Zen teachings...

If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do
not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow.. In fact, just go away and leave me alone.

2. Sex is like air. It's not that important unless you aren't getting any.

3. No one is listening until you fart.

4. Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.

5. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

6. If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.

7. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a
mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

8.. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

9. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

10. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it.

11. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

12. Some days you are the dog, some days you are the tree.

13. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.

14. Good judgment comes from bad experience ... and most of that comes from bad judgment.

15. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

16. There are two excellent theories for arguing with women. Neither one works.

17. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.

18. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

19. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our arse ... then things just keep getting worse.

20. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

aspects of Incredible India?

One of the great paradoxes of "Incredible India"
that came to me on email as a forward....
So many are the contradictions in our life...
Read on....

 

We live in a nation,
Where Pizza reaches home faster than Ambulance, police, or fire brigade...
Where you get car loan @ 5% and education loan @ 12%,
Where rice is Rs 40/- per kg but sim card is free,
Where a millionaire can buy a cricket team instead of donating the money to any charity,...
Where people worship cows, and yet wear footwear made from cowhide...
Where the footwear we wear, are sold in AC showrooms, but vegetables, that we eat, are sold on the footpath,
Where everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to follow the path to be famous,
Where we make lemon juices with artificial flavours and dish wash liquids with real lemon.
Where people are standing at tea stalls reading an article about child labour from a newspaper and say,"yaar bachhonse kaam karvane wale ko to phansi par chadha dena chahiye" and then they shout "Oye chhotu 2 chaii laao....."
This really is Incredible India... ?

--
Maxwell Pereira IPS (Retd.)
3725 Sector-23, Gurgaon-122017

Sonal's almanac - South American Adventure

On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 12:20 AM, Sonal Pereira <s0nalpk@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi All,
The day has come for my crazy adventure to begin :) I'm planning to take one day at a time and not get (try not to get) too flustered when things don't go as they should!
I'm all packed and set, just heading for my shower now. Will be leaving for the airport at 1pm.
Just wanted you all to have the instructions on how to send me text messages for free from the web (only while I'm in Brazil). Hopefully I will be able to get a sim card from Oi Telecom. Once I text Mum the phone number, she'll be emailing/texting all of you to let u know what it is. Then just follow the steps below to stay in touch for free :)
Go to: www.oi.com.br

> Select TORPEDO
> Codigo 21 (Rio de Janeiro area code)
> Mensagem( Text)
> Enviar Torpedo (send Torpido)
Love you guys loads and will missing you all SO much on this trip!! Hope i can take pictures to capture everything.
Chat next from Brazil :)
Ciao
Sonal

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

On date10 February 2010 at 06:50 Keith Koster wrote:

Hi All,
I just spoke with Sonal and I'm happy to report that she & TJ landed safely in NYC and will be en route to Rio soon.
Take care!,

Keith
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 11 February 2010 04:28
Subject: Details in Rio

Hi All,

Just a quick email to let you know that TJ & I made it to Rio in one piece, despite an awfully long journey (24hrs+) with three stops along the way. TJ´s a nervous flier as well, so it was tough being cramped in a tight seat and calming her down every five mins! She was fine after the initial 30mins into and towards the end of every flight. 

Once we landed in Rio our guardian angel was definitely in action :) Andrea´s cousin, Mauricio, was there with the Federal Militia of the airport, to greet us! He´d brought a picture of us so he could recognize us... but ofcourse we looked NOTHING like our pics from Aysha´s wedding two yrs ago i.e. wayyyy less dolled up and a lot more tired. On top of which, at Sao Paolo airport I had started feeling ill (wish I~d taken the airborne before getting on the first flight). Had nausea after eating anything, felt feverish and basically had a splitting headache for the 2hr stpo over that we were there for! Once we~d landed and gotten our bags (all in good condition thank goodness), I immediately pulled out two nurofen and popped them with some refreshingly cold water. It´s 35 degrees C over here, so needless to say my cold shivers turned into cold sweats once we had gotten into Mauricio´s little Maruti style car, even with the AC blasting!!

Running out of minutes (this internet cafe is cheeky and has a sticky keyboard so excuse the typos)!!

So here´s the info you need to call me...+55-21-8620-2963 altho I~m not sure my phone can accept international calls!

It has NO credit at the moment and I´m dying to tell you in detail about how my Guardian Angel again came to our rescue in the form of a restaurant manager (lady) who helped set up the sim card on my phoen!!! But there~s no credit - so I~ll work on that next/!!

Just found out that Keith tried calling this number but got a strange message :( sigh

Okay must run... love u guy. You can try the hotel if you like, I may be in my room this evening as the fever
--
Sonal
------------------------------------------------------------------------

12 February 2010 15:29
Subject: Details in Rio

Love u loads... feeling a lot better this morning after a long restful evening and night. Sweated out the fever, but my eyes still feel super heavy this morning so I don~t think I´m over it as yet. Moving to the new hotel in Flamengo. Details in the spreadsheet I shared.

Lots of love,

Sonal

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

12 February 2010 15:41

Hi Daddykins,

What a lovely email... thanks for sending it to greet me in Rio, unfortunately I didn´t have any time to read emails instead just quickly sent off ones all of you guys to let you know I had arrived. So it was nice to go thru it properly today, while there~s no rush.Love u loads,

Sonal

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

14 February 2010 06:18
Subject: All´s well
Really quick email to let u guys know the fever~s finally let up but I now have Daniel´s eye infection along with a splitting headache at all times :( Had a massive blow up (hissy fit) this afternoon, after walking for 2hrs in the noon sun looking for BLOODY MCDONALDS!!!!
I´m not sure I´m with the best threesome... looking fwd to when we become two!!
grrr
Met Rohan. Just came back from the Maracana Stadium where we watched a football match. CRAZY!!!! and CRAP at the same time.
Saw Sugar Loaf during the day which was def the highlight of my day, since I´ve been in a massive mood and a tad homesick since then. But dont worry - I´ve totally snapped out of it already. Don~t call too often cos TJ´s upset her Parents havent called even once all this time!!
love u guys
--
Sonal

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

15 February 2010 00:35
Thank you for your mail baby,
It is not clear though....
i) whether u are really adhering to your planned itinerary, or have had to change due to the spell of illness.
ii) whether rohan is independently on his own, or is part of your planned tour
iii) what happened to your 5-day package tour in Rio - wasn't that tour to culminate with the carnival and madri gras?
iv) didn't understand the part about "the massive blow up" u had?
v) and who was the third in the 'threesome'? ...obviously it wasn't Rohan - so who?
vi) have u given a call to Ivan Noronha or the contact he put u on to?

Before I end, happy Valentine's Day to both Keith and you... Wish I
could have wished you both more grandly as you would have liked... but
then...
Don't want to make my emails long, to save u time at the internet cafe
- but then there's always so much to tell. Sorry...
Love you baby, do take care...
Daddy
---------------------------------------

 

16 February 2010 18:52
hi my darling Daddykins

I decided to fight for my right NOT to go to the beach like every bloody day, so instead got ready in peace and walked down to the nearest internet cafe, which is much better than the internet at the hotel.

Things are fine now... the big blow up was because I was on my monthly & just fed up with this girl (Claudia - Tj´s friend who´s also traveling with us) who expects EVERYTHING to be done her way, and unfortunately she has absolutely NO sense, so after giving in once, twice, three times - I decided enough~s enough and put my foot down on almost ALL her suggestions. Didn~t manage to get out of going to McDonalds unfortunately which brought on a MASSIVE hissy fit where I basically screamed at both of them and said I was FED UP of going to the bloody beach every day in the noon sun and that I was fed up of not eating on time and not having water and being ill and it wasn´t their fault but maybe I was just missing home!? That brought on the tears and the anger just melted out of me after that. I was fine by the evening and apologized to both of them. TJ - I know. So I feel chilled out with her. But with Claudia, we have SO many misunderstandings, so I feel like we´re really not on the best of terms. But then I remember I only have to put up with her for another ten days and then she´s heading back to England, thank GOD! She´s also super disorganized and messy, so you can just imagine the clash with me!!!!!
Other than that, the days have been absolutely lovely. I feel so disconnected from you guys... I realize how much I depend on my family as a life line! I~ve lived away from home for so long, but not being able to speak to you all and discuss my issues with indi and just have a good old gossip, those are things that are really getting to me. But I´m really going to try to take time out to come to internet cafes like this and just let rip in emails at least :) We were always in such a bloody rush to get eevrywhere that I´ve just not had time to do this. *sigh*

The carnival was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! It started at 9pm (but we left here at 6pm to beat the crowds to the Sambodrome) and went on all the way until 7am. We only stayed until 5am though, as we had plans to tour a Favela (slum) at noon the following day (another blow-up issue for me since no one wanted us to even enter a favela let alone go for a bloody tour in one). Anyway, we got back home and slept for a few hrs before having to get up, get ready and head out again. Have to admit, it was FANTASTIC! Not many people had chosen to do this excursion, so there were around ten of us with one local tour guide and a guy FROM the favela, who took us around. We basically went to a very nice and clean slum called - the Pereira Da Silva Favela!!! Haha - once there we had to hike up high into the hills (amazing view and gorgeous breeze but we were PANTING like dogs in the midday sun!!!). We walked on paved steps thru narrow alleyways and finally reached a green wooded area where the Moreno Project has been created. Cant really explain it well in words, but its basically been built by 5-7 kids from the favela who have now become famous because of it. It´s basically a model village of the favel and thats where they would play with pieces of lego etc. Some american tourist saw this and took video shots of them playing which then turned into movies that have been shown at Film Festivals across latin America. Check on You Tube, the videos may be on there.

After returning from the Favela tour we spent the rest of the evening getting ourselves organized by finding the main Bus Station and buying tickets for our horridly long ass journey from rio to Foz du Iguacu (22hrs!!!!!) as well as our tickets from Rio to Ilha Grande  on Thurs.

To answer your ques.... I didnt miss any part of the tour thankfully, as I had taken rest and slowly gotten better in time for each excursion. Rohan is part of the overall tour group, but because it´s such a massive group (200+ people) we´re in different hotels, so its hard to coordinate things together as we are led by different tour guides (each hotel has around 8-10 guides who takes one group at a time to each place). Once at the destination, we normally catch sight of each other and hang out toegther. But I´m letting him have his vacation and I´m sticking to my group as well. i feel bad we haven´t really been able to hang out very much, but that´s actually fine as well because I would miss Keith being around and he reminds me of Cali and the fact that he´s going back and I´m not :(

Really hope you´re feeling better now Dad :( Those vitamins can play havoc with your bowels as well, so I won´t be surprised if thats what did it rather than the fever. My tummy was fine thru the illness. I just made sure I drank 2 litres of water every 2 hrs and just pee´d constantly so the fever eventually went away. I guess its harder for Sonu to keep getting up and going to the loo, poor chap! Really hoping he´s better now? How´s daniel, I heard he had signs of chicken pox??

That´s all for now. We´re heading to see Christ the Redeemer today (another thing that Claudia pissed me off by saying was that she called the statue a¨"pagan symbol" which really made my blood boil, but I didn´t rise to the bait & she apologized a little later. Bitch!

Oh we´re also off to the Gay Ball this evening :) haha Will let you know how that goes!

All my love,

Sonal

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

17 February 2010 21:01
Subject: Hola
Hi there,
check out Facebook for pics from Rio... not been able to put up everything.
Sonu hope you~re feeling better.
Love u guys!!!
We leave for Ilha Grande tomorrow morning at 10.30am.
Always your
--
Sonal

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

19 February 2010 17:09
Hi Dad
We´re in Ilha Grande now. its absolutely gorgeous.
Alls well.
Love u

--
Sonal

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

19 February 2010 02:33
Hi Everyone,
Sonal made it to Ilha Grande and finally got her mobile working by using her SIM in her friends phone.
Her number is: +55 (218) 620-2983 and the timezone is UTC/GMT -2 hours.
Take care and best wishes! -Keith

 --------------------------------------------------------------

 

20 February 2010 15:40
Off to Iguazzu

Hola,

We~ve had a wonderful time in Ilha Grande, weather was horrid until this morning when we~re off to Iguazzu! Wont be there until tomorrow afternoon. I have the mobile with me in case of emergencies, but the battery is low.

Mum- I was able to receive your text, but not reply.

Dad- hope all~s well with ur health

Sonu- how~re u feeling now

Indi - How was Atlantic City

Love u always
--
Sonal

----------------------------------------------------------

 

22 February 2010 06:05

hi Daddykins,

Hola from Argentina!!

We did Foz du Iguacu this morning, just by the skin of our teeth!! After a 25hr bus journey from Rio, we arrived in Iguazzu (Brazil side) at 2.30pm and the last boat out to see the falls was at 3pm. So we rushed and just made it there... After gettnig a mega soaking, we caught a cab to the border and walked across to the Argentinian side around 7pm this evening. We were hoping to do the helicopter flight durng the day from the Argentinian side but just discovered they dont have them here :( They only take off from the Brazilian side! So tempted to go back over the border tomorrow just to do it!! But we have to catch a flight from Iguazzu (Argentina) to Buenos Aires at 1pm!!! Cutting it all soooo close... mostly because Claudia has to return to the UK on Thurs so trynig to squeeze in as much as possbile!

In any case, we´ve been super lucky wth everythng this far. We almost didnt make our coach leavng Rio at 1.30pm, as we had to catch a catamaran from Ilha Grande at 9.30am and then a speen van to Rio, which got us there just in the nick of time at 1.15pm!!!! Can you imagien us running wth our massive backpacks on?? It was hilarious but we were thrilled we made it.

I have made friends with at least one local a day... love it! My local for today was a Brazilian Missionary lady from Curitiba. Lovely person! Local for yesterday was my fellow passenger in the seat next to mne on the coach - a cute 23 yr called Santiago - who spent the entire morning giving me a virtual tour of his City - buenos aires - where we´re headed tomorrow!! :) Cristo redentor is most defintely watchng over us even tho´I have nt been to Church snce we´ve been here. I have visited 3 but not in time for Mass!

So all´s well and the next time I write will be from BA.

I had a thought abuot my mobile phone.. I wonder if its still in my handbag whch we put up in the loft in my suitcase? Could you go up and check pls? It should be in a little side pocket on the inside if its there. Not sure about your iMate though?! How strange both disappearing like this!

Love u loads and hope to speak to you once I have a new sim card from Argentina tomorrow.

Sonal

---------------------------------------------------

 

25 February 2010 04:07
Subject: Phone number in Argentina
Hi All
Missing you all loads.... you would all really love Buenos Aires.
You can´t imagine how BROWN I have become... definitely verging on 75% cocoa dark chocolate!!! :(
BA isn't as warm as Brazil, but its still sunny everyday with a lovely breeze. The locals dress as though its Autumn (which it prob is for them) but we're mostly in shorts and t-shirts everyday! Our clothes STINK and we are dying to find a laundrette!!! But not yet... have to wait for Ms. High Mainenance, who is leaving tomorrow for the UK, to have her way and do/see as much as she can while she's here!! Cannot wait until its just TJ & me, although I am worried whether I'll be a lot more of a boring travel companion for TJ compared to crazy Claudia *sigh* Whatever, I dont care!
Had the most incredible meal last night at a place called La Cabrera, where we had to wait for almost 2.5hrs before we finally got a table! Not a posh place at all, just super authentic and great prices. We`re in love with this particular Malbec, which has been ordered twice in a row now to go with our steaks. It knocks me off completely, so I'm dead asleep in a meat coma and red wine after each meal! Even so, by the time we had dinner it was already 1am and then by the time we got home (after going on to a bar - thats the normal time to 'hang out' and have drinks in BA even on a week night) it was nearly 4am!! Can't say we had a wild time, but it was definitely fun :) The girls are disappointed in the Argentinian men, but I'm just happy that we're getting less attention than we were in Brazil (crazy people)!!!
Oh - haha - the whole blooming point of this email was to tell you guys that we found another fabulous local who sorted us out with a local phone (old nokia cellphone for $40). Neither TJ nor my phones work here cos we need a quad band phone, so it was just easier buying one cos the local payphones SUCK!!!! So here's the number you will need for the next month or so, whilst we're in this country.
Call:   +54-11-3897-7746
Tonight we're off to another late night out with Ms. Crazy! We're going to a luxury hotel called Faena for drinks (real backpackers huh?) and then on to San Telmo for some booty shaking! LOL - trust me, thats a joke! The music here is super cheesey... only found ONE place that had good regathone music and that was a tourist shop!!!!!
Hope you are all well.
Love you loads,
--
Sonal

---------------------------------------------------------

 

25 February 2010 20:24
Hi my darling Daddykins,
So wonderful to hear about your night out with the girls... I am not surprised you had such a "wonderful evening indeed"!!! :)
Avenue Q is meant to be one of the best shows in town, so I'm thrilled you had a chance to see it AND knowing one of the singers in it is even more fabulous!!! I hope you and Sarah were comfy with each other there and back, although all the other women being there must have been a nice add on as well.
We're taking it easy today as we came back home at 5.30am this morning after an interesting night out! Claudia's gone to the airport and now its just TJ & me!! I hope she doesnt feel weird about it. Luckily we're taking it easy so we'll both be refreshed by this evening and ready to head back out there.
Today's all about chores... we have to do our laundry (laundrette's right opposite the hostel), download our pics and save them to my large USB drive, buy some groceries so we can make our own breakfast over the next few days (they only give us coffee and these weird sugary croissants in the morning) and have some sleep!!! We'll be taking day trips to see Tigre, Colonia and Monte Vidio over the next few days as we´ve seen/walked the length and breadth of BA over the last couple of days!!! We're meeting some locals this evening, friends and family of TJ's colleague from England. Should be fun :)
Yesterday we saw La Boca (where the football stadium is) and some gorgeous multi coloured houses where there were tango shows in the street and cute little cafes where we caught a bite to eat before heading off to see the Congressional Palace (dirty, but worth seeing all the same). Everything in BA has absolutely gorgeous architecture! Makes me realise how much we take London for granted, because at every corner I feel like taking pics of rooftops or domes or balconies or outer facades!
We had a nice chilled out day yesterday and then came home to get ready for Claudia's last night in the City! After a wonderful meal at a local restaurant called Cumana, our evening slowly went downhill. We went to three different parts of the city that we had heard were fun, but the nightlife was DEAD! Claudia was getting more and more pissed off and somehow I felt responsible!!!! In the end we decided to go back to the place we went the night before, which had outdoor bars and seemed like good fun. Thank goodness cabs are cheap in BA!!
Okay back to the craziness of last night... we decided to call it a night around 3.30am but I knew everyone felt down about it being a shit night, so on the way home I asked the taxi driver if he knew any good clubs (no one speaks english here so u've literally got to use sign language or think of french equivalents for the words you're trying to say). He took us to a local place, which seemed to have fun music inside so we thought we'd give it a go. Once inside we were asked to pay 30 pesos (around 6 pounds) entrance, doesnt sound like much in pounds, but we're always running out of money over here so we're really conscious of how much we spend, especially when we know we have to get home by cab etc. So I decided to chat up the cashier, who I could tell was very gay! I asked him about his tattoos and said how fabulous I thought they were :) instantly he warmed to us and asked us where we were from. The guy had a nose ring through the front of his nose - like bulls have in India!!!! Once he discovered we were from England he started trying out his "Ingles" and said he had lived in Shoreditch for 6 months to try and improve his english!! We immediately bonded and he winked at us as he slid across the entrance tickets (for free) along with drink coupons for each of us and as an after thought he also gave us wrist bands to get into the VIP area of the club!!! We were all ecstatic and couldnt believe our luck!!!! See what I mean about finding lovely locals?! :)
Anyway, the club is really nothing to write home about but we were REALLY glad we had the VIP entrance because that kept us away from the groping hands of the disgusting people on the regular dance floor!! We only discovered/experienced those when going to the loo, which was the scariest experience of our lives!! But the VIP area was nice and we danced the night/morning away. Managed to get in a cab and come home by around 5.30am this morning!!! Claudia was over the moon and I was happy she wouldnt be in a massive sulk before leaving to go back to England *phew* We all had a great time, so it was a worthwhile diversion afterall!
Feeling quite knackered now so I'm heading to bed for a little bit.
Love you loads and hope you continue to have a wonderful time with S&S&D before you head home in a week's time :( I can just imagine how sad you must be feeling. I miss my Daniel soooooooooooooooo much as well. Please make sure he doesn't give you any parting "gifts" they way he gave me when I left!!!!!
All my love,
Sonal

-------------------------------------------------------

 

26 February 2010 04:03

Thank you for the mail Baby...

Sonnu and I just finished watching a movie on DVD - titled TAKEN, with Liam Neeson in the main role. It's about he going after his daughter's kidnappers when she takes off with her friend on a trip like yours, when they emerge from the airport they are met by 'friendly locals' as you aptly term such who give them local knowledge, tips and discounts and organize to get them kidnapped and drugged for human trafficking. Had I seen this movie before you embarked on this trip I would never have let you go. This is a 'must' movie for every single girl who takes off on an 'adventure' on her own.

Take care baby...

Love you,

Daddy

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

27 February 2010 19:55
FYI: Moving to a new hotel
Hi All,
Had a wonderful day yesterday in Tigre... day trip from BA. just like going to Windsor for the day!
Btw we had a bit of surprise this morning, our reservation at this hostel was only until today! On top of which they have someone moving into our room RIGHT NOW! So we have to go pack and move to a new place. Luckily we found one pretty quickly online and made the reservation. Here are the details:
Estación Buenos Aires Hostel
Solis 458,
Buenos Aires,
Argentina 1078
Tel: +(54-11)4381-0734
Love n hugs,
--
Sonal

--------------------------------------------------------------

 

28 February 2010 02:51

Baby

Thank u for your mail.. I hope u are having fun.

Wanted to write to you yesterday, but just didn't get time.

We were worried this morning when the day dawned to the breaking news of the massive earthquake in Chile, but then Sonnu said there wouldn't have been any of the quake impact felt in Peru across the Andes range. I hope you are well baby. Your email arriving this morning, was a relief.

The weather outdoors was horrible today as per the forecast, and supposedly going to be the worst ever tomorrow.

That's it for now..

Love you - take care...

Daddy

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

28 February 2010 18:09
FYI: moving back to Petit Recoletta!!!!!!!

Hi All

Quick msg to let you know we´re moving back to our old hostel, as they now have room available until we leave on Wed morning for Patagonia.

This place is nice however we just dont feel safe in the locale outside, so we're heading back to our old home.

All's well and we're having a fab time. Sad about the earthquake but it hasnt impacted us here and we're not going to go via Santiago on our way north from Patagonia to Bolivia. We'll just have to find a different route!

Hope you are all well.

Love,
--
Sonal

---------------------------------------------------

 

1 March 2010 18:25
Love your emails Daddykins... please dont stop!
So glad you were able to extend your trip and be with S&S&D for a month longer. I am sure it was bloody hard work for you, but what a blessing to have spent so much time with your grandson in his formative years. I'm very jealous :) even though I know what a hard slog it is running up and down doing so much everyday. I am petrified that you'll head back and fall sick with the relatively calmer times in Delhi!! Do whatever you can to boost your immune system even thereafter okay? Thats what I didnt do! I hope you have a bottle of those Airborne pills... they are effervescent tabs which you just have to put one in a glass of water before boarding your flight (or on the plane itself) to Delhi. The tabs have echinacea and vit C - enough to protect you from the claustrophobic environment on the plane.
We are so happy to be back in our old hostel... feels like home! TJ's making eggs for our breakfast, we also get the Argentinian speciality of sweet croissants and coffee from the hostel itself. We'll be heading towards the zoo and the botanical gardens this afternoon, having pretty much exhausted all else there is to sight see in BA!
Heading to Ushuaia, the end of the World, on Wed morning. Should be there around 1pm, if flights are on time (which they rarely are here).
Must run, breakfast is ready.
Lots of love,
Sonal

----------------------------------------------------

 

2 March 2010 18:32:

What a lovely letter baby...
I really cannot have enough of your travel notes; please keep them coming, as often as you can.
I am glad your experiences with the locals have so far been pleasant. God be praised. Even so, as a concerned parent I will still warn you that caution is the word. It is better to be forewarned and careful, that be sorry later. I really do not want that chance to point a finger and say "I told you so!".
Nothing else for tha moment, so I will wind up.
Take care baby..
Love you..
daddy
--------------------------------------

 

3 March 2010 02:15
Subject: South American Adventure Part I
Hi All,
It's our last day in Buenos Aires so I thought I would drop you all a quick line to let you know how things have been going so far with our S. American Adventure!!
We have now seen: Rio de Janiero, Ilha Grande (Big Island), Iguazzu Falls, Buenos Aires & Tigre. My favourite place (surprisingly) has been Rio by far!! Perhaps it's a combination of the blue skies & sunshine (yes, I have tanned BIG time and I am now resigned to it) or perhaps the delicious food and the friendly people!? Or perhaps the fact that everyone thought I was Brazilian and seemed to understand my terrible Portugese! Whatever the reason, Rio surpassed any expectation that I had and I would definitely recommend it as a fun, chilled out and culturally interesting vacation!
Buenos Aires has been fantastic as well. It definitely lives up to its reputation as the Paris of South America... however it has a strange INDIAN twist to it. For example, the streets are lined with "kioskos" (mini kiosks) that burn & sell agarbattis (incense sticks) giving the avenues a strange indian temple vibe! Plus everyone wears indian paraphenalia like jewellery and Om necklaces, even their pants look like the pyjamas indian women wear under the kameez / long tunic tops! But there are hardly ANY indians in this place!!! So strange...
The locals have been quite taken by TJ & I, as they think we're Brazilian but when we speak they realize we must be Brits or Americans, which confuses them no end. Random strangers come upto us in the tubes, streets, buses, cafes, bars, etc just to compliment us on our eyes or complexion (which I find hysterical)!!! At first we were weirded out by it remembering your advice - "do not trust strangers" - but now we're enjoying the compliments and making sure we take advantage of it, especially when it allows us to go free into places!!! :)
Besides the obvious sights and incredible natural wonders of the world (i.e. Iguazzu), our trip has really only been a success so far because of the locals! We've had strangers help us figure out the weird telephone system in S. America (unbelievably frustrating), give us directions, buy us bus tickets when we didnt have change, help us figure out cooking instructions on soup packets, etc etc!!!!! And dont believe a word the guidebooks say about the taxi drivers in Rio or Buenos Aires... they have been absolutely WONDERFUL!! We've literally had our own tour guides with these guys, or they are extremely daddy-like warning us in their broken english to watch out for thieves etc.
I can't believe it has been 3.5 weeks since we left England for S. America... time has flown and I've only had one hissy fit so far *phew*
Tomorrow we head to the southern most city in the World... Ushuaia, where we hope to see magellan penguins, the Beagle channel and lots of glaciers!! Oh how could I forget the incredible steaks we've been having as well and can you believe I actually LIKE the red wine as well!!!! Absolutely out of this world! :)
I do miss the comforts of home, but we're definitely enjoying the rollercoaster ride and looking forward to the next few weeks of living in the blistering cold wilderness of the Antarctic!! Right now I could SO do with No. 7 - my lovely reflexology man ;) But I've been told I havent earned it yet... I feel like I've walked MORE in the last 3 weeks than I have in the last 2 yrs in Cali!!!!! Bloody hell I've earned it!!! *sigh* But I'll wait... we're planning to have a fab pampering session as soon as we reach Peru AFTER we're done with the Inca Trail *yikes*
There's SO much I could write to you guys about... but I'll leave it at that.
Hope you are all well and missing me LOADS :-P I know I miss all of you and SO wish you were here on this trip with me.
Love n hugs,
Sonal-xxxx-
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9 March 2010 03:54
Hola from El Calafate

Hi All,

Our real adventure has begun... we have left the beautiful cities of Rio and Buenos Aires behind and started our journey into rugged (but gorgeous) Patagonia.

Our journey began last week when we flew down to Ushuaia, the very tip of South America! Absolutely stunning little town surrounded by water and rugged landscape (pointy Andes) on all sides. We could even see Chile from where we were. We enjoyed walking amongst Magellan penguins and sailing in the Beagle Channel (can`t believe my hero Charles Darwin sailed here just a few centuries ago!!) on our very first day. Needless to say we were knackered and thoroughly enjoyed a good night's sleep in the best beds we have slept in in a LONG time!! Our hostels have been REALLY nice so I shouldnt complain, but Alba's in Ushuaia was a real home away from home! Even though she was like a bossy Mother bustling around us and tutting when we left later than 9am every morning, we really enjoyed staying with her because we knew she was really kind hearted and liked us (she kinda reminded me of someone ;) *grin*)!

Anyway, after our first day there we became very organized and planned activities for the next few days until we flew to El Calafate yesterday. On our first full day in Ushuaia, I had a real taste of proper trekking when we went to the National Park at Tierra del Fuego. I was thrilled to discover I could get my passport stamped with the stamp from the 'End of the World'. Just happened to have it in my backpack at the time! After we hiked for 8Km (sounds better than 5miles), which was supposed to take 3hrs but ended up taking us 4hrs (not bad for beginners on empty tummies), sitting on gorgeous beaches along the way and taking tons of pictures of the lagoons and the Andes in the distance. This was all on TJ's camera as mine sadly died that morning... I've bought another one :( but I miss my old camera, we had such good times together! Oh well... I dropped it SO many times, I shouldnt have expected any different really!

Okay - so we did Tierra del Fuego and decided that we needed to pack sandwiches and take them with us to these places, which are seriously in the middle of nowhere!! I love my camelback backpack, which can hold 1.5ltrs of water (but ofcourse I have to carry that much with me AND if I drink it I know I will need a loo in 20mins or so!!!). Which reminds me, TMI (too much info) I know but I also took my first loo break in the wilderness!! Had to leave my mark somehow ;)

On our third day in Ushuaia we were SO much more prepared... we had a lovely packed lunch of ham sandwiches with my favourite chimichurri sauce and bought these HUGEmongous tomatoes to eat (like apples) with them. We hikes up Glaciar Martial, which is TJ's favourite mountain in Ushuaia because it has this incredible chunk covered in snow and we almost made it all the way to the top!!! I was very impressed with our abilities that day... we kept to the time recommended by the guide and made it on almost all the trails. Found a gorgeous spot to stop for lunch, overlooking the entire city, the Andes and the Beagle Channel in between. We have tons of pics but can't find a way to upload them yet... will do at our next stop.

The following day we decided to take it easy and plan for the next couple of weeks as we really have nothing booked (hotels or transportation etc). So we spent the day checking out the city center and basically researching the best way north past Bariloche into Bolivia. It's not going to be easy!

The day after we flew to El Calafate with LOADs of turbulence thanks to the crazy winds across the Andes.

We arrived here safe n sound yesterday afternoon and have completely fallen in love with this place. I can't explain how shocked TJ and I were when we were approaching the ground and we couldn't see even ONE house around! It's all barren dessert (Mum: Ajj was right!!!). We had NO idea what the terrain would be like and definitely didn't imagine a completely desolate place. However, a 40min drive later we arrived IN El Calafate which rose like an oasis in the middle of this dessert, surrounded by the largest lake in SA (Lago Argentina) which is the blueist lake I have EVER seen in my whole entire life!!!

Yesterday was spent treating ourselves to a lovely steak lunch and then enjoying our food coma all evening after booking our excursions and trip down to Chile after this stay. Our hotel is absolutely gorgeous and we definitely lucked out again... it has no internet though so keeping in touch is going to be tough. We still have our phone though its for emergencies as we're running out of credit. I'll try calling before we leave on the 11th.

Today was the highlight of my ENTIRE SA adventure thus far... we went for mini-trk (cant imagine why its called MINI, there was NOTHING mini about it trust me) on the Perito Merino glacier!!!! It was absolutely breathtaking and I've taken over 500 pics of ice, so you can imagine how crazy we went when we saw it. We saw it from three different angles... from balconies, from a ship that took us right alongside the glacier, so you can see the immense height and then we got off on the other side ONTO the glacier! I can't explain the exhilleration we felt walking right UPTO the massive glacier and then putting crampons on our boots to go hiking up on to the glacier and then DEEEEP into it to see the crevices and little lakes the melted water has created along the way. Supposedly these are 120meters above the water and go another 100 meters below the surface!! It wasn't cold thanks to the glorious sunshine (and u can imagine the tan NOW! *ugh*) but sooooo windy!! I can't wait to share the pics with you guys.

Must run... hope this is a newsy enough email for now as I doubt I'm going to have internet access again for a while.

We're off to Chile tomorrow... don't worry we're not going to the impacted region, which is in the north. We're only heading to Torres del Paine and a little town closeby called Puerto Natales where we'll be staying for a few days, until we travel back into Argentina for a 36hrs journey up north to Bariloche!! *sigh*

Hope all's well with all of you. I miss having all of you with me here... TJ's fed up of me talking about how much Rohan & Jaime would love these hikes (more than me), or Dad, Sonu, Manish & Keith would love the steaks, or how crazy Indi would get seeing all the stray dogs that seem to be EVERYWHERE in this region, or how Mum would LOVE the people and probably take everyone home with her!! David would seriously be skinny by the time he left this place as vegetables do not exist here. I haven't seen brocoli since the frozen ones in Buenos Aires!! As for you Debbie... O M G in TJ's words, you really have to go to the end of the World to find some good looking men ;) Ofcourse I found my honey closer to home (thank God). LOL

Umm... now I really have to run.

Love you all loads,

Sonal

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9 March 2010 19:05
Pics from Perito Moreno
Just a few Pics from Perito Moreno yesterday

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9 March 2010 19:07
A few more pics from Perito Moreno
Had already shared these with Keith, just fwding on to you guys as well.
Lots of love,
Sonal

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12 March 2010 03:38
Subject: Chile
Hi All,
Quick note to let you know that we have arrived safely in Puerto Natales, Chile. The weather here is pretty erratic and I'm worried about our hike tomorrow up in the Torres del Paine! Will let you know how it goes.
We return to Argentina on Sunday, and in the meantime we're staying at a really fabulous place called Las Carretas. This town looks like a council estate up in Stafford or something!!! We were sooo worried when we got off the bus, but were thrilled to find another little oasis in the desert. We have lovely guest house people and are thrilled with the high standards when all around looks so desolate!
If you need to call, we're in Room 2. The number here is: (0) 61 414 584‎
Absolutely no idea of the country codes etc at the moment. Feel pretty lost here, thank God everyone speaks Spanish (even tho we're not great at it)!
Love u all loads,
--
Sonal

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16 March 2010 00:13
Subject: All's well
Hi All
All's well. Just to let you know that we made it back into Argentina without too much hassle, except a few aching bones and stiff legs after our crazy hike the prev day!!! We're heading to Bariloche this evening, here are the details of the place we're staying at:
Condor de los Andes
+54-29-44-522-448
Hope all's well at all your ends.
Dad: Sorry to hear about your car breaking down. Hope all's been fixed now? miss u
Indi: missing our chats like hell!!!
Sonu/Mum/Keith: Have already emailed u guys, miss you too :)
Lots of love
--
Sonal
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18 March 2010 00:31
Hi
Hi my darling Daddykins
Feels like ages since I heard from you... have been dying to call and chat with you & will perhaps try tonight when it's your daytime. The time diff really makes it tough...
We had a pretty good journey from Rio Gallegos to Bariloche... the bus was super comfortable, we had bucket seats that went almost completely flat, but I had a tallllll Danish boy sitting behind me so I felt guilty reclining all the way crushing his poor legs!!! Anyway, a restless journey later we finally got to Bariloche, the Lake District of Patagonia and we decided to take a break today, and just get to know the town and our neighbourhood. We'll be here until Sat, when we take ANOTHER bus journey to Buenos Aires!!! Just finished having a lazy morning, researching hostels in the next few places we're heading to in Bolivia and booking what we can from here. It's going to be a rough few weeks ahead, so don't be worried if you dont know where we are at times. I hope our cellphone will work there!!
The place we're staying at is truly a hostel!!! It has absolutely no luxury, except it is bang smack in the middle of town and looks like a Swiss chalet from outside. The kitchen and common areas are really cosy, and our bedroom has two bunk beds! Aside from that its just our bathroom that we have to get comfortable with... the water in the shower takes forever to drain and the shower itself goes from cold to tepid!! Very annoying, but we've decided to deal with it since we've had NO experience of such a place so far. Might as well see what 'roughing it out' really means.
S'all for now. We're heading for a walk by the lake now so hope to have some pics from this place.
Love u loads,
--
Sonal

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18 March 2010 02:57
hi Daddykins
The Inca trail is still on for now... have to email the tour people to double check as the trail was shut for Feb and March due to the landslides in January. They are due to re-open in April but there are doubts as to the trails that can be used! All our trekking thus far has been in preparation for this massive once-in-a-life experience, so I hope (even though I'm secretly shitting myself about it) things will be okay  in the end.
Love u loads...
Sonal

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18 March 2010 09:11

It'd be sad to miss out on Machu-pichu and the Inca trail, as also the Mayan temples, having gone to South America! I do hope you get a chance to manage these into your itinerary as well...

Sonal, haven't really had a breathing moment to think about my health Baby!

So take it that it is good - as long as there is no issue that's demanding attention or inter vention.

You take of yourself.

Love

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22 March 2010 04:31
Subject: Update
Hi All,
Just to let you guys know that all's well at this end. We arrived in Buenos Aires a few hrs ago and our staying our favourite part of town (Palermo). Feels great being back, even though it's just for a day!
The bus journey down to BA was surprisingly comfortable and both TJ and I were thrilled by the incredible service! Imagine Business Class (airplane) style reclinable seats, with pillow and blanket included. To top it off we got two meals, one for dinner (pasta and salad + vino!!!) and one for breakfast (croissants, jam and coffee). The best part was that they show movies on a large screen hanging from the roof (I swear domestic and international plane people need to learn a thing or two from this type of service)... I watched a fantastic one called 7 pounds with Will Smith (cried my eyes out tho so I dont recommend you watch it) and then another one called 12 Rounds (which was stupid).
We're making the most of our last night in a clean hotel with toilet that actually has TP! We've heard very interesting stories about Bolivia and Peru, so we're stocking up on everything now!!
Please don't worry if you don't hear from us in the next few days as we're literally spending one night in every tiny little town once we arrive in Bolivia tomorrow. Our route in case you get worried is: Buenos Aires to Santa Cruz (Bolivia) where we'll be spending one night. The next day we are hopefully taking a bus or train to Oruro, where we hope to find a place to stay. The day after we travel to Uyuni where we finally get to see Salar de Uyuni (the Salt Flats). Finally we'll make our way to La Paz by the weekend, where we'll be staying for a few nights. Will send you details of the hotel there once the route in between is a tad more finalized.
The hotel we're staying at in Santa Cruz is:

HI Copacabana
Calle Junin No: 217
Santa Cruz

p. +591 7 73 42 505
We'll call and email when possible.
Love n hugs,
--
Sonal

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22 March 2010 22:52

Sonee baby,

The only thing I do not like in your latest (copied below) is the highlighted part.

Reg "...Oruro, where we hope to find a place to stay."

Do take care, both of you.

I thought Keith had plans of joining you when you were to be in Bolivia. What happened to that?

Love you,

Daddy

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24 March 2010 03:42
Subject: Bolivia...
Hi All,
TJ & I are chilling out at the Bus Station in Santa Cruz, so we thought we'd use the time wisely and get on the internet to finally catch up on emails and uploading pics etc.
We arrived safe & sound from Buenos Aires yesterday, and were amazed to discover HOW MUCH this City is like Delhi!! The billboards along the road, from the airport to the city center, as well as the earthy smell after heavy rains have hit the City. We were thrilled to drive up to our hotel which was right next to an open plaza/square that had lots of palm trees (looked just like the Sq in San jose) and loads of people milling around, just having a chilled out walk in the evening. After dropping our luggage off in our rooms (which we changed 3 times until we found one that didnt smell of pee or smoke), we went down to the plaza and enjoyed the lovely evening breeze and sat on a bench while eating icecream and people watching! We were mad at ourselves for ourselves for not taking a camera along, but we have lovely memories of our first evening in Bolivia.
The people here are sooooo lovely... they're super down to earth and NO ONE speaks English!!! TJ has been practicing her spanish so that I dont have to come everywhere with her and she's actually really good at it. It helps that she's gorgeous so people practically have their tongues hanging out while being ready to do her bidding. It's really funny to watch!! With me, they usually assume I'm Brazilian and I dont correct them anymore. You get treated with less white glove treatment BUT at least they don't take you for a ride with the prices of things. Which honestly you wouldnt care about over here because EVERYTHING is SO cheap!!! Bolivianos or BOBs as they're called :) are 1 pound for 10 Bobs! To give you an idea, we're using the internet for an hour and paying 3 Bobs, or a full english breakfast this morning cost us 50 Bobs and one caiparinha (yes, I'm still ordering them wherever I go) cost 25 Bob!!! O M G - 2 pounds 50 for my favourite drink???? Excuse to get trashed you might think however we are being very careful about how much we drink because these guys REALLY dont know how to measure ONE shot, they just keep pouring and pouring without a measuring thingy!! Plus I dont like ice in my drinks, so it feels even more alcoholic! So regardless of how cheap they are, we can only usually manage one or max 2 drinks at night!!!
After a good night's rest yesterday we had a lovely breakfast of eggs and toast (we skipped the breaky at the hotel which was just like India - coffee boiled with the milk so it had malai on top + whipped butter with sweet toast), and then found a Tourist Office where we got all the informaation regarding our trip to see the Salt Flats. It's going to be a lot longer than we had imagined, and we heard the weather may not be the best (freezing cold at the moment), but everyone has been so helpful that we feel a lot better about the actual route etc. The hotel where we're staying even gave us a list of hotels in diff cities in Bolivia, and we were able to buy a local chip for our phone, which we used to call ahead and book rooms in the various places along the way. So we're definitely feeling a lot more organized now :) Since we're literally staying less than 10hrs in each place, there's really no point sending you guys all the info. Will send u details for the place we'll be staying at in La Paz, where we'll be staying over the weekend.
Hope all's well with all of you... it's been so nice catching up with Mum and Keith over the phone.
Mum: How many eye ops does Ajj have left? Anymore news on the job front? Btw Tej and I went to Church today, it was a gorgeous one in the middle of the plaza I mentioned earlier. TJ's more into going to Church than I am :) she wants to make sure we go for Mass on Easter Sunday, especially since we're in a Catholic country. So sweet!
Indi: I really hope you and Maniss are having a well deserved fabulous time on your honeymoon in Cancun!! Send us (K&I) a postcard if/when u can!! And def try to leave the resort to see the real Mexico... just dont get swine flu while ur at it!!
Dad: Great getting your emails and hearing about Amit's engagement!! Can't believe he's getting married on the same day as S&S! Btw how did the rest of that traveling song go -"Three old ladies locked in a lavatory, they were there from Monday to Saturday nobody knew they were there...." - we've been singing songs everywhere we go and suddenly that came to my mind and I couldnt remember the rest of the song!!! Have been meaning to ask you :)
Sonu: Hope you guys had a safe journey to S'pore and that my baby is doing well. Give him a tight squeeze from his Ona!! I can't believe how skinny and grown up and tall he looks in the recent pics. Please make sure he eats like a pig while he's there :( How's your leg?? Love to Sarah and her family.
Keith: We're chatting right now anyway :) so not much more to say to you doll. Except that I can't wait to see you in NYC, so get packing!!
Love you all loads,
--
Sonal

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24 March 2010 03:46
P.S - Our cell phone no. in Bolivia is... +59174948676
--
Sonal

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24 March 2010 22:46
Two bus journeys later...

Hola ma familia

Just to let you know that we are two bus journeys down, one train ride left. The station is closed between 12 and 2.30pm so we caught a bite to eat and thought we'd catch up on the internet to research the next bit of our trip.

We almost missed our bus last night... was a scary experience but seriously someone is watching over both of us. I looked on the clock on the computer which said 6.55pm (our bus was at 8pm) so I told Tej we should start packing up and get organized with loo breaks etc. Something made me turn my head and check the clock on the wall (there are NEVER any clocks on walls but there happened to be one in this internet cafe!!)... it read 8PM!!!! I thought perhaps they havent adjusted for Daylight savings... but then realized they don't HAVE DST here in S. America!!!! So jumped up, screamed at Tej that it was actually 8pm (she double checked with the lady sitting next to us) and we grabbed our stuff and ran for our bus. Luckily by the time we got there it hadnt left because another bus was blocking it from behind!!! We jumped on withuot storing our luggage in the cabin below and just made do with it.

Both of us were dying for a loo break but just had to sit still for the next 4hrs until we stopped for our first loo break :( We can now officially say we are seasoned travellers... after experiencing our very first public loo in Bolivia, O M G!!! This place is even worse than indian, but we still love it for being SO real. We had to go pee over the squatting loos IN THE RAIN!!!! *sigh* After that we couldnt face eating anything for dinner, so went back into the bus and slept for the rest of the journey. That was ofcourse after I pleaded with the bus conductor to stop and go back to the terminal in my rotten spanish because they had left the poor old man sitting next to us at the last stop!!! We were shocked they just kept driving :( so realized no matter what happens we HAVE to remain on the bus for the remainder of the journey because clearly they would leave without us!!!

*phew* So we made it to Cochabamba and then caught the very next bus out to Oruro, where we are now.

Have to run...dont want to miss our train this time!!!

love you

Sonal

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24 March 2010 22:48
P.S - they're listening to hindi music in this internet cafe!!!!
--
Sonal

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26 March 2010 19:46
Made it to La Paz...
Hola Everyone,
We've made it to La Paz after a shocking journey overnight from Uyuni. But we're here and we're safe!
We've also found a really nice hotel to treat ourselves to, here are the details:
 Hotel Rosario, Av.Illampu 704 • T +591 2 2451658 • La Paz, Bolivia
Don't know our room no. as yet, but we will be there until Sunday. Hopefully stay on an extra night if possible. Heading to the Amazon on Monday.
Lots of love n hugs,
--
Sonal

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26 March 2010 20:54
She's in room 332

Indira

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27 March 2010 00:31
Survived a Bolivian Bus Journey... now we're ready for anything!
Hi my lovely Parents,
Please don't panic while or after reading this email... I wasnt going to send you the details of our trip but I can't resist because I know how happy you'll be to know that we are actually having a truly adventurous time and I promise this is the end of such journeys.
How we survived the last bus journey is beyond me! We couldn't get on a train back from Uyuni to Oruro, so we decided to catch a bus that would take us directly from Uyuni to La Paz (where we were headed). The journey would be overnight, so we assumed we could sleep it off and wake up in La Paz, regardless of how comfy the actual seats were going to be.
Firstly, I was mad that it tooks us 2.5days in the first place to get to Uyuni to see the salt flats, which we managed to see in less than 7hrs. It was absolutely stunning and I hate to admit, worth the trip! However, we had to have icy cold showers and the water would shut off after a certain time! So we decided the earlier we can get out the better. So literally we spent less than 24hrs there before we were ready to head out again.
Then, we couldn't get train tickets to Oruro so our hotel person got us bus tickets on the overnight bus to La Paz. Luckily a group of Israeli people around our age, who were also doing the Salt Flats tour with us, were also on the same bus - so we thought it made sense and went ahead with it. Little did we know what lay ahead...
After getting on the bus, it rattled for around 2.5 hrs down the horrible rubble roads and I sat praying for it to get on the smoother gravel or at least onto the salt flats (which people drive on over here)! But after another 2.5hrs I realized this is how it was going to be and I actually became used to it :( My teeth were chattering and every flabby part was jiggling like there's no tomorrow!! At first we found the situation hilarious, but afterwards frustrating beyond belief. I don't know how people do these journeys!? Both Tej and I were sat in shocked silence, and every now and again the entire bus would gasp and I would scream "shit" when the bus hit a massive bump and went flying or when it swerved around scary curves.
At one point the bus stopped in a traffic jam on a crazily steep mountain road for almost two hours. I used the time to fall asleep, but was woken up with people rushing off the bus and TJ trying her best to wake me up. I had to put on my shoes and jacket and grab my bag, without knowing why or what was going on. Once off the bus, I realized the situation. Our stupid driver had tried to overtake the accident that had taken place up ahead and basically swerved into a ditch. In order to get out of it, they had to offload all the passengers and reverse the bus back down the steep slope. We just all stood there, stranded in the freezing cold, while the local people tried to haul the truck out on the other side of the ditch. All of this took around 45mins, after which we waited for our bus to come back up the slope to pick us up! I had memorized the lights on the bus so we could recognize it when it came back up the hill, however 3-4 buses rushed past and we didnt see ours. When it finally came by, it literally just kept going uphill leaving us shocked with our mouths hanging open. After a couple of seconds when the realization sank in that it wasn't going to stop, around 20-30 of us started running up hill to catch it!! With the high altitude and lack of oxygen, we were absolutely exhausted in a matter of seconds. But we had to keep going because the bus just wouldnt stop...
Anyway, we managed to get back on and both TJ and I just hugged each other and were on the verge of tears. I was furious with the bus driver, but at the same time so thankful that he eventually stopped for us to jump on, despite the cars and trucks behind him honking away!! After that we suffered another 4hrs of bumpy terrain until we finally reached Oruro from where the road became a lot smoother onwards to La Paz.
So we're here now, and we managed to find a lovely cafe to have breakfast in and then this internet cafe to find a fabulous hotel (it really is as nice as the reviews say) to stay in for the next few days. We're treating ourselves to a 3 star hotel rather than staying in a hostel again, because we really deserve it. We haven't slept properly in 4 days!!! You can check out the hostel online, http://www.hotelrosario.com/lago/
Okay now I can say we have truly experienced adventure and extreme shock!! We survived to tell the tale and our so grateful that hopefully that's the last time we have to go through something like that. The other places are all well built, so we should be okay. Please keep your fingers crossed for us.
Love you guys very much and hope you wont worry after reading this. Just be happy your spoilt brat is actually getting down and dirty with the rough and tough!!
--
Sonal

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27 March 2010 08:19
Baby,
I am so happy I finally touched base with you, and heard your voice.
Couldn't believe I was getting through, when the Reception clerk at Hotel Rosario del Lago replied in English, "....just a minute", and then TJ's voice came on the line!
But then TJ's lingering on ... and on... left me wondering where the hell were you.... till finally she passed the phone on to you!
And I was over the moon, just hearing your voice!
Take care, both of you.... especially in the Amazon...
Love you,
Daddy

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29 March 2010 05:49
On to the Amazon...
Hola Everyone,
Third day in La Paz and we're already packing up to head back out into the wilderness (literally). Had a wonderful time exploring this strange (very Indian looking) city with its literally breathtaking steep inclines and strange markets scattered everywhere!!! We've luckily found a number of wonderful eateries to enjoy our meals in, which makes a change from the past 4 weeks of traveling. Everything is SO cheap here that we care to hoots the level of luxury a place offers ;)
Today, being Palm Sunday, was a BIG deal here. We are staying quite close to the San Francisco Cathedral, so our street and all the adjoining streets were swarming with cute old ladies perched on the street selling palms and diff variations of the cross made with the palm leaves. Tej was super excited as she's never seen such things, so we bought two (1 Bs each!) and headed down to the Cathedral to join the local procession that was heading into Church for the palms to be blessed. We followed whatever everyone else did and before we knew it, two altar boys were dunking long stemmed flowers into a bucket of holy water which then landed straight on our heads and on our outstretched palm-crosses!! We couldn't stop giggling as we followed the drenched procession back out of the Cathedral and into the crowded square where we had walked in peace and quiet just the day before!!!
After taking a few pics we decided to walk up to the main plaza to see the various buildings and take more pics. Ended up sitting on the steps eating icecream and being stared at by the locals, including the dodgy looking Guardia (police)! Took pics with them to appease them, which seemed to do the trick. Its quite cute how stern and non-smiley everyone is here in comparison to the rest of SA. But once you talk to them and make an effort speaking spanish and being polite with huge smiles, they absolutely love us. One shop lady even warned us to be in bed by 10pm snoring, because there would be Banditos out on the streets ready to snatch our bags from us. All of this was done in spanish and gestures which was hilarious but we had to put on serious faces to pretend we were taking her seriously. SO CUTE!!!!!
So we've now booked ourselves on an excursion to the Amazon... we fly out tomorrow afternoon to a tiny place called Rurrenabaque where we'll be spending one night (so proud of Tej that she called and booked it all herself in spanish just now). On tues we leave for a 3 day 2 night Pampas tour i.e. boat trip into the Amazon, where we will be camping at Eco Lodges in the jungle and taking boat trips out to see the anacondas, crocodiles, monkeys, swim with pink dolphins and fish for piranhas which we are supposed to later eat!!!!!!!! Will let you know how it goes, if we survive ofcourse ;) just kidding!!
We will be back in La Paz on Friday and hope to head straight to Lake Titicaca (to the original Copacabana) that afternoon. We'll probably stay there for a couple of nights and then head to Puno in Peru. Will email closer to that time to let you guys know.
S'all for now. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and a great start to the week ahead. I miss you loads and SO wish you were here with me, although I doubt you'd let me do any of this stuff :) haha. Went shopping again today and have bought all of you a little something... unfortunately dont have a lot of space in my backpack so they really are LITTLE!
Love u loads,
Sonal
P.S: Did I mention we're no longer "chicas" here, we're called "Mamitas"!!!!

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29 March 2010 10:56

Love your account Baby...

Just be careful when you are in the Amazon - be it watching Anacondas, crocodiles, or the piranas. You don't really have to hobnob with these, and could reserve your swimming with the dolphins within the safe confines of indoor pools.

I'll repeat once again Baby, please take care... and do not expose yourselves to unnecessary risks... even if it may seem you are missing out on some adventurous experience!

Love you,

Daddy
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30 March 2010 21:27
Still in La Paz...
Hi All,
Just to let you know that our flight was cancelled yesterday due to heavy rains in the Amazon!! :( Its been raining cats and dogs here in La Paz, so cant imagine how it must be over there!
Anyway, we were able to share our first dorm room with 2 other stranded travellers, one from Holland and the other from Germany. Had a wonderful evening with them, ate dinner at a restaurant we missed going to while we were here and later played cards in our dorm room until past midnight!!! Now we've really become slumming backpackers :)
If all goes well (which I'm starting to doubt in Bolivia), our flight should leave this afternoon at 4.30pm. Otherwise, I dont think we'll be able to go to the Amazon on this trip :( because of the lack of time to travel to Cuzco for the Inca Trail next week. *sigh* Pls keep your fingers crossed for us!
Love u all,
--
Sonal

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31 March 2010 17:22
Hi Dad,
' We're still not in the Amazon... our flight was cancelled AGAIN yesterday due to weather!! We've changed airlines now and hope to leave this morning.
Just wanted to give u a heads up re: Keith's Dad's trip to Japan. On the way I believe he has the opportunity to stop in Delhi. Let me know if you think you may be around that time in June.
Lots of love
Sonal

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4 April 2010 03:15
Back from the jungle

All good... dont have much tmie will write more later. Had the time of my life!!! Stuck here until Tues.

Love u
--
Sonal

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5 April 2010 04:14

Hi Dad,

I have been in the jungle until Sat night and then today (easter) everything in this little village was shut, also because of the elections in the Country! Managed to find one internet cafe that was open this evening so am only now catching up on my emails!!

I was sooo scared something would happen to someone in the family while I was away for so long, and I wouldnt find out until I got back. Knew something would happen but I cant believe two of my family members got so badly injured. Ajj too was in an accident! She got knocked down in the city center by a car!! She's fine now but has a broken ankle and a few bruises here and there. So horrible :( I managed to speak to them today thanks to Keith, who I had managed to text my hostal phone number to and so we had a quick chat. After which I believe he fwded the text on to Mum but she wasn't able to call for some reason so he connected us on a 3-way call like Indi does with you and me sometimes. So I barely chatted with them for 5 mins but heard about this at least :(

Anyway, I really hope you're feeling better. Here's a quick summary of our trip to the Jungle which I know you've been dying to hear all about:

We arrived in Rurennabaque near the Madidi National Park last Wed, thankfully our new flight worked out. Spent one day gettign used to the mugginess here and just enjoying our jungle surroundings. The following day we joined our group at the travel agency and had a bumpy ride to Santa Rosa where we had lunch and then caught a long motor boat to our lodge. It was such a cute place and deep in the middle of the jungle. We had clear skies for the first two days luckily and then a tropical storm on day 3, but that was it!! Our guide was a guy named Jaime (same as Jaime from California) but introduced himself as "Jamie" with a J instead of an H. So I said - "but I'm going to call you Jaime" (with an H) and he laughed out loud and said that was actually how you're supposed to pronounce his name! So from then on he and I became best buds and he called me "Princessa" because clearly I was the high maintenance person on this trip!!! *sigh*

But we were so proud of ourselves... we showered in the dark on the first nigth (because all lights went out at 10.30pm and no one told us!!) and got bitten alive and were dripping in sweat ALL the time!!! But we didnt moan and groan and were probably the smiliest group in the camp. We made friends with all the workers there and got loads of YAPO (seconds) at meal times, which was important because the boys in our group seriously have bottomless pits for tummies!!!! Our group consisted of two Bolivian siblings (which was surprising to see but they were def from the upper class here but were still SO down to earth) called Limber and Xemena. Then we had Ed (19yr old Brit) who had met Ryan (29yr old American from San Francisco of all places!!!) along the way. Lastly it was our little gang from La Paz -  Tanya (dutch), Jochen (german) and the two of us. I loved the mixture and it definitely made us bond a lot quicker. Luckily everyone got on really well ebcause we had to share a camp dorm room with 6 beds and mosquito nets (which did sweet FA in terms of protecting us).

From the very beginning we saw herons, turtles, tucans, parrots, pink dolphins (!!!!), kingfisher, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys (that ate from our hands=), caymans, aligators... the list keeps going!!!! It seriously was the most incredible experienceI have had so far, mostly because it really took you to the limit of shedding blood (a few scratches along the way), sweat ( A LOT OF IT)  and tears (just for a few seconds Tej broke down in the middle of the Pampas when we were searching for anacondas... not because of the snake but the zillions of mosquitoes that were swarming around her because of her bright red top!!!).

We swam with the pink dolphins, although they were really shy and were always a few feet away. We went searching for aligator eyes during the ngiht, which was incredible to see their RED eyes in the deep darkness of the jungle! Plus the incredibly starry night sky was such a treat! I saw the milky way for the first time, along with the souhtern cross. We also fed the local crocodile (named Frederick) who visited our campsite every morning!! We did go searching for anacondas but the guide said we had less than a 10% chance of seeing one because of all the rain we had had. Lastly, we went piranha fishing on the very last morning and our group managed to catch around 8 between us (TJ and I get nil points unfortunately) before we had to vamooooose out of there because a huge swarm of bees started attacking the group. We were petrified and just ducked in the boat and covered ourselves with our jackets. But we knew there were two people (Tanya and Ryan) who are terribly allergic to bee stings and unfortunately Tanya got stung three times!!! She was crying her eyes out and I had to calm her down and slowly pull the stinger out from her face, arm and neck! Luckily she was fine after taking some allergy medication back at the camp, but she was really worried she would have a terrible reaction to the jungle variety, which are clearly not as bad as the dutch sort!! :)

We're back in Rurennabaque now and are all (the entire group from the Pampas) staying at the same hostal, so it's good fun. Today being both Easter and the elections in the country the entire lil village has shut down! Luckily we had remembered this last night and stocked up on food from the nearby grocery store. You'd be so proud of me... we discovered this afternoon that our hostal didn't have a stove on which we could cook any of the things we'd bought!!!! So I accompanied Jochen while we knocked on several locked doors (of locals) to plead for them to boil our pasta for us!!! After 5 doors we hit the jackpot with a big Mama feeding her hungry brood. She happily obliged while her son set up a bench for us outside, just close enough for us to smell t he delicious lunch they were all munching on!!!! *sigh* Anyway, mission accomplished we marched back to the hostal with a BIG bowl of spaghetti and set up the grub. We had spaghetti with tomato ketchup (as the sauce), chilli powder, button mushrooms (from a tin), artichoke hearts (from a tin) and tinned tuna!!! It was a hilarious meal but we were all starving and it was a great bonding experience. Oh yeah, for dessert we also had tinned peaches!!!! LOL It was a delish meal I thought, but ofcourse nothing compared to the delicious fare they fed us in the jungle!! Seriously, I dont know how they fed us so well over there!!! Dying to show you guys the pics but it'll have to wait until we get back ot the US now.
S'all for now. Do write and let me know how things are at your end, especially with your back!
love u loads,

Always your

Sonal

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5 April 2010 08:54
Your Amazon experiences - and my proposed travel saga this end...

My Baby...

Thanks a ton for the newsy letter/email on the experiences in the Amazon. Frankly, though I have read quite a lot and seen quite a bit in movies to visualize the kind of experiences one has to be prepared for in the Amazon, this is the first time I am really living through it in a live narrative as yours, the way you experienced it. It is sad u did not get to see the Anaconda but who cares! I am glad, and can see you guys throughout had your focus right and concentrated a lot on doing your 'pate-pooja'.and did not let yourself starve or be chewed up by the pirahnas!

But what intrigues me is, how did u dream up about my back!!!!!!!!!!!! ?

I do not recall writing about any back pain or ailment, or even ever mentioning any such thing over the past few days of my recordings or emailing. The funny part is, I was indeed struck with my inevitable back pain the type that strikes me invariably just before I am to travel anywhere - but I believe I was totally silent about it this time. So it is still intriguing me how in hell did u dream up about it, I returned to all my mail over the past three days and my facebook jottings too, but couldn't find even an inadvertant mention of it. So how did u conjure up the same in your mind?

Love u baby...

Daddy

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7 April 2010 04:55
Hola from Peru!!
Hi All,
I can't believe we were in the hot n humid jungle just this morning... and now we're in Peru!!
After spending a few extra days in Rurennabaque we were happy to say g'bye to the bloody mosquitoes and take the tiny little propeller plane out early this morning back to La Paz. Instead of stopping for coffee and breakfast, as we had wanted to, we decided to go straight to the bus station to sort out our passage to Peru, as we literally have 24hrs to get there!!
Luckily just about managed to catch the 9am local bus (a dodgy mini van with foldable seats) to Copacabana, on the way making the coolest lake crossing across Lake Titicaca, which is seriously as AMAZING as I had imagined it to be! It's absolutely enormous and just continues and continues from Bolivia into Peru. We had originally planned to stay in Copacabana for a few days, but at least we managed to get a glimpse of it today!
Once we arrived, both TJ and I were dying for something to eat but knew we had to sort out the next leg of our trip first. So we headed down to the nearest bus company and bought tickets straight to Cusco, with a stop in Puno (where we are now) on the way. This bus was also just about to leave so literally jumped on, with the conductor carrying my backpack (yay!!). Headed across the border with growling tummies and found an old cholita lady (the ones with the bowler hats perched on their heads) selling moomphallis (peanuts in their shells). So we bought two packets and some water and walked across the border into Peru... totally surreal as the people on the other side were dressed completely differently!!! LOL
Puno is also on Lake Titicaca and has a few floating lakes which we passed while walking around... we've got 5hrs before the next bus takes us to Cusco. Managed to find a tiny little dhaaba type restaurant at the bus station (we dont care anymore where we eat or pee!!) and ordered food by pointing at other people's dishes :) I was then served some dodgy looking soup with semonlina in it, which ended up tasting delish, just like chicken broth! Then for seconds I was served a plate of chicken curry with potatoes and rice... ate most of it before discovering (just my luck) a hair curled around one of the onions *ewwwwwwww* Couldnt stomach another bite and unfortunately put TJ off her food as well, which was strips of beef and onions with chips and rice. We were then served two cups of sweet coca tea (without us asking for them) which we thoroughly enjoyed because of the altitude change since being in the jungle. Its much colder here as well, so it helped warm us up. Luckily I had taken Peruvian money out before leaving the UK so we could pay for the surprisingly cheap meal... 9 soles for everything (2 pounds)!!!!
So we should be in Cusco tomorrow morning, just as Amrita (my friend from London) arrives as well. I do miss the jungle LOADS, the atmosphere there was incredible. OMG how could I forget to mention our discovery last night!!! We did a hike up to this hotel up on a hill where you can see fab views of the little village and we thought we'd catch the sunset as well. So we walked up, took some pics and then walked towards an area that had loud music blaring from it. Lo and behold what do we fall upon but an incredible oasis with palm trees, a swimming pool with a bar and tons of Israelis (who are literally EVERYWHERE you turn in S. America) partying away!!! It was a hotel, so we decided to grab a drink before jumping on motorbike taxis (!!!) to take us back to our hotel. Haha - what a fun way to end our evening in the jungle :)
We will be chilling out for a couple of days and meeting up with some Dutch friends we had made in Rio during the Carnival as well.
Then Friday we depart to hike the Inca Trail (I am shitting myself) to get to Machu Picchu by next Monday. Not sure what our condition is going to be like when we get back to Cusco on the 12th, but I will get in touch when possible thereafter.
Love to all of you!
--
Sonal

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8 April 2010 21:00
Off on the Inca Trail on Friday
Hi All,
Hope you are doing well.
Tej and I arrived in Cusco yesterday early in the morning... we're in love with the steep cobbled streets and the beautiful houses and architecture. Amrita made it from London a few hrs later and we're all nervously excited about heading on the Inca Trail tomorrow. We met with our guide (David) yesterday as well and he seemed super professional and VERY realistic/practical i.e. no beating around the bush about how tough this trek is going to be :(
Please say a lil pray for us and keep your fingers crossed as this is definitely the toughest thing we have done so far on this trip. We hope to be back to Cusco on Monday afternoon, staying at the same hotel (Amaru II). The phone number here is: +51-84-223521.
Lots of love,
--
Sonal

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13 April 2010 07:06
Hi my darling Daddykins,
Lovely to hear that you are back home now after your trip as well. We just got back from the Inca Trail as well and are absolutely exhausted. I'll tell you all about them and the adventure in more detail later. Right now just wanted you to know that we are well and really really happy at having accomplished this incredible journey. It was super spiritual and thought provoking... just being under the clear night sky lit up with a zillion stars in the southern hemisphere, some we've never seen before. We literally shed blood, sweat and tears (once again) but it was all worth it!! Cant wait to tell you all about it.
Love you loads,
Sonal

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16 April 2010 09:55

Baby,

It is the 4th day today since I received your last mail saying u were back from the Inca trail - but were exhausted to write in detail, will do so soon, after u've caught your breath and your sleep...

Having not heard from you a word thereafter, I am worried.

Are you alright? ...have you taken ill? ...any adverse impact of the Inca trail trip or the trek?

What is that you have written about shedding blood, sweat, and tears?

Why the silence? ...please, ...please, ....please!

Indira told me that there are some changes in your plans, and that on April-18 (which is just 2-days away) that you are not landing up alone as originally planned to spend a full week solely with her, and then to join Keith in SanFranscisco as had been decided. That you are now coming in with TJ and Amrita, and Keith too will join all three of you at Indira's in CT. When did all these plans change?

Do write soon... and relieve me of this suspense!

Love you,

Daddy

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17 April 2010 04:39
All's well...

Hi Everyone,

All's well at this end... just returned from the Colca Canyon and read all the worried emails about my silence.

We've just been in a bit of a rush to try and squeeze in as much as possible before we leave Peru and South America this coming weekend. After the Inca Trail we took a day to relax in Cusco and then booked the first bus out to Arequipa on Wed morning. Once we arrived here, we booked ourselves straight away onto a tour of the Colca Canyon (3hrs outside Arequipa + iwthout reception) for the following morning. We've been there since yesterday, only got back a few minutes ago and we're already packing up to set off on our last bus journey to Lima this evening!!

All three of us are alive and well :) just feeling super knackered and looking forward to some rest and relaxation at a lovely hotel in Lima, before we fly out on Sunday night. Hope all's well with all of you. Miss chatting with you LOADS!!!!!

Love you guys,
--
Sonal

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On 16 April 2010 18:13, Indira Pereira wrote:

No phone number?

 

17 April 2010 04:54
All's well...

P.S - Here are the details for where we're staying while in Lima (although if it turns out to be less than a 5 Star we may have to move... so says Amrita!)

 

Conquistadores Hotel & Suites
	Lizardo Alzamora 260
	Lima 27
	Peru

Phone: +511-421-7790

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17 April 2010 04:51
Chat with Sonal

04:26 max: baby, r u online?

 sonal: Hi Daddykins!!!!!

04:27 just reading Sonu's fantastic account of their trip to Oz and about Daniel. Thanks os much for fowarding

  how are you???

04:28 max: where r u?
y r u not responding to my mails?
I hv been worried stiff not hearing from u in the past 5 days running

 sonal: We're in Arequipa now... came straight here after the Inca Trail

  we've been out of comms because we headed straight for the Colca Canyon where there was no reception or internet

04:29 just returned this afternoon and will be leaving for Lima (18hr journey) this evening :(

  we leave for the US on Sunday, hopefully!

 max: thank God u r safe

04:30 was moe worried bcos yr bro n sister too were silent on u

04:31 sonal: I had spoken to Indi the day before we left though

  How're you Dad? Howz your back?

04:32 max: cudn't blieve I ws seeing the online green spot bside your name

 Sonal: :)

 max: my bck's been perfectly fine..

04:33 sonal: wonderful

04:34 sonal: Amrita's heading back to the UK, Aysha is coming to join TJ and I at Indi's place this weekend

 sonal: but there's a volcanic ash cloud above the UK grounding all flights, so not sure whether she'll be able to make it

 max: lots of stuff for u to c on facebook

 max: lots of stuff on emails too, sent to u individually, or as forwards

04:37 sonal: yeah catching up on everything now

  dont have long before we catch our bus tho

 sonal: so may not be able to reply to everything

04:42 max: when n if u get the time, c the pictures on fb

 sonal: nice Dad... just dont tire yourself out

  looking fwd to chatting with you properly soon

 max: take care...

04:43 sonal: take care Daddykins

  love u loads

                     max: have fun, but do take care...

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19 April 2010 06:55
Leaving S. America :(

Hi All,

Hope you are all well. I'm looking fwd to finally being able to speak to a few of you either in person, or over the phone, now that our amazing three month adventure is finally over!!!

And can you believe the situation with GE only just got settled?? Imagine how much I've seen in this time and how much time I would have wasted if I had waited around for them to get their act together!? *sigh* Anyway, all's well that ends well!
In Lima at the moment, still a few hrs to kill before we head to the airport. Amrita's left already, although her Madrid-London connection has been cancelled due to the Iceland volcanoe (so crazy)! Mum, you're probably still stuck in Poland as well? Heard about the terrible plane crash there, must be a very sad place to be at the moment.

It feels weird to be leaving S. America after being here for so long and absorbing the weirdly Indian vibe in Peru and Bolivia these past few weeks! It's going to be hilarious to see how many times we speak in spanish to Americans once we get off our flight. I'm REALLY nervous about being back to civilization and the hustle and bustle of a big city again! Poor Aysha's flight got cancelled from the UK to NYC because of the volcanic ash cloud as well, so it will just be TJ and I making our way to CT tomorrow morning. Keith joins us on Tuesday morning and hopefully Aysha will be there by Wed or Thurs!

Hope you have received your respective postcards by now?

Love you all loads,
--
Sonal

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