river tagged posts

Ayutthaya

Since we had seen some photos from Ayutthaya in a magazine, we decided to spend a day there. Declared as Unesco’s World Heritage, the city has many temples spread by the river margins. It was also the capital of Siam for about 4 centuries. Nowadays it has a peaceful atmosphere, far from the rush and stress of Bangkok. We felt that on restaurants and hotels. Here life goes slower and more contemplative.

We visited some ruins. Not all of them because it would be so tiresome and we assimilate what we were seeing. It was interesting to learn a bit about the Buddhist rituals. We spent some time in a temple observing it. There were the symbolic objects: the candle, representing the wisdom, the flowers, the compassion, the incense, and the purification. There was also a pot full of sticks that they shake it until one of the sticks pop out. On it there was a number that correspond to a message...

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Dresden


Together with 3 other classmate from Germana classes we got a train to Dresden. We used the Schönes Wochenende Ticket (Happy Weekend Ticket), a very cheap ticket that can be used unlimited times (only on regional trains) to up to 5 people. The trip was fun, we laughed a lot the whole journey. The city reminded me Prague or Budapest, we walked all over downtown. I love cities with rivers or sea.

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Aparados da Serra: Itainbezinho, trail of Rio do Boi and Fortaleza

Sorry, this entry is only available in Portuguese.

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Rio da Prata


The Recanto Ecológico do Rio da Prata is in Jardins, a town 54km far from Bonito. The trip was too far to be done with a moto-taxi. I end up getting a hide from a “carioca” couple and his son João. There, we got the equipment (wetsuit, boots, mask and snorkel). Then we hiked by the river for an hour and a half. Almost every tour in this region has this kind of hikes. I consider them important because it is when the guide explain about the environment and he give a class on ecological awareness. It is worth it, the places are so beautiful and it is necessary to preserve.

We went in the water at the spring of Rio Olho D´água and there started snorkeling. We came back to our starting point by the river, following the stream. We didn’t have to swim, neither move the legs, it was just lay down on the water and let the river take you. Good! The river was very clear and we could see a great amount of fishes.

Back to the farm house we had a lunch with typical food...

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Istambul


Once again I arrived in a new country with sore throat. Since I was really tired I decided to sleep the whole morning. In the afternoon I left the hostel to see the city. My lunch costed 7 millions, I realized it would be difficult to get used with the amount of zeros on the Turkish lira bills. The waiter told me to be careful in order to not be cheated. He said it is common to trick tourists that aren’t used with the money. I asked if I should be careful with him. He answered: “NO, not me. I’m talking about the others. I’m honest”.

I visited the Aya Sofia, a church constructed in 532 and during years it was the biggest in the world. There were times that its mosaics were covered because the Islamism prohibited the images. Today it works as a museum. The place is impressive…

After I went to see the Blue Mosque, a mosque constructed in the beginning of the seventeenth century. Its towers and domes made it the most famous one in Istanbul. The tourists enter through the side door...

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Rurrenabaque and the Pampas

The trip to Rurrenabaque was long. First I caught a transport (to go on foot, pressed, in the trunk of a pick-up truck) to Yolosa. From there, I got a bus to Rurre (it is how they call Rurrenabaque here). We arrive there really early, at 5am, and we stayed sleeping in the bus waiting to day light up. When we woke up, we were to get our backpacks from roof of the bus and the backpack of a Scottish guy had been stolen. There are lots of robberies stories around here… I went to the hotel, I took a shower and an excellent breakfast in a restaurant close by. I confirmed my tour to the following day and spend the rest of the day doing nothing. It was happy in being in a hot place. Sometimes the cold tires me off.

The tour was a disaster. We left 2 hours late, then travel 4 hours to a small town called Santa Rosa. After waiting a long time for the food, that they did not have enough, we left for 3 more hours by boat in the river Yacuma to the campsite...

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Jungle tour near Puyo

We (an Australian couple, an English girl, a guide and I) left Baños early to spend a few days in indigenous huts in the jungle. The trip to Puyo was great. We rode on the roof of the bus van, it was the best place to see the scenery. We passed through some beautiful waterfalls. Before going to the camp site we stopped in a place called Reserva Fátima, a natural reserve for animal and environment. The infrastructure was really simple, it looked like a house with a patio full of animals. They take care of turtles, alligators and snails. There are also parrots, macaws and monkeys that the police apprehends and brings there for rehabilitation to the environment.

In the afternoon we got to our campsite to leave our stuff and left for a 4 hours walk in the jungle. We stopped to see some medicine plants. As it was rain season, we walked (with rubber boots) the whole time on the mud. The end of our trail there was a waterfall where we took a shower...

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Foz do Iguaçu

Sorry, this entry is only available in Portuguese.

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