My South American Adventure

Cuzco to Arequipa

2008-12-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

I spent a day or two mucking around in Cuzco just catching up on sleep and planning my next move. I did a decent backup of my photos with a DVD burn and basically just pottered around the hostel with a few guys. I spotted the Aussied heading for my chicken joint which I had given them directions for so I tagged along with them. They were stoked with the value which was awesome. That night I met a couple of Kiwis in my dorm. Rowan and his girlfriend were from Christchurch and are on a 3 month trip before Rowan started work at Russell McVeagh in Wellington. I quizzed him about a few firms in Christchurch and we just yarned for a bit. The were doing the Inca Trail in a day or two with Peru Treks so I wished them luck and gave them a few hints. I took them the Italian restaurant I had been to several times with Max, which they were stoke

The next morning I decided it was well time to leave Cuzco so I booked a bus ticket for that night. It was an overnight ride so I went for semi cama with the best bus company given I would not be paying for a nights hostel etc. It was well worth it, the bus reminded me of those in Argentina which I did not expect. I had heard bad things about overnight buses so was pleasantly surprised by the hot meal and blankets etc. Superb!

Arriving in Arequipa was great. I had been given directions to the hostel by Sidsel, who i had previously met in Puno, and turned up around 8am to check into a comfortable dorm room. Sidsel would soon make and appearance and we would have a nice breakfast on the terrace roof top. Arequipa has an amazing backdrop with two large volcanoes, Misti and Amapoto around 6000m and higher. Misit is perfectly conical and impressive!

We figured out a plan of attack for the next day or two, which would involve a Colca Canyon trek at some stage, as well as a music festival in a few days time. Arequipa has some lovely architecture and a beautiful main Plaza de Armis. We did a walk down to the plaza through the pedestrian streets. We would bump into Lara and James from the Inca Trail trek which was nice. They pointed us the direction of the museum where the frozen mummy is located. It was an interesting tour and gave us a good idea of the landscape as well as the cultural aspects of the Peruvian society. Tourism doesn´t seem to really have fired up at this time of the year so we were often in bars with very few other gringos and the owners of the bars and restaurants were doing there best to drum up business. At one point a bar tender almost crashed through the doors literally running out of the bar to get to tourists walking down the alley, not wanting to be beaten to them by other operators!

We would make a few walks around the city to various view points and cheap lunch spots. The next morning we split up to do our own things as Sidsel did not want to pay the 30 soles to get into the Monasterio Santa Catalina. I thoroughly enjoyed my walk around the 600 year old monestary which is basically like a small citadel inside the city, with fortified walls and many streets, all named after Spanish towns. It took around 3 hours in total!

That night we decided to hit the bars new San Fransisco. After a meal at Istanbul, a nice Turkish place, we hit a total of 8 bars and night clubs. It was a pretty interesting night a whole lot of fun. One louge bar with couches and a terrific view over the city was one highlight, as was a Swedish pub with live music. We got back in around 5am, although we almost got mugged as a guy started to chase us near the hostel reaching into his jacket pocket for something!

We spent the next day hungover going around a music festival at various places in the city which was a bit of a let down. We made a trip to the bus station to buy our tickets and got the most dodgy taxi home, with no official plates and every surface spot welded, classic stuff.

Sidsel and I had organised our Colca Canyon trek, a 3 day 2 night affair with a group of around 15 other people. We has a pretty early start to kick things off, around 430, which turned out to be totally unnecessary given the days walking would only be a few hours and we had plenty of down time before and after lunch. I had my bread, banana and jam sammies ready to go for the 3 hour shuttle ride into the valley. We stopped at Chivay on the way to pay the entrance fee and pick up a couple of saltenas for breakfast. Our next major stop was the mirador cruz de condor. It is an absolute tourist mecca now with large buses and shuttled occupying every spare section of roadside. We were lucky enough to see 4 of these incredible birds fly over, some within pretty close distance. It reminded me of Singapore zoo where they have a condor show with the birds swooping over the crowd´s head!

We would start our trip from (NAME), a tiny little village with a plaza de armis (of course!) and not much else, although our lunch of alpaca steaks was pretty enjoyable. Our guide, Victor, was a young passionate 21 year old keen to learn more English and share his local knowledge so we struck it pretty lucky there. The first day´s walk was simply a downhill plod into the valley where we would stay at a very basic lodging for the night. We had amazing views of the canyon from above, looking down to the Oasis where we would spend the second night poolside and amongst lush trees. I was reminded of trekking in Nepal, with rocky tracks cut into the hillside above dusty valleys dotted with small villages. We would, like Nepal, have to give way to animals coming up the track servicing the needs of the villages.

The first night was enjoyable, with a few hands of German Rummy and an amazing sunset from the lawn and garden area. The rumours and stories of scorpions on the trek turned out to be true, with the girls discovering a small scorpion on the door frame of their lodging, although it is apparently not poisonous. We played with a small dog from the neighbouring property and got a pretty early night for a 5am start the next day.

It was a pretty reasonable plod to get the second day started, heading up to the second village (NAME) and a small but very interesting museum. From there, it was simply downhill to the Oasis! Stopping for views and photos on the way, we arrived at the Oasis a little after 1pm and settled in for the afternoon. The pool area was pretty awesome and tropical, albeit with pretty cold water. We passed the time in the afternoon playing some more Rummy and Arsehole. Now power at this place so a cosy candle lit dinner with the group before another early night. The shack I shared with the Brazilian chap was very basis, with bamboo walls barely offering any protection to the outside world with a thatched roof that would not hold back even a light shower. We had scorpions on the earth floor mincing around! Closing the door before bed was more of a psychological move given there were gaps in the walls big enough to walk though anyway.

People had been dreading the third morning because of the thought of a large climb back to the top of the valley. The guide suggested 3 hours although it looked like a pretty easy climb with many zig zags to the top so I knew it was really only going to take an hour and a half or something, being only a gain of around 800m or so. Pretty good guess, as the Brazilian, the young Russian chap and I pushed on to the top with only a break or two in a little over 1 hour 40 minutes. We had to wait for the rest of the group, which would be around an hour and a half more haha. The aussie lady, Geneane, managed to hire a donkey which bought her to the top in about 2 hours, leaving her partner to walk up by himself haha.

We returned to the plaza de armis and hung around for our much needed breakfast, which we did not have before leaving early that morning so that was well deserved. The ride back to Arequipa was pretty uneventful, broken up by a HUGE buffet lunch at Chivay with llama, alpaca and other meats and local dishes. We also went to the hot pools, which was a bit odd given it was like 35 degrees and the water was pushing that also. The Brazilian guy I was with managed to talk his way to a discount for half prices for us into the pools and even a discount for his buffet meal; if you don´t ask you don´t get I suppose.

That night I packed my bags and met up with the crew at the Istanbul restaurant again for drinks before heading to the bus stop to meet Sidsel. I decided that if I could change my ticket to the next day I would, allowing me to head back into Arequipa that night to party with the reset of the guys, which turned out to be a pretty entertaining evening. Not a late one but good enough for a laugh.

Prior to my bus that evening which I managed to change for free the previous nigh, I took it very easy, having a solid admin day in the internet cafe getting photos backed up, blog updated and my CV sorted also. Pretty productive but not a lot of fun really but needs to be done. I also got a copy of batman and watched that with a bag of bulk bin chips from the shop next door, which had become a bit of a popular cheap snack!

I made my way to the bus station around 730, to find a bit of food before the overnight trip. Some awesome chifa for only 4 soles (2nzd) with all the trimmings went down pretty well really, filling a gap before the bus. My last overnight bus ride!

Machu Pichu - 21 November

2008-12-03T07:51:00.001-08:00

Bags packed and ready to go. I transferred all my surplus stuff into my trust blue feed sack and put it in the hostel storage room in preparation for a quick departure the following morning at 430! (or was it 530....really early in any event). The guide from Peru Treks turned up on time and we made our way to the bus down the road. The previous night I had purchased some buns, jam and bananas for my breakfast, not wanting to get ripped off in some tourist town later that morning.

The bus journey took us into Ollaytambo where we would stop for breakfast at a restaurant. Although I had already had my banana and jam sammies I couldn´t resist the fruit pancakes, adding to them with the yogurt I had bought the night before which was a nice touch. We all introduced ourselves to each other and headed back to the bus, most of us buying walking poles from various sellers downstairs, which were basically a broom handle with a bit of colourful fabric and a loop on the top, with a rubber foot. Pretty basic but with all the steps on the trail they would prove pretty useful. Back in the bus to make our final 20minute ride to kilometre 83 where the track starts.

Soon after packing our newly issued sleeping bags and bed mats we made our way to the check point. It was funny watching the Russian couple try and sort their two sleeping bags and bed mats out as they only had day bags and there was no way their bedding would fit in so they tried several ways to strap it on the outside haha. Just before the checkpoint we took a group photo, which was interrupted by a train arriving which was pretty exciting. We made our way through the checkpoint, having to stop to get our wet weather gear on due to the rain that was beginning to fall more constantly The rain wouldn´t last for long, as we made our way up the track to our first Inca site and a break for a bit of food and a yarn. It was obvious from the first morning that the walk would consist of short stints of walking followed by long breaks to allow the slower people to catch up. We would walk on ahead making good ground only to have a couple of unhealthy young New York doctors plodding slowing in the rear. No big drama as the walk would be a pretty relaxed affair and just chilled out.
At our first lunch we would also get a sense for the style of food we could expect for the next found days. Arriving at the camp to clapping porters standing around tents set up earlier that morning we were given orange juice and stools in the sun while the final preparations for lunch were done. Lunch was inside a communal tent with a large camp table with table cloth and cutlery setting. After the mandatory first course or soup, we were treated to trout, chicken, salad and other great stuff, with a selection of hot drinks to follow. Not a bad start to the culinary experience I had heard so much about from other people.

After lunch we had our first uphill section, with the guide letting us push on ahead while he followed up the rear. It was a nice walk with great mountain and valley views, ending at a bridge over a stream where we would wait for the rest of the group, which would be around 25 minutes! Some 20 minutes later we arrived at the first camp, set on a terraced area below crops and amongst a small village. Some of the chaps played soccer on a fairly rough pitch with overly enthusiastic porters etc, which I sat out due to my sore foot and not wanting to get injured on the first day! I shared a tent with Lisa from Germany, who turned out to be pretty decent company. We all got a pretty early night as the next morning, like all of the mornings, would be an early start.

We were awakened at around 530 with a hot cup of tea in our tents which was a nice touch. It is light by around 5am so we were already stirring when it arrived. The second day has a reputation of being the most difficult as it involves a long slog straight up to Dead Woman´s pass at 4300m or so. Some people had elected to get a porter for the rest of the trip, the thought of walking with gear was just too much after the first easy day. A Canadian park ranger was the first to take up the offer. We joked that perhaps he got around the park in a huge pickup rather than foot as he was struggling pretty badly! We would push on up the hill for several hours to stop at a large flat campsite for popcorn and snacks. We arrived around 40 minutes before the rest of the group and lay in the sun for a while before it got a bit cold. With all the groups lying around on this big section of grass with alpacas etc walking around it made for a nice sight, although the rest of the climb, and steepest section, was clearly visible and looked a bit daunting to some.

It was actually a pretty decent climb and once we found our rhythms we made good time to the top to join all the other groups. I started yarning to a couple of Aussie lads on an around the world ticket while we waited for the rest of our group. As per usual, the two doctors and the Canadian park ranger were in the rear, arriving over an hour after the rest of us, who had only taken an hour and a half or so to get to the top. After some group photos we only had to walk down an hour or so to camp, which we could make out deep in the valley below. It was our first decent downhill plod and would give us a taste of how hard the Inca steps are on the knees.

Arriving at camp to cold orange juice as great, and an hour or so later we would have popcorn and biscuits and a general introduction to all our porters, cooks and guides. It was nice little ceremony and gave us an insight into the lives of the porters and how much work they do and the hardship they face. One guy, old mike as he become known, was 62 years old and still slogs along carrying 25kg (the max weight). We just pottered around camp sleeping and reading before dinner was served. We would all get a pretty early night as the third day is the longest and would require another 5am early start!

We had a pretty steep climb to start the third day but we would stop often to look at many inca sites along the way. At the top of the climb we performed a ceremony to Patchamama the god of the earth for good weather and a general thanks I guess. It was a pretty interesting little ceremony and gave us all an insight into the beliefs of the local people.

After the ceremony it was pretty much flat to our lunch spot. We would first stop at the largest inca site we had seen so far which was immediately across the valley. It was an awesome site with a heap of rooms to visit and lots of information from the guide. Lunch was a pretty awesome affair once again, although I fell asleep in the sun afterwards and really struggled to get going again after lunch. We were all pretty tired after several early starts and the sun was really baking! At least the walk to the next rest stop was flat and pretty interesting, leading through inca tunnels and high above the valleys below. We all met up again at another campsite looking down on the town of Aguas Calientes from high above. Machu Pichu was pointed out to us in the distnce, although we couldn´t see the village from this angle. The final camp was down in the valley, which was several hours below and after another couple of interesting inca sites.

The camp was pretty awesome, although confusing as hell. Perched on a hillside on several terraces it was pretty easy to take the wrong turn and end up on a different level, which happened a couple of times. I resisted the urge to hit the restaurant on site to have a hot meal or shower, not really seeing the point in it. I caught up with the Aussie guys and took photos of the awesome sunset. After dinner we would be treated to a massive cake the chef has prepared in a saucepan, more like a hot pudding with icing. It was truly excellent! We would then have to sort out tips etc which is always a pretty difficult thing to sort out. That out the way and the show of appreciation by the porters seemed to be pretty genuine which was nice.

Another early night as we would be getting up around 430 to get a early start on the track first thing the next morning. The next morning we only got a pancake, the porters seemed pretty keen to get back down to town to spend their tips so we were left pretty hungry and with no lunch pack that the other groups through the same company got. We were the last group to get to the checkpoint and to the Sungate which was a bit frustrating. However, the view from the Sungate was absolutely nothing as the fog was thick and intent on not clearing for us while we waited. We pushed on down towards the main Machu Pichu village, stopping at several other sites. We were briefly treated to a glimpse of the village in the distance through the clouds which renewed all our hopes for a good view later that day. It was an amazing site to see the village perched atop a narrow hill with mountains surrounding on several sides and deep drops on others.

When we arrived at Machu Pichu at the famous guard tower site where many post card shots are taken there was no view whatsoever and people just standing around waiting for the fog to clear. I was frustrated and impatient because people were just standing around and I wanted to get inside to get a ticket to climb Huyana Pichu later that day and tickets are limited to 400 per day. I managed to convince our guide to let the assistant guide take me down to the park entrance to store my large pack (no packs can go into the site) and then rush to the start of the climb to get the ticket. I got number 360 odd so was pretty stoked.

I went back to the entrance and waited for ages for the rest of the group to make their way down from the top. It was pretty late before everyone got down and after the scheduled 9am start of our 2 hour tour so that was a bit frustrating given I had to start the walk up between 11 and 1. The tour was very interesting although I felt sorry for our guide because everyone was pretty darn tired and lacked the attention he deserved. Never the less we all learnt a lot and got a good insight into the ruins. The weather had cleared up perfectly and was sunny and bright which was a massive relief.
I headed up Huyana Potosi which turned out to be a real slog and incredibly steep with ropes and wire most of the way up to cling onto. The views from the top were certainly worth it with Machu Pichu sitting far below in valley giving a tremendous perspective to how it fits into the landscape. The way down way was pretty hairy in parts, with lots of very steep steps which were barely deep enough to take a foot placed sideways. One chap had pretty much lost it and was making his way down with the help of other chaps with a large line forming behind him. We eventually got passed and started a quick decent. It was apparent that the large police presence up top was largely to help old people back down who had underestimated how steep it actually was...not the best job.

I walked around the site for a few more hours before heading back down on the bus to Aguas Calientes. I refused to buy water or food at the site given the truly overhiked prices. A bottle of water that cost 1 sole in town cost 10 there and a small sammie was 20!! So terrible, so I decided to wait until our group lunch down town.

I got down with plenty of time and didn´t miss much of lunch. The pizzas were like 25 soles, which is also very expensive but no real alternative and it was nice to share a final lunch with the group and sort out a tip for the guide. We had several hours to get to the 6pm train so I backed up my photos and kicked around the town which was touristy as hell but had the interesting feature of the train running through the middle of it. The train was a pretty darn comfortable ride to Ollyantambo, where we would transfer to a bus back to Cuzco. On the bus I yarned to the Aussie chap which was good fun and passed the time well. It certainly was a long day arriving back at 10pm after gettting up at 4. Glad to have finished it and able to relax in Cuzxo once again.

Cuzco - First Tastes

2008-11-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

Well it has to be said, I got screwed with the bus ticket to Cuzco... I bought it through the travel agent chap at the hotel thinking that it would be worth paying a little more for the ease of not having to go back to the bus station that afternoon. It turned out that the 25 I paid was almost double of the 13 that the ticket actually cost. A lesson to be learned I guess.

Arriving in Cuzco some 6 hours later was certainly a great relief as the bus was full of Peruvian school kids with smell feet and no doubt lack of showers for several days which was pretty darn unpleasant. I had met an Aussie couple on the bus so I joined them in a taxi to the central plaza, from where we would look at the Point Hostel, which they had been recommended by a friend. We first stopped in at a burger joint, for the Aussies to get something to eat and for me to experience just how much more expensive Cuzco is, after all, it is the tourist capital of Peru (and perhaps South America). It was obvious that one could not even walk 50m without be hassled by tourist touts etc, selling everything from Maachu Pichu tours, massages and free drinks at bars!

The Point Hostel turned out to be pretty darn awesome. Rather expensive at 25 soles but a great location. The three of us checked in their and I headed out to get some lunch that was not horrific burger joint prices, finding something for less than half the price.

That evening was a great introduction to the nightlife of Cuzco. After a few drinks in the hostel bar a group of us headed into the main square to face all the bar touts trying to get us into their venue. It actually worked out pretty well, bar hopping to several places, dancing on the bar, drinking lots of booze and not paying a cent the entire night. With free drinks vouchers thrust in one´s face every time one leaves one bar, it is easy enough to just keep on moving around drinking all night! The Aussie chap got totally smashed and we found him standing in a alley way looking in total despair! When asked what the problem was he admitted he had given 100soles to some random guy (not sure whey he did that....) and the chap had legged it. We tried not to laugh too much but it was pretty darn funny!

The next day I bumped into my french pal max in the square and headed up to the Christo statute and ruins called sexywomen (but spelt in a different way haha). Pretty awesome views of the city and surrounding areas. Cuzco is actually in a pretty rural area set amongst the hillsides. We found a cheap lunch places near my hostel and then made plans to meet up later that evening for a meal.

I had a low key afternoon, feeling a bit crook. I had to pay the rest of my tour cost so found a bank and took out USD to fix that up. All done, I found an awesome chicken joint, for only 650 soles (like 325nz) i had quarter of a chicken, soup, salad and chips...amazing deal! I enjoyed it plenty cause I was so hungry from a light lunch..despite the fact I had dinner with max in a few hours.

Dinner was awesome, a fabulous Italian place for 10soles with superb service, nice decor and excellent food. Probably one of the best value meals I have had, all things considered. We then found a bar, one which had been thrust in our face a little earlier, to have a cairprioska and a good yarn, before deciding to head to the Up Town club to kick off a night of partying. I only had my jeans and jandals on as I had not intended to go out, but once ending up at the Up Town Bar things changed, and max and I got stuck into some dancing. Max was pretty enthusiastic about having a big night and it rubbed off on me, which was great. After heading to Mama Africa's for a few hours of drinking and carrying on, I decided to pull the pin at around 230, so as not to aggravate my cold.

The next day I woke feeling pretty crap and didn´t really even venture a block past the hostel all day. I spent several hours trying to get the dvd player to work but with shitty scratched dvs and no remote it was impossible! I did some reading and really nothing much else. I got hammered by a Swiss guy in chess and had a meal of popcorn for dinner haha.

Today I felt a little better. After a nice long lunch and a movie on cable I headed out to lunch with a couple of chaps. They warned me in advance that the place was run by a crazy gay chap who was pretty wild. From the moment we sat down we were in for a bit of a shock. They guy came out of the kitchen licking his fingers and making wanking gestures towards us. He walked up to one of the guys thrusting his wet fingers in the chaps face saying ´have smell, my special smell´ and all sorts of rude comments. He kept massaging and poking the guy and later us and saying menu items were small or big like our cocks and calling us ´pommy bitch´ or ´kiwi bitch´ and all sorts of stuff. Pretty funny. When the guys got their fruit salad with condensed milk on it they couldn´t bear to eat it given they thought it was the chefs special sauce, and the crazy guy didn´t try to dissuade them of that idea, making licking and wanking gestures again.
I would have enjoyed the meal if the bill did not include an orange juice for 7soles (which I thought was included) where most places only charge 2 or 3, and I have been to places where only 1.50. Oh well, had to pay it.

Time to get ready for the Inca trail tomorrow! Bags to pack and colds to get over!

La Paz to Puno

2008-11-18T13:40:00.001-08:00

Leaving La Paz was a bit sad really. I had really begun to feel at home after a around 7 nights at el solario hostel and quite a bit of relaxing around the city. I had even got to know some of the local business owners, especially the juice ladies and the awesome Internet cafe around the corner. The lady at the Internet cafe appreciated my business so much she would bring me free cokes to the computer as I tapped out my blog etc.

I had planned to stay several nights after returning from Huyana Potosi but the weather had started to pack it in so after a bit of souvenirs shopping I headed out to the Cemetery Bus Station to get a bus to Copacabana. The bus was cheap as, only 15BLV (4 NZD) for the 4 or 5 hour trip. We had awesome views of the mountain range to the north, which include Huyana Potosi and others. At one point we had to get out of the bus and board a small ferry across a narrow section of Lago Titakaka, the boat taking a separate barge over. The barges can only take on bus and make their way slowly over the lake with a small outboard motor and a large stick.

Copacabana is a pretty nice little town, although terribly touristy. I did a few laps of the main streets and enjoyed a very thick creamy hot chocolate at some hippy hotel, which required a spoon to drink/eat! One bad thing about Copacabana is the extremely high price of Internet, some 12 BLV, which is 4 times the price of La Paz. Although I found some for a bit cheaper, they were all pretty rubbish!

I pottered around the town for the rest of the afternoon, having found a reasonable hotel with double bed and private bathroom. My sole reason for going to Copacabana was to make a trip over to Isla de Sol, which is supposed to be absolutely superb. I booked a ticket to Isla de Sol for the following morning and found some cheap place to eat. A large electrical storm struck the town later that evening while I was walking around, which was pretty dramatic, cutting the power to the church and a few other areas in town.

The following morning I headed down to the wharf to get my boat over to Isla de Sol, stopping several times to get food and lunch supplies for the trip. I met some awesome people down at the lake shore waiting for the same boat, one Canadian chap was particularly interesting and typically enthusiastic about life. He owned a kayak company in Canada and travels for much of the year. He was likely going to stay a night at the southern end of the island so we decided to do the walk over the island together, along with a couple from San Fransisco.

Arriving at Isla de Sol, we were instantly blown away by how beautiful the place was and I started to regret leaving all my stuff in my hotel room rather than in storage because I was unable to stay the night. I had no way of contacting the hotel so I really had to get back. Oh well, I made the most of the day and enjoyed the incredible scenery and tranquility the island had to offer. Walking around the island reminded me of cruising the bottom end of waiheke, with barely any vegetation and superb views of empty paddocks. I forgot to put sun screen on my neck and got horribly burnt. The boat was running late from the southern port so I hung around reading my book soaking up the gorgeous view. There wasn´t enough time to get out to the southern ruins although it didn´t seem that important given we could seem them from the boat on the way out.

The french chap I met on the bus to Copacabana was also on the boat with a classic jovial Argentinian sailor, so we all had a few laughs on the journey back to Copa. A couple and their young child were next to me and at one point we heard a light thump sound, followed by a few gasps from them. We realised that they had dropped their camera overboard!! They look shocked and their small child started to cry, perhaps the culprit haha.

We ended up visiting a reed island on the way back to copa, which didn´t suit an old german tourist that well given he had a bus to la paz booked and would eventually miss it! He wasn´t that happy but not much one can do.

Upon arriving back at Copa, the french chap and I went up the hill above the city with religious monuments etc, which afforeded a superb view of the city and the lake, although very tough to get up!

The french chap and I parted company early evening, although we had planned to meet up later for a dinner with Carol, a stunning reporter from Brasil. We had trucha, which is spanish for trout, at a restaurant for only 30 BLV, which is like 8NZD and it was superb! Their was some sort of celebration going on in the central plaza, with a pretty impressive fire works display and all.

I booked my bus ticket to Puno that night also, deciding to head off first thing in the morning and do a reed island tour the afternoon of arriving. I hadn´t realised that Puno wsa in Peru, so we would have to do a border crossing and money exchange given I had quite a heap of bolivianos left. We got off the bus at the Bolivia departure office and ran over the border to Peru in the rain, which was pretty classic.

Arriving in Puno was pretty interesting. I was met by a tout who offered a hotel for pretty cheap so I went with that option. When we got to the hotel he organised a reed island tour for me and a bus for the next day to Cuzco (which turned out to be almost double of what it would have cost to get it myself!!). I had a bit of time to kill before my 330 departure for the tour so I walked to the plaza to witness some for of town celebration and parade, and did some internet time.

The tour was a shambles! Four other gals from the hotel were coming along to the tour also, although were were not picked up until 4pm. When we finally arrived at the wharf we boarded the boat, but that did not leave until around 5 because they had trouble finding a captain, either that or they were waiting for a large group or school kids who would eventually board. At one stage I got off and changed my tour to the next day when there would actually be more than 1 hour of day light, although as they boat was pulling away the lady told me I could not change my bus, so the boat had to be called back near the wharf so I could run over the bow of several other boats to rejoin the girls.

The tour was actually pretty okay in the end. Although we didn´t get much light, the fading light then awesome sunset wsa pretty sensational and very dramatic. One doesn´t really need a great deal of time on the islands, as one island is pretty similar to the rest really. Pretty touristy but also pretty interesting. Apparently the reed island community has been there for over 1000 years floating around!

After getting back to shore and cleaning up at the hotel, I joined the girls for an awesome cheap Chifa meal. We then wandered around the main pedestrian plaza trying to find somewhere that served Irish coffee. We found a place that claimed to serve it, but when the guy ran over the road to get the proper glasses we doubted that he actually made one before! With no actual cream, the final creation was more like a cafe cortado with a lot of whisky! I got a Prisca in the end, thought it would be a safe option and it turned out to be pretty reasonable.

Back to the hotel to get ready for the next day of travel, the girls and I exchanged a few travel ideas and email addresses for a future meet ups in Peru.

Climbing Huyana Potosi - La Paz

2008-11-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

My preparation to climb Huyana Potosi at 6088m had been pretty reasonable with plenty of time above 3500m. In fact, over the past few weeks in Bolivia I dont think I dropped below 3500m and had been as high as 5535m or so at Chacaltaya a few days earlier. My short bout of food poisoning soon after arriving in La Paz had completely passed and I was feeling strong to tackle the mountain!

I met up with Ryan Stirling, one of the Aussie chaps I met on the Death Road to discuss options for the trip as he too was dead keen. We met at the hostel and did a bit of a walk around, mainly me showing him the options I had investigated the night before. One of the options I had preferred was not open, which was a shame. However, we found a small operator that offered the same trip for the same price, with the benefit of being able to meet the guide, see all the equipment and run through all the options. The outfit also appeared to be more specialised and not just a tour operator running mountaineering trips. Ryan had another Australian friend who was keen to come along too, which would make a group of three with 2 guides, which is perfect given many girls fail to make it so her pulling out would not prevent Ryan and I heading up with the other guide.

We settled on the operator (NAME) and brought Kym back later that afternoon for the final approval. She was relaxed about everything and just happy to go alone. We paid the price, 140USD, after managing to negotiate the 2 nights accommodation included in the package, which was somehow slipped in in the last minute, much to our surprise. Everything sorted and everyone happy, we set off to get the last bits of gear before our 9am departure the following morning. Ryan and I both needed a pair of socks and some thermals, which proved to be rather hard to find. After walking up a steep hill of markets that absolutely reeked of piss, we checked out the electronics zone, which was near by. We also got a massive banana and mango juice with milk, my new favourite.

After some awesome Chinese and chifa ping restaurant, Ryan and I split and I headed for the markets to buy a thermal top. I finally found one for 15BLV, which basically was a super tight gay mid-rift exposing number made from the same material as ladies stockings, but it will have to do and probably better than nothing. I packed all my surplus gear into my trusty blue sack from Uyuni and hit the hay for an earlyish start.

Arriving at the company office in the morning, trying on my plastic boots with socks to get a proper idea of what they are like....pretty good really! Pretty exciting really, as large gear bags were being packed from the storage room and checklists ticked! I had all my gear with me and just needed the boots and pants, which I would take along anyway despite having my own, which I would likely use on the final day. The others showed up and we were underway. We jumped in the guides car and headed up the hill to Al Alto for a spot of breakfast before making our way towards Huyana Potosi up the same road I had travelled several days earlier to Chakatalya, although this time fortunately there was no road block!

The drive in to the first nights refugio was interesting enough, Kym sleeping her hangover off for most of the journey while Ryan and I yarned abit about the trip to come. The first refugio was nice enough, with a large entrance area for all our gear, a dining area and the sleeping quarters up stairs. We settled into a basic but nice lunch of cheese and ham sammies, with lots of cucumber and sauce. It was the firts time I had had sliced bread since being in south America so that was a bit of a taste of home haha. After lunch we got our gear ready for a session on the glacier practising ice work with crampons and ice axes. Ryan had the same top as me, so we sported those together for Kyms pleasure before suiting up heading out the door ready for an expedition. The 20 minute walk to the glacier was pretty spectacular, weaving our way through the lake at the head of the glacier to an area suitable for our afternoon session. While the practise was a good brush up on what I had done several years earlier on Ruapehu, I was surprised that there was no emphasis on self arresting and a lot on some technical ice climbing, which would not be part of the actual walk.

It became obvious that our second guide was a bit of a novas. First, he was unable to explain how to put my harness on properly, then he basically dropped our main guide from to top of the ice climbing section. The guide had climbed up with no protection but on they way down he must have just looped the rope around a bit of ice then down climbed, however the junior guide was pretty average and belaying, and lost control of the feeding and the guide ran backwards down the wall at an uncontrolled pace, the younger chap grabbing the rope at the last minute only to be thrown into the water at the foot of the wall, which did stop the guides fall haha. Another group from Huyana Potosi expeditions had arrived and were walking around waiting for the guide to set up. We heard a crash, and when we looked around the corner, one of the guys was brushing himself off after narrowly avoiding being hit by a huge bit of rock/ice that had fallen from the top of the wall! Lucky chap!

It had started to snow while were were climbing so it was a bit of a relief to head back to the hostel for a nice afternoon of reading and hot tea before an early dinner. We only had a few hours walk the following day, although our wake up time was still pretty early. After our soup, we were served a nice meal of rice and lomo and hot drinks. Perfect!

The second day would involve a 2 or 3 hour walk up to our high camp on the hill at around 5100m. Not a long walk but it would be pretty tough carrying all our gear, including our plastics in our packs, as well as crampons and ice axes. After about an hour, it was obvious that Kym was struggling. She announced that she had vomited and her head was spinning, and we hadn't even begun the significant climb up the hill! Not cool, but at least he had made the right call to get two guides. I suppose that is a risk of going with people one is complete unfamiliar with. About half way up the final steep section, Kym through in the towel...however the guides offered to carry her gear up the hill for 70BLV, which basically meant the junior chap strapping her pack onto the back of his! It looked pretty darn heavy but he managed well. Kym made it to the top just fine with no pack and contemplated making and attempt the next morning with the junior guide.

We arrived at the rock refugio, slightly below another refugio perched atop the glacier. It certainly was a dramatic setting and we enjoyed soaking up the views of the valley below and what lay ahead of us above. The weather wasn't perfectly clear so we wouldn't get to see the top of the mountain until early the next morning but we enjoyed the views none the less. We had plenty of time to kill given the walk was short as, so I tucked myself into bed and got stuck into my book, John Grishams Innocent man, which I basically finished just before dinner time around 630. Given our 130 breakfast time, we were all pretty anxious to get into bed and to sleep. We were joined in the refugio by a Belgium gal and a Dutch chap, both on their own with a guide heading to the top, although they would not actually make it...The Belgium chick had a falling out with her guide and basically stormed back down the mountain with him in pursuit haha.

I didnt get much sleep at all, probably due to a combination of anticipation and altitude at 5135m. The Belgium gal was a bit pissed because the headlamp she had been given by her guide didnt work, leaving her with just a hand torch. I would end up giving her my head torch and borrowing Kyms, as she had a spare. We awoke at 1am and made our way down stairs to the kitchen for some breakfast around 130, ahead our our guides haha. It was a simple breakfast of buns and jam with warm tea, nothing too heavy. I gave my headlamp to the Belgium gal and we all kitted up and took a few photos before making out way out into the darkness. It was snowing slightly as we made our way over the rocks to a point where we could don the crampons and make our way up the face of the glacier.

It was a slightly more challenging walk than I had expected, in some ways at least. It was incredible walking under just the light of the moon, looking back into the dark valley to see headlamps following us up the mountain...just like a real expedition haha. We had to jump crevasses many meters deep and cross very steep sections of compacted snow and ice. At one point I slipped and had to self arrest. As I was roped in at the back I pulled the rope tight in front, pulling the guide and Ryan to the ground. I was so exhausted I didnt call falling or anything but was lucky enough to have the ability to self arrest and climb back up, something I had picked up from the Ruapehu course. We plodded on as the morning grew lighter under thick clouds, although we did see the summit in the distance with some headlamps on the top.

As we approached the final hour and the final section to the summit, things started to get more technical. Lots of crevasses to jump and many steep sections of loose rock and ice to climb. We passed the group coming down, who looked absolutely wrecked!! It was like a scene from an Everest climbing movie where climbers coming down from the top plod down like automaton, totally spent of all energy. It was a weird sight indeed. We plodded on up and the weather began to clear as we reached the final few metres approaching the summit. I felt a bit sorry for the other group who were sitting atop the mountain in darkness with their headlamps and no sunrise, but at the same time was totally stoked that we were up there with good views towards the west and lake Titakaka. It was an awesome feeling and totally worth the effort. We sat around a bit, perched on the narrow knife-edge summit ridge while we snapped photos of each other and the surrounding area! We left around 640, which meant we only took around 4 hours to get up, which is pretty darn good as the initial estimates were 5 to 6 hours.

After a few minutes we headed down. I went to put my gloves in my bag, only to find that the entire zip and top section of the bag had frozen solid and I had to beat it open and struggle with the stiff ice covered zips. We eventually started to head down, this time I was in the lead the guide and Ryan behind. It was a bit un-nerving leading the way down the steep section, with tension on the rope from behind making things even more difficult. Winding down several cut back corners down the steep section, changing the hand on the ice axe with each turn to ensure it remained on the uphill side ready to arrest a fall. If walking up the rock faces with crampons was difficult, the trudge down was slightly harrowing! Getting to the bottom of the steep section brought relief and several needed breaks for photos and some snacks. Amazing ice fields lay before us, as did crevasses and icicles on the overhanging snow slopes. Wow!

We plodded on, with the fresh falling snow making walking very difficult as it balled up on crampons, necessitating a solid whack with the axe every few metres. We reached a steep section to cross, possibly where I fell earlier that morning, at which point the guide set up a belay point to catch us should either one of us slip sideways down hill! We didn´t need it luckily but it was good to know it was there and the guide identified the risk.

The walk back was incredibly tiring, with a great deal of sliding around with the sticky snow on the crampons. At one stage I felt like I was walking with large clogs or platform shoes. We eventually made it back to the refugio in around 2 and bit hours, stripping off the gear and hitting the bed straight away, giving Kym a bit of slide show of the trip. Kym had made it part way up before turing back. She told us that her guide was definately an amature (we found at later he was actually a cook trying to get experience) and had ended up to his arm pits in a cravase at one point haha. We only had around 30 minutes to get all our gear packed, have a cup of tea and biscuits and commence the down hill plod back to the base camp refugio. Still feeling pretty wrecked, I got my stuff together and began downhill section at a slow pace. It was only an hour or so down but, as is often the case, the last section dragged on a bit.

What an amazing trip! With only tiredness and a few crampon cuts in my over pants I was feeling pretty good. Back in La Paz the three of us enjoyed a Cuban lunch at a restaurant next to the tour office and made plans to meet up later to exchange photos. Ryan and I met up later that evening for dinner at the Chifa Ping before heading to James Bond...although I had underestimated my tiredness and fell asleep at parts!

Now to start planning the next climb near Arequipa

Death Road - The Worlds Most Dangerous Road

2008-11-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

I decided to book the mountain bike ride of the World´s Most Dangerous Road through our hostel given they are 300 blv cheaper than the likes of gravity etc, despite Brendan Wrights´s warnings of them being a micky mouse outfit.

Things started well at breakfast, an aussie guy from the hostel joined me and another aussie staying at Loki was in the mix with a Swiss couple. A pretty standard breakfast although we did get ham and cheese toasted sandwiches, a first! We got all our gear and headed over the road to get into the van. No fancy sign writing for this outfit, just the hilux van with bikes on the room, an chillie bin of food and drink in the back and no first aid kit or rescue gear to be seen.

We headed out towards the start of the ride, only to be stopped the border check point by a cop who wanted money because of some minor indiscrepancy with the van´s rego. That issue resolved we pulled up in a gravel parking area a few hundred metres past the gravity and downhill madness crews setting up. The first 35 km are on the sealed road through amazing gorges and mountains, ending in a small town where an uphill section necessitates a short ride in the van to the downhill. Without incident and at speeds around 65km per hour we headed to where the old road, i.e, the Death Road, drops off. When we first saw it we even wondered if it was a road, resembling more of a metal driveway we get back home. Anyway, we jumped on the bikes for our 35km ish decent of the road, with drops as high as 800m or more at parts. Although most of the traffic takes the new road, we still had to be careful for oncoming cars. We passed a few other groups, demonstrating that anyone can do it as long as one goes slowing, their guide was in despair just with one hand on the bar just cruising. No major mishaps at all, just a tough ride on a road that doesn´t get my repair work and a bike which may as well not have had front suspension.

There were many crosses along they way showing where cars and buses had failed to take corners or simply had not enough room to get by each other... We only encountered several cars which meant we were able to make a pretty speedy decent.

We ended our ride at a odd little hostel tucked away in the bus, with a pool and a large buffet lunch with chicken, meat, corn and all the works. We were even provided with towels, soap and shampoo for a great hot shower, before good dip in a rather green pool and relaxing in sun loungers with a beer. Not a bad way to end what was actually a pretty scenic and tranquil ride.

We jumped back in the van and headed back towards they way we had just ridden. We all exchanged looks and wondered what was going on....were surely weren´t taking the death road when a new road had been built. The answer...yes, its a bit quicker haahah. One of the Aussie guys was packing himself, polling the rest of us how we felt. The Swiss simply said yeah, its more interesting this way hha. He nervously sat on the edge of his seat and crossed himself at every cross. We got some awesome video footage of the van scooting along the edge of the cliff and passing oncoming buses etc! It was probably more harrowing that the bike ride down, as we had no control over what was going on and had to just hold on for dear life!

The traffic in la paz was terrible. The hostel road was blocked by a car, and after tooting the van went around it only to discover the man in the drivers seat was totally boozed and had just comered out on the steering wheel. Classic bolivian styles!

With one of my planned La Paz tours out the way, it was time to relax for a day or two and organise a trek to Huyana Potosi.

La Paz - November 6th

2008-11-09T13:53:00.000-08:00

What a difference La Paz is to the other more tranquil places I have been of late! It is the first major city since Buenos Aires and it certainly is a lot more hectic and on your toes! I got a taxi to the hostel with the girls from the Sucre Joy Rider. They had a hotel in mind but I had been recommended Hostel El Solario by a few chaps in Sucre, which turned out to be pretty reasonable. I decided to go for a single room for 35 blv rather than a dorm for 25, as 35 is still only about 9 kiwi and I get to lock all my stuff away and throw stuff around, as I plan to use La La Paz as a bit of a base.

I joined the girls at their hotel for a bit of a walk around and some breakfast at a spot they knew. It turned out to be pretty interesting and in the heart of the market area so it was a good introduction to La Paz markets. I left the girls to go and get air tickets to the jungle and went to investigate Huyani Potosi climbing prices for a few days times. It seems liked the price is around 125USD and many operators offering the same stuff but talking it up...enough wasting time so off to the city.

It was clear from the start that I was going to like the place, with lots of street food, Internet cafes and easy to talk around, although pretty darn busy. I walk the main road, 9 De Julio for a bit, stopping in on Gravity Bikes to see their Death Road prices, a whopping 600 blv but I guess they offer safety and the whole reputation deal. I had found a little city info book from the Loki Hostel which indicated that some great markets were on at Al Alto, which is up on the hill and affords great views of the city. I was putting it off given it seemed pretty hard to get to by collectivo (i had some random address written down from the hostel and an Internet cafe). As i was walking along some english chap was sticking his head into a taxi asking to go to Al Alto, but the drive refused. I approached the guy and said we could grab a collectivo and head up together, which suited us both. Simon, who looked like a cross between james blunt and chris martin, was a bit sketched out by the bus but it was a fun experience. It seemed to take ages, and a particular chap who looked pretty professionally dressed with a blazer over his arm had a pretty good go to get into both Simon and my pockets, which was interesting. I chatted to some locals and managed to get the right stop for us to get off.

Al Alto markets were pretty interesting, with a heap of people around and markets that seemed to go on for ever. At an orange stand, we got chatting to a local who was friendly enough, and told us both that the markets are muy peligoros (very dangerous) and making all sorts of stabbing and strangling gestures ahaha. Right, leave before dark! We strolled around for a few hours soaking up the huge number of shops and different distinct areas selling everything from car parts and whole cars, doors and windows, homewares, food and everything else you can imagine. Simon bought some bananas, leaving one in his back pocket, which didnt´last long haha. We got a huge bag of giant honey puff type things, an ice cream and a few other bits while walking around and taking photos of the view looking down to the city. When we decided to head off, we went to the main road and waited for a collectivo, which took ages to come. A chap at a small stand tried to flag some down but the little vans and mini buses were very full, despite some people managing to cram about 10 people into a small Mike Perkins size van (personal joke) with the sliding door still open! We started to walk down the hill through a sketch neighbourhood, but the guy called us back when a bus arrived...perfect!

That night I chilled out in front of the TV...getting up several times to vomit and crap due to bad food and perhaps altitude..not flash. I had a super early night and wrote the next day off as a simple sight seeing day. It was pretty decent really...heading around the commercial area, constitutional palace and courts and generally soaking up a different part of the city. Fried chicken for lunch for the first (and not last!) time and a bit of reading. I tried to find a climbing agency but didn´t get very far! Pretty low key night at the hostel really watching a movie and yarning to some kiwis and aussies.

The next morning I woke feeling pretty good so ran downstairs to see if I had enough time go get on a tour leaving in 30 minutes to Chacaltaya and Valle de Luna. I did, so paid my money and ran out the door to get some bread and jam for lunch. What a classic adventure of a day! We picked up the full van load of people and back up the hill to Al Alto, driving around for ages trying to find gasoline, driving past the same shops 3 times. We eventually found it an on the rush back to get to the mountain we had a crash, t-boning a taxi. Not much damage done but it did draw quite a crowd. We drove on some terrible road, arriving at a junction to Hyuani Potosi and Chacaltaya, where there was a political blockade, which rendered us helpless for around 2 hours. At times the convoy would move, only to be stopped again. The old German couple were having problems, the man was feeling pretty ill and was put in an ambulance at the border blockade, to return just as we were heading off, which surprised us given we though he was heading down. Eventually, after some music, dancing,watching llamas and watching an agreement being signed we headed off towards the mountain at a cracking pace.

The roads were terrible, steep drop offs and in poor condition even for a 4wd, let along a crappy little van. At 5435m, Chacaltaya is the 5th highest mountain in the world has the highest commercial ski field in the world, and we could feel the lack of oxygen. We got our jackets etc and headed on up to the top, which was 5545m, the second highest I have been after Nepal. We had some great views of Hyuani Potosi and other mountains before heading down. We met the German couple at the van as they did not go up. They looked absolutely awful! The lady was moaning and holding her head and had a spew bag ready to go. Half way down they chap couldn´t find his wallet so that caused more anguish for them. I got the feeling that this was the dya from hell and in the little van bumping down for several hours it was a big ask on their first day of travel.

I booked my down hill ride that evening, opting for the budget company at the hostel to save 300blv, as people had said you didn´t need all that flash gear that Gravity offer so that suited me. Brendan Wright had done the trip a year earlier and said it was pretty micky mouse so I made a point of actually selecting my bike that night so I didn´t get a total dud. I went up town and got a massive serving of chicken and chips from a food outlet. Bolivia is big on massive rotisserie stands with 20 odd chickens in them...you simply order how much you want and they cut it up with scissors and dump it in a bag, classic! It was so yummy and totally going to be my diet for the next week or so!

Sucre: 03-05 November

2008-11-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

Back to the bus station in Potosi to board our bus destined for Sucre. The road between Potosi and Sucre was entirely sealed and in great conditions so the ride was comfortable and seemed to go pretty quickly. We were entertained by a chap selling little pottles of some magical cream similar to tiger balm, with all sorts of Spanish superlatives used to describe the little tub of goodness. He actually did pretty well from it too! We stopped at some border control and people thrust themselves out the window to buy bags of juice and other goods from the children below. New Zealand really could learn something from such commerical activism!

We had a little pamphlet for a hotel in Sucre associated with the Potosi hostel so we jumped in a taxi and trundled off there some 4 km away. Ben was looking into Spanish lessons and a homestay so I checked into a dorm while Ben left his stuff there so he could head off to his possible homestay place to check it out. We took a wander around the central plaza, dotted with buildings which all explain the UNESCO World Heritage Site status. We found a small cafe with an almuerzo, lunch of the day three course cheap option. It was surprisingly good value with soup, meat and rice and some yoghurt to finish. After lunch Ben headed off and I returned to the hostel to kill time on a horribly wet afternoon, action packed with perhaps the loudest thunder storm I had heard.

Sitting around the hostel wasn´t exactly exciting but I did get my photos updated and backed up to my hard drive so that was a bit of a bonus. I decided to head into town for a coffee at a renowned cafe, the Joy Rider, which is a Spanish/German setup which also runs mtb tours around the area. I pulled up a chair on a table on the mezzanine floor and got into my Spanish book. There were a few people on the table next to me having a few drinks and playing a dice game, which looked pretty fun. After a while, they invited me to join them, which I did in an instant. The game was actually pretty fun, combining luck and bluffing and a form of punishment for the looser at the end of the round. Their punishment was a decent smearing of sunscreen which they had bought and all disliked because of the smell, but it soon turned into finishing half ones drink!

We played the dice game for several hours and ordered some dinner. We also invited a girl who now occupied my old table to join us. Emily, from San Fransisco, was a photographer carrying around a 5D and 24-70 f2.8 as well as a power book; all pretty serious but her photos are pretty amazing. www.emilypolar.com My big steak never arrived and after I said to the waitress ´2 minutes or I don´t want it´ i headed down and cancelled it for good. I kept the side of fries and did not have to pay for them so it saved me 40 bolivianos, which is probably a good thing anyway!

I organised to meet Emily at following day for a trip around the nearby areas. After some talk we decided to jump a bus out to the seven cascades a bit out of town. It was a great little ride with all sorts of people getting on and off, some carrying live chicken and so on. We got off at the last stop in some small dirt road village and asked locals how to get to the cascades. They all just pointed into the valley which seemed to make sense. After quite a bit of descending and climbing rocks etc, it became apparent that were were probably in the wrong area. (Looking at a map a girl had in the hostel the following morning confirmed we did in fact have the wrong area.) Not to worry, it was a good little day out of the city and pretty enough.

We headed back into town and made our way towards the mirador in Recolleta, which is meant to afford great views of the city. We found a lovely cafe at the end of the strip of tourist stands and pulled up a sun lounger and our books. I flicked through Emily´s photos and finished a decent chunk of my book, as well as drinking one of the best iced cappachinos I have ever had! I vowed to return the next day for another, which I did!

That evening I caught up with Ben for a meal, which turned out to be at the local casino, but it was relatively cheap and pretty decent actually so we left happy. We decided to head back to the Joy Rider for a few drinks and to see who was there from the hostel. We ended up bumping into the same group from the night before, so we yarned with them for a few hours (until we were kicked out at closing time around 2am) and played a few more rounds of the dice game. We said our goodbyes and headed off to our respective hostels, tentatively arranging to meet the next day on the bus to La Paz.

The following morning I felt like doing pretty much nothing, so bought by bus ticket to La Paz from the bus station, did a few laps of the market streets and headed back up to the mirador for another iced coffee and a chunk of John Grisham. I met an Australian couple up there who had followed my recommendations to make the trip up. I headed back down to catch up with Ben, although he never showed so probably got held up somewhere. I finished off my city tour by heading to the supreme court and lovely parks nearby. Off to the bus station by taxi to get on my first long distance ride in Bolivia so not sure what to expect. Pretty sad to leave Sucre to be honest, as I could have spent another day or two just relaxing and chilling out. It has a great feel to the place and many good options for eating and drinking.

I had a pretty average bus waiting for me so I got my luggage on board by carrying it up several flights of stairs to the ticket office, where they weighed and tagged it before lowering it back down to the bus by a simple pully system. I met the girls from the previous two nights and boarded the bus. The heaters were already cranking and because I had the window seat the vent was right up my right leg, combined with the open window I would be in a state of hot/cold sweets the whole night!

We stopped at some random little truck stop setup for dinner and refreshments, although I had already packed a few empanadas etc. I did get a hamburger and cold chips though, which wasn´t that great but helped fill a gap. I managed to get some pretty decent sleep and nothing from my bag nicked so a pretty good night really. Bring on La Paz!!

Uyuni to Potosi: 01-03 November

2008-11-07T05:16:00.000-08:00

Well, Ben and I had a good night chilling out in Uyuni and kicked the day off with a breakfast at the Cactus Hostel cafe. Earlier we has visited the bus stop to get a ticket to Potosi. We bumped into Angry Ross the Irishman, who had raved about a particular bus company and how well he had done to get a ticket to Sucre, 2 hours beyond Potosi, for 65 bolivianos. We thought this was pretty classic given we got our tickets to Potosi for 20 and a ticket from Potosi would likely only cost about 20 at the most, but he thought the bus was 'fucking grand' so he was happy.

The journey did not start well for me, with several ominous signs of a rough ride ahead. My tummy hadn't been feeling that good since waking up, and at the ATM a small fart provided more than I bargained for...so back to the hostel to sort myself out and unpack my diastop pills for a 6 hour bus ride ahead! The actual bus journey was pretty nice, with a surprisingly comfortable bus and great views of the country side as we made our way towards the world´s highest city.. About 3 hours in my stomach started to get pretty knarly with hard core cramps and lots of butt clenching going on to stop a disaster. The bus broke down at one point leaving us on a bridge yarning to a engineer on his way to Potosi for work, which gave us insights into all sorts of things like wages, cost of houses in Potosi and La Paz and all sorts. He gave us his phone number and invited us to come over for dinner (alhtough we later could not get in touch with him).. Angry Ross was classic, just looking at the bus saying 'what a fucking disaster' and when I said it was probably just a typical occurrence and would be fixed soon he just kept saying 'if it was simple it would be fixed, what a total disaster'. He had no water, no food or no medication for altitude and I resisted giving mine up because I can't stand unprepared people who just expect others to carry everything.

Nearing Potosi I was seriously considering getting the chap to pull over for a dump but Potosi was only half an hour away so I held on. Ben offered to get my bags from the roof upon arriving at the bus terminal (something I had already considered) so that I could run or at least hobble to the public toilet, assuming there was one. Getting off the bus I asked the engineer chap for directions to the toilets and gave my empanads to Ross, who was still asking for food but I wasn't exactly going to eat it! I grabbed a full roll of loo paper and made my way briskly over to the loo, paying my 50 cvts to the lady at the far end. It was a basic setup with small cubicles separated by rough wooden sides and doors. The first two doors I opened were occupied, nasty sight that, but the thrid was ready to go. No toilet seat, great, but I didn't have the energy to squat so just sat on the rim, nasty! I was reminded about a scene from an American Pie movie when the character Shit-Break had been given lots of laxative and had to run to the girls toilet, unleashing such fury that all the other occupants left in a hurry screaming. It wasn't the best 15 minutes of my life but with half a roll of paper used up and much Purell sanitation gel used on hands etc I was ready to go...but hang on, no flusher.....I had to leave the toilet in a horrile state and walk over to a barrel of water to get a bucket to flush the goods away . I did so, hoping that no one would go in while I was fetching the water haha.

Potosi was hustle and bustle, with lots of traffic, street vendors and general commotion. We got a taxi to the main square, from where we would find a hostel nearby. We asked the taxi driver and some tourists for recommendations and found a fantastic places in and old magestic building around the corner. It was odd to see that the streets surrounding the central square were fall of abogados, or lawyers, there literally must have been 40 or so just on the way to the hostel 2 blocks away. Sucre, which is only 2 hours away, is the constitutional capital of Bolivia and retains the highest court in the land, so I suppose there will be plenty of lawyers there also.

Upon checking in, a double was not much more than a dorm so we went for that and headed onto the streets to find stuff to do. The streets are narrow, barely wide enough for two cars and winding around the hillside. With views of Cerro Rico as the backdrop to the town, we pottered around found some tour agencies and generally got our bearings. I had to return to the hostel to have another episode, leaving Ben to explore. Ben would join me shortly to watch the Devils Miner, a docco about the history of the mine and a 14 year old who had been working in there for a few years. Such a horrible existence for such a small kid supporting the entire family which put me off going to the mines on a tour. The tours weren't going to be operated for several more days due to a local fiesta and bank holiday, but after watching the film I was less inclined to hang around and be a tourist in a mine that has killed 8 million people over the years.

Ben and I made our way around Potosi for a couple of days, heading up a mirador for a great view of the city and visiting markets for fresh fruit and roast chicken and chips. Our second night we watched the Motorcycle Dairies, which was a great film about Che Guevara and their adventures along Routa 40 in Argentina up to central america. We decided to head to Sucre on a night bus given we were both not keen on a mine tour and wanted to keep moving. We packed our bags and headed to the bus station. We got out of the taxi only to realise that there is a different terminal servicing the long distance routes, so we had to walk for quite a while. After all that we were unable to get tickets to Sucre until the following morning, which we booked and headed back out onto the road for a taxi or collectivo back to the hostel. We settled on a little collectivo bus which was soon full to the brim winding its way around the streets, seemingly further and further away from where we wanted to go. We managed to get off with our large packs through the 20 odd people crammed into the van and started to walk, asking for directions every now and again. We actually met some interesting characters on the way and got a good feeling for the city at night so it was quite a little adventure.

Upon checking back into the hostel we made a beeline into town for some cheap street food at hamburger stands and a small restaurant while meat on skewers with boiled spud etc, which was awesome. We again watched another movie and got an early night ready for our 9am bus the next day to Sucre.

Salar de Uyuni 3 day tour - October 29 to 31

2008-11-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Uyuni late afternoon and made our way around several tour operators, one of whom gave us a ride from the bus stop to a hotel. I had a few names in my head of agencies that people had recommended by travellers. The hotel was nice enough with double rooms and showers etc. We settled on the agency attached to the hotel as it was a reasonable price of 525 bolivianos for the 3 days including sleeping bags and a nights accommodation in Uyuni, which was several hundred cheaper than that paid by people booking through Loci in La Paz haha.

We had an amazing bbq Asado meal of llama and creamed cheesy rice for dinner and did a bit of Internet. For some reason no Internet cafes allow usb connections and most are pretty slow. I walked out after a minute or two at one cafe and the guy fired up and wanted me to pay, it was pretty funny how angry he got. We purchased some sacks from the market to transfer some gear around as we had to share a large pack between two on the tour.

The next morning we all headed into the plaza for breakfast and a bit of shopping for supplementary food for the trip. We met Sarah at the tour office when we dropped our bags off; Sarah has arrived from La Paz and would be joining our group. Apparently the other 6 people to join us and another jeep were staying behind due to illness of one party member so we had a jeep for just the 5 of us which would prove to work out really well.

We set off with all the gear on the roof and us squeezed inside, making the first stop at the driver´s house to collect his wife and baby who would be with us for the trip as our cook. We were told that the jeep had an ipod adapter but the driver knew nothing about it so after we kicked up a fuss and told him to turn around he said we would go to the first stop, the cemetery of trains, we would make a short return trip to Uyuni to get the much needed cassette adapter for the stereo. With over 1200km of driving ahead, we certainly would need our own tunes! With the ipod adapter plugged in and tunes blaring, we headed toward the salar along with a convoy of other jeeps at full pace. Our first stop on the salar would be a museum and salt processing factory at Colchani where workers continue to take truck loads of salt into the processing rooms. Following the wet season in Jan and Feb, where the salar is 20 to 30cm in water, the evaporation of the water forms a layer of salt which is collected. The small town was pretty touristy but I did get a small salt rock crystal to help their cause.

We set off again for another 20 minutes or so onto the salar proper, where we would stop for our first attempt at a few tricky photos where one can make interesting effects with distance illusions, such as people holding other people in their hands, standing on coke cans and all that jazz. In the middle of the salar is the original salt hotel, which has now been closed for environmental reasons but still serves as a museum and lunch stop for some groups. We took a few photos and pushed on towards the Isla de los Pescados, or island of fish, which is a island in the middle of the salar covered in cacti as old as 1200 years and 12m high! All pretty interesting and incredibly scenic and odd to have and island covered in cacti and coral. We had lunch here and took more photos, some rather funny with Gary taking the lead with a bare ass shot and someone appearing to be defecated out much to the amusement of the other groups who were doing the standard shots. So far it had been an awesome day and we were all excited about heading off to our salt hotel for the night. We went via a cave which we could really have missed and saved the 10 bolivianos but it afford some nice views of the area.

The salt hotel was awesome and we were the only group to be staying there. We sorted out our beds and headed off towards the cliffs to get a better view of the sunset over the salar. We had a few beers as the sunset turned the sky a pretty red and yellow before heading back to the hotel for dinner. Being in Bolivia and the salar one easily looses track of the altitude, although I soon found out the hard way....(although it could have been bad food...). Drinking a few beers at 3800m is not the best way to acclimatise to a new height and I was pretty sick most of the night and was unable to hold down any food the next day. My lunch only lasted 30 seconds!

The second day involved quite a lot more driving but we saw some pretty interesting sights. From the salt hotel we would travel far south almost to the board or Chile near Lago Colorada. En route to Lago Colorada we would stop at Laguna Hedionda to see flamingos and to have lunch, before moving along to see the Arbol de Piedra, which is a rock tree (or the shape of a tree at least). I was feeling better that night and enjoyed a big plate of roast chicken after a long and very cold walk. I had perhaps the best sleep of the trip so far, all the way through to 430am when we were awaken for the final long day.

Day three is always regarded as the worst for the round trips from Uyuni as the jeep has to cover all the ground from the previous two days, which is some 12 hours in total. We started the day with a nice breakfast of pancakes and a swim at Termas de Polques hot spings after visiting the Solar de Manaña geyser basin. The geyser was a joke, not even a geyser as I know it from New Zealand, simply a pipe in the ground venting steam all the time without any other form of discharge! It was at 4850m and at 530 in the morning it was pretty cold. The hot springs were awesome, touristy as hell but a great dip before breakfast. After the hot pools we basically only had one more stop before a solid 8 hours drive to Uyuni, which was the Laguna Verde with Licancabur Volcano behind, which was pretty impressive. To this point we had followed an Asian chap around who had the full suit of cannon dslr gear (only a 20D but!) and a huge tripod which is girlfriend carried most of the time which was funny to most of us around. They didn´t swim or anything but looked like they were having fun with their photos all the same.

The drive back was boring but we had music and a few stops along the way and lunch inside a dairy in a small village, which was kinda weird. At our lunch spot we got talking to a german couple who had rented a brand new KTM 990 motorbike in Santiago who were touring around the Salar and Southern Bolivia, which was kinda interesting. They were certainly all kitted out and having a great time. We would later spot them at a small village along the road and toot to them. All and all a decent trip for a decent price. We all hung around Uyuni that night for trains and buses. Ben and I decided to stay on and get a bus to Potosi the next morning while Sarah boarded a night train to Villazon and Silvar and Gary both headed off to La Paz on the bus. We visited the bbq llama place again, although it got food poisoning and ended up pissing out my backside for the next day...see the next post.

Into Bolivia - 26 October

2008-10-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

Later today we would be in Bolivia! We started the morning by heading back to the markets to see it in full swing, selling and bartering pottery, ceramics, wood and food stuffs. It was a very local market, with no other tourists there so it was interesting to see how the locals bargain for stuff. We were a bit early for all the serious meat but we did have some empanadas and fruit. After checking out, we headed towards the Bolivian boarder. The girls were looking forward to walking over the border bridge but were a bit disappointed to find that the bridge was not quite as romantic as they originally thought. We waited in line for ages until Ruth decided to approach an official to hurry the process along, and apparently he didn´t take his eyes off her breasts the whole time but it got us out of the line. I stood smugly in the line with three bags while people kept pushing in, but didn´t make a bit deal about it given shortly ruth would be back with the exit stamps and we would fly past them all! The Bolivian entry office was basic and easy. Ruth got told by the man the he loved her, classic! We headed up to the bus station to sort out our tickets to Tupiza, which is a few hours north and about half way to Uyuni. The bus station was nothing like I had experienced in South America so far, with crappy offices, painted signs and people shouting out destinations. The floors were covered in all sorts of cargo and other rubbish, no doubt destined for a bus like ours. The prices are so much cheaper than Argentina, costing only about $6 for a four hour trip. We settled on a bus and headed into town to kill a few hours. The food prices are so cheap, eating off the street for only a few dollars for empanadas, fruit and other good stuff. I also got by beard trimmed for a dollar or two which made my face a bit cooler. After a lot of tourist window shopping and several ice creams later, we boarded our crappy bus with just as many people standing as sitting.

The best way I can describe the ride was like sitting on a commercial washing machine full of rocks on spin cycle! It was so incredibly bumpy, noisy, and very hot! No doubt this will the first first of many of such trips. Surprisingly after a few hours it was fine, I even managed to get a bit of sleep at one stage. As we approached Tupiza the road became less of a road and more of a river bed, following, and crossing, the river several times over the course of an hour or so. The terrain as we entered Tupiza was mountainous and craggy, with huge red cliffs on all sides as we entered the basin. I had heard Tupiza was nestled in an amazing spot and was not disappointed.

After looking at various salt flat options and deciding not to get a tour from Tupiza because of the price, the girls decided to book their tickets for the next day to Potosi, as their time frame had also become a little pushed. We headed into town for a walk around at sunset, stumbling upon some dance performance at a school which was very entertaining. We found a chicken and chips joint for only 6 bolivianios, which is 1.50 NZ! I got a second plate cause I was so hungry and it was well cheap. I bumped into a chap, Ben, who I had randomly chatted to in a supermarket in Salta, who invited us up to his hostel to watch the Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid. It seemed appropriate given these characters met their makers in the hills outside the Tupiza.

The next morning the girls and I visited the fruit market and then off to the bus station. I booked another night at the hostel and headed out to some canyons outside of town. I was going to walk but instead, after yarning to a lady at a fruit stand, jumped in a mini van for a single boliviano for the 6 km journey. I walked around a bit in the heat and headed back, stopping at a few other villages on the way. That afternoon I had organised with Ben and a few others to go horse riding around the canyons to the south of the town. We had a superb 3 hours around the canyons at sunset, for only 15 NZDs! After returning to Tupiza, I led the charge to an Asado, which served up a HUGE piece of steak and chirizo for only $6nzd. I had been saving my meat experiences to Bolivia where it is considerably cheaper than Argentina, and I was not disappointed. Whilst walking to the Internet cafe, I was accosted by the friendly ladies from the HI Hostel over the road where Ben and his mates were staying, and they convinced me to meet them in the plaza later to celebrate the girls birthday. Instead of going to the discotec, we headed up near the Christ statue for a bottle of pisco and lemonade, apparently away from the eys of the police. We drank for a few hours and tried to communicate in Spanish with some luck. It was very entertaining, especially with the cultural differences with Bolivian women drinking with men etc....

Because I didn't get all the photos of the amazing scenery at sunrise, I headed off to canyons again on foot in the morning sun. I had an awesome walk and covered some decent ground up and over the hills before my bus at 1030.

Ben, his mate Gary, and I jumped on the bus, along with a French chap Sylvain. The ride was incredible with views along numerous rivers, villages and mountains, at time reaching around 4200m. We stopped for lunch in a small local village where we got some strange meet, corn and potato, followed by and ice cream and then jelly and cream haha. The ride was some 6 hours all up into Uyuni and, as expected, we were accosted by tour touts right from the moment we got off the bus selling salt flat tours....see next post

Salta to Bolivia: 23 - 26 October

2008-10-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week since my last blog! I bussed from Cafayate to Salta on a pretty local bus, which seems to be more of a trend as I head north. Not complaining because the buses are still comfortable and a lot cheaper!

I met an American chap, Ken, on the bus while were having a stop at a small cafateria which had 1 peso empanadas and pizza (cheapest yet). He works for Nature Magazine in America and had a lot of good ideas about travelling North West Argentina. Shortly before arriving in Salta the bus broke down, but a mini van quickly arrived for us to transfer over to. We watched the luggage being pulled out of the holds onto the road before being loaded onto the roof. Neither Ken or I saw our bags on the road and were told they were already up on the roof, but we had our doubts. Our suspicions were confirmed when we arrived in Salta without our bags! We jumped back in the mini van with the driver and headed back to the bus to collect our bags, which were in a hold that had not been emptied.

Finally with our bags, Ken and I made our way around a few hostels settling for a nice one near San Martin park. I did a bit of hand washing and headed up the gondola with Ken to get a good view of the city. Salta is surprisingly large, but doesn´t really seem to have a lot to do, so we both checked out tickets for further north. I had planned to head up north before coming back down a bit half way to meet a connection to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to start the salt flats. I decided to sleep on it because they needed a booking from Salta for buses that only run twice a week. I am increasingly weary or booking anything more than a day in advance given plans tend to change quite a lot. Ken and I did a circuit of the most significant buildings around Plaza 9 de Julio and got some money out at the ATM, which had a line the longest I have seen to get money out. We found a local burger joint for a sit down meal with the locals. Ken managed to almost put a toothpick through his lip as he bit into his burger!! We left and took some night shots of the Plaza.

Upon returning to the hostel, I met two girls from Canada who had come down from Bolivia. After talking to them for a bit and going down stairs to a nice ice cream palour, I decided against going to San Pedro de Atacama (given the bus ticket was 180 pesos) and instead fast track it up north and cross the border at La Quicas.

Ken and I headed off to the bus station the next morning for a bus up north. Ken was making his way up to far north to Humahuaca and make his way back down stopping at several towns. I decided I would go to Humahuaca too, but stopping several times en route as the towns didn´t seem to warrant any more than an hour. Upon board the bus, I met Ruth and Rhake, who I had met previously in Uruguay and more recently in Puerto Natalas. They were evidently still on the gringo trail heading up the border of Bolivia that day. I convinced them that there was plenty to see on the way so they joined me on my flying trip of the north west towards bolivia.

We said goodbye to Ken at Juyjuy, where the tree of us would transfer to a smaller bus to Pumamarca, which is famous for the moutain of seven colours. The buses really are getting cheap now, with the hour and a half journey costing only 6 pesos! I passed time on the bus talking to a local chap. Looking at him I knew he was either gay or a hairdresser (long nails, pony tail with pink clip etc), and it turned out he was indeed a hairdresser. I got some good conversation practice in and learned a few new words.

Arriving in Pumamarca was pretty amazing. It is a very small town but it sits below the mountain which has distinct bands of colours. Before setting off on our walks to various miradors, we figured out the bus time to the next town, Tilcara, which left in 2 hours. We decided to head to Tilcara en route to Humahuaca, to cover 4 towns in one day! The walk around Pumamarca was incredible, although very windy at times. The mountains were simply stunning and not many tourists around. We took all the photos we needed and stocked up on a bit of food for the next bus ride to Tilcara, which was only 2 pesos!

Tilcara is a pretty small sleepy town, which attracts more Argentinan tourists than foreigners. It is a well presented town with nice eating spots and cobbled streets. We only had an hour and a half before the next bus so we ran around eating llama empanadas and heading up the hills behind the town for a better view. Incredible thunder and lightening shook the entire village at times, although we were lucky it did not rain. Walking around the streets of Tilcara reminded me of Nepal, with narrow dirt tracks and small dirt shacks. A nice change from the big cities!

We again hit the minimercardo to get food for the bus ride and also dinner for the night. We decided to head to the HI Hostel upon arriving in Humahuaca, which is where I knew Ken would be. The hostel was ages from the bus stop as we walked through narrow dirt paths in the rural areas, full of stray dogs, donkeys and the odd local. We arrived and prepared dinner, later meeting Ken and a Saffa who was with him. The girls and I decided to head to Iruya the next day, which we had all heard (randomly from the same French couple I met at Puerte de Inca) was amazing and well worth the trip. To keep moving, we decided to get the morning bus out there, approximately three hours, spend a few hours there and then return that afternoon, to then board a bus to the border of Bolivia at La Quica - more than 9 hours on the bus.

The drive up to Iruya was incredible! It was the roughest bus ride I have been on to date, weaving its way through very rural country side, over streams and rivers and along banks with very high drop offs. The windy corners were so sharp that the outside wheel of the bus would barely complete each turn, probably flicking stones over the edge. We climbed up to 4000m before dropping down into the valley. Iruya came into sight, chiefly a large yellow church perched on the side of the hill above the river. Some stupid woman on the bus had a go at me (at least I think she was) for taking lots of photos out of the open window. She was pretty rude, at some stage on the journy climbing onto my seat and leaning out of my window to take photos, even though I had earlier helped her to open hers.

We were lucky enough to arrive on the day the town was celebrating the 250th year of the towns foundation, so there were a few ceremonies and speeches etc. The town comprises several steep streets to explore and cute kids running around. The people up north certainly look a lot more native and Bolivian than anyone we have seen in Argentina. We had lunch in a small hole in the wall place, in part to kill time before the bus which was in a few hours time. We tried llama stew, lamb stew and some more empanadas. Llama was pretty darn good really, and I am sure it won´t be the last time I eat it.

The ride back to Humahuaca was more dramatic than the way in, as the sun was not directly in our faces and the clouds were white and puffy, providing great photo ops. We arrived back in Humahuaca in time to book a bus for half an hours time, leaving us just enough time to run around the town for a few photos and to get some food for the 3 hour bus ride up to La Quica.

Our bus arrived half an hour late and we were told it was full, or at least no seats. We had to go so we boarded the bus and took positions on the floor! Fortunately, we would only be on the floor, or standing, for a hour or so until some people got off. We had been a bit worried about lack of accommodation in La Quica given an annual festival was on for the past 9 days, culminating in this weekend. After arriving at at around 1030, we found a couple of cheap rooms (in separate places due to demand) and settled in. We made a walk that night to the square to see what all the festivities were all about. The night life was pretty interesting, mainly one strip of food stalls and ´discos´ in corrugated iron shacks. We did a couple of laps, stopping for beer and sausages every now and again, and joined the other spectators watching the dancing (or lack of). Lot of young people walking around looking pretty wasted. We got propositioned by one old man who was off his face, asking if we liked to dance etc and if Ruth was my wife. We pretended we were to keep him away from Ruth, but he suggested the four of us have a sort of private dance party or something, as he did some crazy sexual ´car wash´spanking type dance. Rather funny!

The next morning we would return to see the bartering market in full swing before heading to Bolivia. I´m looking forward to getting to a new country!

Mendoza to Cafayete - October 15 to 22

2008-10-22T11:03:00.001-07:00

After flying into Buenos Aires and spending a few days hobbling around the major attractions a second time with Susan for a few days, I decided it was time to get back into action and progress my trip. I have been looking forward to getting into Central and Northern Argentina and experiencing scenery that is totally different to New Zealand. While I really enjoyed Patagonia very much, the landscape of Mendoza and further north looks amazing with incredible contrasts of red rocks, green fields and blue skies.

My bus trip from BA could not have gone better. I opted for a semi cama bus to save on the pesos so wasn´t expecting a whole lot but I understood from the chap at the counter we would get fed so that was a bonus. We got a nice hot mean of mashed potatoe with a chicken melanase, salad and a few bread sticks, as well as coke and vino. The bus also screened a great move, Norbit, which is pretty much a Big Mammas House jobbie with Eddie Murphy playing a number of character, but it was in English and very entertaining. They beauty of traveling in off season is that even with a semi cama bus one is invariably guaranteed a free seat next adjacent (or one can simply change seats to achieve this) so sleeping is not that bad. I got a few hours sleep after the movie stopped and pulled into Mendoza around 1020.

After a little walking around in circles and asking taxi drivers for directions, I found the hostel close to the hostel and set about relaxing in the court yard area with a coffee. I met an Aussie couple and after a bit of talking and a very cold dip in the pool, I was joining them for a half day wine tour covering 2 vineyards, an olive oil factory and a chocolate factory. For 45 pesos (22 nzd) which is pretty good value considering the distance to the vineyards and the 4 hours we would spend out and about.

We first visted a very large vineyard, Wineret, completing a pretty extensive tour and a wine tasting. This vineyard had the 4th largest barrel in Argentina and the largest currently in use, some 445hlitres (44,000 litres) full of wine! We next visited a different style of vineyard on the other side of the town, renowned for being one of only organic vineyard in Mendoza so it was interesting to see the different style of production and growing methods. The grap vines, despite being some 40 years old, stand only a couple of feet tall. Apparently this is to ensure a great concentration of foliage closer to the grown which increases exposure to nutrients and minerals as well as insects and companion planting which are essential in organic vineyards given there is no use of artificial chemicals.

We or final stop in the immediate areas of Maipu was an olive oil factory, Laur. The smell even upon entering the front gates was delicious! We were shown around the orchard and were told about the different types of olives and the production process. I didn´t know this but green olives and black olives come from the same tree but are just picked at a different time, the black olives being more ripe. Also, for an olive oil to be classes as virgin, the acidity content has to be less than 1%, and even less for extra virgin. Black olives have a higher acidity and are thus only used (by this place at least) for eating. After a tour though the factory and a great deal of restraint exercised around the large vats of olives awaiting the press, we headed to the tasting room where breads and oils were waiting with sun dried tomato. Super stuff!

I decided to head back out to Maipu the next day to complete another circuit, but this time by bike. My wine tour of the Maipu region was amazing...truly a wonderful afternoon out. I hired a bike for the afternoon and rode myself around 4 vineyards and another chocolate shop. Given I had visited the olive oil factory the day before, I skipped that on the bike. My first vineyard, or bodega, was one of the larger ones and also had a museum attached which was very interesting. I had the misfortune of being grouped with an older couple from the Napa Valley in California, which was both amusing and tiring and constantly reminded me why so many Americans are disliked outside their own borders. The old chap took a liking to the sweet girl giving the tour, making terrible jokes, taking photos of her name badge, photos of himself with her and even giving her a gangster like closed fist high five sort of thing when he ´got a connection´ with the language barrier. The tour dragged on for ages on account of his many questions and explanations about what happens back home!!

I had a packed lunch at the museum and then headed down the very rural roads on the bike, stopping in at other bodegas en route. I had 4 tasting and tours at various vineyards and learned a lot about the local wines and the process to make them (wines in general). The local wine in a malbec which seems to be a lot more fruity (plum, berries etc) than say a Cabernet sauvignon and less peppery so is pretty nice. I finished the tour by going to the chocolate factory which makes chocolate, liquors, some chutneys and dulce delece (a caramel spread popular over here). A group of older people from Mendoza also on the tour kindly invited me to join them at the testing tables, which was great because it gave all of us a better selection to share around and an opportunity for me to try a bit of Spanish.

Upon arriving back at the hire place there were other tourists hanging around drinking wine in the front yard, provided by the hire chap, Mr Hugo. Mr Hugo kept bringing out bottles and bottles of wine for ages!! It was fantastic. He did, however, have a rather disturbing talking parrot in the tree which not only said hello etc but also laughed along with us when a joke was cracked, in a sort of ´chucky wants to play´ kind of way. Mr Hugo then took us all to the bus stop and paid for our bus ride back into Mendoza, about 45 minutes away. I spent the next day just pottering around the hostel, relaxing by the pool and back yard so very nice. I also did a walk with a chap from Montana around the central area. It is a nice place and pretty relaxed, although it was a tiring walk getting up the main view point in the city, requring one to walk a full completing around the zoo at the base of the mountain.

After hearing the Montana chap´s idea about heading into the Andes near the Argentina-Chile border, I decided to do a similar thing, although a day earlier. I made a reservation for a hostel at Los Cuevas, which is a little mountain village at 3200m. The bus ride was spectacular, heading into the mountains on a terrific road similar to Milford sound, with tunnels and all. When I arrived at the Hostel Los Cuevas, it was closed for the season! So much for a reservation and small deposit. It worked out well because I got on the bus and headed back down the hill about 15km to Puertas de Inca (literally bridge of Inca, or Inca Bridge), which is a small settlement in the middle of nowhere offering very little except the historic Inca Bridge and the sale or small rocks! It also is, more importantly for me, the launching pad for trips to Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. I found a very basic hostel, which was very cute and had everything I needed. My foot was pretty sore so I didnt´get out much that day so relaxed with my book.

That night I met an American chap, Bill, and shared a box or wine (yep, box, not bottle!). The hostel owners were off the next day so just gave us keys to the place but no idea when they were to return. I headed up to the park the next morning, getting a ride up the 2km stretch with a Dutch couple which was good. I spent the day walking around with not much pain which was good, having lunch at a superb lookout spot an hour or so off the tourist route, getting sun burned in the process given I had my top off relaxing. Spectacular indeed! We had a great night in the hostel with an old French Canadian couple and a young angry French guy. The older couple had a lot to drink and after a while the man, Pierre (obviously), got onto politics, which was pretty interesting given Bill was a politics major from New York. It was classic when the young French guy and the Pierre would discuss something in French in a heated fashion, ending with Pierre saying ´he is calling me stupid, but that´s okay´! The young French chap had a bottle of chocolate with banana liquore from the same chocolate shop I had visited, which we polished off.

Our dorm beds, for whatever reason, seemed to generate a lot of static electricity. Just lying on top reading I could feel my hairs on my arms standing up the crackle of the generation occuring as I rolled over to get comfortable. It was a bit of a problem getting down of the bunks, where had metal frames. At nights, when I flicked my headlamp off after reading, just rolling around in my bed would produce enough static discharges to create quite a bit of light. Pretty weird indeed! I managed to off-load my large book to Bill, which lightened my load considerably!

The next morning we were all having coffee with the older french chap looking pretty worse for wear. Pierre would, on a number of occasions, excuse himself from the table to have a loud talk on the big white phone, returning to the table looking even worse than before haha. Later that morning I boarded my bus the next day with Bill heading back to Mendoza. We never did meet the guy from Montana (assumed he would end up at our hostel given it was the only inexpensive option open). Bill, was off to Bariloche in the south (where I went earlier) and I decided to go straight up north that afternoon. We arrived at the bus station around 4 and both got tickets out that evening, mine leaving at 5pm so no great wait around but enough time to get dinner. I bought a ticket to Tucuman around 15 hours north of Mendoza.

Not being in the mood for big cities, when I arrived at the bus station in Tucuman around 8am, I bought an outbound ticket to Cafayate, which is 5 hours north west of Tucuman. Lots of bus hours but I have arrived in Cafayate with 23 hours on the bus with around 4 hours break. I almost missed my bus from Tucuman because their time seems to be an hour faster than everywhere else, cause now in Cafayate the time is the same as it was in Mendoza! Had I not returned to the bus station an hour earlier to check my emails, I would have missed it for sure.

The journey from Tucuman to Cafayete was spectacular, climbing high into the hills on a narrow windy road. On most of the corners, the bus would start the corner by swinging as far over onto the other side as possible before putting full steering lock on just to make it around in one hit! An hour or so out from Cafayete, more and more vineyards (bodegas) started popping up and the hills started to take on multiple colours. A nice welcome into the town. I settled into my hostel and made a trip to the super market for dinner supplies and food for my cycle ride into the valley the next morning.

A chap from Paraguay who was sharing my dorm room was keen to join me on the bike ride. To avoid the hot afternoon sun, we took the hostel owner recommendation to get the first bus out towards Salta, leaving Cafayete at 5am! Alarms set we headed to bed. I awoke the next morning and collected my food from the fridge and packed the maintenance kit into my bag. Bill, the American chap from Aconcagua had stayed at a different hostel and was not given any spare tyres or anything, which turned out to be quite a problem when he got a puncture 10km into the 50km ride, so I was relieved he had the right gear.

We piled our bikes into the luggage holds of the bus and set off. We reached the drop off point at the Devil´s Throat after around 45 minutes. We certainly avoided the hot sun, given we had wait around at the road side for over an hour just for the sun to come up! It was a pretty cloudy start to the day which didn´t reveal the full colours of the rock, however it did burn off around half way into the ride. I had forgotten how hard it is to ride 50km on a mountain bike with big knobby tyres, something I was reminded of when a young chap effortlessly sped past me on a road bike. It was a great day out, and has left the rest of the afternoon to update my blog and photo etc. I had tossed up the idea of heading to Salta this afternoon but given my bus travels the last few days I decided to stay around and head off first thing in the morning.

Ushuaia

2008-10-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

Our arrival into Ushuaia was pretty spectacular, with mountains around all sides of the Harbour. We were taken to our hostel by the waiting touts which worked out well. Upon arriving at the hostel I started yarning to a guy whom I had met on the bus in El Calafate, followed by a trip down to the supermarket with a Dutch couple to get stocked for a few days.

The next morning we headed into town to check out prices of tours and to confirm Susan´s ticket with LADE airways for the following day´s flight to BA. Given my foot and the much talk around the hostel about Tierra del Fuego trekking being a bit average and expensive, I decided I would enquire about plane prices also. The tickets are reputed to be in the order of 500 pesos for the 4 hours flight (around 250 NZD), which compare well to the 3 buses required to get to BA at around 450 pesos and 60+ hours! The chap at the LADE counter looked puzzled that Susan would confirm the flight a day before despite the ticket saying so...turns out that confirmation is required a mere few hours before the flight departs, attesting to the unreliable reputation of the airline! The computer was down so we had to return later....

In the mean time we scouted out prices for boat trips in the Beagel Channel and to the Les Eclaireurs lighthouse. We did the rounds of all the tours offering similar 3 hour tours on small 12 person boats (not the huge cats bobbing around) for around the same price of 150 pesos and settled for the company with chilled out operators offering unlimited draft beer on board! A great call!

We did some window shopping in the outdoors shops before returning to LADE. It turned out that Susan´s flight for the following day had one seat left, so on the spot I pulled out the credit card and snatched it up before anyone else got it. It was a sensible decision which kick started my travels north a lot and saved a whole lot of time and effort with the buses.

After a spot of lunch back at the hostel, we made our way back down to the wharf to board our trusty vessel for our tour. Despite the season being too early for penguins, we had other bird life and sea lions to look forward to, not to mention terrific sea views back towards Ushuaia and the surrounding mountains. It was obvious after a few minutes that the best way to see the town is from boat in the harbour, with mountains all around and the airport jutting out into the water on what appears to be a man-made island. The afternoon was spent taking photos of the wildlife, the lighthouse and a short trek on an island in the harbour originally inhabited by indigenous people. We returned to town slightly tired and a little merry after the wines we consumed with a young Scottish couple on the boat.

Ushuaia is pretty low key at night, although there are some great all you can eat restaurants which were a little beyond my budget. We settled for a nice quiet night in the hostel cooking, drinking and being entertained by a singer from Isreal and an eccentric Irish chap singing ´Johnny, Johnny Johnny´in French, which apparently is about a woman pleading with her husband to spank her. Totally hilarious!

The next morning we packed up and headed up the nearby skifield for a short walk into the mountains before the 4pm flight. Practically the entire hostel was on the same flight, which only leaves on Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays. There was a little unrest at the hostel because apparently people had been told that if they wanted to wait at the hostel until the flight a charge of half the room rate would be required. This is pretty terrible and unheard of and people were talking about this plenty. Susan and I started to prepare our lunch and everyone else joined...eventually the hostel owners came around because there were so many of us and they didn´t want to cause any upset – probably a bit late.

Our flight confirmed 2 hours before departure and the hostel emptied out into taxis. We were all very aware of the 15kg luggage limit so were transferring the contents of the packs around. Andrew, the English guy I met in El Calafate, was very worried and had put on two pairs of jeans, a singlet, 2 jerseys and a big fleece - he looked very uncomfortable walking around the airport on what was a pretty warm day!! We weighed our bags at the check-in, mine coming to 14.9kg so pretty good guessing, although I thought it was less. In the end LADE didn´t seem to mind as some of our group checked in bags around 21 kgs!

We left only 30 minutes late on an old Fokker F28 from the mid sixties. The interior was like something out of a Knight Rider movie but it was comfortable enough and we actually got a few reasonable meals. We had an exciting but smooth flight to BA with only one stop at Commodoro Rivadavia. The landing at Commodoro Rivadavia was pretty exciting, with the approach more like that of a Cessna at Ardmore. The pilot joined the runway downwind and undertook a sharp bank of what must have been about 35 degrees completing the near 180 degree turn to level the wings and cut the engines just before touch down!!! It was quite impressive!!

The flight into BA was awesome, with impressive night views as we landed at the domestic airport close to the city. A group of us boarded a local bus from the terminal into town, which is only 4kms away. Susan and I had the BA Stop Hostel booked, which is where I stayed first time into BA. The others hadn´t made a booking and, due to the Argentina vs Uruguay football match, did not get a bed there. They did however find a place down the road, where Susan and I joined them for too much box wine and beer later than night, finally retiring to the hostel around 4am.

Torres Del Paine - Puerto Natalas (Chile) - September 30 to October 8

2008-10-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

--- Apologies in advance for any errors, I am more concerned about getting behind that having everything perfectly accurate ---

As usually happens, any bus ride or flight begins with reuniting within someone from a previous hostel or bus ride. I bumped into Susan who I had met at the 41 Below Hostel in Bariloche. I was aware she was on a similar schedule to me but was a couple of days behind, but I guess my layup day in El Calafate allowed her to catch up. She as travelling with a chap from Italy, Ivan, who I would later get to know better. The bus to Puerto Natalas, the launching platform for the Parque Nacionales Torres Del Paine, is only about 4 or 5 hours from El Calafate, crossing over into Chile an hour or so from Puerto Natalas. The scenery was flat, brown, dusty and seemingly typical or all the scenery even a few kms away from the Andes mountains but were were treated to flamingos and a few ostrich type birds (I must find their proper name) which was a little exciting. We crossed the boarder into Chile and headed into Puerto Natalas.

Jacqui had said the town was pretty cute, situated on a nice lake and pretty laid back. I took her advice and did not arrange any accommodation as I had her assurances that were would be mobbed by desperate people at the bus stop wanting to rent out a room in their guest house: she was not wrong! We first headed to the Erratic Rock, which my previous hostel had recommended and also featured in a guide Susan was carrying. Nobody was around and after 5 minutes of waiting and calling out we decided to move on to the first guesthouse in the stack of pamphlets. Pretty terrible and not exactly homely and for 5000 pesos (around 15 dollars) we moved on pretty quickly hoping that we could do better. After wandering the streets with our backpacks, Susan, I and Ivan were approached by a couple of ladies in a van who we recognised from the bus stop. They offered to give us a ride to their house for a look so we pile on in. Hostel Paulette turned out to be pretty darn reasonable, with a large room for the three of us to share, great breakfast including eggs, an awesome kitchen and cheap rental gear, what more could one want?

We settled in and started our planning for the Torres del Paine trip. We had thought of hitting up the track the very next day as the forecast suggested that were would get better weather. My cold still hading fully recovered and it was getting pretty late in the day to organise things for a 730am departure so we made the call to take it easy, relax, and launch into the planning proper the next day. Staying with Susan and Ivan was working out really well. Ivan could speak Spanish but not very good English, probably only a little more than my Spanish, and Susan could speak (amongst other languages) both English and Spanish so she was able to act as our translator as Ivan and I tried to communicate in our weaker language. I was already looking forward to the 5 day trek to pick up some more Spanish and be around Spanish speakers. I had a funny conversation with Ivan trying to explain what has been doing for walk. It transpired that he worked in Peru with disabled children, but it was classic all his gestures to try and demonstrate disabled kids....first the whole groaning and dripping thing, then trying to lick his lick his shoulder staggering around the room, then he pulled out the imaginary zimmer frame! Communication between people without a common language really is like pictionary and sharades combined!

Puerto Natalas seemed nice enough. We strolled around and checked out different prices for hire equipment and went back to the Erratic Rock for their free information session they run every day at 3pm (we missed it the day before partly due to our clocks being an hour out due to the time difference). We got some useful advice about the way to best approach the trek and some truly awful advice about appropriate clothing to wear. Apparently, according to the Yanky guy running the joint, one should never wear a gore tex jacket during the day, irrespective of what the weather is doing. One should, instead, simply get wet, snowed on, cold and basically exposed to the elements in every way because at the end of the day one can simply change into the dry clothes protected inside the pack. If one should choose, the a gore tex could at that point be worn to keep the dry clothes dry. Absolutely useless advice given the nature of the Patagonian climate and would (as we would find out on our trip!) prove to pose a real risk of exposure or hypothermia in the horrible weather conditions.

We managed to organise all of our hire gear and purchase the food from the supermarket. I had a one person tent from Erratic Rock and a sleeping back from our hostel. I made a late night walk around town to track down an extra gas cylinder after the hostel provided us with an extra one which only had a few minutes of burn time left (we had purchased 2 for ourselves). By late evening the weather had started to pack it in. I was walking around in my gore tex just to get to and from the supermarket. The next morning wasn´t any better and the bus ride out to the park proved to be an adventure in itself. Only a few km out of town it started to snow and as we neared the mountains the entire road and paddocks were covered! The windscreen wipers on the bus struggled to keep up with the huge snow flakes falling from the dark sky. We stopped at a cafe for a toilet break about half way to the park. Getting out of the bus we all just looked at each other at the cold hit us - were were about to spend 4 nights in the snow and would likely not see anything if the weather didn´t clear. There was a feeling in the bus that ´we didn´t buy into this sort of weather!´

To get to the start of the trip we had to first pay a fee of 15000 pesos (it had rise from 8 the day before to mark high season!), which got us a map and little else. We got back onto the bus and made our way along the lake edge to the catamaran which would deliver us to the track start at the western end of the massif. We occasionally got views of the mountains as the sky broke and of guacos (lama like animals) grazing the paddocks. We had time before the catamaran to duck up to a nearby waterfall, only to be struck by a snow Storm on the way back down! The weather was just amazing, and very cold.

The catamaran cost another 11000 pesos (around 30 nzd) for the 30 minute ride (a total rip off!) but we did get tea and coffee and did save 18km of walking. Getting off at the main lodge (name) were were greeted by people coming out the park, who said the 4 days to that point were amazing and that today was their first day of snow - maybe the weather would be set in for a while, perhaps our entire trip! Day one we were off up to the head of a large lake to a camping around near Glacier Grey. This would take around 4.5 hours and we would be presented with great views from a mirador (look out point) approximately 2 hours from the ferry drop off point. This leg of the trip would be the first stoke of the ´W Circut´which is usually completed in 4 or 5 days. We walked for the first few hours in falling snow and strong winds, occasionally taking refuge under trees and shrubs while eating snacks and having a drink. We were lucky with the view from the mirador, with relatively clear views and dramatic beams of light issuing from the clouds. On a clear day mountain provide a beautiful backdrop, but we had to settle for dramatic clouds haha. We arrived at Campamento Glacier Grey slightly a head of the suggested track time and set up our tents. The camping area had not officially opened for the season so camping was free (and no facilities provided). We cooked behind a service building huddling around to keep warm while the pasta bubbled away. Later that night we would pop into the refugio for a cup of coffee use of the toilet facilities. The regugios cost around 20000 for just the bed (around 60 dollars) and food has to be purchased there, for around 20 a plate so we were happy with our choice to camp!

Day two we set off by making a trip to the main mirador close to the glacier. The weather appeared to be slightly better than the day before, although the wind was still bitterly cold. By the time we had back tracked to Refugio Grand for lunch, the weather had packed it in and the thought of heading back out into the cold after a lunch with hot tea was not that appealing, but by the time we had sat around for 40 minutes I was cold and keen to get walking. We made our way along the lake towards Campamento Italiano, which stands at the bottom of the middle stroke of the W, around 2 hours from Grande. Terrible weather hit us with lots of rain and heavy winds. By the time we got to camp it had stopped raining enough to put the tents up without too much wetness entering. Susan and Ivan pitched their tent inside the basic shelter to provide a bit more protection. I unpack my gear and nearly drifted off to sleep after getting cosy in my sleeping bag, before Susan roused me to bring the cooking gear into the shelter to make tea. We prepared tea, then soup, then rice and had a nice evening yarning away. By this point Ivan had identified that his shoes were going to be a problem. He had loaned them from Erratic Rock and they were proving to be pretty useless, letting in lots of water and not giving his soles of his feet much protection. He decided that if the weather was rotten the next morning he would not make the trip up the W to Glacier Frances and Campamento Britanico, opting for a shorter route to Refugio Los Quervos.

The next morning the weather wasn´t much better. I packed up my tent and joined the others for breakfast. Ivan took much of the load as he was only having to undertake a 2.5 hour walk to the next refugio as Susan and I headed up the valley. The weather in the valley was terrible! We were unable to get any decent views of Glacier Frances which, from photos we have seen, is absolutely amazing, and by the time we got above the bus line en route to Campamento Britanico at the head of the valley, it was obvious we were not doing ourselves any favours. The wind was incredibly strong, the snow under foot was getting deeper and the snow was falling harder and increasingly more horizontal with the straightening wind! We decided that it would be better to just head down and make an early approach to the refugio to meet up with Ivan.

It was another miserable day of walking to get to Refugio Los Queros after we had returned from our short walk up Valley Frances. It was simple heads down and jackets closed all they way along the lake front. We arrived around 1pm to find Ivan looking for a tent site in the rain, which he soon opted out of upon our arrival for a hot cup of tea. We were early at the refugio due to our short walk and could have pushed on to the next camping areas to knock a day off the trip, but we decided to hang out for the rest of the afternoon to give the weather a chance to improve. The camping was 3000 pesos, which included as much hot water as we wanted and even a hot shower. I made good use of the hot water but did not have a shower as I thought that was just taking a bit to far. Ordinarily there are amazing views of the mountains behind the refugio, but we only got a peak every now and again. Perhaps the most spectacular site was the mini typhons on the lake, generated by the winds which showed no sign of dropping. We would, after even window bending gust, stand up to see if our tents were still tucked safely amongst the trees.

We had a great afternoon just drinking tea and chatting to people in the refugio. We laughed when an America couple said that they had booked a cabana for 69000 pesos (like 200 NZD) and it didn´t even have a hot shower or any heating!! They spent all their time in the refugio with all us campers before heading up to their cabana at the very last minute!

The next day seemed more promising, with lower winds and slightly clearler skies. Ivan made the decision to head on out given his shoes were rubbish and had given him big blisters which were bleeding a bit and causing quite a lot of pain. Probably a good call given the guys at the refugio said that Campamento Torres had a foot of snow there! We said our good byes to Ivan a few hours into the walk before we started our climb to Refugio Chilano en route to Campamento Torres. We blitzed the track time of 5 1/2 hours by almost an hour and a half which was pleasing. We had our lunch and drank many cups of tea at Chilano before begrudglingly getting back into our wet gear to make the final 45 minute trudge up to Campamento Chilano.

We soon came upon more snow as the track gained height. Around 20 minutes into the walk it started snowing and we were trudging through ankle deep powder. We crossed a snow covered valley leading into the trees that provided shelter for the Campamento Torres. A laid back kiwi couple had beaten us to pitching the tent in the wooden shelter; they were camping out an extra night in the hope that the weather would clear up. We set up out tent in the snow before cooking up some soup and then rice, chatting away to the kiwi couple about their trips through Bolivia and Peru. The temperature had dropped and the snow was really coming down now, so Susan and I headed into the tent to cook up a pot of tea before bed and had a heap of mint chocolate. It was the coldest night so far and I slept in all my clothes and was still restless. The rubbish sleeping bag was totally inadequate but I survived.

We looked out of the tent around 8am, having decided to skip a sunrise effort, to see clear blue skies!! We were ecstatic, giving chears of woo whoo and high fives, before packing up all our breakfast stuff into my day bag, strapping on a bed mat and heading up the hill. The vista had changed dramatically from the evening before, with fresh powder and intense blue skies. We made our way up the 1 hour climb to a perfect view of the towers with only whispy clouds near the top which would later drift away. We prepared hot porrige and tea on a large rock slab and took a heap of photos and shared the moment with an Asian chap from Sydney who had gotten an early start from Chilano. What perfect timing to have 4 days of horrible weather for it to fine up on our last day..just awesome!

They trip down wasn´t so great. I slipped on some snow on the only really steep section of the track, which pushed me forward starting something that resembled an olympic tripple jump attempt, resulting in me jumping from a large rock and landing some 10 or so feet down the hill. Susan looked on in horrow as I literally flew past her and came to an abrupt end in the snow. I sat stunned, not wanting to get up in case I couldn´t walk or had broken something but hadn´t yet realised it. Fortunately I was able to move with pain in my left foot only. However, it become apparenty withing 20 minutes or so that this injury was worse than I first though and would give me difficult in walking normally with any comfort. We packed up the tent and headed down the hill, with me hobbling along in considerable pain. We decided to make a longer route, backtracking our previous day to get views of the mountains and lake in fine weather. I managed okay but knew that getting off the bus after sitting down for 2.5 hours would not be comfortable so I kept on moving not wanting to stop until we had completed the walk. We got back to our mini bus at the track end which would connect us to the park entrance. Pretty crappy given we had already paid 15000 to get into the park that we still had to fork out more to get back to the park entrance!

I spent the next few days hobbling around Puerto Natalas and backing up my photos at an internet cafe. I was on a street corner when a female backpacker saw me hobble up in pain, and she asked what had happened. We had a short conversation before we both clicked that were had met in Montevideo a month or so back! Crazy gringo trail. She would eventually end up in my hostel with her other friends I had met too, which was pretty good value.

Susan and I headed off to the supermarket to make a packed lunch for the 14 hour trip to Ushuaia. We weren´t expecting much from the Chilian bus (except for a big price ticket) so we stocked up well. We departed the hostel early in the morning and boarded our bus, which would go via Puerto Areanas and Rio Grande, or so we thought... We were an hour or so into the trip when the bus pulled over and the attendant chap (who was a bit slow) was gesturing to put our jackets on and get off the bus. It turned out that were were to change bus in the middle of nowhere onto a bus going back the opposite direction but presumably the ´correct´direction! It was all a bit strange but we took comfort in the fact that our tickets were checked and bags swapped over. The bus ride seemed to go quickly chatting and sharing music etc. We changed buses at Rio Grande to continue out journey into Teirra del fuego and Ushuaia, which was immediately a great improvement to the scenerary. Windswept and moss-festooned trees lined much of the road side as we drew closer to the mountains, at times climbing over passes and looking down into large lakes far below. We arrived into Ushuaia a little after sunset, and were rushed away from the bus stop by waiting hostel pimps, which suited me given my sore ankle.

El Calafate and El Chalten - 24-28 September 2008

2008-10-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Before leaving Bariloche I made a trip to the supermarket to stock up on the food for my 33 hour journey to El Calafate, including ham and cheese rolls, empanadas, pastries and various drinks. The bus was only a semi cama style so no food would be served on the entire journey, although I expect it would stop along the way at small cafeterias and bus stations.

The weather was superb on my last day so I did one final trip down to the lake to take a few photos of sights I had missed. I had a pretty nasty cold coming on so I was having trouble phycing up for any great distances so I just pottered around at a leisurely pace.

I arrived at the bus station with plenty of time to wait so played tour guide to some lost looking Americans. I always think it is nice to turn up to a new place and have a fellow backpacker provide a few useful tips and advice on hostels and the key sights, and they seemed to appreciate the same.

Upon boarding the bus it became obvious the difference between a cama bus and a semi cama bus. I had been on semi cama buses before but only for short trip. For a start, there are 4 seats abreast, as opposed to 3, so there is a lot less room in each seat and there are more rows so reclining is pretty limited. I just hoped that nobody else would take the seat next to mine! I was given a great book from the Aussie chap in Hostel 1004, The Boys of Everest, which I had every intention of starting, and finishing, on the bus. However, those plans were quickly dashed when I discovered that the bus had no air conditioning to speak of. At one stage we managed to pop the roof vents but they really did little to help. I am not good with enclosed unventilated spaces so found myself drifting off to sleep in a matter of minutes. Not a productive use of time in the bus sleeping during the afternoon so that was a bit disappointing.

We made our way though many small towns on route to Comodoro Rivadavia, where we would change buses at 0630 to another bus heading towards Rio Gallegos. It was a long afternoon and night in a hot bus and no ability to read my book. Fortunately my seat wasn´t occupied so I was able to spread out a bit. While stopped at Comodoro Rivadavia I met a friendly German couple travelling on their honeymoon, Jacob and Catalina. They were trying to decide whether to stay a night in Comodoro Rivadavia before heading down to Rio Gallageous, as we had several hours to wait around before the bus departed. They eventually saw my logic in doing the entire trip in one big hit and purchased a ticket. Our bus eventually turned up again (my luggage was still on it!) and we set off for our next 14 hour leg to Rio Gallegos. There really was little to see on the entire journey, except for massive expanses of dry desert and not a lot else. We stopped for a lunch break at a petrol station literally in the middle of the desert hundreds of kilometres from anywhere. It was like a setting for an American movie set on route 66 with tumble weed drifting in the hot wind and nothing to look at except the odd car passing by. Very remote indeed!

Arriving in Rio Gallageous was quite interesting. It was obvious from the mood of people at the bus station that the town is used simply as a stopover for people making their way further south or up to the popular trekking towns in Patagonia, such as El Calafate and Puerto Natalas. I met some interesting local guys on the bus heading for El Calafate for work, which provide some good chats with the three of us struggling with the other´s language. He had a beer at the bus stop and boarded our bus.

Arriving at El Calafate at 1am was fine, with a taxi from the hostel waiting. I shared it with an Irish couple, who would later join me in my dorm. The hostel, America de sur, was pretty amazing, with only four beds per dorm and private bathrooms, not to mention a heated tile floors and a huge chill out area with great views over the mountains and lake. I settled into bed while the Irish couple decided to read their books at 230am after 36 hours on a bus!!

The flu I picked up in Bariloche had progressively gotten worse and I was contemplating having a layup day at the hostel but after a great breakfast and a chat with the German couple we decided to bolt to the bus station and head out to Perrito Mereno Glacier for the day. The bus headed off to make the 80km journey towards the glacier, stopping once or twice to take in panoramic views as we neared the main attraction. From the first stop it was obvious that we were all in for a very cold day, perhaps the coldest since arriving in South America; the cold memories of Foz de Iguacu and hot cup noodles came rushing back.

We stopped at the shore of the lake to take in icebergs and a charter boat weaving it´s way through to collect passengers before heading back up the hill to the central office and cafeteria. I had all my layers on, including my jacket and beanie, and was still feeling the cold. The three of us headed down towards the first look out platform and were instantly blown away by the immense size of the glacier, even from quite some distance! Measuring over 4km wide, 50m high and 14km deep, the glacier is (I think) the largest creeping glacier in the world. The overcast day turned out to be rather a good thing, adding to the deep blue colour of the mass of ice, which, during full sunlight, takes on a much white appearance. With pockets of blue sky and beams of light shooting through, the glacier was a very photogenic subject! We made our way around the many lookout platforms, stopping at each one to shoot the glacier from a different angle, before retiring to the comfort of the café.

In dire need of warmth but in no way prepared to form out cafeteria prices, I purchased a Gatorade….my plan was to drink half of it then refill it from the matte (Argentinian tea) hot water dispenser outside, to provide a hot orange juice. My plan worked a treat, and soon evolved further to providing me with hot water for my bottle which would now act as a hot water bottle inside my jacket. Perfect! We waited around for a number of hours for our bus to depart, make short bursts back outside to see if the weather had changed but by this stage it was simply too miserable to remain exposed to the elements for any length of time!

Back at the hostel that night the three of us made a huge salad and steak dinner (the vegetable shop proved to be further the Catalina thought so we taxied back from it haah). I decided after dinner that I would spend the next day in the hostel and around El Calafate backing up photo, completing my blog and just chilling out reading in the comfort of the hostel letting my flu do its worst. That morning after breakfast I hit the computer for some serious blogging. Another Irish chap sat down next to me and we started to yarn away….and it soon become clear that we had a similar schedule to this point and that we in fact spent a few nights together camping in the Pantanal in Brasil! His wife came over and we recognised eachother also. That happens way too often haha

I decided that El Chalten sounded like a great destination for the following day as it is reputed to be the ´trekking capital´ of Patagonia, that is all I knew about it. I purchased my bus ticket for 150 pesos which included a night´s accommodation at a hostel. That evening I was sitting reading my book at America De Sur when I spotted Natalie heading out the door. We had parted ways in Uruguay some 2 or 3 weeks before so it was a surprise catchup and an introduction to her boyfriend, which was great. I told her that I had bumped into her future colleagues in Montevideo, which was random. Even more random was the fact that I had earlier been chatting to Emma Bradshaw on facebook and she asked if my dad´s name was Rad…which is a name I believe Dad is only know by to his university friends and those of his generation. It turns out that Emma´s dad and my Dad went through Victoria University law school together back in the day!!! Crazy small world…and I thought knowing Emmas cousin was as random as it got!

Early start the next morning to get to the bus station for El Chalten for a few days. The bus was a typical common class setup with no air con and the heaters going full blast in the heat of the day which put most people to sleep pretty quickly. The drive to El Chalten was pretty uneventful until the last hour, when the view of the Cerro Fitzroy and Cerro Torres became visible. My lack of research into the areas except for the ´trekkers capital of Patagonia´ write-up in the lonely planet meant that I was pleasantly surprised to see these mountains which I immediately recognised but did not realise were in this particular area; for some reason I thought they were in Torres Del Paine! The bus driver kindly pulled over just before town to allow us to take photos. We entered the town via the park headquarters, where we were given a terrific rundown of the paths and what could be achieved in limited time or on extended trips.

I enjoyed a perfect two days of day trekking in the area, helped by perfectly blue skies and warm temperatures which the ranger informed us they had not had for weeks! I completed the walk to Cerro Torre the first afternoon, carrying nothing but a bag of horribly sweet biscuits because everything else in the town was closed (although I did discover a baker nearby the next day). The next day I did the second significant feature of the park, Cerro Torre, which is a jagged outcrop sitting at the head of a lake and towering above a magnificent glacier. The walking was easy and I made good progress, although later I could hardly walk due to the near running pace I had set myself on the decent!

The bus ride on the way back was perfect, with much lower temperatures, better ventilation and low traffic. I sat in the back of the bus and read for a solid 4 hours, including a few hours with my head torch when the interior lights went out, proving that carrying the torch in one´s daybag is always a good thing.

The next day was taking it easy, organise my bus ticket to Puerto Natalas and generally kicking around. Looking forward to Torres Del Paine now that I am in the trekking mood!

Bariloche 20-24 September 2008

2008-09-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Uruguay 16-18 September 2008

2008-09-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

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.

Buenos Aires and around

2008-09-24T07:24:00.001-07:00

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!

Rio to Rosario - Part 1

2008-09-09T18:19:00.001-07:00

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.

A week in Rio

2008-08-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Its been a week since my last post and quite a lot has happened and I have done quite a bit of exploring. I made a trip into the Centro by metro with Nectarous to have a look around and check out the highlights of the CBD and Santa Teresa. The central area is really nicely done, with many nice old buildings, a mixture of interesting European architecture and nice parks. I had a walk through some busy street markets and had a terrific fresh orange juice. After taking some great photos of Lapa and the arched aqueduct (which the camera subsequently deleted....trying to recover them now!!) we found the little tram to go up Santa Teresa, the station for which was tucked in behind the large Petrobas building. It only goes on the hour and it was totally packed! I had to stand on the side rail and just hang off it. Along the way, many little kids ran after the tram and piled on - it looked like great fun for them. The street of Santa Teresa are narrow and the tram shares the road with all other vehicles as it winds its way up. There is a very European feel to the place as we got off the top and walked our way back down looking into shops, fine restaurants and some pretty amazing houses. We ended back at Lapa from where we made our way to the metro, a full day out!

I went on the Favela tour organised by the hostel. The tour was through the largest Favela in Brazil, Rochina, which accommodates around 300,000 people! We took a shuttle to the bottom of the Favela, from where we got motor bikes to the top to start the walk down. It was a bit scary, as we were under strict instructions not to photograph any people caring walkie-talkies or machine guns as they are the people controlling the narrow streets for the drug lords! Pretty odd seeing 15 year old boys walking around with fully automatic rifles etc. It was a decent experience, walking around taking in how all these people live in the 'slums'. It's pretty classic to see how they get their services, simply by wiring their own house for cable etc to the house next door or the main line at the bottom of the Favela. Apparently they do the same for the water. I was a bit surprised by how many things they did have, such as cable tv, electricity and so on, but it is all pretty modest that's for sure. A great trip and well worth doing!

I also took a few buses to beaches I had not been to, such as Botafogo, Flamingo, Ipanema and also the Botanical Gardens in Leblon. Ipanema is really nice! A group of us had a good night at a bar there during the week, playing a few drinking games and cracking up at the bar man/proprietor open throat skull 3 beers in the space of about 5 minutes. It's all pretty reasonably priced, although not Asia cheap. The whole night including taxis and enough booze came to about 45 Reals so not bad.

I decided to stay for Lapa street party again before heading off to Campo Grande for the Pantanal. The hostel gives a night free if you stay 7 so I decided to do that. Booking my ticket to the Pantanal was a bit of a mission! I couldn't get a ticket from an agency in town so I had to make a 1.5 hour round trip to the central bus station to get it. It cost 245 Reals which is pretty darn expensive for a 22 hour bus ride but has to be done I spose! I looking forward to having a tour of the largest wetland on earth!

Lapa last night was pretty interesting. It was pissing down with rain which put a bit of a dampener on things compared to last week but still pretty awesome dancing in the rain before deciding to head into a samba club. Its great at Lapa, with people walking around with bottles of Tequila and everything else to do shots, and the dirty cheap street meat is just awesome! We had this American guy with us who was pretty classic. A nice guy, full of energy and keen to take charge like most full on Americans seem to be. He peaked a little early and didn't make a good lasting impression with a cool young English couple we were with when he shared a taxi back to the hostel, basically comered in the back, couldn't find any money to pay for it and spend about an hour trying to find his room at the hostel at 3 in the morning! We got in around 5 in the end I think.

Now just killing to until my bus tomorrow. I hope to get all my photos backed up and start a fresh when I leave Rio. It's a real pain having to deal with photos all the time! I hope for better sailing from here on!

More Rio Exploring

2008-08-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

Today I got up around 8am, not bad given only about 3 hours sleep. I finally started reading the Catcher in the Rye again, before getting stuck into an amazing breakfast that the hostel puts on every morning.

The weather promised to be absolutely superb all day so I hastily got ready to head up the statue of Christ Redeemer. I opted to just do it myself rather than through the hostel, to save a few buck and give more freedom. I am glad I did because when I got up there I was just blown away. It has to be on of the, if not the most, amazing thing I have ever seen!! It is such a well known landmark and symbol and has the most amazing location right in the heat for the great city area affording 360 degree views. With not a cloud in the sky, I just sat up there for hours just taking in the view and taking a heap of photos! Just superb!!
I headed back down with a kiwi couple I had met in the hostel the night I arrived and jumped on the local bus back to Copacabana, opting to get off at the far end of the beach and walk back. I don’t think I had realized just how long the beach really is!! It must have taken a good 45 minutes to walk most of the length of it, stopping to take photos of course! A beautiful evening to end a superb day in Rio de Janeiro.

Rio Exploring

2008-08-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

What an action packed day today was. The weather the past few days had been a bit cloudy so when we awoke to fine skies I decided a trip up sugar loaf mountain would be a good way to spend the morning while it was clear. I jumped a local bus to the gondola areas to kick off the two stage ride up the two distinctive bumps on the northern end of Copacabana Beach. I met a cool aussie woman who was also travelling solo and headed up. The gondola is amazing, holding up to 75 people at a time. We hung around the first knob for a bit taking in the view before getting on the second gondola to head up to the top. The cloud had started to come in a bit with views of the top of the Christ Redeemer statute covered but it was still very dramatic. I shot a few photos and waited around for the view to clear (which it didn’t immediately but did so several hours after leaving).

One getting down from the sugar loaf I decided it would be a good idea to back up my photos before going to the football match at Maracana stadium. However, the computer at the hostel corrupted my card and I now have to try and recover the images (which I am doing). Worse still, my backup was on my pen drive, which was also corrupted as I have a combined pen drive/card reader. Dramas which put me in a terrible mood!! So may more things to think about with digital camera gear!

Oh well, off to the football with a new card and battery. It was really pretty exciting going to one of the largest stadiums in the world which is renowned for violent clashes between rival team fans. While waiting outside the vans entered the main gates with police horses surrounding them as a few scuffles broke out!! Inside the stadium we sat with the Botafogo fans who have huge flags, flares, drums and all the works! It was absolutely amazing to be a part of such an awesome atmosphere. The team drew one all but when the goal was scored there was absolute chaos, it was just amazing! Apparently the night before there was a larger match which a few guys went to and they said they saw snipers on the light towers!

After getting back to the hostel, we had a few hours to get read for a Fovela Funk party out with the local riff raff some 45 minutes from Copacabana. It was a massive warehouse with an upstairs vip and a dance floor that can fit several thousand, just huge! We had a great night ending up around 430. A great event not to be missed by anyone visiting Rio!

Arrival at Rio De Janeiro

2008-08-23T19:57:00.001-07:00

After a pretty long wait at Santiago airport and a few spanish lessons from a nice brit lady I met in the shuttle, we were off bound for Rio over the Andies! I had been trying to figure out whether it was better to get a taxi to the Stone of the Beach Hostel or the Real bus to the block nearby and walk. I discussed this with Katie, the lady I met on the shuttle and we decided to get one between us. Once I got to the aiport I random bumped into Pete Hudson from Waiheke when we were both collecting out bags. Totally random, especially as I only speaking to someonea few days before leaving about Pete being over there. He said the bus was sweet so I decided to get it. However, when they didn't accept us dollars, I had to go up about 4 flights of stairs to the ATM to get money out, where I met Katie and another guy from my hostel in Santigago at Bellavista. When the ATM would not let me get money out (only just been able to a few hours ago!) I swapped some USD and the three of us jumped in the taxi with all our gear. We negotiated a price and set off, even before the other chap was in the taxi, running over his foot!! I figured 60 split betwen the three of us was a lot better than the 65 quoted by the hostel and better than the bus at 8 Real. At speeds of around 140kmh heading to copacabana beach we took several detours and at times headed the wrong direction completely but he seemed to have it under control. We made it to my stop first, which was good given i didn~t want the guy firing up and disputing the price etc. All good arrived safely!

The door room is tiny, with 8 beds in it (bunks) and no room for gear storage it is a bit of a joke, but good fun given the company. There were 5 Irish gals and a tosser old American guy so it was all good. We all went upstairs to the roof top bar for a few drinks, even though I had to borrow some money of two of my room mates given I still couldn't get the ATM to work (I love the easy going nature of travellers!) . We ended up heading to Mellow Yellow hostel and joining in on their Lapa night out tour, an area which has a HUGE street party every Friday night. It was simply awesome, with cheap food, drinks and Brazillian beats all all night dancing on the stre below a huge towering aquaduct! Best time I've had so far. We got in around 4pm and hit the hay. Rio is awesome!!! I'm just waiting now for a few clear days to go up the Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeamer Statue to take in the vantage points and awesome views. It's hellishly expensive here so looking forward to getting into Argentina.

I have arrived!

2008-08-20T07:44:00.000-07:00

First day in Santiago has been great. The flight over was pretty entertaining. I struck out with no seat-back tvs but got a window seat next to a classic aussie guy over to see his Argentinian girl friend some 20 years his junior. He provided some really interesting insights into the culture of South American woman that's for sure!!!!!! We yarned for ages and drunk just a little too much so breakfast before landing in Santiago was a pretty subdued affair.

Getting to the hostel was no problem at all, just jumped in my pre ordered shared taxi to Hostel Bellavista at the north-eastern end of town. Many of the hostels are marked simply by a street number so when the driver dropped me off and said 'here you are' I just stood on the street and looked around wondering if he had just left me in some random neighbourhood but when I asked again he pointed to the street number and it matched so no problem there.

My first adventure was getting money out of the ATM for food. I found the ATM no worries but couldn't understand the options. To get to the english language foreign exchange screen (which eventuall a security guard helped me to after I had returned from the Hostel with my phrase book!) one had to navigate through several spanish options that were totally foreign to me. I got there in the end and headed towards a nice restaurant with road side seating amongst the colourfull painted streets where I met a few English lads from my hostel who are all over for a snow boarding trip. We took a super walk up the hill behind the hostel where there is a miserable little zoo and a standing only cable car in the Parque Metropolitano located on Cerro San Cristobal at 485m. Amazing views of the city on sunset with the Madre de Santiago statue at the top.

We found a nice restaurant where the lads had a massive steak dinner. I actually just had a tortillia given my pork sandwhich from lunch was repeating on me a bit! Very entertaining as none of us spoke much spanish so simple requests like medium rare meat was difficult but we got there in the end.

T - 24 hours

2008-08-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

Not long to go now!!! This time tomorrow I'll be boarding a Lan Chile A340-300 en route to Santiago. Fingers crossed that my plane has on board entertainment in the seats for the 13 hour flight. It's been several weeks since I booked my tickets so am well keen to kick things off and start travelling. I probably should have taken the time to learn more Spanish but hey, oh well.

I've had a few great days on Waiheke with Mark Blyth, brother Mike and their girlfriends hanging out and having a good send off true Waiheke style at Mollie Malone's...rugged!