Well my mission to Bariloche started from BA, a 22 hour bus ride from Retiro bus station. Retiro comprises over 70 platforms and stretches for about a km so finding the correct platform can take a while!! I was travelling on Via Bariloche which is reputed to be one of the better companies and one that my mate Rich from Bariloche had travelled on a week earlier and passed back favourable reports. I settled in to my seat on the lower level of the bus, which I chose because it is more cosy with only around 10 seats in total and close to the bathoom (which can have a few smelly drawbacks but worth the risk) and perhaps a less of a rolling movement. It also has the benefit of being next to the kitchen and bar area so the drinks and snacks can easily be obtained from the chap running up and down the stairs. I passed the time until dinner by reading, listening to my eyepod and trying to say a few words to the Spanish chap next to me, who was travelling with his family. His young daughter was noisy to start with and I was beginning to imagine a sleepless night ahead. I guess if you can´t beat em, join em, so I tried to have a yarn with them all and play a few little games with the daughter, which provided quite a bit of amusement for us all so it all worked out pretty well. Dinner wasn´t as good as the trip from Iguacu to Rosario but we were still served hot food and wine, although beer wasn´t available. It amused me when the chap next to me asked for a ´vaso de vino e sprite´, which is pretty much a red wine shandy!! Apparently all the young kids do it to get into wine and apparently this guy was never weaned off this idea hahah. I asked him ´te gusta vino tinto e sprite´, to which he replied ´si si, esta buneasimo´, classic! The attendant chap came around and offered whiskey, which I happily accepted ´con pepsi´ which he managed to understand after a while (perhaps whiskey and coke is not a common drink and judging by his proportion of 2/3 whiskey I think he thought he was doing me a favour hhaha).
My greatest moment of happiness that night came when the final movie started to screen after dinner. To this point I had to endure 3 terrible Spanish films, or at least try to block them out. I was going to ask the dude if they had any English movies but didn´t get around to it so was stoked when I am Legend with Will Smith came onto the screen. The chap next to me was a bit surprised, as I must have jumped forward in my seat with elation, rummaging through my bag to find my headset to plug into the ceiling jack. Kind of ironic really given I am Legend lends itself perfectly to being dubbed over in Spanish given there are only about 2 characters and very little dialogue whatsoever so English speaking and Spanish sub titles was an awesome bonus!
Arriving the next morning in the Lakes district was pretty incredible. It is now becoming pretty apparent that the southern areas of Southern America (i guess i will soon find out about the northern areas...) are characterised by enormous areas of desolate and barren terrain with pockets of beauty. Unlike New Zealand where the drive to a destination is often as rewarding as the destination itself, I often wonder if the long bus rides over completely uninspiring landscapes is really worth all the hassle as there is much travel through boring scenery and incredibly flat dusty roads to get to anywhere of any notable aesthetic quality. That being said, the lakes and cliffs that greeted me as we approached Bariloche were pretty amazing! The road wound its way down lower and lower through green lakes and rocky crags; I occasionally spotted some great lodges and batches on the lake front. Soon were were on the lake front of Bariloche, Lago Nahuel Huapi, looking north towards the main township. Perfectly blue skies reflected in the dark blue water was an incredible sight and something I had been looking forward to since the beginning of my trip. Stepping outside for the first time at the main bus station some 3km south of town was crisp but refreshing after a long bus trip. I found my way to the urban bus stop and headed into town.
My first stop was Hostel 1004, which is renowned as having the most amazing views of lake and of any hostel (and perhaps building) in Bariloche. I had a reservation for the following night and was told to try my luck for my day of arrival in case people had checked out. No one had so I made my way to Hostel 41 Below, which is run by a laid back kiwi guy, a point I had forgotten until i arrived. I was knocking around the reception checking in and a laid back chap with a very Flight of the Concords accent started to yarn to me, asking me how I was getting along in my jandals and t shirt in Bariloche...it was obvious to him that I reeked of kiwi ahah. Paul had been running the place for around 4 years with his striking Argentinian partner, travelling for around half the year in the off season. The walls were plastered with numerous photos of far off destinations, including Nepal, which provided great flashbacks.
I decided to make the most of the day rather than moping around the hostel. I sought suggestions as to decent day walks to pass the afternoon. Cerro Otto was a four hour return walk from the the hostel and provides great views over the lake. Off I went, via the supermarket and several frustrating return trips to the hostel to collect gear which I had forgotten; perhaps my lack of sleep was catching up with me! I also realised at this point, being my first trip into the Patagonian outdoors, that my idea of going light in South America might have been taken slightly too far as it had become alarmingly apparent that most of my basic thermal clothing had been left behind in Auckland. I had a fully set of heavy weight thermals but no mid layer or light base layers. This annoyed me greatly as the space required to pack several additional sets of thermals is nothing and the value added is huge. I was also kicking myself for not getting trekking pants from Mike before heading off...although many people seem to trek in jeans I could not bring myself to do such a thing on any serious walks! I would have to buy some... Anyway, off up Cerro Otto. I found the turn off and started to charge up a mountain bike trail which cuts a few corners off the windy road to the top, eventually re joining the main road a bout half way up. The trail was semi covered in snow and great views over the lake were around most corners. After re joining the road I soon came upon a ski resort and a bit further on the centre for cross country skiing or something. The road ended at this point and I was off up a snow covered track to the top of Reserva Telefonica. This view point is serviced by a gondola and then a cable car..pretty lazy really given the walk up is only a couple of hours and more rewarding, but that´s just my view. Upon getting to the top the guy at the office said it was 25 pesos to get to the viewing deck but I said I would just have a walk around and take a few photos...then snuck up under a fenced off areas to get to the same place so felt pretty good about that.
I met some cool guys at the hostel that night and had a yarn to one chap about Huayna Potosi in Bolivia, which is 6085m and something I am keep to do, if Bolivia is safe! Some good info obtained. The next morning I headed back to 1004 to check in. Upon arriving I figured that I didn´t really like the vibe and the people hanging around there so decided to stay only a night there and head back to 41 below for a couple of additional nights to catch up with the other chaps there. I dropped off my stuff and headed out to Cerro Campanario, which everyone said is the best place to soak up amazing panoramic views of the lakes and surrounds. The weather was perfect and a 30 minute walk from the bus stop bypasses the chair lift to the top, saving a crazy 40 pesos! The views were indeed amazing! I sat around in the sun eating ham and cheese baguettes and doing my best to talk to some locals, which is always entertaining.
I headed back down to the road and asked for direction to a beach, or playa. I am beginning to be capable of asking questions in Spanish, which is great, but I am still hopelessly unable to understand 90% of the responses so I trotted off and took a wrong turn and didn´t really come to a beach (I found it the next day on a separate trip) but did find the Bariloche Yacht Club tucked into a very calm bay, a simply awesome spot by the lake front! I headed into a nearby store and got a beer to accompany my remaining baguette and made my way down to the water front, ignoring the members only sign. Sitting on the lake front on an awesome day with a beer was just awesome...simple but very rewarding. Once finished, I simply jumped back on the bus and headed back into town to relax for the afternoon.
Hostel 1004 turned out to be pretty decent in fact! Totally chilled out in a very hippy sort of way! I waited for the sun to set which was a bit of a fizzer, although nice enough. I went inside to prepare dinner in the most amazing kitchen I have even been in, hostel or otherwise, with several 8 burner stainless gas cookers and a massive array of utensils and festooning every available wall surface! After about 10 minutes I looked outside to see a mass of red over the lake....the sunset I had expected and hoped for had put on a display afterall. I quickly threw down my cooking tools and ran to the room, drawing some attention to myself on the way but when my room mates made it outside with me and their own cameras they all realised what the rush was for. It was perhaps the most amazing sunset I have seen and I quickly shot a few panoramas in the fading light. Magic. I spent the rest of the night with a cool young Aussie couple (yes, one was a lawyer, cant escape them!) and planned to ride the around the Circuito Chico, a 35 km ride around Lago Llao Llao. We sat around drinking with the very alternative hostel owners, one of whom looked very like Jesus, but was amazing on the guitar and violin and did a duet with some chick on the recorder...awesome live music much to the delight of a drunk and loud American knob. The aussie chap and I headed into town around 1am to get more beer but couldn´t find anywhere (probably too early) so headed back to the hostel, which had shut down for the night.
The ride was amazing! We met up around 1230 the next morning after I had rechecked into Hostel 41 Below. The bus was crazy full!! Never had I been on such a full bus, packed with school kids and people going hope for a siesta or something I suppose. Everyone keep making room at each stop when 20 more people go on, madness but fun. The ride took us the full circuit of Lago Llao Llao and provided superb views of mountains, beaches and forest. At one point, pt panoramico, superb perfect mirror image views of the hills surrounding the lakes were to be had, which made the steep uphill grunt on the bike worth it! Only a small ride to return the bikes and get back on the bus remained.
That evening I caught up with Rich and Tara (I met tara in rio and again in BA) for a nice meal out at Pilgrims restaurant. We had a nice platter of wild bore, venison, salmon, duck, trout etc and a pizza. A really nice meal but from that point I realised that such luxurious eating out (especially after the expense of Brazil and BA) really is totally unsustainable and not nearly as rewarding as preparing food in hostels with others. It is great to become aware of these things as it has provided an important insight into the style of travel I prefer and the sorts of things I can do without. I am realising that the more simple thrills of living cheap but spending time and money seeing great sights and ´roughing ít´ provides a great deal more satisfaction and enjoyment than eating out in restaurants etc. However, that said, I still need to splash out somewhere in Argentina for a decent steak!
The next day was a simple kicking around sort of day. I bought a pair or pants and a fleece from the Garmont store, setting me back around 300 pesos, which is like 150 nzd so not too bad I guess, and abit cheaper than home. I now feel prepared to hit the outdoors! I met a cool guy in the North Face store and struck up a bit of a conversation. He had travelled to NZ and intends to return. He invited me back to his hostel later that night for a beer, which I happily accepted. We spent the night chatting, learning a bit of Spanish and sharing a few stories. He is going to set me up with his mates in Cordoba in Northern Argentina when I head up there so that should be interesting! Its great meeting locals and getting off the tourist trail a bit.
I bought my bus ticket and did a final walk around the town before starting my 36 hour bus ride to El Calafate via Comodoro Rivadavia and Rio Gallegos! That is a whole new story altogether.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Uruguay 16-18 September 2008
A pretty early start to the day, checking out of the Milhouse at around 7 to get down to the Baquebus ferry terminal for a 730 check in. I met Natalie there and got a coffee...making the same mistake I seem to be making in BA, that is, that a cafe doble is double the price (and coffee I hope!) as a standard cafe con leche....not really that good forking out $5 for a coffee!
Anyway, we were on our way to Rosario, just over the Rio do Plata an hour on the fast boat. It was a quite interesting experience crossing into another country by boat. First, the immigration procedures took place entirely from the port of departure, with one person stamping the departure stamp on the passport before passing it to a person directly next them him who would provide the incoming Uruguay stamp/visa. When the boat was about half way through the journey, the duty free counter opened and hoards of people rushed up to make their purchases. I guess crossing to Uruguay is a good way to get cheap alcohol and smokes etc, similar to Brazilians crossing into Paraguay.
Rosario was pleasant enough. Not really much to take one by surprise, having only heard that it is a town of old buildings on the coast....that was certainly true. It was nice to walk around and take photos of the cobbled streets which are predominantly pedestrian only (some barely suitable for pedestrians!). We went up the lighthouse and finished our grand tour at a nice restaurant at lunch time. The weather cleared up dramatically so we decided to repeat the top spots to re-shoot photos with a nice blue sky background...clearly not a huge town. Natalie jumped back on the ferry around 5 to complete her day trip and I headed for the supermarket to prepare dinner. The hostel was nice enough, set in a old restored building (go figure!!). It was pretty quiet, which suited me and allowed me to have free rein of the DVD player, finally settling on Babel, which was a terrific choice.
Have decided to stay on in Uruguay for a few days, I was off to the capital Montevideo for a night. I boarded a bus with a few chaps I met at the hostel that morning. We decided to do a sort of city tour upon arriving at Montevideo but soon after arriving I was reminded of why I have begun to really appreciate the freedom of travelling solo. Waiting around for the others to book tickets, make phone calls, go to the bathroom, flounder around with maps, loose maps etc etc I was pretty ready to kick it by myself. However, I put up with the initial slow start and had a great afternoon checking out the sights with a couple of really nice guys, one from Peru and the other from Argentina. Montevideo is a great spot, with a mixture of old colonial buildings and decent shopping precincts, as well as attractive beaches. I met a hard case aussie guy at the hostel and together we endured two Steven Segal movies head to head, which is an achievement in itself worth blogging about!
The next morning I decided to head to the beaches for a walk; I probably should have hired a bike like the Aussie but chose to leg it given I had time to kill before the bus with no other ideas. As with several other places I have visited before, the beaches of Montevideo were certainly worth seeing but I was left wondering what they would really be like in high-season with lots of people, street vendors and a happening vibe. As it was I had the place to myself (except for a few dogs) which was nice. I got my bus back to Colonia to meet my ferry connection. I sat next to a lovely french girl who was visiting family in Montevideo (her mum was born there) so was able to pass the time having a good chat and learning a bit of Spanish.
I had opted for the slow 3 hour boat on my return to BA. It was amazing, with dance floors, casino, and helipad on the top deck. I explored and took photos of the sunset over Colonia, before bumping into girl from the hostel in Montevideo, who, as it happens, will be starting work with Natalie at Herbert Smith in London (as well as her 3 travelling companions)...small world!
My arrival in BA was simply enough, heading to Retiro at 1030 to get a bus ticket with the girl from the boat, although my bus counter was closed for the night so I jumped on the tube back to Milhouse for a quiet night....or so I thought. I met some crazing English guys in my dorm (lawyers....I only seem to met lawyers or drunk Irish on my trip!!!) and decided to head out to Club 69 in Palermo. After a few drinking games and some food we were merry enough to get a cab...still pretty early at 2am but what the hell.... The que-jump tickets we bought didnt´ really give us any advantage and we waited for about 45 minutes to get in. It turned out (i had heard but didnt´ appreciate the full extent of it) that Club 69 is a gay club with transvestite shows!! Worth a laugh and certainly colourful and decent enough music. Pretty weird dancing around watching guys fully of kissing each other or in threes and getting groped continuously by ever guy under the sun! I managed to get out on sunrise and head back to the hostel for a few hours sleep before jumping on the tube to organise my bus ticket to Bariloche.
Good by cities, bring on the Lakes District and Patagonia.
Anyway, we were on our way to Rosario, just over the Rio do Plata an hour on the fast boat. It was a quite interesting experience crossing into another country by boat. First, the immigration procedures took place entirely from the port of departure, with one person stamping the departure stamp on the passport before passing it to a person directly next them him who would provide the incoming Uruguay stamp/visa. When the boat was about half way through the journey, the duty free counter opened and hoards of people rushed up to make their purchases. I guess crossing to Uruguay is a good way to get cheap alcohol and smokes etc, similar to Brazilians crossing into Paraguay.
Rosario was pleasant enough. Not really much to take one by surprise, having only heard that it is a town of old buildings on the coast....that was certainly true. It was nice to walk around and take photos of the cobbled streets which are predominantly pedestrian only (some barely suitable for pedestrians!). We went up the lighthouse and finished our grand tour at a nice restaurant at lunch time. The weather cleared up dramatically so we decided to repeat the top spots to re-shoot photos with a nice blue sky background...clearly not a huge town. Natalie jumped back on the ferry around 5 to complete her day trip and I headed for the supermarket to prepare dinner. The hostel was nice enough, set in a old restored building (go figure!!). It was pretty quiet, which suited me and allowed me to have free rein of the DVD player, finally settling on Babel, which was a terrific choice.
Have decided to stay on in Uruguay for a few days, I was off to the capital Montevideo for a night. I boarded a bus with a few chaps I met at the hostel that morning. We decided to do a sort of city tour upon arriving at Montevideo but soon after arriving I was reminded of why I have begun to really appreciate the freedom of travelling solo. Waiting around for the others to book tickets, make phone calls, go to the bathroom, flounder around with maps, loose maps etc etc I was pretty ready to kick it by myself. However, I put up with the initial slow start and had a great afternoon checking out the sights with a couple of really nice guys, one from Peru and the other from Argentina. Montevideo is a great spot, with a mixture of old colonial buildings and decent shopping precincts, as well as attractive beaches. I met a hard case aussie guy at the hostel and together we endured two Steven Segal movies head to head, which is an achievement in itself worth blogging about!
The next morning I decided to head to the beaches for a walk; I probably should have hired a bike like the Aussie but chose to leg it given I had time to kill before the bus with no other ideas. As with several other places I have visited before, the beaches of Montevideo were certainly worth seeing but I was left wondering what they would really be like in high-season with lots of people, street vendors and a happening vibe. As it was I had the place to myself (except for a few dogs) which was nice. I got my bus back to Colonia to meet my ferry connection. I sat next to a lovely french girl who was visiting family in Montevideo (her mum was born there) so was able to pass the time having a good chat and learning a bit of Spanish.
I had opted for the slow 3 hour boat on my return to BA. It was amazing, with dance floors, casino, and helipad on the top deck. I explored and took photos of the sunset over Colonia, before bumping into girl from the hostel in Montevideo, who, as it happens, will be starting work with Natalie at Herbert Smith in London (as well as her 3 travelling companions)...small world!
My arrival in BA was simply enough, heading to Retiro at 1030 to get a bus ticket with the girl from the boat, although my bus counter was closed for the night so I jumped on the tube back to Milhouse for a quiet night....or so I thought. I met some crazing English guys in my dorm (lawyers....I only seem to met lawyers or drunk Irish on my trip!!!) and decided to head out to Club 69 in Palermo. After a few drinking games and some food we were merry enough to get a cab...still pretty early at 2am but what the hell.... The que-jump tickets we bought didnt´ really give us any advantage and we waited for about 45 minutes to get in. It turned out (i had heard but didnt´ appreciate the full extent of it) that Club 69 is a gay club with transvestite shows!! Worth a laugh and certainly colourful and decent enough music. Pretty weird dancing around watching guys fully of kissing each other or in threes and getting groped continuously by ever guy under the sun! I managed to get out on sunrise and head back to the hostel for a few hours sleep before jumping on the tube to organise my bus ticket to Bariloche.
Good by cities, bring on the Lakes District and Patagonia.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Buenos Aires and around
Well I arrived in Buenos Aires with only a few dramas. The hostel in Rosairo had my money belt in their safe but when I went to check out they did not have the key for it as the boss was not around. This was a problem because I was supposed to be meeting Natalie in BA in the afternoon and I needed to get a four hour bus ride before 11pm. The owner eventually turned up and I jumped on a bus to get to the long distance bus terminal, only the bus the hostel told me to catch didn't go to the terminal, so I had to get off and leg it about 15 blocks with my pack on! So it was all good in the end but a hot and sweaty start to the day!
Arriving in BA around 3pm at the Retiro bus station, with over 70 bus platforms it was a huge setup. I made a quick walk to the subway and headed into town. The whole underground covers most of the city and is seems pretty efficient and cheap. The stop at Mayo was only a few hundred metres from the hostel so everything worked out pretty well. I couldn't get into the well known Milhouse hostel until Saturday night because they were fully booked so I was booked in at BA Stop for a couple of nights. I met Natalie at the Milhouse, which is a central point. To get to Milhouse from my current hostel, I had to head over the main 'road' running through the center of town, which is actually 20 lanes of traffic and one of the wides roads in the world, truly amazing and requires several crossings to get from one side to the other.
Natalie and I booked into the Milhouse for a weekend of partying and headed out around town for a night walk, which turned out to be perfectly safe and very interesting, despite getting lost a few times after poor navigation on both our parts. While down near the waterfront and the Pinkhouse (like our government house) a large blackhawk helicopter landed on the front lawn, so that was pretty amazing!I caught up with my mate Rich who I first met in Rio. Nat, I and Rich went to Palermo for dinner and drinks. Amazing different in the culture - we were at out second bar after dinner having yet another bottle or wine and looked out our watches to find that it was 4am. Incredible given the bar was still full and a new band were just about to start playing!!
The next morning the three of us went out to La Boca, which is essentially a shitty neighbourhood in BA with a pretty strong Italian influence, but has several really colourful streets and tango shows and restaurants. No doubt it is one of the more tourist orientated places more akin to the hustle and bustle of a Thai beach or market with people trying to sell their wares and get you into their restaurants but it is a must see. Not that I really needed any more excuses to take a whole heap more photos, but La Boca really was a very picturesque place and provided a low-key way to spend a hung over morning.
Saturday night rolled along pretty quickly after we got back and had a bit of a siesta. The hostel was running a trip out to Pasha, which is a massive club playing electronic music. We managed to convince Rich to come along which was great. We also caught up with a friend Tara who was staying with Rich and I at the Rio hostel, so we all headed out their together. Tara, didn´t last all that long before having to go home a bit worse for ware (about 10 minutes!) so not a great way to spend 80 pesos. Rich went to find her and check if she was okay, only to walk face first into a glass door and split the front of his head open, a great start to the night but all good after that. The club was fully of lots of local posers on drugs all wearing sunglasses inside! I have heard that it is not just fashion but also to provide a bit of comfort when they get out of the club the next morning in full sunlight! We left at sunrise and headed back to Milhouse by 730.
Nat and I got up to watch the F1 racing at 9am so not a great deal of sleep. We again met Rich and an Aussie guy Dan who I met in Santiago to head down to the Antique markets in San Telmo. I arranged to meet up with Gabe, another other guy who I stayed with in Santiago, at the markets also, so that was pretty cool. The markets were amazing, stretching several kms through the cobbled streets of San Telmo, terminating in a nice plaza. We had the largest empanadas on the planet and a beer before heading back. Another chilled out day after a big night on the booze.
Nat and I bought out boat tickets to Uruguay for Tuesday, heading over to Colonia. Nat planned to do a day trip whilst I was going to do a couple of days to take in both Colonia and Montevideo. That evening around 8pm I decided to have a short kip before joining people downstairs for a musical jam session or something. However, when I actually woke up from my small nap it was 330 in the morning and the light was still on and I was fully clothed - clearly the lack of sleep had caught up with me and I wasn´t capable of surviving on a mere 90 minutes that morning!!!
I had nothing planned for Monday, so I bumped into Dan downstairs and checked out the activities board. They was a suggestion to go to El Tigre outside of BA by train, from where one can have a river cruise and so on. A very popular holiday destination for wealthy BA folk who have holiday homes on the waterway, not to dissimilar to Pauanui or something. He had a great day out in the sun just relaxing. The whole return trip on the tube and train was only 3 pesos, which is NZ$1.50 !! We took a 2 hour boat cruise for about NZ$20 which was pretty great. We met an interesting chap from the Philippines whose family had purchased 15,000 hectares of land in Queenstown many years ago and cashed up for tens of millions of dollars! He was a camp as a row of pink tents and enjoyed chatting to dan and I and getting photos with us, which he kept describing as cute, which was a bit weird.
A low key night at the hostel on Monday night, with Dan and I knocking up a good home cooked tuna pasta salad. An early night for me, check-in for the boat to Uruguay was at 730am so early departure from the hostel!
Arriving in BA around 3pm at the Retiro bus station, with over 70 bus platforms it was a huge setup. I made a quick walk to the subway and headed into town. The whole underground covers most of the city and is seems pretty efficient and cheap. The stop at Mayo was only a few hundred metres from the hostel so everything worked out pretty well. I couldn't get into the well known Milhouse hostel until Saturday night because they were fully booked so I was booked in at BA Stop for a couple of nights. I met Natalie at the Milhouse, which is a central point. To get to Milhouse from my current hostel, I had to head over the main 'road' running through the center of town, which is actually 20 lanes of traffic and one of the wides roads in the world, truly amazing and requires several crossings to get from one side to the other.
Natalie and I booked into the Milhouse for a weekend of partying and headed out around town for a night walk, which turned out to be perfectly safe and very interesting, despite getting lost a few times after poor navigation on both our parts. While down near the waterfront and the Pinkhouse (like our government house) a large blackhawk helicopter landed on the front lawn, so that was pretty amazing!I caught up with my mate Rich who I first met in Rio. Nat, I and Rich went to Palermo for dinner and drinks. Amazing different in the culture - we were at out second bar after dinner having yet another bottle or wine and looked out our watches to find that it was 4am. Incredible given the bar was still full and a new band were just about to start playing!!
The next morning the three of us went out to La Boca, which is essentially a shitty neighbourhood in BA with a pretty strong Italian influence, but has several really colourful streets and tango shows and restaurants. No doubt it is one of the more tourist orientated places more akin to the hustle and bustle of a Thai beach or market with people trying to sell their wares and get you into their restaurants but it is a must see. Not that I really needed any more excuses to take a whole heap more photos, but La Boca really was a very picturesque place and provided a low-key way to spend a hung over morning.
Saturday night rolled along pretty quickly after we got back and had a bit of a siesta. The hostel was running a trip out to Pasha, which is a massive club playing electronic music. We managed to convince Rich to come along which was great. We also caught up with a friend Tara who was staying with Rich and I at the Rio hostel, so we all headed out their together. Tara, didn´t last all that long before having to go home a bit worse for ware (about 10 minutes!) so not a great way to spend 80 pesos. Rich went to find her and check if she was okay, only to walk face first into a glass door and split the front of his head open, a great start to the night but all good after that. The club was fully of lots of local posers on drugs all wearing sunglasses inside! I have heard that it is not just fashion but also to provide a bit of comfort when they get out of the club the next morning in full sunlight! We left at sunrise and headed back to Milhouse by 730.
Nat and I got up to watch the F1 racing at 9am so not a great deal of sleep. We again met Rich and an Aussie guy Dan who I met in Santiago to head down to the Antique markets in San Telmo. I arranged to meet up with Gabe, another other guy who I stayed with in Santiago, at the markets also, so that was pretty cool. The markets were amazing, stretching several kms through the cobbled streets of San Telmo, terminating in a nice plaza. We had the largest empanadas on the planet and a beer before heading back. Another chilled out day after a big night on the booze.
Nat and I bought out boat tickets to Uruguay for Tuesday, heading over to Colonia. Nat planned to do a day trip whilst I was going to do a couple of days to take in both Colonia and Montevideo. That evening around 8pm I decided to have a short kip before joining people downstairs for a musical jam session or something. However, when I actually woke up from my small nap it was 330 in the morning and the light was still on and I was fully clothed - clearly the lack of sleep had caught up with me and I wasn´t capable of surviving on a mere 90 minutes that morning!!!
I had nothing planned for Monday, so I bumped into Dan downstairs and checked out the activities board. They was a suggestion to go to El Tigre outside of BA by train, from where one can have a river cruise and so on. A very popular holiday destination for wealthy BA folk who have holiday homes on the waterway, not to dissimilar to Pauanui or something. He had a great day out in the sun just relaxing. The whole return trip on the tube and train was only 3 pesos, which is NZ$1.50 !! We took a 2 hour boat cruise for about NZ$20 which was pretty great. We met an interesting chap from the Philippines whose family had purchased 15,000 hectares of land in Queenstown many years ago and cashed up for tens of millions of dollars! He was a camp as a row of pink tents and enjoyed chatting to dan and I and getting photos with us, which he kept describing as cute, which was a bit weird.
A low key night at the hostel on Monday night, with Dan and I knocking up a good home cooked tuna pasta salad. An early night for me, check-in for the boat to Uruguay was at 730am so early departure from the hostel!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Rio to Rosario - Part 1
Well, a lot has happened since my last post in Rio. I managed to recover most of my photos so they have now gone up on facebook. I was tossing up between a trip down the Brazilian cost to Florianopolis or going to the Pantanal wetlands outside of Campo Grande. I decided that a wetlands trip would be the ticket (although more expensive) as I am keen for as much outdoor adventures as possible. So I got my ticket directly from the bus station using very basic Spanish (in a Portuagese speaking country!) which was about a 1.5 hour round trip on the local buses - bit of a mission. My departure from Stone of a Beach hostel in Rio was a bit rushed as I needed to back up the rest of my recovered photos and get money from the ATM so as not to incur a 5% charge on my credit card through the hostel. Funny story there - I got the money out and stuffed it into the front my my undies as I didn´t have my money belt. I got back to the hostel with only a few mintutes to complete packing and leave. I rushed upstairs to the dorm and popped into the toilet to take a number 1 as I was dying to go for ages. I rushed into the first toilet and ripped open my pants, only to see $400 fly straight into the toilet!!! I instinctively fished it out and bound it back up into a soggy ball! I had to apologise to reception for my money falling into a puddle outside in the rain...figured the truth could have lead to a rejection of payment!
Well, to the long distance bus station for the second time in two days and onto my first long bus ride to the Camp Grande. 22 hours went by pretty quickly, although simple lack of language meant I didn´t want to venture out of the bus too long at each stop because I couldn´t establish when it was leaving again! Arriving in Campo Grande was abit of a shock. It was considerably hotter and I wasn´t feeling that fresh from the bus ride. I was immediately swamped by people selling Pantanal tours but I went over the road to the youth hostel with Ecological Expeditions as I had heard of them before and they gave a free night at the hostel with each tour, which I decided to use as I was too tired to leave straight away! I spent the rest of the day by their pool reading and getting refreshed for my trip leaving the next day. I decided to do the lodge option because I met a few people in the hostel. The mini van trip from Camp Grande was around 4 hours, stopping a few times for food. It was so incredibly hot in the van with the windows open fully, like standing by the door of a fan-forced oven! It was around 37 degrees outside with no clouds or anything!
We arrived at the pickup point for the lodge and were met by a truck with seats on the back tray. We still had about 35 minutes along dirt roads into the Pantanal to get to the lodge. I met a few girls on the truck who were from London in good law firms and who will be working with some of my friends from New Zealand when they get back. We all arrived at the lodge and were shown around by our guide. It was pretty decent with a pool, outdoor hammock area and games room etc - not really roughing it! After our first day of activities, which included horse back riding and a river cruise with Piranha fishing, I decided to swap over to the camping option, which proved to be a lot more fun with a younger backpacker crowd and sleeping in hammocks and eating around large communal tables. The location of the camp was next to the river so much more wildlife going on too. I spent my nights at the camp and my days with the others from the lodge doing activities so a pretty decent balance really.
We had some great times on the trip and memorable moments. One classic one was with out guide piranha fishing. He didn´t speak much English and his descriptions of the wildlife resembled that from the Ricky Jervis comedy show Animals, such as 'a green parrot' followed by a 'slightly larger green red beak parrot' etc, it was funny as. When were were fishing for piranhas one guy Johanas finally caught a fish after having no luck the whole time, flinging it onto the bank and calling the guide over to de-hook it, huge smile on his face, only to watch in horror as the guide kicked it back into the water. We were pissing ourselves when the guide looked up and simply said 'catch a bigger one'!! Awesome
Well we got a bus back to campo grande, where we would transfer to another 15 hour bus ride to Foz de Iguacu, via Cascaval. 24 hours of travelling to get to the falls, but totally worth it. We arrived in Foz on a bitterly cold day, around 6 degrees, so quite a change for 36 the days before, so uncontrollable shivering for the first few hours which were partly controlled by a hot shower at the guesthouse. We got in our warm stuff and headed off to the Brazilian side of the Falls. On the bus the girls said 'the lonely planet says to bring wet weather gear' and looking around it seems that we were the only ones without. Being a cheep dude I didn´t but a $8 plastic poncho thing and just toughed it out in my t-shirt and light pullover, but the beanie was a lifesaver! Miserable weather but awesome view! We had an awesome night in Foz, at LaBella Pizza, with all you can eat pizza, chicken, buffet pasta and other goodies! It made up for a cold day in a shit hole of a town.
The next day was a stunner! We got up and started looking for the international bus over to Argentina. We didn´t have much luck so bargained with a taxi driver to get over for around double the price, which is pretty good given he just drove us through instead of getting off the bus and changing over etc, not to mention door to door service to our hostel - one of the downers travelling alone is not being able to justify a taxi, so it is good having company. We arrived at the Hostel Inn and checked in quickly before heading out to the falls. I had another money nightmare when I forgot my Visa so i couldn´t get money out at the falls, once again having to rely on my room mates for cash until the next day I could get into town and get cash out - i really should learn!
We had a great time at the falls with perfect weather and good sights to see. We manged to cover the entire park in the 6 hours which worked out really well because the girls changed their flights to BA to a day earlier and I got my bus ticket out of there to Rosario that same day too so all hunky dory.
Well, to the long distance bus station for the second time in two days and onto my first long bus ride to the Camp Grande. 22 hours went by pretty quickly, although simple lack of language meant I didn´t want to venture out of the bus too long at each stop because I couldn´t establish when it was leaving again! Arriving in Campo Grande was abit of a shock. It was considerably hotter and I wasn´t feeling that fresh from the bus ride. I was immediately swamped by people selling Pantanal tours but I went over the road to the youth hostel with Ecological Expeditions as I had heard of them before and they gave a free night at the hostel with each tour, which I decided to use as I was too tired to leave straight away! I spent the rest of the day by their pool reading and getting refreshed for my trip leaving the next day. I decided to do the lodge option because I met a few people in the hostel. The mini van trip from Camp Grande was around 4 hours, stopping a few times for food. It was so incredibly hot in the van with the windows open fully, like standing by the door of a fan-forced oven! It was around 37 degrees outside with no clouds or anything!
We arrived at the pickup point for the lodge and were met by a truck with seats on the back tray. We still had about 35 minutes along dirt roads into the Pantanal to get to the lodge. I met a few girls on the truck who were from London in good law firms and who will be working with some of my friends from New Zealand when they get back. We all arrived at the lodge and were shown around by our guide. It was pretty decent with a pool, outdoor hammock area and games room etc - not really roughing it! After our first day of activities, which included horse back riding and a river cruise with Piranha fishing, I decided to swap over to the camping option, which proved to be a lot more fun with a younger backpacker crowd and sleeping in hammocks and eating around large communal tables. The location of the camp was next to the river so much more wildlife going on too. I spent my nights at the camp and my days with the others from the lodge doing activities so a pretty decent balance really.
We had some great times on the trip and memorable moments. One classic one was with out guide piranha fishing. He didn´t speak much English and his descriptions of the wildlife resembled that from the Ricky Jervis comedy show Animals, such as 'a green parrot' followed by a 'slightly larger green red beak parrot' etc, it was funny as. When were were fishing for piranhas one guy Johanas finally caught a fish after having no luck the whole time, flinging it onto the bank and calling the guide over to de-hook it, huge smile on his face, only to watch in horror as the guide kicked it back into the water. We were pissing ourselves when the guide looked up and simply said 'catch a bigger one'!! Awesome
Well we got a bus back to campo grande, where we would transfer to another 15 hour bus ride to Foz de Iguacu, via Cascaval. 24 hours of travelling to get to the falls, but totally worth it. We arrived in Foz on a bitterly cold day, around 6 degrees, so quite a change for 36 the days before, so uncontrollable shivering for the first few hours which were partly controlled by a hot shower at the guesthouse. We got in our warm stuff and headed off to the Brazilian side of the Falls. On the bus the girls said 'the lonely planet says to bring wet weather gear' and looking around it seems that we were the only ones without. Being a cheep dude I didn´t but a $8 plastic poncho thing and just toughed it out in my t-shirt and light pullover, but the beanie was a lifesaver! Miserable weather but awesome view! We had an awesome night in Foz, at LaBella Pizza, with all you can eat pizza, chicken, buffet pasta and other goodies! It made up for a cold day in a shit hole of a town.
The next day was a stunner! We got up and started looking for the international bus over to Argentina. We didn´t have much luck so bargained with a taxi driver to get over for around double the price, which is pretty good given he just drove us through instead of getting off the bus and changing over etc, not to mention door to door service to our hostel - one of the downers travelling alone is not being able to justify a taxi, so it is good having company. We arrived at the Hostel Inn and checked in quickly before heading out to the falls. I had another money nightmare when I forgot my Visa so i couldn´t get money out at the falls, once again having to rely on my room mates for cash until the next day I could get into town and get cash out - i really should learn!
We had a great time at the falls with perfect weather and good sights to see. We manged to cover the entire park in the 6 hours which worked out really well because the girls changed their flights to BA to a day earlier and I got my bus ticket out of there to Rosario that same day too so all hunky dory.
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