Here our family and friends can follow our adventures traveling the world!
Här kan ni följa med på vår resa genom Amerika, central Amerika, tropiska öar och slutdestinationen Australien..
i can't describe how happy I got when we found these adorable puppies, it was not one or two but fifteen puppies! My dream came true, haha. We took care of them, gave them food and cuddle with them all day long. We made sure the puppies stayed together so every morning we had to go look after them all over the island, and collect them to mummy dog. There was many wild dogs on the other side of the island and some of the puppies got eaten if they walked away too far from home. Some of the locals took the dogs home too as pets, but they didn't like female dogs :(
This one we called fatty frog eye. He was fatter than all the other puppies and had a big eye sticking out. Haha
This puppy we called scabby, he didn't have any hair on his tail and had a wound on his neck from the older dogs trying to bite him.
The little beige and white one we called Sova (sleepy)
we met a couple there on their honey moon and the bride - Celeste she loved the dogs so much so she bought schampoo and towels and washed each one of them. Very cute:)
Back at bamboo hostel in Nadi we had lots of discussions about which island to go to. When you're traveling to Fiji you will definitely not stay in the mainland, it's very filthy and not so much to do, so when people are talking a bout Fiji being the most Beautiful place in the world they mean the islands surrounding Fiji..
We talked with the hostel staff, looked at internet but finally decided to book the trip with the hostel next to us. It's crazy expensive at the Islands and almost all Islands is all inclusive, there is often nowhere to buy food or drinks expect at the hostel/hotel so it has to be good food and quite cheap. So we chose to go to Mana Island, one of the more quiet islands and bigger island that even has a local school.
That was a good choice, wow what a beautiful island! the first day we decided to walk around the island, it takes about 3 hours.
I found hundreds of these tiny hermit crabs, so cute!!
Our dog companion that followed us all way, or most of the time he showed us the way, he also saved us from stepping on a very poisoness snake..
We arrived to Fiji early in the morning, the flight was very comfortable compared to all the bus rides we've done but we were still tired after four hectic days in LA, so when we got to our hostel we took a nap. When we woke up we booked a trip to the mud pools, it was cloudy so we thought it would be an amazing opportunity to have a dip in the hot springs.
The mud pool was a family run business and cost us barley nothing, but only the taxi there and back (15 mins ride) cost us 40 dollars.. What a rip off! We didn't really care though because we had such a good time!
The guide explained that when these pools were found they thought it had magic powers and could cure any type of skin disease, but now when it's used so much it lost some of its powers, but it's still good for your skin.
the guide helped us get covered in mud and we had to wait until the mud dried in the sun until we could wash it off. After that our guide took us to different hot springs, some of them were so hot so the water boiled, and some spots in the pools were really hot so you had to be careful. After the relaxing baths we decided to get two massages, 20 Fijian dollars for 30 mins (10 usd) very cheap! even though Matthew got the worst massage ever, (from someone that never given a massage before and rubbed his arm for 10 mins and then forgot the other arm, haha ) we had a great day.
Matthew even got to drive the taxi drivers car back to the hostel( the taxi driver felt a bit bad because he fell asleep and It took us a while to wake him up, so he let us go do our food shopping and drive his car...)
We went up early for breakfast at the farmers market with Cal and Simon, Crêpes and cappuccino.. Yum! Me and Matthew went for some shopping and then we met up with the guys again and we took the car down to Santa Monica and Venice beach.
Before the sun set we took Cal on a round of shopping at H&M at Santa Monica.( they don't have H&M in Australia)
We watched the beautiful sunset and then rushed back to the car to get to the basketball game on time!
Traffic is craaazy in LA but we were lucky, in time for the game and even had time to get some snacks...
This must have been one of the best days in our lifes!!!!!!! happy like two little kids and excited even if we only got 4 hours sleep after "nattens bravader"
Got the first real Christmas feelings :))
There was not too many people around so we only had to wait around 5 minutes for the rides.
The best ride!! Transformers! We had no idea that today's technology could make us feel like we're in a transformers movie and killing robots, 4D with heat from the fire and water leaking from broken cars. Happy day!! And ofcourse, we had to say hello to optimus prime. And he also sent some greetings: Thank you human for bringing us Ikea, we all like convertable furniture. (The crew: Matthew, Jonna, Simon and Cal)
We went on a tour about special effects, we can strongly recommend it to everyone!!!! WOW is the only thing I could say for about one hour. On the picture a little village is getting flooded... (you can see this village in many movies) most of the time I couldn't take picture because of fire/ water and other extreme special effects like heavy monsoon rains, subway stations getting flooded, train crashes and cars falling down... And sometimes I was just too amazed and didn't even bother to take photos... You just have to see it yourself to understand what I mean..
HAJEN - before the bridge we were driving on took fire...
Grinchen land
Desperate housewifes
Merry Chrismas
After 9 hours our driver picked up the whole group and drove us to our hostel. Everyone freezing but oh so happy!!! Back at the hostel they put up a beautiful BBQ and we watched a not so funny comedian show, then we went straight to bed and slept like babies alll night...
Arriving to LA from the airport, flea market, dinner at the hostel and out for a BIG night out! We met two australian dudes at the hostel and we decided to go for a limo-ride around LA to see the Hollywood sign and mix our own cosmopolitans in red plastic cups. It was me and nine boys, that have become normal during this trip. not many girls, though this hostel was the worst, I was kind of the only girl at the whole hostel. Anyway.. We had a great time and the limo driver stops outside a bar he reckons is the best a wednesday night in LA...
I run over the street in my heels bought at forever 21 in Dublin, not the best quality, and ofcourse the heels breaks!!! I can't walk.. We thought the night was over but then these two amazing security guards saved the night with some super glue and a lighter. I gave them a rose later on that night which I got from a girl but that's another story,,
we can't believe it's so expensive after being in Central America for so long and being spoiled with cheap drinks, but we party on.
Found a mechanic bull, no one took the challenge though, it wasn't the best party place so me Matthew and Simon grabbed a cab from the street, left the others and searched on google: best place to party in LA on a Wednesday.. Avalon--> that's where we're going..
well Avalon was an experience. The guard explained he didn't feel it was our night and we should go home but after telling him our story and that we were definitely going in he wished us good luck with a smile and a warning. Not sure what he was on about we stepped in to realize we were the only white people in a massive LA club. So fuck it we went straight to the dance floor and started making friends. Ended up a sick night meeting many African American celebrities there and getting a lift to some after party thing with the chick in the pic (who looked like she was living out of her car)
LA!!! We love you already! So nice to finally be in an English speaking country. The first thing we did after checking in at banana bungalow west hollywood hostel was to ask what should we do in LA? The girl told us that the cool flea market next door will still be open two more hours. So we had a quick late lunch, some falafel and put on all the clothes we owned as this was the coldest place we had been so far!
Little bit of shopping
Shopping
Shopping again.....
A bit chilly but oh so happy:)))
Found some cool solutions and inventions. There was clocks and watches made of old books. Necklaces made of old kees and these cool glass bubbles you hang up in your window and fill up with whatever plants you want.
The best coffe we've had in 5 months. Heaven in a cup made of some young guy who also lend us his phone so we could check out the best places to parteey in LA;)
Visited the oldest hospital in all of the Americas... The best service I've ever had But ended up costing 200 dollars for some needles and antibiotics...
Sad....
The hospital was very beautiful with a big garden in the middle full of squirrels.
Coming out of the hospital and this is what we see, packed with people in every direction, felt a bit claustrophobic.
On our way to markets...
After strolling around the markets for some hours we took the train to the famous wrestling!! No big cameras was aloud in the arena but here is a picture of the strongest wrestler team- the super porkys.
Huge christmas tree in the middle of the square next to our hostel. Last night we were here they were setting up an ice skating rink. I was very sad we missed that, feels a bit strange to be in a hot country when it's Christmas times, so some ice skating would have been great!
Big Catholic Churches everywhere, filled with gold and expensive interior.
Went up the tallest tower and watched the sun set over the ginormous city,
To the right at the big square you can se our hostel.
We took the bus to Mexico City, it would have taken us 13 hours but the bus company lied to matthew and we got tickets to a bus that took 22 hours. After watching lots of movies and reading through one book we arrived to Mexico city! We pre booked our hostel, a huge hostel in the middle of the city. Later we met up with Robb and walked through the town. (Just a little part of the town, it's enormous, 22 million people just in the city)
Most days we spent surfing. I had a surf instructor and we had 2,5 hours lessons so I could learn how to surf. Unfortunately I got sick, I got my kidney pain back so I had to spend lots of time in the room while Matthew was out surfing :))
From the fish we caught we got 12 big pieces of fish steak. We would never be able to eat all of that ourselves so we made up a meal and invited the whole hostel. We made up one marinade per piece of fish and wrapped them in foil.
Happy boys, Matthew, Robb and Adam is celebrating!
Our spacious backyard with place for everyone to eat.
We also grilled fresh vegetables in the foil.
Our handyman, an old australian man around his 60's traveling the world, helped us set up the party lights. He later joined us and brought everyone some soft tortillas and beer.
Having beers and preparing dinner
The grill master!
Our Canadian friend went to the market and bought some beautiful fresh fruits and nuts and we created a lovely fruit platter.
As a dessert...
The woman to the right helped us make a beautiful guacamole and also fried up some pepper, onion and tomatoes to make a salad.
me and matthew made some fluffy curry rice and later some Swedish guys joiend us with salads, tortilla breads and beers.
Sush an amazing evening with lots of laughter. Everyone was sharing food and stories. :D
We booked a fishing trip! This guy came up to us when were sunbaking on a little beach hidden in a bay. He was selling dolphin trips, we didn't want to see any dolphins but we asked him if he did fishing trips. Ofcourse I do, but most tourist are not interested in deep sea fishing. When we came back to the hostel we found two guys, Adam and Robb, that wanted to join us. So we called him up and booked a trip 5:45 in the morning.
Such a nice man! He took us out in his big beautiful boat for only 30 dollars per person and 6 hours.
Look at the big bait, made for catching big fish.
Matthew got the first fish on his hook. It took him 15 minutes to reel the fish in. I was so scared, I didn't know what kind of monstrous fish was stuck on the hook, so I stood on good distance taking photos and videos.
We were all in chock and so happy when the assistant captain put on his gloves and hit the fish hard at the side of the boat. We couldn't believe our eyes, it was so big and it's fin so shiny blue.
Matthew ecstatic over his big catch. A sailfish 2 meters and over 25 kilos.
Compared to my foot. It's huge.
some minutes later Adam got one but lost it, we all very curious and want to see when the captain create another bait. He even sew the fish mouth together so the hook wouldn't slide through when catching a fish.
Next one was mine, I was so scared and didn't really want to fish it up, but I change my mind and Matthew had to hold me and help me pull it in. ( I almost fell overboard)
You could see it jump out of the water, this sailfish didn't want us to pull it in, it was fighting and fighting and it took me more than 20 minutes to get the big fish in.
We couldn't believe it but we just caught another fish just as big as the first one. This one we were supposed to throw back in the water but when we pulled it up we saw that all its guts hang out of its mouth So we had to keep it too. We gave it to the fisher men, no way that we could eat that much meat....
Such a magnific fish, a little bit sad to kill it but we knew we wouldn't waste it!
Our captain filet the fish for us in the Hot weather. He did such a good job, I would recommend this trip to everyone. After six hours fishing we arrived to the beach very happy and satisfied. We felt a bit sorry for Adam and Robb who didn't catch a fish, but since they both had one hooked and lost it we couldnt do much more..
Our hostel organised trips to go to a lake with bioluminescent plankton, and that means - they glow.
At 6:30 we took a party car up to the town, and 20 minutes away to a lake. In the boat a bit nervous, we don't know what to expect to see.
Matthew and our new big friend from Canada.
After finishing the beers the boat started. It was one of the most amazing experiences we've had on this trip. As soon as the boat started moving you could see it glowing, and the further out we came the more it glowed. To make the plankton glow you need to touch them, or some sort of motion as waves or fish. Our boat goes through big schools of fish and you can see them clearly glowing and swimming around the boat. It's hard to describe, if you've seen life of PI you know what we mean.
We even saw some baby crocodiles swim pass and glow up the dark water.
Suddenly the boat stops and the guide says- time for a swim. He dives into the water and he is glowing. A little bit scared but mostly excited we jumped into the water. It was so unbelievable warm and nice and I dived under and opened my eyes and I've never seen anything like that. Thousands and thousands of glowing plankton in front of me.
when coming up in the boat again we could se my bikini glow from all the plankton and Matthew's pants was full of the little glowing things.
I found some pictures on google that can show you what we couldn't catch with our camera.
This is what it must have looked like at further distance when we swam in the water. Though Our friends plankton gave a more green light than on the picture here and it was way more glitter and twinkle.
Open your eyes underwater and this is what you see.
Oh oh, we forgot to write about Palenque, the ruins we visited before coming to puerto Escondido.
maybe you're as tired of ruins as we are but I'll give you some pictures anyway:) it was actually the best and most developed ruins we've seen.
Our guide Alex is demonstrating how they used their toilet, (the 3 stone blocks in the middle) this is one of the first toilets in the world. Only the king, the queen and their entourage could use the toilets and the showers. (Yes they even had showers)
After the rafting we stayed in our jungle cabins one more night and took off to Puerto Escondido in the morning. It should only have taken around 6 hours with the minibus but the locals had put out road blocks and would just let 5 cars pass every hour if they payed massive fees. Apparently the government took five teachers to jail from a local village without providing any reason so this was their only way to meet the governments rediculous bail bill. It is an ongoing issue between the teachers and government because the new government are privation gall education in Mexico.
So happy to finally arrive to super hot Puerto! This was the hostel we chose after hours of searching. Hostel pakoloko and only 30 dollars a night for 2 in a spacious room. The first thing we see when talking with the receptionist is a cute little kitten under the reception desk, with something in it's mouth. We looked a bit closer and it was a huge lizard!! I asked the receptionist if the cat was supposed to chew on the lizard and the owner came by very chocked. The hostels nasty cat mamazita had killed the lizard pet and fed it to her kitten. Haha even if we were a bit disgusted by the whole scene we chose to stay...
One afternoon we took a taxi for 25 pesos to the markets in the city.
We bought a big red snapper and lots of fruit and vegetables, we looked forward to cook after getting served the worst food in the jungle.
When we came home we found the two remaining lizards sunbake next to our room.
We put the food in the fridge and went to the beach. We didn't want to miss the sunset.
Time for rafting! Our guide Alex (matthew thought he was called Adam) quickly went through the instructions how to steer the rafting boat and what to do when going down all the waterfalls. Unfortunately Matthew had really bad neck pain and couldn't participate, so he went on his own adventures...
Started slowly with two small waterfalls and then around 10 big ones!! The other group couldn't control their boat as well as us so some of them fell overboard and the boat got stuck in threes and in between rocks. Quite amusing to watch ;)
After the rafting we had to walk through the jungle, after one hour we arrived to the most beautiful picnic place next to a huge waterfall. Our guide wanted us all to jump down the waterfall before lunch. "It's very funny I promise, but keep your life west and helmet on in case something happens.." Ehh!?!? No one wanted to jump so I just let go of my paddle and jumped!! Wohhooo
After that we had to hurry up before it became dark, then we wouldn't be able to find our way home.. It was a bit scary to walk home, we had to wade trough current water and also fresh water springs, it felt like every second a crocodile was going to jump up and eat my legs.
After some smaller accidents( people from the group falling down bridges and almost disappear with the currents) we finally arrived to our camp cold and hungry...
Matthew couldn't go rafting as he hurt his neck some weeks ago so went for a long walk in the Forrest and said he found a beautiful natural spring and many little creatures.
We had an early start and set off for the border town of Frontera Corazol. A local wooden motor boat was waiting to take us to the lost city of Yaxchilan. We took the boat through the river located in between Guatemala and Mexico and we were suprised there was not much of boarder protection, but the guide explained that it is free passing from Guatemala to Mexico and the other way around. Though no one goes from Mexico to Guatemala, everyone passes to Mexico trying to enter America for the American dream.
This river was filled with crocodiles sunbathing on the beach, so no swimming for us! It is the biggest river in Mexico.
The lost city of Yaxchilan, the city you only can visit by boat or helicopter...just a tiny bit discovered and restored, the rest is still waiting to be discovered, but too little money and time. It's very beautiful to see how the nature take back the ruins.
This tree was very important for the Mayan People. They thought it reached all the way to heaven and it's roots all the way to the underworld and it was their connection to the sun. They also thought that when the sun goes down every night it fights the creatures in the underworld and when it rises in the morning it means it won the battle, and one day the sun will be defeated and the sun won't rise ever again. They praised the sun as their God.
We entered the ruins and walked underneath in the dark tunnels. Bats everywhere, this one we got a good picture of before he flew into the dark.
Disgruntled Mayans who were angered at the gods came back to the city after it was abandoned and removed the heads from all the statues of their former rulers.
Inside the ruins the beautiful paintings are very well preserved for being hundreds of years old. This one is picturing a big party celebrating a bwttle against their neighbors.
On top, there is always the Gods and the priests, and in the middle the warriors and at the bottom the slaves poorly dressed, working with guards watching their every step.
When we walked back we saw this adorable ant road filled with ants carrying green litte leaves. It was as long as we could see in both directions.
Our Canadian friend went to the market and bought some beautiful fresh fruits and nuts and we created a lovely fruit platter. 
some minutes later Adam got one but lost it, we all very curious and want to see when the captain create another bait. He even sew the fish mouth together so the hook wouldn't slide through when catching a fish. 
Time for rafting! Our guide Alex (matthew thought he was called Adam) quickly went through the instructions how to steer the rafting boat and what to do when going down all the waterfalls. Unfortunately Matthew had really bad neck pain and couldn't participate, so he went on his own adventures...
