Gumby and the Fat Kid go to Rio

Wow.  Rio de Janeiro.  This place is awesome. Above is a picture of the largest and most dangerous Favela in Rio.  300,000 people live here and it is run by a 24 year old drug lord.  In order to get to the top of the Favela, we took motorcycles.  And by that, I mean we each rode on the back of a motorcycle while some crazy Brazilian weaved in and out of traffic at high speeds.  Eric almost died.  Literally.  We spent about 6 hours touring through this "city" learning about it and being told to be careful of who you take pictures of.  Pretty much the rule of thumb is that if they had a gun or walkie talkie, don't take a picture.  During the tour we stopped in this little bakery where we ate some amazing stuff, though what REALLY peaked our interest is when they asked if we wanted shots of Cichaca (Brazilian Firewater).  It was like 2PM... OF COURSE we wanted shots!!!  And we bought this bottle.  Yes, that's a full crab in there.  And we are pretty sure this is the equivalent of moonshine-  When you do a shot, you lose your vision for minute. It's my new favorite thing...   My liver hates me.

This is a picture from up in the rain forest somewhere.  Eric and I went on the coolest tour and saw all the sights.  We've been spending a lot of time at the beach in Ipanema - I am NEVER going to get tired of seeing teeny, tiny, thong bikinis.  Holy sexy time.  I surfed yesterday too, it was pretty good - but enough about that, the bikinis are awesome.

So of course we are seeing the sights.  The Christ was actually really awesome.  It was HUGE!!!  (That's what she said)  And super high up in the mountains.  Seeing this on TV just doesn't do it justice.

Why do girls love Jesus?  Because he's hung like this!!! Bahahahaha!!!!

Yep, I'm going to hell on a scholarship...

One thing I didn't know is that there is INSANE graffiti here.  These guys are talented. 

More anything???  More EVERYTHING!!!

Food.  I love food.  We've had some pretty awesome meals, and drinks.  And when you hang out with people who are also on extended vacations with nuthin' to do, you pretty much have a beer or two with every meal.  Why wouldn't we want a beer!?  Oh, and we discovered that we don't get hungover in Rio.  No 5 Hour Energy necessary.

It hasn't all been amazing though.  This morning I stubbed my toe, and that sucked.  OH!  And my toenail finally fell off!!!  Rosie, its in the mail, as promised...

This is on the Lapa Steps with the artist (in the hat) that did all of this tile work over the last 30 + years.  It was really cool.  A lot of it was historical and political too.

We hiked up Sugar Loaf Mountain for sunset.  There were these mini-monkeys that we were feeding trail mix too (thanks Mom!).  IT WAS AWESOME.  I want one.  I was tryin' to get it on my shoulder but this was the best I could do.  It was really funny too because I became the center attraction.  About twenty tourists were swarming around taking pictures of this.  So pretty much this picture just went international.  Now I'm famous.  Hollywood here I come.

Oh, and I was the blue Power Ranger.  That's how Eric and I met.  He was the red one.

So while taking this picture I was totally wanting this thing to just attack Eric's face.  I would have pee'd my pants.  Oh relax!  He was thinking the same thing when I was playing with my monkey!!! 

Sugar Loaf Mountain in the back.  You can tell we are miserable...

Okay, so when we first arrived we went to this hostel that sucked, so we just stayed one night and then moved to another GREAT hostel.  BUT, that one night we were at the shitty hostel, we went to a Football Match (Soccer) and started talking to this girl from Mmmmmmmmmmmississippi.  Her name is Mary.  She is awesome.  We adopted her for 7 days and took her along with us everywhere we went.  Planned her excursions and meals.  Made sure she brushed her teeth and tucked her in at night.

She was the sweetest southern girl in the world, but it was like traveling with a toddler.  WE LOVE AND MISS YA MARY!!!  We'll see you soon.

This is the pic from Sugar Loaf at sunset.You can see the Christ on the right.  Josh, it was EPIC!!! 

Eric left yesterday and I'm here till Friday, did a booze cruise last night and had a blast.  Eric, you missed out on that one.  Actually, you ALL missed out on that one.  I'll post pics next time.  I miss you buddy!!!

"What are you, Coconuts?!"

I love me some me....                  

The clubs and bars have been super fun here.  I dont know how we have been doing it, but we pretty much get back to the hostel somewhere between 5 and 7 in the morning.  And we aren't even shutting the bars down!  Oh, and I slept on the couch in the hostel bar one night because these two girls (Sara and Erica... they're gonna be the death of me) I met in Cusco just met up here in Rio, but there wasn't a bed for them on one night, so I convinced the hostel to let me sleep in the bar and gave them my bed.  I know, I know.  I'm a gentleman.  Though, it was a little awkward waking up with people around me eating breakfast!  And by awkward I mean awesome.  Click clack.

This was Mmmmmmmmmmmmississippi Mary's last night.  We stayed up with her til 4AM to make sure she got in the cab okay.  The last day at the beach she was determined to get tan... I yelled at Eric for letting her get so burnt.  The three of us was literally like a seven day episode of My Two Dads...

And Rio got Gaucho'd.  Boom.

Meetin' Mark in Panama on Friday!  So, until next time...

-Jefe

Rule #5: Play Like a Champion

GOOOOOOD Morning boys and girls!  Well, I'm a little behind on this thing, but that's kinda the point, right? So we did the whole Machu Picchu deal, and it was awesome, especially climbing Huayna Picchu (the big mountain behind me).  Though, apparently staying up til 3:30 AM drinkin', dancin', everythin'... isn't the best training and preparation for that climb.  Especially at 8,500 FT.  So this pic is afterward, and I'm just doin' my best not to throw up on my shoes.  It was GREAT though, Machu Picchu was awesome.  And why I wore jeans and a flannel to hike all that is beyond me...  Lost about 5 lbs that day...

So, the next big thing.  Getting down to earth.  Not really much explanation needed, I jump off a basket hanging in between two mountains.  Bungee jumping is probably one of the most unnatural things a human can do, but it's a rush like no other.  People always talk about sky diving like its the sh!t, but I've done both and bungee is WAAAY better.  And harder.  You just dont get the sense of falling when you are sky diving, and for some reason it seamed easy to jump out of a plane.  Any way, this video is from a place we found in Cusco, and Clarke and I both made this jump.  Just under 400 FT up.  As you can tell in the video, I'm not nervous at all... Click and watch -  Leap of Faith... Why? Why not?!?!?

Moving forward.  Onward and upward.

Currently I'm in Rio de Janeiro.  Spent one night in Sao Paulo, went to the park the next day when Eric met up, then we decided that the beach was a callin'.  Sao Paulo is just a big city, not really a fun spot to vacation.  RIO ON THE OTHER HAND!!!!  Holy crap I like this place.  I have 10 more days here and, well, lets just say its been fun.  Eric and I took the midnight train to Rio, drank wine and watched Wedding Crashers on my computer while he sliced up salami and crackers.  We splurged and spent like $60 on the most luxurious bus they had.  It was like sitting in a Lazy Boy for 6 hours.  Unfortunately, and not suprisingly, Eric got sick.  This is me volunteering with Make a Wish foundation and visiting the hospital...

 Relax bleeding hearts, its an inside joke.  If you dont get it - well then you dont get it.  But look at this pic.  HE IS DYING!!!  We colored for a bit.  I did a purple elephant, it's darn near flawless.

Ooooooohhhkay, enough of that...






So now we're in Rio, and so far so good.  Two nights ago we did this Favela rave party thing that went until 4AM.  It was crazy.  Shots shots shots, shots shots shots shots!

After, I ate a hot dog that had EVERYTHING on it.  Really, everything. Even a hard boiled quail egg.  Soooo good.  Bring on the fat jokes...

Any way, this party was COCONUTS!  You know its gonna be a good night when you get warnings like "dude, be careful because a lot of the REALLY hot girls there... are tranies".  WTF!?

Yesterday it was raining, so we did the only thing we could - drink all day.  Then, party at the hostel where I defended the USA like six times in arm wrestling.  Current hostel champ.  A couple cute American chicks (I include Eric in this group) were cheering me on.  And no, it was NOT my idea, but for some reason these guys kept messin' with me...  well, those that know me, know I don't lose.  Chants of "USA! USA! USA!" and Eric doing high kicks shaking pom poms would follow every win.  Team America.  4 Eva.

Well kids, that's it for know.  As you can see from the pic on the right, Eric and I are taking our vitamins and getting lots of healthy rest.  A couple activities on deck:  Christo, Sugar Hill, Favela Tour, Isla Grande (maybe), and... I talked Eric into hang gliding over the city.  He's gonna poop his pants.

And of course we may stop by the beach a couple more times...

And maybe a beer or two along the way...

Yea, its gonna be a goooooood two weeks.

Cheers.

- Jefe

Gettin' into the swing of things...

Okay, now this is what I came for.  Good times and great experiences.  We have been exploring the streets of Cusco, getting into the local markets, livin' it up at the bars, and taking in the sites.

Yesterday we took this tour of the Sacred Valley that stops at three ruins.  I'm not gonna cover all the names because, well, do you really care?  Didn't think so.  The tour started at 8:30 AM and was nearly 12 hours hoping on and off the bus with about 20 people total.  We were about an hour in, nearly to the first ruins.  Driving slowly up the mountain, the views were spectacular and everyone was quietly taking it all in... Suddenly Clarke blurts out "Holy crap!  That cow is totally peeing on that other cow's head!!!" ... Let me tell you, Peru is really putting me in touch with my spiritual side.
      

Speaking of cows... The markets here are AWESOME.  We pretty much eat here every day.  Three of us can eat for about $2.50.  Sometimes it can be difficult figuring out what you are ordering, but you just kinda roll the dice and hope for the best.  
Which reminds me, my Spanish is horrible.  I'm working on it...

Moooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Clarke and I hanging with some of the peeps at the hostel and doin' "Machu Picchu shots."  Yes the night life is thumping.  It seems like every night there is something going on and new people getting to the hostel.  Put  bunch of young people together (no old jokes, jerks) with nothing to do every night and you get some good times. 

Hiking around the ruins is a lot of fun, but it also kicks your ass.  I find my heart pounding out of my chest and sucking air pretty much as soon as we start climbing.  Then, of course, we think its hilarious that we cant breath so we start laughing uncontrollably... and surprisingly that doesn't help you catch your breath.

Check out the mountain to the right.  They carved a face in the mountainside. I think this guy was supposed to guard the grain that they stored in the side of the mountain.  They put it in the mountain because it would stay dry from rain and the wind would blow through the storage center...

Educational, huh?

This is a picture of the best ruins we have hiked yet.  They are called Ollantaytambo and right across the valley from the picture above.

This is the same ruin from the other side.  These pictures don't really give it justice.  The scale and size of these mountains is awesome.






That's it for now boys and girls.  Today I took a huge 400 FT leap of faith, and tomorrow is Machu Picchu.  The next blog should be fun...

-Jefe

Showcasing my eye for photography...

Whew... made it

It was a long journey, 5 hour layover in Bogata, and almost didnt make a connection to Cusco.  During the layover acutauly kicked it with the son of a famous surf movie-maker, and some other hollywood types... pretty random actually but really cool.  Nuthin like havin some beers in the Bogata airport til 1:30 AM.  But after a total of about 26 hours of travel, I´m in Cusco.

The bad news - the airline lost my backpack and I have no clothes... or anything else, really.

Yea, not good... 

Though, Clarke and I are kickin it, just walked the city for a couple of hours.  Its crazy though, you gotta keep your head on a swivel or you´ll get nailed by a car.  Probably gonna start having a couple of drinks with the other travelers in the hostel.  The hostel is really cool, its called Pariwana.  Ping pong, bar, restaurant, great showers, travel bookings, etc.  You just cant beat $8 bucks a night, and dollar beers at 11,000 feet go a looooong way...

Any way, just wanted to kick-off this blog and let everyone know it´s all good!  Pray that I get my backpack, or its gonna be a long, stinky three months...

Hasta Luego,

Jefe