Travels with SG: Times Square

Hello all!!!

We are in NYC...Going to see Les Miz tonight, a play that I have wanted to see since the early 90's!!!
At this moment are in Time Square using the free internet (15 minutes)...and who says that New Yorkers are unfriendly???

Weather is hot and sweaty...And I really do believe that San Francisco is the greatest city in the U.S. People here are crazy, everyone acts like they have no clue where they are going!

We are jumping on a courier flight to somewhere in W. Europe hopefully within the week!!! Then to S. Africa, or possibly Australia, but more on that later!

All for now,
SG

Greetings from San Francisco!

When you last heard from me I was about to board a series of 7 airplanes to take me to Tom's Bachelor Party in Vegas;

Well, now that the wedding is over, It's time for a little recap;

Mexico!
We spent over a month in my favorite country, Drinkin' Pacificos and eating Tacos. Mexico is still wonderful! (bet getting pricier!). Hello to the Creel crew, Anya and her mom, Ed Weiss, Nick and Abby

Belize!
Diving the Blue hole! Getting shipwrecked! Drinking Belikans with the Rastas. Very pricey.
Hello again Nick and Abi.

Guatemala!
Mayans in front of us, Mayan Ruins behind us, Mayan artwork surrounding us! Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee! Three weeks of Gallo Beer and Spanish School. Coulourful clothing, Jungle and Quetzals. Very Cheap. Hello Thomas and Nils!
Honduras!
The PAINTED ruins of Copan! Salva Vida Beer. Hurricane Mitch removing the roads. EXTREMELY CHEAP very friendly people.

El Salvador!
The bloody hemorrhoid on the Anus of Latin America. Kidnapping capitol of the world. Imperial Beer.

Nicaragua!
Ever present Peace corps volunteers. Santos! 20 cent beers!

Costa Rica!
Gallo Pinto! Swinging through the rain forest with SGK's parents, Volcanoes. Hello to the Arpebings. Welcome back to first world prices.

Panama!
The canal. US Dollars as a currency. Shitty beer. The Kuna Indians in the most beutiful place in the world: The San Blas Islands. Hello Kym!

Colombia!
Swimming in the Volcano. Fantastic Architecture. Tear Gas, Guerrilla attacks, plane hijackings, Bombings, DANGER! Hello to the Cartegena Crew and Frosty Nick

Ecuador!
Welcome back to third world prices! Alpaca clothing. Cyber cafe's on ever corner! Rude Israeli soldiers. Hello to Nick's Parents!

Peru!
Another winner here! more than a month. The childhood dream of seeing the Nazca lines, the 4 day Inca Trial, Scenery to die for. Cusquena beer. Hello Fiona, Owen and the Inca trail crew!

Bolivia!
Titicaca from Isla del sol. Freezing temperatures. Altitude and more altitude. The driest desert on earth. Hello Mac, Luis and all the gang! Sandi's death :-(

Chile!
Hello first world prices (Again!) Welcome back to the land where you can flush the paper! Skiing fresh powder in July!

Where do we go from here?

Well, my company wants me to Work in Oz; but SaraGrace wouldn't be able to work there, so we turned them down. They then asked if we would consider a couple of months as a trial; We are still waiting to hear back on that, but are not holding our collective breaths, so we decided to head on out again and see more of the world whilst we wait. We have a frequent flier ticket to NY where we will see my aunt and wait for a courier flight to London (Be warned all you residents of Britain! We may show up at your doorstep looking to sleep on your floor!)

In London we will buy a cheap flight from Seefax to South Africa!

Cheers and by for now!
MRA

The Old World

The original plan was to not even go to Europe before heading to Africa; however th easiest way to South Africa from North America is through London; so here we are. Plans did change again as you will see as you read on.

Greetings from Santiago Chile!!!!

Hi All!
When I last left you, we were in La Paz, Bolivia and had just seen Lucas's Episode I: The Disappointing Menace.
We Took the first bus out the next morning to Oruru where we planned on changing to the Train to Uyuni and the Salt Flats of the Atacama Desert, Well, It turned out that we would have to wait all day in Oruru (A pretty BORING place) for the train out, so after a REALLY good BBQ lunch, we hopped a bus for Potosi instead.
Bolivia is the coldest damn place on earth. The warmest it got in Potosi (Elevation 4900 Meters) was 0°... And that was during the middle of the day! Every building in this country is built out of mud, so you can imagine how cold the nights got with no insulation!
The Mines in Potosi are amazing! The Spanish used to sentence prisoners here to 5 year sentences knowing that they would die in 2, and people now decide to work here (under the same conditions!) VOLUNTARILY!!!! It got kind of scary as we were about 1/2 mile underground and the dynamite started going off!!!!
Our next stop was Uyuni (where we saw Mac again!) and the salt flats. We took a 3 day tour across the salt flats and Atacama Desert into Chile. The Atacama is AMAZING. They have NEVER recorded rainfall here!! EVER!!! The Driest (and COLDEST IMHO) place on earth. When we crossed the Border into Chile, it was CULTURE SHOCK!!!! Harald, you were right, Chile is a modern country. They have PAVEMENT!!! You can drink from the tap! The toilets have SEATS on them! and wonders of wonders, YOU CAN FLUSH THE PAPER DOWN!!!!!!!!!! (The first time in 6 months we could do that!)
From San Pedro de Atacama (REALLY cute town, if you go stay at Hotel Rayco and say hi to Mabel for us!) we headed to La Serena - Chile's premier beach town. It was a disappointment (First bum tip you've given us Harald!) But the shopping mall there was tremendous! (Ask SGK how she liked the LIDER store) and thence on to Santiago.
Boy, people give American's a bad name for fast food and shopping malls - That's ALL that's in Santiago. So we bailed and went Skiing. El Colorado Ski Resort (La Parva was not yet open) and skied on Jul 1!!! in white out conditions, but hey, this was Skiing in Chile! Something I had wanted to do since I was a kid (or am I still a Kid?) After Skiing, we headed to the Winery's... And found out that Chilean wineries don’t give tours!
Where do we go from Here?
Well, we have a hell of a trip ahead of us; We fly from Santiago to Lima, then on to San Jose Costa Rica for a night's layover (Will Petra and Claire be there? The timings right if they just left Utila - Lets go out and repeat that drunken night in Mazatlan!!) then on another plane for San Salvador, changing to Miami and another night's layover, then to Denver to change planes for San Francisco for 3 nights, and on to Vegas for the Bachelor Party (Boy Tom, you had better appreciate it!)
Cheers! MRA

PS: Haven’t heard for Hans, Alice & Andy, Petra & Claire, Owen, or my Brother Doug or my Mom in awhile!!!