11 months around the world

living the dream

River, hammock, jungle and Lao Lao

Posted on 12. February, 2012 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

I would say that’s a fair description of what my 3 weeks in Laos excisted off. As my visa for Thailand was about to expire I decided to jump on a bus up to Vang Vieng in Laos. The famous tubing and party spot among backpackers, in the middle of nowhere. The town itself is absolutely nothing, just restaurants showing Friends and Family guy all day long and bar after bar after bar. I talked to an old man from Australia on a bus journey once who was there in 1975. At that point the town consisted of about 50 buildings and an airplane strip where American airplanes got loaded up with opium from the opium fields around. Today the majority of the people you see are western backpackers partying it up or exploring the beautiful scenery around Vang Vieng. The tubing happens on the river during the day where there are about 15 bars after each other down the river. You can get tubes or walk/swim between the bars and it’s definitely okey to call the place insane. In the late afternoon, people head back to their rooms and get ready for the night (If you can manage it). It’s definitely a fun place for young people, but it gets a little bit too much after a few days. It’s crazy how the people working there keep doing the same thing day after day for months. It’s a place you have to visit when you’re around in South East Asia, if not to just party but to explore the surroundings and check out the craziness.

After an overnight bus down to Pakse, I did an amazing 2 day trek in the jungle of Laos, similar to the famous Gibbon experience they have in the north. We started off by hiking for 1 and a half hour to get to where the zip lining started. During the hike we had lunch, using banana leaves as a table and eating sticky rice, dry meat, eggs, fish and vegetables with our hands. The lao way of eating most food. The zip lining was so much fun, one of them was 450 meters long through the jungle and it took more than half a minute to cross it.  Some of them were connected with another zip-line at the same platform up in the trees, but sometimes we have to abseil down to the ground and hike a bit to get to the next one. At the end of the day we ended up at our campsite, right next to a huge and beautiful waterfall.  We slept in tree houses up in the trees, which we had to zip-line to get to. It was definitely by far the coolest place Ive ever stayed! The next day we started off bright and early with breakfast before we hiked our way to the last two and longest zip-lines. After playing around with them for a while, we walked back to the camp for lunch before we started our hike back to the minivan. Along the way we got to try some sort of rock climbing which I really enjoyed! Imagine climbing up to the top of a waterfall and looking out over the rainforest in Laos. The trek was an amazing experience and something I will always remember. Definitely one of the coolest things I’ve done on my trip!

We continued our journey down to Don Det, which is a part of the 4000 islands. It’s an incredible place, and extremely relaxed. Except renting a bike one day and biking around an island called Don Khon Im not quite sure what we did. We were sleeping in a bungalow along the river with hammocks on the balcony. Taking it easy, meeting new people and getting some new energy for more travelling was what we did most of the time I guess. I didn’t see much of Laos, but it’s a country I know I will go back to. The people are very friendly and relaxed and the nature is absolutely beautiful! Its worth a visit no matter what you’re looking for!

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Family christmas and Koh Tao

Posted on 10. February, 2012 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

After 6 amazing months on the road it was time to make my way to meet my family in Phuket. It’s something Ive been looking forward to since I left, but it’s always felt very far away. But having such an amazing and interesting lifestyle it came way faster than even I can understand. I was met by a Baywatch run up from the beach and two smaller brothers who is not so small anymore. We celebrated Christmas at Katathani Beach resort which was absolutely amazing! Unrealistic compared to what my standards have been. The holiday continued with Phi Phi island. We checked out the good snorkelling and the paradise beaches around. The last night we celebrated my parents 20 years anniversary with a beautiful dinner with candle lights on the beach. After that we made our way up to Bangkok for New Years Eve and spent some nice days there. It was amazing to see them again and it was two incredible weeks of family holiday. Even though I must say I prefer the hostel atmosphere over the luxury.

My family went back to Norway and I spent a couple more days in hectic Bangkok before I made my way down to Koh Tao. One of my favourite islands so far on this trip, you just gotta love everything about it. I did some fun dive with Davy Jones Locker diving center, which I highly recommend, and decided to sign up for the Rescue Diver course. The course was definitely fun, but it did drag a little bit of energy out of me. I did pass though, and are now a certified rescue diver, wuhu! I have decided to skip India, and go back there to do my dive master instead. Its gonna be amazing!

 Happy New Year from Thailand (:

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Vietnam, the very short version

Posted on 23. December, 2011 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

Two days at airports different places all over the world went by extremely slow. But I arrived safe and sound in Hanoi, Vietnam to a big culture shock! Chaos, motorbikes, beeping, people everywhere, flyers, buy this, buy that can probably describe my first impression of Vietnam. Luckily once you start eating the food, talking to the people, seeing the country sides and getting out of the big major cities you`ll love the country. After a few days hanging around in Hanoi, I went on a boat trip in Halong Bay. Apparently it’s supposed to be the same size as England, so you can probably imagine we weren’t even close of seeing it all. Our first day and night we spent on a massive boat through the islands, swimming, kayaking, visiting caves, visiting fishing villages and quite a bit of partying. After breakfast way to early the next morning we started our 1 hour boat journey to Castaway Island, a private little island in the middle of paradise. White sand beach, bungalows, good people, volleyball, rock climbing, beer and an amazing time might give you an idea on how amazing the trip was. If you end up in Hanoi one day, it’s definitely something you can’t miss out on!

The next memorable chapter of my Vietnam adventure was driving a scooter from Hue to Hoi An. With my non-existing scooter experience it was probably a good idea to tag along with a guy from England. We started off by getting lost before we even left Hue city, and it continued in some sort of the same path during the whole drive. We passed through small villages, around big lakes, drove through the mountains, on the highway and along the cost. You can probably say that we saw the real Vietnam, and experienced the stunning nature this country has to offer. Pictures will definitely describe this trip a lot better than words can. Beside of getting lost, one of our bigger problems was ordering lunch. As we were far away from the tourist areas they didn’t speak any English, even with help from the Lonely Planet we couldn’t get very far. But after just pointing at different food we ended up with an interesting, but definitely local, lunch! In the end we made it to Hoi An one our own after a beautiful day, maybe a few hours behind schedule, but time is never a major problem when you’re backpacking.

Hoi An is a nice little city, but it seems like people mostly go there to get clothes made. As that wasn’t a part of my plan I continued on to Nha Trang after two nights. The beach town that were to become my home for the next month. I didn’t plan on being there for a long time, but plans are never kept, and I kind of got stuck there. All of a sudden I also woke up one day with a job. Why Not bar. How can you say no to working in a bar called Why Not? I started working with a girl name Tracey, or Crazy if you want as this name describes her a lot more. The two weeks we had together as roommates and co-workers in Nha Trang were amazing! So much fun, the city is beautiful and there are tons of things to do around. I visited Vinpearl which they say is Vietnams answer to Disneyland (definitely not), mud bath, different beaches, went on a boat trip (4 times), ate incredible seafood, good nightlife, visited a brewery and so on. The month went by extremely quickly and I met so many amazing people, both locals and backpackers! Because I spent so much time in Nha Trang I missed out on some places south in Vietnam I would love to visit. But now it’s time to meet my family again for Christmas and New Years Eve in Thailand, which is going to be amazing! And luckily I’ve got enough time to go back and see the parts of Vietnam I missed out on afterwards, if I want to (:

More pictures coming later, for some reason the uploading stopped working!

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Last of Latin America

Posted on 8. November, 2011 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

When I arrived in Playa del Carmen I was lucky enough to stay in my friend Karoline`s appartment. And well, lets be honest, time went by very quickly! I was suppose to stay for 5 days, maybe a week, but being around norwegians wasent so bad afterall ;) I found it very relaxing to stick around at the same place for a while, with a few people I actually knew from back home. I also experienced a new sport I think Im almost in love with already. I will like to take the oppurtunity to welcome myself to a new world, the underwater world! Diving in Playa del Carmen was an amazing, amazing experience!! I started my Open Water at Mexico Blue Dream, which I highly recommend if you ever want to go diving in Playa. Their atmosphere is amazing, and all of them are really good divers. Eventhough someone, without mentioning name, usually always forgets something at first try ;) After passing my exam and finishing the course, it took me about one day before I was back to sign up for the Advanced Open Water. Since then its been a constant fight between heart or brain. Where brain represent budget and saving the money, and heart represent how much I enjoy it everytime Im diving. Now Im happy to say that brain didnt even have a chance, and I ended up with about 17 dives in total during my stay. I dived at night, to a wreck at the bottom of the ocean, many different dive sites around Playa and in a Cenote. People asked me what Ive seen, and to be honest I think thats a rather difficult question to answer. But I have definitely seen some amazing creatures underwater. With some help from my logbook I can tell you that Ive seen: green moray, spanish lobster, barracuda, angelfish, hawksbill turtle, spotted drumfish, scorpionfish, flounder, southern stingray, lion fish, seahorse, caribbean reef squid and octupus to mention a few. I guess Ive got some miles to go before I know what everything is, but at least Im getting better.

Other than diving many times a week I got to know many beautiful people, both from norway and all over the world. We`ve been playing volleyball, relaxing on the beach, eating amazing and cheap taco, done some partying, celebrated Halloween, had nice dinners and so on. I also experienced an hurricane. Or, its more fair to say thats it was a hurricane at category 3, but by the time it hit playa luckily it was only what they called a tropical storm. It was more than enough for me! If I ever go a place where there is a warning for a hurricane at category 3, I think I`ll be one of the first people out of the city!!

3 amazing weeks in Playa went by really quickly, and one sad saturday it was actually time for me to leave. The next stop was Mexico City where I met Mauricio. He lived at the same hostel as me in Rio, and it was really nice to meet him again. Thats one of the amazing things about backpacking and hostels, you get friends from all over the world. He introduced me to his friends, family and some parts of his huuuge city. It was by far not enough time to get the whole idea of Mexico city, but the little time I had was amazing!

Now Im sitting at the airport in LA and waiting for my flight to Vietnam. 4 and a half month in Latin America is over, and its gone by so quickly! I can say from the bottom of my heart that its been the best months of my entire life, and I have enjoyed every second of it. Ive seen so many beautiful places, and met tons of inspiring, fun and good people! Ive definitely learned a lot about myself and the world, and learned to appriciate what Ive got. Like for example life, make the best out of it and do whatever makes you happy. Your life, your responsibility! But at the same time, Im now looking forward to see what SouthEast Asia and India has to offer.

Latin America, Im gonna miss you!

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Belize

Posted on 25. October, 2011 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

From beautiful Flores, where the ruins are, we took the bus over to Belize and checked in at another Eco-lodge. I have now experienced that that can mean a lot of things. No flush-toilet, hard beds, minimal light, up in the wood, tiny cottages and a simple life style was what this place had to offer. But as long as you turn everything into something positive, it doesn’t matter how the circumstances are. Life is amazing and it’s an experience after all!

The first day we went caving in a cave called ATM or Actun Tunichil Muknal.  We started off by hiking for 40 min through a national park and crossed three crystal clear rivers, until we got to the cave entrance. Then we started swimming/walking in waist-high water for about an hour or so. Over rocks, under rocks and between huge rocks that have collapsed thousands of years ago. Our guide found some stones at the bottom that you can use for painting, and we all got ourselves some nice face painting. It’s the same stones that they use to decorate ceramics in for example Guatemala. After making ourselves look pretty we continued into the dry part of the cave, you might look at it as a cathedral. We found over a thousand years old potteries lying around in the cave. They have barely been touched since the cave was discovered in 1989 or something. It`s all from the Mayan culture, where they used the dry chamber to perform human sacrifices. You see a lot of skeletons; heads, babies and there is even a full body in the end. The full body is from an 18 years old girl, and you can see the skeleton almost perfect on the ground. It’s quite strong, standing there and looking at someone who was about our own age. Try imagine being sacrificed at that age, you`ve barely lived. But I`m glad I saw it; the whole cave was beautiful, beautiful!

Caye Caulker baby! I have never experienced a place where the atmosphere has been as relaxed as there! Islands in the Caribbean just never stop impressing me. I love them! The island used to be a lot bigger, before a hurricane came and split the island in two. At that place there is an area called nothing else than The Split. This was our hang out point for tanning, swimming, partying, sunset and you name it. But the best thing we did there was going on a snorkelling trip on a sailboat. One of the biggest reefs in the world passes by Caye Caulker, so we started our day bright and shine at the dock. We were snorkelling with Stingrays, Nurse Sharks, Turtles, Magnetise and tons of beautiful and colourful fishes. After some successful snorkelling sections we party it up at the boat with rum and some reggae music. “Im drinking rum and reeedbull. Hennessy let me heart full. Dem wah me get awful. Like dem on de dancehall get crawful.” The whole day was incredible and definitely some of my many best memories so far on this trip! After about three nights there it was time to continue our adventure towards Mexico. At the border we had dogs sniffing our bags and backpacks. I even saw a guy playing with the police to get his drugs over the border. He was lucky his plan went through, because he would have been put in jail for about ten years right away! I didn’t see too much of Belize, but it was some amazing days. Latin America is coming to an end, only Mexico left, before my journey continues to South East Asia and India.

Hasta luego!

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Rio Dulce

Posted on 14. October, 2011 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

After an amazing time in Antigua and around the lake, we made our way down to Rio Dulce. It’s a tiny town by a huge river, and you find all these small hotels, hostels and boat areas along the river. We stayed at an amazing eco-lodge right across from the town, they even had a pool. Heaven! With all the sailboats around, I could definitely see myself living a quiet life on a sailboat around in the Caribbean for a while. What an amazing life! Floating around in the sun, and visiting all the beautiful places this continent has to offer. Laying in a hammock on the boat, reading my favourite book, a beer in my hand, the sun is shining, the water is clear. One week you are hiking a volcano, the next you are enjoying life on one of the magical islands around. Wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

But back to reality! Jenin and I booked a boat tour down the river to another town called Livingston. We passed hot springs, restaurants, bird islands, old graffiti and an amazing scenario of beautiful nature. After being stalked around by all the people who wants your money, we started talking to a hilarious Rasta man who was living there. He knew everything about everywhere in the world, spoke several languages and had some of the most awesome comments I’ve heard in a long time. He ended up showing us around in what he called the black community on the island. He also pointed out mister asshole for us. It was a white statue of a warrior in the water. “Why the hell do you put a white statue in a black community?!” was his exact words. We walked through the houses, visited some people, a feeding program and so on. Everyone seemed to love him wherever he went. He said he was representing the feeding program on the island, but to be honest, you never really know on this side of the world. Some people might call it a bit risky to walk around like that, but I really enjoyed the walk! It’s incredible what you can see and experience if you get off the beaten track a little bit.

Another amazing experience I’ve had the last days was to see the incredible Tikal ruins! We walked around for a few hours learning about the Mayan culture and how they used to live. If you ever end up on this side of the world, it’s definitely something you need to check out. As well as for example Macchu Pichu, it’s really impressive how they managed to build these huge buildings and temples back in the days. And I guess it’s even more impressive that they are still standing!         

Hasta luego, its finally time for Belize! (:

               

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The cultural experience of Guatemala

Posted on 6. October, 2011 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

After a lot of people have been asking about it, I`ve decided to try and write my blog in English for all the non-Norwegian speaking people I`ve met on this trip. But please notice the word TRY, me writing English is probably not the best idea people have come up with during the years of our existence.  Have or has, was or were, is or are, trust me, I will mix it up.. We might get lost in translation at some point, but I`ll give it a go!

Crossing the borders in Central America is nothing like driving through the border between Norway and Sweden. Even though it usually goes smooth, you still get a bit of a nervous feeling in your stomach every time you`re walking past people with guns and all the passport check-ups. Of course some worse than others. Luckily crossing from Honduras into Guatemala was no problemo! We made our way to Antigua, which is a charming city in the inland of the country. 3 nights went by really quickly with good dinners, a bit of partying, a bit of hangovers, markets and some walking around. I even got my ass to the post office to send home a 6 kilo package with memorable things I`ve bought on my journey so far. It feels really good to be able to put my backpack, or you might call it my life, on my shoulders without struggling too much!  

After some relaxing days in Antigua we had our first chicken-bus experience. I`ll try and explain it, but it’s one of those things you have to experience yourself to understand. The buses look like typical American school buses, but they are painted in all kind of crazy colours. You get in and there are sitting three people smashed in on one seat. No personal space going on, that’s for sure!  To make it even better, when the seats are filled up the rest starts blocking the way between them. With people sitting three on one seat as well, it doesn’t make much space for us first-timers in the back, who is trying to get off the bus!  It’s not the most comfortable buses I’ve been on, but definitely quite entertaining. The only thing I missed was a driver who actually knew how to drive, because they were fucking driving like crazy!

After some fun bus-rides, we managed to get to Panajachal alive. It’s one of the many cities around a beautiful lake, surrounded by three volcanoes. We booked a salsa lesson for the evening which was, let’s say.. Interesting! Norwegians might be born with skies on their feet’s, but I’m pretty sure the rhythm of the music doesn’t come as naturally for us. Some of you might be lucky, but in my case, not a chance in hell.  Good or bad, it was a lot of fun!

The next day we met our local family from Guatemala! It was by far an experience I`ll never forget. Me and an Australian girl named Brialee met our host father around 5, and went to their house to drop off our stuff. It was raining like crazy and my host mother gave me an umbrella to borrow. Of course I managed to break the stupid umbrella on our tour around the city, how embarrassing! Luckily Brialee was kind enough to give them hers, since she was going back home soon. We bought the kids lollipops, cornflakes and some other candy. Just seeing their faces was an amazing feeling. Things we might take for granted back home, is a big deal for many people in undeveloped countries. It definitely makes you think about how you live your life back home. We had an amazing dinner which was some kind of soup with rice and chicken and as always in Guatemala, homemade tortillas! The family basically didn’t speak any English, but we had fun conversations about all aspects of life. I must say I was quite impressed that we managed to get them to understand what we were saying about our life and our countries traditions, food, looks and so on. And dad, thumbs up, I think they will remember the story about my father’s non-hairy head and his hairy chest and stomach for a little while!

It was a couple of cultural days, and it was absolutely amazing! The family was so nice, I definitely want to experience it again someday, somewhere around this world!

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Roatan, paradise island in the Caribbean!

Posted on 6. October, 2011 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

Etter å ha krysset grensen over til Honduras, tok vi båten over til en øy på den karibiske siden kalt Roatan. Vi bodde på West End, hvor verdens ant største korallrev befinner seg. Vi leide en liten motorbåt og dro ut på snorkel tur, noe som resulterte i noen ganske så røde bakdeler. Men det var uansett verdt det og utrolig vakkert. Korallrevet er ganske nærme overflaten av vannet, så man føler man svømmer midt mellom fargerike fisker, koraller og svære skilpadder. Vi var til og med så heldige å se delfiner svømmende rundt oss! Det eneste som kunne gjort vårt lille eventyr bedre må ha vært hvis vi fant et forlist røverskip med nok gull til å åpne en bar langs stranden og leve det gode liv et par år videre ;) Roatan er virkelig en vidunder plass!

Når natteduren begynte å komme, tok vi turen opp hvor mesteparten av lokalbefolkningen bor. En lokal dame med navn Mazie hadde stelt i stand middag for oss. Det var noe lokalt, men for å være ærlig husker jeg verken hva det heter eller hva det var laget av. Smakte fantastisk uansett! Etterpå stelte de i stand latin musikk og hele nabolaget kom og danset med oss. Det er helt vilt å se danse movsa til småtassene som løper omkring. Alt fra salsa til lokale danser til Michael Jackson, de slår backpackere på ett ben.

Siste dagen toppet vi hele besøket på Roatan med å snorkle med delfiner. De begynte med å ha et show for oss, alt fra hopp til personlige triks som bare noen av dem klarte. Anthoney`s Key er navnet på hvor de har et inngjerdet svært området i sjøen for delfinene. Det som er bra er at de har luker som normalt er åpne, som tillater delfinene og svømme inn og ut så mye de vil. Mest sannsynlig tilhører de delfinene vi så når vi snorklet samme plass. Etter deres lille spektakulære show, fikk vi svømme fritt rundt med omtrent 20 delfiner. Området er selvfølgelig stort nok til at du ikke er omgitt av delfiner hele tiden, men plutselig kommer det svømmende 6 i en flokk eller mor og baby. Delfiner er virkelig noen nydelige dyr. Oppholdet på Roatan var utrolig kjekt!

I`ll be back!

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Volcano trail

Posted on 2. October, 2011 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

Etter en fantastisk start på Mellom Amerika i Costa Rica krysset jeg over til Nicaragua. Første stopp var Ometepe Island, som er en vulkan øy. Jeg og Emma leide hester, og la ut på vår første rideopplevelse. Må si jeg var ganske imponert over oss i begynnelsen, men til slutt tror jeg hestene ble leie av oss. De var i alle fall helt i sin egen verden, og plutselig satte min opp farten tilbake til hagen der vi bodde. Ganske sikker på at ridning ikke blir min nye idrett når jeg kommer hjem!

På kvelden dro vi på middag til en lokal familie på øya. Maten var helt fantastisk, men leveforholdene deres satte et lite sjokk i meg. Huset besto av et mini kjøkken, hvor de nå hadde fått en sement vegg de var veldig stolte av. Utenom kjøkkenet var det et ekstra rom hvor hele familien på fem sov sammen. Med hjelpen fra turister som kommer og spiser middag der har de nå bygget et lite utedo og et overtak utfor huset, hvor de putter opp bord for middagen. Den aller minste sønnen, en utrolig skjønning, har problemer med beina som de ikke finner ut hva er. Av de få pengene familien tjener, går mye til lege utgifter får å prøve å finne ut av hva som er gale med sønnen. Men ettersom det er lavsesong klarer ikke faren å finne seg en jobb nå, så mye blir satt på vent for familien. Til tross for at de ikke har noen ting, så er det veldig fascinerende å se hvor lykkelige de virker. Faren fortalte oss at selv om ting er utrolig vanskelig og de føler seg håpløse noen ganger, så har de hverandre og kjemper sammen for å holde ut til høy sesongen, som gjør alt lettere for dem.

Neste stopp var Granada. En koselig by i innlandet i Nicaragua. Vi dro ut på en full rundtur i området. Keramikk skole, markeder, utsiktpunkt, kratervann osv. Siste del av turen dro vi opp til en levende vulkan. En ting jeg kan love dere er at når du står på toppen og ser ned i krateret, så føler man seg ikke veldig stor eller mektig. Følelsen kan ikke forklares med ord, men det er definitivt noe av det kuleste jeg har sett i mellom amerika! Vi avsluttet dagen med en helt fantastisk fin solnedgang over vulkanen.

Granada er definitivt en by det er verdt besøke, en sjarmerende stemning! Nå er det tid for Honduras :)

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Pura Vida!

Posted on 19. September, 2011 by Charlotte Maaseide Bekkevold

For å forklare uttrykket Pura Vida, så er det mottoet til Costa Rica. Det betyr pure life, og blir brukt overalt i landet som en slags hilsen. Historisk sett er landet veldig kjent for export av bananer og kaffe. Til og med jeg som ikke liker kaffe i det hele tatt syntes kaffen her nede var god, og det er jammen meg et stort steg. Noe av det jeg fant mest spesielt med historien til Costa Rica er at de ikke har et millitær i det hele tatt. Myten rundt det er at Hitler ikke klarte å plassere Costa Rica på kartet, så den daværende presidenten påsto at; når ikke en gang Hitler vet hvor vi befinner oss, hva skal vi da med en hær? En mer realistisk grunn var at presidenten mente millitæret truet demokratiet i landet, og så langt har de klart seg godt.

Det var dagens lille historie økt. Min første dag i mellom amerika ble en nokså rolig dag, med litt sightseeing, slappe av i solen og treffe nye mennesker. Vi samlet sammen en liten gruppe som ville dra avgårde neste dag og bestemte oss i samme sleng får å få tak i billetter til Red Hot Chili Peppers konsert. Dagen derpå gikk turen avgårde til Puerto Viejo, en liten surfer/hippie bygd på den karibiske kysten. Her ble mye av tiden brukt på stranden, i små hippie boder og jeg tok meg en sykkeltur ut langs strendene. Naturen i Costa Rica er kanskje ikke unik, men definitivt utrolig vakker.

Etter to netter i Puerto Viejo var det tid for å komme seg tilbake til San Jose og på konsert med Red Hot Chili Peppers. En helt utrolig magisk konsert med fantastisk stemning. Vi sto bare et par meter i fra scenen og hadde det utrolig kult. Hoppende rundt sammen med resten av Costa Rica til noen av de mange slagerne bandet har. Viss noen av dere har mulighet til å gå på Red Hot Chili Peppers konsert i løpet av touren deres, ikke tvil en gang. Det er verdt hver eneste slant!

Hadde to rolige dager etter det, før vi torsdag morgen satte oss på en buss får å prøve hva rafting var for noe. Definitivt ikke skuffet over hva det hadde å by på. Jeg kan ikke akkurat si at vi var ekstremt gode i begynnelse, men utviklet seg fort nedover elven. Kjekt var det uansett, og spesielt når elven kom opp på level 5. Utrolig nok klarte vi alle å holde oss oppi båten, selv om det var på nære nippe et par ganger. Spesielt når guiden vår prøvde å velte båten når vi skulle leke med strømmen i vannet. Tror han satt med et lite glis om munnen når han så hvordan vi hoppet fra side til side får å unngå at båten veltet, men det funka nå iallefall (;

Fra raftingen tok vi bussen videre til La Fortuna som er en liten, liten by på enden av en vulkano. Nok en rolig kveld med middag før vi gikk i seng for å forberede oss på vulkano tur morgenen etter. Tidlig morgenen etter ble vi plukket opp og kjørt til inngangen av nasjonalparken. Her begynte den fire-fem timers lange turen opp til fossefall, små vann og varme kilder. Det spesielle med vannet her var at det en del plasser hadde en helt spesiell blåfarge. Jeg forsto ikke helt hva guiden vår sa når han forklarte det, men det var visst nok en kjemisk reaksjon som skjedde når to elver med forskjellig nivå av noe krysset hverandre. Utrolig fint var det hvertfall, uansett grunnen til fargen. Nå går turen til Nicaragua i morgen tidligt. Selv om jeg ikke har brukt så mye tid i landet, så er det uten tvil et land jeg har lyst å sjekke ut mer ved en senere anledning. Og spesielt når det ikke er regn sesong her!

PURA VIDA CHICOS!

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