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Mikkel Thorup

Thank You for all the saport threw my Latin American trip.

Been A Good Trip

well its all over now. i left colombia yesterday. but i guess i will tell you about that after, first i should write what i did for the last week or so of my trip. last i left you i think i was heading back or already back in bogota. it was a stressfull bit of time there, new passports, visas, plain tickets, banks, gerneraly just a lot of running around a huge city trying to get stuff done. once i had a bit of handle on it and while things where in the works, i headed down to popayan12 hours away, a very pretty colonel town, about my hundredth, very nice of course though. spent a cuple of days walking the streets, talking to locals and pretty much just relaxing. i wanted to head to at boarder town one of the morings, they have aperatly a very impressive church thats right ontop of a bridge, with mountains as the back drop. got up at 6 and headed to the bus stop with all of my stuff, had checked the times the night before and there shouldnt have been any thing to worrie about. start talking to the guy at the desk and he tells me that theres no busses going threw there, the gorilias are sweeping by or some thing. guess im glad it happened while i was on this side of the road, thats all i need is to be on the wrong side of the war, not be able to get back. started checking around, there was a bus heading to san agestin, sounded like a pretty place, after sitting in the bus stop for a few hours we set out, im right at the back of this little white bus, my seet is a foot higher then the rest, for six hours we travel threw the worst mountain road of my life. slaming threw pot holes over the unkept dirt road. smacking my head on the roof the hole way. at about three hours in, we have our expected drug checks by the milatery, after i go and sit on a bench, where out literly in the midle of no where, the solders are so board, i dont think they see many foreners, they wanted to know every thing, i had about 15 of them crowding around me, and then the hole bus who didnt realize i was a tourest behind them too. i got a picture with all the army guys, me a little white kid and 15 big dark colombian solders, one of the guys even let me hold his M16 for the photo. good times, good times.
i was so sick and disorentated from the rest of the bus ride when i got to the town i just paid some guy in a jeep to take me to a hotle. after a lie down i met who was staying there. there was two canadians at the begining of there trip and a danish girl and her kewi boyfriend who have been living in colombia for 6 months. asked lots of questions about new zealand. had a great time hanging out whith the other travelers, went and saw lots of arciological sites, hundreds of mysterious monnolithic statues scatered threw the mountains. took a jeep tour and saw waterfalls and the river, one of the waterfals was over 400m, very impresive. the rest of my week there was spent talking photography with the kewi, scuba diving with the danish, philosaphy with one of the canadians and lititure with the other. and of course travel with all, pretty much my faverate topics. spendeding a week in the garden like this was a perfect way to finish my trip.
i headed back to bogota on a night bus, 11 hours of hell as usual, the bus it self is nice but being wake up in the midle of the night to be searched for drugs or wepons by the military AGAIN! was unpleasent as ever. hapens at least once every trip and these guys wernt very nice like the last group. at about two oclock they turn on the lights so the guy can wake every one up to give them there complametery bag of chips and a pop. i think i had just fallen asleep five min before, you want to just yell at them for the obsertaty of it. but of course to put icying on the anoying ass cake they turn a movie on, full blast, i look around and theres not one person on the bus whos watching the tv. argg... defenatly a love hate relationship with latin america...
i show up in bogota at about 5 in the morning, got to my hotel, theres no rooms open dispite my reserving one, o well, the guy asures me that by check out at noon there should be some thing. fine, i just need to sleep, im dieing here, he lets me curl up on the floor and i pass out.
a cuple of hours later im woken by the hostle starting its day. only need to sit around for 4 hours till my rooms ready now... anyways you get the point wasent happy. its sunday and theres nothing open, its siting in the hostle with a book for me, dont mind at allstill exosted from the bus trip. monday i have all planed out so i can get every thing ready for my flight the next morning. im up with first light, showered and ready to go. say hello to the owner of the place, he tells me that its a holiday, nothings open, the consulet is defently closed. shit. what the hell am i saposed to do now...
i get a hold of a friend of mine back home and she finds me the number for the canadian goverment, call them up and explain, they get a hold of the canadian consulet on an emergancy number. the canadians in the office dont get a holiday, only the colombians so hes says he will try and find my passport and see what he can do. after a bit of waiting he calls back that its ready and he will be around if i wanna pick it up. so lucky, i take the hour bus ride across town and head into the bilding, the seceraty gard wont let me in, never heard of the guy that im saposed to meet, doesnt have any way of checking eather, wont even go up the few floors in the elavator to see, basterd. i leave in surch of a phone lucky i had brought the guys number with me. eventualty i got a hold of him and he came down stairs to get me. every thing worked out in the end just a lot more work then i though it would have to be. i have my canadian passport stating it was isued in colombia, and on halloween at that, coolest p;assport around i bet. finnished the rest of stuff i needed done that day and spent the night with friends and relaxing.
my flights yesterday where long and anyoing, over 15 hours of travel before i made it. called my friend im saposed to be staying with but shes not home, i dont care and i take a 25 doller taxi to her house anyways, i call her on the drivers cell phone but still no awser, o well its only 12 oclock at night i will just start knocking on random apartment doors to ask where she lives. took a bit of work but i found her place. she was asleep, has to work early the next moring, didnt hear the phone. no worries im here now and i need to sleep my self.
so that pretty much catches you all up to whats been going on. ive spent the morning ejoying the internet and relaxing in her awsome apartment while shes at work, eating lots of random food i havent had in a year, pickels, good cheese, sour cream. had a hot shower, able to throw the toilet paper in the toilet, great things these. the first world rocks.
im about 15 min from the beach, but its been raining for hours, mabey tommrow.
so im here for another 3 nights visiting frineds before my flight to auckland new zealand, very excied on this. so the jerney continues!
lots of love
mikkel

Urban Life

well its been a while again since i wrote.
been in bogota most of the last cuple weeks, enjoying city life. the hostle i was at was great, so many ppl partying most every night, we went a disk called cha chas a few times, its on the 41st floor of a hotle, awsome vuie of the city.
had a hole crew of ppl that would go out, 3 or 4 taxis worth. anywhere we went was the party.
i spent canadian thanks giving with a cuple of canadians and americans, went out for a nice dinner. no turkey but it was still good.
visited a town called villa de lava, colonial town, looks the same as it did hundreds of years ago, mountains in the backgrounds. took tons of great photos.
not a lot to tell about bogota, visited lots of musems witch where world class.
urban life is fun again, after being on the beach and doing trecks. less to wright about though...
anyways just thought i should let every one know im alright.
mikkel

Lost City

well im back in taganga. third time here now. stayed here for a few days, did some diving and hanging out on the beach. left to visit a national park. it was pretty there. did some more camping, reading and hanging out on the beach. good fun for sure. when i got back to tarange i relaxed and was getting ready to head to bogata. told my friend one moring i was leaving, eliya wanted to head to another beach, had decided that she didnt want to do the lost city trek, to expensive or some thing. fine then im not doing it eather. im going to the capital. gave her a hug and she went off to run arends in santa marta, the next town over. this is first thing in the morning. its an amazingly hot day, i cant be bothered to leave yet, im going to sit in the hamack for a cuple hours and read. i pack my bags and am thinging about heading to santa marta to catch a bus. but its 17 hours and if i left at that time of the day i would end up getting in to town in the middle of the night. not a something you want to do in colombia, even more so that theres 9 million ppl in bogata. alright ill go sit in the hammack for a cuple more hours, still to hot anyways to be draging my backpack around. at 5 oclock i decided its time to stop putting it off and get on a all night bus. im wrighting my friend and good bye, backpack on when she comes running in. listen, i talked to some ppl they said the trek was amazing, i wanna do it. alright, then we go. i drop my bags head in to santa marta, find the ppl who are running the tour and pay them. we left early the next morning. what an experence, 6 days hiking in paramilitary jungle, up and down mountains, crossing rivers, running away from huge snakes and meeting amazing indigenus ppl. first day our jeep broke down 6 or 7 times. not a great start, it took us as far as the road goes. the only way to get to the ruins is by hiking. we met some of the paramilitary within the first hour of the trek. rodrigo our guid and his brothers are the only ones who run this tour. they used to do drug running for the paramilitary. bringing all the coke down from the mountains to the ocean where its sent of to god knows where. very dodgy, very dangerus. hes still friends with them and pays them off to let him bring ppl back to see the ruins. me and a guy named chris from belgum stop to talk to them. they want to sells us drugs, we dont want any. there nice enuff. ask us where we are from. belgum! thats where my guns from. he started showing it off to us. he was very excited to meet some one from there. thanked him and all. we didnt make it to first our first camp the first night because of the death trap of a jeep, so we stayed with some farmers. ate well, and we where up early the next morning to start hiking again. we head to where we where saposed to spend the first night, theres a bunch of guys standing around a pool table. they look like farmers. very random, a pool table a days march in from the closest. even more so becasue they all have granades straped to there belts. i find out there not farmers. they work at a cokecane factory thats close by. makes more sence.. we went swimming in the waterfalls close by, was about to climb out and almost put my hand on a spider the same as it. from a cuple feet away you can see the fangs. scary stuff. we made it to the next nights camp with no major problems. been a full day though and every ones beet. we all head to our hamacks our beds for the week. not very plesent considering i always sleep on my stomak, somthing i now know is imposable, the body just isnt ment to bend like that. the next day was an ass kicker, up and down mountains as usual but this time in the rain. plus we did 8 river crossings. almost fell so many time, you would get washed right down river. at the final river crossing we came to the first steps of the lost city. its over 2000 of them, relativly strait up and at an insanly dificult angle. it took a good 45 min to get to the top. i was so excited i didnt let fatige get then way, all but ran those stairs. the ruins where excelent. much better then anything i had in mind. steps and stone teraces where huts used to be, and it was huge, just kept going up and up. amazing vuies, your right in the mountains, jungle creeping in right on you. felt like indian jones. the ruins where first found in 1973 by tresure hunters but didnt discover anything of value there. word got out about the discovery, one of the most important finds of pre colombian ruins in the americas. grave diggers and tresure hunters returned and pilfered the place. found gold that is now spread across the world, a lot of it in private colections. the paramilitarys and the gorillas fought over the teratory. there where conflicts for years. in as resent as 2003 the gorillas swept across the regon and kidnaped a group of tourests. a german girl was kept for over 70 days, some astrailians for over 90. all where eventualy releast. it was rodrigos brother who had run that tour. they let him go no problem, no one was going to pay a randsom for him. we wondered the ruins that night and the next morning before heading out. we new the way back now so me the belgum guy and an astralian guy decided to just hike it our selfs. we where sick of waiting for other ppl. we hiked all day, did all the river crossings and made it to the last section before camp hours ahead of the group. it had been raining all day and the river was allready really high and moving fast. i fell during the moring and had to hold on to a rock for every thing i was worth so i didnt get sucked into the white water. later on at the end of the days hiking, where siting on some rocks next to the river waiting for one of us to catch up. i want to just go ahead and meet him on the other side, alright but let me finish my smoke first says chris. not thirty seconds later the river starts to rise, and i mean at an insane rate. within 1 min the river has covered the rock i was siting on. about 3 feet. it goes up another foot in the minite that follows that. its imposable to cross now. absalutly suicide. and we whould have been screwed had we been half way across when it started to go up. further back on the trail is a little baskit used to cross the river. its the shadiest thing ive ever seen. this little metal cage running along a cable 15 m above the river. its pouring rain, tunder lighting and all. we dont know how to use this thing, actualy scared to death. one of the cooks catch up to us, says its safe and its the only way across. fine. we go across one at a time. its amazing how much speed you pick up on this thing till you hit the middle where the wire bends and you start to come back. you have to pull your self the rest of the way with a rope thats tied to the ajacent cliff. i make it alright, but the when the guy behind me goes to get on theres a land slide and the cliff comes out from underneather him, he drops a few meaters, catchs on and pulls him self up, when he takes the cage across hes shaking so much he slips and almost comes of this cliff too. had grab him before he fell. the path that we took on the way to the lost city was along the river, witch is totaly under water now. and this is thick jungle you cant go anyway but on a path. we find a trail leading up and decided to try are luck. its not well worn and its all mud, after an hour of climbing we decided we have defenatly gone the wrong way. we have no idea where we are and its getting dark. we try and retrace our steps but its hard going. its steep on the edge, not much can be done if you fall. and the slippery mud makes this a very likely posability. we found the trail we came up on and take it back to the crossroads with out anyone getting killed. we ended up making it back to camp last, we had been lost for a cuple hours. at least supper was ready when we got there. the next days hiking was farily univentful. it was a nice day and i enjoyed it a lot but not much to tell. at night the guides showed us some flowers the picked in the jungle, its used by the indeans to get closer to god. they made a tea with it and some of the group drank this hallucinogenic mix. never have i seen some one have less idea of whats was going on in reality. my friend took her shoe off her foot, put it on the table, ask for a spoon witch we didnt have, gave her a fork and she went on to try and eat her shoe. you should have seen the look of saprise on her face when she realised it was too tuff to eat. she couldnt understand it at all. we had to look after them all night long. i got up a dozen times to make sure they where still in there hamacks. we didnt lose any one during the night. got to have a good lafe at them the next moring too. are last day of hiking went quick and we where back at the vilage before we new it. the ride back to santa marta was no less eventful then the one to the jungle. the jeep staled at one point and started rolling backwards across the road into oncoming trafic. the breaks didnt works so great. we all had to jump out, some ppl grabed rocks to stick under the wheels. made quite a site. 14 ppl jumping out of this over crouded jeep in the midle of the highway trying to dodge cars. one last adventure to top off the week. well im just relaxing at the hostle for a few days now. letting my legs recover and enjoying not moving. loved my week in the jungle but its nice to be back to the real world. mikkel

Having a great time

Well my week in Cartagena is over. had a great time with my friends from the boat trip, partyed lots, great discos there. saw a bunch of museums and toured the city every day. went to a 15m high volcano that shot out mud, went swimming in it. so bazare, you cant touch the bottem becasue more mud just keeps coming up so you just kinda hover in it. my friends going to email me a picture and i will try to get it on the blog. you have to see it, its just one of the weirdest things ive ever done.
was really hung over yesterday so i didnt end up catching the bus to santa marta till mid day. i took the bus with an american girl and we where to meet my isrealie traveling parter in the town next to santa marta, well the bus ended up taking 6 hours not 4. by the time we found a taxi in the rain and got to the hostle it was late. Eliya almost killed me. she bitched me out infront of about 20 ppl, Where the hell where you, i was so worried, i called the other hotel, no one new where you where. i couldnt help but smile at her. of course that just made her twice as mad. then she noticed my hair, i had been wanting to cut it for the last month and she wouldnt let me, hadent had a hair cut since i started this trip in january. it was so scruffy. Eliya left Cartagena the day before me so i had the american girl give me a trim while Eliya was awayand couldnt stop it. if i thought i had made her made with coming late, that was nothing compared to this. she told me to give me my passport, she would get me checked in, go put bags down, she doesnt even want to talk to me. basicley she sent me to my room.
she calmed down after a little while, but just so every one knows back home. i defentatly do have ppl looking out for me here.
So far we havent had any problems in colombia, but we are taking more care here then anywhere else ive been. just not a countrey you wanna make a mistake in.

slept in nice and late today. looking to just relaxe away from the citys for a bit. we are on the carabean, its a nice little fishing village, and theres a oportunity to do some diving here. there some really nice beaches just out side of the town, about a 10 or so min walk, where im about to head to when this entrey is done.
dont know how long i will be here. i will be heading to Parque Nacional Tayrona next, witch is saposed to be amazing, diserted beaches where we can camp and tos of hard core jungle behind you. pretty stoked about it.

anyways could be out of email for the next week, so
dont worrie, im safe and with good ppl. just so you have it, eliyas email is eliya_hassidi@walla.com. im probley going to be with her for the next two months at least. you can email her and tell her to keep up the good work making sure im safe, haha.

mikkel

Trying to catch up on blog duties

Well..
so much to catch up on. i defenatly should have wrote lots as soon as i got back to the real world, a bunch happened and i didnt get a chance. im going to put off telling you about the darien because it needs some good thought to wright it out well. ill just say for now, that it was an amzing adventure and probley one of the coolest experenceses ive ever had in my life.
when we got back from the darien we spent the rest of the day running some arends and relaxing, first thing the next morning a german guy came and intraduced himself to me. he new a friend of mine and was told that i needed to head to columbia. i had been planing to fly to columbia in just under a week. he told me that in 45 min hes taking a few travelers to colon where there going to sail to columbia. if i can get my shit togeather and im intrested im welcome to come a long, have to pay of coarse but its not much more then a flight and i get to have a cool experence. alright, im in. cram the rest of my breakfast down my throat, run up stairs to pack, hand a bunch of stuff i need to mail home to my traveling parner. she doesnt want to come, no worries i will meet her in south america. gave her a list of things i need done while im gone. things that where going to take a few days of running around. a bunch of it i was able to put off till columbia. but she helped me out a ton.
came down stairs, met the other 5 ppl who i would be sailing with. 3 ozzys an american and a swiss. all good ppl. took a taxi to the bus station, jumped on a duble decker bus that was just pulling out. of coarse theres seets on there, get on. ok. we pull out, the thing is full to the brim, no problem u can sit up with the driver. he shoves into this alice in wonderland door and we crawl forwords into pitch black, and then theres no more to crawl. a cuple of the ppl made into the drivers caben, the rest of us are stuck on our hands and knees. setle in, its a two hour ride. great. after about 20 closterphobic minites the bus breaks down, we are the first ones out. another bus comes saprisingly quickly and we get the best seets this time.
we make it the coast and meet guidos (our captain) wife silvia. they are some crazy ass germans. they where in a biker gang for like 15 years till some thing happened and they had to get ouf the countrey. they moved to greece and opened a biker bar till some thing else happend and they had to leave again. they have been on the boat for 11 years. i dont think they can ever go back. nice enuff ppl though. we do some running around town grabing beer and food. we set sail and run into a small storm first night. three ppl throw up, im so happy im not one of them. next day was incredable, we have arived in the sun blas islands. theres a very small town where we get our exit stamp before heading on, we sail all afternoon, drinkiong beer and enjoying the sun. around mid day we arive at a bunch of tiny diserted islands. straight out of the movies, palm trees and white sand. theres a cuple other boats ankered here, friends of the germans. we spent the next cuple days drinking beer, snorkeling, watching the dolphins play and reading. we decided to leave and head to columbia, winds good and we shouldnt have any problems. middle of the night we hit another storm. the boat is swaying so much u cant lay in bed with out falling. theres more lighting out side then there is dark. worst storm they had been in for a few years. next day i slept almost none stop, didnt get any sleep cause i was was all over the cabin the nigh before. the next night we hit yet another storm. used to it by now, nothing new. nothing much to say about it.
we got into cartagenn columbia mid day. checked my email and found out my traveling parner eliya is here waiting for me. met her at the hostle and did a wonder of the town. really nice place here. really big. where staying in the old walled colonial part of town. this place used to get atacked by pirates all the time, it was the last stop the gold made before heading across the ocean to spain. very nice target. tons of history here.
anyways going to go explore
lots of love
mikkel

Panama

dont have lots to tell, but i wanted to come on and let every one im doing well, and that i might be out of email and bloging duties for a half week or so.
im in panama city right now, its amazing here, such a nice city. took a bus in from san jose costa rica, 20 hours it took. what a night mare. im staying at a fun little hostle, its in an apartment bilding right down town in the banking districkt. its the second largest banking district in the world, after switserland. there is some serious money on the street. nice cars all over the place. but its still resonabley cheep to travel threw here, doesnt make sence to me but im not going to argue.
im heading off to the jungle tomorow moring, im going with a isralie girl, ive met up and traveled with her a few times in the last few countreys ive been too. where heanding down to the darien provence, its next to the columbian boarder. where going treking and canoing for probley three or four days, camping and going deeper every day. its some of the most hard core jungle on the planet. aparently your hard pressd to find much in the amazon thats this remote. we have to take a small prop plan into the jungle and then a boat before we even start the trek.
it took a cuple days of running around and planing to get all this ready, we had to head to a dozen different spots, like topigraphical map places and a visit the orginzation that manages the reserve.
this will be good experence to get me ready for a a bunch of stuff i have planed in the future. south america is going to be awsome. i hope to be in columbia in a week.
im really stoked.
lots of love every one
and ill talk to you again soon
mikkel