Entry 3: Banos, River Napo, Otovalo

Howdo.

Today I am in a town called Banos in Equador. Again the scenery is pretty mind-blowing. I went for a run yesterday and it was slightly different to my normal trek down radbourne lane and markeaton island.

Over the last few days I have been staying in a jungle lodge, the Anaconda, on the river Napo. Our guide, Fausto, led us on a fearless trip on which we ate ants and swung from trees....it was very Tarzanesque.

The following day we then met a local family who showed us how to make the local alchoholic drink, cica, before building a raft and floating back down the river to our lodge. Don´t worry, i was thinking of you all at work as I was relaxing aboard the raft enjoying the sun.

On our way to the Anaconda we also passed over the equator, so i got a photo, as you do.

This afternoon I am off for a spot of canyoning, which basically involves me putting on a wet-suit and throwing myself off waterfalls, which should be fun. Before that I need to wander around town using a combination of broken Spanish and the word "premiership", in the hope that someone might be able to suggest a place to watch a match on Saturday.

I see the Germans did us again on Wednesday.

A few observations:

There are a lot of stray dogs in Ecuador.

Children in indigenous communities are expected to marry at the age of 15.

Right, i´m off. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Vinny

Entry 2: New York, Philadelphia, Bogota and Quito

Hello everyone.

Sorry it´s taken me so long to post another update. You know what it´s like, things to do, people to see, flights to catch.

The great news is that the Premiership really is shown all over the world. So far I´ve seen both of Villa´s games on television (although they were both such drab affairs I´m already wishing I hadn´t), one in New York and one in Quito.

Anyway, I´m in Quito (the second highest capital city in the world), Ecuador now. I´ve not wandered too far as yet, but should be heading out for some sight seeing this evening, whilst also downing a few of the local ales no doubt. My landing in Ecuador was breath-taking. I find it hard to believe there is a more impressive arrival by air anywhere in the world. All I could see was mountains, and then all of a sudden the city appeared in the distance and within about 5 minutes we had landed. Everywhere you go the scene is set to an immense backdrop of cloud tipped mountains though. I hadn´t noticed the altitude until a few hours ago, when I walked up the stairs to my room and nearly had to have a lie down to recover.

I arrived in Quito following an extended visit in Colombia, namely Bogota. I was only supposed to change there, but my flight was delayed so I spent a night in what must have been one of the fanciest hotels in the country, the ´Crowne Plaza´, which according to it´s business card is ´The Place to Meet People´. It does not say who those people are though, and none of them introduced themselves to me during my 5 hours there. No one offered me any kind of white powder whilst I was there before you ask.

My time in America was great. I did some of the normal tourist things, Empire State Building, Time Square, Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall etc, but also visited a few lesser known venues, such as Coney Island (anyone who has seen ´The Warriors´might be familiar with the park, anyone who hasn´t seen it...well maybe you should). I also visited the restaurant from ´Seinfeld´ and a few settings from ´Ghostbusters´ and also found that I had crossed a bridge in Central Park that was used in ´Spiderman 3´, but as that film was so bad I would like to point out that I only discovered this after my visit, otherwise I may well have avoided it.

I went to the cinema to see the new Bourne film, much of which was filmed in the very streets I had been using everyday in New York. The city also hosts regular outdoor film screenings, one was showing ´All about Eve´ at the Brooklyn Bridge and another was ´Casablanca´at Bryant Park. These are very popular though, and despite arriving nearly two hours before the screening began at Bryant Park, there was no space left to sit down.

I also managed to watch 2 games of baseball, one featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and the other featuring the New York Yankees. The 2 games saw 24 runs scored, with people in the know telling me that this is an extraordinary amount of runs to witness in just two games....perhaps the players had been told to put on a good show for me.

Billy and I also embarked upon a walking tour of Harlem. This was interesting, though as you might imagine we did get a few strange looks from the locals, particularly a passing police car. Despite slavery being a thing of the past it is still very noticable how segregated the country is, though you could say the same about Britain.

Overall I think my highlight of America was Central Park, in particular the roller disco, which featured this chap in a lycra ensemble, making some pretty nifty shapes in the mid afternoon sun:

A few more observations:

Most people in America seem to be called Jo or Joe.

American cinema goers go to the toilet about 5 times during a screening.

The word "cheers" is not generally used as a form of "Thankyou" in America. This regulalry caused confusion whenever I used it, which was pretty much all of the time.

Anyway, I´m off.

I will keep you informed of goings on in South America over the next week or so.

Entry 1: New York and Philadelphia

Hello Everyone.

I've been in the US for a week now and having a great time, although the heat is intensive to say the least. In the last 2 days I've showered 6 times. Even that doesn't seem to achieve much, as about 10 seconds after you get out of the shower, you're sweating again.

I spent the first few days in New York, which was pretty sweet and I'm heading back later today so I can visit various film and TV locations from Ghostbusters, Seinfeld etc (its cheaper than doing all the normal tourist things).

Philadelphia has been good, though after 4 days here I've seen most of their major tourist attractions such as the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

A few observations so far:
America has far to much choice. This has regularly left me looking rather foolish, as when I ask for something the person on the other side of the till will hit me with far to many addtional options, leaving me confused and a stuttering mess.
Tin foil in America is slightly different to tin foil back home.
Americans like cheese, though not a fine cheddar or red leicester, they prefer plasticy easy to melt cheese, and like to put it on pretty much everything.

Anyway, I'm pushed for time so this is going to have to be a quick entry. Once I've been to New York again I should have no end of stories, so keep checking to see what's happened.

Vinny