And the Winner is........

I have been long meaning to to this write a kind of best of and worst of list of my travels through the americas. So here it is...

Countries visited: Canada, United States of America, Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

Favourite Country: Well there is not answer to this really as I loved each and every country for different reasons, which I could go on about for a long time but I will not. Let me just say that I do have a soft spot for Bolivia, a country of dramatic scenery changes and very interesting people.






Favourite Big City: Again another tough one but I would have to say
- New York
- Buenos Aires

with some honerable mentions to Havana and Santiago.


Prettiest Country: Costa Rica with 1/3 of the country national park, it is green tropical lush and with some picture postcard beaches.












Ugliest City: San Jose, Costa Rica. Sure I lived there for 3 weeks with a lovely family. It is a well run city, that is a lot of fun and is full of great people. It just is not the prettiest place to be, maybe it is overshadowed by the surrounding beauty.

Country with the cutest boys: Go you Cubans! With Honerable mention to the Argentians (if only they would cut there hair)

Country with the sleaziest boys: Go you Cubans again! Hola linda (hello lovely), hissing, kissing sounds, dame un bessito (give me a little kiss) or simply lady you want a boyfriend being hollered at you all the time in the street it can be quite full on a times. Again a honeralbe mention to the Argentinans similar in a way to the Cubans but less strong and not the hissing.

Ladies I hope you see the catch 22 involved in the above two statements!












The cutest kids:
- Were some peruvian kids I met hiking in the andes, they were out herding sheep with their brothers.
- Also there was a super cute boy I met on an argentinian bus, he was very sweet and not old enough to understand I did not speak fluent spanish.

Best Hostel: Definately Hostal de Sammy in Santiago, Chile. It felt more like a home than a hostel. Great owners, free internet, free pool table tennis, free breakfast and a TV lounge with xbox, playstation and 700 DVD's to watch. Complete with a lovely dog called Sausage, a crazy puppy called Rompie, and a cat called Wyatt.



Best Meals:
- Mendoza winery tour lunch in Argentina.
- The little italian restaurant with homemade pasta in La Paz, Bolivia.
- Breakfasts at Casa Cecilas in Puerto Natales in Chile.
- Pavel's mums cooking in Santa Clara, Cuba.
- Senora Barbosa's home cooking in San Jose, Costa Rica.
- Pizza at Minuteman pizza in Uyuni, Bolivia


Worst Meals:
- Gritty rice and beans (I do not know how you could get it so wrong) in Santa Clara restaurant, Cuba.
- "Salad" consisting of a plate of sliced tomato again in Santa Clara, Cuba.
- There were also many a "vegetarian" options meals which were only rice and some shredded cabbage and tomato.

Meals that haunt you!
Well I only really had two bad episodes of food poisoning. The winner being ceviche in Peru. Yes, I know I should have know better than to eat raw fish in Peru but it is the national "specialty" and I thought I should give it a try. But after 5 days of diarrhoea, loosing about 3Kg in a week, fevers, sweats and debilitating cramps and two courses of anti-biotics I have learnt my lesson.

Most difficult country to be vegetarian in: With Argentina being the steak capital of the world and Chile's national food being a hot dog. These two being the most modern of countries you thought it might be easier but situations where people can not make you a ham and cheese sandwich without the ham can get kind of frustrating.

Easiest country to be vegetarian in: With all the hippies you would have to say Canada, and believe it or not Peru was not too bad, with each town managing to have a hari crishna restaurant.

Favourite new foods:
- Empanadas (pastry or bread dough pockets filled with cheese, tomato or vegie fillings), Chile and Argentina.
- Rice and beans, Costa rica and Cuba
- Plantanes, savoury bananas, well basically an unripe banana often sliced finely and fried like chips with salt and lemon they are soooo good, Costa Rica.
- Dulce de Leche, a sweet caramel like sauce used in chile and argentina to fill biscuits, cakes, ice cream or just to eat on your toast at breakfast time.
- Submarinos, hot milk with a chocolate bar put in to melt while you drink it. So simple, so good, Bolivia and Argentina
- Poutine sp? Chips served with gravy and cheese curds a heart attack waiting to happend but oh so good. Canada.

Best Toilets: Canada, everything is automatic, the flush, the soap, the tap the paper towel and always spotlessly clean.

Worst Toilets: Cuba no seat, no paper, no door, no flush, no water in the tap! And you have to pay a tip to the person sitting out the front or they do not let you in! Bolivia is a close second. You learn pretty quickly to always carry a roll of paper and baby wipes with you at all times.

Total flights taken so far: 15

Longest Flight: Melbourne to LA 17 hours.

Longst plane travel time: 28 hours to get from Melbourne to Vancouver.

Worst Airline: American Airlines, delayed planes, planes with holes in the engines, loosing my bags, and a 4 hour flight with no drink let alone food. Runner up British Airways, broken in-light entertainment system (staff where very nice though)

Best Airline: Qantas, runner up COPA (Panama's airline) both with nice staff, good food. Qantas I got cadbury ice cream mmmmm.

Toughest Customs:
- Definately cuba, 2 1/2 hours of questioning by 3 different people.
- Runner up the USA, long lines, finger prints, photos. Men with porno moustaches.

Easiest Customs:
- Costa Rica, I could not find them, they were all hanging out the back having coffee, and when I did find them they said (in spanish) "hello lovely, just leave your form on the table there"

Total number of long distance bus rides: Approximately 47

Longest bus ride: 26 hours Salta to Iguazu, Argentina.












Best Long distance Buses: Argentina, almost fully reclining chairs (think a bus full of jason recliners), food and drink service, movies, blanket and pillows. It is like business class on a bus. Chilian buses very similar. And in Argentina there was a bus company named after my old cat "fletcha"

Worst Long distance Buses:
- Hands down Bolivia, no suspension, broken seats, no toilets, crazy sleep deprived drivers, people standing in the isles and then you bag sits procariously on top of the bus roof.
- Second is Costa Rica, only for the fact it is so hot and you are in a crappy old bus with no airconditioning, makes you want to pass out!

Most memorable moments: I could potentially go on here for ages and ages but some definate highlights for me were.











- Learning to snowboard in Canada.
- Dog sledding in Canada
- Zip lining through pristine Costa Rican rain forest.











- Lounging on perfect cuban beaches.
- Hiking in the Peruvian andes.
- Macchu Picchu.











- Bolivan salt planes.
- Mountain biking the worlds most dangerous road.












- The moai statues of easter island.
- Hiking in the empty torres del paine national park and standing naked in front of a glacier!











- Visiting the spectacular blue moreno glacier in Argentina.
- The Spectauclar Iquazu Falls.