Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Day 27 and 28 - Buenos Aires

I forgot to mention in my blog post yesterday that when I went to the Drs to get myself checked out for being a swine.... errr I mean having suspected swine flu that the Dr asked me a series of questions... one of them had me struggling to maintain my composure, he asked me:

"And how are you poo poos and wee wees?"

Now, in fairness my Spanish is about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike but I was almost in stitches... I guess the terms number 1s and number 2s haven´t made it to Buenos Aires yet.

On Monday evening I had planned to go on the pub crawl but ended up playing the ´Things´game (thanks again for that one Banana) with Georgina and Sam (England), Gillian (Scotland), Gabe (US) and my room mates Clive and Bec (Australia mate). We played until about 1am and then I endeavoured to teach Georgina how to play pool.... it was err.... entertaining.

From Andy´s Travels Mid April to Early May


From Andy´s Travels Mid April to Early May


From Andy´s Travels Mid April to Early May


The weird thing is that Georgina is from the town next to where I was from, she lived in West Byfleet and was born in St Peters Hospital, the same place the little miracle that is me was born, albeit a few months before me. We were chatting about all the places we went to, pubs, clubs etc. Ok, i´ll say it.... small world huh.

The next day I did the walking tour around Buenos Aires. It really is a beautiful city. I spoke broken Spanish to a very kind and beautiful stall holder in a market. She let me film her and the stalls so I bought something from her for Lib and the Quinns.... You´ll see....









I realised quickly that almost everyone in BA is beautiful.... Being here, I´m kind of bringing the average down but you walk along the street and everyone has a kind of grace and beauty which is so natural....

My tour guides then took me to the Pink House where Evita made her famous speeches from in the 1950s.



The guides then kept looking over to my left and saying tremendous, tremendous almost drooling.... I took a look and there were 5 buxom Venezuelan women in tight dresses looking amazing... Gratuitous expressions of lust seem to be part of everyday life in Buenos Aires. Difficult concept for an awkward Englishman to understand but I´m getting there.

Last night I went out for dinner just by the river with my other room mate Colin (Ireland) who I first met in Mendoza bizarrely. It is a very nice spot similar to Darling Harbour but not quite as touristy.

I also booked in for tango classes and a show on Wednesday night and the Boca Juniors match on Thursday.... get in... bought a Juan Roman Riquelme Boca shirt and will wear it with pride at the game...

Laters

Andy

Monday, April 27, 2009

Day 26 and 27 - Mendoza to Buenos Aires

So, Mendoza was a bit of a cop out. Lovely place but I needed some R&R so I didn't really do much yesterday. Went to the park with Pamela, Maike and Felix and ended up meeting Charlie (who I met in Bariloche) there. We went to follow the trail of football fans to take a look at the submerged stadium. Almost made it but the site of rowdy fans and police with sub machine guns and twitchy finders put us off a little. Surprise that....

I did manage to get a hot dog though. It's kind of like a chorizo sausage hot dog. Very nice.

Got the bus yesterday and arrived in Buenos Aires today feeling a little tired. I wanted to expend some energy though so I walked from the bus station to the hostel with my pack. I was pretty pleased with myself for doing that. Exercise has been at a premium the last couple of days.

So, how was my first day in Buenos Aires I hear you ask.... Well, it's been err... entertaining. After hearing about the Swine flu in Mexico City yesterday, I became a little concerned that I may be a mule of a completely different kind than is normally known in South America. I feared I was a virus waiting to erupt so I got myself checked out. Got the all clear from the Dr (a good use of 30 pounds) and then had to go to the tropical diseases hospital the other side of town as a precaution. Two bus rides and two hours later, I got the all clear. The bus journeys were an experience....

Planning to go out for a few beers this evening with Laurie who I also met in Bariloche. Will see how it goes...

Bed now... Laters...

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Day 24 and 25 - Mendoza

Wow, internet connection here is pretty poor so I'll have to combine two days into one. I got to Mendoza at about 9am on 24th April. It's a nice enough town... I got to my room and wanted to have a shower after the 16 and a half hour bus journey. Another empty four bed room, result I thought. The shower was great and I was about to step out of the bathroom in my pants and take a nap when I heard two female voices..... Aaahhh..... slight problem, there's me in my pants looking like a basted chicken on account of my lack of tan about to offend two girls who are sharing my room.

I plucked (pardon the chicken pun) up the courage to leave the bathroom.... strolled proudly into the bedroom and profusely apologised.... After the initial shock wore off, they introduced themselves as Pamela (Chile) and Maike (Germany).

Since then, we've got on like a house on fire. I spent yesterday afternoon walking around the town with them building up the appetite for the all you can eat BBQ the hostel was hosting last night. Oh my, I had so much to eat. I think I got through about 6 pieces of steak. It was superb. It was then all about the drinking and dancing at a club. Couldn't believe it when I got to the club, the first person I bumped into there was Rochana who I met in Santiago. Also actually bumped into Charlie who I met in Bariloche at the BBQ. A night of re-acquaintances.

Woke up this morning at about midday after getting to bed at 4am. Have done nothing so far today other than watch football. I was chatting to some of the guys from the hostel and it turns out that last night didn't go as smoothly for everyone. Felix, an English guy here, tried to find his friends last night and was convinced they were in a club. The bouncers wouldn't let him in so he decided to scale the wall by the club and climb onto the roof to find an alternative access point. After dropping through a sky light he found himself in the staff room. They all gave him a beating and he was arrested by the police. Spent the night in a cell before being released this morning.

Found the energy to walk to the supermarket with Maike this afternoon to prepare our first meal of the day. Lazy, I know. I'm very pleased to say that I managed to create a spag bol for everyone. Don't think i'll achieve much else today. Will see.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Day 22-23 Bariloche to Mendoza

Wow, had a great day yesterday. Jon, Carly and I hired a car and drove to the black glacier just south of Bariloche. Amazing. The drive took us about 2 or 3 hours and it was almost permanently on stone roads, god knows what the suspension will be like on the car now. Pretty buggered i´d imagine...





The weather was appalling but the glacier was worth it. It was stunning and the landscape on the way to the glacier was something else.



Beautiful lakes of blues, aqua marines and the kind of green you find near glaciers against the backdrop of magnificent, proud mountain ranges. Out of this world.







Met up with Bob (Holland), Laurie (UK), Ollie and Charles (UK) last night and we dominated the pool table. Took me back to bunking off lectures at Uni to play pool at the student union. Ha ha....

Woke up this morning and decided i´m done with lake and mountain views. Time to sample the wines of Mendoza. I´ve just booked my bus ticket and I now can look forward to 16 hours of rolling countryside from the bus before I get to Mendoza hopefully fresh enough to enjoy the first day.

Check out the sunset...



We´ll see....

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Day 21 - Puerto Varas to Bariloche

Bit of a travel filled day today. I got up around 9ish and had breakfast. Jumped on the net and went off to video the view over Lake Llanquehue in Puerto Varas while the day was clear.


Noalys helped me to get money changed and provisions for my bus journey. The bus was a little basic but comfortable. The Green Mile in Spanish is actually a very entertaining watch....

The scenery we passed on the 7 hour bus ride is just idyllic. Mountains meet lakes with magnificent proud trees scattered between. A real joy to behold.



I met Jon and Carly from Brighton on the bus and we went for some food and a couple of Quilmes (Argentinian beer). The Hostel Inn in Bariloche is nice, clean and has excellent views over the lake to the mountains on the far side.


It´s about 70 steps to get up to reception but should keep me fit.

Today, we hire a car and drive to the black glacier. The sound of the ice cracking is supposed to resemble thunder. I´ll try and get it recorded for you guys. Can´t wait.....

Oh, I managed to lock myself in the toilet this morning. Great start to the day.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Day 20 - Puerto Varas

Last night, Rob and I went out for a bite to eat. We ended up going to Taberna Pirata on the lake front in Puerto Varas. We intended to stay for a couple of Cerveza`s and ended up chatting to the owner Noalys Hernandez who is 29 and originally from Cuba.

From Andy´s Travels Mid April to Early May


We were practicing our Spanish on her and before we knew it.... Buena Vista Social Club was playing in the background and we were settling down to a sumptuous dish of Cuban Pork and Rice.

From Andy´s Travels Mid April to Early May


The pork is cooked for 6 hours and has to be up there with the best food i´ve had on this trip. It was amazing. Noalys agreed to show us around Puerto Varas in the morning so Rob and I went off to the casino.

To say I had the anti midas touch was probably an understatement..... We put 10 pounds 50p in each and I sat down to play blackjack. at 3 pounds a hand, I lasted for exactly seven hands losing every single one. For those with a penchant for maths, you´ll figure out that I actually lost all of our money in seven hands..... Not to cut our losses, we put in another 5 pounds each. Rob then played and managed to win all of our money back... I decided to give gambling another go but this time opted for the Roulette table. I changed 10 pounds worth of chips and played two pounds a turn. After the fifth turn, of coming up without so much as a number near my bets, I again lost all my stake.... That was the end of my gambling night. Me and casino´s are not happy bedfellows.

This morning we met with Noalys in town and she gave us a bit of a tour.


I also purchased some hiking boots ahead of my trip up the Osorno Volcano. We then had lunch and Noalys introduced us to some authentic Chilean Empinadas (kind of like Cornish Pasties).



So, onto the volcano. The weather today was rubbish. It´s been the rainiest, foggiest day i´ve had since beginning my travels. Visibility is worse than poor..... How apt considering my decision to climb the volcano. The tour went ahead anyway and we took the hour long drive up to the ski centre midway up the impressive Osorno Volcano. We saw some Llamas.




I embarrassed myself royally on the minibus to my Spanish tour guide who asked me...

"How long have you been in Australia?"

to which I replied....

"tres anu´s." For three years... thinking I was being all clever speaking Spanish and that. It didn´t take me long by the way the tour guide was cracking up to realise that tres anu´s actually means three arses.... ano´s obviously being years.

When we got to the ski centre, it looked as though I wasn´t going to be able to climb as visibility was pretty poor, like a couple of metres only. I managed to pursuade one of the centre guides to let me walk up for 30mins. I pointed out i´d bought some new hiking boots today and needed to tell my friends i´d climbed a volcano... He agreed but said if I wasn´t back in 30mins he would send out a search party and I had to stick to the flagged route.


It didn´t matter to me, 30 minutes on the Osorno Volcano was such a gift for me. I´ve never experienced a thrill or a feeling quite like it. Setting off, I was literally the only person trekking the volcamno. I was walking off into a wilderness i´d never before experienced without the ability to see what was in front of me so every turn, every undulation presented a surprise.


It felt like I would imagine being on the moon would be like. The silence was audible and the landscape absolutely barren. I felt so priveliged for having been able to do that. It was a once in a lifetime experience.


I then got to see three secondary craters on the way back down the volcano. That was pretty impressive also.


Finally, I had some Murta which is a wild berry that grows in this part of Chile. They use it to make wine and to survive on Volcanos apparently. All in all, a great day even though the weather was against me. Tonight, we dine like kings at Noalys´restaurant. Can´t wait...

Speak to you next from Bariloche, Argentina....

Andy

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day 19 - Puerto Varas

I made my way down to Puerto Varas last night by coach. The coach was suprisingly comfortable. I opted for Premium class which is the top notch business. It meant I got a fully flat bed. I managed about 4 or 5 hours sleep which was pretty handy.

I woke up at about 6.15am and looked out of the window to see beautiful rolling countryside and the most amazing misty fog. There was about a metre gap between the ground and the start of the band of fog. It was hanging there like a banner. Never seen anything like it before. I tried to video it but I don´t think i did a good job.

Anyway, I got to Puerto Varas at about 8.15am. I got off the bus and looked around.


I saw dead bushes rolling past but that was about it. No sign of anything. I was tired, it was about 10 degrees and I wanted a shower.

So, stinky went off to seek comfort by the roadside and sure enough, a smiling Chilean man swung past in his taxi. I showed him the colour of my money and he agreed to take me to the hostel. About three laps of the city later,


and a very beautiful place it is too, the guy accepted defeat and asked a fellow cabbie where the address was.

I made it for the princely sum of 2 of her majesty´s finest pounds. Nice one.

Got in and I have to say the Compass Del Sur is a lovely bed and breakfast. I have my own room, as I still have the nagging cough going on and didn´t want to disturb anyone´s peaceful sleep. The receptionist is quite possibly the happiest person in the world. She literally skipped around the joint as she gave me the tour. This is actually a German influenced place so my conversational German has helped me a fair bit.

I met Rob from Brighton and we went to watch the FA Cup semi final between the mighty Everton and some bunch of wasters called Man Utd. Jay, you´re so lucky I don´t know you´re number off by heart otherwise you would have received a rude awakening of a phone call. Walking down into the town centre was a pleasure. Puerto Varas is situated on the south west corner of lake Llanquihue with a perfect view of the Osorno volcano and Calbuco volcano. Just stunning. I was staring in awe at the amazing sight. Tomorrow I climb Osorno and peer into a crater. Get in....

Plus, Man Utd crumbled to the mighty Toffees so the day has so far been a goodun. Rob and I are going out for a couple of beers this evening and have agreed to venture to the casino and spend a total of 10 pounds each.

Will tell you about it tomorrow.

Laters.

Andy

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Day 17 to 18 - Santiago

So, I decided to stay in Santiago an extra night and will take the bus to Puerto Varas tonight. I ended up spending four hours in the internet cafe uploading video and images to attach to this blog. Completely forgot the time and ended up not having enough time to catch the bus.

I didn´t do much last night. Read a tour book on Chile and Peru, read my book which has been a little neglected and listened to music. Went to bed around 10pm. Still have this damn cough annoying me so I didn´t get much sleep. The bus this evening should be fun.

I decided because I am still a little sick that I´d splash out a bit. I bought a ticket for a premier seat for the bus. It folds down like a bed and I think i´m on the fifth floor. I´m sure that´s what the guy at the ticket desk said. We had a great conversation, unfortunately in two very different languages....

Will see tonight.



Walked out of the metro at Bellas Artes (the metro stop near Hostel Andes where i´m staying) after buying the bus tickets and heard a bit of a commotion. Hundreds of motorbikes riding in unison, beeping horns in protest against unfair treatment on Santiago´s roads in comparison to cars.... It was quite a sight. That´s the second protest march i´ve seen in Santiago and I´ve only been here three days.

Hopefully i´ll have some stunning footage to share with you from Puerto Varas. It´s 13 hours by bus from Santiago and is known as the Chilean Lake District. Volcanos, lakes, treks and fishing.... aah, I can almost feel the many cerveza´s falling off my gut now... Health, fitness, nature.... we have become uncommon compatriots but I will soon know you well again....

Laters.
Andy

Friday, April 17, 2009

Pic update

The posts should be a little more interesting look at now as I´ve put a few vids up and loads of pics. Take a look back at some of the posts to put pictures to words.

You can also click through to the entire Picasa album using the link below the pics. Travel around the world.

Cheers

Andy

Day 16 and 17 - Santiago

So, I finally got some sleep on Wednesday night after watching the Champions League games. Chatted to some Gremio fans from Brazil and then went to bed at 7pm. Was sharing a room with Barry (UK) and Oti (Finland). I was on my own to begin with and they arrived pretty late so I thought it was just me for the night. I can´t apologise enough to them for the first vision they had as they entered the room. Me in my pants bent over looking into my back pack. So sorry guys. Hope it didn´t ruin Santiago for you....

Met Rochana from Wales at breakfast. Totally impressive, she´s travelled extensively and is only 18. She´s currently travelling around South America on her own. Amazing. We decided to go for a walk around the centre of Santiago and then to go to the Zoo. Santiago is a nice place without being exceptional. It has some lovely buildings but after Mexico City, it struggles to compare. Although the Zoo was pretty cool. It´s situated on a mountain below the impressive Statue of The Virgin Mary that presides over the city.

We had a great day just wandering around the Zoo, checking out the animals and then went to the top of the mountain check out the view which was breathtaking. So sorry but I didn´t have my camera. We just sat up there for a few hours taking it all in.

Stopped for a bite to eat on the way back and were presented with two bottles of out of date beer, one didn´t even have any fizz to it..... I had an uninteresting Chicken and Chips while Rochana had a slightly more engaging pasta dish. I think that will be the last time i´ll be allowed to choose somewhere to eat.

Got back to the Hostel about 5pm and played a few games. I taught Rochana how to play backgammon. We met up with Geon (Switzerland) and Daniele (Brazil) and played a hilarious game of things... (thank you Anna for introducing me to that game). The Gremio fans from Brazil came into the hostel and bought a guitar with them. There was no chance of an early night then.... we were singing Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Beatles songs until the early hours. Had a great time and they were a genuinely cool group of people.


Finally got to bed at 5am after Rochana and Oti were dancing in our room to my iPod with there earphones in. Quite odd watching people dance to music you can´t hear. I was trying to guess what they were listening to. Rochana informs me that this is called a silent disco and they have them in Wales. Nice one..

Done nothing today apart from eat and hang around on the internet.


I was planning on travelling down to Puerto Varas this evening but I´m not sure i´ll make it. Will see how I go.

Laters

Andy

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Videos finally

Hi Guys

Sorry for the nightmare uploading videos. Finally got some up but it`s slow going. I`ve inserted videos in my early blog posts from San Francisco and will continue to add them to the blog posts as I upload more.

Will try to get pics up also.

Cheers

Andy

Day 15 - Santiago

Man, I was so tired at the airport. I was looking forward to another sleepless night flying. Got on the plane at Mexico City and noticed it was half full. So I stole in and got two seats to myself by the emergency exit with extra leg room. Resultati!

The flight into Santiago is just beautiful. Looking out of the window I saw mountains breaking through the cloud looking absolutely imperious.
From Travel Around the World
From Travel Around the World
From Travel Around the World


Got to Santiago and i´m trying to figure out what to do with myself. Have to wait in reception from 9am this morning until 2pm for my room so I slept in reception. Probably snoring, dribbling and farting.... who knows! I don´t even know whether I should be getting lunch, dinner or breakfast at this point.

Give me a hand making a decision on what I should do next by voting in the poll below.

Will probably be a quiet one today.

See you.

Andy

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Day 14 - Mexico City

I officially have what's known as travellers flu. Couldn't sleep last night on account of all the coughing. Grrr. Managed to get 3 hours sleep and then met up with Paulina. We went to the Museum of Anthropology. It was great to see the rich history that Mexico has. An amazing place.

From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


Short post as I'm leaving for Santiago this evening. Looking forward to checking out destination number 6.

Laters

Andy

Monday, April 13, 2009

Day 12 and 13 - Mexico City

Day 12 was a bit of a blur. Didn't really do much today other than sleep. Had real tacos in Coyoacan which was great.

From Travel Around the World


Day 13, I went to the pyramids in Mexico with some of the guys from the hostel.

Teotihuacan is an amazing place (hope that's how it's spelt).






We climbed to the top and the view was just out of this world.




From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


Also had my first experience of the metro in Mexico City. Didn't realise I had please stare at me tattoo'd on my forehead.

Spent most of the day there and it was steaming hot. Was delighted to head off at around 2pm as I was in severe danger of getting a tan.

I officially bought my first novelty souvenier. A clay ornament in the shape of a jaguar that makes a jaguar noise when you blow in it. Couldn't have spent $3 any wiser. Some Swiss girls we met showed me how to play clay based souvenier ornaments... check it out:


Having a few drinks with the guys from the hostel this evening before heading to Santiago tomorrow.

I've officially given up on finding somewhere to upload videos in Mexico City. Nightmare.

Anyway, must rush off.

Andy

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Day 11 - Mexico City

So, went to a bakery just off the Zocalo with Brooke (NZ), Steve (UK), Nick and Brendon (Canada) and Brittany (US).
From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World




We went and had a look around the Zocalo.
From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World

It's amazing. Third biggest square in the world. They had these Aztec dancers blowing smoke onto people to remove evil spirits.
From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


Didn't have enough smoke for my spirits though. :)

The most bizarre thing, this guy walked past us dressed as a power ranger. No joke.

From Travel Around the World

He strolled past us and gave us a nod. He didn't ask for any money. He was just checking out the stalls. He must have woken up that morning and opened his wardrobe and said: "Hmmm, jeans and a t-shirt...... no it's definitely a power rangers day today."

We toured the Mayor Temple which was pretty crazy. They only discovered it in the 1970s as it was buried beneath some houses.

From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


I'm loving Mexico City. The buildings are architecturally incredible, people are so friendly and the bakery was $1 for a sandwich and two pies. Nice!

From Travel Around the World


Went out with Paulina and her friends this evening. Paulina is teaching me Spanish. We went to Coyoacan and then Condesa. Ended up in an Irish Bar sharing a bottle of Vodka between six of us. It was great to go out with five locals and they even managed to pursuade me to get up and have a dance. Check me out huh!

From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


Got to sleep at 6am. Oh, two bags of laundry here cost me $5. Just amazing.

See you.

Andy

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Day 10 - Mexico City

Wow, Mexico is an eye opener. Having a great time so far. The hostel I'm staying in is called a party hostel and after last night I can see why. We went to watch some crazy Mexican wrestling last night. It's hilarious. I've never seen something so bizarre and staged. Brilliant. We came back here and got a bit smashed. It didn't help when the barman got on the bar and started pouring tequila shots down our throats.

From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World




Off to tour the Zocalo tomorrow with Brooke from NZ so should be fun. Then later tomorrow evening I think Paulina, a mexican girl we met, is teaching me how to salsa. That should test the three left feet I have.

Laters.

Andy

Friday, April 10, 2009

Day 9 - Dallas

Finally, a day where I got up at a decent hour and actually did stuff :)

I went into Dallas downtown today and took a look around the 6th Floor Museum at the infamous Lee Harvey Oswald book depository. It was an amazing experience. They do a great job there. I got some pics and vids to share with you all and will hopefully be able to do that today at some point.


From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World



I also went to the museum of art in Dallas
From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


and then met up with Ali and the team for dinner. It was lovely to catch up and chat about the errr..... good old days at TTA.

From Travel Around the World


Had an early night and feel refreshed as I head to Mexico City.

That's all folks.

Andy

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Day 7 and 8 - Vegas to Dallas

So, I re-read my last post and realised that I possibly needed to explain the Russian Prostitute part as it didn't read too well. I put in the conversation which made me look like an idiot as well as some other stuff about the somewhat hazy evening at Playboy Club.

Day 7 - Las Vegas

Today is my last day in Vegas. I went down to see all the big casinos to check them all out and took some pics.



From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


I met up with a few 60 to 70 year olds from Minnesota waiting in line for the Double Deuce bus and asked them if that was where Wizard of Oz was set. They said it was Kansas to which I replied "Wow, so you've got lots of flying houses there right?" breaking what seemed like a lengthy silence one of them replied... "No sonny, all are houses are fixed to the ground. We get tornados real regular you see."

"Oh right, thanks. That's err... interesting." Thank god the bus arrived at that moment.

I did some more gambling and spent my $100 limit without as much luck as yesterday. Killed some time and then Amanda played the perfect tour guide taking me out to have some excellent Thai food and then to a place called Piano Bar. It was great fun. There's two guys playing piano and singing songs that the crowd have bid for. The aim is to pick a song that is popular enough for it to be played through to the finish as people can bid to have the song stopped and if they outbid you, that's the end of your song. I put some money down for Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison and it got through to the end. He shoots and scores!!!

All in all, I had an excellent last night in Vegas. Really enjoyed myself.

My only Vegas regret is that I didn't take a plane trip to see the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. Imagine my delight when we set off for Dallas and the plane flew straight over both Hoover Dam and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Result.
From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


At Dallas Airport, I went to collect my bags and this guy was showing these 9 week old King Charles Cavallier Spaniels to someone who wanted to buy one. They were so cute and he let me hold one. Made my day.

From Travel Around the World


First night in Dallas was a sleep fest. Had to catch up on all the zzzz's I didn't get in Vegas. Overall, I had a great time in Vegas. You can do whatever you want there. I saw a guy so drunk at 3pm he was trying to haul himself up from the ground using a bin as a prop. Pure class! In Vegas, it's just as easy to lose yourself as it is your money. I saw so many people who looked like they had gone to Vegas for a weekend and never left.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Day 5 and 6 - Las Vegas

So, finished my first day in Las Vegas. It was a typical Vegas day. Thanks to Amanda who got me on the guestlist at Playboy club at The Palms. It was a pretty interesting evening. I met a few people but actually found myself in the middle of a party that the Spearmint Rhino strip club girls were having. Very bizarre. I was then propositioned by a Russian prostitute called Sasha. She must have thought that I was a bit of a tool because she came up to me and after the classic getting to know you chat, where you from, what's your name, are you enjoying Vegas etc, she said:

"$350 will get you a good time in Vegas."

to which I replied:

"Oh really, I've only spent about $100 so far and have really enjoyed myself."

She looked a little confused and then said:

"No, I mean $350 will leave you very happy for an hour."

to which I replied:

"Sorry, what exactly are you saying."

Her response:

"Are you the police?"

"Aah, I said, you mean $350 for an hour with you. No thanks."

Andy exited stage right!

I then had a picture taken with a Playboy bunny,
From Travel Around the World


played poker with a girl from Spearmint Rhino called Chani
From Travel Around the World


and finally got home about 5am. As I said, quite a typical Vegas night.


I went to Las Vegas Old Town today and did some gambling today on Wheel of Fortune and met Amanda and Angela who were great and helped a naive English guy out who hadn't gambled before. Thanks for your patience. Spent $40 and left with $60. Get in...



From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World


1 day left in Vegas tomorrow and I'm going to try and catch a show.

Will see what happens.

My budget is so blown!

Laters

Andy

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Day 5 - LA to Las Vegas

So, I got to Vegas ok. Felt a little seedy this morning. Met up with a great group of people last night in LA. Jon and the gang, thanks for sharing a beer or two and some lemon shots with me.
From Travel Around the World


From Travel Around the World




Actually, not sure I should thank you for the lemon shots, think they bought about my downfall slightly.

Vegas is a crazy place. I'm just about to go out for my first night. Amanda has been a star and sorted out guest list sports at Playboy club and the clubs at the Palms.

Plane trip was a little weird this morning. As I was getting off there was a woman sitting eyes closed open mouthed on the plane. The guy in front of me turned round and said, "Dude, I don't think she's breathing." May have actually seen a dead person. Very eerie.

On that note, time for a beer. Staying at The Riviera in Vegas... very cool.

From Travel Around the World


C ya.

Andy

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