Day 235 : Montjuic

Montjuic is a hill located in the south-west of the city centre and I heard that it commands a great view of the city from the castle at the top, and also houses a few interesting monuments. 


Palau Nacional

I took the metro to Placa Espanya and upon arrival, there was great crowds as it seemed there was a Mobile World Congress happening at Palau Nacional, thus blocking one of the pathways. 

Wanting to be sure I got the right route, I approached the tourist information counter and asked for directions.  I was extremely appalled by the service of the staff though!  A summary of our conversation as follows :



Day 234: Park Guell

Barely after touching down in Barcelona after only a 2 hour sleep (9.5hr flight), I was whisked off by Alain on his motorbike to visit Park Guell, a park that was designed by the infamous Gaudi.

The weather was cold, and being on the motorbike with the cold air blowing as we drove by, made me feel the chills through the layers of clothes on my skin.  It was nice to be back in Barcelona again, and view it from a different view - on motorbike.

Day 229 - 232 : São Paulo

Feeling small around the
tall buildings in the centre of city

In my final days of Brazil as well as in South America, as I find myself back in Sao Paulo, the 1st place where I first arrived in South America about 6 months ago.  Time flies, as it is just about another 1.5 months before I return to Singapore.

The few days in Sao Paulo allowed me to catch up on my house-keeping of travel plans and planning for the next 1.5mths on the road; the opportunity which I never had over the last couple months without a proper computer access after my netbook got stolen.

For that reason, and since having been in Sao Paolo previously for a couple of days, I did minimal sightseeing.  My impression of this city when I was first here was nothing exciting, and that didn´t change much on my return of this trip.

Day 222 - 228 : Carnaval in Rio

World´s Greatest Show!

When I left Rio a few months ago, I had the feeling I would once again return.  Just because it is such a beautiful city, and there were still a few sights I have yet to see (eg. Pao de Azucar and Niteroi, which even after my 2nd trip I still have not visited!  Perhaps there needs to be this feel of unfinished business in a city if I want to come back again!).

At that point, I never imagined it would be this fast; I only decided in the last couple of months to extend my trip, just to attend Carnaval, and here I am!

This time round, the feeling of Rio feels different from before.  It is still a beautiful place to be in, and with better weather too (i.e. much warmer and no rain).  However, the crowds on the street is incredible!  It seemed like the whole world is here (at an estimate of about 800,000 tourists, in addition to the locals, packed in the main streets of Rio) just to attend Carnaval too, which is said to be the World´s Greatest Show!

Tijuca National Park

We needed to seek some reprieve from the crowd and blockos (street parties), and so decided to take a drive to the Tijuca National Park, where one can find a waterfall, and spend a few hours relaxing.

If not for Torsten, I wouldn´t have known that there was a waterfall in Rio so close to the city!  Located about 20 mins drive from the apartment, we saw a lot of people around the area as we approached and tried to find a place to park.

"Greatest Show on Earth"

The Carnival in Brazil is a big part of the Brazilian Culture, and it is sometimes referred to by the Brazilians as the "Greatest Show on Earth".


I had of course returned to Rio hoping to watch the parade, when I found out that the parade is held in the Sambodromo, and one has to buy tickets to watch it.  By the time I checked for tickets availability, they were already sold out, with most of the seats exorbitantly priced.  

Day 217 - 221: Final Days in Panama

Modern sky scrapers in one part
of Panama city

My trip to Panama was never part of my original travel plans, and was only included after I decided to extend my trip.  The only thing I knew about Panama was the Panama Canal, and it was the main thing I wanted to see.

Also briefly heard about the San Blas islands while planning, which came about when sourcing for ways to get from Colombia to Panama, since travelling by sailboat will often travel through San Blas.

San Blas Islands

San Blas islands is an archipelago consisting of approximately 378 islands and cays, and located on the north coast of Panama.  They are home to the Kuna Yala Indians, another group of indigeneous of Panama.

There are a few ways to get to San Blas : By sailing (my original choice of travel, and probably the most recommended), by air or by 4x4 jeep.

Mishap at Sea

I wasn´t planning to include this post, however Niklaus insisted that I should, as I almost destroyed his laptop... ooooppps!!!  It wasn´t intentional!

What happened was we were heading to Han´s, since Niklaus had promised to buy Olivier dinner for helping him fixed his boat.  Since the only internet connection that is available is at Han´s, we thought we will bring the laptop to shore and take the opportunity to check our emails as we had not checked it for some time.

Day 215 - 216 : Boat Motor Fixed

After much hardwork by Olivier and Niklaus, we finally managed to get the boat motor fixed.  But as there are only about another 5 days before I leave Panama, it seemed that it would be insufficient time to sail out to San Blas and back, in order for me to catch my flight to Rio de Janeiro.

So the alternative way to seeing San Blas would be to take a 2-hour 4x4 jeep ride from Panama City to a jetty and then a speedboat ride to one of the islands.  Someone we met in Bocas had provided us a contact of a guide (taken out of Lonely Planet), who would be able to arrange the 4x4 jeep pick up and the accomodation on the island, inclusive of meals.

So Niklaus being able to speak fluent Spanish, made the arrangements with the guide and we will be heading to Panama tomorrow afternoon to stay the night, before being picked up early morning on Monday by the jeep.

Day 214 : Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is one marvellous human creation, where a waterway route is created through one of the narrowest points of the Isthmus of Panama, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The interoceanic waterway uses a system of locks with two lanes that operates as water elevators and raises the ships from sea level to the level of Gatun Lake, 26 metres above sea level, to allow the crossing through the Continental Divide, and then lowers the ships to sea level on the other side of the Isthmus.

Day 213 : Drive Back to Boat

Well barricade?

We woke up early this morning and quickly made our way to the ferry terminal to catch the speed boat back to the mainland and collected our rental car from the garage and drove towards David.

Within an hour after we left Almirante, we must have come across at least 3 other signs of blockades different from the earlier few we were caught in, as we saw debris of sawed off tree trunks (I pity the number of trees that were destroyed as a result of the protest!), and at one of the them, a huge well barricade in the middle of the road, which I had no idea how it was moved in the first place.

Day 211 - 212 : More Days in Bocas

We followed closely the news about the situation between the indigeneous and the police and things seem to have taken a drastic turn in the last few days from the peaceful protest.

What was originally a reasonable reason for protest by the Indians started turning nasty as we saw images of Indians being filmed burning down police stations and attacking the police.

As days went by, the blockade on the main highway had been forcefully cleared by the police using big tractors, and though the road seemed clear, it was not safe as images were shown of Indians throwing rocks at all passing vehicles from a hill located next to the main highway.

Day 210 : Night at Blockade

We have heard over the last few days on the news that the blockades by the Indians had increased, with one blockade located on the main highway (the only single road that connects one end of Panama to the other), and is in our way to get back to the boat.

Hoping that we can at least get through to David to get some things for the boat before the shop closes for the weekend, with hopes that the blockade will be intermittantly open to traffic on our way back to the boat (like what we encountered on our way to Bocas), we took the speed boat back to the mainland yesterday and made our way.

Day 207 - 209 : Bocas

Bocas is located about 20 mins by speedboat from the town of Almirante.  It is interesting to see 3 different speedboat companies offering competitively different pricing for the trip to the island.

View at Almirante port

Day 206 : Blockade towards Bocas

Along with another lady we met on the Ziplining tour who needed a ride to Bocas, we left Boquete at about 2.30pm and made our way.

A couple of hours later, we came to a standstill with behind a huge line up of cars.  Not knowing what happened, we parked our car in the queue and was told that there was a blockade by the local indigeneous people (Indians).

Boquete Tree Trek Zip lining Tour

Truck waiting at cabin

We were required to meet at the reservation office at about 7.30am, where we were picked up in a large truck to bring us to the base of the Boquete Tree Trek Ziplining tour.

After a 20 mins climb up the hills in the vehicle through road and some rough terrain, we arrived to a base filled with nice wooden cabins and lots of greenery.

We were subsequently ushered to a cabin to gear up and subsequently briefed on the "Dos and Don´ts", before jumping back into the truck again, which led us into the beginning of the Amistad National Park, where the ziplining will begin.