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!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Rio to Rosario - Part 1
Well, a lot has happened since my last post in Rio. I managed to recover most of my photos so they have now gone up on facebook. I was tossing up between a trip down the Brazilian cost to Florianopolis or going to the Pantanal wetlands outside of Campo Grande. I decided that a wetlands trip would be the ticket (although more expensive) as I am keen for as much outdoor adventures as possible. So I got my ticket directly from the bus station using very basic Spanish (in a Portuagese speaking country!) which was about a 1.5 hour round trip on the local buses - bit of a mission. My departure from Stone of a Beach hostel in Rio was a bit rushed as I needed to back up the rest of my recovered photos and get money from the ATM so as not to incur a 5% charge on my credit card through the hostel. Funny story there - I got the money out and stuffed it into the front my my undies as I didn´t have my money belt. I got back to the hostel with only a few mintutes to complete packing and leave. I rushed upstairs to the dorm and popped into the toilet to take a number 1 as I was dying to go for ages. I rushed into the first toilet and ripped open my pants, only to see $400 fly straight into the toilet!!! I instinctively fished it out and bound it back up into a soggy ball! I had to apologise to reception for my money falling into a puddle outside in the rain...figured the truth could have lead to a rejection of payment!
Well, to the long distance bus station for the second time in two days and onto my first long bus ride to the Camp Grande. 22 hours went by pretty quickly, although simple lack of language meant I didn´t want to venture out of the bus too long at each stop because I couldn´t establish when it was leaving again! Arriving in Campo Grande was abit of a shock. It was considerably hotter and I wasn´t feeling that fresh from the bus ride. I was immediately swamped by people selling Pantanal tours but I went over the road to the youth hostel with Ecological Expeditions as I had heard of them before and they gave a free night at the hostel with each tour, which I decided to use as I was too tired to leave straight away! I spent the rest of the day by their pool reading and getting refreshed for my trip leaving the next day. I decided to do the lodge option because I met a few people in the hostel. The mini van trip from Camp Grande was around 4 hours, stopping a few times for food. It was so incredibly hot in the van with the windows open fully, like standing by the door of a fan-forced oven! It was around 37 degrees outside with no clouds or anything!
We arrived at the pickup point for the lodge and were met by a truck with seats on the back tray. We still had about 35 minutes along dirt roads into the Pantanal to get to the lodge. I met a few girls on the truck who were from London in good law firms and who will be working with some of my friends from New Zealand when they get back. We all arrived at the lodge and were shown around by our guide. It was pretty decent with a pool, outdoor hammock area and games room etc - not really roughing it! After our first day of activities, which included horse back riding and a river cruise with Piranha fishing, I decided to swap over to the camping option, which proved to be a lot more fun with a younger backpacker crowd and sleeping in hammocks and eating around large communal tables. The location of the camp was next to the river so much more wildlife going on too. I spent my nights at the camp and my days with the others from the lodge doing activities so a pretty decent balance really.
We had some great times on the trip and memorable moments. One classic one was with out guide piranha fishing. He didn´t speak much English and his descriptions of the wildlife resembled that from the Ricky Jervis comedy show Animals, such as 'a green parrot' followed by a 'slightly larger green red beak parrot' etc, it was funny as. When were were fishing for piranhas one guy Johanas finally caught a fish after having no luck the whole time, flinging it onto the bank and calling the guide over to de-hook it, huge smile on his face, only to watch in horror as the guide kicked it back into the water. We were pissing ourselves when the guide looked up and simply said 'catch a bigger one'!! Awesome
Well we got a bus back to campo grande, where we would transfer to another 15 hour bus ride to Foz de Iguacu, via Cascaval. 24 hours of travelling to get to the falls, but totally worth it. We arrived in Foz on a bitterly cold day, around 6 degrees, so quite a change for 36 the days before, so uncontrollable shivering for the first few hours which were partly controlled by a hot shower at the guesthouse. We got in our warm stuff and headed off to the Brazilian side of the Falls. On the bus the girls said 'the lonely planet says to bring wet weather gear' and looking around it seems that we were the only ones without. Being a cheep dude I didn´t but a $8 plastic poncho thing and just toughed it out in my t-shirt and light pullover, but the beanie was a lifesaver! Miserable weather but awesome view! We had an awesome night in Foz, at LaBella Pizza, with all you can eat pizza, chicken, buffet pasta and other goodies! It made up for a cold day in a shit hole of a town.
The next day was a stunner! We got up and started looking for the international bus over to Argentina. We didn´t have much luck so bargained with a taxi driver to get over for around double the price, which is pretty good given he just drove us through instead of getting off the bus and changing over etc, not to mention door to door service to our hostel - one of the downers travelling alone is not being able to justify a taxi, so it is good having company. We arrived at the Hostel Inn and checked in quickly before heading out to the falls. I had another money nightmare when I forgot my Visa so i couldn´t get money out at the falls, once again having to rely on my room mates for cash until the next day I could get into town and get cash out - i really should learn!
We had a great time at the falls with perfect weather and good sights to see. We manged to cover the entire park in the 6 hours which worked out really well because the girls changed their flights to BA to a day earlier and I got my bus ticket out of there to Rosario that same day too so all hunky dory.
Well, to the long distance bus station for the second time in two days and onto my first long bus ride to the Camp Grande. 22 hours went by pretty quickly, although simple lack of language meant I didn´t want to venture out of the bus too long at each stop because I couldn´t establish when it was leaving again! Arriving in Campo Grande was abit of a shock. It was considerably hotter and I wasn´t feeling that fresh from the bus ride. I was immediately swamped by people selling Pantanal tours but I went over the road to the youth hostel with Ecological Expeditions as I had heard of them before and they gave a free night at the hostel with each tour, which I decided to use as I was too tired to leave straight away! I spent the rest of the day by their pool reading and getting refreshed for my trip leaving the next day. I decided to do the lodge option because I met a few people in the hostel. The mini van trip from Camp Grande was around 4 hours, stopping a few times for food. It was so incredibly hot in the van with the windows open fully, like standing by the door of a fan-forced oven! It was around 37 degrees outside with no clouds or anything!
We arrived at the pickup point for the lodge and were met by a truck with seats on the back tray. We still had about 35 minutes along dirt roads into the Pantanal to get to the lodge. I met a few girls on the truck who were from London in good law firms and who will be working with some of my friends from New Zealand when they get back. We all arrived at the lodge and were shown around by our guide. It was pretty decent with a pool, outdoor hammock area and games room etc - not really roughing it! After our first day of activities, which included horse back riding and a river cruise with Piranha fishing, I decided to swap over to the camping option, which proved to be a lot more fun with a younger backpacker crowd and sleeping in hammocks and eating around large communal tables. The location of the camp was next to the river so much more wildlife going on too. I spent my nights at the camp and my days with the others from the lodge doing activities so a pretty decent balance really.
We had some great times on the trip and memorable moments. One classic one was with out guide piranha fishing. He didn´t speak much English and his descriptions of the wildlife resembled that from the Ricky Jervis comedy show Animals, such as 'a green parrot' followed by a 'slightly larger green red beak parrot' etc, it was funny as. When were were fishing for piranhas one guy Johanas finally caught a fish after having no luck the whole time, flinging it onto the bank and calling the guide over to de-hook it, huge smile on his face, only to watch in horror as the guide kicked it back into the water. We were pissing ourselves when the guide looked up and simply said 'catch a bigger one'!! Awesome
Well we got a bus back to campo grande, where we would transfer to another 15 hour bus ride to Foz de Iguacu, via Cascaval. 24 hours of travelling to get to the falls, but totally worth it. We arrived in Foz on a bitterly cold day, around 6 degrees, so quite a change for 36 the days before, so uncontrollable shivering for the first few hours which were partly controlled by a hot shower at the guesthouse. We got in our warm stuff and headed off to the Brazilian side of the Falls. On the bus the girls said 'the lonely planet says to bring wet weather gear' and looking around it seems that we were the only ones without. Being a cheep dude I didn´t but a $8 plastic poncho thing and just toughed it out in my t-shirt and light pullover, but the beanie was a lifesaver! Miserable weather but awesome view! We had an awesome night in Foz, at LaBella Pizza, with all you can eat pizza, chicken, buffet pasta and other goodies! It made up for a cold day in a shit hole of a town.
The next day was a stunner! We got up and started looking for the international bus over to Argentina. We didn´t have much luck so bargained with a taxi driver to get over for around double the price, which is pretty good given he just drove us through instead of getting off the bus and changing over etc, not to mention door to door service to our hostel - one of the downers travelling alone is not being able to justify a taxi, so it is good having company. We arrived at the Hostel Inn and checked in quickly before heading out to the falls. I had another money nightmare when I forgot my Visa so i couldn´t get money out at the falls, once again having to rely on my room mates for cash until the next day I could get into town and get cash out - i really should learn!
We had a great time at the falls with perfect weather and good sights to see. We manged to cover the entire park in the 6 hours which worked out really well because the girls changed their flights to BA to a day earlier and I got my bus ticket out of there to Rosario that same day too so all hunky dory.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
A week in Rio
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!
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!
Monday, August 25, 2008
More Rio Exploring
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.
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
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!
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!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Arrival at Rio De Janeiro
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
I have arrived!
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.
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.
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