From Flip-Flops to Thermals in 3 weeks

All good things have to come to an end, and it's fair to say the last 3 weeks for me in Argentina have been everything I wanted yet more than I expected, and has gone by far too quickly, on the up side I am looking forward to my own bed and getting clothes cleaned!

Thank you for those that have endured my ramblings on here and also my constant postings on facebook that have made many of you jealous and threaten to unfriend me!

Before I sign off for good, I've summaries all the highlights and the laughter....

• If I were to work out the weight of meat I've eaten, I've probably had the equivalent of a full cow (I'm actually looking forward to having some Vegetables when I get back)
• Everyone in Argentina seems to have a dog
• You need to watch your step in Buenos Aires as a result of the above
• I've scoured the cemetary with Steve and Leigh to find Eva Perons resting place only to realise if we'd listened to the guide properly we would have found it straight away.
• Took an open top bus tour through one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Buenos Aires (La Boca) and saw a guy covered in blood and loads of police in stab vests carrying guns
• Kept VERY quite to not give away my nationality when taking photos of the memorial to all the Argentinians that were killed in the Falklands conflict
• Struggled to see how the "Lady Bridge" looks anything like a pair of Tango dancers
• I've discovered some new card games with Steve and Leigh and had more laughter in the first 10 days with those guys than I've had in a long time - Thank you!
• Free pouring is insane to the point where you may as well just stick a straw in the vodka bottle and be done with it.
• During the time with Steve and Leigh, driven ourselves insane singing songs (Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Yeah) but kept the songs of Evita for when no one else was listening.
• People on the underground really will try and sell you anything from crayons to sewing kits
• Not many people speak English and my Spanish is somewhat poor.
• Found the currency odd - very few coins and very few shops have enough change, also the notes are in such a poor state no wonder so many are fake!
• Endured intense weather on both ends of the spectrum ranging from 35c in Buenos Aires, Iguazu and Mendoza to 10c in El Calafate
• I've seen some of the most amazing waterfalls in Iguassu/Iguazu/Iguacu
• I've flown over the most amazing waterfalls in Iguassu/Iguazu/Iguacu
• I've been on a boat and gone into one of the most amazing waterfalls in Iguassu/Iguazu/Iguacu
• Discovered three different ways of spelling Iguazu (Spanish) and Iguassu/Iguacu (Portuguese)
• I've been lucky and only succumbed to 5 mosquito bites
• I've visited 4 different National Parks - of which 3 are the top 3 in size in South America (Iguazu, Glaciars, Huipal)
• I've stood 4000m on the top of a mountain and seen the largest peak (Aconcagua) outside of the Himalayas (And survived the altitude)
• Had half of my body in Chile whilst the other half was in Argentina
• Seen a pair of Condor Eagles soaring over the Andes
• I've cycled over 10km tasting umpteen varieties of Wine in Mendoza (The later part of the journey being quite drunk)
• Spent 10 hours on a minibus tour of Bariloche not understanding a single word the guide was saying
• Walked on Volcano Ash
• I've sailed on the largest lake in Argentina (Lago Argentino)
• Seen some of the most impressive glaciars in the world
• Drunk Whiskey on the rocks, where the rock was a piece of glaciar several hundred years old
• Eaten some of the most delicious Ice Cream ever
• Met some awesome people from around the world some of which are now new facebook friends (Holland, Brazil, Singapore, Australia, Canada)
• Got 10 new stamps in my passport
• Stayed in 6 hotels
• Had 9 flights covering a total distance of 30,753km
• Traveled well in excess of 1000km on all the various tours
• and I couldn't even guess how many km I've walked!
• Taken 956 photos - It may take me a while to get them sorted but I'll post the links when I have!

Until my next adventure...I hope you've enjoyed reading!

Chris x

This is what happens after tasting wine in Mendoza and letting Mr Hugo get you drunk!

Simply Spectacular!

So here I am, my last stop before I make the return trip up to Buenos Aires before my flight home on Wednesday.

This will be my last main blog before I close the trip with a Summary - look out for that as there may be a few little giggles in there that I haven't included elsewhere!

I arrived in El Calafate on Saturday to glorious blue skies, but a slightly cooler temperature of 15c - well I am getting closer and closer to the south pole so it's not expected to be hot - Cue Jacket and jumpers, away go the shorts and flip flops!

I was taken to my hotel - the Mirador del Lago - a beautiful little lodge style hotel on a slight hill with views over the largest lake in South America - Lago Argentino...On checking in, it appeared that there had been some complication with my booking and the hotel had over booked, it was their mistake and they were very sorry.  They made arrangements for me to stay at another hotel...the best hotel in the center of town - the 5* Pousada Los Alamos! How lucky was I - well until the wifi problem, having two single beds instead of a double and been kept awake each night by some concert in town that doesn't finish until 1:30 - it's a nice place, breakfast is awesome and the pool and spa is also pretty cool with great views out over the golf course - all of which I have full use of free of charge during my stay! 

I met up with Bjorn again for dinner...Bjorn is the Dutch guy that I met on the High Andes tour in Mendoza - he's here at the moment before going down to Ushuaia - so we've kept each other company over dinner and shared our tales. He's been traveling since the 2nd January and started up in Peru on the Inca Trail, working down through Bolivia, Chile and now Argentina, ending his trip in March up in Buenos Aires.  He's had some amazing experiences which are all food for though for me for my next trip!

Yesterday was my last big trip of the holiday, and organised excursion called "Todos los Glaciars" - a day sailing on the Lake heading into another or Argentina National Parks "Los Glaciares"  It was an early start, 7:15 pickup and a 50km drive to the port.  Once we arrived it was just a mass of tourists - I started to feel like a sheep and being herded from queue to queue.  There were 3 catamarans going out, each with around 200 people on board - if I had one negative about this trip it would be too many people per boat.

Anyway, we set sail and as we started drawing closer to the glaciars you started to see huge lumps of ice floating around the lake - large icebergs that were once part of the glaciars that have broken off.  The colours were stunning, really bright blues and turquoises, combined with the starting turquoise of the water, it really was quite something to see.  As we approached on of the larger icebergs it suddenly shifted and a great hug lump broke off, the iceberg toppled and what was underwater was suddenly above water as the ice rebalanced itself.  This time, the colours a deep navy blue.  The guide explained the colours were from oxygen within the ice and that the ice was actually full of small bubbles.

Our first calling point was the Upsala Canal, here 3 glaciars sweep down the mountains and join to form into one, it was impressive, however we couldn't get close to the wall of it as so much of it was breaking down and the boat couldn't navigate between the icebergs as it wasn't safe, we stayed for a while getting close to some of the icebergs to allow some good pictures, before we headed off the the next glaciar, Spegazzini.  Although parts of this were falling off (And some did whilst we were there) we could get much closer to the glaciar wall.  It was stunning, huge wall of ice, the formations reminded me of Planet Krypton from Superman!  Our boat pulled up alongside some of the smaller bits of ice that had fallen off and the crew pulled a piece on board, where it was hacked into small pieces and taken to the bar, where you could then go and buy yourself Whiskey on the Rocks, where for the first time in my life the rock was several hundred years older than the Whiskey!

Our last stop was the Perito Moreno glaciar, This is by far the most impressive.  The northern face peaks at 140m above the water level, the southern wall much smaller at 80m.  This glaciar has a total surface area larger than the city of Buenos Aires.  Trying to get this in my head hurts and I feel like my brain was going to explode.  just simply spectacular.  This glaciar forms a damn between the main lake and another of the smaller lakes.  This glaciar is moving the least, but all glaciars move, it's just part of the natural formation, hence the pieces of ice that are continually breaking off.  This glaciar is also the only one that can be seen on land as it's possible to reach it via the peninsula between the two lakes.  Some of the tours, and indeed the one Bjorn did, take you walking across the glaciar.  This is one thing I regret not doing but still, seeing it was pretty cool!

Back to the hotel and I met Bjorn again last night for dinner, he's left now and continuing his journey and it's time for me to start packing and planning my return home.  I don't have anything planned today, I'm going to take a stroll down to the shores of the lake and chill out, then this afternoon I've booked in for a massage in the hotel Spa.  Tomorrow, my flight back to Buenos Aires, with one night there and then it's Adios Argentina as I head back to London.

What a trip this has been!

More chocolate than Willy Wonka

Hey,

Apologies for the delay in blogging...I am now in El Calafate and have internet again! During my stay in Bariloche, there was a charge for internet, both wifi in the room and also the public PC's in the hotel, as I was only there for a couple of days, I declined! Although saying that to get the free wifi here in El Calafate I have to head anywhere beyond 5ft of my room to get a signal It's like my room is the only one isolated from it :( booo

So, time for a quick catch up since my last post!

My stay in Bariloche was only a short one, and for that I'm glad.  Not that there was anything wrong with the place, just I was very unfortunate to be there during really bad weather.  I arrived and it was raining, the whole day after it rained, and even yesterday morning when I left it was still raining!

It's a strange little town, in the Rio Negro region of Argentina and sitting on the foothills of the Andes, it's located on the edge of Nahuel Huapi Lake and is part of Nahuel Huapi National Park.  This towns main activity picks up during the Winter seasons as it is a key spot for the ski season, it's also a very popular stop for anyone into fly fishing - I didn't see J R Hartley though...the town itself was originally inhabited by Swiss, Italian and French and the whole feel of the town is more Alps than Andes with all the buildings like chalets.

The other main industry appears to be chocolate - literally almost every other shop on the main street sold chocolate, ice cream, or a combination of the two.  Apparently it's some unique type of chocolate to this region of Patagonia, needless to say I have sampled plenty.  I swear I do not for the life of me understand why Argentinians are not all over weight with heart problems with the amount of sweet food - and don't get me started on Dolche de Leche - if they could put it in every dish, I'm sure they would!

So what did I do...well, Once I had found my bearings I tried to find a tour for the following day, all the excursion companies tried to put me off doing something because of the weather quoting "Ooohhh no, tomorrow rain rain all day", I couldn't bare to be stuck doing nothing, it would have felt like such a waste of a visit.  I eventually found one place that would happily take me on the "San Martin and the 7 Lakes" trip - a full day trip, covering 360km to a small town called San Martin de Los Andes, part of the Lanin National Park.  The only problem was the tour was in Spanish and she wasn't 100% certain the guide could speak English.  I accepted anyway, just to get away and see something, figuring I would be occupied with my camera anyway.

I'm glad I did, it was really interesting - true I couldn't understand a word of what was being said and the drivers English was pretty non existent so I missed everything about what I was seeing and how it came to be, but the views were still pretty cool.  The weather forecasts got it right, it rained non stop.  It was actually quite a pleasant change and has given my photos a different edge from lots of blue sky!

One of the roads we traveled along was called the road of the 7 lakes and passed by many of the lakes in the area (7 surprisingly!) - I can't remember all their names but they were all equally impressive and a beautiful blue colour reflecting the gloomy skies.  About 7 months ago, a volcano in Chile erupted, spewing volcanic ash all over the region, what at first looked like sand and dust soon became apparent, that it was actually volcanic ash.  It was everywhere, mounds at the sides of the roads, anything that could be covered was, set against the striking colours of the flora breaking through, it was really quite creepy at times, once we came of the windy, rough, bumpy terrain of the 7 lake road, the ash also cleared as did the weather - for a short while.

We arrived in San Martin de Los Andes and had 2 hours to spare for lunch.  A very quaint little town with the same feel as Bariloche, and the same quantity of chocolate shops! There wasn't a great deal to do so I found myself a nice Parilla and had more beef!  We then headed further north to begin the loop back down towards Bariloche.  It was a long day, but I still managed to get some cool pics!

Once I returned to the hotel, I decided to shelter form more rain and use the spa facilities - a nice swim and relax in the sauna and then pack my bags before heading out for some dinner.  The day after, I was on the move again, further south to El Calafate!

Grape Crushing Peddle Power

So, you cannot come all the way to Mendoza and not taste wine right?

Before I left the UK I really wanted to do a horse riding tour of the vineyards, this soon got dicthed as the tour company needed at least 2 people to sign up before they would run it.  I decided I would wait until I arrived and plan something.  It turns out that I had two options for organised tours.  The first was a half day tour only visiting 2 vineyards at a reasonable cost of around 65pesos (£11) the other was a full day tour that was in excess of £100 - however everywhere I looked this required a min 2 persons on the tours.  It seems wine country does not favour the lone traveller.

I was about to give up, when an english couple on the High Andes tour yesterday told mee of a DIY option.  Armed with the information I decided what the hell and I would give it a shot.

O M G...I am so pleased I did - what a great day I've had.

So the instructions...

1. Get the the main bus station
2. Get on the number 10 bus on one of three routes, the 171, 172 or 173
3. Tell the bus driver you want Mr Hugos Bikes (About a half hour ride)
4. Get a bike and a map
5. Visit the vineyards
6. Get back home

This seemed like an adventure, so this morning I set off and got to the bus station really easily, and managed to get the right bus.  The bus journey was an experience, the driver was really happy and waved to everyone - an few times I felt like asking him to keep his eyes on the road! (Combined with one woman breast feeding her daughter who was clearly at 3 yrs old - it was different - however it was very cheap (See my tally at later!)

I got to Mr Hugos and was greeted by Mr Hugo himself.  I paid, got a map and got a bike and off I went!

My first stop was the Wine Museum, I just missed the start of the tour so couldn't join it, but spent 10 mins poking around and seeing lots of machinery used for wine making from years gone by.  Then I decided I would head to the furthest vineyard I wanted to visit first, then work my way back.  So I set off on a good 5km ride heading for the "Bodega" Familia Di Tommaso.  This dates back to 1869 and is the oldest bodega still in operation - not the oldest overall, just the oldest still producing wine.  A very small family run vineyard I was given a short tour and then had the chance to taste 4 different wines.  Delicious!  I chose to have lunch here too - How could I resist Lasagne followed by "Grandma Tommasos special Tiramisu" - So nice and hey - I was on a bike so I could burn it all off!

My next stop was a boutique bodega call Mevi where I tried another 3 wines (Not much of a tour here - a very swanky modern winery though - with awesome views!).  3rd stop was Tempus Alba - a grand winery from a very large Italian family producing vast amounts of grape - however not actually using that many for their own wine.  It seems a lot of wineries sell their grapes to smaller families that don't necessarily have the land.

10 wines in and I thought I should start aiming for my last stop, so I headed to Trapiche - this winery is the largest exporter from Argentina with 45% of Argentinian wine coming from this company.  They do not have the largest vineyard in terms of hectares, but are the largest producers.  The tour here was very in depth, we were even invited to pick some grapes to taste - I chose the Malbec grape and it actually tasted more like a blueberry! It ended with a tasting of 4 wines, however our guide was on the last tour of the day so we go a few more glasses than we should, and everyone left tipsy - including the guide.  As we left, a french couple spotted in the comments book an entry saying "I'm so drunk..thank you..." from someone from the USA.  I couldn't resist adding "Ah lightweights, 4 bodegas, 14 wines later, and I'm still sober! - Chris from the UK" to which the french girl added "Same here - France"

On the way back to Mr Hugos I was tempted by "Historias y Sabores" - a family run company that prided itself in Liquors, Chocolate and Jams -  a perfect end to the day and I have to say, the Dolche de Leche liquor and the Pumpkin and Cinnamon Jam were something special!

I made it back to Mr Hugos, once more greeted by the very happy and smiley Mr Hugo himself who then proceeded to give me another glass of wine, it would be rude to say now right?  I sat in the sun enjoying the wine when I was joined by 4 girls - two from Canada and 2 from Sweden - the afternoon soon descended into drunken laughter with Mr Hugo continually filling our glasses.  We eventually managed to escape and get the bus home, by now our group consisting of at least 15, all after a full day of visiting vineyards and tasting wines.  A truly fantastic day full of great wines and ending with some real belly aching laughter.  So pleased I didn't succumb to the expensive guided tours, so here's how it compared:

Half Day tour with two wineries - 65 pesos (About £11)

Full day tour assuming two people, a couple of high end wineries and lunch - 700 pesos ( About £102)

My DIY Trip in pesos:
Return bus fare - 3.60
Bike Hire - 35
Familia di Tomasso tour - 20
Lunch - 80
Mevi Tasting - 25
Tempus Alba tasting - 25
Trapiche tour and tasing - 25
Historias y Sabores tasting - 25
Total: 238.60 pesos (About £35)

DIY trip wins hands down and anyone reading this thinking of a trip to Argentina - ask me for more specifics about this - it really was the most enjoyable way to see the wineries and meet some great people - all at the same time as getting a bit of exercise!

Exploding Lays, Imploding Agua

I'm a day behind posting my blog but the past two days have been incredible, so this blog is focused purely on yesterday, 13th February.

I made a last minute booking on Sunday to join the "High Andes" tour - not really knowing what it was all about, but it was a full day tour and the name appealed.

After an early breakfast I was picked up around 7:30...The guide spoke English - a good start, considering at this point I appeared to be the only English person on the tour.  We picked up a few more people, the grand total being 18, of which 2 were American, 3 (including myself) English and one Dutch guy, the rest were either from Brazil or Argentina.

The guide spoke a lot in Spanish which made me feel like I'd been ripped off a little - he seemed to explain something for 10 minutes in Spanish and then paraphrase in English for maybe 2 minutes...it didn't appear to be a good start however the English Speakers stuck together and we ended up having a petty amazing day.

We headed out onto route 7  - the pan-american highway which is the road that cuts across Argentina and into Chile.  Up until 2004, this road was pretty much a dirt track, and quite narrow - not really suited to the hundreds of trucks that made the journey between the two countries every day.  Eventually the road was rebuilt and redirected on a less precarious route - this is what we followed, however on occasion cuting off onto the old road to see points of interest.

The whole journey was filled with amazing landscape views of the Andes as we climbed higher and higher.  Our starting point in Mendoza being only a few hundred metres above sea level, our destination being 4000m.

We made the occasional toilet stop and stopped for pictures at various vantage points, such as the view of Aconcagua - the highest peak outside of the Himalayas at just shy of 7000metres. Many tourists climb this peak, quite a hard climb from what I gathered but the view of it looked stunning.  We were even very luck to to see two Condor Eagles soaring over the valley! (See pic below!)

Our final point was high in the mountains on the natural border of Argentina and Chile, at the point where they have a statue of Christ - named Christo Redento - not the same as the one in Rio, but equally impressive.  As I stepped off the bus I was immediately hit by cold air gusting in such a way I struggled to stand, combined with being 4000m high were the air is thinner and as a result started to feel the effects of the altitude - dizziness being the main one.  The views from here were stunning, again, struggled to put into words what I was seeing and I just hope my pictures will do it justice.

As we were gradually climbing our guide asked if anyone had any crisps - one couple did and he asked if they could not open the bag...reason being a little science experiment...as we climbed higher the bag of crisps continued to expand, eventually at around 3000metres we heard a "pop" as the bag exploded.  Before we set off on the return,the guide then asked if anyone had an empty water bottle.  A few people did to which they were asked to put the top on and not touch it until we got back to Mendoza...when we finally got back, all the bottles had imploded and where crushed as the pressure changed from the change in altitude and air pressure.

The journey itself was really interesting, in what broken English we did get, we learnt about how the route of the Mendoza River had been altered to allow the water to feed the many "bodegas" (vineyards) in the Mendoza region which produced some of the best New World Malbecs.  We also saw a few ski resorts - quite odd seeing ski lifts without any snow!  The winters here can be quite severe with 4+meteres of snow falling - it's a very popular spot for winter sports

On the way back down we stopped at Puerto de Inca - the point of the Inca Bridge - thousands of years old this bridge forms part of a natural spring and was the first point at which it was possible to cross the river.  it is believed that way way back in the Ice Age a large piece of ice fell and wedged between the banks of the river, over times, with rock falls etc, a natural bridge developed, then the ice melted and voila.  The bridge itself though is situated at the point of hot springs the combination of this has made the bridge and the surrounding banks golden yellow with the rich minerals pouring out of the rocks - it was pretty impressive to see...

We finally got back to Mendoza good 12 hours after we set off, I was exhausted but managed to have the energy to head out for dinner along with Bjorn - the Dutch guy that I met on the tour - we're both traveling alone and felt dinner on your own is pretty boring.  We're almost following the same route so I may well meet up with him again in Calafate in a few days time!

A good soaking!

Hello everybody!

I didn't post yesterday as we had a full day out in the National Park and the falls and all we wanted to do when we got back to the guest house was have a beer (or two) and relax, then we had to pack as another early start today for our onward flights.

Yesterday was insane - and I mean that it in a good way.  We thought Friday was good with what we saw of the falls, but yesterday was something else altogether! We were collected at 7:45 by Lilian, our guide who was superb, despite being 4 months pregnant, she was brilliant in ensuring everything went to time and we were constantly being provided with information, no question asked would be left unanswered.

We collected 4 more travelers on the way - 4 young Australian girls, and then it was across the border back into Argentina (YAY more passport stamps) and into the National Park on the other side of the falls from where we were the previous day.  Having being previously told that 75% of the falls were in Argentina, yesterday was a little less about the panoramic views and more about the closeness we were able to get to them.  Our first stop was a short train ride which took us close to Devils Throat, a 10min walk across platforms snaking out over the river and we were literally on top of the fall.  The noise was incredible, the views breathtaking.  The shear power of this fall was phenomenal.

We then headed back and started a trek through the jungle getting viewpoints of some of the falls on the Brazilian side, but also seeing the few falls in Argentina that we couldn't see from Brazil.  Walking through the rainforest, seeing the wildlife, and emerging on platforms over the falls is something that will stay with me a long time.  I'm aware i'm constantly repeating myself with "insane" "amazing" "breathtaking" etc, so I'll stop before I bore you all, but seriously, I just cannot begin to detail what we experienced.

Following this walk, we stopped for lunch before hitting the optional extra tour that we all immediately signed up for - a speedboat ride!  This started with a 20 minute drive through the jungle in a huge 4x4 tank like jeep, we then all boarded a speedboat, having being provided with lifejackets and waterproof bags for cameras etc.  The ride went up river, charging through the rapids - a real rollercoaster experience.  We stopped and had the chance to take photos from a vantage point that we wouldn't otherwise have had, and then instructed that now was the time to put everything in the bags and seal them....the boat then went right up close to one of the smaller falls.  We got a little damp - slight spray from the fall and that was about it - turns out that was a teaser.  The captain then sped around a corner and pretty much ploughed full on into a larger fall - we were drenched, but Oh My God what a thrill!  The water was so cooling in the 34C heat of midday! If only we'd taken our shampoo and soap!  We emerged, the guide laughing and saying "one more" - obviously we said yes and of we went again for another shower.

It didn't take long to dry out and luckily I decided to take my t-shirt off and put that in the bag so at least that was dry - took a little longer for my shorts to dry out though!

The day was at an end and we made our way back across the border into Brazil and back to the guesthouse...half way there and Steve realised that his passport hadn't been stamped on entry to Brazil!  The border control is somewhat lax.  We don't need to present our passports and no one comes to check we are who the passports say we are.  The guide just takes them all, gets them stamped and then we drive off.  Needless to say our guide wasn't happy with the border control woman and we turned back to get Steve's stamp.  It may not have caused an issue, but best to be safe!

Our last night was spent lazing round the pool after another meat fest at the local Churasco restaurant.  A few more games of cards and chatting with the Australian girls who were now in the same gueest house.  We introduced them to the local Supermarket - Super Muffato - which in itself always causes a giggle - and we purchased a few more mixers to go with Natasha.  For those that haven't seen the facebook pcture, Natasha is a brand of Vodka in Brazil that is extremely cheap - £3.5 for a litre - and has quite a kick.  The phrase "Oh Natasha, she's a dirty b***h and by god she's cheap"

It was time for bed, I was shattered - I hadn't been sleeping too well at the guest house - I was in a small single bed, and was hanging out of it! The A/C was too noisy, but without it on it was too warm.  Topped off with the shower not really being that great I was feeling grubby and drained.  I have really enjoyed Iguazu - With a Z as I'm back in Argentina now ;) - but I was looking forward to a proper bed and a proper shower!

This morning - another early start - 7:45 pick up to head to the airport - it all got confusing as once we cross the border our watches went back an hour, so we technically arrived at the before we'd set off.  My flight was at 9:30, heading to Mendoza and Steve and Leigh were heading back to Buenos Aires.  They have 2 more nights there then they go home to the UK, for me, I have another 11 nights here.  I'm going to miss having them around - we've had such a laugh over the past 11 days!  I arrived ahead of schedule, the views of the Andes coming into land were amazing!  My hotel is nice and clean and the first thing I did was shower - it felt so good to be clean again!

I've been out for a walk - I'm very close to the centre of the city however weekends in Argentina are a non-event - nowhere is open - the same was seen in Buenos Aires.  All the cafes and restaurants were open though so I stopped for a nice beer and a sandwich and now back in my room, forcing myself to stay awake a few more hours before an early night.  I have arranged a tour tomorrow that starts at 7:30, a full day tour that goes high into the Andes and right up to the border of Chile.  The description sounds great so I hope it lives up to it's name! For Tuesday I'm trying to find a good vineyard tour but haven't had much luck yet so that may happen Wednesday instead!

Hope the snow is clearing back home, it's so humid here but I won't talk about that too much ;)

Hear the Thunderous roar!

Words cannot begin to describe today, I know that whatever I write and however many photos I take and publish either here on my website will neither do it justice.  The pure power of nature is breathtaking, and none more so when standing on a wooden platform being blasted by the result of just one of the small waterfalls here at Iguazu/Iguassu/Iguacu (Take your pic on the spelling, it's all the same!)

So 8:30 this morning our guide collected us and explained that todays half day tour would allow views of the falls from the Brazilian side, which effectively meant looking at the falls that were in Argentina.  The falls themselves are on both sides of the border, with 75% being in Argentina and 25% in Brazil, given which, the best views you could argue are looking across to Argentina from Brazil.

Simply amazing, that is really all I can say.  We actually started the morning with a 10 minute helicopter ride over the falls which gave us amazing panoramic views from all angles, I think our pilot, being the second flight of the day and taking 3 young guys, thought he'd have some fun, taking some pretty scary turns right over devils throat.  When I wasn't gripping like mad to the seat, I managed to get a few good pictures!

Devils Throat s seen from the Helicopter!

After the helicopter ride we drove into the National Park.  The park itself spans the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.  Our guide dropped us off at the beginning of the walk which took us through the rainforest, nothing heavy on the hiking front - they're well catered for tourists and it's a nice paved route, however as you get closer and closer you can hear the roar of the falls - it was pretty overwhelming at times.  Our final part of the walk was a long walkway that went right out over the falls and allowed some amazing views looking right into Devils Throat itself.  We got pretty wet from the mist that was thrown up!

Tomorrow is going to be just as thrilling,we're getting picked up even earlier and the full day is spent on the Argentinian side of the park, we are also going to do a speed boat ride which takes us right up to Devils Throat - we've been told to be prepared to get VERY wet! I can't wait!

We were all pretty exhausted after today and the heat was incredible - My phone registered 32C at 6pm this evening and it just hasn't let up!  We chilled out by the pool for a while, got a bit silly with the rubber rings and then decided to have a break from meat and ordered pizza in - the great thing about staying at this guest house is that it's much closer to resembling a hostel and we have much more freedom - including the use of the kitchens if we wanted to cook!  I've started to like the place more now - I was a bit dubious at first but to be honest I was probably just been a bit snobbish - when you've spent a week in a 4* hotel with comforts and luxuries, this place is a bit of a wake up call, but the staff are great and the "Mama" of the house is delightful and always keen to know what we're doing, and explaining the cultures to us, for example explaining the issues with Paraguay and how there's little to no borer control between Brazil and Paraguay and as a result lots of contraband and illegal goods go across borders whilst at the same time saying it's great to go there for really cheap stuff!  As much as we like passport stamps - we're going to give that a miss!

Anyway, I need some sleep, very excited about tomorrow, so good night people!

Military Ding Dong!

Good evening all and a big "Oy" (Hello in Portuguese) from Iguassu/Iguazu (I've seen it spelt both ways - z on the Argentinian side and ss on the Brazil side - not going to argue!)

We're now at said place, and technically we have left Argentina and our Guest House is in Brazil (Yay for the passport stamps!)

Our flight was good and on time, arriving at the airport there was a complete contrast change from leaving the big city of Buenos Aires, coming into land over the rainforests, seeing endless trees with the occasionally river snaking it's path through, and the airport itself - very small - 2 gates and from the outside looked more like a hotel!

Our driver was waiting and brough us to the Guest House whose name I have no chance of spelling, but it's in Brazil in the city of Foz de Iguazu - and we've also jumped ahead one hour too!  According to the driver, yesterday around midday it reached 42c - I think we're in for a hot 3 days!

Having been awake since stupid o'clock, we decided a lazy day was in need, after walking for 15 minutes in incredible heat (32c at least) we found a supermarket, stocked up on goods and came back to relax around the pool.  Upon leaving, a large contingent of Brazilian Military arrived, we weren't quite sure what was going on but when we returned they were nowhere to be seen however their vehicles were still in the driveway....15/20 minutes later and they slowly started to appear - walking through the gardens in full military getup - various guns/batons etc and dispersed into several of the hotel rooms, a few moment later emerging in nothing but swiming shorts and speedos - needless to say the tone of conversation changed and the game of cards we were trying to play soon became rather pointless...They left about an hour after - but we're kind of hoping they're back tomorrow...

We managed to sneak a few pictures - check them out on my facebook ;)

Tomorrow we have an early start - 8:30 pickup and we will be seeing the waterfalls from the Brazilian side - very excited - we also may have the chance to have a helicopter ride over them.  I will be sure to post many pictures ASAP!

I have limited access in Brazil (Although very pleased to find a free wifi access point at the hotel so my updates my not be as frequent...Until my next though...See you later! (We're now off for some more meat and wine! YAY)

PS Huge congrats to all my ITEC Massage students today with their exams - great results and great feedback!

Who am I? Where am I? Eh?

No one should have to get up at 5am when on holiday. Even if it is to get a flight to one of THE most awesome places on earth.

Here endeth todays blog.

That is all

*yawn*

Adios Buenos Aires

How time flies! A week into the trip already and the first leg of this adventure is at an end. It's now 11pm local time and I've just packed my case and heading to bed, we have to be up in a few hours for a taxi collecting us at 5:30, heading to the airport for a 7am flight to Iguazu!

So what's been happening since I last wrote, well not a lot actually...Yesterday we decided to revisit Puerto Madero - one of the spots we went through on the open top bus tour...It turned out that there wasn't a great deal to see and it reminded us a bit of Canary Wharf! It also became apparent that yesterday the temperature was somewhat higher than we had experienced, we were all struggling to walk very far at all, so with best intentions we headed back to the hotel, sadly we took a slightly wrong turn and the trek was a little longer than planned, still we made it back just after lunch and spent the rest of the day literally roasting around the pool.

We arranged to go out for dinner last night to a place called called "Inside" - it's a local gay restaurant and we had been warned to say no to pepper....we were intrigued.  The place also claimed to have strip shows - Hmmmmm

Anyway, we went and our table was quite early it seemed and we were pretty much the sole occupants for a good half of the meal.  Both Steve and I did actually want pepper...It was interesting, the way the waiter ground the pepper and the special attention he gave you whilst doing it was somewhat cringe worthy but highly entertaining for Leigh who refused the condiments himself...We left before the strip show started, just in case the strippers were the waiters!  There was an incredible storm last night again too which as a result left today much cooler and slightly overcast at times.

We'd already planned that our last day would be a lazy one - we'd seen everything here in BA that we wanted to see, the only thing I needed to do was shop for some suitable trousers for when I reach El Calafate.  That was done and and out the way early on and by the time we hit the pool the clouds had burnt off and the sun was making an appearance.  This evening we revisited Des Nivel, the steak place I went on my first night - after all it would be rude not to finish the trip to BA on yet another huge lump of meat and a bottle of wine!

Returning to the hotel, we decided to have another quick game of cards - Steve and Leigh have taught me Contract Whist and I'm actually quite enjoying it - only managed to win two games so far but I am getting the hang of it :) Frustratingly though, whilst enjoying a post dinner Oreo, a bit of my tooth has broken :( On the plus side, it's not too bad and I can survive until I get home as long as I'm careful when brushing and make sure I don't chew over it too much, but really annoying none the less.

:(

So, Buenos Aires...a city of many contrasts from the swanky apartments and open leafy spaces of Palermo, to the down beat, dilapidated, poverty stricken La Boca, it's certainly been an interesting place to visit and not quite what I was expecting.  Would I rush back in the future...I'll leave that open for now.  It hasn't been a city that has instantly grabbed me like others I've been to and left me wanting more, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and had some great food, great wine and of course great weather.  I'm now really excited to see what the rest of this trip has to offer! Bring on Iguazu!

These feet were('nt) made for walking...

What a busy two days...lots of walking, lots of sight seeing so where should I start..

Well last time I wrote we were preparing for a night out to see what the Gay scene in Buenos Aires had to offer.  We researched and discovered that, as it turns out, the nightlife in general doesn't really get going until quite late (or early in the morning depending how you look at it)  Still, we decided we should at least sample something of the scene to see what was what.  Maps in hand, we headed for the Palermo neighborhood.  After around 20 minutes on the metro we arrived, only to be faced with yet another "highway of doom".  We soon found our bearings and headed in the direction of what was alleged to be the "Pride Cafe" - well yes we found it, but it was, what you'd call, empty! Fortunately the area had plenty of other restaurants nearby so after settling down for more steak and more malbec (served in a rather quaint penguin jug) we consulted the map once more and decided that we would give it another shot and head to a bar called Sitges.  This was supposed to be where the night began before everyone headed on to the bigger clubs. A good half hour walk later and we found it, glad for some air conditioning, by this point we didn't really care whether it was good or not, or busy or not, we managed to last it out for about 40 minutes before realising that we were way too early and the music was a blast from the 80's past. We didn't stay long...perhaps our dancing shoes are not what they used to be but all three of us were happier to be heading to bed rather than ordering more alcohol!

Sunday started somewhat cooler and sadly considerably overcast than previous days, not to be beaten we still made our plans to head to the district of Recoleta, specifically to the large cemetery to see the (alleged) final resting place of Eva Peron.  As we set off the rain started, but it was still pretty humid.  By the time we arrived at the cemetery the rain was bordering on torrential, fortunately we managed to take shelter in a shopping mall and wait it out.  We didn't wait long, maybe half an hour and the skies cleared and the sun slowly broke through and burnt the clouds away,. The cemetery was impressive, if that is the right description for such a place!  Massive to say the least - 55,000sq metres of above ground tombs and like a little city in it's own right.  Founded in 1882 as the first public cemetery, it is now the resting place of many famous and significant people of Argentina's past, including Eva Peron. 

Like a maze, we wondered, got lost, lost each other, and then eventually found what we came to see.  Hidden down a small side "street", the tomb in the family name "Duarte"  What we found most striking about his place was the contrast of relatively new mausoleums to ones that clearly no longer had any family to care for them, to the point that coffins were precariously balancing on rotting shelves and even poking out of crumbling walls.  Quite moving and eerie.

Just one of the maze lie "streets"in the cemetery

Many of the mausoleums were crumbling and coffins were exposed

The alleged final resting place of Eva Peron

We moved on and headed further out towards the Floralis Generica, a gigantic metal tulip shaped structure that works with solar power and opens at dawn and closes at dusk.  Impressive but kind of just stuck on the far side of yet another "highway of doom" with very little around it.  By now our legs were killing us and we were hungry, we sacrificed all common sense of eating local and fell into the Hard Rock Cafe for burgers and beer before making our way back to the hotel for much required R&R.

Sunday evening saw the weekly Pool Party at the hotel, whilst relaxing by the pool in the afternoon we watched the transformation of the decking as it became a sort of dance floor complete with mirror balls, DJ Station and strobe lighting.  The setting of the area around the pool is pretty perfect and as the party began it was clear that this weekly event attracts more than just the hotel residents and is quite a big night on the scene in general.

A slower start to today, legs still aching and the sun beating down we thought a good plan would be to try out the open top bus tour.  We all were pretty sure the lady said the tour was about an hour.  3 hours later, stomachs grumbling from starvation and we finally stepped off the bus.  However, saying that, the tour was really interesting in parts.  The first section covered all the places we'd already seen over the past few days and cleared up a few questions that we'd been unable to answer ourselves, however the tour then went into areas we'd not ventured too, nor particulaly wanted to on our own, specifically La Boca.  This district is quite unsafe, some parts of it you woudn't walk around in daytime, let alone at night.  However it is the home to the La Bombanero stadium and many up and coming art galleries, it is also here that the now famous Argentine Tango first came to be.  It's clear that this area is not very affluent and poverty is clear on every street.  Ramshackle houses boarded up, windows without any glass, crumbling walls/balconies etc - it was quite eye openeing and realy made you appreciate the luxuries that we have back home.  The number of police on the street also confirmed this was not a very safe area.  At one point we saw a significant number of police and one local with his short covered in blood - quite what had happened, we never knew and I don't really want to think about.  We then saw undercover police in stab proof vests and I saw a number of men with guns - I wasn't sure if they were police or just locals, either way, I was releived when we left!

Crumbling La Boca

We're pretty exhausted tonight and the last few days of intense heat and walking miles on end have taken their toll and we've retired to our rooms early.  Tomorrow we're planning on revisiting a few of the areas that the bus tour took us today to investigate in more depth, and then a little shopping as I need to go find myself something suitable for the cooler climates that I will hit when I get further south later next week!

Hope everyone is well back home!

Tan Tastic, Japenese Gardens and Cat Poo

Hello everyone,

I trust all is well back in the UK despite being in the middle of a Siberian Snow Storm, I would like to say I'm sorry I'm not there, but well, quite frankly it's averaging around 28/29C here in Buenos Aires and I'm quite happy thanks!

On a serious note - I do hope everyone is ok - take care out there on the roads!

So it's a day since I last updated you on what's been happening here, well the sun has been shining and there has been lots of lounging around the pool, but we've also done a bit of sight seeing too - We've decide to break the days into morning sight seeing then afternoon by the pool :)

Yesterday being Steve and Leighs first day, we didn't do a great deal, pretty much the same as what I did on my first day - I gave them a quick orientation of the area and then we just spent the afternoon by the pool drinking cold beer.  In the evening we went out into San Telmo and found another steak house, yet another delicious piece of meat, washed down with an equally delicious bottle of Malbec! Whilst the steak was tasty, the one I had the previous night was a lot more tender, still I have plenty of time to try more and compare ;)

Back at the hotel, there was a free Tango Show - well it would be wrong to come all the way over to Argentina and not see a bit right? It wasn't a big show, and most of the show was a guy singing, I'd like to say I knew what he was saying but it was all in Spanish and we had no idea, Steve coped well though when the microphone was put in front of him to sing along...

The dancing was amazing, just what you'd imagine from the Argentine Tango - the things the girl was doing with her legs was mesmerising! I tried taking a few photos - I've put a couple on this blog for you to see.

Today after breakfast we decided to battle Buenos Aires metro (or Subte) and head to Palermo and the Botanical Gardens.  Once we found the station and established how it worked, we were soon on our way - a pretty straight forward and cheap means of travel, however not air conditioned, needless to say it was a little sticky!




After navigating our way across "The highway of doom" (Has to be said with a deep booming voice), we arrived at the gardens.  The highway I refer to was one way, 12 lane behemoth - insane to say the least!.

The botanical gardens, were....different...They have so much potential if a little money was pumped into it, but it just had a bit of a dilapidated and unkempt feel about it.  Full of stray cats too and an overwhelming smell of cat poo if you got down wind or passed by some that was in a particularly unshaded spot!  This led to many a joke about steaming poo/baked poo/Poobabs etc - I won't go any further!

We then went into the Jardin Japones (Japanese Gardens) - these were beautiful - it just shows what a small entry fee and bit of TLC can produce - landscaped perfectly with a lake and huge Koi carp.  It was approaching midday and we were starting to feel a bit baked but we decided to carry on a little further and enter the final garden - we couldn't quite work out which bit of it we entered but we finally stumbled across some beautiful Rose Gardens - nice but you know, once you've seen a few hundred roses it kind of gets a bit montonous!

It was time to head back and bake a little further round the pool - I chose to stay in the shade today as I was feeling a little cooked from yesterday, already signs of "Flip Flop feet" to gauge the level of tan is looking impressive!

Time for a quick shower and then it's Saturday night so we're going to head out and see what Buenos Aires nightlife has to offer - it could be entertaining....

The boys have arrived!

...that's Steve and Leigh if you're wondering!

Well it's another el scorchio of a day here in BA and now I've finally managed to get my mobile working with an Argentinian number, I feel i'm connected to the world once more!

After I dried out last night, I had a great nights sleep and now just waiting for the boys to freshen up and unpack before we do a bit more exploring. Not quite sure where we're going to go yet but there's so much to see!

The hotel have a free tango show in the bar tonight, that, i'm sure we won't be missing!

Here's a picture of the famous casa rosada for you, no sign of Madonna on the balcony though! Did you know the pink colour was achieved by mixing Ox blood in the paint? No? Well now you do!

Beer by the litre, meat by the slab, and a good old storm!

I'll keep it brief! There's a storm brewing and I've taken shelter in what I guess is an Argentinian equivalent of a greasy spoon!

Of late, apparently, the evenings tend to see rainfall and the occasional storm! Seeing how wet people are walking into the"restaurant" i'm in, I'll take that as a given!

So where am I? Will I went for a wonder into San Telmo and discovered a labyrinth of cobbled streets and quirky antique shops, nestled amongst them, the restaurant i'm in now, El Desnivel.

Had I just passed this place on the street, I wouldn't have come in. it's hard to describe but it's a bit shabby and the tables are a bit rickety, but it's listed in my guide book as a good spot for meat! How right they are! I've just had a slab, and I mean slab!  of tenderloin cooked to perfection (medium rare for me) and a plate of fries! The meat was so tender and so full of flavour, no sauce, no condiments in sight, just full flavoured juicy meat!

Beer, it appears, is served in litre bottles! Hmmmmmm, well when it's put in front of you I guess you just have to drink!

Put this place in your note books of must visit eateries in Buenos Aires!

So after eating, I braved the outside, talk about torrentrial rain! I'm drenched!

Que?

I've arrived! Wooohoooo!

Buenos tardes reader! Last time I wrote I was heading to heathrow and it was close to freezing in London. A long 13 hour overnight flight and I finally made it to Argentina where the sun is shining and it's a toasty 27c

First impression...ooooh it's warm, thank God for southern hemisphere Summers to ease us through the northern hemisphere Winters!

The flight was uneventful, I think that's what most people like to be able to say and hear right? It was full of school kids who were a bit rowdy but I had an emergency exit seat (which to secure,  I had to pay £50 for a week ago...height tax or what!...don't get me started!) And I managed to get a good 7 hours sleep.

A nippy 35 minute cab ride and I arrived at my hotel. Hotel Axel. Now I started to get a little worried as we approached the hotel, I felt like I was I some really run down back street, turns out that I am...but it's in a relatively up and coming area called San Telmo, that the guide book describes as being "colourful", with lots of promise and real Argentinian experiences including some of the best steak houses! I went for a wonder and i'm a lot closer to things than I thought, such as the famous Casa Rosada and Plaza Del Mayor are just a 10 minute walk away.

I needed to find a mobile phone shop so I could get a local SIM for my phone, something I do wherever I go as it saves on roaming costs. Here began my first challenge...Argentinians don't speak a lot, if any, English, and my Spanish is what you'd call.....errmm....limited...I successfully managed to get something but as yet still don't have any data access. I'll keep you posted on that!

It's now approaching 7pm and i'm sat by the hotel pool, thank God for free wifi! And I have a nice cold beer whilst contemplating where to go tonight. The guide book offers some interesting options in the local area so I think I'll go for a walk!

Adios!

Am I behind the times?

Well, it's literally 20 minutes until I need to turn the lights off, switch the heating off, sling on my coat and head to the station to get to Heathrow for my flight to Argentina, and in my usual "Oh that's a good last minute idea" I decided to create this blog space so friends and family can keep up with what I'm doing and where I am on my travels.

A few years ago I went to Vietnam and started sending emails to a distribution list of friends who were interested in what I was doing, why on earth I didn't think of creating a blog then I don't know, it would have made everything so much easier, so better late than never, I decided to create this.

seenbychris, my chosen URL ties into my space on SmugMug - a kind of pictoral blog for want of a better description, and it seemed fitting to keep this blog in the same theme.  So as the name suggests, whenever I travel I'll post blogs and let you all know what I've seen (See what I did there!?)  I'll also post a few pics etc too!

OK, time is ticking and I have two mouthfuls of wine left and I need to make a move.  If you hadn't guessed form my numerous facebooks updates, I'm heading to Argentina for 3 weeks.  The original trip was planned back in 2010 and was supposed to incorporate a 12 day Antarctic cruise, sadly that got canned as the boat company went bust and the alternative dates I was offered didn't fit with my, already planned, flights.  Through various twists of fate, this actually worked out for the best as it meant I had the chance to go to Australia in January to be Best Man and celebrate the wedding of two amazing friends, Tom and Jo.

So my plans, in a quick summary...

I fly tonight to Buenos Aires and arrive there around 8am tomorrow morning (2nd Feb) I'm staying there until the 9th, where I will be joined by another awesome couple - Steve and Leigh - I fully expect lots of drinking and lots of laughter!

On the 9th I fly up to Iguazu for 4 days visiting the falls from both the Argentinian and the Brazilian side.

Then I fly across to Mendoza on the 12th - those that know me know I like my wine and I will be making full use of my time here visiting vinyards (Hopefully on horseback) and sampling some amazing wines.  I then travel south into Patagonia on the 16th and spend a couple of days in Bariloche, before heading further south to El Calafate on the 18th - the main stopping point for visiting the "Glaciers National Park" - Very excited about this!

I then head back to Buenos Aires on the 21st before heading back to London on the 22nd.  So sit back, tune in and enjoy my ramblings!  Until I arrive in BA...I bid you "Adios"

x