IRELAND, Kilkenny

Friday August 24, 2007

Caught the 11:30 bus to Kilkenny {Ireland's medieval city}. In Ireland the bus ticket does not reserve you a seat, it only means that you have a ticket to that destination for that day. To make sure you have a seat for a certain time you have to wait in line for the bus for 30-45 minutes before it leaves. The bus ride was 2 hrs. Kilkenny has about 20,000 people and all the sites to see are within 15 minutes of my hostel. The most famous of the sites is the Kilkenny Castle. I hope to post pictures as soon as I figure how. I am still trying to adjust to the cost of everything here. After Peru everything is going to seem expensive. I figured out that everything is about 10 times more expensive than Peru. A McDonalds happy meal is almost $8.00. So far the hostel has been fine. Having 7 roomates takes a little getting used to especially if a lot of them are girls. Waiting for the bathroom can take a while especially if there a lot of girls.

IRELAND, Killarney and Dingle Peninsula

Wednesday thru Friday August 29- 31, 2007

I have been in Killarney for the past 2 days. Yesterday I went on a tour bus to the Dingle Peninsula and got some great pictures of the coast and the Blasket Islands, which is the nearest European land mass to the US. Unfortunately, this computer is locked and I cannot download the pictures. I will try again at my next hostel.

Today I start a 9 day hiking journey around the Ring of Kerry Way. The walking path is 135 miles and hopefully well marked. This part of the trip is supposed to be the most beautiful.

On another note, I finally got the courage to use the hostels kitchen to store food in the refrigerator. Something about leaving food in there when everyone has access but everything is marked and there doesn't seem to be a problem.

Kerry Way {KIllarney to Glencar)

Friday August 31, 2007

Started walking from Killarney to Black Valley {22 km. or 14 miles}. I left at 7:30 am and got to the Black Valley hostel at 3:00 pm but they were closed until 5:00. The path goes by Muckross House and the Torc Waterfall. I decided to keep on walking to the next town. Not the smartest of moves. I arrived in Glencar at 9:00 pm. That is a total of 13.5 hrs walking my first day with only a 10 minutes break for a ham sandwich. The hostel/pub/restaurant was a welcome site. I sat at a table with a people from South Africa, Germany, Australia and Irish. Also, the two girls bartending were from Poland. Ate some Irish stew, had a few beers and crashed in the dorm.

Kerry Way {Glencar to Glenbeigh}

Saturday , September 1, 2007

Started out hiking about 9:00 am towards Glenbeigh which is only 8 miles from Glencar. As soon as I started on the track I ran into Simon, the 21 yr. old Aussie, and we decided to trek together for a while. We arrived in Glenbeigh about 2:00 and asked where we could find a room. The man laughed and said this weekend was the biggest festival of all year and most rooms were probably booked. We found a B&B which had just received a cancellation. 30 euros apiece for twin beds and a complete breakfast. About 14 euros more than the hostel but the breakfast was worth about 9 euros. Luckily I had run into Simon or I would have had to pay 60 euros myself. We then went to the beach and watched the horse races. Quite interesting. I will post pictures when possible. Later music played in the street and people were still partying at 6:00 am. I had crashed about 12 but still heard most of the partying. The B & B owner said he partied until 6. Will continue to upate at next hostel if possible.

Kerry Way

September 2 thru 6th

Hiked from Glenbeigh to Carchiveen. It was one of the hardest days I have ever hiked in my life. Up and down about 14 hills which were 600 to 1800 feet each. The next day I trekked from Carchiveen to Sneems. High up on the hills you could see the coast below. The next day was to Kenmare and then finally back to Killarney. 7 days and 135 miles. Tired but it was beautiful. Saw horse racing on beach in Glenbeigh. The blackberries kept the hunger pains away and they seemed to be all along the Kerry Way. Yum.