These last three months have led us on an incredible journey, sweeping through jungles, deserts, praries, snow capped mountain ranges and beautiful coastlines to mention a few. We were enriched by the cultures and people that we met, as well as by each other. It was a great time for the two of us to be together and we are thankful to God for His provision as well as guidance. The memories are seemingly endless, but we thought that we would summarize quickly with a bit of a count up from our trip.
Days spent in South America - 91
Different places we have slept - 42
Number of Buses,Combis, Colectivos (excluding all city transit) - 50
Hours spent on the bus - 235
Sum of 3 longest bus rides - 62hrs.
Night buses - 13
Modes of transportation - 13 (bus, taxi, boat, train, Gondola, trolly, Subway, Ecovia, Canoe, Raft, Tram, Combi, Colectivo)
Border Crossings - 12
Countries - 7
Protests - 6
Ferry´s - 5
Trains - 4
Memories - Priceless
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Rio
Well here we are on our last night in South America. The last couple of days have been nice here in Rio. It is an interesting city and we have enjoyed exploring some of it. We began yesterday by attempting to be touristy, hopped on a bus and headed up to Corcovado(the hill with the Jesus statue). We got there only to find a thick fog hanging over the mountain. A little disheartened we set off on foot back the way we had come and with the help of our map explored some of Rio´s coast. Later in the afternoon we made our way on the metro to Copacabana beach. Despite the thick clouds and chilly wind we sat on the beach and watched the waves. We headed back before the dark clouds let loose torrential rains and grabbed some supper as well as one of the many varieties of tropical fruit drinks here.
Today we woke up to bright blue skies and excited by the potential of sun set off quickly to catch a clear view from Corcovado. We jumped on trusty bus number 180 to Rua Cosmo Vehlo where we took the Cog train up. Wow, what a statue. It is incredible to see it in person as well as the great cityscape below. After this we headed back to Copacabana to enjoy some much needed rays. It was a perfect day on the beach. We wandered around abit, did some shopping, and after supper came back to pack up our bags for tomorrow. Everything looks like it should be in order for tomorrow. So if everything goes well tomorrow we will hop the metro to the beach for the morning and then head out after lunch to the airport to begin our final journey home. We are looking forward to seeing everyone.
Today we woke up to bright blue skies and excited by the potential of sun set off quickly to catch a clear view from Corcovado. We jumped on trusty bus number 180 to Rua Cosmo Vehlo where we took the Cog train up. Wow, what a statue. It is incredible to see it in person as well as the great cityscape below. After this we headed back to Copacabana to enjoy some much needed rays. It was a perfect day on the beach. We wandered around abit, did some shopping, and after supper came back to pack up our bags for tomorrow. Everything looks like it should be in order for tomorrow. So if everything goes well tomorrow we will hop the metro to the beach for the morning and then head out after lunch to the airport to begin our final journey home. We are looking forward to seeing everyone.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Brazil and Beaches
Its crazy how time flies, it seems like not that long ago we were walking the streets in Lethbridge dreaming about a grand 3 month trip, and now here we are with under a week left. I guess we should back up just a few days to our time in Iguassu, Brazil. The Brazil side of the falls were incredible. Although they lacked the close up view of the Argentine side they made up for it with an incredible panoramic view, and some great rainbows as well. Mix that in with the incredible jungle backdrop and you have got a great photo. It was loads of fun and a nice tranquil time before we headed off on one hectic adventure to get to Paraty.
Our first leg to get to Paraty was to head to Sao Paulo, about 16 hours or so from foz do Iguassu. We hopped on a bus just before 7pm and began our journey. The bus was interesting, more of a bolivia type bus than a Brazil bus, there was no food, movies, or leg room and we settled in for an adventure. We had just started to get sleepy when the bus stopped at a random hotel. A couple people got off and quickly lugged off a bunch of luggage, and no sooner than it had started they were back on the bus again. We thought not too much of it as we had not seen our luggage being pulled off and soon began to doze off again. Things were cool untill just after midnight. We finally came to and realized that the bus was stopped and chaos was ensuing below. There was luggage everywhere beside the bus and police. It turns out that our bus was on route from Paraguay, the land of cheap things. However you are only allowed to bring back a certain amount per person. Well lets just say that we left alot of boxes behind that were confiscated. This gave us a bit of a jolt to say the least, and finally after about an hour or so we managed to begin to doze again, only to be woken by another pit stop. It was a long night, with even more stops to fix the bus. We pulled in to Sao Paulo at around 12:30 (missing our initial connecting bus) but managed to catch one for later in the afternoon. We arrived into Paraty at about 9pm to a completely different feel. Even though it was dark out you could tell it was a laid back quiet beach town with surf crashing in the background. We found our hostel quickly and went straight to bed.
Our time here in Paraty has been great. It is a beautiful tropical setting with georgous mountains, and ocean dotted with little islands. The town itself is quite picturesque with cobblestone streets, and brightly colored little shops lining them. The first day we explored some caves, an old fort, and checked out the town as well as enjoying a coconut juice(from the cocunut with a straw) from a street vendor along the harbour. We were lucky to have no rain although the dark clouds held the sun at bay. Today we had high hopes for the day but they were thwarted with a heavy downpour most of the morning. It didnt stop us from taking a swim in the atlantic as we were soaking already. After lunch things cleared off and we rented a canoe to tour around some of the islands and the mangroves. As the sky looks menacing once again we will head back into town and take care of a few errands before catching a bite to eat and relaxing on one of these few fleeting evenings we have left in South America.
Our first leg to get to Paraty was to head to Sao Paulo, about 16 hours or so from foz do Iguassu. We hopped on a bus just before 7pm and began our journey. The bus was interesting, more of a bolivia type bus than a Brazil bus, there was no food, movies, or leg room and we settled in for an adventure. We had just started to get sleepy when the bus stopped at a random hotel. A couple people got off and quickly lugged off a bunch of luggage, and no sooner than it had started they were back on the bus again. We thought not too much of it as we had not seen our luggage being pulled off and soon began to doze off again. Things were cool untill just after midnight. We finally came to and realized that the bus was stopped and chaos was ensuing below. There was luggage everywhere beside the bus and police. It turns out that our bus was on route from Paraguay, the land of cheap things. However you are only allowed to bring back a certain amount per person. Well lets just say that we left alot of boxes behind that were confiscated. This gave us a bit of a jolt to say the least, and finally after about an hour or so we managed to begin to doze again, only to be woken by another pit stop. It was a long night, with even more stops to fix the bus. We pulled in to Sao Paulo at around 12:30 (missing our initial connecting bus) but managed to catch one for later in the afternoon. We arrived into Paraty at about 9pm to a completely different feel. Even though it was dark out you could tell it was a laid back quiet beach town with surf crashing in the background. We found our hostel quickly and went straight to bed.
Our time here in Paraty has been great. It is a beautiful tropical setting with georgous mountains, and ocean dotted with little islands. The town itself is quite picturesque with cobblestone streets, and brightly colored little shops lining them. The first day we explored some caves, an old fort, and checked out the town as well as enjoying a coconut juice(from the cocunut with a straw) from a street vendor along the harbour. We were lucky to have no rain although the dark clouds held the sun at bay. Today we had high hopes for the day but they were thwarted with a heavy downpour most of the morning. It didnt stop us from taking a swim in the atlantic as we were soaking already. After lunch things cleared off and we rented a canoe to tour around some of the islands and the mangroves. As the sky looks menacing once again we will head back into town and take care of a few errands before catching a bite to eat and relaxing on one of these few fleeting evenings we have left in South America.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Iguazu
We were surprised when we awoke early with the sun as we have been further south and the sun is not up until very late. We set out for the bus and were excited to see these spectacular waterfalls. We entered the park and set out for the train to bring us closer to the falls. When we arrived at the second station we saw a huge line up for the biggest part of the falls and decided to do our tour backwards to avoid the crowds. We started out on various look out points along the top of the falls and were taken back by the power and beauty of the surrounding falls. It was breath taking. We then set out to the trails that looked up to the falls and enjoyed snapping lots of pictures, although they can not capture the grandeur. We quickly made our way to the boat launch to make our way to the island. The train and boat were all included in the park intrance fee. The boat ride lasted just about 60 seconds and we wandered the island to see another view of the falls. The argentine falls are noted for being a closer view of the falls where as the brazil side is further away and therefore a panoramic view. Lastly we rode the train again to the Devils throat which is the largest part of the falls and most powerful. We made our way along the catwalk and got very wet from the spray from the water. All in all it was awe inspiring and definately a highlight!! After about 6 hours at the falls we made our way back to the hostel and scored another deal for one more night.
We took it easy this morning and relaxed. We wandered the town and enjoyed a nice lunch soaking in some much missed sunshine. We were very excited to be able to wear shorts! We packed our bags and made our way to the bus station to go over the border to brazil. We had heard lots of stories about this border crossing in getting the buses to stop for the proper paperwork to be completed, but things went smoothly and quickly. We found our way to a hostel here in Foz do Iguassu,Brazil. It is really different here and the language barrier is a new challenge and we realized how comfortable we had been with spanish. Either way we found some shishkabobs on the street and enjoyed a mouth watering meal.
Tomorrow we are heading to see the Brazil view of the falls and are looking forward to having a second chance to see this beautiful display of God´s creation. Then we will head out on a night bus to Sao Paulo and head on as soon as we can to Paraty.
We took it easy this morning and relaxed. We wandered the town and enjoyed a nice lunch soaking in some much missed sunshine. We were very excited to be able to wear shorts! We packed our bags and made our way to the bus station to go over the border to brazil. We had heard lots of stories about this border crossing in getting the buses to stop for the proper paperwork to be completed, but things went smoothly and quickly. We found our way to a hostel here in Foz do Iguassu,Brazil. It is really different here and the language barrier is a new challenge and we realized how comfortable we had been with spanish. Either way we found some shishkabobs on the street and enjoyed a mouth watering meal.
Tomorrow we are heading to see the Brazil view of the falls and are looking forward to having a second chance to see this beautiful display of God´s creation. Then we will head out on a night bus to Sao Paulo and head on as soon as we can to Paraty.
Monday, July 20, 2009
uruguay
Although its only been a coule days since we blogged it feels like forever as so much has happened. We started out with a nice jaunt across the waters of the atlantic to the town of Carmelo, Uruguay. We got in just after dark and in the rain, but it felt like it was the middle of the night as the town was completely desserted. We made our way to the bus station and managed to get on a bus leaving for next town over (Colonia)in 15 minutes.
Now I should add just a few details about Uruguay to help follow along. Uruguay is a country of just a little better than 3 million people(and yet they still qualified for the world cup), just under a third of which live in the capital city of montevideo. Other than that there are really just a handful of towns, with the interior of the country being mainly farmland occupied by real Yerba drinking, horse riding cowboys. Needless to say getting into quiet costal towns was a drastic opposite to the chaos of Buenos Aires.
So back on track we hopped the bus for 1 hour and headed to Colonia where we spent the night. In the morning we took advantage of the quiet streets to snap a few pictures of some crumbling, brightly colored colonia buildings with cobblestone streets. After we caught a bus to the capital city of montevideo but we decided against staying in Montevideo and caught a bus rightaway another 2.5 hours to the city of Puente del Este, a small beach resort type city. By the time we rolled in it was dark and pouring rain. On a whim we hopped into a hotel and found it to be quite affordable, and not wanting to venture out into the rain to search for a hostel we took it and relaxed for the night. Our next day turned out to be a grey gloomy day with rain on and off so we opted out of the beach and wandered the waterfront. We saw some sea lions but try as I could I couldnt see any whales. Punta del este seems as thought it would be a great summertime vacation spot with nice beaches, a safe location, and friendly people. We stayed the night and headed out to Montevideo the next morning. Montevideo was really nothing to write about. The stores were all closed due to a holiday so we just wandered in yet more mist and light rain. Although we did see a demonstration with abunch of cowboys riding horses down the streets with Uruguayan flags regarding some historic building. The next day we headed back to Colonia where we caught our ferry back to BA.
In BA we grabbed a quick bite to eat before grabbing our luggage and heading out on the subway to the bus station for a big 17 hour bus ride to Iguazu. Our bus ride started out interesting as there was no bus leaving when it was scheduled to leave. We found a few others who were wondering what was happening when we heard that the bus was all banged up and they were sending another bus in about 30 minutes. Close to 11 our us arrived and we were off for the night. All things went smoothly until we were about 1 hour out from our destination when we came across another road block. We had to wait about an hour until the road block cleared and then let all the back logged traffic through. The road had remains of fire they had used to keep the road blocked and this was in regards to locals wanting more money. As we waited we noticed this part of argentina was alot poorer then other parts we had seen. The counry side changed to become much more tropical and we could feel the humidity as we were wawiting for the blockade. We were excited to wear a tshirt!! We arrived safely and headed out to our hostel we had previously booked to only find out that they did not have room. We were pretty exhausted and a bit bummed as we were excited about this little relaxing hostel away from the city and with a pool. They sent us to another hostel and we were not too happy as we had paid a reservation fee. We did not want to make a fuss, but the owner ran both hostels and we ended up paying half a nights fee even though we were right in the city.
Now I should add just a few details about Uruguay to help follow along. Uruguay is a country of just a little better than 3 million people(and yet they still qualified for the world cup), just under a third of which live in the capital city of montevideo. Other than that there are really just a handful of towns, with the interior of the country being mainly farmland occupied by real Yerba drinking, horse riding cowboys. Needless to say getting into quiet costal towns was a drastic opposite to the chaos of Buenos Aires.
So back on track we hopped the bus for 1 hour and headed to Colonia where we spent the night. In the morning we took advantage of the quiet streets to snap a few pictures of some crumbling, brightly colored colonia buildings with cobblestone streets. After we caught a bus to the capital city of montevideo but we decided against staying in Montevideo and caught a bus rightaway another 2.5 hours to the city of Puente del Este, a small beach resort type city. By the time we rolled in it was dark and pouring rain. On a whim we hopped into a hotel and found it to be quite affordable, and not wanting to venture out into the rain to search for a hostel we took it and relaxed for the night. Our next day turned out to be a grey gloomy day with rain on and off so we opted out of the beach and wandered the waterfront. We saw some sea lions but try as I could I couldnt see any whales. Punta del este seems as thought it would be a great summertime vacation spot with nice beaches, a safe location, and friendly people. We stayed the night and headed out to Montevideo the next morning. Montevideo was really nothing to write about. The stores were all closed due to a holiday so we just wandered in yet more mist and light rain. Although we did see a demonstration with abunch of cowboys riding horses down the streets with Uruguayan flags regarding some historic building. The next day we headed back to Colonia where we caught our ferry back to BA.
In BA we grabbed a quick bite to eat before grabbing our luggage and heading out on the subway to the bus station for a big 17 hour bus ride to Iguazu. Our bus ride started out interesting as there was no bus leaving when it was scheduled to leave. We found a few others who were wondering what was happening when we heard that the bus was all banged up and they were sending another bus in about 30 minutes. Close to 11 our us arrived and we were off for the night. All things went smoothly until we were about 1 hour out from our destination when we came across another road block. We had to wait about an hour until the road block cleared and then let all the back logged traffic through. The road had remains of fire they had used to keep the road blocked and this was in regards to locals wanting more money. As we waited we noticed this part of argentina was alot poorer then other parts we had seen. The counry side changed to become much more tropical and we could feel the humidity as we were wawiting for the blockade. We were excited to wear a tshirt!! We arrived safely and headed out to our hostel we had previously booked to only find out that they did not have room. We were pretty exhausted and a bit bummed as we were excited about this little relaxing hostel away from the city and with a pool. They sent us to another hostel and we were not too happy as we had paid a reservation fee. We did not want to make a fuss, but the owner ran both hostels and we ended up paying half a nights fee even though we were right in the city.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires...its big and buisy. It crazy how quick our time here in BA has gone. And yet I think we are ready for the next step. After we rolled in we got a good night sleep and were ready for the adventures of the big city. Our first task was to find the Brazilian embassy to get our tourist visas for Brazil (as it takes a few days to process). Well, I think that the embassy has moved, about 3 times...but we finally found the right one and got everything in order. Buenos Aires is an adventure to be in for sure. Our travel guide says it has about 13million but I have read more on the internet. Yesterday I even counted a street with 19 lanes of traffic, Yikes!! I feel like chicken on that old nintendo game where you have to get to the other side without being hit. The city has a unique feel with alot of colonial buildings mixed in with modern highrises. The city has a strong European feel with lots of expensive shopping, little cafe´s, and Mcdonalds(which I might add is nearly double the price as back home). Anyways we also tried our fate down Florida Ave. Florida Ave is a crazy walking street lined with all kinds of shops, and loads of people. Like were talking full body contact with strangers all the time.
Feeling a little claustrophobic we decided to head to the park the next day. It was a nice hour and a half long walk along the ocean which really made us feel like we had escaped the city. Feeling a bit rejouvinated we grabbed a couple Churrasco´s at a street vendor and enjoyed the art of Argintinean steak(a churrasco is a steak sandwich with all the fixins). We wandered along the warf and even toured a late 1800´s ship. This ship had been turned into a Museum but in its day had taken countless voyages around the world.
We then set off back into the city to book a tango show for the night. Tango shows are an integral part of BA. They are often quite fancy with expensive meals and a first rate show. We settled on just heading to a show. Our transportation picked us up around 9pm and we headed to something that looked like a Las Vegas Casino. It was all glitz and glamour inside with 3 stories of seating with a circular stage in the center. When we arrived those who had got the meal were just finishing up and our mouths were watering as the waiters walked by with half eaten plates of steak and the works. The show itself was great, a beautiful mix of music, dancing, lights, smoke, singing, and theatre. It was definately a worthwhile experience and we were glad to be able to take in this cultural aspect of Argentina.
This morning we have been buisy packing up to head to Uruguay. We are quite excited to leave our big bags here at the hostel for a couple days and travel light down the beautiful sandy beaches of Uruguay(although it is not actually true beach weather we will do what we can in pants and sweaters). We will take the train to a suburb of BA about an hour away(after we pick up our passports and bus tickets for Iguazu falls) and then take the ferry across to a small town where we catch a bus for 1 hour to our stop for the night(Colonia).
Feeling a little claustrophobic we decided to head to the park the next day. It was a nice hour and a half long walk along the ocean which really made us feel like we had escaped the city. Feeling a bit rejouvinated we grabbed a couple Churrasco´s at a street vendor and enjoyed the art of Argintinean steak(a churrasco is a steak sandwich with all the fixins). We wandered along the warf and even toured a late 1800´s ship. This ship had been turned into a Museum but in its day had taken countless voyages around the world.
We then set off back into the city to book a tango show for the night. Tango shows are an integral part of BA. They are often quite fancy with expensive meals and a first rate show. We settled on just heading to a show. Our transportation picked us up around 9pm and we headed to something that looked like a Las Vegas Casino. It was all glitz and glamour inside with 3 stories of seating with a circular stage in the center. When we arrived those who had got the meal were just finishing up and our mouths were watering as the waiters walked by with half eaten plates of steak and the works. The show itself was great, a beautiful mix of music, dancing, lights, smoke, singing, and theatre. It was definately a worthwhile experience and we were glad to be able to take in this cultural aspect of Argentina.
This morning we have been buisy packing up to head to Uruguay. We are quite excited to leave our big bags here at the hostel for a couple days and travel light down the beautiful sandy beaches of Uruguay(although it is not actually true beach weather we will do what we can in pants and sweaters). We will take the train to a suburb of BA about an hour away(after we pick up our passports and bus tickets for Iguazu falls) and then take the ferry across to a small town where we catch a bus for 1 hour to our stop for the night(Colonia).
Monday, July 13, 2009
New niece
Also some exciting news last week that our new little niece arrived. Sydney Ashlyn Mau (to Lorraine and Christiaan- Dennis´sister). We are excited to meet this new little one...we are going to be busy when we get back!
We also have a another niece or newphew on the way and due at the end of November to Tim and Destiny (Liana´s brother). We are looking forward to meeting this little one in the fall!
We also have a another niece or newphew on the way and due at the end of November to Tim and Destiny (Liana´s brother). We are looking forward to meeting this little one in the fall!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
We had a wonderful time in Bariloche. This small city is situated along the shore of giant lake with snow capped mountians surrounding the lake and city. We wandered the streets that were lined little shops (sort of like a little banff). I have never seen so many little chocolate shops before...there must have been over 20! We wandered into most of them when we realized that many of them give you a free sample. The temperture was not too bad, but the strong ´lethbridge´ wind made it quite cold. We spent a few days just relaxing and wandering around town as Dennis came down with a cold so we took it pretty easy.
We then ventured down along the lake navigating the bus system to a place (llau llau) to do some hiking. We enjoyed a beautiful trail up to a view point of the mountians and lake. It was pretty frosty and icy near the top. It was the first clear day we had since we arrived so we took in the wonderful view. It felt so good to get out and do some hiking as the past several weeks we did not have the opprituity. We were feeling a bit ancy and also a bit out of shape.
We decided that since we were 20km from the biggest ski hill in south america that we should experience it. So we found a place to rent snowboards and snowpants. They are quite prepared for all the essentials for all the unprepared tourists and many visiting south americans coming to try it for the first time (brazil). We took the bus that was packed full with standing room only with all of our equipment. We made it to the hill for much cheaper then our tourist guide at our hostel had offered to arrange. Although when we arrived to buy our tickets we were a bit taken back as it was double then what we had been told. We were a bit disappointed as we could see the mountian was not very big, and the bottom half was completely bare of snow! But we had our equipment and we had made it to the hill so we bit the bullet not wanting to miss the expereince. So up we went on up the first chair lift walking on through the mud and carrying our boards. We then saw some snow and ventured up again another chair lift hoping for some better snow...well from the chair lift we could see the sheets of ice on the hill and were quite disappointed. We started out and found the snow was pretty wet and was not quite as icy as it had appeared so that helped lift our sour attitudes! I had the oppritunity to work on my skills although the snow conditions were not so good and we were on a more advanced run as the easier runs had no snow. I took a good tumble and even got my board so stuck in the snow due to the deep wet snow that Dennis had to come and reef on my board to get me out! We enjoyed a short day of snowboarding as we had to catch a bus out late that afternoon.
We made it back in plenty of time to drop off rentals, change out of our wet clothes and get back on the bus to the bus station. While we were sitting and waiting we actually ran into a couple that we had spent some time with when we were in Bolivia (the ones that are actually from Lethbridge too), so that was neat. We took a deep breath and stepped onto the bus not sure we were ready for the next 25 hours of sitting....
We survived and are now in Buenos Aires. We met a grandma on the bus who spoke english and she walked us the whole way to where we were to catch the subway to get to our hostel. Just outside the bus terminal I had someone grabbing at my arm and I just ignored her and when she persisted I just shouldered her out of the way. She was trying to tell me something and I just kept going and then Dennis said that I had stuff all over me...squirted all down my backpack and down my pants. Then appeared another lady all ready with kleenex and they wanted me to go into the resturant to try and ´help¨ me clean off (and then probably disappear with our bag...although I am not sure they would be able to carry ours anyways as they are so heavy). We were on a mission and we had heard about these sort of scams before and just kept going with no concerns. Although a bit frustrated with all the stares as I was covered in some sort of white goo. Anyways we made it on the subway with no concerns and found our hostel. We grabbed a bit to eat with a great huge banana smoothie and now we are off to shower and get a good sleep before exploring this city.
We then ventured down along the lake navigating the bus system to a place (llau llau) to do some hiking. We enjoyed a beautiful trail up to a view point of the mountians and lake. It was pretty frosty and icy near the top. It was the first clear day we had since we arrived so we took in the wonderful view. It felt so good to get out and do some hiking as the past several weeks we did not have the opprituity. We were feeling a bit ancy and also a bit out of shape.
We decided that since we were 20km from the biggest ski hill in south america that we should experience it. So we found a place to rent snowboards and snowpants. They are quite prepared for all the essentials for all the unprepared tourists and many visiting south americans coming to try it for the first time (brazil). We took the bus that was packed full with standing room only with all of our equipment. We made it to the hill for much cheaper then our tourist guide at our hostel had offered to arrange. Although when we arrived to buy our tickets we were a bit taken back as it was double then what we had been told. We were a bit disappointed as we could see the mountian was not very big, and the bottom half was completely bare of snow! But we had our equipment and we had made it to the hill so we bit the bullet not wanting to miss the expereince. So up we went on up the first chair lift walking on through the mud and carrying our boards. We then saw some snow and ventured up again another chair lift hoping for some better snow...well from the chair lift we could see the sheets of ice on the hill and were quite disappointed. We started out and found the snow was pretty wet and was not quite as icy as it had appeared so that helped lift our sour attitudes! I had the oppritunity to work on my skills although the snow conditions were not so good and we were on a more advanced run as the easier runs had no snow. I took a good tumble and even got my board so stuck in the snow due to the deep wet snow that Dennis had to come and reef on my board to get me out! We enjoyed a short day of snowboarding as we had to catch a bus out late that afternoon.
We made it back in plenty of time to drop off rentals, change out of our wet clothes and get back on the bus to the bus station. While we were sitting and waiting we actually ran into a couple that we had spent some time with when we were in Bolivia (the ones that are actually from Lethbridge too), so that was neat. We took a deep breath and stepped onto the bus not sure we were ready for the next 25 hours of sitting....
We survived and are now in Buenos Aires. We met a grandma on the bus who spoke english and she walked us the whole way to where we were to catch the subway to get to our hostel. Just outside the bus terminal I had someone grabbing at my arm and I just ignored her and when she persisted I just shouldered her out of the way. She was trying to tell me something and I just kept going and then Dennis said that I had stuff all over me...squirted all down my backpack and down my pants. Then appeared another lady all ready with kleenex and they wanted me to go into the resturant to try and ´help¨ me clean off (and then probably disappear with our bag...although I am not sure they would be able to carry ours anyways as they are so heavy). We were on a mission and we had heard about these sort of scams before and just kept going with no concerns. Although a bit frustrated with all the stares as I was covered in some sort of white goo. Anyways we made it on the subway with no concerns and found our hostel. We grabbed a bit to eat with a great huge banana smoothie and now we are off to shower and get a good sleep before exploring this city.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
chile
So here we are in beautiful Bariloche, Argentina. For those of you with an itinerary you may realize that this is not where we are supposed to be, in fact its not even on the itinerary at all. Well we managed to cut a few days here and there in Argentina and a day from Chile and have come down to more southern Argentina and Chile. But first things first I should start back about a week or so.
Our first stop in Chile(and last blog) found us in the port city of Valparaiso. If you are following along on your map valparaiso is a city on the coast just north of Santiago(in the middle of chile). Valparaiso proved to be one of the most intriguing cities we have come across yet. It is a hodgepodge of thrown together houses and buildings of every color and shape clinging to the mountainsides. The streets are narrow and nearly every open surface has some form of grafitti. One of the unique things about valparaiso is the little cable cars that are used to climb up the steep mountains to the different levels of the city. And of course there is the bustling harbour that adds a different feel to the city. Just a few clicks north of Valparaiso is the city of Viña del mar, which is like valpo but somewhat higher class. We landed a great little hostel in valpo and enjoyed our days wandering the curving streets, exploring buisy markets and of course riding the cool cable cars. But our time came to an end and we had to head off to Santiago.
We caught a bus mid-morning and enjoyed a forested view outside our window as we rolled onto Santiago. Our entry to santiago proved to be somewhat of an adventure as the bus station was not where we had expected it to be, or not really a bus station at all. We were informed that we could take the metro(subway) to a station near our hostel. This was somewhat of a shock as we had all our luggage and had no experience on the subway. I should add that although Liana was confident my upbringing in Guernsey had not adequately prepared me for this metropolitan task. Well as we were at the ticket booth a lady approached us and in english asked if she could help. It was definately a blessing as she showed us where to go and we soon got a feel for the metro. We ended up using the subway quite a bit as it was a fast and inexpensive way for us to commute through the city.
So the first problem on entering any city is where to stay. This problem seems to be magnified with the size of the city as you have issues of good or bad areas, transportation, expense, and how spread out the hostels are. This is a bit of a deal as our packs have gotten overly heavy. This is an issue that we face every couple of days as every couple of days we are in somewhere new. So on the way in we searched our lonely planet and as the hostels were quite expensive we hit up one of the cheaper ones....it turned out to be quite a dive, but also cheaper than we had expected and so we took it, the hastle of wandering the streets for hours on end just seemed to daunting. Because of this we ended up spending alot of time out and about in Santiago. Santiago is a nice city circled by beautiful mountains (if you can see through the smog) and was quite a friendly city. We had only two days in Santiago but managed to see a good bit of the city. We went to the markets(of course), toured the downtown, went to some great parks and took this cable car up a mountain with a great panorama of the city. All in all it was a good time and we enjoyed our time there, but with southern Argentina in mind we decided to keep moving.
Since we planned our trip Liana and I had dreamed about heading to southern chile/Argentina, but just thought that there was no way we could fit it in. However as we rolled on down through Argentina we found we didnt need as much time in the cities as we thought and quickly put together a plan to make it down. From Santiago we took an early morning bus down to the city of Osorno, about 13hours. As we didnt have much time in Chile it was nice to take a day bus and see the Chilean countryside. We arrived in Osorno to yet again that age old problem of a place to stay. We found a place right close to the bus station and decided to hole up there for the night. It was again a bit of a dive but we threw off the gross blankets and pulled out our trusty sleeping bags(they have saved us a multitude of times). Then the next morning we set off mid-morning for Bariloche, about 7hours away. I should take a minute to write a quick blurb on Chile. Its great!! It is a land of beautiful green pastures, vineyards, orchards, friendly people, and is quite easy to travel. Even though our time in Chile was short we really enjoyed being there.
So once again we passed though into Argentina happy to see our passport pages filling up and continued on to Bariloche. Wow!!!!!! Now that was a beautiful drive. Unbelievable mountains, forests, snow covered mountains, rivers and lakes. There are these little towns with gorgeous log and stone homes dotted along the lakes. We pulled into Bariloche and were quickly hounded by bloodthirsty hostel hawkers(overly pushy people trying to get us to stay in their hostel). But having done a little research we navigated our way into the city via the bus which is much much cheaper then a taxi to this great hostel. It is awesome here, there is a nice big Jucuzzi (hot tub-private use 1 hour a day over looking the lake and mountains), spacious clean rooms, lots of hot water, and a great view of the lake and mountains. Needless to say we spent tonight soaking our sore muscles in the Jucuzzi and washing off 2 months of south american dust. WEll that is just about long enough for now as it is time for bed.
Our first stop in Chile(and last blog) found us in the port city of Valparaiso. If you are following along on your map valparaiso is a city on the coast just north of Santiago(in the middle of chile). Valparaiso proved to be one of the most intriguing cities we have come across yet. It is a hodgepodge of thrown together houses and buildings of every color and shape clinging to the mountainsides. The streets are narrow and nearly every open surface has some form of grafitti. One of the unique things about valparaiso is the little cable cars that are used to climb up the steep mountains to the different levels of the city. And of course there is the bustling harbour that adds a different feel to the city. Just a few clicks north of Valparaiso is the city of Viña del mar, which is like valpo but somewhat higher class. We landed a great little hostel in valpo and enjoyed our days wandering the curving streets, exploring buisy markets and of course riding the cool cable cars. But our time came to an end and we had to head off to Santiago.
We caught a bus mid-morning and enjoyed a forested view outside our window as we rolled onto Santiago. Our entry to santiago proved to be somewhat of an adventure as the bus station was not where we had expected it to be, or not really a bus station at all. We were informed that we could take the metro(subway) to a station near our hostel. This was somewhat of a shock as we had all our luggage and had no experience on the subway. I should add that although Liana was confident my upbringing in Guernsey had not adequately prepared me for this metropolitan task. Well as we were at the ticket booth a lady approached us and in english asked if she could help. It was definately a blessing as she showed us where to go and we soon got a feel for the metro. We ended up using the subway quite a bit as it was a fast and inexpensive way for us to commute through the city.
So the first problem on entering any city is where to stay. This problem seems to be magnified with the size of the city as you have issues of good or bad areas, transportation, expense, and how spread out the hostels are. This is a bit of a deal as our packs have gotten overly heavy. This is an issue that we face every couple of days as every couple of days we are in somewhere new. So on the way in we searched our lonely planet and as the hostels were quite expensive we hit up one of the cheaper ones....it turned out to be quite a dive, but also cheaper than we had expected and so we took it, the hastle of wandering the streets for hours on end just seemed to daunting. Because of this we ended up spending alot of time out and about in Santiago. Santiago is a nice city circled by beautiful mountains (if you can see through the smog) and was quite a friendly city. We had only two days in Santiago but managed to see a good bit of the city. We went to the markets(of course), toured the downtown, went to some great parks and took this cable car up a mountain with a great panorama of the city. All in all it was a good time and we enjoyed our time there, but with southern Argentina in mind we decided to keep moving.
Since we planned our trip Liana and I had dreamed about heading to southern chile/Argentina, but just thought that there was no way we could fit it in. However as we rolled on down through Argentina we found we didnt need as much time in the cities as we thought and quickly put together a plan to make it down. From Santiago we took an early morning bus down to the city of Osorno, about 13hours. As we didnt have much time in Chile it was nice to take a day bus and see the Chilean countryside. We arrived in Osorno to yet again that age old problem of a place to stay. We found a place right close to the bus station and decided to hole up there for the night. It was again a bit of a dive but we threw off the gross blankets and pulled out our trusty sleeping bags(they have saved us a multitude of times). Then the next morning we set off mid-morning for Bariloche, about 7hours away. I should take a minute to write a quick blurb on Chile. Its great!! It is a land of beautiful green pastures, vineyards, orchards, friendly people, and is quite easy to travel. Even though our time in Chile was short we really enjoyed being there.
So once again we passed though into Argentina happy to see our passport pages filling up and continued on to Bariloche. Wow!!!!!! Now that was a beautiful drive. Unbelievable mountains, forests, snow covered mountains, rivers and lakes. There are these little towns with gorgeous log and stone homes dotted along the lakes. We pulled into Bariloche and were quickly hounded by bloodthirsty hostel hawkers(overly pushy people trying to get us to stay in their hostel). But having done a little research we navigated our way into the city via the bus which is much much cheaper then a taxi to this great hostel. It is awesome here, there is a nice big Jucuzzi (hot tub-private use 1 hour a day over looking the lake and mountains), spacious clean rooms, lots of hot water, and a great view of the lake and mountains. Needless to say we spent tonight soaking our sore muscles in the Jucuzzi and washing off 2 months of south american dust. WEll that is just about long enough for now as it is time for bed.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Mendoza and into Chile
So it has been quite some time since we have gotten around to the email. We spent about 3 days in Cordoba and we didn´t do too much. The shops all close for the afternoon and then reopen around 5pm so it leaves a bit of a dull afternoon. Then there was an election while we were there so again things were closed, and also there was a Sunday somewhere there too and oh you bet things are also all closed! We did enjoy sitting in a few cafe´s to sit and relax and lots of window shopping.
We continued on to Mendoza which is a smaller city for about 112,000 and very beautiful. There are lots of green spaces within the city and a man made lake with loads of park area. Although being ¨winter¨it is more like a fall day, with sunny afternoons. Some of the leaves have turned coulour or fallen while others are still green, but it is still quite beautiful. In the background are the mountains and surrounding the city is vineyards. We did venture out on a wine tour to 2 wineries, 1 olive oil factory and a chocolate factory. We learned more wine history and the art of wine making and tasting. It is amazing to see the quaility of a good wine vs a cheap wine although the wine here is very cheap to our standards. Many of the small wineries are family run for over 100 years and are very passionate about their quality of wine.
We took a sick day yesterday and it was much needed. I had quite the cold and Dennis had other bowel concerns.
We were not sure if we were going to make it too Chile as when we arrived in Mendoza the border was closed due to snow in the mountain pass. It remained closed for our stay, but just opened up again so we took a day bus out to Valparasio, Chile. It was a nice change to have a day bus and it was a beautiful drive through the mountain pass and lots of little ski lifts along the way. It was a funny coincidence that we eneded up taking the same bus with 2 dutch girls that we had done our salt flats tour with weeks before! As we descended on the Chilean side of the mountains it was not long until we were out of the snow and there were cacti covering the hills. Once down there were fields of orchards, vineyards, palm trees and most things are still green!!! We found a less expensive hostel...as everything is quite pricey and are very excited to explore tomorrow. We had a quick glance at the ocean as we drove to our hostel while the sun was setting with a beautiful pink sky silhoutting large cargo ships out at sea.
We were quite starving when we arrived so we headed out to see what we could find. Just a few blocks away we found a ¨quick¨ food as the pubs were not serving any food at this time and were very smokey. So ordered 2 things off the menu and see what we got. So a completo, basically is a footlong hotdog smuthered with guacamole, cheese sauce, and tomatoes for about $2. The other thing was a steak sandwhich with the same toppings.
We continued on to Mendoza which is a smaller city for about 112,000 and very beautiful. There are lots of green spaces within the city and a man made lake with loads of park area. Although being ¨winter¨it is more like a fall day, with sunny afternoons. Some of the leaves have turned coulour or fallen while others are still green, but it is still quite beautiful. In the background are the mountains and surrounding the city is vineyards. We did venture out on a wine tour to 2 wineries, 1 olive oil factory and a chocolate factory. We learned more wine history and the art of wine making and tasting. It is amazing to see the quaility of a good wine vs a cheap wine although the wine here is very cheap to our standards. Many of the small wineries are family run for over 100 years and are very passionate about their quality of wine.
We took a sick day yesterday and it was much needed. I had quite the cold and Dennis had other bowel concerns.
We were not sure if we were going to make it too Chile as when we arrived in Mendoza the border was closed due to snow in the mountain pass. It remained closed for our stay, but just opened up again so we took a day bus out to Valparasio, Chile. It was a nice change to have a day bus and it was a beautiful drive through the mountain pass and lots of little ski lifts along the way. It was a funny coincidence that we eneded up taking the same bus with 2 dutch girls that we had done our salt flats tour with weeks before! As we descended on the Chilean side of the mountains it was not long until we were out of the snow and there were cacti covering the hills. Once down there were fields of orchards, vineyards, palm trees and most things are still green!!! We found a less expensive hostel...as everything is quite pricey and are very excited to explore tomorrow. We had a quick glance at the ocean as we drove to our hostel while the sun was setting with a beautiful pink sky silhoutting large cargo ships out at sea.
We were quite starving when we arrived so we headed out to see what we could find. Just a few blocks away we found a ¨quick¨ food as the pubs were not serving any food at this time and were very smokey. So ordered 2 things off the menu and see what we got. So a completo, basically is a footlong hotdog smuthered with guacamole, cheese sauce, and tomatoes for about $2. The other thing was a steak sandwhich with the same toppings.
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