huacachina, a little oasis town with the population of around 115 people about 4 hours away from Lima (unless you travel with Flores, then it's more like 6 and a half. Lying so and sos.) It was AMAZING, such a good way to spend the end of our trip. Not that we did much like :P

We spent 23 hours (mas o menos) on a bus to get there when it was supposed to be 16. I am NOT going to miss peruvian buses even a little bit. To be honest its quite comforting to know that my journey back to Preston won't even take that long. It was pretty horrendous but arriving in Huacachina was so awesome, its such a beautiful place!

Most of the time was just spent chilling out and eating (I know this is quite the running theme for this trip!) The hostel we stayed at does the most amazing BBQ Chicken Wings, so if you're heading to Huacachina stay at Desert Nights Hostel and try them out. Also its only 15/s a night and if your a HI member its even cheaper, but to be honest the chicken wings should be enough of a pull.

Of course we had to test out the night life once or twice and it was EPIC. In fact we decided it was best to leave a day early before we all got stuck in the paradise of Huacachina in a permantantly hungover state achieving very little and never seeing the day light.. Ok so that's a bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea!

Goodbye Cusco :(

SO before and after the Inca Jungle Trek we spent a fair amount of time in Cusco. I think it's safe to say that Cusco has been my favourite place we've visited in South America :)

On the 31st it was EVIE'S 19TH BIRTHDAY so of course we went out to celebrate. I got her a little prezzie and a card signed by lots of different people that we've met throughout the duration of our travels. She was SO surprised so of course I was well happy that all my sneakiness had paid off. Also Matt got her some mustard...



In the evening we went out with the gang to Norton's, Indigo and the Wild Rover which was lots of fun, even if we did get kicked out at like 2.30am. I thought the Wild Rover was supposed to be like party central?? Honestly.







Another aspect of Cusco that cannot go without a mention is Jack's Cafe which is without a doubt the best place for food in South America (well, that I've been to so far!) A little pricey for Peru it has to be said but 100% worth every penny. I don't really think the pics do it justice but I'm going to share them anyways...





We also caught Corpus Christi by accident which was quite nice. Peruvians really do know how to do a religious festival! It was almost impossible to move around Plaza de Amas and they had all these massive elaborately decorated statue things that they were carrying through the streets. Plus music and dancing and food EVERYWHERE. It was great!!



I was rather sad to say goodbye to Cusco, but I reckon it wont be my last visit. I would definitely recommend a visit to anyone :)

Lake Titicaca and the Isla del Sol

After La Paz we headed to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca, joined by Charles and Lucy who we met at the Wild Rover. En route we had the nice surprise of having to get off the bus and take a boat across part of the lake whilst our bus did the same, on a rather rickety looking barge. We came to the conclusion that we had to get off the bus as the barge it came across on looked so unstable, there must have been instances in the past where the whole thing has capsized... Luckily the boat, bus and all our luggage made it across safe and sound.

Our bus... on a barge.

Once in Copacabana we spent a couple of days enjoying the sunshine and hiking up a nearby hill which was quite the challenge at this altitude (we're over 4000m up!!) but the view of the lake was beautiful. I can't believe how HUGE it is, seriously puts 'the lake' at the bottom of Newman College to shame :p

Outside the Cathedral!

It took real skill to get the self timer on this right.


We're now back in Copacabana after spending the past few days on the Isla del Sol, which was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. We spent a day hiking from the north to the south side of the island and checking out the ruins at the Inca creation sight. The views were stunning, take a gander:

Steve, Georgia, Lucy and Charles have all head of to Arequipa for a few days before coming to meet us in Cusco for EVIE'S BIIIIIIIIRTHDAY on the 31st. I can't wait! We're still debating whether our next move will be staight back to Cusco or to the Uros Islands on the peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. All depends on pennies really, but fingers crossed we'll be able to get everything in :)