A Cuban Christmas!

Hi Guys!

Well what a crazy couple of weeks it´s been!! I´ve just returned to the ´real world´ after spending 2 weeks in Cuba.....

We arrived into Habana late on a Monday afternoon and arrived to our Casa Particular. In Cuba tourists mainly stay in the houses of the local people as it´s a lot cheaper - these are the casa particulares. It´s really good as you can really get to know the local people. We had our first night out in Habana that night, which was very interesting!!

Tuesday I was a little hungover, too many mojitos!! So we just chilled out in the day and in the night we checked out a local jazz club which was really good!!! Wednesay we went for a little history and checked out Museo de la Revolucion which was also really interesting! We just wandered around in the night and took in the sights and sounds of Habana´s night life. Very cool.

Thursday we had an adventure at the local market buying some fruit and veges (good fun) and after this treated ourselves to a lovely lunch in a cafe with a great band. We really got into the music in Cuba (it´s hard not too, its everywhere!!) - Salsa, Afro Cuban, Jazz - it was great! That night went and saw a salsa band play and danced the night away!

Friday and Saturday we went and checked out Habana´s closest beach. It was really lovely and relaxing after being in the city for so many days. We went out Saturday night with some of the local Cubans we kept bumping into.

Sunday we jumped in a taxi to Trinidad, on the south coast of Cuba. It was a really lovely Colonial town with a beautiful beach, and we really enjoyed our time there. We had a lovely family we stayed with there as well =) Monday night we spent in the main square of the town where they have live salsa music and dancing every night. It was really cool to see - the Cubans dance amazingly! We met a magician too (random) who showed us some magic tricks - not your typical Christmas Eve thats for sure! Tuesday (Christmas Day) we spent on the beach which was lovely =)

Wednesday we did a tour to Toppes de Collantes - and hiked through the jungle to a beautiful waterfall. We swam in the pool by the waterfall - ah it was so nice! That night we checked out the main square again and randomly bumped into our friend Pete from Mexico. So we danced the night away in the local night club with Pete and his mates, good fun =) We met the magician again and he helped us to talk to a Mute man we met. Very random!

Thursday we chilled out and checked out Trinidad. We went out in the night and ended up in the local disco - which was in a cave. It was SO cool!! Friday we jumped on a bus back to Habana and Yesterday we flew out of Cuba!

I had such an amazing time in Cuba - it´s so interesting. The people seem so opressed - they aren´t allowed to speak with tourists, they can´t go on the internet (only email) and they can´t leave Cuba - among many other things. But they are some of the most happy, warm and genuine people i´ve ever met. It´s such a strange place! It´s a place you hate and frustrates you so much at times, and place you love and don´t want to leave. A land of contradictions....It was really the highlight of my trip so far.

We arrived in Cartagena, Columbia last night and we´ll ne here for the next couple of weeks. We haven´t seen to much of the city yet but so far it looks really beautiful =)

Happy New Year Everyone!!! xoxoxoxo

Enchilladas with green sauce are DELICIOUS =)

.....and overnight bus trips suck!

As you might guess weve had quite a travelsome week (again!). After spending a few days on the beac at Puerto Escondido, which was beautiful, Wednesday night we jumped on an overnight bus to San Cristobal. We arrived to this lovely little town bleary eyed on Thursday morning and found a nice place to stay with a resident dog - che- who I loved!

We spent Thursday checking out the town, and in the night went to a jazz club for some live music (finally!) and then a club after with some of Annas friends from school. Friday we jumped in a car and a collectivo and 3 hrs later were at Agua Azul - some beautiful, bright blue waterfalls in the middle of the jungle. It was really lovely there! That night we said goodbye to Roland, Annas friend who had been travelling with us the past couple of weeks. A very sad day =(

Saturday we checked out the markets in town and then jumped on another overnight bus, this time to Cancun! We arrived this morning and quickly got ready at our hostel for the beach. Cancun is really famous for hosting americas Spring Break and is very gringo orientated. But it has a really beautiful beach with white sand and crystal blue water. We had a lovely time there today =)

Tomorrow were off to Cuba for Christmas!! And then Columbia for New Years! Exciting times =) If I dont write before, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

Mmmmmmmmm Chilli............

So its been a couple of weeks!! Ive been a bit lazy =L Sorry!! Well I spent another day in Cuzco after I last wrote just seeing a bit more of the town. Then I jumped on a 24 hr bus ride to Lima! Lima is the capital of Peru and really big and quite western, so I really just chilled out there for a few days, ate lots of fast food, drank lots of starbucks and saw a few movies. It was nice for a change =)

I stayed the night in Lima airport waiting for my early flight to Mexico. 3 flights later I arrived in Monterrey and met up with Anna! It was really lovely to see her again =) We spent the next couple of days getting organised and checking out Monterrey. Its a nice city but also very western.

Last Monday we jumped on an overnight bus to Guanojuato, a colonial town in Central Mexico. We chilled out there for a couple of days and while we were there checked out Diago Riveras house where he grew up and housed some of his works. Very cool.

We left for Mexico City Wednesday night and arrived late at night. Mexico City is crazy!!! Its HUGE and there are SO many people there. Its a nice place though. We checked out the biggest church in latin america there, an ancient aztec ruin in the middle of town and Frida Kahlos house. We also bumped into some naked men on the street protesting (see pic above). We took a day trip out to some ancient pyramids too which was cool.

We hopped on a bus to Puerto Escondido (where we are now) Sat night and arrived here Sun night. Its a really small town set on a few beautiful beaches and really amazing. Today we lay on the beach and took a banana boat out on the water and saw some gorgeous huge turtles and manta rays that were jumping. Ah its so nice to be at the beach again =)