UNESCO - Iguaçu National Park, Brazil

Which side of  the famous falls to see, when you have one day only and a hole in your pocket? I cannot remember why exactly, but we've chosen the Brazilian side...We've actually peeked into Argentina from Paraguay, with a candid intention to snoop around for a week or so...but then we realised the prices have gone up two- and threefold from our last info (read: 2yo-guide) so we just sweeped the north to get to the falls and continued back (can one do so?!) to Paraguay. A shame it is, but then again we wouldnt have seen that much anyway, and a separate trip (Arg, Uru, Bra, S.Chile) is definately necessary and planned for the future!!

Another great view of the Iguacu Falls, this time from the forum i.e. the favourite RR. Thank you Anita/hanitles for reminding just me how gorgeous these falls are! And the stamp reminds me of another memorable day on my trip, visiting Itaipú Dam.:D

Old Train Station In Asunción, Paraguay

Former train station in Asunción, nowadays serving as a rail museum.

We did not go straight for Asunción, but it was the 1st place I found postcards...We spent some days further north prior to, in a small town on Rio Paraguay called Concepción, which for certain had boats going up the river :) But the tickets for cabins were sold out and we had to book them for next week - i was actually happy about that cos otherwise we might have spent less time in this awesome country! There were no real postcards (we were shown a local photo-shop to buy some, but they only sold their photos as postcards!), BUT a very friendly lady at the local PO who sold me different stamps and chatted about Paraguay :D
Edit: this may possibly be an Unesco tentative site, under the 'Carlos Antonio López Railway System'.

Toucan In Pantanal, Brazil

From La Paz on we have taken a somewhat irrational route heh. The decisions were made along the way - all I really knew is that I wanted to see some native animal (wild)life. So I read the Pantanal is a heaven on earth in that sense, but from Paraguay side its both cheaper and less touristy. We've taken a train to the Brasilian border as my friend was so certain we can catch a ride on Rio Paraguay from there - though it wasnt mentioned anywhere! :P We came to Corumbá and found nothing of the sort - only blank looks and ads for the Brasilian Pantanal touristy tours. So we moved on south to Pedro Juan Caballero on the border of Paraguay.

I really wanted to send a card showing toucan, this awesome and cool bird that I only used to see in the encyclopedia..! Until that lovely day while waiting for the train in San José de Chiquitos, when i spotted a pair flying over the station. They look so funny when flying! :D

Bolivian Donkey

Quechua girl hugs her animal with affection

You can imagine my ecstasy upon finding a donkey card in Bolivia, AND an awesome set of animal stamps!

My initial days in Copacabana had no postal significance - in fact i saw no pretty cards and thought that might be the case for the whole country. Then came La Paz, and its amazing central PO on the main avenue with postcards shops and a friendly philately office <3

Together with the clear round cancellation i've come to have a perfect postcard..!

From Trujillo To Huaraz, Peru

The Moche civilisation in northern Peru existed between ca 100-800AD, and was noted for sofisticated gold and ceramics work, as well as monumental structures and irrigation systems.

Remains of an ancient Moche capital Cerro Blanco include Huaca de la Luna/Temple of the Moon, which is a large adobe brick structure presumably used for ceremonial and religious purposes.

Trujillo is a great base for exploring Moche temples (only 20% uncovered and already impressive!), as well as the Chan Chan archaeological site (Unesco).

I was amazed with all the history of Peru, which includes so much more than just the famous Incas! At the time i didnt yet collect unesco cards so have missed on sending cards like chan chan...but on the brighter side the lady at the post office was most friendly and helpful :D got some awesome stamps that i was afraid using in fear of losing thm, but these football stamps are just as cool (and applied by the postal lady, hence the upside-down overlap heh)

Another place not immediately associated with Peru, the grand Cordillera Blanca

(33 peaks over 5500 meters!)

We have stayed in Huaraz, the capital of the Ancash State - it is the 1st time i've noticed i'm short of breath cos of the high altitude, as the town is situated at over 3km-height. But we have gone higher from there: the beautiful Llanganuco lagoon in Huascaran National Park, and another WHS - Chavín de Huántar (Chavín culture dates to a millenium BC!). On the way to the latter the bus climbed to a mountain pass over 4km high, and on the other side we were greeted by an enormous statue of Jesus - one of the more surreal sights of the whole trip...

The local PO had new, fish stamps for me, yay :D

One more card i remember sending and that never arrived is from Lake Titicaca in Puno :( Sent another one to my friends back home on the same day from the same place, I do wonder how they got theirs and mine got stuck...:/ Of course I wish I was able to send many, many more cards, as we've also been in Lima, Cuzco and Arequipa...but this is brilliant too :))

UNESCO - City Of Quito, Ecuador

Four months had to pass until my update...not really an update, but since i'm away from home i've decided to at least show cards that i have stored in my netbook. Cards long overdue really! My trip to South America took place last winter, and these are the cards i've sent to my family :)

Gorgeous church, parts of which were restored at the time of visit. Very elaborate inside, which always causes dual emotions..! As part of Quito Old Town on Unesco list.

La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús (The Church of the Society of Jesus) is a Jesuit church in the historic center of Quito, among the best-known ones because of its large central nave, which is profusely decorated with gold leaf, gilded plaster and wood carvings.

Ecuador is a country that i really enjoyed visiting, and because there is so much left to see i wish to go back one day..! uhm not only for seeing, but for buying too :D I loved the markets there, but there is only so much you can buy when on a serious budget travel, and carry when you travel for four months. The choice of postcards was really great; and although it took me a while to find the PO with philately, i was rewarded in the end with various stamps too :))

                            

                                                        

Colourful traditional clothes, always enjoy seeing those! Alas i havent seen these particular ones during my trip...but there were other colourful robes to compensate :D

New European Autumn Donkeys!

I do have a solid internet connection at home, and can occasionally add a new post :) esp important to update my donkey collection! I've also received many splendid cards for my new UNESCO collection - alas i dont have scanner here...so these are still cards from the working era aka the early autumn.



From private swap with bogdanovskaya, this cute card from Spain :) Thank you!

A grand RAS card from Fabienne - she remembered me on her holiday so this donkey joined the team here, very happy, thank you! xD

This awesome postcard is from a private swap with Wanda ( I got three other gorgeous animal cards from her as well, i hope i can post them here too some time soon..!) This little family is just adorable, thank you!

I do wonder about the X-cancellation though..? First time i see this..!

New Croatian Autumn Donkeys

Hvala nt! xx Jednog dana kad budes napokon ovo citala :D
New additions from dear Nat, who is so eagerly feeding my mailbox :D