Madalinemmmbop's whirlwind in Disneyland: July 2006

Happy birthday. To me.

I love my birthday. It´s my favourite day of the year, with Christmas Eve a close second. Why? Because it´s all about me. However, I was a bit troubled about it this year. I know, I know - I´m in Rio and all that, which is amazing, but I couldn´t help but think about what I´d be doing if I were back home (drinking cheap wine in Mr. Feenies after work with Corkers, heading to the Ghetto with Ady and the gang to dance with trannies and then taking Friday off work to recover with Dunners. Perfection.) But none of that happened.

Instead, I got to hang out with the big JC. Apart from hold a koala, it´s been the ONLY thing on my check list of things I really want to do this year. So yeah, pretty spesh. Woke up with a bit of a hangover after a few too many unexpected cocktails the night before (Duncan had left me in the hostel bar to ´go and do something quickly´- he took ages. 6 caprhinas later...) and spent the morning feeling old and rubbish. Duncan then presented me with a card covered in messages from all my friends (he´d emailed them all and then copied all of the messages out, hence being ages the night before.) Thanks guys. It was awesome. And thanks for those who sent him money to get me presents, I am so, so touched. An avacado and some olives for my breakfast (I can do what I want) and then we headed off to see the big JC and watch the sunset over Rio from the Sugar Loaf.

Then the party started. Free drinks all night from Leo in the hostel bar, followed by all you can eat meat buffet with new friends Chloe, Justin, Edd, Matt and Jack finishing off with drinking and samba in a huge club down town. I might be old, but I´m lovin´it.

Who made heaven a place on earth? (cringe)

Just had four of the most amazing days of my life. Although at the time they just sort of happened and at some points were extremely cold (minus 20 at night - Dad, that counts as freezing, right?) and were also pretty uncomfortable. But yeah. Amaaaazing.

We took a four day desert tour kicking off with the salt flats.

Miles and miles of blinding salt. Salt. Salt. Salt. And you know how I love salt. I was in my element. So yeah, mucked about and did some `small or far away´ pictures (how very original.) Wandered around the cactus island. Chased vizcachas. Explored rock forests. Saw flamingos. Blue lakes. Green lakes. Red lakes. Llamas. Geezers. Dipped in hot springs. Balanced on the top of canyons. Splashed in rivers. Clambered around a train graveyard...

Urgh - it makes me feel a bit sick thinking of all the things we saw and did, and all I can do is list them. Unless you were there though (which you weren´t) the pictures say it all. So check, check, check, check, check it out.

At the Copa, Copacabana (Copacabaaanaaah...)

So I´m sat on the cliff top looking over Lake Titikaka, from the Bolivian side (we crossed the border with no problems.) The lake is the bluest thing I´ve ever seen - apart from the sky which doesn´t have a single cloud in it. On the horizon are snow capped mountains, the sun is beating down and the pink flowers to my left would make my Barbie pink room in West London look positively dull. Yet I´m not overly moved. How bad is that? It´s the kind of stuff I´m faced with everyday here, and it´s as normal as seeing Costcutter on my way to work. I guess when you´re surrounded by such outstanding beauty it becomes hard to really appreciate. I keep trying to open my eyes a little wider, really take it all in - but it´s just sat silently in front of me, as if my body can´t quite believe it´s real.

Spent one night on the Isla Del Sol - although again, the half hour walk up the steep Incan steps to get to the town nearly finished me off - and then the boat back to sleepy, hippy Copacobana. Which I LOVE. Bohemian people litter the streets making earings (cool), cars get blessed with flowers and beers twice a day (weird) and street dogs wear clothes (as it should be). It´s just like heaven.

Pushing the boat out

Right, my Dad always told me off whenever I´d say I was `freezing´. He claimed that I didn´t really know the meaning of the word. I was cold, yes. But freezing, no. Well Dad, you were right. Because now I TOTALLY know what being freezing feels like. 10 hours on a night bus from Cusco to Puno. That´s freakin´ freezing. The windows were thick with ice inside it was so cold. And guess which idiot had worn her shorts for the ride...

Arrived in Puno. Freezing. Got a taxi to a nearby hostel. Freezing. Climbed in to bed and slept for a few hours. Still freezing. Then we set off for the floating reed islands on Lake Titikaka. Man, I LOVED THEM! They´re these little sets of islands that are made entirely from reeds and people actually live on them. It was tourist city, which was a bit of a shame, but beautiful - and as we got a ride in an authentic reed boat the sun set over the lake. Loved it, didn´t I?

Goodbye, my friends

My final night in Cusco was WILD (hello - as if the others hadn´t been hedonistic enough.) Spent the day on my own and started drinking at about 5am with Irish Dave, the hostel manager. Understand, it was his birthday. To expect him to drink alone would have been just rude. I´m right, right? Mass tequila followed, then a night on the tiles with the hostel boys I have grown to adore. Brilliant. The usual rules applied. Uptown, Mama Africas and then more Uptown. An awkward incident involving Arturdo finished my final (pretty much perfecto) night in Cusco. I´m able to say `Lo Siento´ these days though. Luckily.

The Point hostel boys - Paul, birthday Dave and Ben