places we sleep and people we meet

We sleep in a lot of different places. Usually for about 8 hours. In between sleeping we travel around the world looking at interesting things and meeting interesting people. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-21306159-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

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Hi! I'm Angela and I am fom Colombia, I live in Santander, I saw your photos and I am happy you enjoy San Gil and the rest of Colombia :)

So glad you liked it Angela! It's a magical part of the world

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Powerful stories from real people

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OCCUPY WALL ST

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JERUSALEM has changed since Elly and I were last there. It's as unique and holy as ever, but dirty, crowded streets have been replaced with sparkling, car-free boulevards and sleek new developments are cropping up on the fringes of the old city. 

We've both been to Jerusalem several times, but this time we got an exhilerating new perspective on it. We flew down the length of the security fence from Herzliya towards the mountains of Jerusalem and circled the old city in a helicopter (Happy Birthday Elly!), before heading west to the coast as the sun set. Wow. It really was amazing to see just how small the country is - we saw about a 3rd of it in an hour!

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ISRAELI WEDDING EXTRAVAGANZA: With 200 guests flying into Israel from all over the world, this celebration was always going to be epic. And we weren't disappointed. The decadent festival on the beautiful Mediterranean coast was in stark contrast to our previous 4 and a half months in Central America, so we made the most of it! The 4 days of drinking, dancing and eating with family and friends climaxed with the incredible wedding ceremony in Caesarea where we toasted the beautiful bride Juliet (Elly's cousin) and stylish groom Jason, and danced the night away to 'the best band in the promised land'.

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TUBING WITH THE LOCALS

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SAN GIL: Is a pretty little town in the mountains renowned for being the adventure capital of Colombia. At the top of the adventure list was rafting Grade 5 rapids down the Suarez river with the Colombian rafting team. Well, that was at the top of Nath's list. Elly was content with the thrill of riding a motorbike to a nearby collection of natural pools and waterslides, and tubing down the mini-rapids while 4 local boys grabbed hold of our legs. On our off-days, we slurped delicious passionfruit and strawberry licuados made by the friendly ladies at the local market.

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RAFTING ON COLOMBIA'S CRAZY SUAREZ RIVER! Nathan was hurting for a week after battling the insane white water for almost two hours, but thankful he survived. Capsizing in class 5+ rapids (the highest for recreational rafting) is a bad idea, especially when you end up stuck under the raft. There were almost tears. But it was worth it for the story.

Elly was smart. She stayed at home.

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VIEW FROM EL PENON DE GUATAPE

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MEDELLIN: Is mostly famous because its the birthplace of Fernando Botero, Colombia's best-known artist, and was home for many years to Pablo Escobar, the world's most notorious drug lord. This makes for a fascinating city filled with art and crime (the two come together nicely in Botero's 'The Death of Pablo Escobar').

In 1989 Escobar was the 7th richest man in the world. He was so rich he even offered to pay off Colombia's $10 billion national debt to the US, simply because he thought it would be funny (he made all his money off American coke-heads). Tee hee...

Just one hour from Medellin, but worlds away, we climbed all 635 steps of El Penon de Guatape, otherwise known as 'The Rock'. Nobody quite knows how it got there, but we decided it must have been the aliens. It's huge(!) and has an awesome 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside.

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CARTAGENA: After 5 days on a boat, arriving in this magical colonial city was a little surreal. We quicky noticed the differences between Central and South America - it was much more European, people dress well and there were trendy cafes and bars everywhere. So we indulged...

Colombia gets a bad rap (mostly because it produces 80% of the world's cocaine), but we saw a different country to the one portrayed on CNN. It's on the brink of a tourist boom, and rightfully so - Cartagena was the first town of many in Colombia that blew us away. GET HERE NOW!

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SAILING PANAMA TO COLOMBIA: Elly suffers from sea sickness and wasn't sure about a 5 day boat trip... Turns out it was one of the best experiences of both of our lives. We chose the 50ft catamaran Santana to make the journey with 14 other people and were spoilt by captain Gizzy with three gourmet meals a day. The first half of the trip was spent sailing between the postcard-perfect San Blas islands - sunbathing, drinking beer, snorkeling and splashing around. The last 2 days of sailing on open water was a little hairy, but it was worth it as the bright lights of Cartagena grew closer. It was really an incredible experience. Do it if you get the chance.

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PANAMA CITY: The canal is really really impressive and has helped turn Panama City into a mini-America complete with casinos, sky scrapers, trendy clubs and bars. It was the first capital city we've been to in Central America (we avoided all the others) and we got a bit of a thrill being amongst the big city buzz.

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BOQUETE: A few years ago Forbes Magazine listed this place as one of the top 5 retirement destinations in the world. So the oldies moved in... The town has nonetheless managed to retain its mountain charm with the addition of a few fancy restaurants.

From here we trekked (quite literally) to the nearby Lost and Found Jungle Lodge, perched high in the cloud forest with views all the way to the Pacific - clouds permitting.

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BOCAS DEL TORO: It was a pleasure to leave Costa Rica behind for this delightful spot off the coast of Panama. Snorkeling, dolphins, tequila and wave related shenanigans. Enough said.

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COSTA RICA: Is overun by American package tourists so we got out of there as fast as we could. It's beautiful like the rest of Central America, but 5 times the price and the locals are a little nasty... We had a pretty good time regardless, and these photos show the best of our two weeks there. The highlight was definitely watching a 250kg green turtle lay over 100 eggs (on a Caribbean beach in Tortuguero), cover them up and waddle back to the sea, exhausted. Turtles: our new favourite animal. Not just good for making ashtrays out of...

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ISLA DE OMETEPE: is an island formed by two volcanoes in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Awesome. Although it's a popular tourist destination, there is still very little infrastructure on the island, so we hitched with locals, caught (infrequent) rickety buses and walked for hours.

After a hike up Volcano Maderas (4 hours away from our hotel by foot) we were left stranded without a ride home. With night falling, we were lucky to be picked up by a van-load of party-loving locals pumping 90s dance tracks and drinking rum straight from the bottle.

(some photo credits go to Manny, Julie and Dave)