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Hi again,
We have had a very eventful few days with the earthquake ... Santiago has been rather dead, with nothing open and the glass and debris from the buildings littering the streets. Luckily, we're in a bit of a posh and modern area, so most of the buildings were built to withstand earthquakes - ours too, thank god!!!!!!!!!
Elsewhere in Providencia, life is going on and you wouldn't know there had been one of the worst earthquakes in recorded history, testament to the amazing Chilean infrastructure we think! There is a strange atmosphere here though and there is evidence everywhere of the quake. We have seen buildings that have been reduced to a pile of rubble and ominous cracks in buildings and streets.
Yesterday we were completely shell shocked and spent most of the day watching the footage on the news, trying to find out more about what had happened in the rest of the country. When it happened, we were so scared, hanging on to the beds for fear of flying around. All the lights blacked out half way through, which added to the hysteria. Because everyone was half asleep and didn't quite realise what was going on, no one made it to the door (you're supposed to stand in door frames, or so the movies tell us) until it was nearly over.
We were really badly shaken but couldn't believe what we saw the next day on the news. The damage has been catastrophic and we feel so lucky to be alive!!!! The whole thing is so surreal. We are still feeling the tremors, one of which was quite bad this morning and woke us up!
We have decided to leave Santiago asap, so we're heading back over the Andes tomorrow to Argentina. We are going to Mendoza and we might stay there for a day before heading back to El Bolson, our favourite place by far on the trip. Our bus is early in the morning so will update again when we arrive.
We are completely fine and are looking forward to getting back to El Bolson to recuperate!
Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Earthquake in Chile
Just a quick update to let everyone know we are ok after the earthquake in Chile. We arrived here last night after a 30 hour bus journey from El Bolson in Argentina, but were awoken by the quake at around 5am this morning. It was pretty horrific. Dave was on a top bunk in our dorm room so it is a miracle he was able to prevent himself from falling. There was no serious damage here but elsewhere in the city there have been some deaths, bridges and building have collapsed and the airport is closed. There have been tsunami warnings issued and the country's president has declared a state of national catastrophe so we are seriously considering leaving as soon as we can. There have been tremors ever since the main quake and we are still feeling them. The whole thing is completely surreal. Sirens were wailing all night and it was really hard to sleep. We are going to venture out into the city to see what's happened soon. Will keep everyone updated.
Lots of love Zephie and Dave xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lots of love Zephie and Dave xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
El Bolson ...
24.2.2010
After a whole afternoon debating whether or not we could afford the time and money required to go further south in Argentina, we decided to go just two hours away from Bariloche to the little town of El Bolson - famous for its beautiful scenery, warm microclimate, great beer and the abundance of organic farms - rather than overstretch ourselves with days of travelling south.
On arrival in El Bolson, we took a taxi to our hostel, which was basically a wooden lodge situated about 3km outside of the town. Aside from the great atmosphere in the place, which was busy and buzzing on at dinner time (9pm onwards here!) one of the great elements of the hostel is its peaceful location. It has a large garden with hammocks dotted all over the place and an organic vegetable patch. As well as a number of older dogs, there is a also a really cute puppy here, who apparently just followed one of the members of staff here back from town and decided to stay put!
On our first day here, we decided to go to the market, which is one of the other things the town is famous for. We had one of the best salads we have had – it was full of peppery leaves and had a soya burger with it MMMMmmmmmm.!!! As well as the usual stuff at the market which you can find all over Argentina, there were some really original little stalls and Zephie ended up getting an amazing pair of handmade ear rings.
The next day we headed to the lake with the intention of doing a bit of a walk, but struggled to find a good trail to do, but ended up relaxing at the beach and going for a dip in the (absolutely freezing) waters of Lake Puelo. We had a little stomp up to the viewpoint where the views were stunning.
Our big walk came the following day when we decided to hike up to the Cajon Azul (Blue Canyon) and to keep the cost of the taxi down, we went with an English couple called Jen and Andy. It proved to be a brilliant day, with a good walk up to the canyon itself, with a couple of very rickety bridges to cross and an opportunity to jump in off the rocks near the top. This was only after much deliberation about whether we should, how cold it would be and if we should do it on the way there or way back.... It was great fun though after the initial shock of hitting the icy mountain water. At the top of trail we realised we were pushed for time so it was a real stomp back to get to the bottom, where we rewarded ourselves with a stir fry and a beer.
This proved a slight error as there was one last climb to get to a place to catch taxi and it proved a difficult task after the 20km walk and the alcohol!!
To reward ourselves for our exertions we had a couple of easy days lying in the hammocks drawing, reading and playing guitar before we set off to Santiago. Onwards to Chile tomorrow!!!!
More pics are to come - the one problem with this place (only problem!!) is the slow internet connection!! :)
After a whole afternoon debating whether or not we could afford the time and money required to go further south in Argentina, we decided to go just two hours away from Bariloche to the little town of El Bolson - famous for its beautiful scenery, warm microclimate, great beer and the abundance of organic farms - rather than overstretch ourselves with days of travelling south.
On arrival in El Bolson, we took a taxi to our hostel, which was basically a wooden lodge situated about 3km outside of the town. Aside from the great atmosphere in the place, which was busy and buzzing on at dinner time (9pm onwards here!) one of the great elements of the hostel is its peaceful location. It has a large garden with hammocks dotted all over the place and an organic vegetable patch. As well as a number of older dogs, there is a also a really cute puppy here, who apparently just followed one of the members of staff here back from town and decided to stay put!
On our first day here, we decided to go to the market, which is one of the other things the town is famous for. We had one of the best salads we have had – it was full of peppery leaves and had a soya burger with it MMMMmmmmmm.!!! As well as the usual stuff at the market which you can find all over Argentina, there were some really original little stalls and Zephie ended up getting an amazing pair of handmade ear rings.
The next day we headed to the lake with the intention of doing a bit of a walk, but struggled to find a good trail to do, but ended up relaxing at the beach and going for a dip in the (absolutely freezing) waters of Lake Puelo. We had a little stomp up to the viewpoint where the views were stunning.
Our big walk came the following day when we decided to hike up to the Cajon Azul (Blue Canyon) and to keep the cost of the taxi down, we went with an English couple called Jen and Andy. It proved to be a brilliant day, with a good walk up to the canyon itself, with a couple of very rickety bridges to cross and an opportunity to jump in off the rocks near the top. This was only after much deliberation about whether we should, how cold it would be and if we should do it on the way there or way back.... It was great fun though after the initial shock of hitting the icy mountain water. At the top of trail we realised we were pushed for time so it was a real stomp back to get to the bottom, where we rewarded ourselves with a stir fry and a beer.
This proved a slight error as there was one last climb to get to a place to catch taxi and it proved a difficult task after the 20km walk and the alcohol!!
To reward ourselves for our exertions we had a couple of easy days lying in the hammocks drawing, reading and playing guitar before we set off to Santiago. Onwards to Chile tomorrow!!!!
More pics are to come - the one problem with this place (only problem!!) is the slow internet connection!! :)
Bariloche!
After the initial grumpiness brought on by fatigue and fear of Bob and the dopplegangers of the Black Lodge, we settled into our hostel, which has amazing views and a nice homely cabin feel – much welcomed after a long stint in a busy city.
Yesterday, we set about on what we thought was going to be a hike, but in typical Dave and Zephie style, we got off at the wrong bus stop and ended up going on a nice walk round a lake. While it wasn’t what we had planned, it was really beautiful and we had a lovely day!
We saw some of the most incredible trees that day in an Arryan Forest! Check out this gnarly beast...
Later, we went into Bariloche itself and settled on the shore of the lake, where it was really windy, but so amazing! The town is essentially a ski resort so it feels a bit wierd because there is no snow around! It is pretty much just full of hotels, over-priced shops and American tourists, so we were glad to be staying out of town!
The weather here has been quite cold and rainy, but we are loving it. With a log fire and a cabin, it feels so nice to be inside while the heavens are opening outside and it is amazing waiting for the peaks to emerge from the clouds. The scenery has taken on an incredible ethereal atmosphere and there is something so invigorating about walking in the rain!
All this was brought home today, when we hiked to the top of a mini mountain, from which you get an incredible view of the surrounding area. After a lazy-ish day of sitting in the comfort of the hostel, it was a shock to the old hamstrings to be climbing really steep, muddy ascents! It wasn’t exactly the biggest of mountains – it may technically have been a large wooded hill ... – so we made it up to the top in an hour or so of panting and sweating, both of us thinking “I’m not sure hiking is really for me....”. But then, we reached the top and OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were both gobsmacked by the sheer magnificence of the view. We had a 360 degrees view of the surroundings and it was truly awe-inspiring. We both felt to exhilirated and with endorphins pumping round our bodies everything became amazing! We had a coffee at the top and it has never tasted so good!
I was a bit worried about the descent because it was so steep and I was sure that with the rain and the mud I would not make it to the bottom without breaking at least one limb. However, by what we thought was a stroke of luck, we found another, less intense path that led down. We felt very clever indeed to have outsmarted the steep path, until it began getting suspiciously smaller and smaller, dramatically stopping half way down the hill and we were faced with a fence. Oh.
Well, there was no turning back at this point so we hopped over the fence and followed another path (at this point I was having flashbacks to Iguazu when we nearly got locked in the park at night – this time, we were alone in a forest, clearly on the wrong path and, oh yes, it was around half 7 at night, so we were expecting it to get dark soon).
After hopping over another fence, we discovered we had been trespassing. Oops! we said, with a cheeky grin, never mind. Ah, yeah but then came the THREE MASSIVE DOGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of which was luckily tied to a chain, the other two came charging down the lane barking at us wildly. I am not sure if it was because we knew what to do in this situation or because we were struck dumb with fear, but we calmly stood there and spoke nicely to them and they soon backed off. Thankfully a guy appeared at the end of the road who held back the beast at the end of the chain, which clearly sensed fear and was after blood and we dodged the other two hounds as they gave us a good telling off for being on their land.
Phew, that was a lucky escape! We laughed about it coming down the road. What we hadn’t realised is that the barking dogs had set off a kind of canine alarm system so all the dogs protecting the private properties on the way down the road joined in the fun. Soon we encountered a huge St Bernard who also decided to point out very agressively that we shall not pass. He was too lazy to actually do anything about it though so we managed to get by unscathed.
Arriving back safely at the hostel, we have settled down to a nice dinner, courtesy of Dave, and are getting ready to pack our bags again and head to El Bolson, where it is less touristy but just as lovely!
We really wanted to head as far south as Calafate and Torres del Paine, but after looking into the logistics we realised that we can’t justify spending all the money on getting there for only a short amount of time (and it would mean several other 20-plus hour journeys), because we have to be in Santiago, Chile by the end of the month to start our internship at the Santiago Times!
Yesterday, we set about on what we thought was going to be a hike, but in typical Dave and Zephie style, we got off at the wrong bus stop and ended up going on a nice walk round a lake. While it wasn’t what we had planned, it was really beautiful and we had a lovely day!
We saw some of the most incredible trees that day in an Arryan Forest! Check out this gnarly beast...
Later, we went into Bariloche itself and settled on the shore of the lake, where it was really windy, but so amazing! The town is essentially a ski resort so it feels a bit wierd because there is no snow around! It is pretty much just full of hotels, over-priced shops and American tourists, so we were glad to be staying out of town!
The weather here has been quite cold and rainy, but we are loving it. With a log fire and a cabin, it feels so nice to be inside while the heavens are opening outside and it is amazing waiting for the peaks to emerge from the clouds. The scenery has taken on an incredible ethereal atmosphere and there is something so invigorating about walking in the rain!
All this was brought home today, when we hiked to the top of a mini mountain, from which you get an incredible view of the surrounding area. After a lazy-ish day of sitting in the comfort of the hostel, it was a shock to the old hamstrings to be climbing really steep, muddy ascents! It wasn’t exactly the biggest of mountains – it may technically have been a large wooded hill ... – so we made it up to the top in an hour or so of panting and sweating, both of us thinking “I’m not sure hiking is really for me....”. But then, we reached the top and OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were both gobsmacked by the sheer magnificence of the view. We had a 360 degrees view of the surroundings and it was truly awe-inspiring. We both felt to exhilirated and with endorphins pumping round our bodies everything became amazing! We had a coffee at the top and it has never tasted so good!
I was a bit worried about the descent because it was so steep and I was sure that with the rain and the mud I would not make it to the bottom without breaking at least one limb. However, by what we thought was a stroke of luck, we found another, less intense path that led down. We felt very clever indeed to have outsmarted the steep path, until it began getting suspiciously smaller and smaller, dramatically stopping half way down the hill and we were faced with a fence. Oh.
Well, there was no turning back at this point so we hopped over the fence and followed another path (at this point I was having flashbacks to Iguazu when we nearly got locked in the park at night – this time, we were alone in a forest, clearly on the wrong path and, oh yes, it was around half 7 at night, so we were expecting it to get dark soon).
After hopping over another fence, we discovered we had been trespassing. Oops! we said, with a cheeky grin, never mind. Ah, yeah but then came the THREE MASSIVE DOGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of which was luckily tied to a chain, the other two came charging down the lane barking at us wildly. I am not sure if it was because we knew what to do in this situation or because we were struck dumb with fear, but we calmly stood there and spoke nicely to them and they soon backed off. Thankfully a guy appeared at the end of the road who held back the beast at the end of the chain, which clearly sensed fear and was after blood and we dodged the other two hounds as they gave us a good telling off for being on their land.
Phew, that was a lucky escape! We laughed about it coming down the road. What we hadn’t realised is that the barking dogs had set off a kind of canine alarm system so all the dogs protecting the private properties on the way down the road joined in the fun. Soon we encountered a huge St Bernard who also decided to point out very agressively that we shall not pass. He was too lazy to actually do anything about it though so we managed to get by unscathed.
Arriving back safely at the hostel, we have settled down to a nice dinner, courtesy of Dave, and are getting ready to pack our bags again and head to El Bolson, where it is less touristy but just as lovely!
We really wanted to head as far south as Calafate and Torres del Paine, but after looking into the logistics we realised that we can’t justify spending all the money on getting there for only a short amount of time (and it would mean several other 20-plus hour journeys), because we have to be in Santiago, Chile by the end of the month to start our internship at the Santiago Times!
On the road to Patagonia!
Having dragged our feet over leaving our new favourite place, we decided it was time to move on from Buenos Aires. We wanted to aim southwards to Patagonia, which is unique in terms of its vast landscapes, lake districts and glaciers!
We have opted for Bariloche in the Nahuel Huapi National Park, which is a stopping off point for those heading further south, but also in the heart of the lake district, surrounded by the ANDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really can’t believe I can see the ANDES from where I am now sitting in our cosy wee hostel. EEEEEEEEEEEK!
The bus we took was 22 hours, but it was fine! We took the good old over night cama bus, which means you have an extendable seat that allows you to lie out (almost) flat! Very nice. We also managed to get a vegan meal, so we were very chuffed (especially since some b**tard had stolen half the food we were going to eat on the journey in our last hostel - the flame of outrage is still burning brightly in our hearts).
Here is Dave looking whistfully out of the window....
We arrived in Bariloche and were welcomed by a stunning panorama – the lake is so vast, lined by mountains, some still with snowy peaks. We had erroneously booked ourselves into a cheaper hostel that we thought was only slightly out of town (Google Maps has a lot to answer for). We discovered it is actually 19 KILOMETRES out of town....hmmmm.
Ah well, we thought, nice bit of peace and quiet. We turned up and weren’t allowed in our room (it wasn’t ready at 2pm) and were told to take a hike – literally! BOOM BOOM! The owner said he didn’t want to waste our time because there’s so much to do and started reeling off all the things we could do, but we were like, hold on, I’ve just come off a 22 HOUR bus journey, I am having a shower! And a shower we did have, in a bathroom with broken everything and doors on the toilets that some lunatic thought up in a fit of madness because they are styled like saloon doors with a huge gap in the middle so you can see everyone doing their respective business!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha!
The town sort of freaked us both out initially because it bears a striking resemblance to Twin Peaks...we were both expecting to be sucked into some dark machinations of the black lodge, but after a while, we realised it is not a sleepy town with a seedy undercurrent of the deepest, darkest evil, but actually a really awesome place!
Here is a nice pic of the peak we can see from our hostel (and the one we would have climbed had the weather not prevented us!).
We have opted for Bariloche in the Nahuel Huapi National Park, which is a stopping off point for those heading further south, but also in the heart of the lake district, surrounded by the ANDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really can’t believe I can see the ANDES from where I am now sitting in our cosy wee hostel. EEEEEEEEEEEK!
The bus we took was 22 hours, but it was fine! We took the good old over night cama bus, which means you have an extendable seat that allows you to lie out (almost) flat! Very nice. We also managed to get a vegan meal, so we were very chuffed (especially since some b**tard had stolen half the food we were going to eat on the journey in our last hostel - the flame of outrage is still burning brightly in our hearts).
Here is Dave looking whistfully out of the window....
We arrived in Bariloche and were welcomed by a stunning panorama – the lake is so vast, lined by mountains, some still with snowy peaks. We had erroneously booked ourselves into a cheaper hostel that we thought was only slightly out of town (Google Maps has a lot to answer for). We discovered it is actually 19 KILOMETRES out of town....hmmmm.
Ah well, we thought, nice bit of peace and quiet. We turned up and weren’t allowed in our room (it wasn’t ready at 2pm) and were told to take a hike – literally! BOOM BOOM! The owner said he didn’t want to waste our time because there’s so much to do and started reeling off all the things we could do, but we were like, hold on, I’ve just come off a 22 HOUR bus journey, I am having a shower! And a shower we did have, in a bathroom with broken everything and doors on the toilets that some lunatic thought up in a fit of madness because they are styled like saloon doors with a huge gap in the middle so you can see everyone doing their respective business!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha!
The town sort of freaked us both out initially because it bears a striking resemblance to Twin Peaks...we were both expecting to be sucked into some dark machinations of the black lodge, but after a while, we realised it is not a sleepy town with a seedy undercurrent of the deepest, darkest evil, but actually a really awesome place!
Here is a nice pic of the peak we can see from our hostel (and the one we would have climbed had the weather not prevented us!).
La Boca, Palermo and the WORST TOUR EVER
In our last few days in Buenos Aires, we finished our Spanish course which was amazing! Our teacher, Alejandro, was a legend and was teaching us on our own for the last week so zoomed through all the stuff we really wanted to learn faster than we should have gone! So now we can converse quite well, but we are determined to get better so have bought some bilingual books to get stuck into!
Here is a pic of us with Alejandro, proudly displaying our certificates, which I will be surprised to see making it back to England, but you never know! I (Zephie) am also looking a little strange in this, but never mind! I blame the intense heat!
In our last few days, we also realised we had better see the rest of the sights in Buenos Aires that we had thus far neglected because of our love for San Telmo. One of the highlights was definitely LA BOCA! Football fans will recognise this as the name of a famous Argentinian team, others (including myself!) will likely associate it with the AMAZING multi-coloured buildings and TANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
We spent an afternoon here checking out the amazing buildings and sipping beer while watching a really touristy, but actually really impressive, Tango show.
We also went to Palermo, which is said to be one of the cooler barrios of Buenos Aires, but we found it to be a less cool but more up-market version of San Telmo - a San Telmo wannabe, you might say. There was this place called Espacio Dada which, we were told, was supposed to be awesome and inspired by the artist ... it was weird and a bit creepy, so we left as soon as physically possible.
While we were booking our bus tickets to our next destination, we thought we may as well book ourselves on the tour to Tigre, a little town not far from Buenos Aires, which was on the Tigre Delta river. Since we hadn't ventured outside of the city we thought we may as well and at 65 pesos each, we thought it was a bargain! Little did we know............
It started out badly...we were told to meet the tour bus at Tortini Cafe, one of the oldest Tango cafes in the city. It was a cool day, early in the morning, so the mosquitos were out in force and we got bitten to death waiting for the bus that came LATE.
Then, we went around the city collecting other people from hotels for TWO AND A HALF HOURS (the whole "tour" lasted 5 hours and it took another hour to get back - you do the math(s)). We were VERY BORED. When we finally arrived in Tigre, after the "guide" had made a half-assed attempt at pointing out some "sights" along the way, the thousand or so people crammed onto this tour were shepherded onto a boat. The boat trip was depressing, frankly. There were shipwrecks and flooded parks all along the banks of the river, which meant it was also deserted and creepy, despite the WIERD privet hedges that lined the shore!
Grim no?
It lasted about 20-30 minutes and then we were herded onto a train where we spent 15 excruciating minutes squished up next to all the other sweaty tourists. We arrived at a disgusting shopping complex (Dave called it a very literal tourist trap) outside of Tigre where we were instructed to buy stuff and look at the "Gothic Cathedral" which had been renovated a few years ago, meaning it was not Gothic at all. Completely exasperated we sat in a little park for the meagre 30 minutes we were allowed before put back on the bus and dumped in the middle of Buenos Aires.
We were thoroughly P*SSED OFF!!!!!!!!!! And left with a feeling of not really having seen anything...!
But it didn't ruin our day. We went home, had a long siesta and then went out for one last lovely night in Plaza Dorrego.
Here is a pic of us with Alejandro, proudly displaying our certificates, which I will be surprised to see making it back to England, but you never know! I (Zephie) am also looking a little strange in this, but never mind! I blame the intense heat!
In our last few days, we also realised we had better see the rest of the sights in Buenos Aires that we had thus far neglected because of our love for San Telmo. One of the highlights was definitely LA BOCA! Football fans will recognise this as the name of a famous Argentinian team, others (including myself!) will likely associate it with the AMAZING multi-coloured buildings and TANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
We spent an afternoon here checking out the amazing buildings and sipping beer while watching a really touristy, but actually really impressive, Tango show.
We also went to Palermo, which is said to be one of the cooler barrios of Buenos Aires, but we found it to be a less cool but more up-market version of San Telmo - a San Telmo wannabe, you might say. There was this place called Espacio Dada which, we were told, was supposed to be awesome and inspired by the artist ... it was weird and a bit creepy, so we left as soon as physically possible.
While we were booking our bus tickets to our next destination, we thought we may as well book ourselves on the tour to Tigre, a little town not far from Buenos Aires, which was on the Tigre Delta river. Since we hadn't ventured outside of the city we thought we may as well and at 65 pesos each, we thought it was a bargain! Little did we know............
It started out badly...we were told to meet the tour bus at Tortini Cafe, one of the oldest Tango cafes in the city. It was a cool day, early in the morning, so the mosquitos were out in force and we got bitten to death waiting for the bus that came LATE.
Then, we went around the city collecting other people from hotels for TWO AND A HALF HOURS (the whole "tour" lasted 5 hours and it took another hour to get back - you do the math(s)). We were VERY BORED. When we finally arrived in Tigre, after the "guide" had made a half-assed attempt at pointing out some "sights" along the way, the thousand or so people crammed onto this tour were shepherded onto a boat. The boat trip was depressing, frankly. There were shipwrecks and flooded parks all along the banks of the river, which meant it was also deserted and creepy, despite the WIERD privet hedges that lined the shore!
Grim no?
It lasted about 20-30 minutes and then we were herded onto a train where we spent 15 excruciating minutes squished up next to all the other sweaty tourists. We arrived at a disgusting shopping complex (Dave called it a very literal tourist trap) outside of Tigre where we were instructed to buy stuff and look at the "Gothic Cathedral" which had been renovated a few years ago, meaning it was not Gothic at all. Completely exasperated we sat in a little park for the meagre 30 minutes we were allowed before put back on the bus and dumped in the middle of Buenos Aires.
We were thoroughly P*SSED OFF!!!!!!!!!! And left with a feeling of not really having seen anything...!
But it didn't ruin our day. We went home, had a long siesta and then went out for one last lovely night in Plaza Dorrego.
Buenos Aires!! (Again!!)
We spent so much time in Buenos Aires and saw so much that its hard to fit it all into a few paragraphs!! During our second weekend in Buenos Aires, we went to see the famous cemetery in Recoleta, which is home to the mausoleums of Argentina's, famous, rich and great. Among those included in this number is Evita, whose mausoleum was the only one with any flowers or colour on it. We had not quite expected it to be the way it was, having envisioned a graveyard with particularly elaborate graves. However, it was more like a city of the dead - as Zephie noted - with narrow streets between what looked like miniature temples, some with barred doors held shut by old padlocks. You could see inside many, which had coffins stacked up in some cases. It was quite a creepy place and a bit of a maze. It was also home to a number of stray cats who seemed to be quite at home there.
Outside the walled cemetary there was a park nearby which had a market selling artesan's products and works, such as clothing, bags, jewellery and all sorts. We sat for a bit in the park and eventually, on a stage area, some people started setting up speakers put music on. This soon gave way to what we guessed must have been standup comedy of sorts, but as it was all in very rapid Spanish (and did'nt look very good anyway as no one seemed to be laughing!!) we left.
On the Monday of our second week in Buenos Aires, we decided to go the Bomba Tiempo, an event which many other people we spoke to said was not to be missed. They were right. In our usual fashion we found the venue the hard way, although the difficulties were not our fault. After following the map from the hostel to the Konex cultural centre, we ended up in front of what appeared to be a bank, despite the fact that it had the same address as the venue. After asking someone in a nearby shop, we were pointed in the right direction and were soon on the right street. At number 1,500. The venue was at about 3,500 ... After walking 15 minutes and reaching about 1,600 we calculated that it might take us hours to get there so we got a taxi.
The event was spectacular - held in an open air venue with grafitti and street art all over the walls, we arrived to see the largest drum circle we had ever seen. This soon disbanded and the real show began with the band taking to the stage. It was a great party and a great way to meet some portenos (residents of Buenos Aires), who were even more keen to chat and have a laugh over beer (see the picture of Zephie with the MASSIVE beers!!) and amazing music.
We also bumped into a couple of Geordies who we met in our first hostel in Rio de Janeiro. They seemed in good spirits despite having had what seemed to be a shocking time. They turned lobster red with sunburn in Rio, got a bus and ended up in one of Rio's notorious favelas (slums), got bed bug bites which became infected and led to one guy's feet swelling up and going black and blue, had a doctor try to put him on an IV drip, lost his wallet in a taxi and finally - to add insult to injury - an old woman tried to pick his pocket on the way to the event. He is 6 ft 4 at least!!! We have done ok I think!!
After it all finished, we were stuck for things to do and considered going to a club with some (slightly dodgy) portenos we had befriended, but after losing them in the crowd opted to see what the Geordies were up to... Although we soon decided that with their track record it might not be best to stick with them!! Anyway, we walked to the nearest Subte station, realised it was closed and got a taxi back to our favourite plaza for a bit before heading to bed.
Pictures to come - we are in a place with a dodgy internet connection!
Outside the walled cemetary there was a park nearby which had a market selling artesan's products and works, such as clothing, bags, jewellery and all sorts. We sat for a bit in the park and eventually, on a stage area, some people started setting up speakers put music on. This soon gave way to what we guessed must have been standup comedy of sorts, but as it was all in very rapid Spanish (and did'nt look very good anyway as no one seemed to be laughing!!) we left.
On the Monday of our second week in Buenos Aires, we decided to go the Bomba Tiempo, an event which many other people we spoke to said was not to be missed. They were right. In our usual fashion we found the venue the hard way, although the difficulties were not our fault. After following the map from the hostel to the Konex cultural centre, we ended up in front of what appeared to be a bank, despite the fact that it had the same address as the venue. After asking someone in a nearby shop, we were pointed in the right direction and were soon on the right street. At number 1,500. The venue was at about 3,500 ... After walking 15 minutes and reaching about 1,600 we calculated that it might take us hours to get there so we got a taxi.
The event was spectacular - held in an open air venue with grafitti and street art all over the walls, we arrived to see the largest drum circle we had ever seen. This soon disbanded and the real show began with the band taking to the stage. It was a great party and a great way to meet some portenos (residents of Buenos Aires), who were even more keen to chat and have a laugh over beer (see the picture of Zephie with the MASSIVE beers!!) and amazing music.
We also bumped into a couple of Geordies who we met in our first hostel in Rio de Janeiro. They seemed in good spirits despite having had what seemed to be a shocking time. They turned lobster red with sunburn in Rio, got a bus and ended up in one of Rio's notorious favelas (slums), got bed bug bites which became infected and led to one guy's feet swelling up and going black and blue, had a doctor try to put him on an IV drip, lost his wallet in a taxi and finally - to add insult to injury - an old woman tried to pick his pocket on the way to the event. He is 6 ft 4 at least!!! We have done ok I think!!
After it all finished, we were stuck for things to do and considered going to a club with some (slightly dodgy) portenos we had befriended, but after losing them in the crowd opted to see what the Geordies were up to... Although we soon decided that with their track record it might not be best to stick with them!! Anyway, we walked to the nearest Subte station, realised it was closed and got a taxi back to our favourite plaza for a bit before heading to bed.
Pictures to come - we are in a place with a dodgy internet connection!
San Telmo, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is actually the best city in the world.
Thanks to a stroke of genius on the part of the South American weather, we decided to change our planned route and head south to Argentina instead of north(ish) to Bolivia because otherwise we would essentially be following the rainy season around the continent. The rains aren't too bad in general, but typically come with sweltering heat and in Bolivia it tends to mean that the roads become impassable - and neither of us really fancied getting stranded anywhere, least of all the jungle, where we will eventually be heading.
So, Argentina it was! We hadn't originally planned on staying there very long at all, but we thought we may as well stay for a couple of weeks to learn Spanish as it is supposed to be one of the best cities in the world to learn it and excel beyond key phrases like NO ME GUSTA LA MUSICAAA EN FESTIVAAAAAAAAAL!!!!! A widely used term in Bristol and Manchester these days...!!!
We decided on staying in San Telmo, which, by all accounts was a cool and arty place "to be". We fell in love with the place immediately. Our hostel was a few blocks away from Plaza Dorrego, which is quite clearly the best plaza in the world. We spent so much of our time there and it was the cite of one of our first experiences of the city, which luckily fell on a Sunday, when the square errupted into a mass of stalls, music, tourists, locals and Tango, with people selling their wears for what seemed like miles across the city. The market in the plaza was dedicated to antiques, which is a speciality of this barrio of the city. There are literally hundreds of antiques shops and markets in San Telmo, which we spent hours looking round. We later discovered that the whole of the city had dedicated areas to various different items; there was a whole street dedicated to remote controls, for example! Another time we got lost in the Bermuda Triangle of music shops while looking for a new guitar for Dave. We eventually emerged very harassed, but that's another story...!!!
Here is the square with people enjoying a spot of Tango. Each night the square would transform into a dancefloor. Dave and I refrained, but went along a few times to sit on the wall around the plaza to enjoy the various bands and chatter with the locals.
On this one day alone we saw Tango, a few busking bands, a Flamenco show and as the stalls were being put away around the corner came a huge percussion band which led a street party in the square! They were incredible!
So this became our favourite haunt, where we would buy a litre of beer for less than a pound and sit in the square waiting for whatever treats would emerge! It was perfect for us because it was very cheap but still loads of fun!
Thanks to a stroke of genius on the part of the South American weather, we decided to change our planned route and head south to Argentina instead of north(ish) to Bolivia because otherwise we would essentially be following the rainy season around the continent. The rains aren't too bad in general, but typically come with sweltering heat and in Bolivia it tends to mean that the roads become impassable - and neither of us really fancied getting stranded anywhere, least of all the jungle, where we will eventually be heading.
So, Argentina it was! We hadn't originally planned on staying there very long at all, but we thought we may as well stay for a couple of weeks to learn Spanish as it is supposed to be one of the best cities in the world to learn it and excel beyond key phrases like NO ME GUSTA LA MUSICAAA EN FESTIVAAAAAAAAAL!!!!! A widely used term in Bristol and Manchester these days...!!!
We decided on staying in San Telmo, which, by all accounts was a cool and arty place "to be". We fell in love with the place immediately. Our hostel was a few blocks away from Plaza Dorrego, which is quite clearly the best plaza in the world. We spent so much of our time there and it was the cite of one of our first experiences of the city, which luckily fell on a Sunday, when the square errupted into a mass of stalls, music, tourists, locals and Tango, with people selling their wears for what seemed like miles across the city. The market in the plaza was dedicated to antiques, which is a speciality of this barrio of the city. There are literally hundreds of antiques shops and markets in San Telmo, which we spent hours looking round. We later discovered that the whole of the city had dedicated areas to various different items; there was a whole street dedicated to remote controls, for example! Another time we got lost in the Bermuda Triangle of music shops while looking for a new guitar for Dave. We eventually emerged very harassed, but that's another story...!!!
Here is the square with people enjoying a spot of Tango. Each night the square would transform into a dancefloor. Dave and I refrained, but went along a few times to sit on the wall around the plaza to enjoy the various bands and chatter with the locals.
On this one day alone we saw Tango, a few busking bands, a Flamenco show and as the stalls were being put away around the corner came a huge percussion band which led a street party in the square! They were incredible!
So this became our favourite haunt, where we would buy a litre of beer for less than a pound and sit in the square waiting for whatever treats would emerge! It was perfect for us because it was very cheap but still loads of fun!
Happy Birthday Ellis :)
Hi El!! Happy Birthday, we have done you a birthday video message, hope you have a great day and have loads of fun! Sorry we can't be there to celebrate with you but we are thinking of you and wishing you lots of birthday fun and frolics!!! I'll buy you a drink tomorrow, but might have to drink it for you in your absence :) Speak to you soon, take care. HAPPY BIRTHDAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS: Check out our lovely hostel!!!!!!!!!!
PS: Check out our lovely hostel!!!!!!!!!!
Iguazu!
From Bonito we took an epic bus journey all the way down to Iguazu - an area that borders Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina!
The best (and only thing, really) about it, is the AMAZING WATERFALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The falls were incredible! It took us two days to see them in their entirety. They are surrounded by jungle and lush forest so the whole thing felt like a big adventure! It really is a magical place with millions of butterflies and rainbows round every corner. We spotted loads of animals, including lizards and a snake and loads of coatis!!! Here is one particularly cheeky one....
We had a brilliant time there and went on a boat ride that takes you into the falls themselves, as well as taking a trek to another smaller water fall where we had a nice relaxing swim.
We nearly got locked in the park because they decided to shut it all down about an hour before they were supposed to (and when we were half way out of the park splashing around in a secret waterfall!!) so we had a little run through the jungle, which was quite funny looking back on it but actually a bit terrifying at the time, because it was then that we saw the snake and remembered stories of people getting mauled by jaguars...!!! We survived though! Hahaha!
Bonito !!
After our stop in Rio we went to Campo Grande near the Pantanal, which is an area famous for its wildlife. However, we decided against going on one of the tours from here as all the tour operators push really hard for the sale..!! We didnt really like the city or the hostel (which we later found out was notoriously bad - there was even a warning up in our next hostel about it!!!). The only redeeming feature of the city for us was the amazing vegan buffet we found and the lovely manager who decided to take us round to each dish (of which there were many) and explain what was in each one and whether or not we could eat it! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Yummy!!!
We took a bus from here to Bonito asap - a small town famous for eco tourism and for being particularly beautiful. It was in the centre of the Pantanal and there were loads of things to do from here. On our first full day there we went on a snorkelling trip down the Rio de Prata. It was crystal clear water and no standing up or swimming allowed (or mossie repellent or sunscreen) to ensure the water remained uncontaminated. You just relaxed and let the river take you downstream... It was really amazing! We saw a caiman, a monkey, parrots, fish (lots and lots), some kind of small bush dog thing and what we think might have been a rhea or emu.
Unfortunately, Zephie was poorly that evening and was sick a number of times over the next few days. We suspect the dodgy hostel in Campo Grande!!! After a few days of ice lollies and whatever else she could manage to eat, Zephie started to recover :) We then went to the Balinario Municipale, which was another incredible river but it doubled as the local swimming pool/area. Rather than flumes and slides, it had a walkway to a point upstream where you would jump in and be taken by the current to the main bit where everyone else was congregated. It was so much fun we had to do it a number of times. The fish would not move for anyone and would happily let you brush buy them.. Fair enough. It was their water!!!!
Dave shouldn't have farted in the pool.................
After Bonito, it was south towards Argentina and the Iguazu Falls.....
We took a bus from here to Bonito asap - a small town famous for eco tourism and for being particularly beautiful. It was in the centre of the Pantanal and there were loads of things to do from here. On our first full day there we went on a snorkelling trip down the Rio de Prata. It was crystal clear water and no standing up or swimming allowed (or mossie repellent or sunscreen) to ensure the water remained uncontaminated. You just relaxed and let the river take you downstream... It was really amazing! We saw a caiman, a monkey, parrots, fish (lots and lots), some kind of small bush dog thing and what we think might have been a rhea or emu.
Unfortunately, Zephie was poorly that evening and was sick a number of times over the next few days. We suspect the dodgy hostel in Campo Grande!!! After a few days of ice lollies and whatever else she could manage to eat, Zephie started to recover :) We then went to the Balinario Municipale, which was another incredible river but it doubled as the local swimming pool/area. Rather than flumes and slides, it had a walkway to a point upstream where you would jump in and be taken by the current to the main bit where everyone else was congregated. It was so much fun we had to do it a number of times. The fish would not move for anyone and would happily let you brush buy them.. Fair enough. It was their water!!!!
Dave shouldn't have farted in the pool.................
After Bonito, it was south towards Argentina and the Iguazu Falls.....
Blogging at last!!!!!
Hello everyone!
Well, we finally got round to starting our blog! Sorry it's taken so long, we have had a busy few weeks and have thrown ourselves in headfirst!
We think we owe it to those who have requested updates to give you a quick run-down on our activities so far......
We started out in Rio - an amazing city with incredible beaches, bars and life in general. To say it was a culture shock to arrive there is a bit of an understatement after all the snow in England and the madness of Christmas and getting ourselves away!
We soon got used to having very little to do except go to the beach and go out for a few Caipirinhas!!!
Here is a picture of Impanema Beach, only a couple of minutes from where we were staying! It was so beautiful here and the pic doesn't really do it justice. We spent most of our time looking at this view, relaxing and having many dips in the sea ...aaah!
Here we are on a night out in Lapa at a club where an awesome Samba band were playing...
Unfortunately we don't have many photos from Rio because a very nasty person decided to steal our lovely brand new camera. We still have our trusty wee one though so all is not lost! Despite the set back, Rio was still a lot of fun though!!
Well, we finally got round to starting our blog! Sorry it's taken so long, we have had a busy few weeks and have thrown ourselves in headfirst!
We think we owe it to those who have requested updates to give you a quick run-down on our activities so far......
We started out in Rio - an amazing city with incredible beaches, bars and life in general. To say it was a culture shock to arrive there is a bit of an understatement after all the snow in England and the madness of Christmas and getting ourselves away!
We soon got used to having very little to do except go to the beach and go out for a few Caipirinhas!!!
Here is a picture of Impanema Beach, only a couple of minutes from where we were staying! It was so beautiful here and the pic doesn't really do it justice. We spent most of our time looking at this view, relaxing and having many dips in the sea ...aaah!
Here we are on a night out in Lapa at a club where an awesome Samba band were playing...
Unfortunately we don't have many photos from Rio because a very nasty person decided to steal our lovely brand new camera. We still have our trusty wee one though so all is not lost! Despite the set back, Rio was still a lot of fun though!!
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